Dear Grade 1/2 Families, I hope that this communication finds your family well. On Monday, we will embark on learning in a new environment. We will work through this week to establish a connection with your family to facilitate ongoing learning according to Alberta Education guidelines. We are committed to making this process as effective as possible. What to expect in the coming days: Monday and Tuesday Contact from your child’s classroom teacher. Initial contact will be attempted via a phone call. If your child, where appropriate, is able to be part of the phone call, that would be a great opportunity for personal contact to be initiated. Your teacher will be asking for some information: Do you have access to a computer, laptop, iPad/tablet or smart phone and printer? Do you have access to the internet? Is your only option a paper-based learning package? An email from your child’s teacher as a follow-up that will introduce you to a platform through which ongoing communication and instruction will take place. This email will come to the email address(es) contained in PowerSchool. Tuesday, March 31– Friday, April 3 Ongoing communication from your child’s classroom teacher establishing common understanding of the learning platforms for the roll out of lessons Development of a plan for students requiring paper-based learning packages Ongoing updates from the CBE and from Capitol Hill via email and web site Thank you for your ongoing support and patience as we undertake this new approach to learning. Grade 1/2 Team

Interactive Mindfulness Game

During these times, we are all really mindful about the wellbeing of our school community. This Interactive Mindfulness Game is a great resource that was shared to us by a teacher at Capitol Hill. Children may need adult support to work through it! I hope this brings some peace of mind during this unsettled time. :) 

https://storyboard.viget.com/term-4-project-17-03-20

COVID 19 Social Story

Hi Parents and Guardians, 

This social story was passed along to us to share with you and your student. You may print it and use it to help your child understand covid-19 and process their emotions in this unsettled time. 

A word from the author:

"Dear families and educator all over the world, 
I have created this short book to support and reassure our children, under the age of 7, regarding the COVID-19. This book is an invitation for families to discuss the full range of emotions arising from the current situation. It is important to point out that this resource does not seek to be a source of scientific information, but rather a tool based on fantasy. My recommendation is to print this material so children can draw on it. Remember that emotions are processed through repetitive play and stories read multiple times. Share COVIBOOK and help ease kiddo's anxiety all over the world. 

​

With love,

Manuela Molina - the author"

Math Resources

Below are some great math websites that your child can use to practice some interesting math! These websites are not necessarily tied to the Alberta curriculum, and usually they cost money to access, but for the time being they are free and would be good for your kiddos to get some extra practice in. I hope these help!


Brain Pop Jr. (currently not free but may release a free month in the future) 
https://jr.brainpop.com/


Math Before Bed:
 https://mathbeforebed.com/180-math-prompts/


Prodigy (always free to make an account) 

https://www.prodigygame.com/



In addition, there are many great card games to practice their basic math facts! Please see below:
Grade 1: (Card games: 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,16) 
Grade 2: (Card games: 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,10, 16) 

https://www.weareteachers.com/math-card-games/

Starfall

https://www.starfall.com/h/index.php

Math Card Games

https://mathgeekmama.com/best-math-card-games/

Math Activities

https://www.weareteachers.com/first-grade-math-games/

Winter Writing

Hello Families,

In preparation for conferences, our class was really excited to build and share our winter bulletin board with our families. Due to everything going on, we were unable to finish it. However, most students were able to create themselves doing their favourite winter activity. I wanted to share this as everyone did such a fabulous job! 























In terms of some work students could do at home based on the bulletin board, I thought I would include some ideas:

Word Work:
How many little words can you write using the letters from:

spring break

ie. in, king, big. . . 

Writing: 
-write about what activity they're doing and why its their favourite.
-how do they stay warm during this activity?
-why is their activity more fun than another? (ie. skating vs. sledding)
-use lots of descriptive words to describe the whole bulletin board 


Math:
-skip count to count how many people they see 
-create a math problem! 
(ie. 6 children went skating on the pond. 3 brought hockey sticks. How many children came without a hockey stick?) 

Science
-Have a conversation and go on a tour in your home with your children about ways in which the temperature in homes and buildings can be adjusted (winter and summer) ; e.g., by turning a thermostat up or down, by opening or closing windows, by using a space heater in a cold room.
-Then they could draw and label a picture and show you what they learned! 

If you complete any of this work with your child and would like to share it on the blog you are more than welcome to send it to me and I can post it. 
emcaughey@cbe.ab.ca


I hope everyone is doing well and staying positive during these uncertain times. I miss everyone so much and appreciate all of the support you're providing your child/children with at home. 


From, Miss. Caughey 😺

Good Morning Parents and Guardians,

As you are all aware we are in uncertain times. We are awaiting next steps from our health minister and CBE on how to proceed moving forward. We most likely won’t be hearing information about online lessons until after spring break. We will continue to communicate through our blog as we are updated with new information but for now we would like to stress the importance of continuing with home reading, journaling about their day, and practicing basic facts through games (dice, cards). We hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy and don’t forget to enjoy the spring weather by going on a nature walk. 

Thank you for your patience during this unsettled time. 

We miss you!

Grade 1/2 Team

Fun Friday

This week in writing we had a personality bag. We also continued our character writing about a giant. We had to describe him moving from a castle to a forest.

In math, we finished our 100 day projects.

In gym, we have had an awesome opportunity to participate in In-Line skating. We are also writing about perseverance! Some skills were tricky during In-Line skating like going backwards, skating on one foot, going around pylons without lifting your feet.

.    

Reminders: 
-School conferences cancelled next week
-No school next Friday March 20
*Apologies for the letter regarding Mrs. Dalton going home late this week.


Spelling List 
Grade 1: new, night, school, pretty, splash, street, story, rest, string, small

Grade 2: bid, hid, rid, did, lid, slid, skid, grid, squid, forbid


Have a great weekend! Stay warm :)

From, Room 8

Fantastic Friday

In math, we have been working on our one hundred day project. First, we drew a landscape of either Nunavut, Nova Scotia or the Prairies. Then we used sharpie to trace over it. Then we painted it with water colours. Last we added our one hundred items. The math class in Room 8 is still working on the painting, so please bring in the items by next week so we can add them.

In writing, we continued to work on our character writing. We wrote about a puppy and then we wrote about a giant. We have been working on adding lots of juicy words that describe how things feel, look like, sound like and smell like.

In social we have been learning about the prairies. We have also started to discuss the seven sacred teachings because they are an important part of the First Nation, Inuit and Metis culture. Today, we reflected on how we have learned from the courageous bear. Ask me what I wrote about today.

Reminders:

-Please bring in 100 items (unbreakable and invaluable) for the math project
-March 12 at  is when you can sign up for student led conferences which are on March 19 and 20
-Scholastic is due March 13



Spelling
Grade 1: use, music, true, huge, usual, blue, you, cute, tube, beautiful
Grade 2: before, call, if, more, off, only, over, then, where, your

Have a great weekend,

From, Room 8