Photo dump

Please excuse me for the sparse blog posts this week. It's that busy time of the year! We have done many fun things in class this week. Here are some photos of them.

Friday's gathering

Thanks for your patience with this post. It seems that the morning is best for more people, so please come to our class for 920 on Friday!

A thought after Friday's events

As I'm sure you heard, there were tragic events that took place on Friday in the United States. I know it was a tragic event that hits home for all of us who have children in school, or who work with children in school as I do. With any even like this, it is easy to be sucked in by all the news coverage. I know that for myself, I had to make a conscious effort to turn the TV off, as I found it all too emotional. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for students to see and hear. I'd like to remind you of the importance of limiting the media intake of this event with your children. I came across this article that is a good reminder of how to speak to the children about this event: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/hug-your-kids-say-you-love-them-and-dont-over-talk-the-connecticut-shootings/article6397128/

If you have any questions about how to talk about this event, or if you've noticed any anxiety in your child after hearing about it, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you or your child.

- Mme Jessica

Report Cards

I hope report cards made it home in one piece on Friday afternoon. I just wanted to quickly remind you that the check marks are not the focus of the report card. The written portion is just as important! One other reminder, that 'meeting expectations' is a great mark to be getting. It means that your child is meeting the expectations of the grade!

Some help

If you have time on Monday between recess and lunch (1030 to 1215ish) to help out with a project, could you please let me know by email? I'll ask the first few people who email me to help out. Thanks!

Winter celebration

Just to let you all know, our class will be enjoying the performances at the winter celebration on Monday, but we will not be performing this year. Instead, we would like to invite you to our class on the last day of school, December 21, between recess and lunch.

Also, there have been many people in our class (as of yesterday I can add myself to the list) who have been sick. 'Tis the season I guess. Just a friendly reminder to remind students to wash their hands, and to try your best to stay healthy!

It's beginning to look a lot like winter

I had some great help today during lunch and recess to put up all our snowflakes. It's looking very winter-y in our classroom.

In math, the last two days have been spent practicing multiplication from 1x6 to 9x10. Tomorrow we will have a celebration just on the 0-5 times tables.

The students have had a lot to write in their journal and we will soon be focusing our efforts on writing a winter story.

We also had a great discussion today about why we are putting together a hamper for another family. The family we are collecting for is a family of 3 - a mother, and a boy and girl who are both 12. Thank you for all the wonderful donations. Just a reminder, the last day for donations to be brought in is December 12th.

Dictée for the week of December 10th

We had a great week this week! It was busy with lots of academics, but ended with some nice art time.

We made this decoration for our door. I was particularly impressed with the face that the kids did it all themselves. I did the taller part (with a step stool of course), but the tape for the tree and drew a vague outline. They did the rest! What great teamwork!!

Constellation project

First off, I wanted to let you know about a lovely moment this afternoon. While we were decorating our classroom door for the holidays, I heard a few tiny voices singing Christmas carols. More and more students joined in and we had a nice group singing while we worked.

I have given the students a mini research project that is quite open. Students will need to pick any constellation they wish and find 3 interesting bits of information on it (more than 3 is fine too!). This project will be due next Tuesday, December 11th. We will be presenting our finding to small groups.

For the research, students can use the internet or books from the local library. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to find information in French, so it is fine if students find the information and translate to French USING THEIR OWN WORDS, not Google translate.

Here are a few websites that might be helpful!

http://library.thinkquest.org/3645/constellations.html

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/constellation_hunt.htm

http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/Science-and-Nature/Astronomy-and-Space/Constellations-and-Stars

Dictée for the week of dec 3

Here are the words for this week's dictée:

heureux
forêt
heure
drôle
entre
tableau
possible
question
nouvelle
nouveau

Also, here is a picture from today's surprisingly calm, yet chaotic looking snowflake making!

Conferences

Thank you to you all for coming in to our class for our goal setting conferences. It was great seeing the students vocalize their goals that they worked so hard on. I'm excited to see all the wonderful things that the kids will achieve!

I wanted to tell you all about a great class meeting we had today. Today there were some difficulties on the playground during recess and lunch. This seems to be where most of the social problems seem to occur. What I see in class, is mostly respectful and courteous behaviour. We spoke about how this behaviour should be happening all the time, not just when Mme Jessica is there to see. One other big idea that came up in our conversation is what many people know as the Golden Rule, or the idea that we need to treat others how we want to be treated, and how important it is to practice this not only at home, or in class, but also on the playground! I'm looking forward to seeing this happen!

Homework re-try

It seems the post about math questions didn't post earlier in the evening. Please don't worry about it for tonight. We will finish it in class tomorrow. I can't ask students to start math at 7pm!!

Week if November 26th

Hi everyone,

Here are a few reminders of what's happening this week. We have lots going on! I'm looking forward to seeing you all for our goal setting conferences.

- This week, there will be no dictée again, as we will be focusing on the correct uses of expressions. Look for our 'cemetery' of words and expressions when you come for your conference.

- Tuesday we have swimming as usual!

- Wednesday and Thursday is early dismissal at 2 pm for goal setting conferences.

- Goal setting conferences will be held in our classrooms. I ask that you, as well as your child attend. The kids have been hard at work setting goals and making a plan, so I hope that we can all be there and present to help them succeed.

- This Friday, there is no school for students, as it is a professional development day. I will be at a great conference with French immersion teachers from all over Vancouver to share ideas!

I think that's all for now. As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

-Mme Jessica

P.S. we started learning cursive writing last week. The students were great with it, although I often felt like I was teaching a class at hogwarts. These pictures might show you why...

Thanks to mme Tanya for the pictures!

Conference sign up

Thanks to everyone who has already signed up for conferences. I know there have been a few questions about how to go about signing up. There is a rolling board at the entrance to the school (by the computer lab and the office) with sheets for each class. You can sign up for a time there. We are division 11.

Today's performance.

Today, we saw a great performance by the group Infinitus. They are a string trio and put on a great show. They have a website and videos on YouTube if you'd like to check them out.

The students wanted to say thank you, but the performers left right away. Instead, I will be emailing them this picture!

Notes for the week of November 19th 2012

Bonjour everyone,

Please take a minute to read through these changes/reminders for this week. There are a few changes and a few very important things to remember!

- This week there is no dictée, as we are focusing on our three day write, which will be done in class.

- Tomorrow we have swimming as usual!

- On Thursday of this week, we will have a celebration (test) on addition and subtraction. I gave a pop-celebration this morning so that I could see which students need a little more practice. I sent the pop celebrations home today so that you can see too. The most common mistakes were with regrouping in subtraction, and forgetting to write the carry overs in addition. Your help with working on this at home is much appreciated!

- Incase you missed it, the schedule for goal setting conferences is now up in the main hallway of the school. Don't forget to sign up!

- On Friday afternoon, Mme Krystyna was in our class and took a look at pencil grips. Many students need to work on how they hold their pencils. She gave pencil grips to students who need them. These grips are to stay at school for use at school. If you would like your child to use a pencil grip at home, they are available for purchase at educational stores. Let me know if you need more information. I will be sending home some information on pencil grips for you to help your child at home. We will also be starting some work on printing and then cursive in class, which will require students to hold their pencil properly.

Diyas part 2

Here are the insides

Diwali part two

Today, we painted diyas - the traditional lamps used during the festival - to celebrate in our classroom. Here is a sneak peek. I'll try to send them home tomorrow.

Diwali

Today in class, we talked about Diwali. We spoke of the significance of the festival as well as how we celebrate. This could be something great to talk to your children about! We also looked at some pictures of when I spent a few months teaching in India. I spent Diwali in a small town in rural India. The students saw what Diwali really looks like, as well as a 'teenager looking' Mme Jessica to quote a student!

Dictée for the week of November 12th

I hope everyone had a restful weekend. I know the kids seem to be sleepy but have been working so well today! Everyone was engaged and productive.

Here are the words for this week's dictée. There are only 5 and they are quite simple. The best way to study is to do the spelling of the words, as wel las know the meaning and how to use them in a sentence. As I told the students, our dictée celebration (also known as test) will be a bit different this week, but it will be a surprise! As long as the students know the spelling of the words and the meaning, they will be fine!



aujourd'hui

je suis

téléphone

le monde

réponse



Happy studying!

Pictures

I realize it has been a while since I've posted pictues. Here are a few from the past few weeks. Enjoy!