Happy Halloween!

Hello, my name is Ms. Frey and I am blogging for Ms. Cokar who was away again today. We looked at ten frames this morning and practiced showing numbers by filling in or numbering the frames. We took turns on iPads with math apps, doing math work with a teacher or working with a partner to write and represent numbers to 20.

We reviewed Pillars of Care, in particular we talked about Care for others. The students discussed ways that we can show care for others and thought of some great ideas like helping a friend who is hurt, helping to clean up, not interrupting or pushing each other, and giving hugs. We used these ideas to make journal entries that illustrate an example of care for others.

The students have also been looking at the characters from the movie "Inside Out". We have talked about joy and how that looks and feels, as well as what brings us joy. Today we talked about sadness and what that means. Since today is Halloween we constructed paper pumpkins and made features on the face like that of one of the characters portrayed in the film (joy, fear, anger, sadness, disgust).

A reminder that library is Wednesday and to check at home for books that are due. Also, we had a notice today about an upcoming food drive for those who wish to send in donations.

-Ms. Frey

Photos...

Ms. Frey, our guest teacher, shared with me some photographs of the students' work. Ask your son or daughter about the book(s) read that generated discussion that led to this science and art project!

An Update!

Hello,

I thought I should type up a quick blog for the weekend. As most of you have probably figured out, I have been away Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I was hoping to make it to the Hallowe'en Dance on Thursday, but I was just not well enough to do the Monster Mash. I hope some Room 5 students made it to the dance.

A concept that has been discussed repeatedly is Care for Others. We have talked about this so much and given great examples of what it does and does not look like. For example, if someone pushes you - purposefully or not - what do you do? If a student hits you or kicks rocks at you or steals your snack, do you do the same back to them? After our Pillars of Care assembly last week, I felt the importance of the four Pillars was reinforced. However on Monday there were incidences which occurred involving my students. I addressed it within the classroom, we talked about it, and moved forward. Yet it happened again on Tuesday! I was sad to hear that while I was away a few students in my classroom did not demonstrate Pillars of Care. Please speak to your son or daughter about the Pillars of Care, especially Care for Others. Our hands are not meant to be used for hurting others, and our voices are not used to speak harshly to peers and teachers. This is not acceptable in my classroom or the school. I will be connecting with administration for guidance on implementing strategies for when unfortunate incidents occur as a result of a student not demonstrating Pillars of Care. 

I received notification that Scholastic books were shipped out October 27, only 13 days after I placed the order! 

Monday, October 31 is Black and Orange Day! I'm hoping everyone will show up in these two colours. 

Have a great weekend and see you Monday. I've missed my Room 5 Smarties!

Ms. Cokar

Tuesday, October 25

Hi Parents,

Today’s message comes from the students. Ms. Cokar is only typing because her voice is gone.

In gym, we ran three laps and gave the teachers three high fives says Raina.

Ahmed wants to share we had reading buddies, some students got to use the iPads, and some of us read books. Arinanna wants you to know we used primary colours on black paper. We coloured square and rectangle shapes. Fransen remembered we had music. Here are the lyrics to the song:

The Penguin Dance

Chorus:

The penguin dance goes flip, flop, flap,

One step forward and two steps back,

Wings akimbo, off we go!

Waddling, waddling, waddling sideways through the snow!

We wear tuxedos black and white,

For all occasions, we’re dressed right!

We always look so neat and trim,

We even wear them when we swim!

Chorus

Although we’re birds we cannot fly,

We have two wings so I don’t know why!

We don’t have much to do but fish,

But that’s all right they’re our favourite dish!

Chorus

For we are happy, quite content,

On our cold and ice continent,

But if we’re bored by any chance

Then we just dance the penguin dance!

Chorus

Tamika says we got to read in the tent, on the cushions, on the carpet, and on the rocking chair. Logan said we had recess. Ethan wanted to let you know that only some students went out of the classroom to work with some special teachers like Ms. Mesheau, Ms. Hayes, and Mr. Hebert.

Love, 

Ms. Cokar's Loving Class

P.S. This is in blue which is a primary colour.

P.P.S. Max hopes you like this very, very much.

Can you figure out what we did different in today's message?

Weekly Message and Colours

Hello!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Today I wrote the students a Weekly Message. This is what it looked like before they came in:

We talked about starting our sentences and ending our sentences. We choose green and red. Can you guess why? Here is what it looks like now:

The students have been learning about seasons and colours. Have a look at how we sorted colours. Do you know what primary and secondary means? 

Have a great evening!

Ms. Cokar

Mason Jars?

Happy Sunday!

I have one very, very large bucket of pencil crayons and would like to organize them by colour into mason jars, jam jars, small tin pails, etc. My goal is to have at least 10 of the same size/type, preferably at least three inches high and not too large of a circumference. Here are a few examples:

These jars are too wide.

These jars are too narrow.

These jars are just right!

Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of the weekend with your family.

Ms. Cokar

Early Dismissal Day

Good  Morning!

Today is Early Dismissal day and everyone is going home at 11:00, except for teachers as we are working on professional development for the afternoon.

The whole school gathered together for our first Pillars of Care assembly. Each classroom awarded a ribbon to students who demonstrated Care for Self, Care for Others, Care for Place, and Care for Learning. In Ms. Cokar's class, the following children were recognized: Ally, J.C., Ahmed, and Cassidee. Congratulations. We talked about not being sad if we did not get picked.

Max wanted to share a wonderful book with the class. It was called Have you Filled a Bucket Today? It is about filling up our invisible bucket by being kind and showing care. But you can dip into someones bucket by being mean or a bully, or even ignoring! https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/have-you-filled-a-bucket/9780978507510-item.html?ikwid=Have+you+filled+a+bucket+today&ikwsec=Kids&ikwidx=1

We talked about colours today and how we think colours are made. How do you think we get colours? Do you want to add to our list? (If you can't read the yellow it says "Kool Aid" which was Alia's idea.)

Have a fabulous weekend and see you on Monday!

Ms. Cokar

P.S. Thank you to all my students who always fill my bucket!

Race to 100

Good day!

When Room 5 has its daily Morning Meeting, the students help me to figure out how many days of school we have attended. I let them know how excited I am to reach 100 days of school! Since I mention "100" frequently I wanted to see if they could "Race to 100" with a partner. Each pair had a spinner with numbers 0-9, a coloured game piece and a hundreds chart. It was fun hearing the level of excitement as students zoomed their way to this magical number. Can you count to 100?

A "good fit" book is a book that "fits" individual readers. We talked about how it is important to look carefully at the inside instead of choosing a book based on its cover. Open the book and flip through the pages. Are there too many words or not enough words? Will the pictures give clues as to what the words might be? Is this a book I can "read"? I had four volunteers read to the class! I am so proud of Logan, Ally, Raina and Ethan. I think they realized that it is important to always have the audience's attention when reading. We learned about tree tops and zippers, and heard about Curious George, and a few things we can push (not each other!).

I showed the students the blog from yesterday with my photo. They didn't laugh, thankfully.

Please note I will be here tomorrow morning and a guest teacher, Ms. Frey, will be in for the afternoon. The class has already met her while we were racing to 100.

Check home folders/backpacks for a very important newsletter about head lice.

Thank you,

Ms. Cokar.

Picture Day

Good day!

I am so happy all our students were present today for school photos. Everyone looked great and I am excited to see how our class picture turns out. I forgot to ask the photographer to take a "silly" version of us, though. Last week I mentioned to the students I would share my Grade 1 picture. I attended Silver Springs Elementary and my teacher's name was Mrs. Short.

Ms. Cokar, Grade 1...not too long ago!

Today for Daily 5 the students practiced how to read with a partner, EEKK (elbow to elbow, knee to knee). After some time, we talked about how everyone thought they did. I heard responses like "I wanted to do better but was distracted", "I tried to read the words not just the pictures", "I think I read so many books that my partner didn't get a chance", and "My partner made it easy for me to read." Sometimes it is hard to take turns and share so this is something to improve. 

Care for Self is important, and I think many students are demonstrating this by telling me they are either hurt or not feeling well (tummies!). Regarding the "hurts" we discussed how our hands are gentle and for helping, not hurting others. This lead to "personal space bubbles" and what someone can do if another student is too close. We have also talked about how sometimes things happen by accident. A perfect example is when someone is standing behind me and I trip on them, or when a student is standing too close to me and because I talk with my hands with expression, well...let's say I apologized at least 17 times! 

I Call My Hand Gentle is a book we read yesterday. 

Library day is tomorrow (Wednesday). As a reminder, this Friday is an Early Dismissal day.

Thank you!

Ms. Cokar

 

Picture Day Tomorrow!!!

Thank you to everyone who submitted their Scholastic orders and Pizza fun lunch money.

Tomorrow is Picture Day! J.C. says he wants to wear a costume. Raina wants to wear her new shirt. Arop wants to wear his handsome shirt. Tamika wants to wear her banana costume. The class picture should be...interesting. 

Do you know what a 10 Frame is? Here are some pictures of the students being the teacher as they worked with their own “student”. Have your son or daughter explain how 10 Frames work.

Today we tried painting with three colours – red, blue, yellow. It was fun to explore. What do you think of the colours we mixed?

 Ms. Cokar

Evacuation Drill, Colours, Scholastic, Picture Day

Good day!

Today Beddington Heights School practiced evacuating to St. Bede’s across the field. As advance notice was provided, Room 5 was prepared. The students had on their outside shoes, jackets, hats, etc. on and we quietly walked over to the school. Everyone did a great job! One suggestion made was to not force someone to run when Ms. Cokar asked the class to walk a teeny bit faster!

Did you know there are three very special colours that can create other colours? Yes, it is true. They are called “primary” colours and I am not going to tell you what they are, but maybe someone who enjoyed the books read in class will share!

Thank you to everyone who returned overdue library books. Library day is Wednesdays however feel free to return books on Monday or Tuesday. I hope this gives families enough time to read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story.

Picture day is coming up on Tuesday, October 18! Please return the form which should have come home. If it didn’t, let me know.

Scholastic book orders were due today. If you didn’t get a chance to send it in, email me with the book name with your parent pay information and I will place the order over the weekend.

Have a fabulous sunny weekend! J

Ms. Cokar