Bonne année- 2016!

Dear parent(s)/guardian(s),
A very happy new year to all of you. Hopefully the winter break was relaxing and a good opportunity for some great family fun!

Updates for 2016:

1.Show and Tell (Montre et raconte)- As soon as students enter the classroom after the winter break, they are filled with stories about what gifts they received, or the places they went to or activities they took part in. Starting Monday, Jan. 4th, students are asked to bring a show and tell of their choice (e.g., picture, toy, card). For a different spin on the traditional activity, students will guess who brought what item in. 

2. Holiday Memory Book- Students are asked to think of their favourite holiday outing or gift. We will share the memories and then bind them all together to make a class book.

3. New Year's Resolution- Returning from winter break is the perfect time to reflect upon the past year and to make positive changes for the new year. We will discuss what goals we have as a class (e.g., projects, trips, etc.).

4. Dictée- This week, we will continue to practice the sound /in/. The words are derived from the story ''Ou est mon lutin", which will be sent home this week. Here are the new dictation words for January 8th.
1.  Le matin  (the morning)
2.  Le pain    (the bread)  
3.  Le pantin  (the puppet)
4.  Le poussin  (the chick)
5.  Le médecin  (the doctor)

I look forward to seeing everyone in good health and high spirits!

Community Projects

Before the break, the first grade students were sent home with the completed box model of a place in our community. Students were learning about mapping and directions in Mathematics, so we decided to integrate our knowledge of math to our Social Studies community project. We enjoyed looking at a map of our community through Google maps and Google Earth.

We discussed that a community is comprised of people (e.g., doctor, teacher, mother, father, etc.), transportation (e.g., bicycle, taxi, car, truck, etc.), and buildings (school, bank, grocery store, etc).

Each student chose a place in our community to visit, learn about, make a box model, and then present. Bravo les amis!

Finn - Fire station

Nathan- Post Office

Lily- Park

Lennox- House

Jaya- Bank

Iana- Walmart

Aahana- House

Abdallah- Police station

Sarwa - Gas station

Kingsley- Clairlea Public School

Axel- Hospital

Brayden- Apartment building 

Youpi- We are Finally Writing!

Before the winter break, the first grade students spent two weeks learning about the writing process (e.g., brainstorming ideas, using a graphic organizer, writing a draft and a good copy, proofreading, and using word walls/dictionary). Students were prompted to write a story with an unlikely and/or comical ending. We had fun incorporating an interdisciplinary approach by using what we learned about shapes in Mathematics and about lines in Art to create a setting for our story using only shapes.

Writing these stories has been a stepping stone from our weekly journals; we are now starting to create a text using a graphic organizer that expresses a clear message without relying on a picture.

Success Criteria
1. Brainstorm ideas for a story- a setting, 1-2 characters, a problem, and a solution.
2. Write the story in a chronological sequence that makes sense.
3. There are capitals at the beginning of a sentence, ending with a period. There is clear spacing between words.
4. Spelling is correct for most words. It is evident student used the word wall ''mur de mots'', a dictionary, and proofread his/her work.

Next Steps:
Throughout the month of January, we will continue to use various story map graphic organizers and discuss story structure, pre-writing brainstorming, and transitional words that can be used to signal sequences of events.

Writing Themes in January:
- Writing Process- Memory book of our winter break
- Identifying nouns, verbs (action words), and adjectives (words that describe a noun)
- Discussing and applying new vocabulary for winter (e.g., clothing we wear, weather, activities, etc.)
- Developing a transition word chart
- Analyzing and reciting poems about winter

Joyeuses vacances!

Dear parent(s)/guardian(s),
I would like to thank you for the gifts and thoughtful cards. Truly, I feel blessed to have amazing students to teach and wonderful parents to work with. I wish each family a delightful winter break and a pleasant start to the New Year.

Below are pictures and videos of our final day at school !
I leave you with a poem about kindness we have been reciting in class. We decided that we would smile, be friendly, and share what we can with our friends, teachers, and especially our family this winter break.

LA GENTILLESSE

La gentillesse c’est un sourire,

Une main tendue de l’amitié

C’est tout simplement un plaisir

Qu’on est heureux de partager! 

Food Drive

Dear parent(s)/guardian(s),
The Student Leadership Team at Clairlea has organized a Food Drive. It will take place from December 7th to December 18th. The donations will be sent to the Birchmount Community Centre.

Please donate non-perishable food items:
- canned goods (tomatoes, beans, fruits, corn, etc.)
- boxed food (pasta, spaghetti, crackers, cereal, etc.)
- fun items (cookies, healthy snack bars)
- baby food

Many thanks to the students who have already started bringing items.

La dictée- le 11 décembre

This week, we are practicing the sound "e". Read the story of the fox entitled "Reno le renard" to help identify and spell the following words. 

La dictée- le 4 décembre

This week, we are practicing the sound "u". Read the story entitled "Au clair de la lune" to help identify and spell the following words.