Sunday 9 December 2012

December 9, 2012

Hi Everyone,

Christmas is in the air!  We have an exciting week coming up in Division 8.  Tomorrow we will be making Santa advent calendars with our big buddies and the rest of the week we will also be 'getting crafty' preparing a few surprises for Christmas.  In math we will continue to work on learning the 100 chart (inside and out) and completing this round of math centers with a focus on addition, subtraction, graphing, number recall and probability.  In writing we are focusing on Christmas/Winter and we are discussing the importance of having the picture help tell the story.  The students will be getting new Just Right Reading books early this week and everyone will receive a Reader's Workshop book that they will need to practice for their presentation with their group next week.  Also, a reminder that Wednesday is popcorn day for those of you who are interested in purchasing a bag ($2/each).

Finally, everyone will need to bring in a single sock for a craft we will be doing later this week (you know that single sock you have in a bag because the dryer ate the other one?).  This sock doesn't need to be new, it will be used as a snowman craft so the elastic around the ankle will need to be in tact.  If anyone has any extras that you don't mind sending in for anyone who may forget, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you!
Mrs. Roberts

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Craft Donations

If anyone has any left over Christmas cards that you don't mind being chopped up for a craft at school could you please send them in with your children?  Thank you!

Also, for our upcoming 'Imagination Station', some other items to consider collecting and donating include: foil wrapping paper, ribbon, buttons, corks, thread spools, yarn, small yogurt containers etc.

Thank you!

Amanda Roberts

Friday 30 November 2012

November 30


Thank you everyone for sharing our 'Bat Wrap Up' this morning.  It was great watching all of the children share their learning with their big buddies, parents, family friends and grandparents.  What a terrific turn out!  The children were very proud and excited to have you there (and the oreo bat cookies were a big hit too :))!

I will keep this blog entry brief as a calendar and monthly newsletter will be coming home on Tuesday. In the meantime, enjoy your extra long weekend (Monday is a proD day).  I told the students today that I will be attending a class focusing on teaching with a SMARTboard on Monday.  Our very own class SMARTboard has been ordered and is on its way.  We are so excited!

Friday 23 November 2012

November 23

The new additions to our weekly schedule were very successful.  Thank you to all of the parent (and grandparent) volunteers who have been joining us for family reading.  This really sets a nice tone to the day and the children certainly enjoy it.  Our 'sharing' time is also a big success.  The boys and girls really enjoy this opportunity to be in the spotlight and I was very impressed by everyone's presentation skills and the polite audience manners.  Jaden's sharing (his CD player and CD) even inspired a 'Dance Off' (see picture 1)

Our week ended on a very high note (no pun intended) at the Symphony (see picture 2&3).  This was a great event and the students loved it.  It was very exciting to travel to Vancouver and the musical presentation itself was fantastic.  The children were so inspired that they created their own band when we returned (see picture 4).  We wanted to thank Mrs. Murray for organizing this event for the whole school so Amalia suggested that we make a musical parade for her when we delivered the card.  So, off we marched to the gym (where Mrs. Murray's class was) with our instruments in hand :)  She was very appreciative and entertained!

As a follow up to our field trip, I would like to provide the students with supplies to make their own instruments next week during centers (for those who would like to).  If anyone has any items they think might be helpful for this project, your donations would be greatly appreciated.  I am also interested in setting up a 'creation station' for the budding artists in my class.  Items that would be welcome for both of these activities include:  stickers, card tag, buttons, small boxes, tin pop cans, beans, seeds, rice, paper rolls, decorative paper, ribbon etc.  Thank you!

This Friday we will be wrapping up our bat unit with a special family reading (it will start at the usual time but may take slightly longer).  Students will have a small collection of their themework to show you at that time if you are available. It is very informal and students will share in groups if necessary, we would just like to share all of the great information we have learned about these amazing creatures.





Friday 16 November 2012

November 16th

It is hard to believe that we are half way through November already.  Time is just flying by!
This week was short but we managed to pack a lot into it.  We are continuing to learn about bats via our lap bat books and Reader's Workshop.  The students are becoming bat experts and every day we are making new discoveries about these amazing animals.  In math, we are continuing to explore the 100 chart and improve our adding skills and number sense.  We also enjoyed our library field trip and everyone was very excited to receive their own library card and have the opportunity to take a book home.  Thank you once again to our parent drivers.  Your assistance is much appreciated!

Next week we will be adding two new items to our daily calendar.  We will begin with our 'Family Reading'  each day from 8:30-8:45 and students will have the opportunity to bring an item to share once/week (please see the previous post for your child's sharing day).  Siblings are welcome to join us for Family Reading as it is a very informal time.  My one request is that if your little ones play with the toys that you please have them clean up before you leave.  Thank you.

Also, a reminder that the pajama day was changed to this upcoming Tuesday, November 20th.  I did have students write this in their planners as a reminder.

We also have the Vancouver Symphony field trip coming up on Friday.  A reminder to those of you who have not sent in the permission form that they are due asap.  Thank you!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Amanda Roberts



Tuesday 13 November 2012

Change on Pajama Day date

Another update...the leadership students have changed the date of 'Pajama Day' to November 20th.  Please add this to your calendars.

Thank you,

Mrs. Roberts

Saturday 10 November 2012

November 10, 2012

I'd like to start of our weekly blog by thanking everyone for working hard to ensure that the children were able to go skating on Tuesday.  Due to unavoidable health problems, we were short drivers and it looked like we were going to have to cancel our outing.  Thankfully, Keona's grandmother and Tessa's mom jumped in to help out.  I'd like to also thank Kaiden's mom who was willing to come in and drive even though Kaiden was home sick.  Your generosity is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, once our driving was sorted out we were then faced with the challenge of not having enough booster seats.  There were 3 primary classes going on field trips that afternoon and several students had not brought in seats.  It took our secretary and one of the classroom teachers several phone calls to secure enough.  Please note that when we are going on a field trip (and it is not by bus) a booster seat must be sent with your child as it is the law that all children under nine must use one.  Unfortunately if this problem arises and we can't secure seats for future trips, students with out them would have to stay at the school.  I hope you understand that this is a safety issue and I thank you for your support in this area.

Our November Scholastic deadline has now passed and Sam's mom, Crystal is compiling the next month's magazines.  I have allowed an early closing date to ensure that orders will be delivered before Christmas break if anyone is interested in ordering Christmas gifts.

Friday, November 16th is now Pajama Day.  Please note that your child can wear his/her pajamas that day and is encouraged to bring in a twoonie or loonie to donate to charity.  Students will still go outside to play on this day so pajamas should be warm (or an extra pair of pants to go over top can also be packed in backpacks).

For those of you who have ordered comfort kits from the PAC, they have arrived and are safely secured inside our Earthquake bin.  Thank you to the PAC for providing this service.

This Thursday is our fieldtrip to the Maple Ridge Public Library.  Please note that students will need to bring a booster seat on that day and that any student who already has a library card will need to bring it as well.  I recommend that you put this in a labeled baggie in your child's jacket pocket as we will not be taking backpacks with us to the library.

Finally,  I would like to make two new additions to our classroom schedule.  I would like to begin 'Family Reading' next week (Monday, November 19th).  This entails parent, grandparents etc. coming in and reading with a group of students for the first 15 minutes of the day.  It is a very informal, relaxed reading session and siblings are welcome to join us. I would like begin by having Family Reading every morning from 8:30-8:45, see what the response is like and then I will make adjustments if it is necessary.

The second addition to the schedule will be 'Sharing'.  Students will bring in an item from home to show to the class.  In preparation for this, students will be expected to give 3 hints regarding what the item is.  For example, they may say:  It is brown.  It has sharp teeth.  It is furry.  The rest of the class will then try to guess what the item is.  For the rest of November, students can will have 'free choice' of what they can bring.

Here are the sharing days for Division 8:

Monday:  Krish, Adrien, Logan
Tuesday:  Stephanie, Lachlan, Kayla, Aston, Nolan
Wednesday:  Sterling, Keona, Daniel, Sam
Thursday:  Tessa, Jaden, Kaiden, Jordan, Manvir
Friday:  Krystel, Kendra, Grace, Amalia

Saturday 3 November 2012

Hi Everyone,

We had another busy week in Division 8.  Our Halloween party was a big hit and we'd like to take the opportunity to once again thank everyone who provided snacks for us to share.  They were delicious!

Our class was very excited to hear that we had won (along with Ms. Rowledge-Toscani's class) the award for best Halloween door and that our doors met and exceeded all of the criteria!  Well done, Divisions' 8 and 9.

Now that Halloween is over, we have begun to refocus on our bat unit.  For any of you who have IPad's I have found a great ap called 'Furry Fliers'.  The students will be exploring this ap over the next couple of weeks when it is their IPad day during Reader's Workshop but you might also want to look into adding this to your home IPad.  It is pretty amazing!

In math we are focussing on the 100's number chart and improving our understanding (and speed) of addition.  I have now taught the children a couple of games they can play with you at home to reinforce these concepts.  The only materials required are a pack of dice and/or a deck of cards.  We will continue to strengthen our skills in this area via our next round of math stations that we will be starting soon.

For grade 2 parents, I spoken to your children and they have told me that they aren't using 'Spelling City' at this time.  That is not a problem but I have told them that I will no longer post the spelling words on this site each week.  If anyone becomes interested in accessing this site, please let me know and I will be happy to begin posting the words again.

This week we have our skating field trip on Tuesday afternoon.  Thank you to all of you who volunteered to drive for that event.  A reminder to all parents that booster seats need to be sent to school on that day and that helmets are mandatory for all children who will be skating.  There are no exceptions in this area.  Thank you!  Also, driving volunteers must have a driver's abstract into the office.  If you are unable to do this before Tuesday you are still welcome to join us (and drive your own child, of course).  Thank you once again for volunteering!  Also, we are still short drivers for our library field trip so if anyone else is available, pleas let me know.  I won't be at the school Monday as I am at a conference that day but I will be in on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Amanda Roberts


Saturday 27 October 2012

Here they are! PHEW!






October 26, 2012

Our biggest highlight for this week has to be our trip to the pumpkin patch.  We were so fortunate to have a warm, sunny day to enjoy our first field trip of the year.  Thank you so much to our parent drivers for delivering everyone safely to and from the pumpkin patch and being good sports throughout the morning.  We all had a lot of fun!

**I was hoping to post some photos here (I took a lot) but I am experiencing technical difficulties and it appears that the photos may have been lost :(  If anyone took a group photo at the pumpkin patch, could you please email it to me at Amanda_Roberts@sd42.ca?  Thanks so much!

Another highlight of the week was Keona's 'Principal for the day', a prize she won via the Entertainment book sales.  Keona especially enjoyed her special lunch with Ms. Kirves and Amalia!
She did a great job of working with Mrs. Kirves to help keep our school a safe and enjoyable place to be.  Well done, Keona!

Our bats decided to migrate this week and some of them even ended up in Ms. Rowledge-Toscani's bat cave!  Please drop by the school if you have a moment and check this out (and take our bat quiz).

Reminders:

*Skating permission forms should be returned asap.  If you are volunteering to drive, please make sure you have filled out a volunteer driving form and have had a driver's abstract sent to the office.  Thanks in advance for volunteering!

*Your child should be bringing his/her planner and JRR home each night.  Please check the front pouch for notices and ensure that your child reads 10-15 minutes each night.  Grade one students should be practicing their 'words of the week' each day and grade 2 students should be studying their spelling words.  Remember, 'Spelling City' is a great site to use to practice these words as it focuses on a variety of language skills (not just memorizing the words).

*Parent requests were made to change the school wide 'Costume Parade' from 9:40 to 8:40 on Halloween day and the staff has agreed to make this change so please feel free to hang around after the morning bell if you would like to enjoy this.

*A notice came home earlier this week regarding our Halloween Party but just to reiterate, students will be going outside for recess and lunch so an extra set of clothes should be worn under costumes if you are concerned about them getting dirty.  Also, while we will have snacks at the party I do ask that you send a lunch and an extra drink to be enjoyed on that day.

*Please submit an earthquake kit and $4.00 for your child's memory book if you have not already done so.  Thank you!

I will hope to have my camera sorted out soon and will post pictures of the pumpkin patch and our Halloween party when I am able.

Thank you,

Amanda Roberts

Friday 19 October 2012

October 19, 2012

Hi Everyone,

We have had another busy week in Division 8.  I am happy to report that the students are doing well with their daily routines and are really gelling together as a class.

We have begun our new themes (bats and Halloween).  Please check the 'Science/Socials/Other' tab to find out more about our work there.  The enthusiasm is incredible!  We have also been enjoying the books of our new 'Author of the Month', Mike Thaler.  He is the creator of the 'Black Lagoon' series and we are loving his books because they make us laugh.  If you haven't had a chance to come and see our 'Bat' door yet, please drop in.  If I am not in the room you are welcome to plug in the lights to enjoy the full effect :)

Next week is our pumpkin patch field trip.  A reminder to everyone that this will be happening rain or shine so please send appropriate footwear/jackets for your children.  Also, it is very important that you send your child's booster seat to school.  We have some extras here but with all of the primary classes attending this trip they won't last long.  Thank you so much to our volunteer drivers.  We have just enough spaces available!

I have also booked some field trips for the month of November.  Two of them will require parent drivers (November 6, Skating in the afternoon) and (November 15, Public Library in the afternoon).  In addition, our entire school will also be attending the Symphony on Friday, November 23 (students will be bussed for this field trip).  I will be sending permission slips closer to these field trip dates but I wanted to inform you now so that you can 'save the date' if you would like to come.  I don't normally plan three field trips in one month but these opportunities all came available at this time and I do feel they are all worthwhile activities as part of your child's education.

I would like to thank you for your support in ensuring that your child has packed his/her planner and 'Just Right Reading' bags each day.  We do use these daily for a variety of activities and it really benefits your child to have the necessary equipment here.  Thanks so much.

Once again, if any of you have any questions or comments please come and see me or write a note in your child's planner.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Roberts

Friday 12 October 2012

October 12, 2012

Hi Everyone!

This week was short but action packed!  We spent a lot of our time wrapping up our our old theme and we are now ready to move onto our new one:  Bats/Halloween.  For our art lesson on Thursday, we made clothespin bats which will be displayed on our hallway door.  Please drop by if you get the opportunity to see them, some time before October 31st.  In math, we made patterns on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk...the day before it rained.  We were happy to practice our math skills and brighten up the school, even if it was for just a short time :)  We also finished our first rotation of the special helper list which means we have finished making words with the letters in everyone's name.  Our record was Stephanie's name.  Together we were able to make a list of 50 words with the letters in her name.  Incredible!  We are now focusing on a new 'number of the day' as part of our calendar time. Your children can tell you more about that.

A few reminders...

Notices for the Pumpkin Patch went home this week, please return ASAP.  Thank you!  Also, just a friendly reminder to please send in Earthquake Kits, two whiteboard markers and $4.00 for the memory binders if you have not already done so. Also, a reminder to grade two students that Spelling City is now available for you to use each week to practice your spelling words.  I will add each weeks' words on the site each Monday (the link for this site is available on this blog).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday 1 October 2012

January 2015


January 9th Crazy Hair Day
January 14th Popcorn Day
January 26 Professional Development Day (No school for students)
January 27 School Growth Plan (No school for students)
January 30th Hot Lunch Day










































































































































Sunday 23 September 2012

Welcome to Division 8's Blog!

We are excited to share what we are doing in the classroom and will be adding a new post on a weekly basis (most often on Fridays)

Parents, please read the information I have written in the 'About Me' section.  You can access this by clicking on my name (just below my picture).

Thank you,

Amanda Roberts