Welcome to a New School Year!

Hello children, parents, and all family who find their way to our classroom blog site! I'm so glad you've logged on...

This is my second year of classroom blogging. I started last year as a way to reach parents quickly and efficiently so that you could feel connected to our classroom - even while you are at work or home!

I received such positive feed back last year that I've decided to continue again this year. You can expect weekly updates about:

• things we are learning in class
• our Poem of the Week
• photos of children taken during the day or at special events
• samples of work that I'd like to share with you
• important notices regarding school and classroom activities

Take a moment to bookmark this site so you can return easily.
I look forward to a wonderful year with your children!

Warmly,
Mrs. Johnson

Spelling Program this week

As promised, here are the words that the class brainstormed together using prefixes and suffixes:

Prefixes:

non: not, no

• non-fiction

• nonsense

• non-tropical

octo/octa: eight

• octopus

• octagon

• October

sub: under

• subway

• submarine

• substitute

tri: three

• tricyle

• triangle

Suffixes

ful: full of

• wonderful

• beautiful

• colourful

ist: a person who

• dentist

• archaeologist

• geologist

• violinist

• pianist

Week of June 8-12

It is with awe that I look around the classroom and realize that our school year is rapidly drawing to a close. What a fabulous year we have spent together: an incredible journey of learning and fun. With little time left there is still much to accomplish! Our busy calendar includes walking field trips to Garden City Park, and SouthArm Swimming Pool, as well as a trip to the Beach for all the primary students, Sport's Day, the Recognition Assembly, and a Band Concert presentation.
In between all this busy-ness we will keep on learning about our local geography and community, as well as geometric shapes and solids. Our study of the Solar system is winding down, as is our study of the provinces and territories across Canada.

For spelling this week we will be creating a list of words which feature suffixes and prefixes. Once the class has finished brainstorming the words, I will post them on the blog for studying.

Thank you,
Mrs. J.

...and the sun keeps shining!!

Hello families,

What another glorious week! I am hoping all this lovely weather is a sign that we will have a spectacular summer season! In the meanwhile, it's a lovely week to play Aussie Rules Football. Our class will be out on the field learning this fun and fast paced game on Tuesday and Thursday. Come watch us if you like!

Here are the spelling words for next Tuesday's (June 9) spelling test...

Whole class (note the words all contain a+r)
cargo
pardon
parchment
harmful
chart
barter
partner
sharp
charming
harp

Challenge words (note all words contain i+c)
fabric
microscopic
tropic
supersonic
plastic
public
specific
fantastic
futuristic
frantic

Great week to all,
Mrs. J.

To you on a Sunny Monday!

Hello all,

Has it not been the most beautiful weekend in recent history?!
Hope you and your family made some time to go out and play...

This week, our spelling will be taken from a poem by Canadian poet, George Swede.
This morning our class spoke at length about the poem. We noticed that the poet uses verbs in really interesting and unexpected ways. We also noticed, that the verbs often stand alone - given a whole line to themselves. We all agreed that Mr. Swede felt they were important to the imagery of the poem. Imagine: the tulip struggles, is scorched by sun, is jolted by raindrops, is blasted by wind; but emerges victorious at the end!

The yellow tulip

For weeks
it struggled
through the hard crust
of the spring earth
and a foot
of air

Just to be
scorched
by the sun
jolted
by raindrops
blasted
by the wind

But on this gentle
May morning
as it opens
yellow petals
to the sky

Nothing else matters


Also this week, we continue our mapping unit and have been engaged in co-operative groups while we map our classroom with 'bird's eye' perspective. What fun!

News for the week of May 18-21

Hello families,

Enjoy a week off from the spelling program! The children studied incredibly hard for that last test and did very, very well!
They all deserve a 'study-free' week.

Today is fruit & veggie day and I noticed some beautiful cucumbers sitting on my desk when I returned from recess this morning. Thank you so much to our parent helpers who take on this task every month and deliver delicious treats to our classroom for us to enjoy.

Have a lovely week (in the sun!!!)

Mrs. J.

Geometry Spelling Words

Our words for next week's spelling test are all taken from our current Geometry unit of study. We have been learning about polygons, learning about angles and naming, describing and sorting figures. With this in mind here are the words and definitions:

parallelogram: a figure with two pairs of parallel sides
rhombus: a parallelogram with four equal sides
trapezoid: a four sided figure with one pair of parallel sides
angle: the meeting of two straight lines
acute: an angle which is smaller than a right angle
obtuse: an angle which is larger than a right angle
vertex: the outside point of the angle, where two straight lines meet

We will continue to investigate geometric figures and solids through the month of May. Following this, we will take a look at standard and non-standard measurement.

In other news, we have been busy at work putting our fantastic reading skills to work! We have gathering information from a variety of sources as we learn about some of the animals from the novel "Charlotte's Web." The children have been incredible researchers and writers as they have put together short reports on both spiders and pigs. The spider reports are hanging in our classroom, but I will be sending the pig reports home for you to enjoy!

From now until the end of June we will be studying the geography of Canada and mapping skills. Most of the work will be completed in class, but occasionally I will send something home to be worked on co-operatively with parents.

Thanks, as ever, for your on-going support!
Mrs. J.

Week of April 27-May 1

Spring has sprung! Wow, it's just beautiful out there and the kids are taking advantage of the sun with lots of walking and running for the Km Club.

We will be re-testing for the poem we learned last week "And my heart soars" - judging by today's results I think the sunshine distracted most of the students from studying for the test! We will re-do the test tomorrow. Children who scored well will not be asked to re-write.

Here are the list words for next Tuesday's spelling test. They are taken from our geography unit on Land and Water Forms:

mountain
hill
foothill
glacier
iceberg
volcano
lava

Thanks, enjoy the sun! (but don't forget to study...)
Mrs. J.

Update for Week April 20-24

Hi all,
As you've perhaps heard by now - we are located in our portable. The move went smoothly and today as the children joined their family teams for some fun and athletic activities the room was put into shape. It even looks like a classroom already!

Apologies for not having posted the spelling list last week. Here are the words, there will be a test tomorrow.

Whole Class: pantry - windy - thorny - sleepy - hefty- plenty - crunchy - misty - bossy - empty

Challenge Words: camera - properly - deserving - interrupt - anger - hunger - interesting - perfect - whenever - reminder

Also, I will post the spelling Poem for this week. There will be a cloze poetry test on next Tuesday, April 28.

And my heart soars
The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.

The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.

The faintness of the stars,
the freshness of the morning,
the dew drop on the flower,
speaks to me.

The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
And the life that never goes away,
They speak to me.

And my heart soars.

by Chief Dan George

Week of April 6-10

What a busy week we will have! The classroom is being readied for our move. We are packing all of our materials away - some will come with us to our temporary new home out in Portable #1, and much will be put into storage until the earthquake updates are complete. The classroom is beginning to look quite bare - but we will make our new space a beautiful classroom once we are settled in.
If there are any parents who would be able to lend a hand on Monday, April 20th I would surely appreciate the help unpacking boxes and setting up the materials. There will be a lot to do in the new room!
You can email me at the school: kjohnson@sd38.bc.ca if you can help out.

There are no spelling words this week as it is, once again, Dictionary Week.

Happy Easter everyone!