Hello!
This will be my final blog entry for the grade one French immersion class. My last day at Greenfield is fast approaching and will be Friday March 18th, the last school day before March Break. Mme Lisa MacLeod will be back in the classroom full-time after the break.
I told the children about my departure during the week of Valentine's Day. Mme MacLeod had sent a valentine for each child and also a short letter about herself with her picture. It was a great way to begin the transition process. I explained, in English, that I would be leaving Greenfield school and Mme MacLeod would be their new teacher in a few weeks. At this time I gave the students an opportunity to ask questions. I've spoken about my departure a few times since then and will be talking about it more as it approaches. Mme MacLeod will also be in our classroom all week between March 14th and 18th and will run a few activities, and do one on one interviews with the children so they get to know one another a bit. Mme MacLeod will also be present at all of the upcoming parent-teacher interviews, so you will have a chance to meet her.
Parent-teacher interviews will take place next week on the afternoon of Thursday March 10th and during the daytime on Friday March 11th. I will be sending home interview times this week in your child's agenda. Please let me know as soon as possible if the proposed time works for you or not, and I will try to accommodate you as best I can.
Right now we're wrapping up our unit on the home. Because we missed a few days due to storms, we're spending a few more days finishing up this unit this week. I hope to begin the March unit 'Moyens de transport et le voyage' on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. In this unit, students will be introduced to the vocabulary of travel and modes of transportation. During this unit students will be doing a short interview with a partner about traveling and will be writing up their partner's responses. We'll also be writing a class book about travel.
In Math we've been working on addition and subtraction, and various strategies to choose from when solving these types of Math problems. In the past week, we've focused our attention on mental Math and ways to use visualization strategies to assist in this process. We've spent a lot of time discussing the 'how' of solving Math problems and the reasoning process, as opposed to simply giving the right answer. Next week we'll be finishing up module 3 'J'additionne et je soustrais jusqu'à 12' and moving on to the measuring unit.
We continue to do our regular routine parts of our day including, practicing weekly sight words, practicing the date, doing our daily calendar and drawing the weather, literacy centres, French songs, silent reading and story time. Please see below for an example of a typical daily schedule:
8:30 - 8:50 Arrival and work on printing and/or finishing any work from the previous day
8:50 - 9:20 Literacy centres, including guided reading
9:20 - 10:00 Literacy block: Work on sounds, sound blending, printing and French songs
10:00 - 10:25 Washrooms and snack time
10:25 - 10:40 Little recess
10:45 - 11:45 Math
11:50 - 12:20 Big recess
12:20 - 12:40 Lunch (although I usually give the students 5 or 10 mins extra because they usually aren't finished eating in that time)
12:50 - 1:05 Silent reading/partner reading/read aloud
1:10 - 1:40 Gym or music (times change depending on the day of the cycle)
1:40 - 2:35 Paired or small group writing and/or art activity
2:35 Prep for departure
2:45 Load the buses/departure
It's been fun getting to know and work with your children during my 7 month stint at Greenfield. Thanks for your help and support. I have learned a lot and enjoyed teaching your children. I will do my best to ensure that the transition between teachers is done in a sensitive manner. I know it will be a big change for the students, but Lisa MacLeod and I have taken a lot of measures so that the transition will be as comfortable as possible for everyone involved. I'm sure the students will continue to have a great grade one year with Mme MacLeod.
Thank you,
Ellen
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
All About Our Homes
Hello everyone,
This month our theme is the home. We will be learning vocabulary related to the home and household over the course of February. The culminating activity of this unit will be a small book that each student writes about their home. We will also be doing a few special crafts and activities for Valentine's day.
The students' have begun taking home special book bags each week. Every Monday, each student and I meet and select three or four books for them for the week. Each student has two books that are suited to their reading current level and one or two books that are slightly more challenging. Each evening, students are expected to read aloud for ten minutes with a parent, and to practice the words of the week that are written in their agenda.
In Math we've been working on addition using numbers between 0 and 12. Last week we spent time learning our doubles eg 1+1 = 2, 2+2=4, etc... We are learning doubles between 0 and 10. This week we will begin working on subtraction, how to express it mathematically and also in sentence form.
I recently sent home Scholastic book order forms. I'll place the class order online with my credit card, so if you'd like to send an order, please send cash only in exact change. If you'd like to submit an order, please do so by Friday February 11th.
Alternatively, if you'd like to access some free French resources in the community, try visiting the public library at La Centre Belle-Alliance in Summerside. They have books, DVDs and CDs that you can borrow with your provincial library card. Their library is open at the following times:
Saturdays from 9am to 1pm
Tuesdays from 9am to 2pm
Wednesdays from 4 to 8pm
I'd like to ask all parents to begin signing your child's agenda each evening. This way I know that you've see any notes, homework, etc... that's been written for that day. If you could start this practice this week, that would be great. I know in the upper grades most teachers ask parents to do this, so it's a good habit to get into now as part of the homework routine.
Please note that I will be away at a conference on Thursday February 10th and Friday February 11th. Madame Edith Hogan will be in for me on those days.
The students' fluency in French is really improving with leaps and bounds! I've become more strict with enforcing an all French environment in the classroom by using a lot of positive reinforcement (praise, stickers, special privileges, prizes). My hope is that this will further motivate all students to use as much French as possible during class time.
Keep up to date with Greenfield school events by visiting our online calendar at
http://www.edu.pe.ca/greenfield/calendar.htm
Below is a quick summary of upcoming important dates to remember this month:
Monday February 21 - Islander Day, school closed
Wednesday February 23 - Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying Awareness Day)
Monday February 28 - Home & School Meeting 6:30pm School Library
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns you may have.
Best,
Madame Ellen
This month our theme is the home. We will be learning vocabulary related to the home and household over the course of February. The culminating activity of this unit will be a small book that each student writes about their home. We will also be doing a few special crafts and activities for Valentine's day.
The students' have begun taking home special book bags each week. Every Monday, each student and I meet and select three or four books for them for the week. Each student has two books that are suited to their reading current level and one or two books that are slightly more challenging. Each evening, students are expected to read aloud for ten minutes with a parent, and to practice the words of the week that are written in their agenda.
In Math we've been working on addition using numbers between 0 and 12. Last week we spent time learning our doubles eg 1+1 = 2, 2+2=4, etc... We are learning doubles between 0 and 10. This week we will begin working on subtraction, how to express it mathematically and also in sentence form.
I recently sent home Scholastic book order forms. I'll place the class order online with my credit card, so if you'd like to send an order, please send cash only in exact change. If you'd like to submit an order, please do so by Friday February 11th.
Alternatively, if you'd like to access some free French resources in the community, try visiting the public library at La Centre Belle-Alliance in Summerside. They have books, DVDs and CDs that you can borrow with your provincial library card. Their library is open at the following times:
Saturdays from 9am to 1pm
Tuesdays from 9am to 2pm
Wednesdays from 4 to 8pm
I'd like to ask all parents to begin signing your child's agenda each evening. This way I know that you've see any notes, homework, etc... that's been written for that day. If you could start this practice this week, that would be great. I know in the upper grades most teachers ask parents to do this, so it's a good habit to get into now as part of the homework routine.
Please note that I will be away at a conference on Thursday February 10th and Friday February 11th. Madame Edith Hogan will be in for me on those days.
The students' fluency in French is really improving with leaps and bounds! I've become more strict with enforcing an all French environment in the classroom by using a lot of positive reinforcement (praise, stickers, special privileges, prizes). My hope is that this will further motivate all students to use as much French as possible during class time.
Keep up to date with Greenfield school events by visiting our online calendar at
http://www.edu.pe.ca/greenfield/calendar.htm
Below is a quick summary of upcoming important dates to remember this month:
Monday February 21 - Islander Day, school closed
Wednesday February 23 - Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying Awareness Day)
Monday February 28 - Home & School Meeting 6:30pm School Library
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns you may have.
Best,
Madame Ellen
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Bonne Année!
Happy New Year everyone,
We've had a great two weeks back to school so far! The students are really starting to speak in more fluent sentences! I'm now speaking French all the time in class, aside from instances when it is necessary to address certain discipline issues in English. During the next while I will be using a lot of incentives to encourage the students to use even more French in class.
Our theme for the month of January is 'J'aime l'hiver' (I love winter). We've been learning the vocabulary for winter clothing and winter activities. This past week we've been working on the following two sentence structures: 'Pendant l'hiver j'aime..' (during the winter I like to...) and 'Pendant l'hiver je n'aime pas...' (during the winter I don't like to).
We've been continuing with our literacy centres every morning. The centres relate to our theme and give the students an opportunity to work more independently, but in a small group setting. During this time, I lead guided reading with a group of two or three students where they practice their reading. I also have our school language monitor present to assist with the other centres while I'm leading guided reading.
In Math we have started a new unit on addition and subtraction using numbers up to twelve, with a focus on finding different ways to arrive at the same number. Soon we will be learning the doubles of numbers up to ten, and how to practice those as a way to hone their mental Math skills.
I will be continuing on with the current homework format. Students are sent home with a book on Monday afternoon and are expected to practice reading it aloud at home with a parent. They are also expected to practice reading the weekly sight words. Please return the books with your child on Fridays and on Monday they will be given a new book to work with. I have compiled a list of all the sight words that we have done to date this year below for your reference. Students should always have the weekly sight words written in their agendas.
If you are uncertain of the pronunciation, please use this great website! It will read aloud whatever French words you type in. Very helpful!
http://public.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
papa
maman
le
je
te
bonjour
au revoir
la
ma
ami
fille
garcon
c'est
du
chat
j'ai
voici
jour
petit
petite
pour
un
une
tu
elle dit
il dit
j'aime
des
viens
gros
grosse
aussi
en
voila
n'est pas
tu cours
il court
beaucoup
non
est-ce que
moi
comme
avec
faim
il veut
je suis
aller
sur
sous
dans
derrière
devant
à coté de
ils disent
je fais
tu fais
je vais
jouer
je veux
met
regardez
regarde
je peux
Lastly, just a reminder to send two pairs of mitts with your child to school, because usually most of their mittens are soaked after little recess and aren't dry by big recess time.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Best,
Ellen
We've had a great two weeks back to school so far! The students are really starting to speak in more fluent sentences! I'm now speaking French all the time in class, aside from instances when it is necessary to address certain discipline issues in English. During the next while I will be using a lot of incentives to encourage the students to use even more French in class.
Our theme for the month of January is 'J'aime l'hiver' (I love winter). We've been learning the vocabulary for winter clothing and winter activities. This past week we've been working on the following two sentence structures: 'Pendant l'hiver j'aime..' (during the winter I like to...) and 'Pendant l'hiver je n'aime pas...' (during the winter I don't like to).
We've been continuing with our literacy centres every morning. The centres relate to our theme and give the students an opportunity to work more independently, but in a small group setting. During this time, I lead guided reading with a group of two or three students where they practice their reading. I also have our school language monitor present to assist with the other centres while I'm leading guided reading.
In Math we have started a new unit on addition and subtraction using numbers up to twelve, with a focus on finding different ways to arrive at the same number. Soon we will be learning the doubles of numbers up to ten, and how to practice those as a way to hone their mental Math skills.
I will be continuing on with the current homework format. Students are sent home with a book on Monday afternoon and are expected to practice reading it aloud at home with a parent. They are also expected to practice reading the weekly sight words. Please return the books with your child on Fridays and on Monday they will be given a new book to work with. I have compiled a list of all the sight words that we have done to date this year below for your reference. Students should always have the weekly sight words written in their agendas.
If you are uncertain of the pronunciation, please use this great website! It will read aloud whatever French words you type in. Very helpful!
http://public.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php
papa
maman
le
je
te
bonjour
au revoir
la
ma
ami
fille
garcon
c'est
du
chat
j'ai
voici
jour
petit
petite
pour
un
une
tu
elle dit
il dit
j'aime
des
viens
gros
grosse
aussi
en
voila
n'est pas
tu cours
il court
beaucoup
non
est-ce que
moi
comme
avec
faim
il veut
je suis
aller
sur
sous
dans
derrière
devant
à coté de
ils disent
je fais
tu fais
je vais
jouer
je veux
met
regardez
regarde
je peux
Lastly, just a reminder to send two pairs of mitts with your child to school, because usually most of their mittens are soaked after little recess and aren't dry by big recess time.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Best,
Ellen
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Christmas at Greenfield
Hello everyone,
Well we've begun our final theme of 2010 which is..... Christmas! I guess the people writing the curriculum were wise enough to know that there's no point in resisting what is on all of the kids' minds anyway. Today we started decorating our classroom for Christmas, while each day we build our Christmas vocabulary as well.
As you may have noticed, the homework format has changed. The new format consists of practicing the 'mots fréquents' each night and reading one or two short books with mom or dad. The students will keep the same book or books for the entire week and return them on Friday. I will send home a new book or books each week. From time to time I will still send home some homework that requires them to do some printing in their homework duotangs, but I'm interested to see how the new format goes. I welcome your feedback about this change.
In Math we've been working on the concept of estimation. Next we'll be working on the concepts of a value plus one and a value minus one. Please feel free to practice estimation at home!
Caramba! You may have noticed that your child came home with a brand new book by this title. All the grade one French immersion students on PEI received this book as part of a special grant program funded by TD Bank. We had a special visitor come in and read the book to the students and then each student was given their own copy. It's a great story with beautiful illustrations. Please keep this book at home and enjoy it!
Christmas concert - The Greenfield Christmas concert will be taking place on Thursday December 16th. If your last name begins with a letter between A - L, please attend the morning show which starts at 10am. If your last name begins with a letter between M - Z, please attend the afternoon show which starts at 1pm. The students have been working hard on their numbers for the show!
Food Drive - For our class charitable activity for the holidays, I'd like to ask families to donate any non-perishable food items that they can spare. All food items will be distributed to needy families in the community.
As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Ellen
Well we've begun our final theme of 2010 which is..... Christmas! I guess the people writing the curriculum were wise enough to know that there's no point in resisting what is on all of the kids' minds anyway. Today we started decorating our classroom for Christmas, while each day we build our Christmas vocabulary as well.
As you may have noticed, the homework format has changed. The new format consists of practicing the 'mots fréquents' each night and reading one or two short books with mom or dad. The students will keep the same book or books for the entire week and return them on Friday. I will send home a new book or books each week. From time to time I will still send home some homework that requires them to do some printing in their homework duotangs, but I'm interested to see how the new format goes. I welcome your feedback about this change.
In Math we've been working on the concept of estimation. Next we'll be working on the concepts of a value plus one and a value minus one. Please feel free to practice estimation at home!
Caramba! You may have noticed that your child came home with a brand new book by this title. All the grade one French immersion students on PEI received this book as part of a special grant program funded by TD Bank. We had a special visitor come in and read the book to the students and then each student was given their own copy. It's a great story with beautiful illustrations. Please keep this book at home and enjoy it!
Christmas concert - The Greenfield Christmas concert will be taking place on Thursday December 16th. If your last name begins with a letter between A - L, please attend the morning show which starts at 10am. If your last name begins with a letter between M - Z, please attend the afternoon show which starts at 1pm. The students have been working hard on their numbers for the show!
Food Drive - For our class charitable activity for the holidays, I'd like to ask families to donate any non-perishable food items that they can spare. All food items will be distributed to needy families in the community.
As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Ellen
Thursday, November 18, 2010
An Overdue Update!
Hello,
My apologies for the delay in the blogging. I was quite sick the week of parent-teacher interviews, and I've been busy playing catchup this week.
We're working away on our animal theme and the kids are enjoying it. Next week we'll be working the theme of fruits and vegetables for two weeks.
In math we've started to work on the concept of parts of the whole, i.e if we have ten apples and we divide them into two groups of five, we still have ten apples. We've also been working on addition as it links to this concept i.e 5 apples + 5 apples = 10 apples.
We have started our literacy centres and they are going well! Students are divided into groups of four and spend 25 minutes at their specified centre for the day. The centres are guided reading, puppet station where students practice different sentence structures with puppets, a listening station where students have a headset on and listen to a book on cd as they follow along, and a word making station where students use modeling clay to write the words of the week. Right now we also have the French Immersion literacy coach for our family of schools in our classroom for an hour every morning. She assists with the literacy centres and then leads some intensive French language activities for 25 minutes.
As you may have noticed, I sent home permission slips for a Christmas play that will be staged at La Centre Belle Alliance next Tuesday November 23rd. We will be heading over to the play in the morning and will be back at school for lunch. It should be a great time!
Report cards will be given to students on Thursday November 25th. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's report card, please contact me.
Sub orders - If you'd like to place a sub order for your child, please submit it on Tuesday morning each week. I have to have all sub orders submitted to the office on Tuesday mornings.
School photos - I sent home the students' school photos today. Please check their backpacks!
A reminder that Friday November 26th is a professional development day for teachers, so there will be no classes for students.
Take care,
Ellen
My apologies for the delay in the blogging. I was quite sick the week of parent-teacher interviews, and I've been busy playing catchup this week.
We're working away on our animal theme and the kids are enjoying it. Next week we'll be working the theme of fruits and vegetables for two weeks.
In math we've started to work on the concept of parts of the whole, i.e if we have ten apples and we divide them into two groups of five, we still have ten apples. We've also been working on addition as it links to this concept i.e 5 apples + 5 apples = 10 apples.
We have started our literacy centres and they are going well! Students are divided into groups of four and spend 25 minutes at their specified centre for the day. The centres are guided reading, puppet station where students practice different sentence structures with puppets, a listening station where students have a headset on and listen to a book on cd as they follow along, and a word making station where students use modeling clay to write the words of the week. Right now we also have the French Immersion literacy coach for our family of schools in our classroom for an hour every morning. She assists with the literacy centres and then leads some intensive French language activities for 25 minutes.
As you may have noticed, I sent home permission slips for a Christmas play that will be staged at La Centre Belle Alliance next Tuesday November 23rd. We will be heading over to the play in the morning and will be back at school for lunch. It should be a great time!
Report cards will be given to students on Thursday November 25th. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's report card, please contact me.
Sub orders - If you'd like to place a sub order for your child, please submit it on Tuesday morning each week. I have to have all sub orders submitted to the office on Tuesday mornings.
School photos - I sent home the students' school photos today. Please check their backpacks!
A reminder that Friday November 26th is a professional development day for teachers, so there will be no classes for students.
Take care,
Ellen
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Le mois de novembre
Hello,
This month our theme is "Our Friends the Animals". We will be exploring vocabulary about animals, animals' needs, habitat, etc... I think the kids will really enjoy this unit.
An important event coming up are parent-teacher interviews. I will be hosting them from during after school and early evening hours on next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be sending home notes in the students' agendas tomorrow. Please write a note in your child's agenda to let me know whether or not your time slot works for you or not. Remember that there is no school on Thursday November 11th (Remembrance Day) nor Friday November 12th.
In Math, we are progressing onto bigger sums, and adding numbers onto ten. For example 10 + 2 = 12, or 10 + 4 = 14. We will continue or work on representing numbers in different ways and the constancy of values.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions.
Madame Ellen
This month our theme is "Our Friends the Animals". We will be exploring vocabulary about animals, animals' needs, habitat, etc... I think the kids will really enjoy this unit.
An important event coming up are parent-teacher interviews. I will be hosting them from during after school and early evening hours on next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be sending home notes in the students' agendas tomorrow. Please write a note in your child's agenda to let me know whether or not your time slot works for you or not. Remember that there is no school on Thursday November 11th (Remembrance Day) nor Friday November 12th.
In Math, we are progressing onto bigger sums, and adding numbers onto ten. For example 10 + 2 = 12, or 10 + 4 = 14. We will continue or work on representing numbers in different ways and the constancy of values.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions.
Madame Ellen
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Change of Day for Weekly Blog Posts
Hello everyone,
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm changing my blog post day to Monday evenings. From now on, please check our class blog for weekly updates then.
Thank you!
Ellen
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm changing my blog post day to Monday evenings. From now on, please check our class blog for weekly updates then.
Thank you!
Ellen
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