March has been an exciting month with all the changes in weather! Lots of snow and now lots of mud! Please remember to send your child’s splash pants and rubber boots to school each day. Also, some extra socks in their backpack would be in handy just in case! The K/1 leprechaun traps are amazing! A lot of creativity went into these. We had a great time building them with our 4/5 Care Partners! The Grade 1s have been writing some excellent stories during Writer’s Workshop. The theme is to write what you know about. It has been interesting to see what they’ve come up with! The Kindergartens have been enjoying Discovery time! We come up with exciting and interesting questions and use different research tools to find answers. Next, they will research an animal and create a display of their findings. In math the Grade 1s continue to work on adding and subtracting with numbers to 20 and the Kindergartens are working on how we use numbers to solve problems. I look forward to seeing everyone at interviews!

The K/1 class has had a busy start to February. We kicked off the month with Jump Rope for Heart and had a blast! We celebrated the 100th day of school on Feb. 9th. We did lots of math, art and language activities that day. Thanks for sending your child’s 100 objects! Thank you to our parent volunteers who came on our field trip. We had a great day at the Forestry Farm and mini-golfing. Another thanks to everyone for sending their potluck lunch items for Valentine’s Day! A special thanks for those who came to make pancakes! Our class dog Licorice has gone missing and it’s been quite the mystery as to who he is. There have been lots of clues and we definitely have a list of suspects. Hopefully he will return soon! The students have put up posters around the school letting others know about our missing friend. They will also be sketching possible suspects! After the break we will be going skating during the afternoon of the Kindergarten days. Please see you calendars. Have a fantastic break!

Happy New Year! The K/1 class is back into the swing of things in 2012! The Kindergarten stu- dents are exploring number books in Reader’s Workshop and are learning how to write num- bers between 0 and 9. In Math, the K students are learning to understand that a number can be a symbol, a word and a picture. If you would like to do some extra work at home, practice counting forwards and back- wards from 0 to 20 and identifying numbers from 0 to 20. The Kindergarten Cafe, the lentil table and typing on the computer have been very popular during Play Time. Thank you to Chris and Adrienne Harder for donating the lentils! The Grade 1s are working on addition and subtraction up to 20. We have been practicing our doubles facts (i.e. 2 + 2, 5 + 5) and have been completing lots of addition and subtraction word problems. When reading word problems, students look for the information given and figure out what needs to be solved before trying to figure out the answer. We start- ed problem solving as an entire group and then in partners. Just last week, students started to do this process individually. Soon the Grade 1 students will begin a research project in Science. They will get to choose their own topic. More information will be sent home about this later. On February 13 the K/1 class will be going on a field trip to Saskatoon. We will be going to the Forestry Farm to explore the adaptations animals make during the winter time. I’ve heard that winter is the most exciting time to visit the Forestry Farm because the animals are very active in the cold! More information about this day will be sent home soon. Please note on your calendars that Jump Rope for Heart as been postponed until February 3. Also, the K/1 class will be having a Valentine’s Day potluck and we will need families to send food. A note will be sent home at the beginning of February. I hope this snow sticks around long enough for some snow forts and snowmen!

We are very excited for the medieval feast this week! Thanks to our families for providing the food. We have lots of things happening in the K/1 room this month. The Kindergartens have started their printing program and have begun Writer’s Workshop. This is where students are encouraged to tell a story from their life with pictures. In math the Kindergartens are finishing sorting and moving onto patterning. The Ks continue to

work on their letter sounds with Mrs. McGregor . The Grade 1s are working with the Grade 7s on their online family report. I was very pleased with the written reports that were handed in last week. I can tell a lot of work was put into them! In math the 1s are working with 10-frames to develop a sense of what is 10 and what numbers work together to make 10. This will lay a foundation for addition and subtraction. The Grade 1s

have created beautiful water- colour self-portraits in art class! On Monday, October 31st, we will have a day full of Halloween fun! I am happy to help your child put on their costume or feel free to come in and assist with getting every- one ready at lunch.

Welcome back, everyone! The K/1 class has gotten off to a great start! A special welcome to our new Kindergarten class and Abigail in Grade 1! This month we will be working on establishing our classroom routines. Grade 1s start their day by doing Daily Language Reviews, phonics and printing. We will also be starting the R.E.E. (Read Every Evening) program in the next week or so. In Math the 1s are starting the year off with patterning and in Social Studies we are discussing different types of families. In Art we have begun to sketch self-portraits and will paint them with water colours. The Kindergarten focus for the first couple of months will be fine motor skills and routine. They start the day off by doing a cutting or pencil activity. In Math we will be sorting and making patterns. The theme this month is Royalty, so we are doing lots of activities with the stories we are reading about kings, queen, princesses, dragons, and brave knights! During play time the K-students have been exploring our different centres. Toys and cars, the sandbox and the art centre are very popular so far! I look forward to seeing everyone at Meet the Staff Night!