The beginning of the last week of school before the Winter Holidays was dominated by preparations for our Holiday Concert performances. We rehearsed many times, both the song "Tout ce dont j'ai besoin" and the dance piece to "Tout va être OK". I was really proud of the kids, they put on a wonderful show.

In math, we did a story problem that could be expressed as an equality equation. We also made ridiculously long "math sentences" (aka equations), repeating the "=" over and over again. I showed an example on the board with 6 that went something like this: 2+4 = 3+3 = 6 = 1+5 = 0+6 = 7-1 = 6. At first many of the students thought I was making a joke and that this wasn't a "real" math sentence. But when I challenged them to tell me if what I had written was true, they agreed that yes, the statement was true. And I explained that, in math, if it's true then it's real math. We read the equation all together, both backwards and forwards. Then I asked the kids to each write their own long math sentence. The kids each chose a number to work with, a number they were comfortable with. Once done, they wrote good copies of their equations on long strips of paper. We glued the ends together, because the sentences could be read around the loop over and over again. Then the kids got into partners and practiced reading (or singing!) their math sentences to each other. When ready, they made videos of each other reading their math sentences, using iPads. In the New Year, we will watch some of these videos to review the concept.

Our sight words had the sound "o" in them, made with au/eau. We got in a bit of Writer's Workshop and Daily 5. The other big activity after the Holiday Concert was an art project to consolidate the body part names that we have been reviewing. We started by singing "Alouette, Gentil Alouette" to go over the body part names. Then, in partners, the kids traced each other's outlines onto large paper. Each student painted their body with tempera paint - I invited them to paint however they wished, no need to be representational. They wrote labels of body parts and after cutting out their paper bodies they glued on the labels. 

 We had a lot of fun with this project, and the final art works will go up in the hall for the New Year!

Lastly, thanks so much to all of you for your generous gifts, and here's wishing you a relaxing and joyful holiday!

Sorry it's been so long since my last instalment, it's been a busy time with Progress Reports to prepare and the holidays approaching. I'll recap our activities over the last 2 weeks.

We continue to write and read aloud our stories in Writer's Workshop. After talking about setting and actions, we moved on to talk about characters in our stories. We brainstormed a new list of possibilities for characters. We did an art activity, drawing part of a character and then passing along the paper for the next person to add onto ("Exquisite Corpse"). Afterwards, each student received the character whose head they had drawn, with body parts drawn by different people. I put the students into pairs and asked them to tell their partner (in French) about their character. Students were then invited to write their next story about that character.

This past week we have been talking about how a good story has a problem and a solution. When we tell a story around the circle with the talking piece, we try to introduce a problem and then create a solution. 

In Daily 5 we are now doing Read to Self, Partner Reading, Listening to Reading (on headphones along with the book) and Word Work. The kids have been using iPads for their Word Work, using an app called French Words for Kids. This is an excellent app for teaching phonics, reading, spelling and vocabulary, check this link for a review: http://frenchappsforkids.blogspot.ca/2013/02/french-words-for-kids-montessori.html.

I talked to the class about how to hold a pencil and why it matters. After assessing how each student holds their pencil, I handed out "pencil grips" to some of them. The most common problem is the "thumb wrap", so those kids are training their thumbs to be in contact with the pencil with the help of a pencil grip. 

Our weekly sight words were with the sound on/om and then in/im/ain. We practiced the sight words by saying them with the phonic gestures we have been learning, by writing them and by making sentences with them. We did drills with hard and soft "c" and "g" as well. 

In math we have been working with equations using "greater than" (>) and "less than" (<). We looked at a balance scale with more cubes on one side to illustrate the idea. Later we put 2 colours of cubes on each side, to illustrate equations like 4+2 > 3+1. The same balance scale analogy was used as we moved into equations of equality. In grade 1 students often think that "=" means "the answer is...", so we did activities to get across how the symbol "=" means "is the same as" and that a math equation or math sentence can be read forwards and backwards and tells about relationships between numbers. To show an equality equation we put 3 red cubes and 2 black cubes on one side of the balance scale, and 1 red cube and 4 black cubes on the other side. The scale was balanced with the same weight on either side and we represented this as 3+2 = 1+4. We followed this up with equality equations with an unknown number that the kids had to deduce. We also took a break from this rather heavy math to play Dreidel for Chanukah, and got more familiar with the concept of "half" while we were at it.

In science we have started a unit on "Living Things" which focuses on the needs and characteristics of plants and animals, and environmental stewardship. We began by talking about what we already know about. We made 5 posters, with a section contributed by each table, that use drawings and words to tell what we know about the needs of plants, the characteristics of plants, the needs of animals, the characteristics of animals, and how to protect the environment. We went over all that we know already, and then began developing questions for what we'd like to find out more about. 

We have a collection of simple books about plants and animals, so our next activity had each student choose a book, read it over, and then draw and write about what they found most interesting in the book. Each student presented their drawing and writing to the class. 

In order to talk about animal characteristics, we need to have the vocabulary for body parts. So we reviewed those words by making a class book. For each body part, 2 kids worked together to make a collage of magazine pictures representing it. The pages were bound together into a book. 

We've also been working hard to prepare a dance number for the Holiday Concert next week. The kids did free dance movements to the tune "Tout va être OK" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaTI6VP5QQg). Then we analyzed the song to identify slow parts, building parts, and high energy parts. We decided that the slow parts would be floor movements, the building parts would be walking movements, and the high energy parts would be stationary jumping movements. Then I split the class into 3 groups, and each group came up with movements for one of those moods. I made a video as each student presented their idea for a dance move, and then I put their dance movements together into a dance piece which we have been practicing. I can't wait to see them perform it in front of an audience!

Lastly, we made gingerbread cookies for Christmas. Thanks to the moms who came and made it all possible! 

Cookies will be coming home on Monday!

This week in Writer's Workshop we brainstormed action words and then added drawings to illustrate our list of actions. We did the same with place words. These illustrated lists are up for the kids to refer to as they write their stories in French, to spark ideas and help them include actions and places in their stories. 

We have also been focusing on vocabulary for asking questions, so that during Author's Chair (when the kids read their writing to the class) the audience can ask their questions in French. We are also talking about the reading strategy of "asking questions" as we read, which is modelled by the puppet "Rolande qui se demande" (Roland who wonders). Rolande joins us for read alouds and asks questions periodically, and gets very excited when the kids ask questions too! 

We have been learning about hard and soft "c" and "g" in the past few weeks. The sight words we're learning have these two changeable letters in them. We sorted words beginning with "c" into 2 groups ("c" as "s" and "c" as "k") and eventually came up with the rules for when "c" is hard or soft. I asked the kids to help me make up a story for why "c" changes its sound. This led to a puppet show with letters as characters, in which "c" doesn't know its sound and his/her friends (letters e, i, y and a, o, u, l, r) help "c" decide which sound to make. The kids helped perform the puppet show with the same story line this week for the letter "g". 

In math we have been focusing on subtraction and how it relates to addition. We have been tackling story problems like: Daniel has 6 Pokemon cards. He buys some more and now he has 13. How many cards did he buy? This problem suggests the "think addition" strategy of subtraction, in which we ask: "6 plus what equals 13?" Our previous work with math fact families is helping kids translate this question into 13 - 6 = ? . We have also been using number lines to represent these questions. 

We have started having weekly addition/counting centre time, in which 5 groups rotate through 5 centres. I plan to continue this weekly centre time focused on number sense throughout the year, while we explore other areas of the math curriculum like measurement, patterning, probability, geometry...

WRITE THE FACT FAMILY

PUT A NUMBER OF 2-SIDED COUNTERS IN A BOX AND SHAKE IT TO FIND DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS THAT MAKE THAT NUMBER

MATCH THE NUMBERS ONTO THE 100 FRAME

A word about birthday party invitations: if you plan to invite all the kids in our class to your child's birthday party, feel free to send those invitations to school to be handed out. If you're planning a birthday party with some but not all of the students invited, please do not send invitations to school - it will lead to hurt feelings. I can assist by forwarding an email invitation to some parents if contacting other parents presents a difficulty. Thanks!

We had a lovely visit to Kensington Gardens on Thursday. Mélaine, the staff person who runs the French Club (and hails from France) greeted us as we arrived and then we joined the French Club members in a large activity room. The students and residents all introduced themselves, and then the kids sang the 3 songs we have been practicing. We conversed together some more and then we watched a couple of short videos about the lives of francophone kids in different parts of the world (Mélaine had these ready to share with us). Then we said our goodbyes and walked back to Lord Lansdowne.

We are now finishing up our 11th week at school. I will briefly outline our activities over the 9 week hiatus in blog entries.

In writer's workshop, the kids have been learning to tell and write simple stories in French. We had a visiting storyteller, Agnes Salmon, come and teach us rhymes and a story, Loupscaroux. The kids and I practiced telling the story with gestures and on a subsequent visit we told the story back to Agnes. We have also been telling made-up stories around the circle, passing a talking piece and having each child add the next sentence of the story. When the kids put their stories into writing, they use invented spelling and known sight words. We have looked at the importance of leaving spaces between words and the need for punctuation. The students are still very keen to read their stories to the class each day. After each reading, the other students are invited to ask questions or make comments. Currently, I am highlighting the vocabulary for asking questions in French. We are shifting over now to the expectation that any comment or question on the carpet happens in French.

Our alphabet review is up to the letter "t". We have learned the gestures for most of the phonemes (sounds in words) and we practice reading with those gestures in a group. We continue to have weekly sight words which we read often, make sentences with, and copy down at the end of the week. So far these have highlighted a vowel sound each week, including é and è. This week the weekly sight words highlight the letter "c" and we are learning about hard and soft "c". Together we made up a story about how the letter "c" is confused and needs help from his friends (a, e, i, o, u, y, l, r) to know whether he makes the sound "s" or the sound "k." We are learning to tell the story aloud together using puppet-like props for each letter.

We also have been singing regularly: "Merci maman la terre" by Arthur L'aventurier (available on itunes, on his Les saisons en ballon album); "Tout ce dont j'ai besoin"(a translation I did of Raffi's "All I Really Need", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eerjiaH8dRE); and Les squelettes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CKMaRwicSg). These are the songs we will be singing at Kensington Gardens for the French Club there.

I read storybooks aloud to the kids almost every day, and we have been focusing on making connections as readers. I use a puppet, "Fleur Connecteur," to model the way we make connections between texts and other texts, between texts and our lives, and between texts and the wider world. In Daily 5 time the kids have been doing "read to self" with success. Each student has a blue bag with 2 levelled readers, which they read during that time. They are free to choose new readers when they get proficient at the ones they have, at the level where they have some fluency. The home reading program is off to a good start, thanks to the parents helping me photocopy all those books!

In math we have done a lot of counting, by 2s, 5s and 10s to 100. We did another unit that used a storybook as the jumping off point, this one was called "Grandma's necklaces." Through it we explored skip-counting and patterning. We delved into doubling, and odd and even numbers. We have been fortunate to have a math coach, Julia Atkins, visiting us regularly to support our investigations. The kids are now gaining confidence with the French vocabulary surrounding addition and subtraction, as we work orally to make math sentences. We have used ten frame images to establish the benchmarks of 5 and 10, meaning that the kids are learning to relate the single digit numbers to 5 and 10. Developing this number sense is a key goal in grade 1, so that students have a richer knowledge of 7, for example, as 2 more than 5 and 3 less than 10.

We have also had our Collections days, celebrating the 20th, 30th and 40th days of school so far. The kids work with counting mats that have them group their items and then count the groups. So for 40, for example, they made groups of 5 and counted to determine that there are 8 groups of 5 in 40. This activity helps them get comfortable with unitizing (counting groups as units) which is the basis for place value understanding (knowing that the 1 in 12 represents 1 group of 10).

In social studies, we have been learning about feelings, needs, community, responsibility and respect. We spent time learning the vocabulary around these issues, and sometimes in the morning circle we pass a talking piece and each child lets the class know how they are feeling today. The kids made little books with feeling words and drawings of faces to illustrate these. We established that good feelings are connected to our needs being met, and stressful or uncomfortable feelings are a sign that our needs are not being met. We talked about the meaning of community, and the kids drew and talked about the communities they are a part of (family, classroom, etc.). Then in groups of 3 I asked the kids to create skits, one for each student in the group, that show a situation illustrating a feeling and connecting it to a need. The skits were planned through drawing and by writing a sentence, and then each child was the director of their own skit and wore a special scarf to signify their leadership. The skits were performed for the class, with each director speaking the sentence and then acting it out with their group.

Our big art project in October was making apple doll witches and wizards, which are now proudly displayed in the school foyer.

We also made rubbings of leaves which were added to garlands exploring different kinds of lines.

And this past week, we made poppies from tissue paper to put together a wreath for the Remembrance Day assembly.

Our second week

We continued talking and writing about favourite things, and the students began writing the "good copies" of their sentences. We coloured strips of paper using watercolour paints, and the kids are copying their sentences onto these colourful strips in black pen. We began our review of the letters of the alphabet as well, beginning with a, b and c. For each letter, I review proper (top to bottom) formation of the letter and the students practice in a group on the carpet using small whiteboards. Then we brainstorm together all the French words we know that begin with the letter. Then I give everyone a smallish piece of paper and ask them to write one of the words we came up with and illustrate it. These words and drawings will be posted above the alphabet letters on our classroom walls for the rest of the year. The students also complete a letter formation practice sheet for each letter.

I will be teaching a gesture for each sound in French, which helps develop "phonemic awareness" in young learners. This week we learned the gesture for "ah" and we practiced identifying this sound through use of the gesture in our song "J'adore les tomates" and in a short rhyme with many "ah" sounds. The students read the rhyme several times and completed related exercises asking them to circle "ah" sounds, replace missing words, and re-arrange scrambled lines. We focused on learning a few short sight words: ma, ta, sa, ça, va, a and la.

In Daily 5, we extended our silent "read to self" time to 8 minutes successfully. I had the chance to read individually with each student this week and assess their reading level.

In math, we read a fun story about 8 kids having a sleepover party on a bunk bed, which raises the question of how many ways can 8 kids split into 2 groups, in the top and bottom bunks. I introduced the kids to the "rekenrek" which resembles an abacus but is specifically intended for young kids to help them develop number sense. It has 2 rows of beads, with 5 red and 5 white on top and 5 red and 5 white on the bottom. The structure of the rekenrek encourages kids to use 5 and 10 as benchmarks. I asked the students to find all the ways they could that 8 kids could split into the top and bottom bunks. The rekenrek rows represented the bunks of the bed, and they drew the groupings onto a sheet with a similar image. They were also asked to write a math sentence for each arrangement, such as 5+3=8. Later, the students were asked to complete the same challenge with a number of their choice, to allow for different entry points. Then we played a game in partners where the students represented an arrangement+math sentence and then moved one person up or down the bunk bed ladder and gave the resulting arrangement+math sentence. We continued to sing and play games to review the number names in French. I also introduced to them the "Collection to 100" project which I expect everyone learned about from the green note I sent home on Friday.

In addition to the watercolour painting this week, we did an activity to decorate the plain file folder boxes in which the kids keep their notebooks. They cut images out of magazines and collaged the boxes with them.



So a full week! A couple of housekeeping items: Mme Aradj, who teaches gym to the kids, has asked that they always wear closed running shoes on gym days. Also, at lunchtime there are some items available for purchase from the Milk Program. Milk (2% or chocolate) costs 75 cents, yogourt costs 90 cents and milk-to-go costs $1.25. A cookie is usually provided with each purchase.

And finally, I want to inform you that teachers are stepping up our work-to-rule protocol in response to the latest breakdown in negotiations. The next phase begins Monday September 21 and one of the activities now struck is the updating of classroom blogs and the dissemination of classroom newsletters. Keeping parents well informed is very important to me, but evidently more pressure is necessary at this point for contract negotiations to move forward. So this will be my last post for now. Hopefully the situation will be resolved soon!

How to connect with me

I sent home a calendar today with the kids with the blog URL, so hopefully everyone can access the blog now. With the current work-to-rule situation, we will need to be creative about how to meet and keep in touch. Struck work includes handling any administrative forms (so that packet of forms which many of you returned will be slow to get processed) and any meetings/events outside of school hours (so no Curriculum Night is planned at this point). I would love to gather all of the parent email addresses so that I can be in touch easily by email. Would you please take a moment and send me an email at diane.hamilton@tdsb.on.ca? Let me know who you are and who your child is, and I'll be able to create an email group of the class parents. Thanks!

Also, if ever you would like to meet me in person or chat about anything with regard to your child at school, I can always be found after school in the schoolyard. I have duty every day from 3:30 to 3:44 (14 minutes!) between the tennis courts and the large play structure. I know this timing doesn't work for everyone, but if it works for you please feel free to find me there after school and we can touch base then.

A Delightful First Week

Hello parents and guardians!

Welcome to my newly created blog for room 308 at Lord Lansdowne. I will gradually be building up the content available, adding useful links and photos. I'm excited to explore all the ways this platform can make the activities in our classroom transparent and accessible for all of you.

A word about privacy: I will never be mentioning the names, first or last, of any of my students. I would like to post photos including the students' faces to fully portray life in our classroom. Many of you have signed a media release form that allows this to happen. If you would prefer that your child's face not appear in blog photos, just let me know and I will gladly accommodate your request.

This past week we had a larger class (24), but now we have settled down to 20 students for the year. We focused on "favourite things" as a means to review vocabulary and get to know one another. The students drew their favourite things and labelled their drawings with words. Then we brainstormed categories of favourite things and tackled a couple of categories each day in our Writer's Workshop. For a given category (i.e. colours, animals, sports...) the students gave their preferences and I listed these on the board. Then students wrote the corresponding sentence, such as "Ma couleur préférée est rouge." (My favourite colour is red).  Students are also learning the routine of Writer's Workshop, which includes 10 minutes of writing in silence...a bit challenging, but we're getting there. We also did carpet "games" in which students each spoke the sentences they were writing, either taking turns around the circle or in pairs. We began learning a song called "J'adore les tomates" (I love tomatoes) and I read books aloud each day relating to favourite things and respecting differences. In our morning circle, we began discussing the agreements we will need to keep our classroom friendly, positive and orderly. We have begun making a book of our classroom agreements.

We reviewed the number names through games and a song (Les Nombres de 1 à 20) and reviewed the concepts of addition and subtraction. Then we had a couple of problem-solving sessions, in which the whole class tackled a word problem together. They were asked to draw a picture to represent the problem and give the math sentence that answers the question "Combien?" (How much?). When they were finished the students looked over each other's work and put stickies where they saw something of interest or wanted to ask a question. Then we discussed the solutions and various approaches using the stickies as entry points.

This week was largely just about establishing routines and expectations and creating a positive atmosphere in the classroom. I got to know the kids a bit and they began getting comfortable socially. We have a lovely group!