Upcoming Dates / Reminders:
- Thank you, parents, for your patience while I was away. I don't like to be away but just couldn't get healthy! I appreciate the guest teachers who filled in while I was away. They do a great job but sometimes there's some miscommunication. A reading challenge went home yesterday that should not have gone home at this time. The entire Lochside community was going to start this challenge last Friday but we decided to postpone it. Feel free to recycle the paper that went home yesterday or do your own challenge. I did let the kids know today, so they wouldn't be disappointed or a misunderstanding with the prizes.
- We have been having a lot of cold/rainy days recently. Just a gentle reminder for those rainy mornings, the library is open to stay in from the rain prior to the bell ringing. We would like to keep the hallways clear in the mornings. Children can drop off their backpacks outside the library, and look at a book quietly until the bell rings. Thank you for your help in this area.
- Family Day is coming up on Monday, February 8th. No school for students and staff.
- There are 2 Non-Instructional days in February. Friday, February 12th is the first one for staff to have some in-service on the new curriculum which is starting this September. Friday, February 19th is our normal Professional Development day. Staff in session only on these days.
- Book exchange is tomorrow. Please return your books along with the poem duotangs which went home last Friday.
- Scholastic order forms went home on Monday. Please have your orders in by Friday this week.
- Read Around the Room this week on Friday, 8:40-9:00am. Parents and grandparents welcome!
- Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year. In our class we will celebrate it on Monday, February 15th. We will make envelopes for our Valentines the previous week and bring them home filled up on the 15th. If your child would like to participate, I request that they bring 1 Valentine for each of their 21 friends in the class. I will send a class list home this week. I recommend having your child write their friends' names----it's great practice!
- Save the Date! We are heading to the museum by school bus on February 18th and need some parent volunteers to join us. You must have a criminal records check done for this trip, as you will be chaperoning 2-3 students in the museum. Permission slips went home last Friday with space on the back to indicate if you are able to join us. I have 3 confirmed adults joining us with current criminal records checks and will be needing 2 more. (Just a reminder that the School District requires criminal records checks completed through the police department and must be specifically for volunteering in the school. Kitlin has a letter signed by Joe in the office to waive the $75 fee.) This is an all day field trip.
Classroom News:
Social Responsibility: We will finish up talking about the virtue COMPASSION this week and will start to talk about FAIRNESS. We can show fairness by appreciating people's differences and by sharing.
Literacy: This week we are adding the letters 'e' and 'h'. It has been exciting to see children build words at our literacy centre with the letters.
Science: We are finishing up looking at our big question is: How do animals survive in winter? We made a list of animals who migrate and noticed they migrate by air, land, and water. This week we will make a list of animals who hibernate. We will notice where they hibernate too. Finally we'll make a list of animals who adapt and what they do specifically to survive winter.
Gym: This week we will get some soccer game play going.
Computers: On Monday students returned to a website called 'Starfall.' You can check out the website here: http://www.starfall.com/ Students explored the ABCs today and also the first lessons 2 and 3 in 'Learn to Read.'