Good Morning Everyone!
What a wonderful full week we just had!
We ended our winter unit with some fun letters to Charlie Crow telling him how much fun winter is ( I forgot to take a picture but will next week). The children always enjoy writing if they have the pleasure of doing some art afterwards. The writing was very well done, they are all definitely on their way to becoming independent thinkers and independent writers. Keep practicing writing at home in the form of writing letters to family members, making comics and then writing dialogue are two ways that encourage the practice of writing without making it feel too daunting.

On Wednesday we began our new unit...the Penguin unit. They really are the cutest of animals. Whenever we start a unit on anything one of the things we do is write all the things that we already know about the penguin, we work on prior knowledge. To facilitate this I gave all the children three sticky notes and they all had to write first three things that they knew and they shared it with the entire group...then they wrote on their own. You should see how much they already know...and then they thought of things that they still want to learn about....I wonder.....

On Thursday we talked about where in the world Penguins live. We looked at a Globe and we looked at a flat map...and we discovered that penguins only live south of the equator. Most of them live in the Antarctica, but some are found in Africa, New Zealand and the Australian areas. The children created their own map and put their penguins in the appropriate areas. Their maps are coming along wonderfully!!

In math:
The grade ones are continuing to work on fact families...me2)mbers of the same family. They are rolling dice and making number stories, they are looking at really identifying the differences between the adding, minusing and equals symbols. We will be working on our adding and subtracting to ten for the next few months.

The grade twos are working on memorizing their number facts to 24. They should be doing some daily practice on reviewing their strategies. They have learned their doubles, doubles plus one, number in the middle, 8, 9 and tens strategies, counting on, plus one, and plus or minus zero strategies. Continue practicing them all. They are to decide which one works the best for them when they are doing their work books. The more they practice their basic facts the easier it will be for them when they start their double digit adding and subtracting.

Thank you:
1) To all the parents who drove for skating on Friday. We had so much fun! The kids were all so well behaved and so patient. I was impressed with how many times they fell and how many times they got up and continued skating with smiles on their faces.We have three more sessions of skating to go. A few children did forget their carseats, their helmets, their mittens, etc. Please write the skating dates down on your calendars so you dont forget!

2) To the parents who have already sent in items for our GOURMET basket. Every year the school holds a huge fundraiser in the form of our GALA. It is so much fun to go to and the work that Kelly (Maggies mom) and her team do to decorate and set up for the event is amazing. It is a truly a magical event to go to. During this event there are many things set up to bid on in the silent auction. Each class is responsible for a "basket" that is auctioned off. It is the hope that all families are able to provide an item for our basket (but I understand also if you have felt stretched at this time)...Our basket is a fun one...there are so many things that can be brought in from yummy pastas, to cook books and bowls and wine and chocolate...its all gourmet to me!!

3) To Karen and Jo (calebs and caspers moms) who worked on our platter. During the auction the platter that we worked on in class is auctioned off. It is finished now, Michelle (Theron's mom) has picked it up and will be bringing it to the school on Monday for everyone to look at.
From the picture she sent me, it is beautiful! During the Gala you will have the opportunity to bid on the platter. Anyone who gets this platter will have a classic work of art from Division 12!! Hope to see everyone at the Gala on February 19th. 

Coming up:
1) Wednesday February 3rd, Arts Umbrella (the Van Go) program will be coming to our school and we will be participating in the creation of some great art from recess to lunch. I am always so excited when we get such talented instructors to come in and share their knowledge with us! I am hoping to see some amazing creations from our talented bunch.
2) Friday, February 5th...I have an appt in the morning but will be back to school in the afternoon for our skating session. So for all the parents who committed to driving, I will be there and hope you will be too.

Have a great Sunday and I will see everyone on Monday to bring in our new month of February. And the burning question.....will the groundhog see his shadow??? or not???
teri

Peter Simms won principal for the day at the Gala. On Friday he came in and read to the children. Thank you Mr. Sims.

The start of our penguin unit...with what we already know about Penguins. We really know a lot!!

One last thing.....
If you have any baby food jars, or you know where to get them. I would love a class set of them. I would like to make some penguin snow globes and need 24 of the smaller ones. (I will take the big ones as well, if you have them)

Good rainy morning everyone!!!
I think you have to be a duck to want to go outside today...well up here in the northshore anyway!
Wow, it is teaming down!! Thank goodness for rain boots, and slickers...the essentials of every Vancouver resident. I hope everyone finds time to get out there and get the fresh air in their lungs and exercise their legs. I plan to do the Rice Lake walk with all the dog lovers out there!! Maybe I'll see you there!! hahah

A big thank you to everyone who came to our student led conferences! We had one hundred percent of the students show up!!! The children were sooo proud to show their work to you and share all their successes and growth with you. I loved the way all the parents talked to their children and complimented them and cheered them on. It was two days of pure joy for me. I loved being able to interrupt for a few minutes (sometimes leading to 15 minutes) and looking into your child's eyes as I spoke to them. Those were some wonderful moments for me!

Another big thank you...all the skating forms are in and boy do we have a lot of volunteers for driving. It will be so much fun for everyone. So our first skating session is this coming up Friday. We will all meet in the classroom for 100 and leave as soon as attendance is taken. If you have signed up to drive, please be there...I have sent forms for all parents to fill out if they are driving. Only fill out the form, if you havent already done so for this school year. I put one in your child's mailbox in the events you need one. If you dont, just give it back to me. All children need to bring their carseats (unless you have already arranged with me to borrow one), their skates (unless you have to rent them), appropriate clothing, mittens, hats and helmets (if you have one). We are all looking forward to our skating sessions!

These last few weeks were all about winter. Starting next week we will be continuing winter, but in the Antarctica...and with our special little bird friends, the Penguin!! If you have any books or material that you would like to share with us, please send it along with your child's name on it. I cant wait to start our Penguin unit!!!

With that have a great day.
I will see you on Monday!
Teri

Our wonderful writing!

How would it be like if you lived in a snow globe???

Good Morning,
We had a wonderful week of winter last week.
We wrote stories about winter, poetry about winter, drew pictures about winter, but we especially had fun reading a story about a family who lived in a snowglobe. Then we wrote about how we would feel if we lived in a snowglobe. The children had many creative responses to this topic. They are getting to be such great writers! They are being encouraged to use the words that they know from their spelling words that are sent home to them every Monday in their writing as using the words again and again correctly commits it to memory. That is why it is important (especially for the grade ones) that they practice their spelling words every day. I have been very pleased with their efforts and attitude when it comes to their reading and writing tasks! We will spend one more week on winter writing and activities (as it is a shortened week) and then we will start our penguin unit. I think we (I for sure) are very excited to be starting this unit!!

This week the grade two's had an opportunity to make a winter soup to share. It was a unique soup with coconut milk, apples, bananas and potatoes and curry. Everyone tried the soup and I must say how pleased I was that about 50 percent of the class said they loved it and wanted more. About 3 children said they liked it, but didnt want any more and then the rest said, "not fond of it". I always encourage the testing of the different items that we make, but do not force anyone to eat it all up. It takes many tries before our little taste buds and brain realizes we love something.

On Thursday Nikoo (from Spec) joined us and the children learned about super foods and what kind of super powers these foods would give us. They also did a little taste test of these foods. Your child should have come home with a sheet that they worked on with Nikoo. We are very lucky to have Nikoo come in and share her expertise and knowledge with us.

Reminders:
1) If you haven't signed up for a student led conference and you do want to have one please do so on Monday, the sign up is outside my door. Wednesdsay, Jan 20th and Thursday, Jan 21st are early dismissal days. The children will be lined up and ready to go at 200pm. If you are late (and this is a general rule for always) your child might be waiting in the office, so go check there.
2) Most of the skating forms are in and we have lots of drivers for most dates, so thank you for volunteering, I will let you know if we are short on any days. We can't wait to start skating. You will be very impressed at the improvement that they make over the course of four skating experiences.
3) Next Friday the 22nd is a Professional Day. The teachers will be looking at the new curriculum.

With that have a happy Sunday and enjoy the pictures of their work.
Teri

Theron and Leah begin a village...on free play Friday...this was just the beginning. You should have seen the finished product!

The grade ones write about a melting snowman while the grade twos made soup. They all worked independently. Very impressive

On Wednesday, Vibodh's mom, Kalyani came in and made snowmen with all the children. They are so cute! Thank you!

Our snowflake poetry...it was our first attempt at writing our own poetry. Was a struggle for some...but they did a great job!

On the Friday that I was away, the children made these adorable snowmen with the substitute, who by the way said this class was the best class she has every subbed for!!!

Happy New Years!!!
It's 2016....wow...time flies when you are having fun!
A big welcome back to everyone. I hope you all had a great holiday vacation and a great first week of school. It was wonderful to see everyone and get hugs and smiles as the children got back into the groove of things. I think they have all grown...three weeks later and they look so tall!!

We had a great first week. The children were settled and were very keen to get started on all of our new units. This last week we looked at making resolutions...for the classroom and for at home. The kids did a great job of making their resolutions. We are hoping that they will last for the entire school year!!! We all also spent the week talking about winter, signs of winter, snow, coldness, what we can do in the snow and in winter. Every day we spent chunks of time writing about winter and doing some winter art. We are transforming our classroom from a BAT classroom into a winter classroom...all the better for the little penguins who will be joining us in the middle of January...it will be nice and cold in here when we start studying these adorable, little birds!!

This week in math:
This term the grade twos will be working on strategies for adding and subtraction which will lead us to our double digit adding and subtracting. We will be really focusing on not counting on our fingers when adding simple numbers but to use the strategies of adding and subtracting. What you will see coming home will look simple...but it is in the simplicity of these strategies that I am trying to reinforce to the children that will take away the mystery of adding and subtracting double digits. We are starting with adding zero, plus and minus one, plus two and three...and then going into the strategies of counting on, doubles etc. I will be sending home their work as they complete it.

This term in grade one we will be working on what adding and subtracting means. We will be talking about number stories, looking at equations, what the equal sign means and so on. We will be busy in math learning to add and subtract numbers to ten. Keep practicing counting and printing the numbers without reversals at home.

Reminders:
1) Please send back the report card envelope as soon as you can. We reuse them for every term. Sign the back first, keep the report card inside, that is yours.

2) Please fill out the skating forms asap. Send the correct money for the four sessions. If you need skates, please make sure to write in the correct size. We need plenty of drivers, and skate lacers, so we hope you can come. Yes dads, this is your time to shine!! The children love it when their dads can come and skate with them. Dont worry if your child cant skate at this time, we find after four sessions, they can!!! It is pretty amazing!

With that, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Hope everyone is healthy...I am getting there and will be in for sure on Monday!
Take care and enjoy your sunday!
teri

Our cooperative mural that we are working on!!!

Happy New Year!! Come read our resolutions!

Our lovely little lacey snowmen!