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Thank you to all of you who came skating last week. The children
had grit and did not give up. I was so proud of all of them! It was
a long time for them - Especially for those who were out there for
their first time. As I mentioned in previous posts, we would love to
have all of you join us with our skating session, however, you need
to get your Level 3 Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) done. It is free
and it sometimes can get completed in 24 hours (sometimes it takes
longer) Volunteers – The Ottawa Catholic School Board . The children
are excited for our next session, Monday, February 2 at 2:00 pm.
Last week the children were so excited to participate in Jungle
Sport. Thank you to the St. Cecilia School Council who organized
and paid for the event. I hope you heard all about it.
counting by 1's, 10's and 5's. Now we are counting by 2's. We are getting
close to the 100th day of grade 1! It is very exciting!
Valentine's Day
Thank you to those of you who sent in an empty Kleenex box. We are
only missing another 4 or 5 boxes. The children are excited to make
our Love Goblins for Valentine's Day! I will send home a new class
list for the children to write their Valentines. Please send a Valentine
to all the classmates. It takes time but it is more practice for printing,
organizing and reading. We will distribute them next Friday, Feb. 13.
Language
Reading - Please continue to make reading a priority. I can
tell you are. I am so proud of them and they are so proud
of themselves. I am assessing each of them individually and
noticing that all of them are improving. As the children read,
we want them looking at pictures and enjoying them. We also
want them to laugh while they are reading. That shows that
they understand the book. Many of you are making use of
the Home Reading Books thatI have been sending home.
Please help your child with a notein the agenda if he/she has not been exchanging his/her books.
Last week, I sent home a retell of our week’s story, Jen’s Best
Gift Ever. Take a look at your child’s work. I also included t
he story. You can see what parts your child included and
missed. I also sent home some sentence writing. I am
impressed with all of their progress. I hope you are just as proud.
Writing
The writing process is slower than the reading process for most
students. Most of the students are emerging. Some students are
learning to add more detail in their writing. You can practice
encouraging this at home. Most are writing exactly what they
are told. For example, if I give them a sentence starter, they will
use it over and over again. They sometimes ask me “Howmany sentences do we have to do?”.
This is great but as the year progresses, we want them to become
more creative in their writing and maybe write more than what
is asked. We are currently learning to write in recount form.
They are becoming more familiar with it. This writing form is
explicitly broken down and they are using the linking words:
First, Second, Third, Next, Then and Last/Finally.
They also need to include an opening and
closing sentence. This week, they will learn to use a checklist to
help them remember all the features we are learning.
I will include some samples below.
Math
We continue to work on decomposing and composing numbers.
Next week, we will begin to dive into 3D geometry. We will learn
about the solids and begin to build structures with them.
Science
In science, we continue to learn from Mystery Doug. The children
are also learning to ask great science questions. We will be learning
about Structures and Materials.
As always, please write a note in your child's agenda or call me at
the school if you have any questions or concerns. Looking forward
to another great week!
Sincerely,
Giovanna Smith 😊
