For the Love of Learning

I think that Valentine's Day lovin' feeling is still lingering in my heart today. Have you ever had those moments when your children are asleep and you can't help but watch them, as your heart swells with soo much love? Isn't it amazing how children can just melt you inside? How quickly they grow and it seems that every day they change in some way or another. That is one BIG reason why I LOVE teaching so very much. Each day I have the special gift of spending time with your children and being a small part of helping to shape their understandings. I am truly honored and take my responsibility seriously. The love of a parent runs deep and I know for myself that these special moments in their little lives are so valuable and important. Thank you for continuing to support us as we work, learn, and discover together. YOU are sooo special! For all of the roles you take on during each day, you make such a difference in your child's life.
Alright, enough with the mushy stuff. So much has taken place since the last post that this may be a long one. I can't believe that we are in March and I haven't posted since January. Hopefully there are still some loyal readers that are eagerly awaiting new pictures.
To begin, our welcome back in January 'knocked our socks off' with a special writing assignment. The children were to tell 3 resolutions they had for the new year.

One of my favourite resolutions that the class came up with was sharing smiles. Don't you agree that a smile is a simple way to share love, yet powerful enough to touch someone's heart?

In math, we have been working on many new units of study. Our class has been focusing on telling time to the hour and half hour. They have had a lot of instruction using small manipulative clocks. The children practised creating different times and reading digital and analogue clocks. Our class loved relating a clock to ourselves ( A clock has a face and two hands ). We will continue to work on time to the half hour, because it tends to be a little trickier for the children.

 

 

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

 

You probably guessed that we have also been learning about money. The children are working on naming the coins and stating their value. This term, we will continue our learning by adding and subtracting money amounts.

Don't kids say the funniest things? When I was introducing the different coins to the class, I told the children that the nickel has a beaver on one side. One sweet little guy must not have heard me properly and confidently said "Justin Bieber has his own coin?" The class couldn't have been more excited. I just said "Unfortunately, Justin Bieber does not have his own coin...yet". But, I must say that the children definitely remember the nickel; they now call it the Bieber coin ha ha.

Learning about composing and decomposing numbers is an on-going process. We created "very sweet", pardon the pun, cocoa fact families. The children are really getting a good understanding of how numbers work together through addition and subtraction.

 

In Geometry, the children learned all about tangrams and their use. They were given the task of covering numerous outline puzzles (different degrees of difficulty) with their tangram pieces. Some puzzles provided lines to distinguish each shape; however, the harder puzzles removed the lines. They all seemed to love this activity and I have to admit that some of the puzzles were quite challenging. Tangrams only have 7 pieces, so many of the puzzles looked as though you needed more to cover them (very tricky indeed).

Our literacy time has been full of exciting learning! We have dived deep into guided reading groups and it is a joy watching the children grow in their decoding skills.

Well...I have BIG news!!

Are you ready?

Our feature learning topic for the months of January and February has been 'Penguins'. We have made comparison charts, discussed characteristics, talked about fiction and non-fiction etc. It has been such a wonderful experience for all of us. The writing portion of our unit revolved around each child creating their own non-fiction book about penguins. We worked through the writing process with rough drafts, research, editing, adding more detail, more editing, good drafts etc. It was such a learning process; however, they gained so much insight. Here are a few pictures of the finished products, in all of their cuteness!

This was one of our KWL sheets on penguins. I had to highlight this particular one because if you read the portion about what she learned about penguins, it says 'Their mommies give them bracelets so they no their babies names'. Isn't that the sweetest (not factual), but cute nonetheless. When I asked this little sweetheart about her writing, she told me that babies know their mommies by their own call. I guess she wanted to make the information more exciting by adding a little extra, which she definitely did haha.

The children did a wonderful job on these projects. They especially loved learning that penguin babies eat regurgitated food (that fact went over very well in our class). Don't you agree that their drawings are precious?
Our penguin unit culminated with the children making short slideshows. Even our principal Mrs.Walters came in for our premier spectacular!

100th Day Celebrations!

 Well, when I sent the note home to have your children dress like they were 100 years old, they did not disappoint. They looked incredible and made me laugh hysterically (it's true, especially when one little old man hobbled into the room holding his back and complaining about his aching back). Did I forget to mention how much I LOVE first grade!!
Some of our activities for the day included the following:

Creating 100 day trains

 

 

Making 100 day necklaces (counting by 10's)

 

 

 



 

Decorating and sporting our 100 day glasses

 

 

 

Creating 100 pattern block trains

 

 

Our day wouldn't be complete without a chocolate hunt for 100 hearts!

 

The children couldn't believe that they had been in school for 100 days. Every day during calendar time, we would add one piece to our puzzle to represent the number of days in school. When the puzzle was complete they were awarded for all of their hard work with a cupcake surprise! And you know how much we love surprises in first grade!

100 day collections

 

The collections that were brought in for 100 day were very exciting. The ideas ranged from tiny beans to race cars and candy. We counted and compared each collection. We discussed length, size and weight. By the end of the day, the children were thrilled with each other's collections and to stand back and see that 100 is a lot!

 



As you can see, we have been very busy learning together in first grade. The wonder and excitement in their little eyes, never ceases to amaze me. I hope you have had a lovely March break with your family and have created some special memories. Keep checking back to our blog for upcoming photos of our "egg-citing" experiences hatching chicks!

 

 

Keep Smilin'

 

Can you guess who this little old granny is? (hint: Yes, we are related)

Happy New Year and Photo Catch-up

Happy New Year! Can you believe that we have now moved into the year 2014?  My question to you is, did you stay awake to bring in the New Year? In the Langeveldt household, everyone was asleep by 10:00 p.m. However, I did happen to wake up at midnight to hear the blowing of very loud horns from next door. At first I had completely forgotten that it was New Year's and I was in a state of panic, until I finally woke up and realized it was midnight ha ha. I know, you are probably thinking what a boring evening, but at least I started the new year having had a great sleep.

I hope that all of my little friends are having a wonderful and magical holiday with their families. I have been busy trying to catch up on all of my photos, showing the many activities that went on during the months of November and December. I must apologize for getting behind in my blogging; all of a sudden life just became busier than usual with concerts, family activities etc.

To begin our photos, congratulations to Fayth and Fabian, our November character award winners! Courage was the character trait being celebrated during this month. I always remind my children that it is very difficult to choose just two winners each month, because I am proud of all of my class!

 

During November, we took part in our Remembrance Day ceremony at Bellwood. We discussed as a class what peace was and what are ways we can show peace in our world. In honour of this special day, we created a Peace dove that decorated the gym for our ceremony. Within the dove, the children painted their fingers and printed them on the canvas. This was our symbol of remembrance to show that as a class, we would always remember those who fought for our freedom. We know that even though we are small, we can still make a BIG difference in our world!

 

 

One of our phonics lessons during November was looking at words that ended in the vowel 'e'. We came to know this fellow as 'Sneaky e'. He is sneaky because he is always stealing the sounds of short vowels and making them say their long vowel name, such as cub (cube) or hop (hope). The children then made their own 'Sneaky e' paperbag bandit and wrote different words that had this robber on the end. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun learning!

 

Much of our writing lessons focused on the theme of snowmen and winter. We read many different books on snowmen and zoomed in on 'Snowmen at Night' as our point of reference for one specific writing lesson. The children were to imagine that they had their own snowman that came alive at night. They were then to visualize all of the activities that their snowman would do if he never melted during the year. For each season, the children wrote about the adventures of their snowman.

They continued by creating beautiful snowman artwork to capitalize on their ideas. One piece of artwork was to teach the children about profile pictures, while the other piece was to show their snowman melting (looking downward). I think they turned out very sweet!





 

 

Our math lessons have been focusing around addition and subtraction. We have been working with tens and ones, breaking numbers apart. One activity that we did to ground their thinking was creating pictures using tens and ones tracers. The children then had to count how many ten rods and ones they had to compose a specific number.

 

 

We continued our study of addition and subtraction by looking at fact families (3 numbers that compose 4 different number sentences : 2 addition and 2 subtraction). To explain in more detail, here is an example.



 3, 10, 7
 

These three numbers can work together to make 2 addition and 2 subtraction sentences.

 

 

3 + 7 = 10

7 + 3 = 10

10 - 3 = 7

10 - 7 = 3

 

 

The children were asked to create gingerbread houses to showcase one fact family. They looked beautiful and every one was different. The children loved working in groups to solve problems and in the end had a better understanding of how addition and subtraction worked together in correlation (just like them).

 

 

 

 

DPA (Daily Physical Activity) is part of our everyday learning. Having children take part in physical activities to get their hearts pumping and muscles moving is so critical to healthy bodies. During November and December, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lepine (our two enthusiastic DPA teachers) decided to bring winter to our classroom. Not only did the children take part in an indoor snowball fight (very safe, yet lots of fun - no water required); they also were engaged in activities that required them to balance mittens on their heads and pretend to skate within the classroom. Of course, not being one to leave the room during times of excitement, I had to take a picture.
 

 

The end of November brought with it an endless supply of wonder and excitement for our class. One especially thrilling moment was when a mysterious package was sent to our classroom. The secretary called us on the P.A. system one morning and told us that something was waiting for us from the North Pole. Can you imagine? All the way from the North Pole, just for us! You should have seen the look of pure anticipation in their eyes.

Mrs.Highland went to pick up our special mail and when she returned, would you believe that it had frost on it!! The package was snowy and very cold!! There was even a special note from Santa that explained how he had sent a special helper to our class all the way from the North Pole. The children were soo excited and I couldn't contain my giggles.
 

Our special helper ended up to be an Elf on the Shelf. Our first task was to come up with a name for our elf. Our list was very creative, and I was hoping for something like Elfis; however, the name Lightning Climber was decided upon with great happiness from the crowd. So started our days with our little elf.

Each morning, the children would run into the room to see if our elf had been good or naughty during the night. We had been told that some elves could make a mess in your room; however, overall, Lightning Climber was very self-controlled. He would often be found hanging from the ceiling, writing short messages to the class, hanging from our Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom tree or just quietly sitting reading a book.

We had been told that Lightning Climber was not allowed to talk to us during the day; he just watched us during our learning to see what a great class we were. Unfortunately, one day Lightning Climber had some trouble with our tape dispenser and ended up taping himself to our front board (this was a very funny moment in room 108). It was sad to see our little helper leave to return to the North Pole, yet he was a joy to have for those few weeks! Thanks Lightning Climber for bringing added joy to our classroom. We will miss you and remember you fondly!
 

 

 

The final, yet most anticipated moment has arrived, our famous, most talked about, 2013 train ride around the world on the Polar Express . Yes, this was a very special and highly educational learning experience in room 108. Our trip began with each child receiving a special ticket to board, complete with snow from the North Pole of course. Each day or two, we would travel to a new country and learn all about its holiday traditions (food, activities etc.). Many times the children would enter the room to be swept up in pictures of each country and the beauty of learning about other people around the world. What a wonderful experience for the class to see other countries and take part in some of the fun ways that other children celebrate holidays. There is so much beauty in diversity!

 

Some of the places that we travelled to were: Sweden (children tasted cinnamon buns and hot cocoa), Mexico (breaking apart a piñata together), Italy (taking part as a class in an Italian meal, complete with lasagna and Italian bread), France (children left their shoes in the hallway and were surprised to find treats waiting at recess, tasting yule logs), England (opening crackers), and Canada.

The class was also given the opportunity to share their own personal holiday traditions from their family. It was such an intimate moment for the children, because they were able to gain a better knowledge of their classmates and how they celebrate holidays with their families. The smiles were so beautiful to watch; each child shared and was so proud to talk about their family. The rest of the class listened attentively and had the chance to ask questions if they wanted.

The following are pictures that were taken throughout our trip around the world. Thank you for sharing your traditions with our class family.
 

Sweden: Cinnamon Buns and Hot Cocoa

Mexico: Pinata Passion

Italy: Pavarotti and Lasagna

Italy was by far my favourite day on our trip around the world. I have to explain what took place because it was just so exciting. The children entered the classroom with the lights dimmed low. The desks were placed in groups with tablecloths; it looked just like an Italian restaurant. Pavarotti was playing on the CD player and our projector screen was showing beautiful pictures of Italy. The children sat down and watched all of the historical photos of Italy. We then sat down together and talked about some of the traditions, methods of travel (gondolas - one child said it would take a long time to travel to Toronto on a gondola - this made me smile) and food they ate. By the time we were finished discussing, our tummies were rumbling.
Lasagna was dished out and Italian crusty bread was shared among friends. We dined and watched the spaghetti clip from Lady and the Tramp (classic Disney scene). The children ate it up ha ha. We had a marvelous time together and learned so much.

France: Yule Logs & Surprise Treats in Shoes

England: Crackers

 

 

Canada: Diversity within our Room
 

Overall, our journey around the world was a wonderful learning experience. We bonded as a class through our diversity and gained a greater knowledge of other countries and the differences and similarities we share. The year 2013 has proven to be a year of great discovery and growth in room 108. I'm thrilled to enter the year 2014 with your children, to see further development and progress in their learning. It is such a privilege to teach your children and again I thank you for your continued support of our program. Have a beautiful holiday with your family. I can't wait to begin our new learning and discovery journey together in January 2014!

Happy New Year from my family to yours!

Making Sense Of It All

Whatever the weather, we're in it together! Well, the temperature has definitely been changing and I have found myself bundling up in every piece of warm clothing that I can find. Coats, hats, scarves, mitts, boots, and snowpants have been taken out of storage and now my little ones wear them with pride. I always giggle when I see the children in my class wearing all of their snow gear, because they remind me of little penguins waddling outside into the cold. We must not forget how long it takes them to get ready for their 10 minute recess. They are so proud of getting themselves all adorned in their winter wear, only to find themselves turning around to come back inside soon after. Who doesn't love the winter?

Snow getting into your shoes and melting. The nippy wind blowing on your ears until they burn with cold. Your hands becoming so chilly that you can't even wipe your nose. What about having to wear all of those layers ha ha. No, winter weather is wonderful and despite these few joys, I really do love this time of year.

We have been very busy in room 109 these past few weeks. I am going to travel back in time to give you an inside look at some of the exciting moments we have shared. On Halloween, the primary classes had a costume parade through the school, in which they displayed their colourful and unique outfits.



We then took part in 5 stations that focused on using our 5 senses.

Station #1 Sight

The children wore funny glasses and reading fingers to peruse through seasonal books. Don't you just love the first photo?

Station #2 Taste

The children were given the opportunity to create pumpkin faces using crackers, cheese, and raisins. They followed step-by-step instructions to make their masterpieces.

Station #3 Touch

The children loved this station! They were presented with numerous socks that were filled with different food products ( dairy, meat, bread & cereal, vegetables/fruit ). They had to reach into each sock and guess what food was inside, just by touching.

Station #4 Smell

At this station, the children had to smell each container and guess what was inside. Some of the contents were the following: onion, chicken nuggets, cinnamon.

Station #5 Hearing

This station was a whole group activity. The children listened as I read the story "Crankenstein" by Samantha Berger. They then went and wrote about what makes them cranky and completed their project with an art lesson. I think they turned out adorable!

Here are a few photos of our Smartie Graphing activity (another yummy learning time). Would you believe that every box of Smarties has a different amount inside? One little boy had 5 Smarties of every colour in his box! I know, hard to believe, but I saw it with my own eyes.

Just too cute for words!

Our Trip To Windreach Farms

What a wonderful time was had by all! The children had a hands-on experience learning about farm animals. They were given the opportunity to feed the goats, pigs, and bunnies. The looks on some of their faces were priceless. One little girl even lost her glove to a hungry goat. She stood crying over her lost glove, while the goat simply chewed away without a care in the world.

The children loved learning about the horses and even had an up-close tour inside the stables. They had an opportunity to see in the stalls and where the horses were given their baths. A few of the farm workers asked for volunteers to clean the horse manure out of the stalls; however, there were no takers (who would have guessed?) ha ha.

Overall, between tractor rides, tours, animal visits, playground equipment, and enjoying each other's company, we had a great class trip!

Here are some photos of our farm experience.



Buster the Bus

Buster the bus visited our school last week and taught the children all about bus safety. We were given very important tips for lining up to go on a bus and for exiting safely. Unfortunately, due to a tight schedule, Buster was unable to have his photo taken with our whole class. Here is just a quick glimpse of our bright, yellow friend.



Congratulations to our October Character Award Winners!  

Character Trait: Teamwork

This has been quite a long post; however, I hope you enjoyed all of the photos. I had so many wonderful moments to share,  I just had to add them all. Our school concert will be coming soon! I will provide updates as the time draws closer. So for now, keep bundled up and enjoy the warm hugs from your little sweeties.