Friday 27 April 2012

Hello Everyone!

Today, we started off the day with morning ceremonies and also had a house competition... a relay race!

After this, we came back to the classroom and had circle time. We discussed what we did the night before and what we were going to do over the weekend. We read a book about gardens and growing beans. Following this, we made our own "gardens" with construction paper and clipart vegetable pictures. This was a lot of fun and we got to choose our favourite vegetables to glue on as well.

We also had math and worked more on patterns. We sang a pattern song, with the actions, and then we worked on a pattern cut and paste worksheet.

After second lunch, we worked on the letter Vv and sang our Jolly Phonics song/did a tracing worksheet. Following this was french and then second lunch. We had centers to finish off our week at SJA.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and don't forget to RSVP for the French Cafe next Friday!!!!!!


Miss H. 





Day of the Big Show!!! (Yesterday's Post)

Hello everyone,

We began the day with circle time and then went into an activity that got our brains working for the day. It was a worksheet that required students to match the sea shell to its correct shadow. Following this, students were each given a card that had half of a picture of a type of transportation (i.e. half of a helicopter). They had to go around the class and ask each student if he/she had the other matching card to complete the picture.

After this fun activity, we went to the gym and practiced for the French Cafe. We also made graphs, using "Cars 2" stickers to see how many students have taken each type of transportation (i.e. car, bus, train...). Following this, we went to the gym again to watch the dress rehearsal for tonight's play at 7 pm, Twelfth Night. 


Before second lunch, we had French and worked on our new letter, Vv. Following lunch, we worked on our patterns unit and made pattern bracelets with beads and plastic lace. We also did a teddy bear patterns worksheets and did some pattern movements.

To end the day, we prepared for home time and had story time as well.

A reminder that the Twelfth Night play is on in the gym tonight at 7 PM. Please come out and support our students!!!!




Miss H. 

Monday 23 April 2012

Rainy Mondays!

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was nice, but quite busy!

Today, we began with a cut and sort activity that required students to arrange the pieces in order from 1 to 10. After doing this, everyone worked on writing/tracing their names. We used the personalized handwriting practice pages for this. Following this, we had story time and read a book called "Sheila the Brave."

After snack, we had language and reviewed the letters S and T. We sang our Jolly Phonics song for both letters. We also did some letter Tt worksheets and activities.

Following second lunch was gym and then the students looked at different magazines and cut out different images that reminded them of the Spring season. Each of the students glued these pictures and made their own Spring collages. We had french class, which was a second gym in order for the older grades to practice for the French Cafe on May 4. 


After second lunch, we had centers. Towards the end of the day, we got our own things packed and ready for pickup. We finished the day with circle time and discussed what we learned today.

A few reminders:

-Twelfth Night is this Thursday at 7 pm in the auditorium. All are Welcome. 1000 house points to each student who attends. 
-French Cafe is May 4




Have a superb night!!

Miss H.

A Note from Miss Poland

Spring Collages

Students are becoming very good at identifying signs of Spring! Over the past few weeks they have completed many activities, such as a weather watch, that have helped them do this. Today students were given the opportunity to demonstrate what Spring means to them by completing their first collage. Students looked through magazine pages and cut out pictures that depicted what comes to mind when they think of Spring.  Each collage was very unique and students enjoyed putting them together!

Have a wonderful evening!
Miss Poland

Friday 20 April 2012

A Note from Miss Poland

Earth Day Activities

Today Miss H's class participated in several Earth Day activities. After lunch, they joined other SJA students in the school yard to collect garbage in order to help clean our environment. Afterwards, the students completed Earth Day art! Coffee filters were coloured green and blue to represent land and water on Earth. Next, the coffee filters were sprayed with water in order to create a tie dye effect. The students enjoyed both Earth Day activities and learned a lot about our Earth and how they can help keep it clean.

Have a great weekend!
Miss Poland
Hello all,

Today we began the day by talking about various types of public transportation. We came up with many, which include a bus, a train, a shuttle, a taxi and an airplane. Following this, we drew our own favourite types of public transportation.

We also discussed Earth Day and read a book about a boy who celebrates Earth Day by planting new trees in areas lacking them. We talked about different ways we can help to save the planet and conserve our resources for future generations (in a more simplified way however!).

Some of the ways to help our planet are to conserve water (turn off the tap when not using it), recycle all recyclable products, turn off the lights if we are not in a room, ride our bikes more, and throw out our garbage to reduce pollution. We also pledged to do these things on a mini "Lorax" themed pledge sheet.

After lunch, the entire student body went outside to the back of the school to clean up any garbage in order to keep our school clean!!

When we got back, we did an earth day activity with coffee filters, markers and a touch of water. It was a lot of fun. After second lunch, we decided to enjoy our planet and decided to go for a walk to the park with Ms. Chang's class.

That sums up another week at SJA. Happy Earth Day and happy recycling!!!


Miss H.

Thursday 19 April 2012

A Note from Miss Poland

Patterns Everywhere!

This afternoon students continued their Patterning unit in Math, which we began yesterday. Students learned about AB patterns and how to recognize them. We discussed colour and shape patterns, and students had the opportunity to create their own patterns using colours, snap cubes, and shapes. After some practice, they were able to look at various sequences of shapes and colours, and to determine which ones were and were not patterns. We concluded our lesson with a poem about patterns, which helped students recognize that patterns can be found everywhere!

What a Beautiful Day!

Good afternoon parents, guardians and students,

After our monthly convocation in the gym, where March and April birthdays were celebrated and awards were given, we began the day with circle time and discussed what we did the night before. Following this, we worked on a spring cut and paste activity. We also read a book by Eric Carle called "The Tiny Seed," which also ties into our lessons on the Spring season.

After snack time, we dove right into language and learned a new letter, Tt. We learned that Tt sounds like a tennis ball bouncing up and down. We also sang a Jolly Phonics song about the letter Tt and it's sound. After this activity, we did some letter Tt worksheets. Because it is an easier letter to write, many of the students could write it without tracing it first.

We had lunch and then went outside, on this gorgeoooous day, to record the weather on our "Weather Watcher" chart for the week. We have been so lucky to have gotten so many sunny days this week so far!

We also had math and discussed patterns. Ms. Poland gave everyone the pleasure of teaching this lesson on patterns and everyone did several fun, hands on activities to do with patterns. We also had French and silent reading for ten minutes.

After second lunch, we played "Earth Day" Picture BINGO, which was a lot of fun. After this, we went outside for a little bit and did some letter Tt movements for exercise. These included tapping, tiptoeing, twirling and twisting. Everyone also got to "toss" all of the tennis balls I brought in for the letter Tt. We had a little extra time, so I thought it would be fun to let all the students blow their own bubbles with their own bubble bottles I handed out. Overall, it was a great day for all the students in JKA.

A reminder that tomorrow is Earth/Spirit Day. Please dress your child in green, blue and/or brown clothing!

Have a good one,

Miss H.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

A Note from Miss Poland

Happy Wednesday!

Today was filled with many enjoyable activities! We began the day by reading a book about recycling in order to prepare students for Earth Day, which is this Friday. Students learned about why we recycle and how it helps our Earth. Next, we learned about the letter s and what sound it makes. Students had the opportunity to practice writing the letter s and to identify words that began with s. After lunch, students headed to gym for some exercise! When they returned, we went outside to observe the weather and added to our Weather Watch chart, which we have been completing each day this week in order to help students identify Spring weather. Afterwards, students listened to a book called "Earth Day Every Day" and discussed why we have Earth Day, as well as how we can help the Earth every day. We wrapped up the afternoon by beginning a new Math unit, Patterning.

Today is a special day because it is Hayden's birthday! We celebrated by eating the ice cream she brought in! Happy birthday, Hayden!

Have a wonderful Wednesday evening!
Miss Poland

Reminders:
- Earth Day is this Friday. Students can wear blue, brown, and green.
- Please bring in non-parishable food items for the food drive Mrs. Haag's class is having.
- 50/50 raffle tickets will be on sale before and after school to help support the Ottawa trip. Only parents will be able to buy tickets.
- The St. Jude's Academy Twelfth Night production will be next Thursday night at 7 P.M. in the auditorium. All are welcome!
- The French Cafe is May 4. Please RSVP to Madame Stella. All are welcome!

Hello Everyone!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having an enjoyable day. We began the day by finishing our mini books about how rain is formed. We coloured, cut and arranged them by sequential order. Following this, we got into our first Earth Day discussion about recycling. I read a book about recycling and we talked about the importance of this process. We also talked about the "recycling loop."

Following this, we had language and worked on the letter Ss. We completed some worksheets and sang our Jolly Jingles letter Ss song.

After our yummy pizza lunch, we had gym class with Mr. Browning. Following gym class, we watched a sesame street clip about the importance of recycling and also got to see how newspapers are recycled. We went outside and recorded the weather on our Weather Watch sheet. It was nice to see that it has been a fairly sunny week!

Following second lunch, we began our new unit of focus in math, patterning. Today was Hayden's birthday and we celebrated it before we left with yummy peanut-free chocolate and vanilla ice cream. It was deeeeelicious!!

A few reminders:

-Earth Day is this Friday. Please dress up in green/blue/brown clothing and accessories
-Please RSVP to the French Cafe, listing the number of people attending, by April 30, 2012. ALL are welcome!!!!


Regards,

Miss H.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Hello Everyone!

Good afternoon everyone,

We began the day with circle time and discussed what we did the day before. Following this, we read a story by Robert Munsch called "Mortimer." We used the car we brought in and drove them around/had car races with each other in there gym. This was a lot of fun!!!

Following this, we used our cars and mud (brown paint) to make tire track impressions all over a big piece of paper. This was a messy, but fun activity for everyone!

After cleaning up, we had snack time and then got into language. We sang our letter Ss Jolly Phonics song and did some worksheets on the letter Ss. For those who finished early, we coloured a sheet with a Squirrel, which also begins with the letter S.

We had lunch and then math, which was based on numeracy.

We had French class and also had silent reading for ten minutes.

After second lunch, we recorded what the weather was like today, as we will be doing this for the rest of the week. We also coloured and put together our own "Rain" mini books for the Spring season. We discussed what we found on our socks (signs of spring) after our experiment running in the park with them on last Friday.

We ended the day by putting together our own backpacks for home time.

A few reminders:


-Earth Day is this Friday. It is also Spirit Day so please come dressed in green, blue or brown clothing/accessories!
-50/50 tickets to support the grade 7/8 trip to Ottawa are now on sale. Anyone above the age of 18 can purchase them from Ms. Elliot (6/7/8 teacher)
-French Cafe is on May 4. Anyone is welcome and it begins after 12 pm!!
-Twelfth Night play, presented by the grades 3/4/5 is on April 26. Everyone is welcome. 1000 house points will be awarded to each student that comes to watch the play!!

Have a great night!!!

Miss H.

Monday 16 April 2012

Marvelous Monday!

Good afternoon everyone,

We started off the day with circle time and discussed what each of us did on the weekend. Many of us had a nice, relaxing weekend. Following this, we did an activity/experiment called "Sink or Float?" We tested several toys to see if they sunk or if they floated. Ms. Poland and I dropped different toys in a bucket of water. Before we did, all the students had to guess whether or not they would sink or float. They either had to go to one side of the room (sink) or the other side of the room (float). This was a fun activity that led to our central topic of types of transportation that float in the water (sail boat, canoe, race boat, paddleboat, fishing boat, ship, cargo ship, etc). We looked and discussed different types of water transportation.

After snack time, we had language and learned the letter Ss. We sang a Jolly Jingles song for the letter Ss and also learned that it makes a "sssss" sound. We did the action of a snake while we sounded out the letter Ss. We also did some letter Ss tracing activities.

After lunch, we had gym. Following gym, we went outside for a couple minutes to look at the weather. We concluded the it was partly cloudy outside and drew this on our "Weather Watch" worksheet. We will be going out everyday this week for a couple minutes to do this activity. By the end of the week, we will look for different weather patterns and graph our results as a class.

We had french and story time. We read "Bear's New Friend." After second lunch, we had math, which dealt with numeracy.

A few reminders:

-Please measure your child's height (in inches) and record it in the agenda if you haven't done so already
-Please return any report cards with comments ASAP
-Please LEAVE your child's toy car in his/her backpack for tomorrow's class!!!!

Have a wonderful night,

Miss H.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Wowzers... it's Wednesday!

Good afternoon all,

We started the day with a song about transportation called "Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light." Ms. Poland had the pleasure of teaching everyone this fun song about traffic lights and what each colour means. Following this, we read "I Think I Can" about a train. We also did a cut and paste worksheet about transportation.

Following this, we had math, which focused on counting up to ten and also recognizing numbers up to ten. We learned that the number ten can be represented in many different ways.

After lunch, we had gym and then talked about the differenced between two seasons: Spring and Fall. We read a book about Fall and one about Spring called "Mouse's First Spring." On the whiteboard, we compared the two seasons. After, we had French and then came back and completed an activity that dealt with the Spring season.

Following second lunch, we worked on the letter Qq and did a tracing worksheet, sand a Jolly Phonics song and also did some q-tip (Q for Q-tip) paintings. We used q-tips to make dots with paint on a letter Q template.

That concludes another wonderful day in our JKA class!

A reminder:

PLEASE return any report cards with comments ASAP!!!

Have a great night!

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Hello!

Hello everybody,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter long weekend and enjoyed the sunny weather outside. Today, we have a new teacher working alongside Mr. R. and I. Her name is Ms. Poland. She and Mr. R. will be rotating between Mrs. Padovan's JKB class and our JKA class.

After introducing ourselves to Ms. Poland, we started off with language and learned a new letter, Qq. We learned to trace the letter Qq and also sang a song about ducks in order to learn how to sound out the letter Qq. We learned that Qq sounds like "qu", a sound we hear in the word "quack." We also did some crayon imprints with quarters because quarters also begin with the letter Qq. We used pennies as well because last week, we focused on the letter Pp for penny.

Following this, we did math, which focused on counting backwards from the number 5. We had a race in the gym and counted down from 5 (5..4..3..2..1..GO!) and ran. This was lots of fun. We also learned that we also count backwards for space launches and to go to sleep. We also used manipulatives (plastic toy counters) to help us count down from 5.

Following this, we had lunch and then worked on a transportation cut and paste activity. We also had reading buddies with Ms. Chang's 4/5 class. We had french class following this.

After second lunch, we had centers.

A few notes for this week and next week:


-Please bring an old sock (preferably white) for this Friday. This sock will be used for an outdoor activity that will be done on Friday. Since we will be using these socks outside, please bring one that can get dirty!
-Please bring a small toy car, or other small type of transportation, for Monday, April 16, 2012


Have a super, fantastic night!!!


Miss H. 

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Wondrous Wednesday!

Hello everyone,

We began the day with circle time followed by story time. We read another great book by Robert Munsch called "Put Me In the Book." We also did a cut and paste activity that was based on modes of transportation. Following this, we continued to work on our Transportation booklet.

After lunch, we had gym class and then continued to work on and finish our transportation booklets. They will be given out tomorrow and should be returned back to school after the Easter weekend. We had French class and second lunch.

After second lunch, we went outside and had an Easter Egg Hunt. In each plastic egg was a letter. Students had to search for the eggs and once we all found one, we each identified the letters found in our eggs. After this, we had an Easter egg spoon race with plastic eggs. This was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed playing this exciting, yet challenging game. After, we came in and had story time and circle time before everyone went home.

A reminder that there is no school on Friday or next Monday.

I encourage all parents/grandparents to attend the French Cafe event on  May 4. The students and Mme. Stella have been working very hard to make sure it is an entertaining and enjoyable event for everyone!

Spirit Dress Up Day is tomorrow. Please have your children dressed in Easter colours (Blue, yellow, purple, pink, green) and pastel colours!

Have a good one!

Miss H.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Hello!

Good afternoon everyone,


Today we started off the day with a story about a fish who makes lots of wishes. For our unit on transportation, we used the props we made/decorated on Monday to sing the "Wheels on the Bus." Following this, we began working on our transportation book. On our own, we wrote the different types of transportation for each picture on each page. Here is an example of one student's work:


This book, which will be completed by Friday (as there are a lot of pages!) took us until first lunch. After lunch, we did some letter worksheets on the letter Pp. Please look for things at home or outside that begin with the letter Pp. We also had french and music class, when we practiced our songs for the French Cafe event on May 4. After second lunch, we had math and worked on numbers. For this, we learned a number poem called "I Can See 2," which required us to think of things on our bodies that we had two of. After learning this poem, we were paired into partners and had to ask each other how many parts on our bodies we had (how many eyes, noses, mouth, teeth, fingers, toes, feet, hands). Then we drew our own pictures of ourselves with these features. As a treat, at the end of the day we played "Red Light, Green Light" in the gym.


A reminder that there is no school this Good Friday or on Easter Monday.

Spirit Day is on Thursday. Please wear bight colours or pastels for Easter Spirit Day.

Have a great night!

Miss H.