Week 15

Weekly Greetings!

I trust you have all had a pleasant Thanksgiving with family and friends. It was great to see such a good crowd at the Thanksgiving dinner last Tuesday at the school, and the food was delicious! Despite the short week, our class accomplished a lot. We finally had a full class of 15 and could retake our real class graph picture to measure if we have more boys or girls. With the addition of another boy, there are now more boys than girls.

We were also able to squeeze in a baking project using real apples. It fit nicely with the book the Kindergarten read last week called Apple Annie. It was actually a Math activity to discuss measurement and volume.

There are just three weeks before we take a break for Christmas, and we will continue to press on through the grade levels concepts for each group in Math and Language Arts. We will also be preparing for a Christmas program. This week there will be Show and Tell on Friday and I will send a reminder home with Thursday night's homework. Also, remember that there is a weekly Athabascan Culture and Language Gathering on Wednesday afternoon at 2:15pm. Please join us if possible.

Have an awesome week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 14

Weekly Greetings!

I am starting with some important announcements for this week. The first is that there will be a Thanksgiving dinner at the school on Tuesday at 12:00pm. Please join all the students and staff in celebrating the many things we have to be thankful for. Also, there will be an early out on Wednesday. Students will be excused from school at 1:30pm.

As for last week's events, we had a full week of learning in the classroom with a number of enriching activities. Here are just a few highlights with accompanying photos.  In Science, we made "Flubber" to continue the concept of solids and liquid matter. "Flubber" starts off as liquid, but goes through a chemical change when the solid of Borax is introduced. It becomes rubbery, like Silly Putty, and the students had fun playing with it after.

On Wednesday, the Athabascan Culture and Language Gathering took place in the gym. The students worked on introducing themselves, and saying who their family members are in Athabascan. Then everyone practiced singing songs and dancing traditional dances. It is hoped that more community members and parents will join us when we resume on Wednesdays after Thanksgiving.

In addition to the traveling PE teacher and councilor visit last Thursday, the music teacher introduced the class to some interesting musical bells. They practiced a few songs as each student had a special note to play when the teacher pointed to them.

The students have also been enjoying using the interactive language and math games on the SMART board when their assignments have been completed.

In preparation for Thanksgiving, the students in attendance on Friday made a turkey decoration in Art before we all headed to the championship basketball games in the gym. It truly was a full and fun packed week of learning.

This week will be short due to the Thanksgiving holiday, and I will only be sending homework home on two nights. It is also the end of the month, so the students that have completed their homework every night this month will be able to pick from the big prize box on Wednesday. Please read the addition handout explaining the reading goals for this week that will be attached to Monday's homework.

Have a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving holiday!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 13

Weekly Greetings!

Last week,  time flew by with numerous activities that supplemented the regular grade leveled curriculum. In Science we have begun a unit on Solids and Liquids, and after an introduction on Tuesday the students explored magazines to find representations of each substance.  It was fun to circulate through the group and hear dialog about items the students found for each of the categories. We will be continuing this topic in Science for a number of weeks to come.

There was also time last week to break up into small groups and play word board games to enrich the students' vocabulary, phonics, and sight word recognition.

An additional word game we played in class was with balloons to create compound words. Then the students had fun playing with their balloon words during recess.

In Social Studies, we have been discussing the first Americans and how the Native American Indians helped the Pilgrim settlers survive the hardships of the new land. Since corn was a key crop, we made a corn decoration that also helped to strengthen fine motor skills as a cutting and gluing activity.

This week, we will press on with the language concepts listed in the supplemental paper that goes home with homework on Monday. Also starting this Wednesday, there will be an Athabascan Culture and Language Gathering from 2:15pm to 3:15pm. The school is fortunate to have Lorraine Titus volunteering to share her knowledge with all the students weekly! Then on Thursday, the school is hosting a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. It will start around noon on Thursday and finish about the same time Friday.

Please remember I would like to have the book orders turned in by this Friday so that the books can be here before Christmas break.

Have a fantastic week!

Kind Regards,
Julie Brown

Week 12

Weekly Greetings!

The major focus last week was the district writing assessments, and I am really proud of how hard the first and second grade students worked to do their personal best. On Friday it was time to relax a bit and the class always enjoys Show and Tell. It is fun to see what things are important to the kids, and hear what they have to say about each item. Unfortunately, there were 5 students absent for different reasons that day.

We were also able to fit in another Zoo Phonics animal hunt before recess that same day.

This week we will be back to a regular schedule, now that all the special events and projects are completed. Please read over the additional handout attached to your child's homework on Monday, which explains the reading and language concepts covered this week.


If you are interested in ordering Scholastic books this month, please return the order forms a week from this Friday.

Stay well and kind regards!

Julie Brown

Week 11

Weekly Greetings!

It was wonderful to see so many of you last Wednesday at parent teacher conferences! The week was full of special events and activities! Of course, the highlight and focus of fun in the classroom last week was Halloween. It was on every student's mind each day until Friday finally arrived. On Thursday, we used our 5 senses to experience carving a pumpkin. The students even got to taste toasted pumpkin seeds. I think the most fun for them was feeling the slimy pulp when they helped pull out the seeds. There are a few pictures to follow.

When it was done we took a class picture, which is followed by a contrasting one the next day. I would say that the students changed quite a bit over night!

We had our own class celebration in the morning on Friday, before going to an early lunch and then participating in the Dancing with the Spirit music concert. Everyone did so well!

After the concert, we had a school wide Halloween activity with wacky games revolving around the Halloween theme.  There was a pumpkin toss game using a large balloon, followed by team relays using the large balloons as pumpkins. I have posted just a few pictures to follow.

 There was a "Pumpkin Fly By"...

 

After the "Pumpkin Fly By", the students regrouped for the broom relay.

The broom race.

Then each group made four "Incredible Hulk" monsters for a shield of protection for the "Monster Mash" war.

Each group had bags of marshmallows to toss. And then, the war began as the song "Monster Mash" rang out from the school sound system. It was quite a battle.

At the end, there was a massive candy scramble to the song "I Want Candy". The floor was clean before the song even finished!

I think everyone participating had a fun filled time, and they left with a good amount of candy to start off their trick-or-treating as they left for home.

This week we will try to settle back into a regular routine, though the 1st and 2nd grades will be doing a district wide writing assessment mid-week. Also, please look over the additional information attached to your child's homework on Monday. It explains the concepts being covered in their language and reading for the week. Finally, there will be "Show and Tell" this Friday, and I will send a reminder home on Thursday.

Have a great week!
Kind Regards,
Julie Brown