Bravo Mes Amis!

Well the pennies are finally rolled!! We had a grand total of $456.00 to purchase turkeys this year. The class ended up buying a total of 40 turkeys. Superstore was also very good to us and donated 40 boxes of stuffing and 40 cans of cranberry sauce! A big thank you to Bill Bray from Superstore! Also a big thank you to all of you for the support! The students had the chance to load the Salvation Army truck with all the turkeys, they were very excited!

We had a couple of guest readers this week. Several members of the Summerside Capitals Hockey team came in to read Christmas stories to the students as well as Brenda Meisner. We will be having a sing along with a parent as well as a holiday craft on Monday. Thank you very much to everyone who has come in.

We only have a two days left before the holidays and they are going to  be very busy! If you would like to send in a treat with your child for Tuesday you are more than welcome to.We will be having a holiday celebration along with fun activities.

Every penny counts

Merry Christmas to you all,  be safe, be merry and have a very Happy New Year!!
Cheers see you in 2012 :)

December is here!

December has arrived but you would not know it with this weather that we have been having!! Not complaining though :)
Our first week of the penny drive has been great. We already have one bucket filled. We also have been getting dimes and nickles which has helped out. The kids are excited because we have at least one turkey! I have chatted with the people at CBC Radio and they would like us to come down on the 9th of December which is the same day as our Christmas concert. They said around 4:00 o'clock and we would sing at 4:15. Please let me know if we can make this happen, if we can not get everyone there we might have to decline.  We have decided on two Christmas songs to sing, one is more up beat (Deck the halls) and the other is soft and slow (Noel, c'est l'amour). Iam hoping that we can have the down before next Friday, so we are practising every day in class.
We will be selling candy oh grams at the concert as well as hot apple cider. I am still in need of some volunteers. The students will go in shifts to help sell them with you. You also do not have to be there the whole day just before the concert starts and after. I need someone for the AM and the PM. Please let me know if you can help out.

We are finishing up last months theme and moving right into the Christmas theme. A big THANK YOU to all of you who sent in fruit and veggies. The students loved it and were asking today what they were going to have! I will send home their booklets in the next couple of days. I hope that this helps in packing lunches, I know it can be hard to get ideas!

We are still working on numbers in math and will be starting addition and subtraction up to 20. We have also been counting to 100 and by 10. Once we start to count the pennies your child should be a pro on counting to 50 in French!!

We also have looked at prepositions and verbs and will cover adjectives this month. The class has started guided reading and are doing very well. They are learning some great strategies to help them read.  (to blend sounds, pick out sounds they know and work backwards to sound out the word)

We have had some volunteers to come in to class over the next couple of weeks to do a sign song and holiday craft. If you want to read a Christmas story or decorate cookies let me know, theres still time!!Also the class has won another 50 points and have chosen to do show and tell. We will do this next week on DEC 7th.

I think that's all for now. Have a great week end
Laurie Anne

First snow fall!!

We had our first bit of snow today! Even though am not a fan of snow I was excited to see it this morning. It gave me a little extra bounce in my step. It means Christmas is around the corner and I love Christmas!!!

That being said with the first snow fall comes wet feet, mitts, pants and so on. If you could please send in a couple of extra pairs of mittens, socks in a plastic zip lock bag with their name on it. I have extra mitts and hats here just in case your child does not have them, but please make sure they come to school prepared.

Next week we will be starting our penny drive for the CBC Turkey Drive. We have already received some pennies, so please keep them coming in. We will also be selling candy canes at the Christmas concert which is December 9th. If you would like to volunteer to sell them at this time please let me know. There will be two showings of the concert in the morning and afternoon. If you can do one of those times that would be great! I had a chat to them today about why we are doing the Turkey Drive, some of them had some great answers and questions. Feel free to talk more about it at home.

Reports are going to be sent home on the 24th so keep your opens for those.
We are having a great time trying different fruits and vegetables. The students ask me every morning what they are going to have. I hope that they are coming home with positive comments about what they are trying in class. We had a Nutritionist who came in today to speak with them about healthy eating choices.They learned all about the food groups and got to play some games.

We are also learning about Domestic animals in class. We discussed who had pets at home and what type of pets can they be. If you could send in a picture of your animals that would be great. If your child does not have any pets at home they can bring a stuffed animal. We will be playing a game of Guess who and the students will be able to have a chance to introduce their classmates to their pets or favorite animals.

For the month of December I wanted to know if anyone was interested in coming in to read Christmas stories to the children (probably the last week of class) to make holiday crafts, treats or to sing some songs. If you are interested please let know.

Also I will be sending home the Decembers Scholastic order next week. They will be due on the 6th of Dec, that way if you are purchasing any Christmas gifts they will be here in time for Christmas. I can email you or send you a note in the agenda to let you know that your order is in, so that you may pick it up without your child knowing.  They have some great Holiday books. Mike and I have started a tradition where he gives me a Christmas book each year I love it!! Last years was Charlie Browns Christmas I wonder what it will be this year???

Everyone is continuing to speak french in class! They have won another 50 points! We have not yet decided what we wanted to do with these points I will let you know.

That's all for now. I hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Laurie Anne

Our fruit and veggies adventure begins

Hi folks,
We have started are new theme of fruits and vegetables. Yesterday the students had a chance to try pomegranates. To my surprised they all pretty much loved them and were asking for more!!. Today we are trying plums. We were also suppose to try peaches but I was told they could not find any. If this happens feel free to substitute it with another fruit or vegetable. Just make sure though that it is not already on the list. Sobeys have a great section with different exotic fruits, if you ever get stuck.
We are also keeping a tally of who has fruits and vegetables in their lunches. We will continue to do this for the whole month of November and will be used as a math lesson later on.

We are still working on numbers 1-20. We had a chance to estimate how many pumpkin seeds were in the pumpkin last week and had the chance to count to 200. The students loved pulling out the insides of the pumpkin.

We only have 2 days of school next week (Nov 7,8), due to parent teacher interviews and a PD day. I hope that all the interview times are good for everyone. If not please let me know and I can work something out. We will not be covering any new words and there will be no home work sent home. All I ask is that you go over the sight words with your child that we have already covered and practice counting and matching the words to the numbers. I will also send the song books home to practice.

The last week of November we will be starting our penny drive for the CBC Turkey Drive. It will run up until the last week before Christmas holidays. Last year I did this with my class and had great success. As a class we were able to buy 38 turkeys for island family's with the 530.00$ raised through the penny drive and the candy cane sale at the Christmas concert. My goal last year was to buy one turkey, but my students told me that was not a good goal. I asked why and they informed me that there is more than one family in need of a turkey on Christmas. I was shocked by that response and their compassion for others.  I understand that we might not get 38 turkeys this year, that's not what matters. What matters is that we learn how to give back to those in need even if its just one turkey, we are doing something. So that being said start saving those pennies and pass the word out that we are collecting.

That's all for now if you have any questions feel free to drop me a line. I hope that you all have a great weekend. See you next week.
Laurie Anne

Halloween is around the corner!!

Hi folks,
I hope that you all had a great weekend. We had a couple of great speakers at our convention if you want to check them out there names were Martin LaTulipe and Dr.Steven Van Zoost. 

We are on our last week of October, I can not believe how fast this month is flying by!! We will be wrapping up our family and fall theme and moving onto En pleine forme avec mes amis les animaux. Students will be learning about domestic animals as well as fruits and vegetables. I will be sending home a sheet where I have assigned your child a fruit and vegetable to bring into class for a certain day. They are only required to do this for their assigned day. Please be sure to send enough in for 14 students and have the fruit/veggies cut and ready to pass out. Students are required to try everything that is brought in to be 100% sure they do not like. After we sample the goodies the students will then write in a booklet whether they liked the fruit or vegetable. At the end of the month I will send the book home for you to look over. You might be surprised on what your child actually likes. I did this last year and it was a huge success. The parents were very surprised that their child actually like some of the fruit/veggies, they said it helped out with packing lunches. I hope that you will have this success as well!! Please let me know if your child has any sensitivity or allergies to certain fruits/veggies or if you are unable to participate.

I will also be having a guest speaker coming in from the Healthy Food Alliance to chat about healthy food choices and how they help you grow.

The students have won their 100 points!! We have decided to have a Halloween party on Monday, watch a Halloween movie and have some treats. If you are interested in sending in a treat with your child please feel free to do so. Just leave me a note in the agenda if you can or not.
Your child can wear their costume to school on Monday, however they must come with their make up already on as well as their costume. They can change out if it before going outside for recess. It is the schools policy to not permit any swords,guns, knives or anything that can be viewed as a weapon. Masks are also not allowed. We will be having Halloween centers in the afternoon with the whole school. The pumpkin patrol will be visiting the school on Friday afternoon to go over safety tips with your child.

I would like to thank Nicole Johnston (Laurens mom) and Brenda Meisner (Ashlyn's mom) for coming into class and doing a craft and showing the students how to make apple crisp!! Also thanks to you all who came out for our adventure to Arlington Farms, and to the rain that stayed away!

Have a great week everyone and if you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me!
Laurie Anne :)

Short week coming up.

I folks I hope that everyone is having a great week end. I just wanted to remind you all that this is a short week we only have school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The reason for this is because the annual teachers conference in Charlottetown.
We will be going to the apple orchard tomorrow. We are leaving the school at 11:30, please be sure to dress your child appropriately. If you are coming with us on this little adventure please meet us at the orchard for 11:50.
Seeing that it is a short week, we will not be having homework. You can still go over the alphabet, numbers 1-20 and your child's sight words as practice. It is very important that your child learn these sight words, please practice these at home.
I also sent home a Highlights form. I did not get around to writing you a note explaining it. Highlights offer subscriptions if you are interested in them. Do not feel obligated to order this magazine. I sent it home because even if you check no and sign the form Highlights will send our class something as a thank you.
I will be putting in our October book order on Monday. If you have not done so you can send them in tomorrow.
On Wednesday we have a parent coming in to do a fall craft with the students! Also Wednesday will be our PJ day that the students won a couple of weeks ago. Your child will be allowed to wear their PJ's to school.
Also if any of you are interested in meeting me to go over your child's progress so far before report cards please let me know and we can arrange a time to meet after school.
Have a great Sunday and chat soon
Laurie Anne :)

Color you food Campaign

Hi folks,
Well Im not off to the best of starts of keeping on the blog. Sorry about that!
This week is color your lunch, I signed the class up for this campaign through the healthy eating alliance. It allows our class to have a chance to learn about healthy snacks, goes great with our colors theme and allows us to win prizes as well. I hope that you all can participate. Each day we go over the color make a list of who has that color in their lunches and chat about what is it a fruit or a vegetable.
We have a points system in class, where the students get a chance to win points. They receive these points by answering questions, finding the weekly sight words in the morning message and so on. They also lose points if they are not listening, not on task.... Once the class gets to 50 they are rewarded with a little something. In class we brain stormed several ideas then had a vote on what we were going to use our first 50 points for. They have decided a PJ party, where they will wear their PJs to school. Iam happy to say that they got their first 50 points and we will be having a PJ party, date yet to be decided. Ill put it in the agenda.

We have finished patterns and now are working numbers 1-20. Students are learning the French words for each number written and spoken. We continue to count to 50 each day. I encourage you to practice at home. You can make flash cards and have them out of sequence. This is a challenge for them, but great practice.Later on in the week Ill be sending home numbers with words and the students must match them up. You can play memorie, but just start with numbers 1-10 and introduce more as you go.
I had a great idea from a parent that I would like to share with all of you. This parent makes flash cards with the weekly sight words. Once her child is able to recognize the word she rewards them with a sticker.On the flas card. Its great motivation and makes homework a little more interesting. Bravo!!

We did reschedule our field trip to the 17th of October. Hopefully the sun will be out then like it is today. If you still want to volunteer please let me know.I would also like to try and have a parent come in once a month to do a craft with the students. If you are interested in this please let me know. I will send home a sign up sheet later on. Do not worry if you are not crafty anything is better than nothing and they will love having you here.

I have started their reading bags in class this week. Students are given 3 books in their blue bag. When we have silent reading time they will practise these books over and over again. I chose books that have their sight words in them and at their level. We will see how it goes!

Thank you to all of you who participated in NORCARD!
Just a reminder that we have no school on Monday Oct 10th.
That's all for now!
Have a great week!