Hi everyone!

I thought it would be best to blog today so that you’re ready for the upcoming weeks.  I hope you had a fabulous family break!  The 100^th day / Valentine’s craziness was sure fun, and the kids had a blast going through the different centers! Here’s some pictures from that day:

 

We have a field trip coming up! To be honest this one kind of snuck up on me, as we were waiting for confirmation of times.  We are going to Home Hardware on the West side! This is an awesome field trip put on by the wonderful staff of the store. It goes along with our Building Things unit in Science, and the students will be taken around to different centers of the store.  This field trip will be on Tuesday March 4^th, from 2:05-3:05.  We need 4-5 drivers to help get us there! If you are available that afternoon, please let me know asap and I will sign you up! Because this field trip goes right until 3:05, we will be a few minutes late getting back to MMH. 

 

March is the time for another reporting period, as well as what we call Celebrations of Learning.  This year, Celebrations of Learning will be throughout the entire school.  On Thursday, March 13^th from 5:30-7:30, you’ll be asked to sign up for a time slot to come and see your child’s Grade 1 work. This is not a parent/ teacher interview, but more of an ‘open house’ in which your Grade 1 student will have work to share.  That’s why it’s called a Celebration of Learning!  March Report cards will be sent home on Friday, March 14^th. 

If after the Celebration of Learning and reading the report card, you would still prefer a more traditional 20 minute parent teacher interview, please let me know and we can arrange for that on Friday March 21^st.  Information on how to sign up for a time slot for Celebrations of Learning using an online system called Conference Manager will be sent home closer to the date. 

Don’t forget to check out the important March dates!

I’m excited to see the kids tomorrow!  Have a good day!

-Anna Tsentouros

 

February

Tuesday February 25^th- After School Skate
Tuesday February 25^th-Hot Lunch Gr. 1-3
Wednesday February 26^th- Hot Lunch Gr. 4-5
Wednesday February 26^th- Pink Shirt Day!

MARCH

Tues. March 4^th- Home Hardware Field Trip!
Wed. March 12^th- School Council Mtg 6:30
Thurs. March 13^th- Celebration of Learning 5:30-7:30
Fri. March 14^th- Report Cards sent home
Mon. March 17^th- Happy St. Pat’s Day!
Mon. March 17^th- Spirit Assembly @ 12:30- Wear Green
Tues. March 18^th- FNMI Guest speaker
Thurs. March 22^nd- Parent/ Teacher interviews in evening
Fri. March 21^st- Parent/ Teacher interviews No School

Hi everyone!

Just a quick blog post about some up and coming things happening in Grade 1. 

A reminder that Hot lunch orders are due on Tuesday February 11^th, and students are asked to wear Red and White for Valentine’s Day AND to support Canada in the Olympics on Thursday, February 13^th! We’ll have a spirit assembly that day at 12:30. 

Great job with your first week of Spelling!  It looks like the students enjoyed their activities.  Watch for the next list coming home tomorrow!

Students will be bringing home a class list on Monday for Valentine’s!  We’ll share and open our valentine’s on Friday morning after the 100 day centers. 

Here are some notes from the Town Hall meeting as well as from the last School Council Meeting. Thanks Kriss Guenter for submitting them!

“The topic was "What Strategies can schools, parents, and the community develop to have all students feel included in the school community?" We talked about what it means to include the community into the schools and the school into the community. It was nice to hear how many ways each level of school provides supports for these areas. Then we all took an online poll to decide what we thought was most important. The poll should be up on the district website by next week. Will be interesting to see the results. Most the topics had to do with the relationships between School, Parent, and community.

School Council Meeting:

- Looking into a Boys Choir for grades 3, 4, and 5 to Start up.
- Already taking ideas for next year’s Gala
- The fundraiser for spring will be a skip - a - thon. It will be a part of the PE skipping unit. More information will come.
- The projected student population for 2014/ 2015 is 680 students.
- Pre K is full for next year, but you can still register to be on the waiting list.
- The Council needs parent volunteers for the Spring Dance in April. Please contact me if you can help.
- The University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College will be in the class rooms at MMH. They will be students from Education 2500, Professional Semester 1, 2, and 3. Also Special Needs Assistants who will be assigned to specific students with specific learning needs.
- Alberta School Council Association Conference and 2014 AGM is April 25-27 at the Delta Edmonton South.

The next Council meeting is February 12th at 6:30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. We may have a Fundraising committee meeting following the Council meeting, anyone interested in helping with the Spring Dance, or planning of a possible Paul Bryant farewell celebration. Hope to see some new faces!”

If you’re travelling for the upcoming break or just enjoying your time at home, I hope you have a wonderful time with your families! 

Thank you!

-Anna

Tuesday February 11^th- After School Skate
Wednesday February 12^th- New Winter Walk Day!
Thursday February 13^th- Spirit Assembly @ 12:30- Dress in Red and White! Go Canada!
Friday February 14^th- Happy Valentine’s Day!
Friday February 14^th- 100^th day of school celebration
February 17^th- 21^st- Family Break No school
Tuesday February 25^th- After School Skate
Tuesday February 25^th-Hot Lunch Grades 1-3
Wednesday February 26^th- Hot Lunch Grades 4-5
Wednesday February 26^th- Pink Shirt Day!

Hi everyone!

I can’t believe we’ve started the month of February!!  I think reality really hit when I had the chance to listen to all the students read from their book boxes last week- WOW! Our reading has really taken off!! They’re SO proud to share.  I love that we’ve got a class of students who love reading! Great job on keeping up with home reading as well! 

We’ve been learning about the OLYMPICS!!  Every day we learn about a new Olympic Sport, and we’re going to follow Canada’s progress when the Olympics begin. We’ve got quite the patriotic little group here, I must say!! Each time we watch a video clip of Canada there’s lots of cheers. 

On Monday, we are starting our spelling program! Spelling is a bit tricky in Grade 1, as it’s usually easy for students to remember to sound out words/ remember rules when they’re practising their spelling, but transferring that knowledge to their daily writing often takes time.  The spelling program we are beginning is a little different than the traditional spelling programs you may have seen in the past.  Students will be bringing home a spelling scribbler on MONDAYS, and it will be returned to the school on FRIDAYS.  Here is the letter that will be inside the scribbler:

 

February 3, 2014

Here is your brand new Spelling Program! This scribbler will travel home every Monday and stay with you for the week, then return to school each Friday. We will glue in the new spelling lists every Monday and your child will highlight the words that they are expected to practise each night. Some recommended activities for February are included on the pink sheet that has been glued in this book. At least three nights per week, please choose one of the listed activities to complete. (However, if you come up with other fun ideas please feel free to try those too!)

 

Each spelling night, please record the date and activity that you chose to do. If the chosen activity requires a pencil and paper, please feel free to use the scribbler; that’s what it is for! Other activities will not require work in the scribbler.

 

Every new list will include 10 words. I recommend that some children do only the first 4 words on the list (Level 1), others will want to do 8 (Level 2), some will want to do all 10 (challenge words). Remember, we want all kids to have fun and be successful with these words. The words that your child is working on will be highlighted on the list. If your child is asking to do more words, please feel free to bump up a level and by the same token, if they are feeling overwhelmed, allow them to take a step back to perhaps only 4 words rather than 8. We want students to find the place where they are thriving and learning, while also being rewarded with success! Spelling “check-ins/quizzes” will be on Fridays. Happy Spelling!

 

Keep an eye out for the scribblers being sent home on Monday!

 

SCIENTISTS IN SCHOOLS

We had such a blast with Scientist Sheryl on Wednesday! Thank you to all the parents who were able to come and help run a center!  Here are some pics of our morning:

 

We have also welcomed Mrs. Wevers in our class! She will be with our Grade 1 group for Monday and Wednesday mornings.  The kids got to meet her last week and are excited to spend some more time with her.

 

On Wednesday, we have our Family Assembly which is hosted by the Grade 4s.  We will gather in the gym at 12:30, and then spend some time with our MMH families.  Also on that day, at 2:05, we will be going on a Winter Walk around the neighbourhood! Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather on this day! 

I've made some changes to our 100 Day celebration- It will still be on Valentine's Day, but we need 2 more volunteers for that morning! Thank you to Kari Manser and Kriss Guenter who have already volunteered to help. If there's anyone out there who is able to come that morning we'd love to have your help!  Thanks!!

I think that’s it for now! Here are your important events for February:

 

Important dates for February:

Tuesday February 4^th- After School Skating begins!
Wednesday February 5^th- Family Assembly @ 12:30
Wednesday February 5^th- Winter Walk Day!
Tuesday February 11^th- After School Skate
Friday February 7^th- P.D day no school for students
Thursday February 13^th- Spirit Assembly @ 12:30
Friday February 14^th- Happy Valentine’s Day!
Friday February 14^th- 100^th day of school celebration
February 17^th- 21^st- Family Break No school
Tuesday February 25^th- After School Skate
Tuesday February 25^th-Hot Lunch Grades 1-3
Wednesday February 26^th- Hot Lunch Grades 4-5
Wednesday February 26^th- Pink Shirt Day!