Nov 29- Dec 3
We are at the beginning of an exciting month. Students are all keen to share ideas about the holidays and what it means to them. We have also been showing our learning in a variety of ways. Here are some of the highlights:
As a part of language arts, students listened to the story A Promise is a Promise by Robert Munch and Michael Kusugak. This connected with our learning about the arctic as well as to understanding how other indigenous leaders tell stories for children to learn and keep them safe from the natural world around them. After listening to it, students worked as a class to sequence the story and then retell it using their puppets that they made the day before. Students were able to take home their puppets and could share telling the story to the family.
In Math, we continued our exploration of larger and smaller numbers by working with the base ten blocks and then recording the numbers in our Math journals. Students are developing a strong sense of what the numbers represent and how they compare with each other. We also learned a great card game to work with bigger and smaller numbers. We call it two digit face off. It is a two player game that you can play with your child at home. Take a regular deck of cards and remove the 10’s and face cards. Shuffle the remaining cards and divide them evenly between the two players. Each player turns over 2 cards and tries to make the highest number they can (ex - a 2 and a 7 can make 27 or 72). Once each player has made their highest number, they compare their numbers and the person with the highest number gets all 4 cards. If the players turn over the same exact numbers, they put those cards aside and draw again and the winner of that round gets all 8 cards. Keep playing until all the cards have been shown and then shuffle the cards you have won and continue playing. The game ends when one person has no cards left. We also counted another collection. Students are becoming very proficient with their counting in both accuracy, strategy and recording using numbers, pictures and words.
In Social Studies this week, we have been focused on learning more about the arctic, particularly Nunavut. We watched several videos and looked a pictures of the land around Iqaluit to get a better understanding of what it is like to live in the north. Students then worked to create a visual journal page to capture their understanding of the animals that live in the north.
As we are getting colder weather and are getting closer to the holidays, we decided that we wanted to create some special decorations to brighten up our school. We created Chritmas card ornaments. After the holidays, if you are finished with your old Christmas Cards, I would appreciate having the picture cover sent in for the next time this art is created. They are now hanging around the school for the next two weeks, but will come home for the holidays.
With the arrival of the colder weather, I would like to remind parents that we go outside several times each day. Students need to come with appropriate winter wear every day and perhaps have a couple pairs of mittens in case one set gets too wet to wear. It is also a great help if their name can be inside each item of clothing as many students have similar boots, snow pants, and mittens. We can avoid some confusion with your help.
We are so excited for our coulee trip on Monday. We plan to go and enjoy the new fallen snow, so please dress your child in layers on that day so that he/she can stay warm. As we will be sitting for a period of time, snow pants are essential. Please also ensure that your child has a snack that can fit into their pocket as we will be gone all morning and will be taking our recess snack with us on the trip. Thank you so much to the parents who have volunteered to accompany us on this outing.
Upcoming Events
Monday Dec 6 - Coulee Walk and Home Reading exchange
Wednesday Dec 8 - Library
Thursday Dec 9 - Home Reading exchange
