GRADE ONE/TWO NEWS

October 2014

Sturgeon Creek School

Creating Community
September was a great month for building and rekindling relationships! We played
games in Drama to learn facts about one anothers interests, read books to promote positive character education, and played games in the gym that fostered
team building.

...when parents/
caregivers are actively
involved in and informed

Establishing Routines and Procedures

about their childrens

Thank you parents for signing your childs agenda on a daily basis. This becomes
increasingly more important as we add our Home Reading this month. Please
see the attached letter for an details about our Nightly Reading program.

learning, children and

teachers are more suc-

Most students are managing to beat the bell and be inside the class ready for the
3 instructional blocks. Ask your child how he/she is doing with this and what might
help them achieve this goal.

cessful.

(Lyons and Pinnel 2001)

Although some students have expressed a desire to share a snack with the class I
am going to ask that your child does NOT bring in treats to share due to allergy
concerns (as mentioned in the handbook). Exceptions to this rule may be made
during special celebrations at which time parents are asked to check with me PRIOR to sending the food to school. (Thank you for your understanding in this area.)

Library
Some parents have asked which day students go to the schools library. Both
grades visit the library on Day # 3 (Today is day # 1.) . Although this schedule may
be a bit confusing for you to keep track of, it ensures that your child misses a minimum number of library periods due to holidays, P.A. days etc.
We also have a library in our classroom that students are welcome to take books
from. (Your son or daughter brought on of these books home for the first time yesterday!) This allows your child to select books of his/he interest and encourages
them to choose books at his/her ability level. That being said...sometimes they will
bring home books above their level that theyll need an adult to read! While I do
not mind if students keep the books at home until they have finished, I ask that
you please help your child to return the books in a reasonable timeframe so that
others may enjoy them as well. These books will be signed out by students to help
us keep track of them. It is important that students have an opportunity demonstrate responsibility for books and the library!

Reminders

Tuesday, October 7th -Hot

Lunch Program begins

Monday, October 13
(Thanksgiving)

Friday, October 24, P.A. Day

Language Arts
Your child is currently working on recount writing.
The purpose of a recount is to list and describe

past experiences by retelling events in the

order they occurred.
Students are working on

Math
We are concluding our Data Management
unit. A few highlights of this study were

Grade Two students learning to sort

using two different attributes (Ask your
child about this!)

Grade Ones learning to compare the

information in bar graphs by using the
words more and less.

Generating ideas (e.g. oral sharing/

graphic organizers)

Punctuating Sentences
Correctly Spelling of wwws
Using Transition Words (first, then,
next, after, soon, etc.)

Both Grades: Posing and answering questions about data

Praising Others (descriptive feedback about

Our new unit is based on Number Sense

Expectations:

effective writing strategies used)

You can support your child in developing

skills in this area by having conversations
about events/activities they wish to remember and possibly share with others. ALL writers must believe that their experiences and
ideas are worthy of recording!

KEY IDEAS
Grade One:
Reading & printing number words to 10
Counting backwards from 20 by 1s
Comparing Numbers to 5 and 10
PLACE

Addition and Subtraction Facts to 10

STAMP
Ordinal Numbers (to 31st)

HERE

ARTS

Grade Two:

Music: Learning reasons why people

make/listen to music

Reading and printing number words to 20

Singing in Unison
Loud/Soft Sounds
High and Low Pitches

Counting backwards by 1s from 50

Place Value (tens and ones)
Addition and Subtraction to 18

Drama:
Games to gain confidence with
performing/presenting in front of peers
Reenacting a Story (read in class)
Dance: Introduction to types of dances (e.g. Zumba,
Pow Wows, ballet)

Thanks for helping make our Terry Fox Run a success!