September 30, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we practiced our throwing and catching skills in gym.  We also practiced our Read to Self and Buddy Reading skills.  In writer's workshop we talked about why writers write and our job as a reader.

It was an indoor recess today.

In math we worked on representing numbers.  We played a ball game for an activity break this afternoon.  Ask your child about this.  We also finished up a couple art projects that we had started last week.  Then we spent some time taking a close look at some leaves.

For our parents:  Why do you think the top side of the leaf is a brighter colour than the bottom side of the leaf?  We won't give you any clues or hints!  Please comment below with your answer.

Have a good night with your grade ones or twos,

Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

September 29, 2014

Hello families and friends,


Today we continued our word work by working on the short /e/ sound.  We also continued practicing our writing skills and adding detail to our writing.  Ask your child what they wrote about.  Also in the morning, we had our first fire drill of the year.  The students did an awesome job!

In the afternoon we practiced our research skills by looking at the answers to some of our questions that we came up with last week about leaves.  They learned about the process behind leaves changing colour and why they are not all the same colour throughout.

A reminder to please continue bringing in home reading book bags.  I have found some entertainment book bags that I can give to the students if needed, but the ziploc bags work much better as they can be sealed and better protect the books.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

September 24, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Just a reminder to send a ziploc bag in with your child for the home reading program so that we can get that started this week.

Edit:  Also, I have finished putting the Mathletics groups together and I have the students' login cards printed off.  I will be taping them to the inside of their communication folders so please make sure that your child's comes back before the end of the week if you would like to get them started on that.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Mr. Soulliere

September 23, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today we were able to make it to 10 minutes of focused Buddy Reading.  Then in Word Work we made words using only the sounds that we have worked on up to this point.  We also went to the Learning Commons to switch out our books.

In the afternoon we did some investigation of the leaves that we gathered as a group on our community walk yesterday.  The students had a lot of great questions about them and we will be learning more about these in the coming weeks.  Also, in Writer's Workshop we worked on adding detail to our writing.  The students wrote about what kind of pet they would like to have, based on the book "I Wish I Had a Dinosaur" and to include some reasons and also some things that they could not do with that pet.  Ask your child what they wrote about.

Tomorrow is the Terry Fox Hot Dog Lunch and Run.  The students will not be needing as much in their lunches because of this.  Also if possible, please send in a small blanket for the children to sit on as we will be eating outside.  We will also be writing some inspirational messages along the path with our grade 3/4 buddies in room 70.

Thank you to those of you who have sent in the ziploc bag for the students' home reading bags.  We will be looking to get books sent home for the weekend so please keep bringing those in.

Thanks and have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

September 22, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we went on our community walk.  We spent some time sketching, looking for and collecting different signs of nature.  Ask your child about what they saw and sketched.  In the afternoon we did our Pinwheels for Peace for International Peace Day.

Please keep sending in those large or medium sized ziploc bags for the Home Reading program, it is greatly appreciated and will help work towards making sure that the books do not get lost or damaged.  Any lost or damaged books will cost $5 to replace.  Also, please keep sending in the Paper Bags About Me. We will start sharing those tomorrow.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

September 20, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Just a few reminders today.  Monday our class, along with rooms 73 and 75, will be going on our community walk.  This will be happening in the morning so please make sure that your child comes dressed appropriately for the morning weather.  We will also be out of the school on Wednesday for the Terry Fox run.

Hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather this weekend,
Mr. Soulliere

September 17, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we had our Terry Fox kick-off assembly.  The run will be next Wednesday, September 24th in the afternoon.  Families are welcome to come and participate with the students.  Pledge forms will be going home tomorrow.  We also worked on our reading, getting to 10 minutes in Buddy Reading!  Finally, we continued our word work with the /g/ sound.

A reminder that tomorrow is the Meet the Teacher Open House, from 4:00-7:00 p.m.  Times can be booked online at the same site that you pay fees.  Look forward to seeing you all there!

Student demographic forms went home today.  Please return those as soon as possible.  Entertainment Books or order forms are due back on Monday, September 22nd.  Tomorrow is the last day to return Hot Dog Lunch Order Forms.  Also, we are still looking for one more volunteer to come with us on our community walk on the morning of September 22nd.  If you would be available for this please email me at <gasoulliere@cbe.ab.ca>.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Mr. Soulliere

September 16, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we made it to 12 minutes of Quiet Reading and 7 minutes of Buddy Reading!  It is good to see the students continuing to develop those independent work skills.  We also switched out books in the Learning Commons.  A reminder that for now students can only take out a new book once they have returned their last one, until we have gotten used to the routine of when to bring them back.  In the afternoon we started talking about the season of Fall and came up with a huge list of different things that we see and notice during the fall.  Ask your child what changes they have noticed happening already.

Terry Fox Hot Dog Lunch forms are due back this Thursday, September 18th and Entertainment Books or Order Forms are due back next Monday, September 22nd.  We will also be going for our Community Walk at 9:00 a.m. on Monday the 22nd, and we are still looking for a few more volunteers who would be able to assist with this.

Starting next week I would like to begin the Home Reading program.  To assist in taking care of the books and making sure that they are not lost or damaged, I am asking that each student please bring in a medium or large sized ziploc bag (the size of the library book bag or slightly smaller, but larger than a sandwich bag).  Your assistance in this would be greatly appreciated.  

Enjoy the beautiful weather,
Mr. Soulliere

September 15, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today we continued working on building our reading stamina; we made it 11 minutes in Quiet Reading and 6 minutes in Buddy Reading.  Then in word work we worked on the /k/ sound, looking at the letters 'c' and 'k'.

This afternoon we spent some time looking at the videos that the students had made last week and talked about what makes a good video.  I want the students to have lots of opportunities to do make videos to assist in showing their understanding and learning, so we watched a lot of samples to see what worked well and what did not.

Today Scholastic Book Order forms went home.  Please have them back by Friday, September 26th.  Also please remember to return any forms that have gone home that you have not returned yet.

We have set the time and date for our Community Walk for next Monday, September 22nd at 9:00 a.m.  We are planning to be out until 10:00, 10:30 the latest.  If you would be available to assist us in this you can email me at <gasoulliere@cbe.ab.ca>.

Thanks and have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

September 12, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today was our first day of Choir with Mrs. Sloane and Mrs. Webb/Ms. MacMillan's classes.  We will be having Choir every other Friday.  In developing our reading stamina we were able to make it to 9 minutes in our Quiet Reading and 6 minutes in our Buddy Reading.  We are making some good progress here!

In math we worked on different ways to sort objects and talked about our special word that we learned yesterday, "properties".  Then the students used Bloggies to record a video of the sorting that they had done and to explain how they sorted.  Ask your child about this.

Later this month our class, along with Rooms 73 and 75, will be going on a community walk.  We will be looking for about 4 volunteers from each class to come and help supervise the students along the way.  The tentative date is set for the morning of Monday, September 22nd.  I do not anticipate this date changing, but I will keep you informed if it does.

On Tuesday next week our class will be going to the Learning Commons again to return our books and take out new ones.  Students will not be allowed to take out a new book until the one that they have has been returned.  Please help your child to remember to bring their book back on Monday or Tuesday, and remember to have a special place for your child to put their books to minimize the risk of them being misplaced.

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend,
Mr. Soulliere

September 11, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today we continued building our Quiet Reading stamina.  We made it to 8 minutes!  We are going to continue building this stamina and independence so that I can start doing some small group work with the students.  In math today we started talking about sorting, and we learned an important new word.  Ask your child what it is!

Today we continued doing our word work, focusing on the /t/ sound.  In word work, a few days a week, we are focusing on specific sounds and not necessarily the letters.  We spend some time talking about how the sounds are made, what parts of our body we use to create the sounds, and if our voice is "on" or "off".  Ask your child what this means.  After that we make a list of words beginning with that sound and then the students practice writing the letter(s) that make the sound, words that begin with the sound, and pictures of things that begin with that sound.  We will continue doing this over the next little while, and if possible I would encourage you to spend some time to practice these things at home with them as well to increase their phonetic awareness.

This afternoon we also had our first time with the laptops.  The grade twos helped our grade one friends learn how to log in and out of the computers, and we posted our first artifact onto IRIS.  We will be doing a lot of work with IRIS throughout the year.

Terry Fox Hot Dog Lunch fundraising forms went home with your child today.  All proceeds from this will go towards the money we raise for the Terry Fox Run.  Please return this and all other forms that have gone home as soon as possible.

Thanks and have a wonderful evening,
Mr. Soulliere

September 9, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we made it to 6 minutes with our Quiet Reading and 4 minutes with our Buddy Reading.  We will keep working on this to build our stamina and independence.  In math today we continued working on patterns.  The students were given a sequence of colours and had to determine what would be the next colours in the pattern.  Then we did some work on decorating our visual journals with glue and tissue paper.  They are looking really nice!

Milk Program order forms went home today.  Please fill those out and return them as soon as possible if your child would like to have milk with their lunches.  Also, please return the package of forms that went out last week as soon as possible.

Stay warm,
Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

September 8, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we went to the Learning Commons and took out our first book.  It is important that we take care of our library books by keeping them in the ziploc bag when we are not reading them.  Please find a special place to keep the library books each day so that they do not get lost.  The library books need to be returned after 2 weeks (14 days).  We will be going to the Learning Commons at least once each week, and if the students are finished their book it can be returned and a new one taken out.  This morning we also tried out Buddy Reading.  Ask your child about this.  We also made it to 5 minutes with our Quiet Reading.

We had our second music class today.  Music will be every Monday and Thursday.  In math, we looked at patterns and practiced making "aab" patterns.

We had a good day today.

Have a good evening,
Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

September 4, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today was a very exciting day.  This morning we had our first day of dance with Ms. Natalka.  We will be having this every Thursday.  We also had our first music class with Mrs. Jones.  Music will be on Mondays and Thursdays each week.  Then we had a chance to meet our buddies for this year, the students in room 70.  The students enjoyed the time together doing some buddy reading.  Finally, we finished up our Math About Me work and practiced our quiet reading skills.

In the afternoon we had the kick-off assembly for the Entertainment Books.  These went home with the students today.

Tomorrow we will be having our welcome back celebration for the students and teachers with muffins and water on the compound.  We will also be working on an art project with some of our other grade one/two buddies in the Hope hallway with us.

A reminder, please fill out and return the forms that were sent home earlier this week as soon as possible.

Thanks and have a great night,
Mr. Soulliere

September 3, 2014

Hello families and friends,

This morning we had our first gym class with Mr. McDougall.  Ask your child about what we did.  We also wrote about what we did on our summer break and some people shared their work with the class.

This afternoon we did Math About Me.  We used numbers to talk about how many pets we have, how many people are in our family, how many teeth we've lost, how old we are, when we were born, and our favourite number.  We also started building our Reading Stamina.  As a whole class we made it to 2 minutes.  We are going to keep working on this until we get to our goal of 1 hour!

Today the Cranston School Advisory Council sheets were handed out.  Look in your child's backpack for this.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,

Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

September 2, 2014

Hello families and friends,

Today was a wonderful first day of school in room 74!

We made up our Classroom Contract that all of the students signed; these are the things that we will do in our room to make it a peaceful and respectful learning environment.  We also took a tour of the school, and our classroom, to get ourselves acquainted with where everything is.

In the morning we did an alphabet scavenger hunt to find things around the classroom that start with each letter.  The students had a lot of fun with this and did a great job!  In the afternoon we created our nametags, played a "getting to know you" game, and made our own creations out of play-doh.  Ask your child about what they made and why they chose it.  We finished the day with a welcome back assembly, put on by the Peace Ambassadors.

Each day in room 74 we will be having a snack for 10-15 minutes.  To encourage healthy habits, it is recommended that they bring in something small to eat during this time like fruit, vegetables, granola bars, etc. that does not make much mess and, most importantly, is healthy!  This will also help in reducing the volume of garbage that we are producing as a class.  Your assistance in this will be much appreciated!

A package of forms went home today with the students; please fill out and return these forms as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful evening,

Mr. Soulliere