Hi Parents,
Well I think Fall is officially here...the rain is falling, the heaters are on, the squirrels are running everywhere and we are starting to bunker down with our cozy blankets and sweaters!! Brrrrr.
Having said that it is now time to think about the rainy weather! We as a staff still strongly believe that the children should be outside getting some fresh air, even if it is wet fresh air...but we do not want them getting sick because of them not wearing appropriate gear. So, it is the time to make sure that they have rain jackets with hats and boots for puddles and a change of clothes, in the events that the rain sneaks under all of their appropriate outer wear! Also, it is very important that they all then have indoor shoes to change into so that they do not get our carpet wet and muddy. WE do a ton of work on the carpet and this will ensure that our carpet stays clean.Thank you for that. And that is my inspirational message for the morning...now for all the things that we have done this week!!
The Terry Fox run was a success! Thank you to the parents who cheered on our children as they ran loop after loop around the school. They were soooo excited and sooo positive about their running. We had watched a video on Terry Fox and really talked about what an inspiration he was to all of us and how he is truly one of Canadians heros. The children wrote about him afterwards and did a great job. I will include a picture of it in this blog. Thank you to all that donated to the Terry Fox fund. As a school we collected $725 dollars. That is almost a hundred dollars more than we collected last year. Yippee for Bayview families!!
This week we had our guest gardener in. For the last maybe five years we have had Catriona, a former Bayview parent who now works as a school and garden coordinator educator for SPEC. She is passionate about environmental education and organic gardening and loves to enthuse the kids about the amazing world of plants. She will be doing 6 or 7 lessons over the year of which the first one we had was this past Thursday. She talked to the kids about mulching and how important it was to mulch a garden and get it ready for the spring. We looked at the different types of mulches and then she took them out in small groups of 4 or 5 to clean out our garden beds (which is at the back of the church across the street) and plant some cover crops. Catriona was especially proud of all the children with their enthusiasm to try curly kale, some raw broccoli and the chives that are growing there. Later on we will be asking for a financial contribution to keep our garden growing and for paying Catriona for her wonderful gardening workshops.
We have had a busy week in the classroom as you can see. We have continued on with our printing and spelling program and I was very proud of the excellent results on the spelling test that all the children had on Friday before the Terry Fox Run. Thank you for reinforcing their spelling at home. The home reading is also coming along very nicely. Please continue to try to read every night and return the books every morning. for a teacher/volunteer assisted exchange. If the book that your child is way tooooo easy, write me a note or send me an email, or have your child talk to me about it and we will move them up a level. We do want them to read what they love to and are capable of reading!
We did our second Todd Parr lesson this week. We talked about who Todd Parr was and how unique his art was. Did you know he puts noses on animals but not on humans??? We will be continuing on with our Todd Parr unit in a team teaching capacity with Super Y in the library. That is very exciting!!
WE are still doing our Student of the week and this week it was Katelyn. Katelyn did an excellent job of expressing her likes and interests and is a very good public speaker. Kudos to Katelyn. WE are working on her book right now.
Finally  a big thank you to everyone coming out to the meet the teacher open house. It was great meeting you!

BEFORE I SIGN OFF THIS LONG NEWSY LETTER:
I had an oopsy daisy...our two week old electric sharpener went crashing to the floor the other day....it truly was an accident...just wondering if anyone has a good used electric sharpener that they might want to donate to our class? We are currently writing with very dull pencils...argh!

Katelyn, our student of the week! So beautiful!!

And with that,

Such a beautiful job Macy!

Thankyou and have a great weekend,

Terry Fox is our hero!

Teri

Working on some fall art!

Happy First Day of Fall!!!!
Finally, I have the blog up and running...sorry it has taken me soooo long to get it going. Thank you Jennifer King for starting us off and doing such a wonderful job of your entries...I hope to do as wonderful job as her!

Well we have had a wonderful two weeks at school. I have so enjoyed meeting and getting to know all the children as well as getting to meet and get to know some of the new parents...as well as reestablishing hugs and contacts with my former parents....a big welcome to everyone!

We have been busy in the classroom for the past few weeks getting to know each other as well as getting to know the classroom rules and expectations. Over the two weeks, the children have learned how to give me five on the carpet, how to bee safe, bee fair and bee kind...ALWAYS!! (whether that be in the classroom, in the gym or out on the playground). We have worked very hard at remembering that when it is work time, we work, when it is eating time, we eat and then when it's play time we play nicely! So far everyone is trying very hard to remember all these rules and expectations.

 We have slowly been establishing some daily activities and expectations as each day goes on. The children know that in the morning, if they have something on their desk, that they do it. They are learning to take their home reading bag out of their back pack in the morning so they can do their home reading with me later on.They are remembering to line up after school and collect all their paperwork from their mail boxes before they go home. Do you see how much they have to remember? And with all that they are doing great. I must do a very big thank you to all my grade 2's, they have been remarkable at helping out all the new and younger classmates. They have been phenomenal!!!

This last week we have been writing about the classmates in our attempt to get to know each other better.
So far we know Ms. Taylor very well, got to know Gavin and Samuel. We have worked on a sheet of writing which I have turned into a booklet that is being sent home with all the kids so they can share it with their family and then return. Over the next few months we will be doing at least one child a week, so it may be a little while before your child has a turn, but they will get a turn! Thank you for supporting them in their selections of items to bring to school.

I will try to write a weekly blog with updates and reminders so if you ever have any questions, please either email or talk to me in person and I will try very hard to clear up any confusion.
And with that, enjoy your sunday and next i will be listing some reminders for everyone.

REMINDERS:
1. Please send back all the student verification forms and the 25 dollars for the school fees as soon as possible.
2. Tomorrow is our Picture Day, please come with big smiles, and clean faces!
3. Please encourage your child to bring back their home reading every single day, so important for the growth of their reading level.
4. Open House/Meet the Teacher this coming Wednesday at 5:00 pm (i think that's the time). I look forward to seeing everyone!

FINALLY:
1. A big thank you to all my lunch moms and lunch dads who are coming in everyday at lunch time to supervise the nutrional intake of the children in the class...they are sooo able to work in the afternoons because of this program. I so appreciate you all!
2. I love volunteers, so if you would like to sign up for a time to volunteer, you would also be very appreciated. I definitely am looking for two more grade one moms to help with the cooking program which will be on Fridays from after recess to lunch. If you can help Matthews mom (Tania) out, that would be great!
3. Also a thank you to all the parents who contributed cleaning supplies and bags and kleenex to the classroom. I sure appreciate it very much.

This is ME...showing how to do the sharing project...am not photogenic, so please ignore that!!! yuck!!

This is Samuel sharing his passions with us!

This is Gavin and his passions.

Hi Everyone, Had a variable day today. Off to a running start was great until a wasp nest was discovered and two of our kiddies were stung. However, the mood soon turned around as we watched various birds soar through the air in the Rescue Rangers Presentation. The presentation took place in the gym with all doors closed! Your child witnessed the flight of the Ghost Owl which flew silently through the air. This presentation focused on species habitat and threats to their survival. The presenters followed up with how kids like yours could make small changes with large impacts. You will have found a brochure in their backpack on the foundation. In math today we worked on patterns. We will continue to work on this unit in the coming weeks, but I implore you to make patterns with pens, cereal, beans, etc so your child can grasp the concept of the core (the part of the pattern that is repeated) and for grade 2’s the terms (the parts that make up the core). We will be working on the Smartboard next Tuesday to help the kids grasp these concepts further. Thank you to all the parents and students who remembered to return their library books this week. Don’t feel like you missed the boat if you didn't bring back the library book. You can always run downstairs after school return the book and check out another one. That is all to report for now. Have a great rest of the week and a happy weekend. Mrs. Jennifer King (Jen)

Hi Parents, 
This first blog entry is from your Tuesday's teacher, Jennifer King.
She was so enthusiastic that she got in a blog sharing her day with you before we even have all the email addresses~!
Enjoy the read!!
TeriWhat a great first day with the class! We began the day with Angelina doing calendar followed by an assignment where the kids wrote about what they looked like and what they enjoy and dislike. Had some fun answers such as some students don’t like slugs, while others like worms.

Before recess the students worked on a ‘getting to know you’ activity. Many students stated that they learned a new name and spoke with someone they have not interacted with before. It was great to watch them become familiar with one another.

After recess we read a fun book called There Were Monkey’s in My Kitchen. Your children were captivated by this comical book and I encourage you to ask them about it. Ask them who was on the roof at the end of the book.

As Tuesdays is book exchange in the library. Your child came home with one book this week. Please remember to bring this book back next Tuesday so they can take out a new one. Next week I will do my best to ensure grade 2’s loan at least one book they are able to read and one you can read with them. Grade 1’s are getting into routine and adjusting to becoming young readers. When grade 1’s are ready, they will be coming home with a book they can read.

We did our first journal entry today! It was a free write and everyone had something to write about; What an eager group of students! They all seemed to enjoy the summer whether travelling to China, travelling to Vancouver Island, spending time at the local beaches or getting wet at a splashdown.

The children were very tired by the end of the day. The last 15 minutes of class were spent outside getting some vitamin D.

That is all for now. Enjoy the rest of your week and we’ll see you on Tuesday!

Jen