January Learning Update

Hello, Room 8 students and families! 

I hope you all had a relaxing January and were able to go outside and enjoy the warm weather we had! During the month of January, the students were working hard on their learning tasks and diving into editing practice and writing words with multiple syllables. Many of us have shown huge growth in both reading and writing new words! 

Each month, you will receive a classroom update through school messenger. This will provide an overview of topics and concepts covered in class and will outline learning activities for the upcoming month. 

For the month of January, the students: 

• Have been practicing editing simple sentences that are missing capitals, punctuation and misspelling of common sight words. We have also been looking at using proper tense for the sentence such as see vs. saw and identifying the correct word for the sentence to make sense as well as unscrambling sentences. We typically edit the sentences as a whole class and then the students copy down the proper answers in their writing journals; being mindful of their printing of small and tall letters. This has also helped us learn what nouns and verbs!  
• Engaged with writing sentences that shared our opinion on something we have been learning in science or social studies such as whether we would rather live in an urban or rural community and why.  
• Explored writing out new sentences using one noun, one adjective, and one verb card. This helps the students to understand word placement and how the placement of the words impact the meaning of the sentence.  
• Participated in daily read-alouds by showing active listening, making predications, and summarizing texts. 
• Exploring addition and subtraction. Grade 1 students have been exploring addition and subtraction of numbers within 20. Grade 2 students have been exploring addition and subtraction of numbers within 100, learning how to carry over and borrow. Students have learned to use different strategies such as using dice, blocks, tallies, fingers, and mental math strategies. 
• Learned about ways objects, animals, people, and sound move.  
• Learned about some of the history of Calgary and how it started as flat prairie with two rivers connecting and became this large urban city. We took a big interest in learning about the Canadian Pacific Railroad and drew a very detailed drawing of the present CP train. We also learned about why so many buildings were built out of sandstone.  

Next month, we will be: 

• Continue learning the history of Calgary and how our government is run. 
• Continue adding and subtracting numbers. 
• Continuing to investigate light and sound. 
• Doing a Jann Brett book/author study.  

Ask your child: 

1. To explain the difference between an urban community and a rural community. 
2. To read to you to see how much growth they have made! 

Please note: 

• We have a walking field trip downtown on January 29th 
• We have a field trip at Jack Singer concert hall on February 3rd 
• We have a field trip to Telus Spark Science Center on February 25th 
• Our class library day is on Wednesdays. Please send your child’s library book back in the labeled bag by Tuesday each week. Happy reading! 

Sincerely, Mrs. Dayan

December Learning Update

Hello, Room 8 students and families! 

I hope you all had a wonderful and restful winter break! During the month of December, the students were working hard on their learning tasks and diving into printing practice and basic spelling patterns. Many of us have shown huge growth in both reading and writing new words! 

Each month, you will receive a classroom update through school messenger. This will provide an overview of topics and concepts covered in class and will outline learning activities for the upcoming month. 

For the month of December, the students: 

• Have been practicing their printing of different letters of the alphabet to improve the neatness and quality of our writing. As we practice each letter, we practice the sounds and sounding out words that include that specific sound. Students are able to access this learning by identifying if the sound is at the beginning or end of the word, listing as many sounds as they hear or using their knowledge of spelling patterns to spell out the entire word, depending on their knowledge and ability. 
• Engaged with storyboarding and sequencing simple stories in addition to copying story patterns we heard ourselves. We read several ‘Gingerbread Man’ stories and learned how to compare the different books using a Venn diagram.  
• Explored writing out instructions for various picture books. Each student was required to recall four events that happened in the story in the proper order and some students then had the opportunity to add more detailed information to tell their reader more specifics about the story! 
• Participated in daily read-alouds by showing active listening, making predications, and summarizing texts. 
• Explored 2D and 3D shapes. We learned what an edge, corner (vertices), and face (side) were and were able to sort the shapes based on one or two attributes. 
• Learned about what different communities we belong to and what it means to feel like we belong to a community. We defined what community means as a class to support our understandings! 
• Learned about how to make objects (buildings for our community) through building and testing out different materials. 

Next month, we will be: 

• Identifying important landmarks in our city and who lives here. 
• Adding and subtracting numbers. 
• Investigating light and sound. 
• Investigating how objects and animals move. 

Ask your child: 

1. To name 3D shapes around the house – ask if the object is a prism or a pyramid! 
2. How do you belong to a community? 

Please note: 

• Our class library day is on Wednesdays. Please send your child’s library book back in the labeled bag by Tuesday each week. Happy reading! 

November Learning Update

Hello, Room 8 students and families! 

We have been soaking up all of the wonderful things to learn about this beautiful and long season of fall! The students are more adapted to classroom routines and have been working hard on their learning tasks. I can already see some improvement in our writing when looking through our writing journals! 

Each month, you will receive a classroom update through school messenger. This will provide an overview of topics and concepts covered in class and will outline learning activities for the upcoming month. 

For the month of November, the students: 

• Have been practicing their printing of different letters of the alphabet to improve the neatness and quality of our writing. As we practice each letter, we practice the sounds and sounding out words that include that specific sound. Students are able to access this learning by identifying if the sound is at the beginning or end of the word, listing as many sounds as they hear or using their knowledge of spelling patterns to spell out the entire word, depending on their knowledge and ability. 
• Engaged with storyboarding and sequencing simple stories in addition to copying story patterns we heard ourselves. 
• Explored writing out instructions for various guided drawings. Each student was required to write the five steps shown in the guided drawing and some students then had the opportunity to add more steps to tell their reader how to colour the image or add more details to the picture! 
• Participated in daily read-alouds by showing active listening, making predications, and summarizing texts. 
• Explored counting to 100/1000 and addition up to 20 with hands-on math games and fitness activities.  
• Learned about how we are the same as other people and how we are different. We also began learning about our different circles of care, such as who we live with, who we play with, and who is in our neighbourhood. 
• Learned about how to make physical changes on objects such as cutting, ripping, or getting something wet and got to practice our changes list on different materials in the classroom.  
• Learned about materials that are made by nature or made by humans and looked at specific items created and used by the Blackfoot, Metis, and Inuit peoples of Canada such as a red river cart or ulu to identify what materials were used to create these objects. 

Next month, we will be: 

• Identifying our community and what makes it special. 
• Exploring and analyzing geometric shapes. 
• Continuing place value of numbers. 
• Investigating how objects and animals move. 

Ask your child: 

1. To count to 100 or as high as they can count! 
2. What do we have that is all the same and what do we have that is different from other people!  

Please note: 

• Our class library day is on Wednesdays. Please send your child’s library book back in the labeled bag by Tuesday each week. Happy reading! 
• On November 27th we are holding parent teacher meetings in person and on December 5th we will be holding parent teacher meetings online! Remember to book your meeting online through your portal. 

September Learning Update

A summary of learning from the month

This month we explored many exciting topics across subjects!

• Math:
• • Grade 1 students practiced counting numbers up to 20 and worked on addition and subtraction. They also explored 2D and 3D shapes.
  • Grade 2 students extended their counting skills up to 50, practiced addition and subtraction, and reviewed 2D and 3D shapes.
• Science: Both grades learned about the five senses and practiced investigation skills, which led us into our new unit on matter.
• Social Studies: We discussed identity, culture, and community, connecting our learning to who we are and how we belong.
• • Grade 1: Geography & History - We are learning about our community by exploring familiar places like trees, parks, and landmarks. Students are noticing how places and cultures help us feel connected and remind us that we belong. 
  • Grade 2: Geography & History - We are beginning to explore Canada’s land and regions, learning how different places shape the way people live. We are also learning about diverse traditions and histories, and how they help us live well together today.
• ELA:
• • Grade 1 students are learning to write one complete sentence with correct punctuation (periods, capitalization, question marks, and exclamation marks).
  • • Students examine and apply use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation in oral and written language. 
  • Grade 2 students are beginning to write more than one sentence while practicing correct punctuation and connecting their ideas.
  • • Students examine and use grammar, spelling, and punctuation in a variety of contexts to develop effective communication.
  • Both grades started using journals, explored the parts of a book, and learned the difference between fiction and non-fiction.
  • We also began practicing how to sound out words and read simple words together.
• Art: We investigated how colors blend together and created artwork. They learned about cool and warm colors.

An indication of upcoming learning
Next month we will:

• In Math, continue building number sense, including number patterns and problem-solving with addition and subtraction.
• In Science, dive deeper into the Matter unit by investigating solids, liquids, and gases.
• In Social Studies, explore traditions and celebrations in different cultures.
• In ELA, Grade 1s will continue building confidence in writing single sentences, while Grade 2s will expand to descriptive writing. Both grades will strengthen their reading skills by sounding out and decoding more complex words.

Ask your child about

• Can you show me how to tell the difference between a 2D shape and a 3D shape?
• What is the difference between a fiction book and a non-fiction book?
• What five senses do they see in their daily life?

Please note (Other Information)

• Library books will come home in a green sealed bag. Please have your child bring this bag back to school every Wednesday or Thursday
• Please make sure to pack both a lunch and a snack for your child each day.
• Continue to read with your child at home to support their progress in learning to sound out, recognize, and read words.