Wrapping up at Greenfield

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