Reports are coming home soon and I have been reflecting on the fact that, Gabriola children are unique and amazing learners. Great parenting is the key. Parents, you are doing an excellent job raising a remarkable group of Children!
Program Information I continue keeping a portfolio of your child’s art and written work at school. As work and projects are completed they will continue to be added to your child’s portfolio. You will be invited to a celebration of learning. During this event your child will be sharing their work and learning with you. Theme Digest February’s learning will focus around the theme of Valentine’s Day, friendship and caring for others. Language Arts Our daily reading groups are in full swing now and from now on we will be receiving extra teaching support (3 times a week) during some of these daily literacy lessons. This allows for more small group and one-to-one instruction from skilled teachers. Art We are expecting a special guest artist on February, 8th in the afternoon. Math Facts We continue to learn through a hands-on approach with math manipulatives and now we are branching into math work books to practice applying our skills on paper. Social Studies Guest Speaker We were very lucky to have a guest speaker from the Nanaimo Museum come to teach us about First Nations culture and share some artifacts with us. First Nations language classes Gena Seward will be coming to our classroom every Friday afternoon to teach First Nations language lessons. We look forward to this deeper understanding of our first peoples. Social Skills Synopsis Our social skills focus will be on giving and receiving compliments: Giving compliments
1. Listen 2. Make eye contact 3. Say “thank-you” Science Experimenting with the properties of matter (solids, liquids and gases) has been a fun focus in science lately. We’re doing hands-on experiments and have been learning about what it is like to be an observant scientist. We continue our regular trips into the forest, to the pond and the over to the Gabriola commons where we always make new and amazing discoveries. Gym Journal We have been very lucky to have Jenny Ivany volunteer to teach us a set of gymnastics lessons. She is an outstanding teacher and the children were thrilled! Planning ahead, we will soon start a set of skipping lessons. This can be a very challenging activity for young children. Please encourage this skill at home for more success at school. Thanks. Bus Safety The children were focused learners during our excellent bus safety lesson and practice bus trip. Please go over the facts learned in the yellow colouring book sent home with your child. Show and Tell Bulletin Along with the mystery bags, our new show and tell activity compliments our Valentine theme. On their special helper day, each child will draw the name of a classmate for the compliments box. He/she will bring the box with the chosen name home. At home, please help your child think of 3 compliments he/she can say about the chosen friend. Write your child’s compliment down and return the note in the compliments box the following day. We’ll read the compliments and display them at school. Each child’s compliment will then be added to their school portfolio. Field Trip Quarter We will be beginning a set of 4 skating lessons at the NIC on Friday, February 24. We have plans to visit our buddy class at Departure bay school in February as well. Notices with details will be coming home soon. Volunteer help will be required. Birthday Broadcast We will be celebrating three birthdays in February and we said farewell to our friend Kyler, who has moved to Alberta. Valentine’s Celebration On the 14th, Valentine’s Day, encourage your child to wear red, white or pink, to take part in the spirit of the day. In our classroom we will have a special exchange of cards along with making a friendship fruit salad to share at snack time. Please send a small portion of fruit (frozen, fresh or canned) for our group salad. We’ll also play board games with our friends and make friendship necklaces. If your child has a favourite board game that he or she could teach to a few friends, please send it along on Valentine’s Day. Please do not send candies, cupcakes cookies or treats. The focus for our day will be on kindness, love, sharing and friendship. Valentine’s Cards for our Friends Please find attached a Valentine’s list of all the children in our class. Having your child sign their own name to their valentine cards, is an excellent opportunity to reinforce printing skills or even to practice their friend’s names. Give them time to do so. Start early so your child can do a few cards a night until Valentine’s Day. We are learning to print names beginning with an upper case letter followed by lower case letters. Pink Shirt Day On Wednesday, February 22, we will be taking part in anti-bullying activities and discussions. Please encourage your child to wear pink that day. 100’s Day Our 100th full day in Kindergarten/Grade One will be on Friday, February 24th. On this big day we will be taking part in a number of activities that involve the number 100 and counting. Please send in a collection of 100 small things for your child to count at school. Make sure to count together at home first. Learning support at Home Daily reading time at home is so important to the development of strong reading skills. Please set aside time to read with your child every day. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely yours, Mrs. Kathy L. Gurr EXTRA! EXTRA! . . . DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR Feb.3 – Gena starts language lessons Feb. 8 – book order due Feb. 10 – Reports go home Feb.14 - Send Valentine’s, game, fruit and wear red Feb. 20 and 21 Pro-D days, no school Feb. 22 – Pink shirt day Feb. 24 – Skating starts and send 100’s collection.
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AuthorI am a teacher with over 25 years of teaching experience including all grades from kindergarten to grade seven. I am a Primary Specialist with a diverse educational background in Individualization, Learning Support, Behaviour Support and Home-Learning Support. Archives
May 2017
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