December

Well December is one crazy month...concert practices, learning new songs, excitement of the holidays, putting up decorations, visiting family...the list could go on and on. The kids are all excited for the upcoming weeks and there is only one problem...we don't have enough snow! We have been watching the weather (because of our Science unit: Hot and Cold Temperatures) and it is starting to make sense to them. They are realizing that this warm temperature is not going to bring the 'white Christmas' we all hope for and look forward to.
I am going to put all the information for the next two weeks below, as next week will be extremely busy with concert practices. (Also, please check the "What's coming up" tab above for the calendar)

Tutti Fruity Tuesdays have begun again and we encourage the students to bring a fresh fruit or vegetable for a snack. Points are given to each class based on the percentage of students who bring a fresh fruit/vegetable. The class with the highest percentage will win a healthy snack for their class! The students are very excited about it!

I will be gone on Wednesday Dec 9 (all day) and there will be a substitute in.

Thursday (Dec 10)-There will be a presentation (music or drama performance...I'm not too sure) from 10:30-11:15. In the afternoon we will have 3 volunteers from Leduc High School come and help out with our Science experiment.

Friday (Dec 11)-Theme Day-Crazy Christmas Dress Up day!!

NEXT WEEK: Christmas Concert practices will take place every afternoon from 1-3pm.
Tuesday (Dec 15) we will be doing Christmas Activities all morning.
Wednesday (Dec 16) will be our class Christmas party in the morning.
Thursday (Dec 17) will be our afternoon Christmas Concert  at 1pm.

***Students are asked to wear 'Country Cowboy/Cowgirl' attire to match their part in the concert.***

Friday (Dec 18) there will be some activities led by Mr Chomlak, Mrs Hicks, and Mrs Dukeshire. It is also PAJAMA DAY!!! 

Language Arts

Our focus in writing this month is Forest Animals. Students have been working on deciphering between fact and opinion, and whether a piece of writing is narrative or expository/informative. Over the next two weeks we will be looking at using JUICY and EXCITING words in our writing (instead of jump, switch it out for leaped or hopped), starting off our story with an exciting event (good introductions), changing sentences to be more exciting, and determining verbs (action words) and nouns (person, place, or thing). 

Math

We are still working on our Numbers to 100. Our focus is going to counting and recognizing numbers by groups of 10. We have been working a lot with 10s frames and 10s cubes (cubes, rods, and flats). The students are realizing the relationship between: 6 tens = 60, and 6 tens and 5 ones = 65. We have been working on making strong predictions by grouping numbers together in our head. 

Science

Weather seems to be our topic of conversation lately. Exploring with thermometers, recording the daily temperature, determining whether the weather is cloudy/sunny/raining/foggy/snowing, what that means for us going outside and the proper attire. One of our experiments this week will be recording the temperature around the school to see if the temperature is all the same, or different. 

November 23-27, 2015

The last full week of November is upon us and it is FINALLY starting to look like a typical November! This large snow fall that came on Monday has turned our dusty playground into a white winter wonderland. 
With this recent change in weather, please ensure your child comes to school with the appropriate attire: winter coat, snow pants, mitts (good insulated mitts that will keep hands warm), hat, scarf, and snow boots. 

What's New: 
-Tutti Fruity Tuesdays is starting up this week. Students are encouraged to bring a FRESH fruit or vegetable for snack on Tuesdays. This is a competition between classes and the class with the highest number of fruit/vegetables at the end of the competition wins a healthy snack for their class! 
-No School this Friday as it is a PD day. 
-Student of the Week will be handed out on Thursday afternoon. 

Language Arts
Phonics has taken us onto the next vowel...O. They are using common words that have the long vowel O in them. It works out nicely as these match up with our spelling words this week. 
Our Writing unit wraps up this week with a writing about Autumn. Students are using detail, capital letters, proper spacing, appropriate punctuation, and a elaborate picture to help portray their thoughts and ideas. It was hard for them to believe that we are still in the season of Autumn...especially with this fresh white snow we just got!

Math
We will be continuing with Numbers to 100. We have been working quite a bit with money (coins) and the students are gaining confidence with them. I encourage you to practice at home or in the grocery store counting the change in your wallet. 
Our next part of math will be looking at ordinal numbers (first, second, third, fourth, etc) and the words that are associated with each number. 

Science
This weather has really been fun to talk about in science class, as it goes nicely with our Hot and Cold Temperatures unit. We have been talking about the weather and what temperature actually means, as well as using a thermometer to measure it. It is quite fun to watch the students explore and get excited about gathering information (even if it is from The Weather Network). 

Social
Learning all 13 provinces and territories is tough work! But we are getting there! Learning the provinces and territories around us, and a special piece of information about them is helping each student remember them all. 

November 16-20, 2015

Welcome back! After 5 days away from school, it feels like December is right around the corner! Scary, I know!

Lots of little things going on:

-Christmas card orders (through EEPA on a green sheet of paper) are due back on Wednesday November 18 (with payment)
-Operation Christmas Child boxes are due back on Thursday November 19
-Coat Swap-a memo went home last week about the Coat Swap (bring in coats that do not fit anymore and 'swap' it for a coat that does fit)
-Yearbook Interest forms are going home (today) and are due back by November 30. This is just to see who is interested in purchasing a Yearbook. Order forms will be sent home in Spring 2016. 
-Patterns Test and Magnets test will be sent home by Friday. Keep an eye out in your child's agenda!

Language Arts
Phonics-review of long and short vowels and determining if they are long/short vowel words
Spelling words-all words this week are focused on the long vowel 'u'
Writing-Students will be differentiating between facts and opinions about Autumn. Students will also be writing a story about Autumn with a focus on a main character, main event, setting, and a story ending.
Reading-we will be working in small groups and practicing reading to each other

Math
Numbers to 100-finding odd and even numbers from 1-100, counting with money (coins) using a 100s chart
Addition and Subtraction (mental math)-continue to practice using manipulatives and through games

Science
We will be reviewing our Magnets test and then moving on to Hot and Cold Temperatures. Our first thing to look at will be thermometers: why we use them, parts of a thermometer, and where we find thermometers.

Social
We have been looking at the map of Canada and the provinces. Students have been learning where to find Alberta on the map. Our next step is finding the other communities on the map (Iqaluit, Saskatoon, and Meteghan).

November 2-6, 2015

Well there is officially 7 weeks left until Christmas...where has the time gone!
First things first, thank you to the parents who brought treats for the Halloween party on Friday October 30. The kids really loved having the snacks at the party. Plus they looked pretty awesome too!
Currently in art we are making poppies for our wreath to present at the Remembrance Day ceremony on November 10 at 10:30am. Please feel free to attend if your schedule allows.
With the temperature cooling down, please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. We don't want them getting sick!

Language Arts
We are now using 4 out of 5 'Daily 5' stations: Read to Self, Word Work, Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading. The students are building stamina (remaining focused on their task for longer lengths of time each day) and are very excited to have this time.
In our Writing unit, we are exploring juicy sentences that contain a noun (person/place/thing), verb (action word), and adjectives (details). We discussed why each of these are important and why each of these needs to be in each sentence. Students have now been encouraged to use these in their writing more regularly (ie. Daily 5 writing).
Students are developing confidence with using common long vowel words in a variety of sentences (in phonics). This is associating quite well with our spelling words as this weeks words (as well as last weeks) are long vowel words.

Math
Earlier this week we began our 'Numbers to 100' unit. Students have been busy using their 100s charts to help find missing numbers, count by 2/3/4/5/6, starting at a number and counting forwards and backwards, and patterns that occur on the 100s chart.
We continue to do 'money math' which also ties nicely in with our Numbers to 100.

Science
We wrapped up our Magnets unit on Wednesday with a Unit Test. Our next unit (Hot and Cold Temperatures) will begin next week.

Social
Earlier this week we discussed where we lived. What is the name of the city/town you live in? What is the province? What is the country? Can you find it on a map? On a map of Canada, where is there land? Where is there water? What are the two major bodies of water called (Atlantic and Pacific ocean)? They are quite interested in finding places on a map!

October 26-30, 2015

BRRRRRRR!! It sure has cooled off today! That wind is making recess quite chilly. Please make sure your child has the appropriate clothes for recess. Always assume that recess will be outdoors, so if it is snowing/windy/raining, please ensure that your child has all of the appropriate attire to keep warm outside (ex. warm coat, hat, scarf, mitts, lined pants, warm boots, etc). It is always easier to leave items in their locker than wish they had brought them.

Friday is going to be quite busy with the Halloween celebrations. Here is the breakdown of the day:

Block 1-3 (8:30-10:10) will be 'normal'. At 10:10, they will get ready for our class party. (Thank you to those parents bringing snacks for them!) We will watch a movie (Wall-E) and enjoy our snacks until lunch recess (11:55) at which time they will go out for recess. Lunch will begin at 12:20 but there is NO hot lunch this week. At 12:45 we will head to the gym for assembly and then walk over to Salem Manor at 1:00. Upon their return, the students will do a parade in the gym to show off their costumes so the other students/classes can see.

Stay safe this weekend! DON'T FORGET TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK ON SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING!!!

Language Arts
This week we introduced 'Word Work' in our Daily 5. The students will get to use different manipulatives to explore their spelling words each week. The students are going to have a blast using 4 out of the 5 Daily 5 stations! (Note: The 5th station of Read to Someone will be introduced after Christmas holidays).
Our Phonics is just wrapping up with common words using short vowel sounds. We are jumping into long vowel sounds this week and letter blends that make the long vowel sounds.
In our Writing, the students have been working a lot with FACT vs OPINION, and what the difference between them is. We even got to take facts and use our feelings to turn them into opinions. For example: The weather gets cooler in Autumn (fact), but I do not like that the weather gets cooler (opinion).
We continue to listen to 'The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail' and the students are really getting into it! It is a novel that we are listening to as a class, and they are enjoying learning with the character.

Math
We have wrapped up our Patterns unit with a test. Thank you for taking the time with your child to work on the practice sheets that were sent home! We continue to work on math facts and this will be an ongoing practice throughout the year. Next week we will begin our 'Numbers to 100' unit.

Science
Our class is at the tail end of the Magnets unit. We are testing magnets' strength through fabrics/objects to see if they are more weak or strong. Our Magnets test will be next week Wednesday.

Social
We have wrapped up our Mapping unit and are heading on to learn about the different communities throughout Canada, specifically Meteghan (Nova Scotia), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), and Iqaluit (Nunavut) and how those communities relate to Leduc. Throughout the year we will be discovering different qualities of these communities (people, geography, jobs, resources, etc) and comparing them to Leduc.

Oct 21, 2015

Busy weeks are ahead!
Today and tomorrow after school we have Parent/Teacher Interviews. Thank you to those parents who signed up! I am excited to meet with you.
Important things to remember: 
-picture forms are due back to school on THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2015. Even if you would like retakes, please send the form back.
-we will be having a dress-up day next Friday and walking through Salem Manor (Senior Center across the street). In the morning will be our class party. For those who signed up to bring items, I will send out a sign-up sheet for you to sign up (this will be sent via email).

Language Arts
We are doing Reading Comprehension every morning. The students are getting much more confident with understanding what they are reading.
Daily 5 is going really well. The students love the 3 parts we have started (read to self, listen to read, and work on writing) and we will be introducing 'Word Work' next week.
In phonics, we are developing our understanding and confidence of short vowel sounds. Next we will be working with long vowel sounds.
Our writing is developing too! We have learned about two types of writing: expository/informative and narrative. We are exploring the differences of the two types: why the author writes this way, what the story looks like, what each sentence contains, the importance of a title, etc.

Math
We have wrapped up our Patterns unit and are starting to review. There will be a test next week on Wednesday October 28.
On Monday we looked at money (specifically, coins) and what each coin is worth. We then moved on to adding money together and figuring out 'how much money is in Miss Kruse's wallet'. This is a great chance to work with your child when you go to the store or are finding money around the house. Ask your child: how much is that worth? if I had all these coins together, how much would I have?

Science
Magnets are the topic of conversation lately. The students got to test various items to see if they were magnetic or not. Items such as a pop can, juice box, eraser, pencil, paper clip, money, chalk, nails, and a twist tie were among the items. Our next experiment will be to see how many paperclips a magnet can hold. We will be talking about predictions and observations as well.

Social
We are at the tail end of our Mapping unit. Our discussion lately has been around directions (compass rose, left, right) and the continents. The students are very interested in the continents and what is on each continent (ex. variety of animals, weather, geography, etc). The conversation has even led into tectonic plates!!

September 28-October 2, 2015

Well the temperature is decreasing, the leaves are changing color, and we have officially entered the season of FALL! There is still a lot going on in the classroom and there is no slowing down!

-Club Moo (milk program) will begin next week. Information went home on Monday Sept. 28 about it. This year you can purchase milk online through Powerschool.
-Home Reading: the goal for September is 2 hours. Please fill in the Reading Log in the red duotang that was sent home. A new Reading Log for October will be sent home on Thursday October 1.
-Hot Lunch program starts on Friday.

The Terry Fox Walk went really well on Friday. We had fantastic weather and the kids had a ton of fun on their walk. They really enjoyed coming back to school for a hot dog, bag of chips, and a water. Thank you to all those who came out and helped!

This week:
Language Arts
Phonics: recognizing common words, using common words to complete sentences, short vowel words
Spelling: our spelling words this week are words that contain the short vowel o and u
Writing: Action words, splitting a sentence into two parts (subject and predicate; Who/What and a Doing/Describing)
Daily 5: We have been working on mastering "Read to Self" and "Work on Writing". We will introduce "Listen to Read" this week too. This allows kids to listen to books using iPads as a different form of reading.

Math
Patterns: practicing how to extend a pattern and predict parts of a pattern that are missing; making a pattern with a pre-determined number of parts (ex. 6 red beads, 3 red beads, and 3 green beads)
Addition/Subtraction: we are wrapping up our review unit and starting numbers that go up to 20

Science
-Identifying magnets around our school/classroom and where magnets might be used

Social
Students will be using a map to understand how to get from 'Point A' to 'Point B'.