"Spring" Is Finally Here

Good Morning everyone. I hope everyone had a fantastic and restful Easter break.  All I can say is Cadbury Mini Eggs are my favorite.

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;
in   but   may   here   people

Writing:

We have finished out penguin research and will be writing our reports this week.  We have found lots of very interesting information that the students are excited to talk about.

Word Work:

We are continuing with our making words lessons twice a week.  Our word family for this week is the "ow" word family (crow, flow, mow).

Math

For our Monday math, we just finished up numbers to 100 and skip counting.  We will continue to cover it in some aspects throughout the rest of the year.  We are going to begin our unit on 2D shapes and 3D objects during Monday math.  We will also be finishing up subtraction from 12 by the end of April.  We will continue with learned strategies to solve word problems in subtraction.

Science

In science we are continuing with out "needs of plants" unit.  We have learned about the 4 basic needs of plants as well as the 5 main parts of plants (flower, stem, fruit, leaf, and root).  We have also planted our very own garden so the students can log their observations of the growth of plants from seed.  We have planted peas, cucumbers, sunflowers, radishes, carrots, chives, green beans, and romaine lettuce.
We will be continuing with this unit this week, doing some more experiments, including showing how water is absorbed into a plant, using celery sticks.

Social Studies

Our heritage project presentations are in full swing.  We have finished 7 presentations so far and it is very interesting learning where our friends ancestors came from.  We have a map on our wall showing the distances our ancestors would have traveled to reach Alberta.  The students are amazed at how far some of their classmates relatives have gone to get here.

Some of our garden plants

 Green Beans

Lincoln Homesteader Peas 

Cucumber 

Sunflowers

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Mr. Aasen

April Is Upon Us

Good day everyone.  I hope you all have had a wonderful and restful spring break.  I certainly have.  It is hard to believe we are already a week into April, and in two weeks we have Easter long weekend.  We have lots of work to do up to that point though.

Language Arts

Spelling:

This week we have our 5th review test covering the last 20 words.  The words are as follows:

yes, over, just, most, little, as, run, who, jump, would, if, be, one, more, into, so, or, now, name,where

Writing:

We have finished up persuasive writing and our writing this month is going to focus on reporting.  We will be conducting a research project on penguins focusing on finding facts about the animal.  The students will look up all sorts of information about penguins and will write a report explaining their findings.This will also extend our science "Needs of Animals" unit across the language arts curriculum.

Math

We will have a couple more weeks covering numbers to 100 in our "Monday Math".  We will continue with subtraction from 12 the rest of the week.
Our focus in subtraction will be continuing to work with learned strategies that work for the students in order to solve a problem.  The students have done lots of work with word and picture problems and are gaining a great understanding of how to solve these problems, both addition or subtraction.

Science

Before spring break, we began our "Needs of Plants" unit.  We will continue with this unit this week, looking at some more types of common plants and the different parts of the plant.  We will eventually be growing our own plants in the classroom.

Social Studies

For Social Studies, we will be presenting our "Family" projects that were taken home during spring break, as part of our Heritage Unit.  I am looking forward to learning more about all of the students.



I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Mr. Aasen

Swimming Time

Hello all.  This week (and next) will be an exciting time for many of the students at East Elementary.  Our swimming portion of Phys Ed has all the students excited.  We (the grade 1's) are swimming at the LRC from 1:00-1:30, Monday through Thursday this week and next. If you would like, you can send an extra snack with your child these days as we will have an opportunity for a snack when we return to the school.  Swimming is a very draining activity and the students are hungry when they return.  As for the rest of the day, it is business as usual.

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are as follows:

as, run, who, jump, would

Writing:

For writing this week we are finishing up our second piece of persuasive writing.  We read half of a story called Splat the Cat.  Splat is a cat who will be going to school for the first time,  He is very nervous and trying any and all means to not go to school.  It is the students job to have letters written to Splat convincing him why school is such a great place to be.  Again, this is their second attempt at persuasive writing.  Look for their writing about a T-Rex with an assessment rubric in their agendas by the end of the week to give you an idea of where their writing is at.  When it gets sent home, I would like to see it returned after you get a chance to read it.

The high end of the rubric will show where the students should be at by the end of grade 1.

Math:

In math, we finished our unit on measurement and today went over the assessment together.  I sent it home to show what the students took from it.  We will be continuing with our unit, subtraction from 12, the rest of the week.

Science: 

In science, we have just begun our unit on needs of plants.  We have had a brainstorming session about anything that the children know about plants.  They were to come up with types of plants, things that plants require to live, and anything else they could think of to do with plants.  We will be working toward seeing some plants in action as well as growing our own plants in the classroom.  I will keep you posted as well as put up some pictures when that time comes.

Art:

For art, I had the students each create a painted heart (3 different colors).  They each got to keep the top left corner of their own heart.  They then proceeded to trade the other 3 pieces of their heart around the room.  They received a heart piece from three other students in their class complementing and completing their own heart.  What resulted was a very cool heart mosaic.

Odds and Ends:

I will again be away for professional development on Tuesday all day.  Also, please remember to dry your child's bathing suit and towel each night so they do not have to put on a wet bathing suit the next day.  If they forget it at school, well, they do not really have a choice then.

As always, have a wonderful week.

Mr. Aasen

Last week of February

Hi all.  I hope everyone is staying warm during this cool down period.  Hard to believe that this is our lest week of February already.  Can you believe, including this week, there are only 17 weeks of school left?

Language Arts

Spelling:

This week we have our 4th review spelling test.  It will cover the following 20 words;

some, did, many, time, there, how, say, each, then, other, we, put, find, want, house, up, out, will, down, school

Writing:

We will be continuing with our persuasive letter to our parents about wanting to get a T. Rex.  It is a fun focused piece of persuasive writing where the kids can come up with crazy ideas for the T. Rex to do for their parents.  One example that the students have come up with so far is that "the T. Rex. can pick up all the smelly dog poo in the yard so you do not have to mom"!  They are coming up with some very convincing reasons to get their parents to buy them a T. Rex.

Word Work:

With it being a review week in spelling, there will not be a word family.  We will continue to do our making words activity.  This activity is progressing very well.  Even though the process is the same each week, they are becoming more and more independent each time, using their prior knowledge of previous lessons to build the words in the current lesson.  They are building their vocabulary and becoming more confident with their letter sounds through this activity.

Math

This week in math we will be finishing up our unit on Addition to 12, as well as our Monday math unit, Measurement.  We will be doing self assessment checklists that show "What Can I Do"?  Look for these in their agendas in the coming weeks.  As soon as we are finished our unit tests, we will be moving onto subtraction from 12.

Science

We are finishing yet another unit in Science.  Our 5 senses unit will be wrapping up very soon.  The students have become very knowledgeable in their 5 senses and can tell what parts of their body they use for each sense.We will also be discussing the Winter Season and how we use our senses to tell us that it is winter outside.

Health

In health we have started our Health and Wellness unit.  We will be looking at healthy eating and healthy activity.  We have started looking at Canada's food guide and the 4 food groups, (Fruits & Vegetables, Grains, Milk & Alternatives, Meat & Alternatives) and ideas of how much we should be eating from each food group every day.  

Odds and Ends

I will be away on Tuesday for professional development. This Friday, all swim forms are due back.  As well of Friday, we have a wear PJ day as well as a pancake breakfast served up for all the students.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Some 100 day pics and creations.

Wednesday was our 100th day of school  The students of 1A came up with some very creative ways to display the number 100.

100 Elastics (necklace)

100 Beads (necklace)

100 Feathers (Flowers)

100 Stars (Star Mural)

100 Froot Loops (Olympic Rings)

100 coffee stir sticks (pot holders)

100 beads (necklace)

100 Froot Loops (Butterfly)

100 Stickers (The number 100)

100 Pennies

100 piece puzzle

100 stickers

100 lego pieces (The number 100)

100 jewels (shark under water)

100 Day!!!

Good  day everybody.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Family Day long weekend.  I sure did with some much needed R&R with my family.  This week we will be celebrating 100 day.  I hope everyone had a chance to come up with a 100 creation.

Language Arts

Spelling:

This weeks spelling words are as follows;

up   out   will   down   school

Writing:

This week we will begin our persuasive writing unit.  Persuasive comes in the form pf a convincing argument for something.  It tells your opinion and tries to make people feel the same as you about the topic.  It gives facts and examples to support your opinion.  On Thursday we will begin talking about persuading our parents to buy a T-Rex for us.  

Math:

Over the course of this week and next, we will be wrapping up our unit on addition to 12.  I encourage parents at home to periodically ask their children addition questions that add to no more than 12. 

Science:

We are finishing up our unit on senses this week. We have 2 senses left to talk about.  Smell and hearing.  We will be talking about good/bad smells, and we will talk about different kinds of sound (loud/soft, high/low), as well as what we use for these senses.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week this week.  It's hard to believe tomorrow is our 100th day!

Valentines Day this week!!!

Good afternoon parents.  Welcome back after another short week.  We have a couple of busy weeks ahead of us.  A letter went home today regarding Valentines Day this Friday.  There will be a sweet treat for all the students during lunch as well as hot lunch for those of you who ordered.  There will be another letter coming home Wednesday regarding our 100th day celebration that will happen next Wednesday, Feb 19th.

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are as follows:

we   find   put   want   house

Writing:

In honor of the Winter Olympics, for writing, we will be doing some Olympic themed writing activities over the next couple of weeks.  We will do some informative pieces, as well as some imaginative work as well.  We are still focused on making sure we have beginning capitals as well as ending periods.


Math

In math we are continuing our Monday math, Measurement.  Our focus today is comparing two items based on area.  For example, (the piece of paper has a smaller area than the desk).  We continue to focus on ensuring we are comparing the two objects to each other, stating both in our comparison.  The other measurements we have discussed and will be discussing are length (longer/shorter), height (taller/shorter), volume (what container could hold more), and size (bigger/smaller).  We will continue as well with addition to 12 over the remainder of February.

Science

We are continuing our 5 senses unit.  We have finished talking about sight and the eye, as well as taste and the tongue, and will be moving on to touch the rest of this week.

Health

We finished up our unit on bullying and we have just begun our unit on healthy eating and healthy activity.  The 4 food groups and recommended servings is the first thing we are discussion and will spend a couple of health classes on this.

Odds and Ends

Again, because the Winter Olympics are on, we will be following our Canadian athletes and cheering them on as best we can, looking at results of events.  The students are really excited to see things as they happen.  I have the results of the Men's moguls event streaming on our smart board at lunch today, and when the students saw that we finished with a Gold and a Silver medal they were so excited.  It is great to see the pride and excitement even at this age.

Also a reminder that next Monday, February 17, is Family Day and there is no school.  Another long weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Mr. Aasen