Dictée next week

This dictée will be on Thursday, November 6th.

The focus is the phonetic sound a, which can be written in many ways.  Notice there are many silent letters!

a à â as at ats ha ap az ah

1. Je vais en safari avec ma camera.

2. Je vois une maman koala.

3. Je vois un chat qui chasse un rat.

4. Je vois un boa caché là-bas.

Bonus:

5. Je vois caché dans l’eau un piranha très gros.





 

 

Week of Oct 27th - 31st

Happy Halloween!

This week in Language Arts we are doing a variety of activities that tie into our Halloween theme. For example, in Oral Language and drama we will be doing Halloween safety skits (What do you do when you see a friend across the street? What do you do if a stranger invites you into their home?, etc). In Writing, we will create a small Halloween story that builds Halloween vocabulary and practices sentence structure. In a separate activity, we will apply the verb conjugations of -er verbs to sentences, find them in text and fix them. Next week we will begin writing short stories.

In English this week we are reviewing the difference between a common and plural noun, and how to make a plural noun (depending on the ending). For example, add an s, but when a singular noun ends in s-sh-ch or x add an es. Also, when a singular noun ends in y, change the y to an i and add es (eg. penny/pennies). Of course there are exceptions to all rules! Some just need to be memorized such as: man/men, woman/women, child/children, foot/feet, tooth/teeth and mouse/mice. On Thursday is our spelling test (see previous post). On Thursday afternoon we have guided reading groups, based on each child's reading levels. We will begin by focusing on pronunciation of our words, based on the English phonetic alphabet.

In the Computer Lab we are learning keyboarding/typing skills. This week we are also adding in how to type accents in the French language with an English keyboard. For example, â is ALT +131.

In Math this week we are learning to add and subtract large numbers. For example 126 + 32 = 100+20+6+30+2= 100+50+8= 158. Or 126-32= 100+20+6-30+2 = 100-10+4= 94. We are also reviewing various counting techniques such as estimating and grouping in 10's and 5's. This will also be integrated into our pumpkin carving activity on Friday (ex. estimating and counting seeds).

In Physical Education we are continuing our soccer unit (ball handling and passing techniques. In Science today we had a wonderful Space presentation and we will be reviewing what we learned in class. On Friday, as part of our special Halloween activities, we will have a scary story and a movie (shhh, it's a surpise!).

Have a wonderful week, Mme Garcin

Spelling

Here are the words for our spelling test on Thursday, October 30th:

1) ball
2) be
3) bear
4) because
5) been
6) before
7) best
8) better
9) big
10) bigger
11) black
12) boat
13) both
14) but
15) by
Bonus: 16) buy

Week of Oct 20th - 23rd

lundi le 20 octobre, 2014

This week in Language Arts student have started writing a weekly journal entry. Today for example, students wrote about what they will be dressing up as for Halloween. We are looking at making complete sentences with a noun (or pronoun), verb and as many descriptive adjectives as possible. Each sentence needs a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end. Also, now that we know what a common and proper noun is, we need to make sure our proper nouns are always written with a capital letter, even if it's in the middle of our sentence. This week, we are also starting our reading groups. Students will read together in groups of 5 or 6 while we focus on one or more reading strategies. This week our strategy is sounding out the words, while following along with our finger.

In Math this week we are working on our number sense by reviewing number patterns and learning to situate numbers on a number line. This will help us as we transition into addition and subtraction. During our morning calendar we are graphing our weather and temperature patterns, while also practicing adding numbers up to 1000 using our number of the day. For example, today our number was 349. We added 10, subtracted 10, added 25 and looked at the place value of 3, 4 and 9 (ones, tens and hundreds). Our numbers will get larger as we progress.

In Science, students are working in groups of 2 or 3 and are doing research on a planet in our solar system. Each group is posting their findings on our classroom research poster, where we are learning how to say and write large numbers and their units (eg celcius, km). The information on our poster is: distance from the sun, temperature, length of one day, diameter and colour. Next Monday we have a special presentation from the Royal Astronomical Society. They will help answer all the student-generated questions we have about space.

Halloween is fast approaching, and we are integrating this theme into many of our activities. This past Friday, students created a Picasso Cubist-style pumpkin face. Students learned about the life of Picasso, one of the most famous Spanish artists of the 20th century. Come and see our creations posted in the class!

This year, we are lucky to have a French Language assistant. Mr Gomez comes a few times per week and so far this term he is doing some exciting Oral Language and drama activities.

Friday October 24th is a PROD day and therefore there will be no school. As per usual, our dictée this week will be on Thursday (view previous post to see this weeks dictée words). Students will also write their spelling words for next week in their agendas (in case they want to start practicing them over the weekend!).

Finally, just a reminder that school ends at 11:50am both tomorrow (Tues, Oct 21) and Wed, Oct 22rd for parents/teacher interviews.

I look forward to meeting with all of you. Have a wonderful week! Elise Garcin

Dictée for next week

vendredi le 17 octobre, 2014

 

Here is the dictée for next week. It will be on Thursday, October 23rd. Please help your child practice this as often as possible throughout the week (without looking!) by writing the full sentences in their blue practice booklet that was sent home last week. This week our sound can be written in many ways (è, e, ê, ei, est, et ets, ai, aie ,ais ait, aix and hai). In English this sounds like ai in air. Good luck! 

 

1. Le zèbre est une bête rayée.

2. Il est noir et blanc.

3. Le zèbre aime le soleil.

4. Le zèbre ne mange pas les fraises.

Bonus:

5. Le zèbre mange de l'herbe.

 

 

Week of Oct 15th - 17th

mardi le 14 octobre, 2014

Spelling list this week (also written in agendas last Thursday):

1) a
2) able
3) about
4) again
5) agree
6) all
7) already
8) always
9) am
10) and
11) anybody
12) are
13) around
14) ate
15) away

Bonus word: answer

This spelling test is on Thursday, October 16th. By the way, Thursday is also photo day! I will get in the habit of posting these words on the Friday before, so that parents and students all have the words before the weekend.

This week in Language Arts, we are learning about parts of speech (common nouns, proper nouns, adjectives, verbs and pronouns). More specifically in French, we are also looking at regular verbs ending in ER (eg aimer, danser, parler, etc) and how to conjugate them in the present tense using the root of the verb and the appropriate ending. In English, we are comparing proper versus common nouns, and plural noun endings (-s versus -es).

In Science we are starting our planet group projects and will continue until we are finished. Students will choose a planet and research their characteristics using a handout provided. They will then post their findings on a large information table and present their findings to the class with their group.

Today we begin our weekly visits to the computer lab! Students will begin by practicing proper typing techniques and finger placements using a fun program called Dance Mat Typing.

In Math we are looking at number patterns and place values. We are also playing various addition games and will begin talking about the relationship between addition and subtraction.

In Gym we are building our cardio strength by running laps around the school. We have also started our soccer unit. They are learning and practicing many different ball handling techniques.

In Social Studies we are continuing our environment unit by talking about ways to help our environment at home, at school and in the community. At school, students are taking turns sorting our recycling and compost.

Please remember that library books are due back on Thursdays. We go to the library on Fridays every week, but in case students forget, it is a good habit to return them on Thursday (especially when there is no school on Friday).

Today, orange parent/teacher interview request forms are going home in agendas. Please return them as soon as possible (tomorrow or Thursday) with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice. I hope to confirm and send out your interview time this Friday, or Monday so that you have time to make appropriate plans for work. Parent/teacher interviews are Tues. Oct, 21st and Wed, Oct. 22nd. School will be dismissed at 11:50am on both days. Please make appropriate child care arrangements. If you have any questions feel free to email or call me.

Have a wonderful week! Mme Garcin

lundi le 6 octobre, 2014

Bonjour les familles de division 6 :)

Four handouts were sent home today in the agendas. If any of these don't make it home, or if you need a second copy please email me and I will gladly send another along. The four items were: 1) a welcome letter from administration (Marilyn Campbell- Principal and Gillian Lawson- Vice- Principal). 2) a letter and small envelope asking for donations for the cost of agendas. 3) a PAC night movie and pizza order form, and 4) our first dictée attached to a note from me about how it works.

The first dictée will be this Friday, October 10th. Please help your child practice and be confident reading, writing and understanding the words throughout the week. I recommend a regular routine of homework about 30 minutes whenever possible (15 min for dictée practice, 15 min for French reading). Students need to remember that each sentence always starts with a capital letter and ends with a period. We will be discussing them in class, however, if you want to translate them there is a useful tool online called Google translate. Here is the dictée this week:

1) Léo est un bébé éléphant.
2) Il est un bébé géant.
3) Sa trompe est son nez..
4) Il a quatre grands pieds.
5) Léo aime bien jouer.

This week we are starting quite a few units. In French we are studying the sounds and syllables é, ed, er, és et ez, ée and ai. We are also going to review some basic French grammar such as vowels, consonnants, plurals using s and some regular French verb conjugations. In reading we will do a diagnostic reading comprehension exercise for end of grade 2/beginning of grade 3, silent individual reading on a daily basis, and I read books at the carpet a few times per week. Reading strategies will begin next week.

In Math we are starting with place value and number patterns with numbers up to 1000. Students are also learning various addition games and strategies using Power of Ten cards and worksheets. Towards the end of the week we will do a diagnostic math test for end of grade 2/beginning of grade 3.

In Science last week we began our space unit. Students will be learning about the planets and constellations in our solar system. We will do a variety of group and individual work that integrates vocabulary building, visual art, writing and oral language.

In Physical Education (PE), we a going to be running around the school regularly (while the weather is still nice) in order to build cardio and endurance. In preparation for our basketball, hockey, soccer and dance units we are doing some team building activities (parachute, relays) and learning important techniques (looking, stopping, turning, bending knees, etc).

In Social Studies we have begun our Environment Unit. We've read a book and talked about ways we can help the environment at home, at school and in our community. Today we harvested the soil from last year's class worm bin and created a new home for our "red wigglers". They can now continue to transform our food waste into soil. If any of you would like some freshly harvested soil, please bring a container to "Meet the Teacher" this Thursday from 6-7pm!

We are located in Room 100. I look forward to meeting you.

Tomorrow I will be sending home 2 more letters. One letter requesting that I share your contact information with the class for group email purposes, which also includes a request for photo consent. The second letter will be about our at-home reading program starting tomorrow.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!

Sincerely, Mme Elise Garcin