Les aventures des jeunes

While we have been trying to keep to our usual routine, we have also been working on some larger projects in class over theses last 2 weeks. The goal of these projects is not necessarily the final product but the process that the students go through while finishing the project. These are called the Core Competencies which are at the heart of the new curriculum. They are essential qualities that business leaders have shared that they look for in employees. Link to: Core competencies in the new curriculum Last week we were practicing "working with others" and "Trying something a different way" (if the first attempt did not work). In order to practice these competencies, the students were asked to build a sleigh that could hold at least 10 presents using nothing but tape, paper and 2 straws for the sleigh runners. There were many different sleighs and they all held the gifts through a turbulent ride. Gingerbread building also required us to look at another ...

What you can do at home: To support you child at school, there are many things that you can do at home. One of the most important things that you and your child can do at home involves helping your child to become self-reliant and see themselves as capable people.  When a child feels capable they are more willing to try new things at school even if they perceive the activities as difficult.  Here are a few ideas for home to build self-reliance: Have your child empty their own backpack and bring the lunch kit to the kitchen and give/ put the agenda where you can sign it Have your child put the lunch kit and agenda in the backpack in the morning (Find a spot to put the lunch and agenda that you can see in the morning to help them remember the new job.) Have your child bring dishes to the counter or load the dishwasher (if you are comfortable with them loading) Let your child zip their own jacket and help only when the zipper is truly stuck. Teach them to tie shoe...

As you may remember we had a wonderful sunny day on Monday. We went to the forest to collect things that fall from trees. We came back with a large and varied collection of items.  We found pine and fir cones, leaves as well as bits of branches. We also collected moss and lichen that the children found interesting. On Tuesday we read a book about the forest "L'arbre: Un petit monde plein de vie", This book explains everything from how a tree grows to the animals who live in and around trees and including how trees give back to the soil and nurture new growth after they die. The children then used magnifying glasses to look in detail at the items we had gathered and drew 3 items in detail.  Wednesday morning the children went back to the collection and pick items to play with to make a story about the forest. These stories came home earlier this week. Some children wrote fictional stories while other children chose to write about what they saw in the forest.   T...

In school one of the things we endeavour to model for the children is being thoughtful, considerate and empathetic to all peoples. To that end, we (as a staff) have decided to participate in the Everyone Deserve a Smile project. This project is being led by a group of our grade 6 & 7 students. Our project goal is to prepare a care package for each homeless person in our local area. There are over 300 homeless living in the Cowichan Valley. These parcels will be given out from the 8-13 of December. Each child in the school is preparing a bag and a card for the homeless in our area. We are also looking for donations for items for the bags as well as families to bake cookies to include in the bags. Attached to this email is a list of things we are collecting as donations for the bags as well as the things we are going to do in class. EDAS letter

What you can do: point out things that are symmetrical, especially when the children are playing with lego, blocks etc.  When you read a story with your child, ask them who the characters are and where the story takes place.  Literacy The Three Little Pigs We have been reading and talking about the story "The Three Little Pigs". We have listened to several versions of the story. The children have watched some Youtube versions of the story. We have been working on listening to French and building vocabulary. The children are also getting a chance to act out the story and tell the story to others. The kids brainstormed what is included in all stories. From this brainstorm, the children decided that all stories have a beginning, characters, settings and an end. Currently the kids are working on a map that shows the various settings in the story. The next step on Monday is to colour puppets and use the maps that they have made to retell the story.  Three L...

While we will be doing lots of Halloween activities this week, Friday afternoon will be our big celebration. Spooky healthy snacks - a mini-potluck I would like to have some spooky snacks at lunch time or just after the Halloween Parade. I have taken some screen shots to give you an idea of what I am picturing. In order to minimize the work for you and to keep the amount of treats manageable, please send only 5-6 extra treats with your child.  Please remember that there is student with a nut/ peanut allergy Halloween parade 12:30 Please send the costumes in a bag with your child on Friday morning. As always we ask that any mask that may go with your costume be left at home.  We will put our costumes on after lunch The costume parade in the gym is at 12:30- everybody welcome! After the parade we will return to the class for games and activities Monday October 31- business as usual

We have had another wonderful week together. This week we continued the farm and family theme. What you can do at home: Have you thought to use one of the youtube playlists for a sing- along?  Ask your child to share their favorite animal pose and sound that the animal makes in French. Did you know that cows say "Meuh"? Pirouette Cacahuète There is a fun French song about a man who makes his house out of cardboard. The class really enjoys this song and we sing it frequently. This is the link to the song:  Pirouette Cacahuète link Last night I noticed we had several boxes ready to go to recycling. I decided to bring it into the class and have the kids build houses like the man in the song.  To begin, I explained we were going to build houses and asked the class what you need in a house. They had several interesting answers such as; a door, a family room, a kitchen. Eventually we narrowed the list down to a roof, 4 walls, a floor and a door. We also i...

Over the past week we have been building our vocabulary. We are focusing on the family and the farm. Things you can do at home:   Sing the songs under "Songs we are singing" and read the books under "Home Reading" Play I Spy with French colour names or  with letter sounds e.g. I spy something that begins with the sound "b" (use the sound not the letter name) Play Snakes and Ladder game and other dice games (your child should be able to recognize the number of dots without counting- many in the class have trouble with this) Our Class Activities: The Family This week we made a glyph to demonstrate who lives in our house. For those who have 2 homes, they chose just 1 home. On a black house we glued pieces of construction paper. Each colour represents something specific. For instance yellow is a mother/ step-mother, blue is a brother, light purple is "me" etc. We had a good time and shared a lot about ourselves. We also rea...

Field Trip October 13 We are headed to Providence Farm. A permission slip came home today in the Agenda. Here is a link to the permission slip in case your paper went astray. Permission slip link:  Providence Farm Volunteer sign up Here is a link to a monthly calendar. There is a paper copy on the classroom door. Please take a look at the calendar and leave a comment letting me know when you would like to come in to help. October Volunteer calendar Donations to the class The following is a list of items that are always useful in the classroom: Boxes of tissue  Plastic ziploc bags both medium and large Disposable/ compostable spoons and forks Paper bags Small wicker style baskets  Matching nuts, bolts and washers ( no screws or locking washers, thanks)

Thanks to PAC for the wonderful Stream of Dreams activity. What you can do : Ask what do streams need to be healthy Ask your child to show the actions for evaporation, condensation and precipitation Ask about the life cycle of a salmon Class activity with Tracy Our Stream of Dreams experience started when Tracy came to our class before lunch. Tracy talked  to us about Salmon and healthy streams. She shared about the water cycle and we practiced actions for evaporation, condensation, precipitation. She showed us how the water flows down hill to the ocean. We also learned that all drains lead to fish.  After lunch we went to the multipurpose room and had a chance to paint a fish for the Stream of Dreams project. Be sure to look for these on our fences the next time you are at the school!

What we have been doing. Welcome fall! What you can do at home: Have your child count as often as possible in French play a board game with dice such as Snakes and Ladders, Junior Monopoly or others.  Look for patterns in the clothes that they choose, around the house Make a pattern and have your child finish the pattern and then change roles Regularly ask your child what the name for items are in French. The more they can say in French the easier it will be to read and write those same words. Use both the Home Reading and Songs we are Singing to help build vocabulary. Our class activities: An art provocation. Yesterday, I displayed some fall pictures up on the smart board and had prepared art materials at the table groups. The art supplies included pieces of cut paper, crayons, markers and glue. I asked the children to think about what they could do with the supplies. The only other instruction that I gave was they had to use all of the materials ate leas...

Meet the Teacher- Wednesday 14th 5-6pm Come and see your child's class! The teachers will be at the school Wednesday evening from 5-6pm. I would be happy to see you and have a quick visit. Peanut Allergy We have a child with severe nut allergies in our class this year. If you have not received the orange letter from the office, there is a copy below. Link to the  Peanut / Nut allergy Letter Fresh Grade I will be using a tool called Fresh Grade this year. It is an app that allows me to communicate with you year round about what your child is doing in school and the progress that is happening. It is an app or it can be accessed from your desktop computer.   As you can see from the sample I made for the student "test", I can put pictures of your child for you to see, as well as both audio and video recordings. You can contact the teacher and leave comments or questions about the activities that you see on the portfolio. The app also allows yo...

Our new grade 1 class We  have had 2 full days together. Hopefully you are hearing some stories of the things we have been doing. One of our favorite activities is singing together at lunch time. Of course the songs are found on the smartboard so that adds interest to the activity. If you want to sing along, the songs can be found under "Songs we are singing" Math Inquiry Yesterday we practiced with our new math baskets. These are activities that the children explore first thing in the morning. The activities in the basket are designed to be multi- level.  For the most part they are not worksheets or activities that have one answer. For example this caterpillar can be made many different ways using the pattern blocks. This is the second way a class member found to create the caterpillar. Another of the baskets contains materials to make patterns. While others include materials such as cards for "Go Fish" and play dough to represent the numbers f...