October 31 - November 4, 2016

Halloween was a lot of fun - I regret I didn't take a moment to take pictures of the kids in their costumes! We finished reading the Scaredy Squirrel book, and then looked more closely at the pages where he lays out 6 different categories of candies.

We talked about the different categories, and I wondered which was their favourite. Then I introduced the word "sondage," which means survey in French. I did a survey, while the kids watched, and found out each of their favourite type of candy.

The next day we came up with a number of interesting survey questions, and six possible answers for each question. These were written on the board. Then each kid chose the question they wanted to ask the class, and created their own survey. Once the question and answers were copied down, they went and asked every other student their question (in French!) and recorded the answers on their survey using tally marks.

Then I showed them how to translate their survey data into a simple bar graph. 

We also celebrated the 40th day at school, again counting and grouping our collections.

We began a new Word Work activity, using plasticine to form the sight words we are learning. These words have the sounds "a" and "e" and "é/è" in them. 

We did another activity as a class where we sorted these words into the 3 categories of vowel sound. We talked about how to find the words on our word wall, and when we might use the word wall. 

We went back to work on our Life Timelines, finishing the drawings and sentences depicting important life events. I showed the kids how to add their ages to a strip of paper, and then add the pictures onto the strip in the correct spot. 

I posted these up on the hallway bulletin board. The kids began presenting their timelines to the class. 

One student commented on the word "ligne" (line) and asked why we didn't hear the G sound. This led to a little side lesson on the French digraph "gn."

October 24-28, 2016

This week held a lot of excitement about preparing for Halloween! We sang "C'est l'Halloween" together (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfmQ5eAQlg), a catchy tune by Matt Maxwell. I read "Frisson Ecureuil se prépare pour l"Halloween," which has Scaredy Squirrel explaining various aspects of the holiday and making his paranoid safety plans.

In Daily 5, we finally added "Listen to Reading" and "Word Work" because the "Read to Self" and "Partner Reading" elements were solid enough. For Listen to Reading, the kids select a story on an iPad to listen to. We use an app that highlights each word as it is read, so it is easy for the kids to read along as they hear the words read.

In Word Work, the activities will keep changing. We started off with a partner activity using the sight words we have covered. The partners each draw a word, they read the word, and then they try to make up a sentence that uses the 2 words (this last part was invented by the kids, and makes a funny ending to an otherwise somewhat dry activity!). 

So now during our reading periods, the 4 activities are going on simultaneously. We do them in 10 minute blocks, and the kids chose each time which activity they will do. This gives me time to read one on one or with read with small groups.

Early in the week we took part in a school-wide activity, giving feedback about our playground. This process happened last year as well, and is a way of gathering data about the kids' needs and wants, leading up to the major renovations planned for our outdoor space. We looked at a map of the playground, and talked about which places needed improving. Then each child drew that place for them, and some added words.

The next day, with the help of parent volunteers, the kids affixed their tags to the places in the playground that they wanted to be better. 

We began working with the material from the Life Timeline homework. We practised the French vocabulary for the common events on their timelines, and then they got into partners and told their partner a few basics about their lives.

Then the students started making larger illustrated timelines of their lives. For common events, I showed examples of a drawing and a sentence for each on the board. The kids copied some of these, and made some different ones for events unique to them. 

In math, we moved on to subtraction with a number line. We again made a big number line on the carpet, and our dragon puppet friend asked which way he should jump for subtraction. We did some examples together using a number to subtract, and then the kids tried it on their own.

We also worked more on learning the decade number names and counting to 100. We also started playing a new game, similar to tic-tac-toe, to practice addition and subtraction.

We also met baby Tagore and his mom, in our Roots of Empathy session. It was very exciting!

Finally, we made ghosts as Halloween decorations (and as puppets, since the kids immediately began to animate them once they were made!). 

We made cards for 2 students on the Friday: we celebrated a birthday, and said goodbye to a student whose family is moving away. We will miss you!

October 17-21, 2016

We continued to talk about our families this week, and families in general. We read a book about a family in which the mom and dad live separately, and we read about staying with grandparents.

The kids presented their drawings of their families to the class. We used a document projector to make the drawings nice and big so everyone could see them well. Each student explained their drawing in French: "Here is my mom.", "Here is my dad.", etc. 

We learned 3 more phonics gestures (f, s and ch) and our words of the week were with the sound "è". We looked at the various letters and letter combinations that produce this sound: è, ê, ai and et. In our Daily 5 reading time, we added "word work" and "listening to recorded reading" as activities. We talked through expectations for both and practiced doing them independently. I began reading with the kids in leveled groups, while the rest of the class does their Daily 5 activities. 

We kept on telling the story of Grandmother's Old Fashioned Bed. We told it together in a circle, using gestures throughout the story to cue the words for ourselves. Then the kids wrote about their favourite part of the story using the scaffolded writing process we have been learning to use. 

We sang a new song, about Terry Fox. Thanks for sending in those donations! The kids ran valiantly through the mist and rain on Friday. Find the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwpzXxU7VWk

We continued to learn about number lines. Students learned different ways to show an addition sentence (equation) on a number line. Many students still use fingers or counters to find the sum, and then draw it on the number line. They are still in the process of learning that the number line itself can be used as a tool to find sums. We did a contest, using a stopwatch, to see which took less time to add, counting on fingers or drawing on a number line. The number line won, but not by much. But I showed the students how a number line could easily answer 27 + 36 - try doing that one on your fingers!

We counted the 30 objects in our collections on the 30th day of school. We counted them in groups of 2, 5 and 10. 

We also used the 30 objects to make addition sentences with a sum of 30.

We worked on solutions to another math story problem. This question involved addition, and I encouraged to kids to show their addition sentence on a number line as well.

We had our first Roots of Empathy session. Ruth Van der Weerd is our instructor and she told the kids about our planned visit from baby Tagore and his mother next week. We talked about what baby Tagore and his mother might feel and experience as they visit our classroom, and about how to keep the visit safe and positive. She asked the kids to predict what baby Tagore might be able to do at his age of about 3 months. We learned a welcoming song that we will sing every time baby Tagore and his mother come to visit. We await their first visit with eager anticipation!