Reading Stamina

We are working so hard building our reading muscles.  We are already up to 11 minutes of uninterrupted reading time!

What a great day yesterday!

We had so much fun at the Terry Fox Run yesterday.  We got to go on a long walk on a beautiful day - does it get any better than that?  Here are some pictures from the little party we had in the field when we got back from the walk.

We're working on our writing stamina!

Ariana and Fatima shared their writing today.  They did a fantastic job!

Tomorrow is Picture Day - And The Terry Fox Run

Just quick note to remind families that tomorrow is picture day. Complicating things a bit is also the fact that it is our school wide Terry Fox run in the afternoon.  If you are wearing your dress shoes for pictures, it would be a really good idea to bring some running shoes for our activities later!

Wow! Two weeks under our belts already!

As we settle in, and the air begins to cool in the mornings, it feels so good to be back.  I am lucky enough to have my class for the second year, with a few wonderful new additions.  Having the same kids for the second year has made for such a smooth transition to school.  The students come in knowing my expectations, and I know exactly where we left off.  It has been amazing!  We are now starting to get into our regular routines in Literacy and Math.
In Literacy, we are working on how to read non fiction texts.  The students have learned that non fiction texts don't have to be books.  Maps, magazines, newspapers and even menus count as non fiction too.  Today for example, we read an article on the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Boy, did we have some unique ideas as to why it leans!  We are learning that readers are like runners.  It takes motivation to get started, stamina to continue, but when the goals are met, boy does it feel good.  We are working on building our reading stamina right now.  Our goal is 25 minutes of independent reading.
In writing, we are working on building our writing muscles and stamina to work undisturbed on our writing for as long as possible.  The students did great today!  They worked on their writing, listening to classical piano music for 30 minutes with the room absolutely silent!  I am so proud of the work they are doing!
In the next few days, Take home reading folders will be coming home.  I encourage you to look through these with your student, and work through it at a pace that is comfortable for your family.  When the folder returns to school, we will choose a new book.  Please note, the books that are being sent home, are based on their last reading level from last year, so for some students these books may be too easy or too hard.  Please bear with me as we work to reassess the students reading levels.

In Math, we are starting our Numeracy Unit.  The goals for this unit are

• Read and print numbers to twenty
• Build numbers with concrete materials
• Estimate number of objects and check by counting
• Count forward to 100, and backward from 20
• Count by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's and 25's
• Develop strategies for adding and subtracting

We think we have our schedule finalized.  As of now, our Gym classes are on Days 2 and 4 (currently wednesday and Friday), and Library book exchange is Day 1(currently Wednesdays).  If anything changes, I will let you know.

As always thank you for the support.  Check back often for updates.  Once our agendas come in, I will be able to communicate through there when there is an update.

Welcome Back!

We have had an absolutely amazing start to the new year. I couldn't ask for a smoother start! Check back often for updates, pictures and videos. You can also keep up with our learning throughout the day by following us on Twitter - @twobelanger!