Pumpkins and costumes

Costumes are out in the house centre this week.  Some cute pics below :-)

Also, we are finished with our pumpkin unit now - today we measured them using unifix cubes for height and string for girth.  We then ordered and compared our results.  These pics should help you have discussions with your child about measuring their pumpkins.

Scholastic

Scholastic orders will go out on Friday of this week.  If you are ordering, please be sure to submit your order forms by Friday at the latest.

Thanks!

Halloween Celebration!

We will be celebrating Halloween on Friday this week.  The classroom will be decorated for Friday morning - I drop hints about this but it is meant to be a surprise when they walk in that morning!  There will be lots of ooey gooey, creepy, spooky things going on - nothing scary, but I do go a bit overboard.  What can I say...I love the smiles ;-)

Costumes can come to school that morning but they will not put them on until after lunch.  Costumes will go on OVER clothing so you may need to dress them accordingly that day.  If there are pieces of the costume that are delicate (fairy wings for example)  you may wish to leave that part out but if you aren't worried about it, neither am I.

Please do NOT send masks or weapons of any sort.

If your child wishes to have their makeup done for this part of the day, please come by at 1:00 to do this.  Otherwise, there is no need for you to be here as they can dress quite independently.

All of this is in preparation for a school-wide halloween parade that happens in the afternoon.  This is the chance for all children to showcase their costumes and show appreciation for others'.  It's a big hit!

We would also like to have a class party that day.  If you would like to contribute some party foods/drinks, please COMMENT ON THIS MESSAGE and then hit "publish" with the item you will be bringing.  This way, everyone can see what we have and what we need.  Suggestions would be fruit/veggie platter, juice boxes (22 students total), chips/cheezies, and perhaps a sweet treat.  If you are creative enough to be able to make something Halloween inspired that would be fun!

Email me with any questions or special instructions for Halloween costumes!

Thanks :-)

Spooky Halloween Patterns

Today we made some spooky Halloween patterns using foam stickies.  They turned out quite nicely and the children LOVED doing it :-)

We also ordered our teeny tiny pumpkins from tallest to shortest.  This is part of our math curriculum around measurement, ordering and using comparative language.  It's just more fun to do it with pumpkins :-)  Thanks for sending those in.

Illness

It feels strange to be saying it because of the lovely weather we continue to have, but it is cold and flu season!

Last year, my classroom experienced quite a stomach bug which had children vomiting very suddenly - in the classroom, in the hallway, in the playground, and a lucky few made it to the medical room.  We had at least 6 or 7 absences at a time as a result and a district cleaning team came in to disinfect the room.  This, even though we wash our hands before every meal and are quite diligent about not sharing germs throughout the day.  These children all appeared quite healthy and fine until the moment when they threw up.  This sneaky bug was very challenging to manage but most illnesses begin with some warning signs - the runny noses, coughing, difficulty sleeping, and tummy complaints.  Please be sure to keep your sick children home so that we are doing our best to prevent the spread of germs.

Thank you!

Shakeout Drill

We are participating in the shakeout drill today at school.  We have already practiced our procedures for earthquake safety, including the Drop Cover Hold routine.  Today, we will also participate in the evacuation procedures along with the rest of the school.  Please discuss with your children when they get home today to see what they remember and maybe open up a conversation about safety in the home also.

I keep the conversation very light so as to keep any anxiety to a minimum here.  I see no evidence of anyone being stressed about it but if you hear differently please do let me know.

Thanks!

Pumpkins

Hi everyone!

Please send your child to school with a teeny tiny pumpkin on Monday, October 19th.  We will use them during our exploration of a pumpkin unit which will include life cycle, mathematics and literacy activities.  Pumpkins will come home before Halloween.

Teeny tiny means something they can easily carry themselves.  This means that it does not HAVE to be one of those miniature pumpkins...in fact it would be good to have some variety.

Thanks!

Friday Learning Rotations

As mentioned at the Parent/Teacher night, we like Fridays to be a little bit different in our classroom. This is a great day to reflect on what we have learned in the week(s) prior, engage in some fun learning activities together, and break from the usual routine.  Here are some pictures of a typical Friday morning with language arts activities.  The children rotated through each of the activities in their groups.  This week was all about playing with letters.

Special Helper and Sharing

Special Helper starts on Monday!  Here is what it looks like...

• Chosen at random each morning by drawing a stick with students' names on them
• Leads/teaches calendar
• Leads line-ups
• Is asked to model principled behavior throughout the day/set a good example for others (leadership)
• May be asked to run special errands like trips to the office, notes to other teachers, etc.
• May be asked to choose a book for read-alouds

Sharing also starts on Monday and it looks like this...

• Children are assigned sharing days which will stay the same until after Spring Break approximately (at that point, a new routine will be posted)
• On these days they can bring an item from home to share with the class
• This gives them the opportunity to talk about the things they love, the characteristics of objects, and have the experience of talking to a group of people.
• Please encourage your children to bring things that teach us something about them or teach us something in general.
• Examples would include, pictures of themselves or family, favourite book, a piece of art they created, an award or uniform from special activities, momento from a vacations, collections, and showcasing a talent (ballet moves, instrument they play, etc.).  Some of the most interesting sharing items I have seen over the years included found items like giant leaves, a rock in the shape of a heart, pinecones, shells, and non fiction books - the children LOVE to see this type of thing and it brings about all sorts of incidental learning.

The sharing schedule will be as follows:

Mondays - Jeremy, Cole, Kenza, Samreen, Ayda

Tuesdays - Gabriella, Q, Dilara, Ashton, Luca

Wednesdays - Sophie, Molly

Thursdays - Atmik, Morley, Suraiya, Trent, Aliyah

Fridays - Ryan, Keira, Owen, Sarah, Kye

If your child misses their sharing day due to illness, vacation, or forgetfulness, they can share the following day or wait for their next sharing day.

Birthdays

We have some birthdays starting this month!  It is absolutely great if you would like to send a birthday treat to school on your child's birthday to be shared with classmates...some typical examples include mini cupcakes, and rice krispie treats but the choice is yours.  We will eat it at our last snack of the day, 2:30 so it can be dropped off in the morning or brought before that snack time. **PLEASE NOTE we are a peanut aware classroom**

If you would like to send in birthday invitations for me to hand out, all primary classes are consistent in asking that you please invite ALL of the class, or ALL of a particular gender (all the girls or all the boys).  This avoids hurt feelings.  If neither of these options suits you, please hand invitations for invited guests out to parents yourself before or after school.

FYI, the class list is posted on a separate page of this blog.

Thanks!