Happy halloween!!

What a great day!! Thank you to all who contributed to our halloween party!! We had a blast. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Here's a pic of Charlee...

Mr. Church!

More halloween pics

Halloween bonanza!!

Carvings!!

I'm awesome!!

Congratulations to Mahad!!

Music test

Tomorrow the kids are going to be writing a retest with Ms. Yuell. Study sheets came home last week. Good luck! 

New Scholastic Catelogues

These went home last week and have a due date of November 3rd.  I will be placing the orders on that day. Please remember to only send in a cheque.  Thanks so much!

Soils Test

Next Thursday we will have a final unit test on soil.  There is a study sheet that we are working on which will be complete by this Friday.  Come Friday, all science duotangs can go home for studying purposes, along with the study sheets. Below I have attached the answers to the study sheet.

Happy studying! 

Math Tests - Review and Sign

Today we wrote a Math test! It has been marked and returned.  Please review the test with your kids and sign and return. Students will earn 1 ticket for bringing it back tomorrow!

Two more AWESOME chart fillers!!

Irie was the first to fill her AWESOME chart!

Spelling List - week 9

Words with long vowel sounds and ed at the end.

way
these
niece
might
show
float
brain
mean
close
tried
cube
uniform
stayed
price
usually

Reminders...Upcoming Items Due!

Tomorrow is Friday, Oct. 24!  Here is a list of things that need to be back or are due next week:

Spelling Homework - due tomorrow
Pizza Orders - due tomorrow
Halloween Howl Pizza order forms - due tomorrow
Clairlea Spirt Wear Orders - due Oct. 31
Vision and Hearing Forms & fee - due immediately!
LifeTouch Photo orders - anytime - orders can also be placed online

The Time Has Come...

Yes folks, the time has come when I have to ban all items that do not pertain to school.  As usual, everyone was given a chance to prove that they are responsible enough to bring items to school to play with at recess only.  Once these items interfere with our ability to listen and follow through with instruction, they then become a problem.  Yes, we have a problem on our hands. As of today, please do not allow any items that are not school related out of the house.  Pokemon cards, toy cars, dolls, stuffed animals, or toys of ANY kind.  They are to stay home. Now, the warning: If I find that these items are being brought, or rather snuck into the classroom, I will take them and keep them until June.  Thank you for your co-operation. 

Halloween Celebration

Next week, on Friday, October 31, we will be having a Costume Chaos Spirit Day at Clairlea!  Our spirit day is actually scheduled for this Friday, but it has been changed to fall on Halloween.  Everyone is invited to wear a costume first thing in the morning as we will be having Panther Assemblies before lunch.  It’s going to be CrAzY! And, oh yes, we will still be having our weekly spelling test! J

Once the test is done and awards have been given out, it’s time to Party!  In our class we have planned to have a movie playing, we will have a costume contest, there will be opportunities to play games and listen to music. And of course, there will be plenty of goodies.  As we wrap up the 2^nd month of school, what better way to celebrate?!

But parents, we need your help!

We would like everyone to contribute a little something to the goodies table.  We talked about the importance of there being a good balance of healthy choices and of course sweets for the candy crazed kids.  We also decided that there would be way too much food if 20 people brought something in. So, as there will be another party later on in the year, we have split the class in half. If your child’s name was selected to bring something in for Halloween, please let me know if you can or cannot send something in on October 31. We have assigned who’s bringing what so that we don’t have an abundance of chips, or celery and carrots.  

Note: We have 20 students. No known allergies, but items must be peanut-free.

Spelling Homework Update

Today we worked on improving our spelling sentences.  In our weekly homework, we are required to write 2 sentences. My expectations are that students are using as many spelling words in their sentences as possible. Students can choose to write either 1 looong paragraph with many spelling words, or they can continue writing 2 shorter sentences, which generally will turn into 2 or 3, still using as many spelling words as possible.  Today, everyone was creating sentences with 6 and 7 words.  This is to be done each week. Keep it up everyone!

Coming home tomorrow

3 items were meant to go home today including info for the Halloween Howl that takes place next Thursday, Oct. 30.  They will all get home tomorrow.  Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Science Homework - Due Tomorrow

In addition to erosion, we have been looking at composting and the importance it plays on our environment. Today we watched a short video on composting (see below) and we also read a passage about it.  The sheet was left incomplete...there are 3 remaining questions about composting that need to be answered. This is due Tuesday.

note: Watching the video will be very helpful in answering the last couple questions.  

Composting for Kids

Math Homework

Our focus in math has been on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100.  Tonight's math sheet reflects this.  This sheet is due Friday.  Early submissions will get 2 tickets!  Homework submitted on Friday will get 1 ticket. 

Science - Soils Test and Pop Quiz

For the last few days, we have been learning about the concept of EROSION. I've attached a video that we watched in class yesterday. After the video, we wrote a pop quiz. The quiz asked....

What is erosion?

What are the factors that contribute to erosion?

Points were given for every correct piece of info given.

Today, we wrote our soils unit quiz.  I was able to mark and return them. I am very pleased with the scores.  Please review, sign and return them ASAP. Thank you. 

Erosion

Oh No You Didn't.....Oh Yes...Yes I did!

Reminders!

Tomorrow afternoon is our first Science Test on Soils!  Be sure to refer to the study sheet that came home last week.
Also, our 3rd book review is due tomorrow as well.

Spelling Test Error

I need to apologize to many students.  I mistakenly said the word knew instead of know.  As a result, many students received an X on that particular word.  Please make the correction at home to the score. I will do the same on my end.

Spelling List - Week 7

Words with double consonants
We were reminded today that the alphabet is comprised of vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and consonants (every other letter in the alphabet) 

missed
willing
balloon
spelling
pretty
still
off
added
letter
different
pattern
middle
Mississippi
zipper
carry

Soils in Science!

We have been very productive in Science so far this term.  We have been studying SOIL! 
Playing with soil (aka DIRT) with kids...what could be more exciting than that?! I'm so pleased with the enthusiasm surrounding this topic.

We have been investigating the different components of soil by studying a variety of soil samples (clay, sand, silt, potting oil, etc). We have learned that soil contains living and non-living matter  and we are learning that soil is an essential source of life for many living things. Next Wednesday, October 15, we will be having a mid-unit quiz.  The study sheet came home on Thursday. Students are to be sure they are familiar with the content of that sheet.

Next week, we will be exploring the concepts of weathering, erosion and composting!

Soil Video - where does it come from?

Oops...

Clairlea has released a new logo for our school wear! It's pretty cool.  Order forms will be sent home tomorrow.  Sorry, they were meant to go home today. 

Home Tonight...

Today all the kids brought home their picture day proofs. Please read the instructions on how and when to pay.
Attached to the photos is our math quiz from this morning. Please review, sign and return tomorrow....1 ticket to everyone who brings it back signed!

Also, tonight a new book and review sheet should be in your child's bag. This will be due next Wednesday, Oct.15.  

Our First School Newsletter

...is coming home today.  Please take some time to read the newsletter. There is some important and useful info.  

Tonights' Homework

Some language homework is coming home tonight.  In recount writing we are working on creating opening sentences that include the 5w's.  Tonights homework involves identifying the 5w's in a series of random sentences.  This is a colouring exercise as well - students are reminded to bring back any crayons they borrowed to do the activity.  This assignment is due back tomorrow.

Also, the 2nd book review is due tomorrow.   

Spelling List - Week 6

Words with silent e at the end and homophones

save
gave
have
live
move
above
alive
alike
to
two
too
know
do
blew
blue

Trying Something New

As we head into the 2nd month of school, many parents may be wondering how their child is doing.  If you haven't heard from me, seen a note in the agenda, received a call or email, your child is likely doing a stellar job in school and there is no concern that I have at this time.  That being said, I understand that as parents, even if your child is doing fantastic, an indication of that from time to time would be appreciated.  The unfortunate part is there is just not enough time in the day to dedicate to informing families of how good their child is doing...as the old saying goes, no news is good news.
I would like to start a new system starting next week.  There will be three days in a week that everyone will be expected to have their agendas at school.  On days 1, 3 & 5, I will be indicating in everyone's agenda whether they had a great, so-so or poor day. This will be done by simply circling the appropriate smiley face in the agenda.  For good behaviour, no note will be provided.  For so-so or poor days, I will write a quick note indicating the issue(s).  I hope parents will help to remind their children to put their agendas in their bag every night.

As a side note to parents - if there is ever anything that you feel I should know about your child, let it be that they had a rough morning, a poor sleep, a late night, etc which may contribute to poor behaviour,  lack of attention, or difficulty performing, PLEASE try to let me know by writing a quick note in the agenda and remind them to show me first thing in the morning.  Thank you kindly.

Coming Home Today...

Today we wrote a spelling test and math quiz.  They are both coming home today along with a reading assessment.  Parents, please make sure to ask your child about it today.  They do not require signatures.