We're looking for Plastic Bottles

We need plastic bottles ASAP! (we need them on Monday, April 2)

*** edit**** We will collect them all this week -- we need 10 matching sets!

I you have any at home, in your recycling box, please send them to school on Monday with your child. We need them WITH lids and need them to be dry inside (rinse them, shake the water out, then leave it open on its side overnight).
We could use water bottles, juice bottles or pop bottles, etc. Smaller is better. The little chubby bottles are great! We are making something with them..... We'll put them on the blog later in the week.

ALSO -- we are needing plastic jars or containers like baby wipe containers (large or small). The plastic jars from peaches or mandarin oranges are perfect. Please don't send in any peanut butter or other nut butter jars. We will be using them to store math manipulatives for our table groups.

Thank you so much!!!

Flat Friends in Florida!!

Our group of friends are having so much fun in Florida! They love the beach!
They are visiting Jocelyn. Thank you Jocelyn!

Please meet Flat Rockstar


Flat Yoda


Flat Cate (you met her yesterday!)


and Flat Cristella


Here they are, all lounging in the sun on the beach. Don't they look relaxed?

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley is a children's book written in 1964 by Jeff Brown. We read Flat Stanley and we loved it! (We have also just finished Invisible Stanley!)

This is what happens in the book:
Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board by their Dad for displaying pictures and posters. He hangs it on the wall over Stanley's bed. During the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. One special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope. Stanley even helps catch some art museum sneaky thieves by posing as a painting on the wall. Eventually Arthur changes Stanley back to his proper shape with a bicycle pump.

The Flat Stanley Project

The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade teacher in London, Ontario. It is meant to facilitate letter-writing by schoolchildren to each other as they document where Flat Stanley has gone with them. Dale Hubert received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for the Flat Stanley Project.

The Project provides an opportunity for students to make connections with students of other member schools who've signed up with the project. Students begin by reading the book and becoming acquainted with the story. Then they make paper "Flat Stanleys" (or pictures of the Stanley Lambchop character) and keep a journal or a few days, documenting the places and activities in which Flat Stanley is involved. The Flat Stanley and the journal are mailed to other people who are asked to treat the figure as a visiting guest and add to his journal, then return them both after a period of time.

(we didn't write the journal) (we wrote letters to our hosts, who are all adults)

In 2005, more than 6,500 classes from 48 countries took part in the Flat Stanley Project.

You can read more about the Flat Stanley Project here!

We made our own Flat people and I mailed them to friends around the world to give our Flat People a chance to have some adventures!
Some of our Flat people went to Australia, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Nova Scotia. A special Flat Earl (for Earl Beatty, our school) will be climbing Mount Everest in April!

We have been plotting Flat Stanley's travels on maps! (which lends itself perfectly to our current study of communities and maps) We hope that our Flat Stanleys return with a photo or postcard from his (or her) visit, or perhaps the hosts will email pictures!

Our Flat people have started to arrive around the world.

Flat Chris, Flat Luke, Ms. Flat and Flat Stella went to Nova Scotia. Please visit Sara Harley's blog, Dream Big to follow their adventures! So far, Sarah has introduced her new friends and taken them for a tour around her farm! There are many pictures of the Flat Friends on Sara's blog -- and also letters that the children wrote to Sara
Here they are swinging in the apple tree!


Another group has just arrived in Florida. Here is Flat Cate hanging out at the beach! See the palm trees?

Illness

As you may know, I have been sick with the flu and a cold (and a punctured ear drum!) over the past few weeks. I have been catching up on my sleep and trying to keep ahead of all of the teaching and learning in the classroom. The blog has been a bit neglected :( .

We have been doing many exciting things in the classroom lately! Check back tomorrow for some special news about what our flat people have been up to!

The Muddy Puddle

The Muddy Puddle

By Dennis Lee

I am sitting

In the middle

Of a rather Muddy Puddle,

With my bottom

Full of bubbles

And my rubbers

Full of Mud.

While my jacket

And my sweater

Go on slowly

Getting wetter

As I very

Slowly settle

To the Bottom

Of the Mud.

And I find that

What a person

With a puddle

Round his middle

Thinks of mostly

In the muddlle

Is the Muddiness of Mud.

Words of the Week

(we are focusing on the short vowel u this week!)

Grade 1
mud
run
but
hug
bus
bonus word: puddle

Grade 2
luck
hunt
bump
muddy
puddle
bonus word: umbrella

My Favourite Word

My Favorite Word

Lucia and James L. Hymes, Jr.

There is one word—

My favourite—

The very, very best.

It isn’t No or Maybe,

It’s Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, YES !

“Yes, yes, you may,” and

“Yes, of course,” and

“Yes, please help yourself.”

And when I want a piece of cake,

“Why, yes. It’s on the shelf.”

Some candy? “Yes.”

A cookie? “Yes.”

A movie? “Yes, we’ll go.”

I love it when they say my word:

Yes, Yes, YES ! (Not No.)

Words of the Week

Grade 1

let

ten

red

leg

yes

bonus word: best

Grade 2

when

best

went

tell

help

bonus word: yourself

The Grade 2's are also working on word endings -- such as "ed", "er", "est", and "ing".

Poemsicle

Poemsicle

If you add sicle to your pop,

Will he become a popsicle?

Will a mop become a mopsicle?

Will a cop become a copsicle

Will a chop become a chopcicle?

Will a drop become a dropsicle?

Will a hop become a hopsicle?

I guess it is time to stopsicle,

Or is it timesicle to stopsicle?

Heysicle, I can’t stopsicle.

Ohsicle mysicle willsicle Isicle

Havesicle tosicle talksicle

Likesicle thissicle foreversicle –

Huhsicle?

Words of the Week

Grade 1

pop

hop

got

dog

not

Bonus Word: stop

Grade 2

stop

spot

rock

drop

socks

Bonus word: become

Math Monday - Time

We have started learning to tell time

The Grade 1's will be learning to tell time to the hour and half hour. The Grade 2's will be learning to the quarter hour!

We are starting slowly. For the next few weeks will be focusing on time to the hour and the half hour and then add the quarter hour for the Grade 2's later in the spring. At home, please practice telling time with your children!

If you have a smartphone or ipad -- the Mingoville Funclock App is kind of fun. It's .99 and you can see a demo here. (this is not a real endorsement -- some parents have asked for suggestions)

On the regular computer to you see some YouTube videos or play an interactive game:

Here is a YouTube Video for telling time -- I like this one, but it is from Virginia, so the speaker has a bit of a different accent than we have :)

This is an interactive game for time to the half hour -- Stop the Clock (1/2 hour)!.
or
Stop the Clock to the 15 minutes

If you want to make a "hands on" clock to use at home, feel free to ask me for a paper plate, some black cardstock for hands and a split pin to attach the hands. I would suggest putting dots where the numbers should go, and then having your child write the numbers on with pencil, and then trace with marker. Getting the numbers spaced properly is very difficult. That's why we start with 12, 3, 6 and 9. (and give a fraction lesson while we're at it).

Math Centres

We've been busy in our math centres:

We have learned to tally:



Play cards:


Make designs with pattern blocks (problem solve):



Make designs with tangrams (even harder problem solving!):