1 more day to go!

2017 has been good to us! We hope you have a lovely break!

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzza!

Today we have talked about Christmas. It is the last holiday we are celebrating in Room 4. We read a couple stories about the first Christmas and some students had A LOT of questions! Talk with your child to share your beliefs with them, there were many questions I couldn't answer without sharing my own beliefs.

This afternoon we sang holiday songs. Tomorrow morning we will sing some more. Please join us at 9:10-9:40am to bring in some holiday spirit! My favourite song today was, Driedel!

During Mathletics time, we worked on graphing. When we come back from break in January we will finish up our unit on Graphing.

Also a HUGE reminder that we need to have all field trip forms in before we go! If your child is not attending please send me an email so I know.

Thanks :)

Today was our first day without Ms. Yu. We've gotten so used to haven her here! We can't wait for her to come back on February 20th, 2018.

Today Mrs. Nelson let us rearrange our desks and sit wherever we wanted!!! We did 2 rows facing the smart board and 1 on the side.

We read a story about Hanukkah and listened to the dreidel song. Then we read a story called Mosseltoe! So funny!

We worked on some math facts, did our Spelling quiz from last week and then went to music!

In PE today we played a snow ball game! It was fun cause we can't normally throw snowballs at school!

This afternoon we did a measuring activity! We are working on problem solving and different graphs. We leaned about bar and pie graphs, and a little about a line graph and pictograph! More on those later.

Have a wonderful evening!

Goodbye Ms. Yu

Tomorrow, Friday December 15th, is Ms. Yu's last day with us in 2017. Don't worry she will be back in February 2018 for 8 whole weeks. We will miss Ms. Yu very much, but are excited for her to come back next year. I think we will need to put a gift from the students together next April. If a parent would like to head that up I would greatly appreciate the help. Thanks so much!

How adorable were your kids last night? They had such a great time preparing their songs and dance for you. Thank you for all your support!

Ask your child what they did for Social Studies. They may not know they were actually learning, he he we are so sneaky! They learned about Inukshuks and we practiced balancing rocks. In the new year, we will create our own Inukshuks.

Winter Concert Tonight!

Your children have been practicing hard and are so excited to share their performance with you tonight!

Doors will open at 6pm and the performance will begin at 6:30. All the Grade 1/2 classes will perform their songs, and then the Grade 3's will perform their songs and then the Grade 1/2's have a special surprise for you!

Can't wait to see you tonight!

Here are the next 7 days. December 4th -10th. We can't wait to hear about your experiences! 

Day 4 - Monday - Love those around you - start a conversation with someone you haven't really talked to before, buy a gift for a child in need (our parent council has a program to buy gifts for families in need from our own school), make some goodies for someone and take them over.

Day 5 - Tuesday - Show appreciation to your parents - (we'll work on this one at school ;)

Day 6 - Wednesday - We've all made mistakes, let's make them better - Do you need to say sorry to someone? Try listening to them and hearing what they have to say. Say nice things behind people's backs.

Day 7 - Thursday - We all love children, how can we help them? - This one's for you Parent's! 

donate a toy or books, tell your child how much they mean to you, make plans and help your child feel special.

Day 8 - Friday - Love those who are unkind - It may be hard to love those who are unkind, but lets make an extra effort to be kind to everyone this week. Stand up for your friend, do the right thing

Day 9 - Saturday - Comfort someone who is sick - give them a call, visit with them, draw them a picture or a card, donate blood (adults only, but take your kids with you.) Nursing homes are always in need of visitors too!

Day 10 - Sunday - Reading brings people together - share your favorite book with someone, read a book with someone, do you like a quote from a book? Share it with others. 

December Celebrations!

This month we will be learning about 3 holidays celebrated by many people in our classroom and in Canada.

Week 1 - Kwanzaa is an African-Americans celebration of life from 26 December to 1 January. Dr. Maulana Karenga introduced the festival in 1966 to the United States as a ritual to welcome the first harvests to the home. Dr. Karenga created this festival for Afro-Americans as a response to the commercialism of Christmas.

Week 2 - Hanukkah - The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.

Week 3 - Many people celebrate Christmas Day on December 25. The day celebrates Jesus Christ's birth. It is often combined with customs from pre-Christian winter celebrations. Many people erect Christmas trees, decorate their homes, visit family or friends and exchange gifts.

We hope your learn more about each of these holidays along with us! Please share any discussions or experiences with us!

Light the World

We have been listening and dancing to this great song called National Children's Day Music Video on youtube. Here's the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8esKJFztgaM

Students have really taken to this song and I think we are ready to take action! It talks how there's no end to kindness. That each little act of kindness can create a wonderful sight. "You can light a candle in the middle of the night, you can spread forgiveness or stand up for what is right."

Starting on December 1st, we will discuss different acts of kindness that we can do to help others. We will discuss, but more importantly do, small, simple acts of kindness each day. I hope this will touch the hearts of each student! Ms. Yu and I feel that we really need to have an extra focus on kindness at this time in Room 4. We hope to see great things come from this activity. We will post lots of ideas for you to do with your child as well.

Each day we will have a different focus.
Day 1 -Friday - How can we make someone else's life better? (make a donation or send a thoughtful note)
Day 2 - Saturday - People are in need of love and attention. How can we give them what they "thirst" for (donate water to the food bank, let someone go ahead of you at the fountain, tell someone you love them)
Day 3 - Sunday - Use your talents and skills to bless others. (Donate your skills to help someone in need, get your family together for family time, what is something you want to change in your life?)

I'll share a few ideas with you every 3-4 days or so. Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with us as well! We welcome all ideas and stories from your experiences.