ONEDERFULONES: Weeks 35 and 36, May 31, 2019

Well, we are down to our last month of Grade 1. We have been filling our days with a lot of amazing stuff. It really is surprising to me the projects we are working on and how much these guys know and can do on their own. This is actually my first time teaching Grade 1 students in the months of May and June. Last year I was filling at Maternity Leave position and it ended May 1st. It was bitter sweet leaving at that time but my family and I enjoyed a trip to Disneyland and I enjoyed the lead up to summer just working a few days each week.

We are adding a lot of projects to our Grade 1 Memory Books so I will try to keep a few secrets. I hope everyone had a chance to read through our Grade 1 Friends Book. The students just loved writing about one another and picking pictures of their buddies. I wanted to keep them until the end of June to hand out but that didn't happen. They wanted to take them home ASAP!

This week we have been working really hard on our animal research project. First we discussed the 6 different types of animals. We did some research together to come up with the differences of each animal group and drew some charts together. Students then took some time dividing and sorting animals into each of the groups. After they sorted the animals into the correct category they drew a few of their animals onto our charts.

After this activity students then took some time to really think about and decide on what animal they would like to research. I wanted the class to have someone researching animals from each of the groups, and once that was decided we headed to the library. Students had to find a non-fiction book about their animal first. Once they found at least one non-fiction book about their animal(many found more), I also gave them the challenge of finding a fiction book as well. This was a great discussion and helped the students really understand the difference between Narrative and Expository genres of books.

After we all selected books in the library we were ready to start researching.

First we researched habitats....

Then we researched the types of foods they ate....

And then we researched the animals babies.

If students were struggling with finding their own information I encouraged them to get a friend to help them find the information. I also downloaded and organized a class set of books on EPIC which is an online library that students can read or listen to books on a certain topic. They were so excited to find their own information.

Our next big project on the Chromebooks was called "The Best Part of Me." There is a book that we read that is full of children talking about the best part of themselves. They talked about their eyes, their legs, their hands and gave many reasons why they loved that part of themselves. This was such a fun project and I loved listening to the students decide what the best part of them was. It was quite entertaining. We wrote a rough draft in our writing folder and then we even took some time to type out our work and insert a picture. The students were excellent at these skills. I think they are learning a lot of computer skills from their Grade 4 buddies.

In Phys. Ed we have been having a great time learning about Drum Fit and Bike Safety. I was so surprised how well the students did on their bikes. I was really dreading asking all of you parents to bring their bikes in for 1 hr of biking time, but they were pretty motivated to ride for me and the other students. We had 8 students on training wheels when they came to school and 4 asked for their training wheels to come off while they were here! The other students are getting so very close! Drum Fit is an activity where students dance, and hit an excersice ball with a set of drum sticks. They LOVED IT!!

We continued our science journalling summarizing everything we learned about having the Superworms in our classroom. They are going to spend some time in the Grade 2 classes over the month of June but they may come back to our room for a visit once and a while!

In Math we are still keeping on with subtraction up to 20. We practice our basic facts daily and they are getting really quick at doing the equations in their head or with a number line. We will move on to Measurement and 3D shapes next week!

This will be our last week for home reading. Please start sending in all our classroom and library books. If you would like books right up to the end of June just send me and email and I will send your book bag back for the last few weeks. Most students are able to read any picture book so please continue to read throughout the summer. The best rule of thumb is that if your child struggles with more than 5 words the book is likely a bit too hard. That being said, I think a challenge is good so a hard book once and a while can be quite motivating!

I have updated quite a few assessments on powerschool, so please check there when you have some time.

The Town of Devon Ripple Effect Project was really quite cool. They students participated in an interactive activity explaining what a watershed is, and what kinds of toxic things go into our water system. We then got a chance to paint a fish that will be hung on our school fence later this summer. A big "thank you" to our volunteers.

Please take note of all the important dates in June. It will be a busy month for everyone with lots of things to remember.

Also please take some time to save any photos of your child on the Photo Tab of the Blog because as of August 1st, I will delete all the pictures to get ready for the year ahead.

We made smoothies with 1A on Friday and also finished up these cute Tweety Bird Pictures. I am planning a few more painting projects for the month of June because they just did so awesome with this one!