Thursday, October 13

Hello!

There are two very important notices in your son or daughter’s home folder. One is about an evacuation drill taking place tomorrow morning. The second notice is regarding Picture Day. This form is to be returned next Tuesday.

Amy wants to share that our class did Daily 5. She liked it because she got to read. Arop wants to share that we worked on patterns, like ABAB. Alia liked it when we did centers, and she enjoyed showing her learning in her book.

Thank you to all the students who helped put things back in their places. We continue to talk about Pillars of Care, especially with the upcoming assembly where some students will be recognized for demonstrating and upholding these Pillars.

Ms. Cokar J

P.S. Some may not have the notices in their backpacks/home folders as they seemed to have forgotten to check a few minutes after I reminded them L

Wednesday

Hello!

Today was library day. Please check home folders for overdue notices. There was a notice about Picture Day being changed, but I see that many students did not check their mailboxes! The new date is October 18. This is also the day that Pizza Lunch orders are due. 

We continue to discuss Pillars of Care and I hear many in Room 5 sharing how they have demonstrated these Pillars. Next week during an assembly, students will be recognized for showing Pillars of Care, and I know that there may be a few from my class! J

As a gentle reminder, please send in book orders by this Friday. Thank you!

Ms. Cokar

Weather

Hello!

I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving with your family. The students shared what they ate, and it made me hungry first thing in the morning.

Please talk to your child about dressing appropriately for the weather! Carman thinks we should wear gloves. Arop suggests we should wear a snow hat. Fransen says a jacket is important. Winter shoes is Elizaveta's idea. If you wear snow pants, you won't get dirty says Max. The scarf is important because it keeps your whole body warm thinks Ethan. It's important to wear every kind of winter clothing so you don't get cold and sick says Raina. Ms. Cokar did not wear socks today! Uh oh L

Today we built some words! Please see the pictures below: 

Tamika reminded me that if you want Pizza Lunch please return the form with $6 cash by October 18!

Scholastic book orders are due this Friday so I can place the order over the weekend.

Thank you.

Ms. Cokar

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today went by so quickly as the students were engaged in a number of learning activities. The past few days the theme has been all about being thankful and giving thanks. We had discussed many things for which we were thankful, and then grouped them together into categories. What came up frequently included toys, food, and people. I put together a little booklet with “I am thankful for…” and they illustrated and tried to write the words.

Time was given during the day for students to create a turkey, and if they did not finish, check the home folder for materials. I love seeing how unique they turned out. Why can’t a turkey have one blue and one red leg? Imagine my surprise when I also saw a turkey had somehow attached itself to one wall. Can't imagine how it got there!

Students shared with me why numbers are important. Please see the attached picture and let me know what you think of the list. If you can’t see the yellow print it reads “to learn in school” and “to tell time”.

I wish your family a Happy Thanksgiving and hope the students know, if I haven’t said it enough, how thankful I am to be their teacher. I look forward to the stories which will be told Tuesday morning.

Ms. Cokar

Home Folders and Words

Hello,

Today in your son or daughter's home folder you will find:

- Fun Lunch envelope! Fun Lunch will be later this month which is an individual pizza, juice box and treat. Please return the envelope with $6.00 cash only by Tuesday, October 18.
- Scholastic book order forms! Yes, I sent home a few different ones :-) If I could have these returned to me by Friday, October 14 that would be perfect.

We collected better leaves today and had some beautiful creative work found in student's journals. Some of you may be surprised with a full piece of paper with colourful leaf rubbings!

This afternoon we created words out of the letters we have been practicing: S, A, T, I, P, N. We had some fabulous examples like ant, as, at, sat, sap, snap, tip and tan. Some students were sharing words which I could not add to my list. These non-examples led to us talking about how even if a word may start with an S, it doesn't mean it can be added automatically. For example, snake or monster or pumpkin or spider or leaf. I challenged the students to find words they can build out of the six letters.

As a reminder, there is no school on Friday, October 7 and Monday, October 10.

Library Books Due and Hands and Bathroom Breaks!

Hello!

Today was our 20^th day of school! Can you believe that? The students helped me count from 1 to 20 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. After we did this a couple exclaimed “I see a pattern!” as we reviewed the numbers. I love when they see patterns around us in the classroom.

Reading buddies stopped by this morning. I heard some of my students “read the pictures” and then buddies “read the words”. Seeing the students apply what they’re learning to the books makes me so proud! Ms. Mesheau read The Thankful Book by Todd Parr, and we started to journal our thoughts and ideas. We later talked about books that “fit” us as individual readers, something we will discuss in depth and repeatedly.

Tomorrow is library day! Books are to be returned in order for a new one to be signed out, as per Mrs. Paolini.

We had a large group discussion on Pillars of Care, especially Care for Others. It has been noticed in the classroom, gym, at recess that some children are not demonstrating this pillar. We talked about the importance of not pushing or pulling, keeping our hands to ourselves, and being gentle with our hands. A couple volunteers modeled ways to get a friend’s attention and how to ask a friend to play, such as tapping on a shoulder or asking verbally, as well as pretend shoving and yanking arms and legs. The class shared with me they understood which ways were acceptable and which were not. This will continue to be reinforced and my hope is that after recess my students are not in tears as someone else has hurt them.

Now on to the topic of bathroom use. I have a number of students who are requesting to use the bathroom multiple times in the day. I always ask if they can wait, especially if it means they are missing valuable lesson time, or if it is an emergency. I asked the class to listen to their bodies to determine if their body really needs to use the bathroom.  I will be connecting with parents of a few children who have been using the facilities more frequently, just to ensure I am not missing something important.

Thank you,

Ms. Cokar