Boxes/Inquiring minds

You may have received an email from Brooksbank about the Inquiring Minds event coming up next week.  That message only pertains to grades 1 through 7; however, we will be doing our own version of this event in class.

Please send your child to school next week with a BOX before Friday.  This could be ANY size.  We will be transforming our boxes into something spectacular and new - the activity is entirely open-ended.  Our focus will primarily be on formulating ideas, trial and error, and creative thinking.  If, through discussions with your child, you think they might need any additional materials to work with on Friday, please feel free to send that to school as well.  I am hoping to generate some excitement about it next week so hopefully they are thinking about, and talking to you about what they might like to do.

THANK YOU!

New Special Helper Routine and Sharing

We are starting our new Sharing and Special Helper routines on Monday.

Each child will be Special Helper for 1 full week (see schedule below) AND that will also be their week to share items with the class - 1 item per day.  Most families have chosen to send all sharing items to school on Monday of their child's week, with the items going home on Friday.  You might choose to send 1 item per day instead.

Sharing 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

Please make a note of your child's sharing/special helper week.

Gabriella - Jan 23

Ava - Jan 30

Mehrdad - Feb 6

Nikhi - Feb 14

Ed - Feb 20

Grayson - Feb 27

Georgia - Mar 6

Kiedis - Mar 27

Adrina - Apr 3

Emma - Apr 10

Jonah - Apr 18

Kaeden - Apr 24

Ella - May 1

Autumn - May 9

Tanner - May 15

Addie - May 23

Will - May 29

Stirling - Jun 6

Evan - Jun 12

Viana - June 19

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is all about hearing the sounds present in words.  CAT is a simple example with 3 phonemes, C-A-T.  BIKE also has 3 phonemes, B-I-K.

A great way to begin practicing phonemes is to focus on beginning sounds.  For example: Bike, Bat, Ball, Banana all have the same beginning sound.  Challenge your child to think of more.

An added challenge is to ask them to find the sound that doesn't belong by adding a word like 'Cat' to the group of 'B' words.  FINDING THE WORD WITH A DIFFERENT BEGINNING SOUND IN A SERIES IS WHAT THEY WILL BE ASSESSED ON USING THE TOPA.

Another way to practice phonemes using beginning sounds is to start with a word, and find another word in a series that has the same beginning sound.  For example: Man - Nest, Clock, Monkey, Paper.  Monkey and Man have the same beginning sound.  THIS IS ANOTHER COMPONENT OF THE TOPA.

On paper, we do not use actual words to practice this, but pictures, saying each picture name out loud.  Please note this is also NOT about children being able to identify the letter making the sound...it is ONLY about distinguishing between sounds.    

Invented Spelling and Things to Come

This week, the children will begin to learn what we call, "invented spelling."  We are starting with a key word, and will move on into more than one word when we are ready.  This is their chance to put the letter sounds they know to use, primarily in their journals. 

Invented spelling is the beginning stage of spelling/writing.  It is important NOT to correct the mistakes they make at this time by asking them to erase and change.  I do like to show them the correct spelling, while acknowledging all the sounds they found in their version.  It is common for them to omit vowels at this time and to include only the first and last sounds in a word or the middle sound if it is strong.  For example, "monkey," might look like "mke," which is GREAT!  I would show them "monkey," and praise them for hearing the m, k, and e sound on the end.

I look forward to hearing stories about them spelling at home and using these skills in their daily lives.

Coming up...syllables, and the math concept of more, less, the same.

Tennis

Tennis lessons with Marcus have begun!  You may remember paying for this at the beginning of the year.  We will have 7 lessons in total focusing on safety, and ball skills through individual, partner, and group activities.