Ms. Michael's Gr. 1/2 Blog

We had such an amazing time at the Museum! It was so amazing to see the students engaged in such hands on learning! I was so happy to see all of the smiling faces as they explored the museum. Thank you so much to our amazing volunteers that helped make our trip possible and successful! - Miss Michael  ♡ Reminders There is NO SCHOOL tomorrow! - Have a great weekend! Library is on MONDAY Next week Home reading is due on Tuesday Class pictures are on Wednesday!

Field Trip: Our field trip is tomorrow! The bus will leave at 9:30! It is important that students are on time! Please also remember to pack a lunch in a bag so that it is easy to carry! We will be back at the school at around 2:40pm so you can pick up your student at the regular bell times! Report Cards: Report Cards went home today! Please do your best to return the envelop so that we will be able to use it for the June report cards! Library: Library was today but due to class pictures, the library books will be due on Monday. Class Pictures: Class photos will be taken again on Wednesday. Remember to brush your hair and comb your teeth! Homework: There is NO SCHOOL on Friday. Homework will be due on Thursday!

So many new things were happening today that the grade ones and twos couldn't decide what to write about so we will be writing about two things! This morning, we wrote valentines for the Vets. The kiddos learned that a vet is another name for a veteran. A veteran is "someone who fought in the war but doesn't fight anymore." - LC & SD. We decided that a nice thing to do for these veterans was to send them valentines cards to speak kindness and generosity to someone else. In P.E., we started a new unit! Gymnastics! The kiddos were so excited to walk into the Gym and see all of the different centers! We learned the importance of landing on bent knees after we jump. We call this a motorcycle landing. Our goal is for all of the students to "stick" their landing for 3 seconds. Have your kiddo show you their motorcycle landing and see if they can make their landing stick! - Miss Michael 💜 Reminders Tomorrow is Fancy Day! - You can dress up fanc

Today we practiced measuring by creating measurement monsters! The kiddos had to decide the height and width of their monster as well as how long their legs were and how wide their feet, eyes, and mouth are. Then they had to create their monster based off of their measurements. The monsters turned out super cute and the kiddos learned the meaning of the words height, length, and width and practiced using these words in sentences. Take a look at one of our monsters! - Miss Michael Reminders Fancy Day is on January 29th  Report Cards will go home on January 29th - please do your best to return the envelopes! We will reuse them for the report cards in June! Our field trip is on January 30th! There is NO SCHOOL on January 31st! Home reading is due on Tuesday! Home work went home today!

Today, we continued our work on our close reading. We came across three words that we could not figure out the meaning of. We decided to break off into groups and have a discussion about what we thought these words mean based off what we already know. I was happily surprised to see the kiddos working together and sharing their ideas appropriately. Look below to see what the kiddos came up with! - Miss Michael ♡ Reminders Homework is due tomorrow! Our Field Trip is on January 30th - We have 4 volunteers! January 29th is spirit day! It is Fancy Day! Home reading is due on Tuesday! Library books are due on Wednesday! - lets get those books returned!

We have looked at our cups that we filled with water. We set the "cool" cup by one of Miss Michael's plants and the "warm"cup by the window. Our question was: does heat make water evaporate faster? After watching a video on evaporation and checking in on our cups, we came to some conclusions that might help answer our question. Here are some things that we noticed. "In the video I saw that the pictures that they painted with water evaporated in the sun." - ZC "I noticed the warm cup evaporated faster than the cool cup because the warm cup is beside the window and the sun was shining on the warm cup." - SS "In the video, they painted pictures with water on construction paper. The one in the bag showed water droplets." -LC "They put water paint onto the road outside when it was hot and the water disappeared." - IC - Miss Michael 💙 Reminders Library was today - so many people forgot to return your books.

Today, the grade ones and twos were given scenarios where they could practice empathy. They then had to create a play where they acted out the scenario as well as their response to the scenario. Ask your student what their scenario was and how they responded to the scenario. - Miss Michael 💟 Reminders Tomorrow is library - Please return your books! Home reading went home today. It is due next Tuesday Fun Lunch is on January 23rd!  Our field trip is on January 30th - If you would like to volunteer please email me! Spirit Day is on January 29th. It is Fancy Day! You can dress fancy and if you like and we will be using our best manners. Please remember that you do not have to buy anything. Look for fancy things around your house!

Today we did a close reading about the art that is done in Nunavut. We learned that the art is a combination of traditional and modern types of art. We watched a video about a women that creates jewelry in Iqaluit. She made the jewelry from natural items that she finds in Iqaluit. These items include rocks, feathers, bone, metal, and we even saw earrings that were made out of a bird's feet. The kids thought that it was a little strange and a little cool. Please take a look at these incredible items of jewelry in this video! - Miss Michael ♡ Reminders Homework went home today! - Please return it on Friday Home reading is due tomorrow! Library is on Wednesday - Please return your books.  Fun Lunch is on Thursday! Spirit Day is on January 29th - It is Fancy Day! - We will be dressing up fancy and using our best manners all day! - Please remember that you do not have to buy anything! Please find your items at home! Our field trip is on January 30th - We have 3

We have now read three chapters of the novel "Pippi Longstocking". The students are really enjoying how interesting the story is so far! Since starting this story, we have discovered many different character traits that Pippi Longstocking has. Here are some things that the students have noticed! "She's very strong and she can pick up two policemen! She has no one to tell her when to go to bed." - HB "She's kind and she stands up for other people." -LC "She's funny. She is nice." - ZC "She has orange hair flicking up! She has a very colorful house. She is a very good cook." - SS "She lies a lot. She doesn't have a mom and dad." SM "She's very crazy." - KL "She has a horse." - YE "She sleeps upside-down!" - RW "She has long shoes and a monkey. She is silly." - LA "She's weird." - CR "Her hair is as orange as a carrot." - IC We are

For the past three days the grade ones and twos have been practicing a comprehension strategy called close reading. This is where students read with the teacher a passage of writing that is a little bit above their grade level. Then the passage is read three times. The first time for fluency, the second time to identify words that they are not sure of the meaning, and the third time to see if the meaning of the word is within the text. The passage that we have read was a newspaper article about what is currently happening in Iqaluit about their access to clean, drinkable water. Take a read and talk to your student about what they know about the article. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised that these students know exactly what this article is about! - Miss Michael 😻 Aug. 6, 2019 The city of Iqaluit has declared a water emergency, for the second time in two years.  Lake Geraldine— the reservoir for the city's potable water— is at a "historic low." T

Yesterday the grade ones and twos completed a STEAM challenge. They were asked to create a column or columns that will support the most books. They were split up into four different teams that had to work together to complete this challenge. At the end of challenge, each column was tested and every single one was successful. One team managed to create a column that held up 9 books! At the end of the challenge, the students were asked to complete a self-assessment. They were looking at how well they worked in a group, whether or not they shared and listened to each other's ideas, and if they showed respect for each other. These assessments will be going home for you to see how your child's character building is going in the classroom. I will be looking at these self-assessments before they head home! Take a look at the incredible team work that was going on in room 7! - Miss Michael 💜 Reminders Homework is due on Friday! Library is tomorrow- please retu

Today we listened to the story "The Invisible Boy" and talked about this month's virtue of empathy. This story is about a boy who feels like he is invisible because he is excluded from playing with his peers and feels like he is not heard. We practiced empathy by putting ourselves in the characters shoes and sharing about a time we felt invisible or left out. We decided that it feels a lot better to be included in activities than to be excluded from them. For art, we drew a picture of a person and colored them in black and white on one side and color on the other. Our next step is to add times where we have felt excluded and times were we have felt included. Talk to your student about empathy and how we can show this in everyday life. - Miss Michael 💚 Reminders There is NO SCHOOL tomorrow Inline skating starts on Monday! - Everyone has returned their forms so everyone needs to remember to WEAR SOCKS on Monday and bring their helmet if they have one. I will l

Today we learned that water is actually quite sticky! What we mean is, that water has a high surface tension. We completed an experiment using water, pennies, and eye droppers where we were able to actually see the surface tension! We learned that when the water spilled off of the penny the surface tension broke. Take a look at some of our pennies! We also looked at a bug called the Water Strider that uses water tension to make it look like it can walk on water!  I wonder if the Grade ones and twos can show you another example of surface tension at home?  - Miss Michael ♡ Reminders Home reading went home today. It will be due on Monday. From now on, home reading will go home on Tuesdays. Hopefully this will help with home work and home reading not making it home!  Next week is inline skating! - Please make sure you return your forms and wear socks on those days! It is also recommended that you bring your own helmet! Fun Lunch is on January 23rd Our Fiel

Welcome back to school! I hope that everyone had a restful and calm break. I was so excited to see everyone's happy face at school today! Because we are now in a new year, we thought it was a good idea to set some goals! We talked about how writing down our goals can keep us on track to achieving our goals. The Grade ones and twos were asked to set three goals. One for school, one for themselves, and a social goal. Most of the students set a goal to get better at reading, writing, or math. The way that they said to achieve this goal was to practice at home! I can't wait to see these goals be achieved!  #goalgetters - Miss Michael 😻 Reminders Please return the yellow forms for inline skating. Your students will not be able to participate if the form is not returned. During skating students are encouraged to bring their own helmet and they MUST wear socks! Homework went home today! - It is due on Thursday Home reading will go home on Tuesday. It will be due on Mo