Hi everyone!
Thanks for checking in on the blog!  It sounded like everyone had a great May Long weekend which was the break that I think we needed as we begin the final countdown!  Can you believe there's only 5.5 weeks of Grade 1 left?!? It's absolutely crazy!!

From now until the rest of the year, we'll continue on working on different writing projects and sharpening up our math adding and subtracting skills.  We're also carrying on with our Plants and Animals unit in science!  The students took home their plants yesterday, and did they ever grow fast! They loved coming in everyday to check out the progress of their living plant.  Now we'll carry on with learning about animals.  This is one of my favourite units to teach because the students often know so much already about their favourite animals!  It's a great chance for them to really shine with showing what they know.

Our field trip to the Galt Museum was a lot of fun!  Belinda was our guest teacher, and she did an amazing job talking about Lethbridge's past heroes, and what our city was like in the past.  We'll continue with learning about Lethbridge's past and our own pasts, from now until the end of the year.

The Grade 1 team likes to do a few theme days in June, and these are listed on the calendar below.  1 being a "Pioneer" Day, and also a Camp Day.  We'll make sure your child knows exactly what they need to bring to school on those days in advance.

The Grade 1 team has also been busy planning our last Family Assembly, which is hosted by our little Grade 1 students!  The final Family Assembly will be focused on Habit # 6, which is Synergise. If you can come and watch our assembly in June, please do!

May 30th is the deadline for parents to have any written requests for next year into Paul Bryant.  Please email Paul or ask Elaine or June in the office if you have any questions about this.

I've added a few events below, and also edited some.  Please take a look and as always, email me if you have any questions!

Take care,
Anna Tsentouros

Thursday May 22^nd: Beach Day/ Spirit Assembly @ 8:30am

Tuesday May 27^th: Hot Lunch Grades 1-3

Wednesday May 28^th: Hot Lunch Grades 4-5

Thursday May 29^th: The SAAG-We will be visiting the Art Gallery! Thank you to the following parents who have volunteered to drive:  Darli McAughly, Dave or Kari Manser, Geoff Netzel, and Kriss Guenter.  If there’s anyone else who’d like to join us on this day please just let me know!

New Event: Friday May 30^th: Pow Wow at Nicholas Sheran Lake. We'll walk over with our Book Buddies. Please make sure your student has comfortable walking shoes!  

Tuesday June 3^rd- Pancake Breakfast- this a school wide event where families are invited to come and have a pancake breakfast. The breakfast is from 7-8:15.  We hope to see everyone there!

New Event: Wednesday June 4^th: Family Assembly hosted by the Grade 1s @ 12:30. 

New Event: Tuesday June 10^th: Grade 1/ Kindergarten switch day in the pm!

New event: Wednesday June 11^t: Grade 1 Pioneer Day!  Details will come out closer to this date. 

CHANGED DATE: Tuesday June 17th- Grades K-2 Sports Day! This is an awesome event that is WEATHER DEPENDENT! We are looking for 2-4 parents to help run stations outside. Please email me if this is something you’re interested in!

Wednesday June 18^t: Mr. Bryant’s Retirement Assembly. This will be sometime in the afternoon, and we will let you know when the time is set. This is one you won’t want to miss!

Thursday June 19^th- This is our back up day for Sports Day in case we get rained out on the 11^th.

New Event: Friday June 20: Grade 1 Camp Day! Details will come home closer to the date!  Be prepared to bring a flashlight and sleeping bag to school!

Monday June 23^rd- This is our Farewell Assembly, where we say goodbye to any staff members who are leaving our school. This assembly is from 9-10am.

Tuesday June 24^th-This is the date we have set for our Grade 1 Year End Picnic. The details of this event are still in the works, but parents will be invited to come have a picnic lunch with the Grade One students. This is an awesome event and you’ll definitely want to mark this one on your calendars!

Thursday June 26^th: Year End Assembly/ Last day of school- students dismissed @ 11:45. 

My oh my where have the weeks gone?!  I can’t believe there are 4 days until the Easter Break!  We’ve been working hard to finish up some things in class, as well as prepare for Thursday.  In Math, we’re working on finishing our Numbers 1-100 unit.  We’ve been practising counting to 100 in many different ways all year, and now students are trying out some strategies for how to count out objects between numbers 50-100. Sometimes we count in 10s, 5s, or 2s depending on how many there are. 

We did a neat activity where students were given a number, and they had to put themselves in order WITHOUT TALKING!  This turned out to be a challenge for some of us….the not talking part! But, we got through and this is what our finished number line looked like. 

 

In Social Studies we’ve been talking about taking care of our Earth, as the season changes to spring and we prepare for Earth Day.  There are some really great conversations had about how the students can Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

On Wednesday, I will be sending home a little package to students regarding their Sight Words.  The package will outline the sight words your child knows to date, and the ones he/she needs to work on.   There are tons of activities you can do with Sight Word flashcards.  Remember, a Sight Word is a word where we want them to see it and SAY IT right away- not sounding out.  This greatly effects our readers’ fluency.  I will talk to the students about their responsibility for their Sight Word Work as well so that they know it will be their job to read AND practise sight words over the holiday!

Thursday is going to be a super busy day.  Here’s what’s happening:  First off, it’s Dress Like Easter day. I told the kids if they don’t have anything ‘Easter’ to wear, think springtime!  Anything with bright spring colours, polka dots, stripes, etc. Remember though, that they should be comfortable and able to freely move around as we will have our Sock Hop later that day.  If you’re around the school around 8:30 please feel free to stick around for our Spirit Assembly in the gym.  Then, at 12:30, families are invited to come watch our Easter Sock Hop. We will be in the gym at 12:30 with the Grade 2s, performing a number of circle and line dances that we’ve been working so hard on!  Then, after the pm recess, we’ll enjoy snacks in our room with a little Easter video.  Thanks again to the families who signed up to provide snacks!

          When we get back from the break, our focus in Math will be addition and subtraction for numbers 1-18, Looking into the Past in Social Studies, and studying Plants and Animals in Language Arts and Science. 

          We also have a number of field trips that are booked, which I will email reminders out closer to the dates, but I thought I would tell you now in case you’d like to join and have to make arrangements.  Here are our field trip dates/ times for the rest of the year:

Tuesday May 13^th: The Galt Museum- We will take a bus from MMH that leaves at 10:30. We will be at the Museum until 12:20.  If you would like to catch the bus with us, you are more than welcome. Or you could just meet us at the museum.   Due to the nature of this field trip, we ask that you do not bring younger siblings. Please email me if you’re interested in joining us! 

Thursday May 29^th:  The SAAG- We will be visiting the Art Gallery, and will need parent volunteers to drive us.  If you’re able to help supervise and / or drive, we will be leaving MMH at 10:15.  We will return just after 12.  If you’re able to drive for this field trip, please email me asap!

Tuesday June 3^rd- Pancake Breakfast- this a school wide event where families are invited to come and have a pancake breakfast.  The breakfast is from 7-8:15. 

Wednesday June 11^th- Grades K-2 Sports Day! This is an awesome event that is WEATHER DEPENDANT! We are looking for 2-4 parents to help run stations outside.  Please email me if this is something you’re interested in! 

Wednesday June 18^th- Mr. Bryant’s Retirement Assembly.  This will be sometime in the afternoon, and we will let you know when the time is set.  This is one you won’t want to miss!

Thursday June 19^th- This is our back up day for Sports Day in case we get rained out on the 11^th.

Monday June 23^rd- This is our Farewell Assembly, where we say goodbye to any staff members who are leaving our school.  This assembly is from 9-10am. 

Tuesday June 24^th-This is the date we have set for our Grade 1 Year End Picnic.  The details of this event are still in the works, but parents will be invited to come have a picnic lunch with the Grade One students.  This is an awesome event and you’ll definitely want to mark this one on your calendars! 

 

Here are some other things happening at our school and in our classroom:

Tuesday April 15^th- Hot Lunch Orders due
Wednesday April 16^th- Air Band Competition @ 12:30
Thursday April 17^th- Dress Like Easter, Spirit Assembly @ 8:30, Easter Sock Hop @ 12:30, and snacks and video in our classroom @ 2
Friday April 18^th- No School
Monday April 28^th- Classes resume
Tuesday April 29^th- Hot Lunch for Grades 1-3
Wednesday April 30^th- Hot Lunch for Grades 4-5
Thursday May 1^st- visit from our FNMI Lead Teacher
Friday May 2^nd- Miss Tsentouros Away at a Conference
Monday May 5^th- Education Week Begins
Tuesday May 6^th- visit from our FNMI Lead Teacher
Wednesday May 7^th- Family Assembly @ 12:30
Friday May 9^th- PD Day No School

Thank you for reading! As always, email me if you have any questions!  Have a wonderful Easter Break with your families!

-Anna Tsentouros

Time to catch up on the blog!!

In Language Arts, we will be wrapping up our Fairy Tales unit and students are almost ready to bring home their folders.   They are STUFFED with some amazing work that they are really proud of.  We’ve looked at over 10 different fairy tales, and read many many versions.  We even had a visit from Mrs. T, our school’s FNMI teacher who taught us a first nations legend called Napi and the Mouse.  A nice way to end our Fairy Tale Unit is the Fairy Tale Spring Dance that parent council is putting on at the beginning of April!

In Math, we’ve finished up our Geometry unit and have moved onto Measurement.  For this unit, students are using non-standard units of measure, and are comparing things.  We’re using vocabulary like, bigger than, longer than, shorter than, about the same, etc.   This is a quick unit, and we will move onto Numbers 1-100 as well as Adding and Subtracting to 20 for the remainder of the year.

In Science, we’re getting ready to wrap up our Building Things Unit.  That means that soon, your child won’t be bringing home anymore random cardboard pieces glued to pipe cleaners! J Although this unit is messy, it’s the one the students enjoy the most.  Just yesterday we built beds and chairs just like the ones Goldilocks broke in the Three Bears story.  As the season changes, we’ll be learning about spring. Perhaps if we talk about spring in our class, Mother Nature will listen and bring spring to us outside…

In Social Studies we’ve had a wonderful time listening to the students present their Shamrocks- Wow!! Are they ever beautiful! Thank you for helping our Grade 1s with this special project! We will start our focus now on “Taking Care of Our World”, which will help prepare us for Earth Day. 

Here's our photo entry for the Spirit Cup Challenge! We were suppose to make a shamrock, and the students voted to use themselves in the picture.  We didn't win, and boy did that ever spark up a conversation about fairness!  In the end, we were disappointed but still excited for the class that did win! 

 

I know that Easter break will be upon us before we know it, so here is what you need to know for that crazy day before the break! On Thursday, April 17^th we will have “Dress Like Easter Day!”  We’ve got some pretty creative little minds in here so I’m sure they can think of something to wear! Polka Dots, Stripes, Bright Spring Colours are all things that they can wear!  We will have a spirit assembly at 8:30 that morning, and then the Easter Sock Hop will begin around 12:30.  The Easter Sock Hop is when all the Grades 1 and 2s join together in the gym to show off the different circle and line dances we will have learned.  Families are invited to come and watch our Sock Hop!  It will go until afternoon recess at 1:55. 

After the spirit assembly, the sock hop, and all the recesses, we will enjoy some delicious treats in our classroom to celebrate our Easter Break.  I will email those parents who have signed up to bring treats on that day. 

Thank you to all the families who made it out for our Celebrations of Learning.  The best part of my job is hearing just how proud the students are of their own work, and watching them share their love for learning with others!  It’s really neat to see them take on that kind of ownership.  Thank you as well for your continued support with our Home Reading Program.  Home Reading is the BEST way to help improve your child’s reading.   Keep it up!!

          Don’t forget to keep sending Report Card Envelops and the permission forms for the dental health program! 

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!

-The Grade One Team

 Here are some important dates for your calendars: 

March

Tuesday March 25^th- Grades 1-3 Hot Lunch
Wednesday March 26^th- Grades 4-5 Hot Lunch
Wednesday March 26^th- Family Assembly @ 12:30
Thursday March 27^th- 1230 Skip a Thon kick off assembly

 

April

Thursday April 3^rd- Fairy Tales School Dance 530-730
Friday April 4^th- PD Day
Monday April 14^th- Mrs. Weaver’s last day in our class
Wednesday April 16^th- Air Band Show @ 12:30
Thursday April 17^th- Dress Like Easter Day, Spirit Assembly @ 8:30, Easter Sock Hop for Grades 1-2 @ 12:30, and Easter Treats in our class @ 2:05

April 18^th- 27^th- Easter Break No SchoolMonday April 28^th- Classes Resume

 

 

This quick blog post is to remind you of our school wide "Celebration of Learning", which will take place this Thursday March 13th from 530-7:30, and you can sign up for a time slot online via Conference Manager.  I see some families have already done so!  If you've never used Conference Manager, you can visit the school website for the link and instructions.  You can also call the office if you need help.  

A reminder that this Thursday night is not a parent / teacher interview.  The students will have chosen what they want to show you, and the evening is just as it's titled, a celebration. It's a time for them to proudly show off the things we've done at school, and they are EXCITED to have you! While attendance is optional, I strongly urge you to come and celebrate with us, as these students have so much to be proud of.  If you are unable to come that evening, please email me with an alternative date and time outside of school hours and I'm sure we can make something work!

If you sign up for a time slot and then find yourself running 10 minutes late- please still come!  If you forget to sign up for a time slot and only realize this on Thursday night- please still come! The time slots are to just organize us a bit so that we don't have 22 families showing up at once.  

The following day, your student will be bringing home their report card!  For me, the March reporting period are the easiest ones to write and assess, because the students have seen so much growth since the beginning of the year.  We're all readers, writers, and it's so neat to see the students function as a group.  We all also have things to improve on and so it becomes a report of "here's everything we're doing really well, and here's everything we need to improve on and continue to do with the last 3 months".  

When you get a chance to look through your child's report card, it is yours to keep. You do not need to return it to school, or bring it for our "Celebration of Learning". In an effort to go green, you can return your envelope if you wish and I will reuse it again in June. 
Of course, if you prefer a traditional 20 minute interview to discuss your child's report card, this is always an option. Please contact me so we can plan for a time to meet on Friday March 21st, or at another date and time that works for you.

I hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any questions!    

Thanks!

The Grade 1 Team

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!