Week of Sept 28th - Oct 2nd, 2015

lundi le 28 septembre, 2015

Chers familles,

Bienvenue! This is going to be an exciting week because we are starting some engaging units and getting used to our many routines.

This week in French Language Arts, we do daily French phonics in the morning to help us learn and practice our French Oral language and word pronunciation. Today, students put some of these skills into practice by reading a short story to their new little kindergarten buddies. They also worked in pairs to learn how to find words and their definitions in a dictionary, one of many references materials students will learn to use this year. Students will also be practicing their dictée at least once per week in-class, whenever possible. The weekly dictée is on Thursday, and can be viewed on the previous blog post.

While Grade 2's do additional French Language activities with Mme Rolston on Wednesdays, Grade 3 students have started their English program with me. Together we are learning English phonics, starting with long and short vowel sounds. We will learn to read and write English through a wide variety of activities. Student's are encouraged to practice their spelling words at home with Spelling City (see direct link on previous blog post), and read as often as possible!

After Language Arts in the morning, we have Math after recess. In Math this week, Grade 2 students (with Mme Rolston) are practicing their number sense by counting by 2's, 5's and 10's up to 100, both forwards and backwards. This is an important skill to apply when learning to add and subtract larger numbers. Grade 3's this week are learning to write and identify numbers up to 1000. Today, they were introduced to the 3 symbols- greater than, less than and equal to. Students will practice these new concepts until they are ready to move onto place values up to 1000. Before the end of the week, we will be counting our Jelly Bean jar! This is great way to practice our estimation skills, and to count large numbers (in groups of 5 and 10).

In Social Studies, our first unit is about the Environment. We are thinking up of different ways we can help the environment. For example, we are getting into the routine of reducing our waste, re-using classroom materials, using less water, turning lights off and recycling our lunch containers. We will soon be composting our own food waste and hopefully creating a cell phone recycling station for the school and the community!

We will start our first Science unit in a few weeks. We will learn to ask questions and make predictions while studying solids, liquids and gases through a variety of hands-on experiments.

Here is a snapshot of some of our routines:

Library- For term 1, Wednesday mornings. Please return library books on Tuesday so that our librarian can scan them back in before our weekly Wednesday visit.

Music- Monday first block (students get picked up by the music teacher and go straight to the music room). Please go straight there if you check into the office late on a Monday morning. Our other music blocks are on Tuesdays and Thursdays just before lunch.

Gym- Friday after lunch. Please ensure your child has a pair of running shoes that stays at school.

Students went home today with a classroom newsletter outlining these routines and other important classroom information. I also sent home a parent volunteer form, request for student background information and a booklet of common French sight words.

I am working on getting a parent contact list and I will email it out as soon as I've heard back from everyone. I need to make sure everyone is comfortable sharing their contact information.

Last week, a home reading and dictée routine letter were also sent home. If you have any questions, feel free to email or call me at the school.

That's all for Division 6 news this week. Make sure to check the Quadra School calendar for important school-wide activities that I will not be posting here on this blog. For example, Photo Day will be this Friday, October 2nd.

Have a wonderful week everyone, Mme Garcin

Grade 2 and 3 Dictée, Grade 3 Spelling and News!

Dear Division 6 families,

Here are next week's dictée words and sentences, and Grade 3 spelling below (in two weeks). Please note that grade 2's and grade 3's will have different dictée's next week. If you would like to know the meaning of these words, a great online translation tool is "google translate".

Grade 2 dictée Thurs, Oct 1:

1. pas
2. voici
3. très
4. on
5. beaucoup

On n'a pas beaucoup de pluie.

Grade 3 dictée Thurs Oct 1:

1. Elle n'a pas de manteau.
2. Voici l'automne.
3. Il est très gentil.
4. On va dehors.
5. On n'a pas beaucoup de pluie.

Grade 3 spelling: Thurs Oct 8th, 2015

Students can practice these words at home with some fun online games at Spelling City. Click on this link to go directly to the site (no login needed): http://www.spellingcity.com/egarcin/

1. next
2. left
3. help
4. please
5. believe
6. many
7. very
8. been
9. seen
10. she

Starting next week, at the beginning of each the week, I will post our weekly activities and topics being learned. I hope to see many of you tonight at Meet the Teacher night (6-7pm). We are located in room 100.

Please note that in September, many handouts are coming home on a daily basis. Please help remind your child to open and show you important information in their backpacks. Some needs to be filled out and returned. There will be fewer handouts once all important information has been shared. Many thanks for your support at home!

I look forward to meeting you all very soon:)

Mme Garcin

Grade 2 & 3 dictée and spelling: Thursday Sept 24th, 2015

Dear Division 6 families,

Yesterday we had our first dictée. Students will correct their mistakes in their booklets and write their results in their agendas today. Next week's dictée is also coming home today.

A letter has been sent home today explaining our weekly French dictée and bi-weekly English grade 3 spelling routines. Grade 3's will have a more difficult dictée with 5 sentences the following week when there is no spelling to study for. Everything will be sent home and/or posted here on Friday's. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these routines.

Here are next week's dictée and spelling tests. They will both be on Thursday Sept 24th, 2015.

Grade 2 and 3 French dictée:

1. petit
2. les
3. ma mère
4. mon papa
5. maman

J'aime ma maman et mon papa.


Grade 3 English spelling:

1. said
2. ask
3. stand
4. catch
5. eight
6. afraid
7. away
8. always

Dictée #1: Thursday, Sept 17th

Dear Div 6 families,

Below is our first dictée and it will be on Thursday, September 17th. It has been shortened for the first week because there are fewer days to prepare. Grade 2's and 3's will have a weekly dictée. Grade 3's will have and extended dictée with sentences and a spelling test every second Thursday or Friday (I will confirm this bi-weekly routine once our schedule is finalized). The dictée and spelling lists will be sent home in agendas and posted here on Fridays. In the event that there is no school on a Monday, the dictée might be given on the following Friday. If there is no school on a Friday, grade 3 spelling will be the following Thursday. This allows for a full week to prepare. Therefore, Wednesday evening is the last evening to study for our weekly dictée and every second Wednesday or Thursday is the last evening for grade 3's to study their spelling words. If you have any questions to help clarify these routines feel free to email me at egarcin@sd61.bc.ca.


Dictée #1:

2ième (Grade 2):

1.     à

2.     le chat

3.     et

4.     une école

5.     grand

3ième (Grade 3):

1.     à

2.     le chat

3.     et

4.     une école

5.     L’éléphant est grand.

6.     Le chat va à une grande école.

lundi le 14 septembre, 2015

Dear Division 6 families,

I am very pleased to announce we will be a grade 2/3 class, so far with 23 students. Last week, students got to know me as I showed them a suitcase of souvenirs since my childhood began in Ottawa many years ago. Afterwards we reviewed classroom rules and vocabulary. Students also taught me their names, interests and hobbies. I invite you to read the "About Me" section on the right hand column and I look forward to getting to know all of you in the coming months.

Students took home their new agendas on Friday. Please help ensure this agenda stays in the backpack. Please make sure to check the front pouch of the agendas daily for important handouts and information. Some of this information, such as weekly dictée and grade 3 spelling, will also be posted here. If you would like to communicate with me, please do not use the agenda, rather email (egarcin@sd61.bc.ca) and phone (Quadra School: 250-382-8296) is best. This is because, sometimes students will only be opening agendas at the end of the day to write their homework. I check my email in the morning and after school, and will reply to you as soon as I can.

I would love to have all your contact information so that I can send groups emails. If you do not have or use email, please phone me at Quadra School and we can find an alternate way to communicate.

I will send more detailed classroom information and procedures throughout the next few days and weeks such as our dictée, at-home reading program and parent volunteering opportunities. For students to stay up-to-date and be successful, I encourage a regular routine after school that includes reading the agenda, at-home reading and studying for grade 3 spelling before or after diner -as much as possible. On the right hand column, there is also a link to some fun online French Language games.

Next time you are at Quadra please come and introduce yourself. We are located in room 100. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to come see me in person, contact me by phone at Quadra school (after school is best), or by email at egarcin@sd61.bc.ca to make an appointment for longer visits. I look forward to meeting you at our Meet the Teacher event on Thursday, Sept 24th from 6-7pm.

Sincerely,

Madame Elise Garcin (formerly Hoefer)