Christmas Greeting

I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas holiday and having a blast playing in all that snow! I am fighting a possible sinus infection which I think my son was kind enough to share! I'm hoping everyone has stayed healthy and safe. I am enjoying the time with my family even though we seem to be drowning in Lego! I can't wait to hear about all of your Christmas fun and experiences! I will Blog again soon! Take care! Mrs. Wolynice

Loving Language Youtube Videos!

I know I said I would stop but... WOW!  Technology is a love/hate relationship for me but tonight I am loving it...ENJOY!

Well now I'm just getting carried away!  Enjoy finding your own Youtube videos for the concepts and strategies we are working on in class!

Don't Stop With Math...!

Check out the language version of that site! Fun English Games You have to pick and choose because some are quite difficult!  I'm not affraid to admit it...I was having difficulty with some of the games (if anyone figures out how to win the spiderman game let me know...maybe I shouldn't have tried on a Friday night)!  ...Like I said all grades and ages!!! 

I am trying something new so I will apologize in advance...this may not work...

Did it work... are you watching cartoons and tapping your foot as you listen to your son/daughter count backwards from 20? Let's try one more time!

Sorry I just can't help myself...

Can't wait to use them in class too!!!

Tonight's "Best Math Website"!

Tonight's website extraordinaire! Kids Math Games  I thought that I should mention how the links work for those visitors that may not be as comfortable with technology.  Any time you see a name in another colour like, Kids Math Games, you can click on it after using the mouse to move the cursor on top of the link.  The cursor will turn into a little hand and the link will then take you to the site.

Tonight's link is especially wonderful because it includes games, videos, pictures, worksheets and so much more.  It is also not limited to grade one or two.  You may be able to find something for the older siblings as well (i.e. a video on how to add fractions...amazing!  Don't worry that's not in the grade one or two curriculum)!  I hope you find it useful!

Tonight's Reading Tip!

Try taking a picture walk BEFORE you start reading with your child tonight!  Look through the book together and have your son/daughter tell you about the pictures and what is happening in the pictures.  If you notice a word they may get stuck on when it's time to read try to give hints while you are doing the picture walk.  Hints could be in the form of questions that would generate the word as an answer (i.e. how is the character moving on this page?, what do you think he is looking for?, etc...).  Now go back and read the story together.  You may also want to try flash cards, using the word wall words that show up in the story, before reading the story.  I hope this tip helps! 

Remember if your child is finding the story too hard or he/she is not enjoying the story it's time to pick a new story, or trying reading it to your son/daughter!  I wouldn't want to keep reading a story I didn't find interesting! :)  Don't forget to visit the local library to find those stories that make reading an adventure!  Model reading...let your child see you reading!  Reading to your child is just as important as reading with your child!  OK that might be more than one tip...!

Our Grade One and Two Math Learning Stations

Welcome to our math learning stations!  These are a few pictures showing the math learning stations we have been working on this month.  We will be starting some new learning stations this week.  I encourage you to ask your child about the learning stations.  (Ask them which one was their favourite, why it was their favourite, which stations they had difficulty with, etc....)  There are others that I didn't get a picture of yet.

• The red sheet shows the centre where the students had to pick an addition block from the basket.  Then they had to stamp the numbers to make a dotted picture showing the numbers they were adding.  Next they had to stamp the number sentence showing what they added and the answer they got, (using the addition symbol and the equals sign).
• The green sheet with the balance scale shows equations they were trying to make using snap cubes.  The students put the numbers in each side of the balance scale using different coloured cubes and then they added the "mystery number" using a different colour until the scale was balanced.  So if 4+5 was on one side of the scale they may have found that 7 had to added to the 2 on the other side to make them equal and balanced.  4+5=7+2
• The blue sheet with snap cubes shows a number they had to make using the snap cubes.  They were allowed to use 2, 3, or 4 colours to make the number several times.  Each time they had to make the same number.  This page shows a student making 16 three different ways, (so far).  As you can see they have found that 6+9+1=16!

We shared our learning stations as a group and we will continue to share our math station experiences this week as we talk more about addition and subtraction strategies!

1 Follower WOO HOO I'm so excited!  (No seriously I am excited about one follower!)  I hope that there are a few parents and visitors that are finding the time to follow my Blog.  If there is anything you are enjoying, anything you want to see more of, or anything I haven't included that you were hoping to see, please let me know!


Here is a rainy day math question to get our minds thinking and to keep our hands busy!  Draw pictures, use numbers to explain what is happening in the pictures, and words to write your answer and label your pictures and words!

Grade ones can try answering the question: Ethan and Garrett are making 6 Lego people.  How many legs will they need to build them?


Grade twos: Ethan and Garrett are making 6 Lego people and 4 Lego dogs.  How many legs will they need to build them?

Today's Link:  Excellent for making your own math worksheets for practice at home. The Mathsheet Site!

The Best YouTube Videos for the Love of Learning Math and Language

Newsletters and brochures will be coming home this week to give you an updated link for our new learning and focuses in both math and language.  Completed math activities will also be coming home with a note explaining what we worked on and the learning that was involved.  Please look through the work with your child.  Complete and/or correct any work they may have missed or had difficulty with.  The work can now stay at home.  This is not a complete list of what was covered.  Many of our daily activities involve learning stations, oral participation, Smart board activities, and group and modelled learning opportunities, etc....  That is why daily attendance is such an important factor in your child’s understanding and completion of the expectations we are covering.  The work that is being sent home is by no means an exhaustive list of the learning surrounding that topic or learning goal.

Please continue to use the reading strategies when reading with your child.  If you are not sure of how to use the reading strategies, (or any of the activities I have suggested), please don't hestitate to call or stop by the school! Here are some links that may help with understanding our reading strategies as well as other strategies you may want to try.

Reading Strategies for Parents - Not just for your grade one or two child!

Reading Tips for Parents

Word Wall Words - Can your child read along with this YouTube video to read 100 high frequency words?

YouTube sight word story - invite your son or daughter in to take a look. There are many to choose from.

YouTube videos that work on word families - there are many! This is the en family.

Reading Machines! Your child won't want to stop at one! 

Let's not stop...How about math!

Call in your son or daughter it's time to count to 100!  Read, set, count... Count to One Hundred!

Rock ON!  It's time to learn your doubles! Addition Rock!

Time to add to 10!  You won't be able to listen without tapping your foot and bouncing your head!  RAP it! What makes ten RAP!

We are using 5 frames and 10 frames to learn about numbers!  This is a must see for students!  How fast can you child say the number on the frame?  Keep practicing...Ten Frame Flash Cards, 5 Frames

Ten frame math is marvelous! Ten Frame Math!

As you can see these are only a few of what is out there but my day is quickly disappearing so I must force myself to move on!  I hope I have inspired you to go searching on your own for my helpful videos. HINT: Don't forget to click on the bottom, right corner if you want to see the video in FULL SCREEN!  Enjoy!

November News!

Poppies for November or my way of avoiding the dishes?!  I'm not telling but I do hope you like the blogs new look just the same!  ...Like my classroom, it probably won't stay the same for long!

I am so proud of the students and the progress they have made since September!  We are working hard on our writing, reading, and math skills and doing our best to squeeze learning into every minute of our half day together!

Both grades are really enjoying the new language learning stations I introduced this week.  We have word ladders, word wall races, writing activities, word wall word shopping, and the list goes on!  Our math learning stations are also greeted with the same excitement!  The students are learning to listen carefully and to follow multiple step instructions.  They get to work independently and with a friend and they are learning to follow a list of what needs to be worked on after a learning station has been completed.  I hope to post pictures of our learning stations soon. (I will not include pictures of the students for privacy reasons.)

I hope you have had a chance to look over the November calendars I sent home for language and math.  Please remember that these are ideas and activities that you can use to suit your family and child.  I will encourage you to try one of each type of activity so that you can see how your child is doing with each skill.  The math newsletters I send home will also give you an idea of the specific goals we are trying to achieve.  A focus for this month will be coming home soon in a math newsletter.  I would like the students to get very comfortable with numbers and combinations of numbers.  Addition and subtraction strategies are a challenging concept to master so any practise you can squeeze in at home would be an asset to your child's growth in math.

All of the ideas, websites, and activities I send home are simply my way of trying to INSPIRE you and your child!  I hope that you have found inspiration with one or two!!!

November already...it's hard to believe!  Wishing you warmth and good health as the colder weather moves in around us!

More Helpful Websites!

http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htmhttp://www.dolchword.net/   - dolch word lists, games, flashcards to print off...ready, set, read!!!
Math Games
The Robot Calculator Game  You can't go wrong with a calculator that has it's very own Robot!!!
How cool is this...click on the link and make your own word wall word word search!

Posting Comments...

You should be able to post comments now without needing to register!  Please post comments while keeping in mind that I want this to be a support, helpful and positive experience for everyone who chooses to view my blog! ;)

Helping Children Learn Their Letters!

Fun with Letters

Click on the above link.

Friday Wrap Up!

Once again a week has flown by!  We are settling into routines and the students are getting used to the number of times I change their desks around! J  Hopefully everyone had a chance to check the agenda bags.  The grade twos have a new math note and the grade ones brought home their Wacky Word Wall Word books and journals.  Please take the time to look them over with your child.  The grade one books are due back Wednesday.  The grade twos will be bringing their Word Study and writing books home next week.  Unfortunately I simply ran out of time to send both home today.  

I hope to send more ideas for take home reading practice but it is not to overwhelm you.  I simply want to make sure I give you as much information as I can about our day at school and to give you the opportunity to help your child if they are struggling.  I completely respect your role as the parent to alter the homework routine to suit your child and your family.  I try to communicate as much as I can so that there are no surprises.  I also try to give you a variety of ideas and suggestions so that you can pick the ones that work best for your child at home.  Maybe your child needs to learn through games and movement, maybe you are on the road a lot and flash cards or plastic plate ‘white boards’ work best in the car, etc... or maybe your child is already reading above grade level and you are focusing more on their needs in math.  

Keep in mind that there are 36 students, and even more families, that I am trying to reach and I realize that no two are the same!  For that reason I strongly urge you to contact me at any time with questions or concerns.  I cannot help if I don’t know there is a problem.  I am the mother of two boys and I too have had my, “this teacher must be nuts”, moments.  I do however support and respect every teacher they have had and I go directly to them with concerns (remembering never to voice them in front of the boys).

We are all in this together!  I only want the VERY best for your child and your child’s educational experience!  Yikes I must be tired...talking far too much!  Time to make dinner!  Enjoy your weekend!!!

Today's Math - Math Meets Literature!

Today we welcomed Mrs. Forbes into our class.  She worked with us to find the math in our story Six Dinner Sid and she helped us to develop strategies that we can use in all of our problem solving!  We turned a math problem into math success!  

Sneaky Sid found a way of eating 6 dinners each day.  The grade ones worked with a partner to figure out how many dinners Sid would have eaten in 3 days and the grade twos worked in pairs to figure out how many dinners Sid ate in a whole week!  They used pictures, numbers, and words to show their thinking while they worked out the problem.  What a bright bunch...I was so proud!  

Ask your son or daughter to tell you about the story and the math they learned today!  A great big thank you to Mrs. Forbes for being a new friend and helper in our class today!  We were very excited to work with her and we are looking forward to her next visit.

Want to see the math, and your child, in action?  Ask them to work out this problem at home:  Sid had a friend... 4 dinner Frank!  Frank eats 4 dinners in a day.  How many dinners will Frank eat in a week?  Don’t forget to use pictures, numbers, and words!  (The words can help explain the numbers and be a part of the answer.)

Yes the math that we grew up with is definitely changing (for the better)!!!  If you feel lost...don’t worry, just ask your child to explain it to you! ;)

Problem Solving

Problem solving our way!  We have started working on our problem solving strategies and we are doing our best to learn each of the problem solving steps.  We will continue to use problem solving throughout our mathematics curriculum and the students will continue to use it throughout their educational experiences so it is a very important skill to learn.  I will occasionally post an activity or a problem solving question for each grade.  If the students feel like giving them a try that would be AWESOME and if not then it will also be a good chance for parents to see a few of the math expectations we are tackling!

Math in the Blink of an Eye!

Can't get your kids off the ipod...homework is always a battle?  Tonight I found 3 FREE ipod apps for my boys!  Addition and multiplication (my boys are older) apps as games and flash cards!  They have reading ones too!  Sshhhhh don't tell the kids it's homework!  If you would like me to name the apps let me know.

A Peek Inside Our Classroom!

We had our bus evacuation this week and we also got to watch a video about bus evacuations.  The children did a wonderful job of evacuating the bus safely!  Practice is so important!  Just as important is the awareness of following the school bus rules.  The grade ones completed a list of school bus rules as part of our writing curriculum.  We are working on using the word wall words in our sentences so if you would like to make a mini word wall board at home it may help the students to write sentences independently (all other words can be sounded out).  The students should be able to independently look at the words in alphabetical order and find the word they have forgotten how to spell.  Maybe you would like me to make mini word wall boards for the students to bring home?  Please let me know if this is something your child would use and you would like me to create it!

The grade twos wrote a letter to a friend today.  The letter had to be about the best birthday party they had ever been to.  We are working on making our ideas clear and supporting our ideas with lots of interesting and descriptive details.  We are also working on parts of a letter, editing our work and using our voice in our writing (i.e. if you’re writing to a friend what would your writing sound like – “Garrett it was the best birthday ever.  I wish you had been there with me!”).  Ask your child about the letter they wrote.  How many details and ideas did they use?

Join in our day!

This Week's Favourite Websites!

I have found two great websites for practising reading word wall words!  The first one is my favourite!  Each word list gets more challenging so if you are finding the games too easy simply pick another list to try.  Let me know what you think!  I listed the sites in the red note I sent home about my new Blog.  Here's the first one again in case you no longer have the note.  http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/sightword/dolchgames.htm

October is Here!

Wow we have made it through September!  Congratulations to parents and students!  I am very proud of how well the students have settled in and how hard they work every day!  Thank you to the parents as well!  The support and dedication you have shown amidst the hustle and bustle of September deserves a round of applause!  I look forward to working with you and getting to know you and your child even better as the year unfolds!