Archived - Mrs. Blake - Notes

Please send in toonies to support the Terry Fox walk on Thursday. Thanks!!

Last Tuesday the children were delighted to see a presentation by Worlds Unbound, a group from UNB that does summer science camps. They did a number of activities related to the Senses and then had an exciting experiment at the end. The children wanted me to send the recipe home. It would have to be done by an adult but it was fun to watch.

1. You need a tall glass cylinder or bottle.

2. Pour hydrogen peroxide in the cyclinder.

3. Add a little dish soap and food coloring and stir.

4. Mix water and yeast equal parts.

5. Add the yeast mixture to the cyclinder and step back.

The retirement tea for teachers from Connaught went very well. I was pleased to see so many children come to sing for Mrs. Morrison at the event. Thank you.

I will add some photos from the Worlds Unbound and the Retirement Tea.

We have an exciting week with Valentines Day on Tuesday. Please check the attached newsletter for information on 100 Days in School.

We had a great trip to Odell Park last Tuesday. I appreciate all of the volunteers help. It was a beautiful day. Please see attached photos.

Yesterday we had another exciting event. Sparky the robot Fire Dog came to visit. Sparky answered questions about fire safety and reminded the children that they should check with their parents about their home excape plan, outside meeting place and to see whether their smoke alarms have been checked lately. Today we talked about the visit again and then several children chose to draw and write about Sparky.

During writing workshop I ask them to draw a picture about something that has happened in their lives and it can be something special like Sparky's visit or perhaps playing smurfs with your sister. The children are being taught to label their pictures and then write a sentence with help. When they label they write down all the sounds they hear when they slowly say the word, for example Sparky might be spelled in children's writing - Sprke or Srke or even just S. Any sound/letter writing is good. A sentence like I saw Sparky might be in children's writing -  I s Sprke and often without spacing because they are so busy concentrating on the sounds they hear. In a few weeks some children will start adding sight works they know or can find on the word wall such as - to, is, in etc. Writing is an important focus and it helps in a big way with their reading skills. We are now starting easy readers. The children memorize them at first and eventually they learn a few sight words and start to sound out short 2 and 3 letter words such as sat.

Please keep reviewing the letter sounds with your children for homework. It is a big help!!

A note is going home tomorrow about Halloween. I hope to see some of you at Spookarama on Saturday!