how many more sleeps 'til Christmas?

Here is a heads-up for all that is going on next week at GMCS.
On Monday the cafeteria will be closed because of the Elementary Concert, whick takes place at 1pm. Children will need to bring their lunches and will eat in their classrooms.
Tuesday is a regular day..... ( how can any day during the last week of school before Christmas be regular, you ask??)
Wednesday is Blue day for the whole school- wear blue clothes to show you are not a bully!
Thursday - wear a Santa hat!
and Friday will be a full day.
There will be no homework this week, and no sound book coming home until the end of the week when it can stay there. We have finished introducing the sounds in the English language. After Christmas we will begin going through the alphabet to reinforce knowledge of letters and their formation. We will also begin doing more writing - words, sentences, and stories.....
Have a great week! See you at the concert!

17 days and counting!

Well, two more weeks of school until the Christmas break. I am sending homework this week, but there will be no more after that until the new year. Our two new words to learn this week are you and your. The alternative spellings to sounds we have already learned are ue and ew, oy, ow and ou, and er, ir, and ur. I can't emphasize enough how important it is for you to go over these, and all of, the sounds we have learned this fall. We learn best by repetition, and with your help we can make this "beginning to reading" be successful.
Darla Ingalls is coming in on Tuesday morning with a craft for all of the Kindergarten students, and we thank her for her efforts in this endeavour.
Thanks to Cary's mom and dad for supplying information and yummy treats for my homeroom for celebrating St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6).

regrets - late again!

hello! Here it is Wednesday already, and my blog not done! Well, here goes....

This week we are adding the words are and all to our tricky and sight word bags. For our weekly sounds, we are emphasizing alternative spellings to sounds we have already learned. They are ai and ay, ee and ea, ie, i_e, igh, and y, and oa and ow. Once again, please help your child learn these by going over them nightly. The more they are repeated, the better your child will be at recalling the sounds when reading.
We are fortunate to have people from "Let's Talk Science" visit our school this week, on Thursday. They will be doing activities with all ages in the school. Please remember to sign the release for any photos that are taken during their stay.
The Elementary Drama Club is performing "A Flea on Santa's Tree" tonight at 6pm, just before the annual library family night at 6:15. They will be performing the play for K-5 tomorrow morning at 9 am.
Have a great week!
SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO SEE OUR TEDDY BEAR FAIR PICTURE!

A really neat site for readers and listeners!

My sister put me "on" to this site, and my homeroom asked how to get there, so I thought it would be a good idea to put it on my blog to share....
The site is called Tumblebooks, but if you go directly there, you must pay a fee to use it. Going to it through the New York Public Library site, it's free. So here is how to get there :
Go to www.nypl.org. On their home site, under the big nypl.org letters, there is a series of links highlighted in grey - click on Books & Materials. On the next page, the 6th bullet under "Find What You Need" says Tumblebooks - click on that and you're there.
The children really like the site - sometimes the authors are reading their books, and there are many choices of books to read or have read. There are also activities related to the stories you can do.
CHECK IT OUT!!!

A Full Week Ahead

Well, here we go - five full days to learn!
The sight words this week are to and do. The sounds we will be learning are ue, er and ar.
Tuesday is our Teddy Bear Picnic, and we invite parents and younger siblings to attend, beginning at 10:45. We will be doing some of the poems we have learned and sharing a snack with our teddies.
Please remember to send warm clothes with your student - snow pants, boots, mittens and hats along with their jackets are strongly recommended. I know I'll have all my winter wear on!
Friday morning at 10:45 is our monthly asssembly, and the students are busy learning their parts to share.

Parent -Teacher Interviews

I am away today, but look forward to seeing all Wednesday night or Thursday morning. New sight words this week - be and was, and sounds qu, ou and oi.

Remembrance Day

This week will be another "different" one, with Tuesday off for Remembrance Day.
I think my reminder about warm clothes last week must have sent the cold weather away - like I said, I was wearing ski pants and mitts on Monday, and then I only needed a light jacket on Thursday! I guess you just have to be prepared for anything this time of year!
We are still concentrating on the numbers 1-5 in Math, and the letter that is going home in the homework bags will give you some ideas that you can help out with at home. We also review patterns frequently. These concepts need to be dealt with on a daily basis, as good knowledge of them will help your child all through his/her school years.
In Language Arts we are still doing the "sound of the day" - this weeks sounds are ch, sh, and th. Sight words for the week are me and we.

November!

Well, here we are into November already! Once again I will remind parents to send mitts, hats and warm coats (even ski pants) with their students to school. I wore my hat, gloves, and ski pants along with my jacket today and was toasty warm in the wind.
This month we in Kindergarten are concentrating on rhyming and teddy bears. We'll even have a teddy bear picnic during the last week of the month. Trick words this week are he and she. The sounds we are learning are the two oo sounds (as in cook and cool), y and x. Please remember to send the yellow duotang and sound scribbler back to school each day, and the blue homework duotang on Thursday. Your support in these ventures make a big difference in your child's success in school. Each time he/she reads the words and/or says the sounds made by each letter it makes them more confident in their learning.
The first of the next years Kindergarten meetings is this Thursday, at 6pm. Your future Kindergarten student is to come with you, as well as your partner or spouse. All are welcome to help make this transition as smooth as possible.

Halloween!!

THere's a busy week ahead for all - Thursday morning the Kindergarten classes are going to the Nursing Home. Remember to send costumes that day, please. On Friday afternoon the K-2 classes will be doing activities in classrooms, one activity in each of the four homerooms.

As well, don't forget the sounds to practice each night - this week we are doing "z", "w", "ng", and "v".

Have a great week! - and safe trick-or-treating!!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

From a VERY short week last week to the full five days this week -

There are lots of things happening in school with Halloween coming up and all that! There will be a K-2 assembly next Friday, the 31st, at 10:45. Parents, grandparents, etc. are always welcome to attend. That afternoon we will be doing Halloween activities in all of the K-2 homerooms. As well, the Kindergarten classes will be visiting the Nursing Home on Thursday next week (Oct 30th).

Please remember to send your child's tricky word bag each week when they return their homework duotang, so new words can be put in them. The new words for this week are: or and for. Please go over each word every night - it helps the children with their reading skills. These are meant to be sight words - words they don't have to sound out - that they just know by looking at them what they are.

Thank you for all the work you do at home with your child. It is an important part of their learning to connect what they do at school to what they are doing at home.

Have a good week!

summer is OVER!

Hello again -
Please remember to send warm clothes with your child for recess times. The playground is rarely without a cool, often nippy, wind. These mornings when there is a frost it might even be a good idea to send a pair of mitts and a hat. Maybe avoid that Fall cold!

This week in with your child's homework you will find a small ziploc bag with the words - a, is, mom and dad. Please practice these each night - there will be two more new words each week. Your children will be reading before you know it! As well, please remember to go over ALL of the sounds in the yellow duotang each night. Thanks!

Welcome October!

Here we are at the end of the first month of school already! Time certainly does "fly" here at GMCS.
As sent on the talkmail yesterday, the Boys and Girls Club will be closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. Retakes for school pictures will be done on Wednesday, October 1st. As well, my homeroom and Kindergarten students will have a visitor on Friday morning. Ann Chudleigh will be coming to do a follow-up "lesson" on the butterflies we watched for her. we were very fortunate that Mrs. Chudleigh offered the pupae to me to "babysit" for her. It has been a magnificent opportunity for the students to see, up close, what happens during the "birth" of a butterfly.
Thanks again for your continued support in homework with your children. The repetiton of the concepts I am teaching is imperative to the students' learning. Have a great week!

Wednesday already!

Well, here it is the middle of the week - and it's been a beautiful one so far. Please send in $1 with your child to help support the Terry Fox Run, which we will be doing as a school on Friday, Sept 26th.
I hope, by now, that your child is settling in to the routine of the school year. Please remember to send the yellow "Sounds" duotang back to school each day, and the blue "Homework" duotang when the homework is finished, Thursday at the latest.
I find that all of my Kindergarten students seem to be doing well with the work we do. The sounds need to be reviewed each night - please make sure they do the action related to each sound as they say it. Thanks for your help in this. Have a good week - what's left of it.

Another week!

First of all, I apologize for the butterfly picture that isn't there - I keep trying , but haven't yet found the way to put it on - I'll find out and try to get it on this week. As I write this the third monarch is getting ready to eclose (come out of the pupa). I bet we'll be setting it free tomorrow!
This week Mrs. Jones and I are welcoming Kate Richardson as our Kindergarten Support Worker. She will be with us for 20 weeks, helping in a variety of ways to make your child's school year go better.
Please remember to practice the new sounds and return the yellow duotang with Sounds sheets inside each day. We do a new sound each day and practice is important for them to learn their sounds and the letters connected to them. Also, please note that the homework is a two-sided page this week. I appreciate the time you spend with your child in doing this to the best of his/her ability.

Butterfly!

This is a Monarch butterfly that came from it's pupa over the weekend. We have three pupae in my classroom, given to us by Ann Chudleigh, who has raised 7 Monarchs from eggs this season! We are grateful to her for sharing with us and creating such a wonderful learning experience.

Here is a monarch butterfly that was "hatched" in my classroom - compliments of Ann Chudleigh

in full swing

Well, here we go - the first full week of school. This week we start learning our letter sounds. Please practice the new sounds each night - we will do one letter each day, Mondays through Thursdays, and review them on Fridays.

Your child will bring home his/her homework duotang today. Please send it back on Friday morning, so I can have time to prepare it for next week. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

WELCOME BACK!!!!!

Welcome to school for a brand new year of learning! I am so glad to be back! I hope you are, too. This week we will be getting used to our new teachers and classes. There will probably be a fire drill at some time this week. Please remind your child/ren about how to stand at the bus stop safely, and encourage them to remember and follow the rules we followed last year. We encourage each student to attend school regularly - there is so much we do each day, every day missed is a gap in their learning.

There are many items coming home in the agenda bags this first week, especially the first day. Please look each item over at length - return the Highlights, Owl, etc. forms, as we can get items for our classrooms with the returned ones (whether they are YES or NO). Book orders for my homeroom are due back by next Monday, Sept. 8th.

Have a GREAT first week back!

K-2 supply lists

Cathy O'Neil just gave me a great idea - here are the lists for supplies for the fall:

Kindergarten:
- 2 pkgs of 24 Crayola crayons
- 2 pkgs of 8 washable Crayola markers
- 12 duotangs - (2 each of red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple
- 1 pkg pencils (Papermate, Dixon, or Venus)
- 4 large glue sticks (Ross, Elmer's, Staples)
- 2 pkgs of 32 page Hilroy scribblers
- 3 white vinyl erasers
- 1 box lge Ziploc freezer bags
- 1 box Kleenex
- 1 bottle pump hand soap
- 2 black whiteboard markers (dry erase)
- 1 pr indoor sneakers


Grade One:
- 1 pkg of 24 crayons
- 2 pkgs of 8 washable markers
- 12 duotangs (same colours as above)
- 1 pkg pencils
- 1 large glue stick
- 1 pkg scribblers
- 4 erasers
- 1 Campfire notebook
- 1 blx lge freezer bags
- 1 box Kleenex
- 1 bottle pump hand soap
- 2 black whiteboard markers (dry erase)
- 1 pr indoor sneakers

Grade Two:
- 1 pkg 24 crayons
- 1 pkg 8 washable markers
- 12 duotangs (same as above)
- 2 pkgs of pencils
- 2 lge gluesticks
- 2 pkgs 32 page scribblers
- 4 white erasers
- 1 Campfire notebook
- 1 pr scissors
- 1 30 cm ruler
- 1 box lge freezer bags
- 1 box Kleenex
- 1 pump bottle hand soap
- 1 pkg looseleaf (200 sheets)
- 2 black whiteboard markers (dry erase)
- 1 pr indoor sneakers

Please purchase exactly what school supplies are listed, and do not write the student's name on them. We know that you can find items cheaper by buying different brands, but from past experience, these are the brands that work the best and last the longest. Please help us to ensure that every student has the proper equipment that works the best, and that is the same as his or her classmates. Thank you. You will note that I didn't put the brand names down through each list, but they are the same for each grade. Have a great summer!

Last WEEK!

Well, here we are at the end of the year already - it always seems just out of reach and now here it is! Have a wonderful summer to all my students, K-2. Remember to READ some every day. Be safe, and I'm sure I'll see you around. hugs!

Counting down the days!

Well, 3 more weeks of school, and the weather is finally beginning to seem like summer will visit us this year. All of the green out there is making everyone excited about the end of the school year!

Spelling words for the week: box, job, bulb,own, grow, elbow, yellow, other, were, snowman. You can see the emphasis is on words with the "ow" sound it them.

There will be no more homework sent home this year. When the duotang comes home you may keep it.

almost June!

Well, this is it - the last week of May, already! Here are the spelling words for this week: win, sit, stop, fry, dry, crying, sky, more, before, myself. We're talking about the "long i" sound at the end of words ending in the letter "y", and doing more on adjectives (words that describe).

In Math we are practicing our adding and subtracting, as well as reviewing all of the topics we've covered this year.

I'll soon begin the final reading testing for the year. Keep up the practice, everyone!

short week

There will be no new spelling words this week because we've missed time that we do activities related to the word list. As well, we aren't doing Daily Language or Daily Math this week. I am sending home one double-sided page of homework, instead of the usual 2.

This week we are reviewing nouns,verbs, and adjectives in our Language Arts time. More practice in Math is honing the required Grade One skills.

Sunny days ahead!

Hello -

Here are this week's spelling words: lip, his, went, night, high, might, light, any, many, frightening. We are focusing on the "igh" sound and adjectives this week.

We are writing stories with our reading buddies, using all of the things we've learned this year in our Write Traits program to help us.

Everyone is working hard and it is paying off! Have a great week!

late again!

Hello - once again I'm a bit tardy getting this done -- sorry for that!

Spelling words for the week are - met, web, spiin, tea, heat, leaf, each, who, which, seashell. In language arts we are covering th "ea" sound in words, and nouns (person, place, thing).

This is our Spring Carnival week. Special days are as follows:
- Monday - PJ Day
- Tuesday - Twin Day
- Wednesday - "Dress like the opposite sex" Day
- Thursday - Beach Day
- Friday - Hat Day
Friday is also our special events day, with inflatable "rides" for every level, as well as movies and treats. A good welcome to a welcomed warm spell!

almost May!

Another short week -

We will be getting back to our regular spelling program again this week. The following are the words for this lesson -- an, cat, skin, say, away, play, today, why, where, playground. This lesson covers words ending with the "ay" sound. We will also be doing an alphabetical order sheet. You might ask your child (given two words) which one would come first, for a little practice with this skill.

You will notice a slight difference in homework this week. I have included some reading comprehension along with math review. Practice makes perfect...

As well, please encourage your child to read at least one book each night - I still have students who haven't read 50 books yet. When they accomplish this they get a balloon on the door with their name on it. They also get to choose a book from my supply to keep. Thanks for your help in this!

OOPS!!

Well, I missed this week for my blog, but am going to get it on early for next week...

There is one more week of the 17-word list, and here they are: me, do, come, is, go, my, like, as, and, when, on, with, more, were, could, four, yes. The class seems to, on the whole, be doing quite well remembering the sight words they're learning this year.

I am sending some math work home to finish over the "long" weekend. Please help your child complete the work and return the sheets to me on Monday. The year is winding down, and the weather is getting warmer - please encourage your child to keep on working hard - we still have lots of work to cover before the end of June!

See you at Parent-Teacher interviews!

A reminder that report cards are coming home on Tuesday - Parent-Teacher interviews are Thursday evening and Friday morning. There will be no classes for students on Friday.

Spelling is the same format as the last two weeks - there are 17 words in the list, from which I will choose 10 for the test, with a sentence to write as well. The words are: he, was, you, said, they, dad, by, live, it, at, why, which, can, for, saw, right, made.

I made new homework duotangs for my Grade One class - I will send the old ones home with you at Parent-Teacher. If your child is struggling in any way, please make sure to come see me.

Book orders coming home this week are due back to me on Monday, April 14th.

April Fools!

Well, March is over and we're hopefully going to see some April showers to bring the May flowers! I know I'm ready for some green around here.
Spelling for the week is the same as last: there are 17 words here, and I'll choose 10 of them on Friday for the test. I will also have a sentence for the class from some of the other words on the list. Here are the words: the, be, all, a, there, mom, one, of, old, down, who, many, or, okay, want, would, does.
There seems to be a lot of sickness going around - just a heads-up for you - if your child is not well, the best place for him/her is at home.

Spring! at last...

Another unexpected day off last week, making a short week even shorter. We have done the spelling test for last week's words, and are catching up once again on the work we missed.
This week I will not be sending a regular batch of homework home, but rather a list of 17 words to study and a math sheet. I will choose ten words for the spelling test on Friday. The words are as follows: I, we, are, some, his, no, love, have, only, little, look, had, any before, because, should, goes.
Please remember to send snow pants, hats and mitts with your children - it is COLD on the playgound.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Spring and Easter!!!

Hi! All those holidays all in one week! WOW!!!!

New spelling words for the week: did, cut, twin, whale, wheel, white, whisper, what, when, whenever. As you can see, we are emphasizing the "wh" sound and words that begin with that sound this week. We also continue to talk about verb tense - past, present and future.

We will have our spelling test on Thursday this week. As well, I'd appreciate it if homework duotangs were returned by Thursday, so I can get them ready for the next week.

Have a good long weekend!

Time will fly!

Well, March Break is over - the time will really fly now. Before we know it report cards will be out and the year will be ending!

Spelling words for the week: bus, pot, swim, cube, tuen, used, excuse, little, down, useless.

We are beginning another unit in You and Your World on Tuesday, and will begin another Reading Club unit in two weeks time.

Keep on doing homework and bringing it back at the end of the week. All that extra that you do really helps!

ready for the break?

Hi - I just realized that I didn't get a blog done this week - my apologies!

Spelling words for the week are: cod, lot, snap, bone, nose, home, globe, live, give, tadpole.

Now that 100 Day is over, we are busy working on skills in adding and subtracting, as well as identifying numbers from 1 to 100. We use place value, meaning ones and tens (i.e. 48 has 4 tens and 8 ones -- or 40 + 8).

Keep up the hard work - see you after the break!

winter blahs??

Hello - another mixed-up week, thanks to the weather!

Spelling words for the week are as follows: ran, hat, scar, came, grape, name, cake, only, old, baseball. The emphasis is on words with the long a sound, made by the "magic" e jumping over the consonant to make the a say it's own name.

Friday is "bring your favourite toy" to school day. Please remember, however, that electronics of any sort are not allowed at school. We find this an easier way to make sure they aren't lost or taken....if that type of toy stays at home they are safer.

Another change - due to the number of snow days we have had, Monday, February 18th will be a regular school day. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience, but we really need our days in class to cover all the work we need to do this year.

Welcome February!

Well, the groundhog didn't see his shadow at my house on Saturday, so I'm predicting an early Spring - hope hope!!!

Spelling words for this week are: sad, let, trip, blue, orange, gray, black, one, by colour.

We are well on our way to each Grade One student having a balloon on the door depicting 50 books read. Congratulations to those of you who have read 100, 150, and even 200! Keep on reading!

Speech semi-finals were this morning, and everyone did a wonderful job! It takes a lot to stand up on that stage and speak before your peers and all those adults, too. Congratulations to the students going on to the finals, which will be held Wednesday night at 6pm in the Great Hall.

List for Valentine's Day (homeroom students)

Kelsie Blake
Jaden Brown
Jeremy Green
Chloe Hampton
Matthew Sveinson
Maggie Worthen
Makayla Brown
Matthew Brownlee
Taneisha Goodwin
Coltan Harris
Carter Spicer
Layla Worthen
Jay Zwicker
Kathryn Brown
Keisha Combden
Hayler Frost
Drew Harris
Delaney Ingalls
Jesse Middleton
Abby Ross

Wednesday already!

With the snow day on Monday the week was shortened, and I guess so was my memory! Here are the spelling words for the week: bed, wet, prod, duck, neck, clock, lick, so, my, backpack.

Friday is "bumblebee" day - dress in black and yellow - as the movie for movie night is "BEES".

All elementary teachers are listening to speeches this week - the semi-finals will be Monday (Feb.4th)at 9:00 am, for K-2, and at 1:00 pm , for Grades 3-5, in the Great Hall. All are welcome. Finals will be Wednesday night (Feb.6th) at 6:00 pm.

A cold start to the week!

Spelling words for the week are as follows: hop, fit, grin, buzz, cross, less, miss, go, no, classroom. We'll have our spelling test, as usual, in Friday morning. Keep practicing each night, and read over the sight word list as well. You never know, there might be a sentence on the spelling test, too!

Speeches are due to be heard next week, so please have them prepared and practiced and send them with your child next Monday. We will do classroom presentations during the first three days next week.

Remember to dress warmly - we didn't go out today, but hopefully will be able to the rest of the week. Hats, mitts, snow pants, and boots are a necessity.

snow in the forecast!

Good Monday morning!

Here are the spelling words for my Grade One class this week - ox, run, from, will, bell, doll, skull, there, they, windmill. The first sheet of homework is a new grouop of sight words. Please go over these with your child each night as well as doing spelling words. They do not need to spell the sight words, just read them.

Book orders that came home Friday with my homeroom are due on Wednesday, Jan 16.

Have a great week! Hope we see you all EVERY day ( no more snow days!!!)

Happy New Year!

Well, we're back at it full force - it' just like we were never away. A change of date you might want to think about - in the start-of-year newsletter, May 26 was given as a day off for students. This has been changed to May 20th.

Spelling words for this week are: red, win, drum, off, cliff, stiff, cuff, said, here, puffin. The test will be on Friday. In math this month, we will be studying and makiing patterns of all sorts. You may want to ask your child if they can identify any patterns throughout your house (ie wallpaper, stripes on towels, etc). This all helps them be more aware of the things around them.

Have a great "January thaw" week!