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!

Wonderful, whimsical poetry...

Chosen especially for it's creative and fun imagery, this poem is written by fellow Canadian Dennis Lee. We all laughed as we read about this child sitting in a mud puddle! Enjoy.

The muddy puddle

I am sitting
In the middle
Of a rather Muddy
Puddle,
With my bottom
Full of bubbles
And my rubbers
Full of mud,

While my jacket
And my sweater
Go on slowly
Getting wetter
As I very
Slowly settle
To the Bottom
Of the Mud.

And I find that
What a person
With a puddle
Round his middle
Thinks of mostly
In the muddle
Is the Muddi-
Ness of Mud.

News for the Week of March 23-27

Welcome back, everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful spring break. From what I've heard many of you went on wonderful adventures around Richmond and even beyond! See our new bulleting board entitled "Postcards from Spring Break!" detailing the tales...

Our words for the week are:
Whole Class (all words are two syllables and end in 'ing')
clasping
gasping
thanking
masking
clashing
dashing
mashing
splashing
planting
tramping

Challenge Words (al contain 'er')
personal
filtering
understand
deliver
helicopter
everything
universal
sternly
publisher
deserving

Charlotte's Web

Today we started a new novel in class. Usually, Ms. Santiago and I will often read it aloud to the class, but sometimes we will ask the children to read on their own, and sometimes we will ask children to read aloud to the class. The story we have chosen is called "Charlotte's Web". It is a wonderful tale of friendship, love, and caring. There are parts that are happy and there are parts that are sad. Sometimes we will stop and write about the story, or draw pictures, or do projects that are based on the story. We will also be choosing difficult words from each chapter to use as new spelling and vocabulary words.
This week's words come from Chapter 1. In this chapter Fern saves a baby pig from being "done away with" by her father, who is a farmer and doesn't want to look after a small, weak piglet. Now Fern must care for the baby pig and help raise him.

runt
litter
weakling
wept
brook
pitcher
injustice
untimely
armed
promptly
specimen
stroke
woodshed
relieved
manure

Poem of the Week - test on Monday!

The Spring Wind

The wind can't move a tree,

but it can make leaves fall

sway branches

shake leaves

blow a nest down

topple acorns.

The wind can't empty a lake,

but it can freeze the water

move lilly pads

ripple the water

make waves.

The wind can't pull off my coat,

but it can ruffle my hair

blow off my hat

push me on my way

make me fall

blow my hair.

Poem of the week - test on Monday!

100 Days of School!

As of Tuesday, we have been at school for 100 days (give or take a day). So our class had a small celebration with students bringing 100 items from home: some edible and some not! We counted and sorted 10 groups of 10 edible treats such as raisins, gummy bears, cheerios and other yummy kinds of cereal. Then nibbled on them after. Each student also made their own poster and filled it with 100 things. Take a look at our gallery of photos.

click here

Spelling words: Homophones

Our spelling list this week includes homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings. The list:

to, too, two, there, their, they're, than, then

What most of students had difficulty with were the following words: they're, than and then

Anti-Bully day...Wear Pink!

Today was Anti-Bully Day, also called "Stand Up Against Bullying" Day and Division 11 showed their support by wearing pink!!! Almost everyone wore pink. Well done Division 11!!

News for the Week of February 16-20

Hello families,
I've been able to upload some of the photos from our exciting field trip on to our blog. It was a great trip - and lots of students are telling me that they have been watching the night sky for some of the constellations we learned about (the big dipper, the little dipper, and Cassiopeia; as well as the North Star)
We look forward to seeing you at our family conferences tomorrow!

Space Centre a Big Hit!

Hi families,
Our trip to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre was a huge success. The students enthusiastically explored every inch of the Cosmic Centre and thoroughly enjoyed our two presentations: "A Day in Space" (which taught us all about a day in the life of an astronaut) and "Harold's Solar System." Thank you to Ms. Ho and Mr. Chu who helped supervise the students.
I was hoping to post our photos today, but there is a glitch with the camera... so I'll try to get them out within the next few days.
Until then, Mrs. J

News for the Week of February 2 -6

Greetings!
As I mentioned last week we will going on our next field trip VERY soon. Look for the permission slip to arrive home with all the details this week. (hint hint - we're going to the Space Centre!!!!)
Saleema Noon will be visiting our classrooms this coming Friday (remember the notice that came home from the office?)

This week's spelling words are:
Whole class (all words are two syllables an end in 'er')
planter, rafter, grander, after, faster, hamper, damper, camper, rather, silver

Challenge Words: (all words contain 'ing' and many use the doubling consonant rule)
gripping, stopping, shedding, bedding, getting, humming, strumming, muttering, stuffing, flittering

Have a lovely week!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! Ms. Santiago and I wish you all Health, Happiness and Prosperity in the coming year!

This week we focus on learning new vocabulary and word spellings by using dictionaries. Each child creates their own list of words which they study individually (so no class spelling list for this week)

We welcomed a new student to our class today. Her name is Jenny and we are happy to have her join us from McKinney!

Have a wonderful week!
Love, Mrs. J

Money, Money, Money.....

What is money? When did humans start using money? How do we decide the value of money?
These are some of the questions we are asking as we begin our unit on the History of Money.
We have been reading some very interesting stories about early humans and the beginnings of money. In math we will be learning about Canadian currency and doing activities to reinforce our counting, tallying, and change-making abilities. Now is a perfect time to ask you children to help you make change at the grocery store!

Our poem this week is about money, too!

The Penny
See the shiny penny, brown as it can be,
With two maple leaves for all of us to see.
It's made out of copper at a mint,
A penny's worth one whole cent.

The Nickel
A resting beaver will be found
On a nickel, shiny, smooth, and round.
The Queen is on the other side.
A nickel is worth five cents.
Say it with pride!

The Dime
A dime is the smallest coin of them all,
With the Bluenose sailing nice and tall.
A dime is worth ten cents. Don't you agree?
Which makes me happy as can be!

The Loonie
When compared to other coins,
A loonie is gold and shiny,
It's worth a dollar at the store,
But isn't very tiny,
Used by people in Canada,
To buy things big and small,
The real loon floats on a lake,
Listen close and hear it call!

The Toonie
A toonie is shiny silver and gold.
It has a bear that stands so bold.
A toonie is worth two dollars, that's a lot.
It's the largest coin that we've got.

written by James Horner

In other news, we are working at developing sentences that are complete. Today we discussed the idea of a "subject" and a "predicate" and practiced identifying them within sentences. We are quick learners! Everyone had a very good understanding by the end of the lesson.

And finally, a quick note that we are planning our next fieldtrip to the Space Centre for mid-February. A permission slip will be arriving home in the next week, or so.

Thanks!
Mrs. J

Spelling List for January 12-19

Whole Class (all words contain the 'short vowel u')
drum, slump, plum, shunt, shush, bunch, gush, crunch, thump, slush

Challenge Words (all words contain blends + 'ing')
frosting, *spitting, depending, selecting, stretching, grumbling, representing, tangling, *dripping, crashing

*we have learned the grammatical rule of 'doubling consants' when adding the suffixes "ed" or "ing" to a verb. Ask you child to teach you the rule!

Happy New Year!

Let us take a moment to give our sincere thanks for all the lovely goodies and treats you showered upon us for Christmas. We were very spoiled! We can honestly say we will be nibbling on chocolates for several more weeks :)
As you have heard by now, our computer lab suffered a flood during the winter break and will be out of operation for quite some time. This makes it a little tricky to update the blog - but I'll do my best, nevertheless!
I'll post spelling words tomorrow sometime...