Well Spring has definitely sprung around the city, and we are starting to enjoy warmer days at school!  It’s crazy that we are preparing for the last two months of Grade One.  Our students have shown so much growth in so many ways, and we are excited as the last 8 weeks are PACKED with fun learning opportunities! 

We are continuing on with our Fairy Tale unit study.  The students have enjoyed reading familiar fairy tales as well as funny fractured fairy tales, and the lessons that go with them.  When we read through two stories, we often discuss what was the same in them? What was different?  And the students love sharing where their favourite parts were. 

In Math, we are continuing with practicing our counting from 1-100, and from now until the end of the year we will continue with this unit, along with adding and subtracting. 

In Social Studies, we are wrapping up our discussions on Taking Care of our World, and will be moving to Science for Plants and Animals.  These two units tie wonderfully into discussions about having a “global understanding”, as we talk about “What would happen if everyone littered?” “How would that affect us?” .  Students really show their understanding through these discussions, and it helps them tie our classroom learning into the world around them.

We will also begin our unit of Looking at the Past in Social Studies, and the students who have not yet shared their Caterpillar homework will get a chance to do so.

The staff at MMH have been busy preparing for Education Week, which runs from May 4^th to May 8^th! Each day, there are special activities planned:

Monday May 4^th- Kick off with guest readers on the announcement.  Students are invited to check out the bulletin board at the front of the school to guess who is who!

Tuesday May 5^th- Mystery Readers will come visit each classroom for reading!

Wednesday May 6^th- Hats on for Mental Health! Students are welcome to wear a hat!

Thursday May 7^th- Reach and Teach! Students are encouraged to come to school on Thursday, prepared to ‘teach’ their classmates about something.  Examples could be how to tie their shoes a different way, a song they know, a card game, etc. We hope to see some interesting things being taught around the class!

If you are on the school mailing list, you will be recieving an email shortly regarding a NEW FORM that needs to be signed.  This form is to allow your student to be driven by school volunteer drivers.  If you have any feild trips from now until the remainder of the year, that require volunteer drivers, each student will need this form signed and returned to the office in order to participate.  Please check in with your classroom teacher if this applies to you. Next year, the office will have that form in the registration package as well as being available during Meet the Teacher night in September.  Thank you for your help with this!

In addition to this, if there are any parents who are driving for field trips from now until the end of the year, we are asking you to please sign in and out of the office when you enter the school.  In the past, some teachers have just asked parents to meet at the classroom, which makes pick up/ drop off easier, however if we could have parents stop in the office before/ after the field trip indicating that you are a volunteer, that would be very helpful! Thank you!

In the past, parents had the option of filling out a "Student Placement Form" regarding their child's placement for the following school year.  This year, our school district has replaced this form with the "Student Profile Form".  Parents are no longer able to 'request' certain teachers for their students, but rather, if there is special academic/ behavioural/ social / emotional information that should be considered when class lists are made, parents are welcome to hand that form in to Mrs. Rancier.  The form is available online and in the office, and can be found at our school webpage. 

We have added more dates/ events to our May/ June calendar below!  There will be more information coming on certain days like "Pioneer Day" and "Camp Day" closer to the dates.  A reminder to Save the Date for Wednesday June 25th for your families to join us over the lunch hour to celebrate our Grade 1 year!

Also, each Grade 1 class is looking for parents to run a Sports Center on Tuesday June 16th.  Sports day will run for most of the day, but if you are only able to help for the morning/ afternoon, that's okay too!  The back up date in case we are rained out is Tuesday June 23rd.  If you or a family member would like to sign up to be a Sports Day volunteer please let your teacher know asap! Thank you!

Here are more dates for your calendars!

Tuesday May 5th- Mystery ReadersWednesday May 6th- Hats on For Mental Health
Thursday May 7th- Reach and Teach!
Friday May 8^th- PL Day, no school
Friday May 15^th- Enrichment activities
Monday May 18^th- Victoria Day, no school
Thursday May 21^st- Beach Day, spirit assembly @ 12:30
Friday May 22^nd- Enrichment activities
Wednesday May 27^th- GS Lakie band performance @ 8:30
Thursday May 28th- MMH Run for Fun at 1:40pm
Friday May 29^th- Enrichment activities

Tuesday June 9th- Free Hot Dog Lunch for Grades 1-3
Wednesday June 10th- Pioneer Day in Grade 1
Monday June 15th- Farewell Assembly @ 8:30
Tuesday June 16th- K-2 Sports Day
Friday June 19th- Grade 1 Camp Day
Tuesday June 23rd- Back up K-2 Sports Day
Wednesday June 24th- Grade 1 Picnic Day
Thursday June 25th- Field trip TBA
Friday June 26th- Last day of school!

In Language Arts, we have begun looking at different Fairy tales! We will be reading all kinds of fairy tales, comparing/ contrasting different versions, talking about our favourite fairy tales.  If you have any at home, try reading them together and see if your student can identify what makes the story a fairy tale. Does it start with “Once upon a time?”  Is it a story from long ago?  Does it have any magic in it? Anything happen in 3s?  See if they can recall facts from the beginning, middle and end. 

In Math, we have started looking at numbers from 1-100.  We will be counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, and looking at different ways to represent them.  An easy way to practice this, is to take a handful of counters, beads, cereal, buttons, etc and try counting them in different groups. 

 

In Science, we are wrapping up talking about the season of spring, and will begin looking at Plants!  In Social Studies, we’re looking at Taking Care of our World, which comes at a great time for Earth Day tomorrow! 

Thank you to those students who have already brought in their Caterpillar writing homework regarding important events in your life, as well as your baby pictures.  If you have not yet sent those in, please do so as soon as possible so we can start our guessing games and sharing.  Remember, your child is to present their caterpillar to the class so they should be well versed in reading / explaining the events they’ve chosen.

As we near the end of the year, please keep up with home reading and sight word memorization!  The BEST way to help improve your child’s reading is to ensure they get the 15-20 minute DAILY reading practice.  This is crucial as in the next few weeks we will begin assessing for the final reporting period. 

Thank you to those parents who offered to drive to the Helen Schuler and Arts Alive field trips!  We would not be able to do those activities without your support so thank you in advance for this!

In June, the Grade 1s usually celebrate with a year-end picnic.  The details are still being confirmed, but you should Save the Date for Wednesday, June 24^th, and if you and your families are able to join us anytime between 11:30-12:30 on this date, that would be great!

Here are some important dates for your calendars at home:

Friday April 24^th- PL Day No School
Tuesday April 28^th- Grades 1-3 Hot Lunch
Wednesday April 29^th- Grades 4-5 Hot Lunch
Friday May 8^th- PL Day, no school
Friday May 15^th- Enrichment activities
Monday May 18^th- Victoria Day, no school
Thursday May 21^st- Beach Day, spirit assembly @ 12:30
Friday May 22^nd- Enrichment activities
Wednesday May 27^th- GS Lakie band performance @ 8:30
Friday May 29^th- Enrichment activities

 

Hi everyone!

Well here we are the last week before Easter break.  The students did a wonderful job sharing their love for our One School One Book project, Charlotte’s Web! While we’re sad to see the book end, we are thankful that we had the chance to read such a wonderful, timeless story. Thank you for making the reading come alive at home!

To celebrate the ending, all MMH students are invited to see the Chinook High School theatre performance of Charlotte’s Web! We will be going this week on Tuesday, March 31^st.  A bus will be at MMH at 9am to pick up the Grade 1 students to go and enjoy the show.  Wow!! Aren’t we lucky!?

On Wednesday, April 1^st we are going to the gym in the afternoon to watch the Grade 4 and 5 Airband performance from 12:30-2pm.

On Thursday, April 2^nd students are invited to dress in a “Fancy Theme”! We will have a school spirit assembly at 8:30am, and then throughout the day each class will have their own Easter activities planned.  This is the day we will be enjoying Easter treats.  Teachers will email the parents who signed up to bring these at the beginning of the year.

Remember that students are on Easter break starting Friday, April 3^rd, and will return to school on Monday April 13^th.  Don’t forget to keep reading over the break!!  Raz kids is a great program for this, or you can also visit your public library. 

A quick reminder of our next 2 field trips planned.  If you are able to drive for any of the below dates/ times, please email your class teacher! Even drop offs/ pickups are helpful:

Helen Schuler Field Trip
April 16^th: Mrs Johnson’s class in the AM, Mrs. Payne’s class in the PM
April 21^st: Mrs. Fallwell’s class in the PM
April 22^nd: Miss Tsentouros’ class in the pm

Southern Alberta Art Gallery
April 29^th: Mrs. Payne’s class in the AM, Miss Tsentouros’ class in the PM
May 7^th: Mrs. Fallwell’s class in the am
May 21^st: Mrs. Johnson’s class in the am

Thank you to those parents who have already signed up to help!

Lastly, we are looking to see if there are any parents interested in taking care of our recycling program.  This would entail picking up the Grade 1 bottle recycling and taking it to the depot for us.  If you are interested can you please email your Grade 1 teacher?  Recycling pick up usually happens once every two weeks. 

I think that’s it for now! Wishing you a great Easter holiday with your families. 

Thank you,

Your Grade 1 teachers. 

One School One Book!!!

 

http://oneschoolonebookmmh2015.blogspot.ca/

 

Here's the link for the blog regarding our school wide One School One Book!  Have fun with this amazing project with your families! Remember to follow the reading schedule!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for checking in with the Blog! Here is the important news for the upcoming month of March, and some April news as well!

On Friday February 27^th, students will be bringing home a note regarding morning drop off and after school pick up routines.  We have noticed an increasing amount of unsupervised students in the hallways, and we are asking you to please take the time to go over the routine with your Grade 1 student, as well as any other family members that may be involved in drop offs/ pickups. 

You may have heard that we have been preparing for our grand One School One Book project kick off! For those of you new to MMH, One School One Book is a great family literacy project, where every family at our school will be reading the same novel over the course of a month.  The big reveal with happen on Monday, March 2^nd at 9:00 in the gym.  There will be information sent home along with 1 copy of our chosen book to every family on Monday.  Once OSOB gets rolling, all classes will be working on the novel study activities throughout the month of March.

Teachers have been working on preparing the March Report Cards.  March report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, March 17^th.  There will be a school-wide Celebration of Learning night on Thursday, March 19^th. Each grade level is doing something a little different.  In Grade One, we will open up our classrooms as an informal way of celebrating our accomplishments so far!  If you wish to have a traditional parent/teacher interview, please contact your teacher to book a time for Friday, March 20^th.    

On Tuesday, March 10^th, Conference Manager will open to parents at 6:00am for booking times.  There are instructions and links on the school site for how to book a time. Please let the office know if you are having difficulties.  We look forward to celebrating with you on that night!

On Thursday, April 2^nd, the Grade One classes will have their classroom Easter Parties in the afternoon. If you had signed up to bring snacks, your teacher will send home a reminder note prior to that day. 

Our classes had an awesome time at Home Hardware, which was a great way to kick off our Building Things Unit.  Thank you to the Westside Home Hardware staff for welcoming us into your store!  Our next field trip will be at the Helen Schuler Nature Center to learn about seasonal changes.  We will be needing parent volunteers/ drivers for this trip! Here are the times/ days for our classes:

April 16^th: Mrs Johnson’s class from 9-11:30am

April 16^th- Mrs. Payne’s class from 12:30-2:30pm

April 21^st- Mrs. Fallwell’s class from 12:30 to 2:30

April 22^nd- Miss Tsentouros’ class from 12:30-2:30

Please email your child’s teacher if you are able to help out! 

That’s it- that’s all! Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Here some other important dates for your calendars:

Monday March 2^nd- OSOB kick off assembly @ 9am
Wednesday March 11^th- School council meeting @ 6:30pm
Tuesday March 17^th- St. Patrick’s Day Assembly @ 12:30- Wear Green
Tuesday March 17^th- Report Cards sent home
Thursday, March 19^th- Celebration of Learning night
Friday, March 20^th- No School (Parent/ Teacher interviews)
Tuesday March 24^th- Grades 1-3 Hot Lunch
Wednesday March 25^th- Grades 4-5 Hot Lunch

Wednesday April 1^st- Air Band Competition
Thursday, April 2^nd- Grade 1 Easter Parties
April 3^rd- April 10^th- Easter Break No School
Monday April 13^th- First Day Back
Thursday April 16^th- Johnston/ Payne’s class field trip
Tuesday April 21^st- Dance-A-Thon (Details TBA)
Tuesday April 21^st- Fallwell’s class field trip
Wednesday April 22^nd- Tsentouros’ class field trip
Friday April 24^th- PL Day No School
Tuesday April 28^th- Grades 1-3 Hot Lunch
Wednesday April 29^th- Grades 4-5 Hot Lunch

Hello readers!

Thank you for checking into our Grade One Blog! The Grade 1s sure have been enjoying  the beautiful weather we’ve had!  It definitely sparks some interesting conversation as we discuss the season of Winter in Science Class! 

We’re trucking along with our busy Grade One curriculum, and we’ve also added a few things to our February Calendar so be sure to update yours at home!

We’ve finished up our learning about the 5 senses, and are preparing for our new unit called Building Things.  One of the great things about this unit is that Mr. Brayne, the manager of Home Hardware (on the west side) puts on a fabulous field trip for us!  Here’s some background info for you:  Mr. Brayne has been doing this for over 13 years!  He started when his daughter was in Mrs. Payne’s Grade 1 class at MMH. Since then, he continues to offers up his staff and store to teach Grade 1 students about building things, materials, and how he runs his store.  What’s even more amazing is that Mr. Brayne now does this for all Grade 1 west side schools!  It’s an amazing way to tie in the sense of “Community” to our little learners. 

Here is our Home Hardware Field Trip schedule:

Monday, February 23^rd:

Mrs. Payne’s Class- 9:00-10:00
Mrs. Fallwell’s Class- 10:15-11:15
Mrs. Johnston’s Class- 1:00-2:00
Miss Tsentouros’ Class- 2:00-3:00

This field trip requires parent drivers, as well as supervisors.  Please contact your Grade 1 teacher if you are able to help. Due to the nature of this field trip, please do not bring younger siblings as we are confined by numbers.  Remember that drivers must fill out both a driver and volunteer form in the office!

The Grade 1 classes have two more weeks left with Mrs. Savage.  So far, we’ve talked about reading body language in response to feelings, where in our bodies we can feel hurt or stress, and ways to deal with stress.  Ask your Grade 1 student about “Milkshake Breathing”, “Pizza Massages”, and “Worry Stones”. 

A reminder that Friday January 30^th is a PL Day for students.  The MMH teachers will be learning about the 10 cross curricular competencies, that are part of the Inspiring Education document from Alberta Education.  You will be hearing much more about these 10 competencies in the future, as this is part of the new Alberta Curriculum Redesign.  For more information about Inspiring Education, check out this link:

http://inspiring.education.alberta.ca/what-is-inspiring-education/

Here is a visual of the 10 competencies that the teachers will be working with on Friday:

http://erlc.ca/resources/resources/cross_curricular_competencies_overview/documents/competencies-poster_11x17.pdf 

 Two new events are happening during the first week of February!  Winter Walk Day is on Wednesday February 4^th.  As a school, we’re going to embark on a walk around the path of the school! We hope the weather cooperates with us, but please make sure your child is dressed appropriately.  We’ll start our walk at 2:05. 

On Friday February 6^th, we have a guest author visiting the school!  Tyler Enfield, author of the book Wursh will be speaking to our students from 10:30-11:30, and there is more information about his books being sent home. 

A reminder that we will be wearing RED on February 12^th, and having our Valentine’s Day activities on this day as well!  Your Grade 1 teachers will be sending out a list of students names for valentines exchanges, and will remind the parents who have signed up for snacks/ treats.    

We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early, because on Friday February 13^th we will have our big 100^th day celebration in the gym with the Grade 2s!  If you are able to help volunteer for a center, please let your child’s teacher know.   

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading! 

Here are some days to mark your calendars with:

February

 Tuesday February 3^rd – After school skating at Nic Sheran rink 330 to 430

Wednesday February 4^th-  Winter Walk @ 2:05
Friday February 6^th- Guest Author at MMH @ 10:30
Tuesday February 10th – After school skating at Nic Sheran rink 330 to 430
Wednesday February 11^th- School council mtg @ 6:30
Thursday February 12^th- Spirit Assembly @ 830 wear red
Thursday February 12^th- Classroom Valentine’s Parties
Friday February 13^th- Grade 1/ 2 100^th Day Celebrations
Family Day break is from February 16^th -20^th: No School
Monday February 23^rd- Home Hardware field trip

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

Well here we are back at school after a restful break! The Grade 1s spent some time this week making New Year’s Resolutions, and welcoming 2015!  There’s been some “Christmas Magic” happening in the classrooms which is amazing! Christmas magic is when students have a Christmas break, and when they come back, there seems to be some magic in the air…all of a sudden, some students are reading more fluently, printing more neatly, and cutting more carefully! It’s a wonderful thing!

With the cold weather settling in, please ensure that your child has the proper outdoor wear for recesses.  Our school district’s policy is that students do not go outside if the weather is below (or feels like) -20 degrees Celsius.  While this past week, we did have a number of indoor recesses, there were some that were warm enough for students to be outside and many students were without mittens.  With all the extra layers that are coming to school, PLEASE make sure your items are labelled! 

Along with that is a reminder from our caretaking staff- we ask that all guests at our school are not walking in the hallways with their outdoor shoes.  Outdoor footwear needs to be carried through the hallways, as wet floors become a serious safety issue.  Thank you for your help with this!   

Here are some updates on where we are at for curriculum:

In Science, we will spend some time wrapping up our units on the 5 Senses.  Students learn how the senses work to send send messages to our brains, as well as keeping us safe.  We also learn about some animal senses and how they are different from human senses.  In Social Studies, we will begin to look at our community, and ourselves in relation to maps. 

In Math, we are becoming familiar with some addition and subtraction strategies. Strategies include using tally marks, counters, number lines, counting on, counting back, as well as mental math such as doubles facts and making ten.  Keep an eye out for things that come home so that students can practice these strategies.  Our goal for right now is to become proficient at adding numbers from 0 to 12.

In Language Arts, we will continue working on finding “good fit books” at our reading levels, as well as writing.  Between now and our next reporting period (March), students will be doing lots of independent reading and writing.  Keeping up with home reading and sight word memorization is the biggest key for success here, especially after such a long break!

The Grade 1s are excited to welcome Mrs. Kristine Savage to our classrooms for the next 5 weeks.  Mrs. Savage is part of our Making Connections program through the counselling office.  She will work for 1 hour per week in each of the Grade 1 classes, taking the students through different activities regarding how to make friends, the language we can use with our peers around us, and being aware of our feelings and how they can affect others.  Her lessons are super engaging and meaningful, and we are excited to have her join us!

Starting Tuesdays in February, there will be After School Skating at Nicholas Sheran rink from 3:30 to 4:30.  This is free for MMH families, and skaters are required to wear helmets on the rink, and be supervised by their parents.  We hope to see some of our families out there! 

Here are some days to mark your calendars with:

January

Wednesday January 14^th- Spirit Assembly @ 12:30 wear blue and gold!
Wednesday January 14^th- School Council mtg @ 6:30
January 27^th – Hot Lunch Grades 1-3 (keep an eye out on the form coming home)
Friday January 30^th- PL Day no school

February

Tuesday February 3^rd – After school skating at Nic Sheran rink 330 to 430
Tuesday February 10th – After school skating at Nic Sheran rink 330 to 430
Wednesday February 11^th- School council mtg @ 6:30
Thursday February 12^th- Spirit Assembly @ 830 wear red
Thursday February 12^th- Classroom Valentine’s Parties
Friday February 13^th- Grade 1/ 2 100^th Day Celebrations

Family Day break is from February 16^th -20^th: No School