This morning we edited the fully missing /oo/ words from our message, and used our awesome kid-spelling words to sound out "spooky." We hunted for rhyming pairs in our Five Little Pumpkins poem, and had another round of literacy centers and guided reading. After recess we learned about giant pumpkin growing (we watched one video clip where a man had grown an 800 lb pumpkin, equaling the weight of 67 regular pumpkins!). We learned that "circumference" is how much something measures around, and used yarn to estimate and test the circumference of our pumpkins. We talked about referents -- first finding out the circumference of another item, to help us more accurately estimate. We graphed our attempts -- most of us estimated too long, but a few of us estimated just right! In the afternoon we had PoWer Hour, then after some Halloween fun in music, we finished our day with art. We enjoyed making observational still life pastel drawings of our pumpkins, drawing what we saw. We learned about "warm" colours and focused on blending to make our pumpkins look more realistic.
***Regarding comments: teachers had to change their blog comments to "require approval," due to some inappropriate comments in older grades. I still encourage you to share your daily challenge participation through comments! :)
Mail Pockets
- No new mail went home today
Words of the Week
Each week we will focus on a set of high frequency words that we are using in our poems and morning message. Feel free to practice these and look for them in your own books! This week we are focused on the /oo/ digraph.
too good look food soon cool book boo!!! spooky
Volunteer Opportunities:
- We would love to welcome morning literacy volunteers into our classroom from 8:00 to 8:30 each morning. If there is one morning a week that works for you, wonderful, but drop-ins are always welcome, too! This will involve helping to create sight word rings, as well as reading one-on-one with students.
- On Wednesday, November 8, Grade Ones will be visiting Fort Calgary for a special experience exploring an Aboriginal perspective of Alberta's history. We would appreciate 1 more volunteer to join us, please!
- On Tuesday, November 14th the grade ones will be making bagged lunches for Calgary's working homeless population with the Sandwich Foundation. We are requesting 5 volunteers from 1:00 pm (until 2:45) to help with this extremely fun and meaningful experience!
Thank you very much for considering! Please email Elysa ([email protected]) or Danielle ([email protected]) if interested to confirm your availability.
Please and Thank You!
- Please consider contributing used magazines for a down-the-road collage project exploring the colour wheel in science.
- Thank you so much to those of you who contributed pumpkins for our pumpkin math inquiry this week!
Halloween!
On Tuesday, October 31 students are welcome to attend school all day in costume, but we request that props be left at home. In the afternoon the grade ones will enjoy some extra fun learning activities, and a special snack. We are seeking volunteers to contribute items -- items not yet claimed include a fruit plate, plates and napkins. Please email Elysa or Danielle if you would like to help with one of these snack items. Thank you!
Good to Know...
- Our weekly scheduled library exchange is Wednesday. Please return your books by then to exchange for a new selection.
Upcoming Dates
Oct. 26 – Halloween Dance
Nov. 5 – Daylight Saving Time – Fall Back
Nov. 7 – Photo Retakes
Nov. 8 - Grade One Field Trip to Fort Calgary (do not order Fun Lunch for this day - sorry!)
Nov. 8 – School Council Mtg. at 6:30
Nov. 10 – Remembrance Day Assembly at 10:45am
Nov. 14 - In-School Volunteer Field Trip: The Sandwich Foundation (1:00 pm)
Nov. 17 – NO SCHOOL – PD Day for teachers
Nov. 22 – Fun Lunch - Opa
Daily Challenge
We measured the circumference of our pumpkins -- what is something that you think has an equal circumference to your pumpkin?