Writer's Workshop: Realistic Fiction

We recently published our first fiction stories! Our students had a fabulous time creating their characters and planning their main character's problem and solution. We were writing realistic fiction. So, the goal was to create characters and events which were realistic and could occur in real life. Our realistic fiction stories are now posted on the hallway bulletin board. You can watch the video below to hear one of our first grader’s stories!

Visiting Authors: Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann

Last week, we had the fortune of welcoming Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann into our classroom. During the week, our two visiting authors supported our students in developing their ability to write fiction stories. As well, Eric shared his skills as an artist by leading one of our art classes.  

The students loved having our visiting authors here! Two of our favourite books, from our guests, were Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! and The Cinder-Eyed Cats. We will certainly revisit these favourites in the future. 

Day 100

On Wednesday, February 4, we celebrated the 100th day of school! We completed a variety of activities to celebrate this milestone. Some of the activities we completed included math activities, art activities, reading activities, and exercises all focused on the number 100! 

The students had a fabulous time trying to guess what was in their friends’ Mystery Bags. Everyone did a wonderful job of creating clues and making inferences to predict what was in their friends' bags. Moms and Dads, a big thank you for taking the time to help your child make their Mystery Bag. They loved it! 

Reader's Workshop: Nonfiction

In reading, we are presently learning about the nonfiction genre. We have focused on understanding nonfiction text features and how we can use these features to support our comprehension.  As well, we are learning how to identity the main idea, supporting details, and interesting facts which we did not previously know about the topic. 

Click on the video below to learn a little more about nonfiction texts from two of our students. 

Science: Pebbles, Sand, and Silt

In science, we have been learning about various earth materials throughout our Pebbles, Sand, and Silt unit. The students have participated in a variety of hands-on investigations using volcanic rocks, river rocks, and sand. We have learned that rocks are earth materials and how earth materials can change over time. We have also been observing and sorting earth materials based on their properties.

Check out the video below to hear a little more about our science unit.

Mother Tongue Reading Session

Today, we held our first mother tongue reading session! A mother tongue is a person’s first language. The purpose of this ongoing project is to celebrate the many languages spoken, at home, by our students.

To support this project, all of our dedicated moms came to class to read with their children. The children were bubbling with excitement as we waited for the moms to arrive and the session to begin. Once the session began, each child read a book written in their first language with their mom. They then completed a writing response activity together. 

A big THANK YOU to the moms for taking the time to participate in this project! The photos and writing responses will be posted on the hallway bulletin board after the December break.

Please click on the link below to see some photos from our first mother tongue reading session. 

 Photo Link

Writer's Workshop: Authors as Mentors

Our students have finished publishing their second story of the year! Our most recent writing unit focused on using mentor texts to improve our personal narratives. We read many books by Tomie dePaola and learned a variety of techniques which we can use to make our stories more effective. Our stories will be posted on the hallway bulletin board next week. Please stop by to leave a comment on your child's story!

Please listen to video below to hear one of our stories.