Wednesday, October 12, 2016

October Newsletter

We are well into October now and it is already clear that this year will fly by! We have been working hard in all areas of the curriculum and students have been learning our class routines and expectations.

In our Religion program we have been discussing the importance of family and how to be a good citizen both within our school and in our online actions. We are talking about how we can show our love to God and our neighbours. In preparation for Thanksgiving we wrote prayers that were sent home. October is the month of the Holy Rosary and we will start to learn the prayers that make up the Rosary in our classroom.

In Math, we are finishing up our Place Value unit and will begin to learn how to add and subtract with regrouping. Below is an example of the strategies we have been exploring.

In Language we are continuing to practice writing in paragraph form and are focusing on:

  • Creating Bold Beginnings that grab a readers attention.
  • Adding adjectives to make our writing more interesting.
  • Using joining words like and or because to link simple sentence together.
In Gym we are learning new cooperative games that involve throwing, catching and kicking a ball.

In our Visual Arts program, students are learning about line as well as warm and cool colours. They are learning to create texture as they explore different mediums such as oil pastel, coloured pencil, watercolour, tissue paper, Sharpie and pencil.

In Science students have been exploring leaves, animals, structures and plants through open ended experiences and observations of our classroom gardening project.

If you have any questions about our studies or would like to volunteer your expertise in an area, please contact me through your child's agenda!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Welcome Back!

It is hard to believe that we are starting classes again this week. Sometimes it seems like we blink and the summer is over. Excitement was in the air today with students meeting again and making new friends.

I am so happy to be your child's classroom teacher and look forward to learning more about each of my students over the coming weeks. This week we will be establishing routines and building community within our classroom. Our board's new spiritual theme for this year is, "We are called to be the Good News." We will be starting to talk about how we can be the good news  within our school and classroom community.

Curriculum 
In Math this week we will be starting our data management unit by creating bar graphs. In Language we will be writing about our holiday adventures as we dust off those pencils and establish our reading routines within the classroom.

Homework
I will begin our homework program in the next few weeks, after we settle into a routine. I encourage students to find a quiet area to do their homework and to spend time reading every night. Thank you for the effort I know it takes to make homework become a routine part of each day, especially after a long summer break. 

Materials
Students are required to have both indoor and outdoor shoes. Please make sure that their indoor shoes are appropriate for the gym. Some items that are helpful to have are coloured pencils, scissors, pencils, erasers and a sharpener. 

Communication
Please let me know if you have any questions through your child's agenda. I will check them daily and get back to you as soon as possible!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Signs of Spring

Spring is officially here and we have been enjoying our outdoor classroom for writing poetry. Students were inspired to brainstorm ways that they can help keep our earth healthy. Look for our writing next week during the open house.

Our classroom is also starting to show signs of spring as our seeds are sprouting and starting to grow shoots. We have quite the variety of plants growing. Our grade three students are starting to question why our bean seeds are not germinating as quickly as we thought they would. This week we may try something new as we continue to observe the seeds that we have in our CD case planters.

We are continuing to learn about how we can open the doors to mercy as we read bible stories. We will be starting to dramatize some of the parables as we begin our drama unit.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our open house next week!

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Planting Starts This Week!

Thank you to everyone that has donated seeds and pots and containers. We are ready to start planting and can't wait to see what comes up!

Today we had Scientists in the Schools come in for a Simple Machines workshop with our grade twos and they had a wonderful time. Please ask them about the materials that they brought home.

2016 is the Holy Year of Mercy and in our classroom we are learning about mercy and what it means. We are looking for examples of mercy in the Bible and we are finding them everywhere. This week we learned about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Students drew pictures of the story and are writing about the lesson that Jesus wanted us to learn from this story. Here is an example of one student's artwork:



Sunday, March 20, 2016

Welcome Back! I hope that everyone had a restful holiday. With Spring officially here, the school yard is guaranteed to be wet and muddy for the next little while. Please consider sending your child with boots and an extra pair of socks and pants in their bag for a quick change if needed. 
As the weather warms up we will be starting to think about planting and there are a few items we would love to have donated for our classroom garden project. We are looking to use recycled items as planters. Some items that will be helpful are 2L milk and juice containers, old plant pots and large tin cans that have been cleaned out. All expert or simply enthusiastic gardeners out there are welcome to share their ideas, suggestions and seeds with us!


This week we will be focusing on the Easter Story and continuing to pray the Rosary as a class. Students are very excited to share their hand crafted Rosary beads with you next weekend.


Our Math focus will be shifting to measurement again. Students will get a chance to explore mass and capacity. We encourage you to talk to them about the different measurement tools that you have at home for measuring. Having your child help with a recipe or measure out and keep track of the milk or water they drink each day will provide real life experiences to help consolidate what we are learning in school.


In Language this week we will explore verbs and continue to practice reading responses.


It will be a short, but busy week! 

Sunday, February 28, 2016

March is Here!

We are moving into March this week and dreaming of warmer days to come! Last week we were busy learning about 2D shapes and creating our own Rosary beads. You can see the results of our hard work below.


This week we will be learning to pray the Rosary together and moving on to 3D shapes in math. We are continuing to learn how to write an awesome answer to questions about what we are reading in language and will revisit procedural writing.

Have a great week!


Thursday, February 18, 2016

What a Week!



What a crazy week it has been! It is hard to believe that it is Friday already. Things are getting back to normal in our classroom. Students are loving the new snow and are hard at work building forts and snowmen in the yard. Please send in pictures of any amazing snow creations you have at home so that we can all enjoy them!

Yesterday was Double Lunch Day and it was a huge success. Our St. Stephen community is so generous and the students could feel how special our gift to the Mission really was. 


This week we are continuing to learn about 2D shapes and are talking about their names, sides and the number of vertices they have. We have even started to talk about the different kinds of angles (Right, Obtuse & Acute). Ask your child to tell you about a square using math vocabulary.

We are also introducing money this week and it would be great practice to have your child practice recognizing coins and counting loose change at home.


Next week as one of our classroom Lenten activities, we will be learning about the Rosary, its history and the stories that make up the different mysteries. We are also going to create our own Rosary bracelets to use in class as we learn how to pray a decade of the Rosary together.


Have a wonderful weekend together!

Mrs. Buccino