Puppet Perfection!

I couldn't pick just one!  I was too proud and I had to show off our grade two creativity and brilliance!  I did show them how to make the hair but the rest I left up to them... and I couldn't have hoped for a more perfect set of puppets!!!

In language we are reviewing fiction and non-fiction books and the features of each.  After reading a non-fiction book about puppets we were inspired to make our own!  The students will be reading the book again, on their own, as research for their writing task.  Tomorrow we will start our "Explanation" of our puppets.  The students will explain the design and how they work. We have been talking about how we write an explanation.  The students will be asked to write this text form for our next writing assessment. 

I hope they are eager to start the writing.  I reminded them of the wonderful and creative explanations that they were sharing when talking about their puppets.  Hopefully they will use those imaginative ideas in their writing!  Can you guess which one is the fashion model?  Maybe you can find the snake or the puppet who is eating a chicken...yes I said chicken!?  Ask your child to tell you all about their puppet!  Is it a stick puppet or a hand puppet?  What are the differences?  That's enough talking...scroll down and meet our new friends!!!

                            

Grade One Blends

Here are a few of the blends the grade ones should know without hesitation.  If your child is still struggling with them you may want them to watch this video.

As we learn about measurement these two videos may help the children to recognize the difference between standard and non-standard forms of measurement.  Shall we use Sid or the metre stick?

Supporting Our Reading!

We are working through our winter reading assessments and I am trying to come up with some entertaining ways to practise the skills that many students still need to practise.  I hope these ideas will help to give you an idea of what we are trying to accomplish to improve our reading! 

These mini-books can be printed and read.  Each book is at a different reading level.  I am also re-posting the following Youtube video because we have been using it frequently to learn our reading "chunks".  The more familiar the students are with these sounds, and the letters that work together to make them, the faster they will become at reading unknown words.  The following "chunks" should be read as one sound and the students should be recognising them and reading them without hesitation.

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!