Ms Legault's Classroom

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock

2012-01-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

ANANSI AND THE MOSS COVERED ROCK

Once upon a time, Anansi the spider was walking, walking, walking through the rain forest, when something caught his eye! It was a strange, moss-covered rock!

"How interesting!" Anansi said. "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!"

KABOOM! Everything went black &endash; Down fell Anansi, fast asleep!

An our later Anansi woke up, his head was spinning. He wondered what had happened!

"I was walking along the path when something caught my eye, I stopped and said "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock."

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi again! But this time, when he woke up an hour later, he knew what was happening.

"Aha!' He said. "This is a magic rock! And whenever someone come along and says the magic words, "Isn't this a strange hmm-hmmmmm hmmmmm?" down they go! This is a good thing to know." said Anansi. "And I know just how to use it!"

So Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest until he came to Tiger's house. Tiger had in front of him a nice variety of food! Anansi loved all the food he saw before him, but was always too lazy to find them himself. Anansi said to Tiger, "Hello Tiger! It is very hot today. Don't you think so?"

"Yes, Anansi," said Tiger. "it is terribly hot!"

'I am going for a walk in the cool jungle," said Anansi. "Would you like to come?" "I certainly would!" said Tiger.

So Tiger and Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Tiger to a certain place.

"Tiger! Do you see what I see??'

"Oh yes Anansi!" said Tiger. " Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'

KABOOM! Down fell Tiger! Anansi ran back to Tiger's place and made off with all Tiger's food!!

An hour later, Tiger woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single bit of his food was gone! Tiger was very sad!

But Anansi was very happy! He couldn't wait to play his trick again! Once more Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. This time he stopped at Elephant's house. At Elephant's feet was a great pail of bananas! Anansi loved bananas, but was always too lazy to pick them himself. So he said to elephant, "Hello Elephant! Isn't it hot today!" "It is!" Elephant agreed. "I am going for a walk in the cool forest" Anansi said "Would you like to come?" "That sound nice," aid Elephant "Tank you for inviting me Anansi!"

So Anansi and Elephant went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Elephant to a certain place. "Elephant! Look! Do you see what I see?"

Elephant looked. "Yes I do Anansi! Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" KABOOM! Down fell Elephant. Anansi ran back to Elephant's house and made off with the bananas!

An hour later Elephant woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was nowhere in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single one of his bananas was gone! Elephant was very sad!

But Anansi was very happy! He couldn't wait to play his trick again!

He played it on Jaguar

He played it on Snake.

He played it on Fruit Bat.

He played it on Turtle.

He played it on every single animal in the rain forest! But all this time, watching from behind the leaves, was Little Spotted Deer. Little Spotted Deer is small and shy and very hard to see. She watched Anansi play his wicked trick again and again on all the other animals. Little Spotted Deer decided it was time for Anansi to learn a lesson!

So Little Spotted Deer went deep into the rain forest to where the coconut trees grow. She climbed a coconut tree and threw down a great many coconuts. She carried the coconuts home in a basket then she sat down beside them to wait.

In a little while, along came Anansi. Anansi's eyes lit up when he saw Little Spotted Deer's coconuts! Anansi loved coconuts, He loved to eat the tender while coconut meant and drink the sweet coconut milk inside. But he was much too lazy to gather the coconuts himself.

Instead he said "Hello Little Spotted Deer! It is so hot today!" Little Spotted Deer smiled, "It IS very hot, Anansi!" "I am going for a walk in the cool rain forest, would you like to come?" "Yes I would!" said Little Spotted Deer.

So Anansi and Little Spotted Deer went walking, walking, walking in the cool forest, After a while Anansi led Little Spotted Deer to a certain place. "Little Spotted Deer! Do you see what I see??" Little Spotted Deer knew all about Anansi's trick. She looked. "No Anansi, I do not see anything!" "You must see it. Look very carefully!" Little Spotted Deer looked. "No I still do not see anything' she said.

Anansi began to get angry. "You must see it! Look over here! Look right where I am pointing. Do you see it now?' "No, Anansi," said Little Spotted Deer. Anansi stomped his legs "You see it!! You just don't want to say it!"

"Say what?" said Little Spotted Deer. "You know!" "Is that what I am supposed to say?" 'Yes!" said Anansi. "All right. Then I will say it to make you happy. 'You know' " said Little Spotted Deer. "There! I said it! Are you satisfied?"

"NO!" Anansi shouted. 'You're not supposed to say 'You know!'"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You're supposed to say, 'Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'"

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi.

Little Spotted Deer rain and got all the other animals. Together they went to Anani's house and took back all the good things he had stolen from them.

An hour later Anansi woke up. His head was spinning. Little Spotted Deer was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found his house was as empty as it was before.

But if you think Anansi learned his lesson, you're mistaken. Because he's still playing tricks to this very day!

January 10, 2012

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents/Guardians,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. As you have probably heard General Lake experienced a tremendous loss at the sudden death of our Core French teacher Mrs. Grant. We will be holding a memorial service in the coming weeks to celebrate her life and the great impact she had through the work she did at General Lake. The date for the service is tentatively set for January 20.

Mme Haddad's French classes will be going ahead this week on Wednesday, as planned. If you are still interested in registering please do not hesitate to call the school and leave a message for Mme Haddad. This is an excellent opportunity for our parents to gain skills in speaking French.

Finally our November/December character assembly for initiative and caring has been rescheduled for this Friday, January 13th at 2:40. January's habit of Mind is respect.

In the kindergarten: Jk's and Sk's continue to use the jolly phonics action to recognize the letters s a t i p n c/k e h r m d g o u l f. Sk's have begun using the chalk and sock strategy to develop sight word recognition as well as to explore word families. We have begun reading together the predictable book Brown Bear, Brown Bear and we will be creating our own version to be sent home for the students to read with their families. We also had a shared reading of the following poem:

Grade 2:

Students in the grade 2 have begun a retelling of the story of Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. Students are completing story boards to accompany their retelling. We are using this book in anticipation for the Public Speaking event that occurs every year at General Lake. I will post this story and students will have a copy in their English folders. I will choose several students from the class to participate in the school-wide storytelling/speech contest. Students will be judged and one student from each level will be chosen to represent our school at the Legion in their Public Speaking event. I will send a rubric in the next newsletter to outline my expectations for the oral storytelling activity.

As you are probably aware I have divided the class into 2 groups to better focus on their needs. One group is focusing on word families and sight words. The following is a list of the word families we are covering: AT, AP, AM. AN. AG, IG, IP, ID, IM, IB.THe following is the sight words the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, he, it, was. The other group is focusing on spelling. Here are the words that we are covering: because, when, like, they, went, too, said, there, house, know, with, have, very, friend, my, would, are, want, friends,were, people, about,

play, was

Grade 7/8

Students in Grade 7/8 continue to work on their novel study of Craig Keilburgers Free The Children. We have begun focusing on grammar activities, as well as writing a speech on a topic of interest. All students will be expected to create a speech. I will choose several students from the class to participate in the school-wide speech contest. Students will be judged and one student from each level will be chosen to represent our school at the Legion in their Public Speaking event. I will send a rubric in the next newsletter to outline my expectations for the Speech.

December 12, 2011

2011-12-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

December 12, 2011

Dear Parents,
This will be my last newsletter before the New Year. We have had an awesome year in the Core English up to this point. You may have heard about the little visitor that came to class this week. He is a Russian Blue Rat and his name is Chippy. Last year he inspired many story telling activities in the class and he is always a big hit with the students. The next couple of weeks are busy with holiday activities. On Wednesday we have registration at 4:30 for a French Course given by Mme Haddad. The cost is $60 with all funds being returned to the school. Thursday, at noon, is our Annual Christmas Concert. Parents and visitors are encouraged to bring in a canned food item to help support the local food bank. On Friday a grade 8 student, Jeris, and her General Lake theatre group will be presenting A Christmas Carol in the gym at 2:40pm for parents. Next week the fun will continue with a holiday sing along and slideshow on Tuesday and Thursday at 2:40. The English classes will be exploring The Mummer’s Song by Bud Davidge and rumour has it a mummer or 2 may appear at our Singalong. Our November/December character awards will take place on Wednesday at 2:40. Finally, Friday we will hold a red and green spirit day encouraging all students to wear red and green with points being counted for each class.

In the classes:
Kindergarten: Students are continuing to develop their sound symbol correspondence with the Jolly Phonics program using the letters s, a, t, I, ,p,n,c/k,e,h, r, m, d. We continue to work on the days of the week and numbers to ten. Sk’s have become working on sight word identification and phonics activities using Chalk and Sock activities. The sight words are the, of, and, a, to, and in.
Grade 2: Students continue to work on their levelled books and recording their books in their home reading journal. They have participated in a shared reading of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I have separated the class into two groups. One group is working on reading and comprehension type activities, while the other group is working on development of sight words and phonics activities to increase their reading level. They have completed work with the sight words the, of, and, a, to, and in and they have worked with words in the following word families: at, ap, am, an, an, ag.
Grade 7/8: Students have been continuing their reading of Craig Keilberger’s Free the Children. Students have been exploring the main idea of specific chapters and practiced recording the main idea through a CASI type question. Students will then work on examining the answers to their questions and marking the answers to gain insight into what makes a level 3 and 4 response.. The students have also been completing some Elf duties within the classroom and exploring the parts of a friendly letter.
Have a safe and happy holiday. I look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year.
Ms. Legault

November 28, 2011

2011-11-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

November 28, 2011

Dear Parents,
Thank you to all the parents who stopped by during parent teacher interviews. It is wonderful to see so many supportive parents. If you didn’t get a chance, and have any concerns please feel free to contact me at the school and we can arrange a meeting. I am very pleased with how everyone is doing and I am enjoying all of my classes. It is a pleasure to teach all of the students. Around the school we had a very successful anti-bullying awareness week and a family event with Maria Hawkins. To promote awareness of Children’s Rights our Grade 7/8 leaders have organized a Vow of Silence to take place on Wednesday. More information can be accessed on the school blog. We are starting to get the holiday spirit beginning with the well attended Gift and Craft show on Saturday. It was great to see so many our our families out. Thanks again to our wonderful Parent Council for organizing this event and making it possible. On December 9 we will have a Spirit day, where students can dress as their favourite holiday character. On December 15 General Lake will be holding their Holiday concert at 2:00pm. The following week will be filled with various activities including singalongs, a slideshow and our combined November/December character assembly on Dec 21.

In the classes:

Kindergarten: Students are continuing to develop their sound symbol correspondence with the Jolly Phonics program using the letters s,a,t,I,,p,n,c/k,e,h. We have now completed work with the Hungry Caterpillar and I am sending home a book for the students to share at home. You can encourage reading of this book by drawing attention to the words by pointing. You can also try echo reading whereby, you read a line then your child repeats after you. More details about Echo reading are posted on the blog. We have also been working on the Days of the week and we sing a little rhyming song that goes like this to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday too.Wednesday, Thursday just for you.Friday, Saturday that's the end .Now let's say those days again!Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!
Days of the week (to the tune of "The Addams Family") Days of the week, (snap snap)Days of the week, (snap snap)Days of the week,Days of the week,Days of the week. (snap snap)
There's Sunday and there's Monday,There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,There's Thursday and there's Friday,And then there's Saturday.

Grade 2: Students have been working on building a paragraph using a topic sentence, three supporting details and a closing sentence. Students have also been doing work applying capitalization and punctuation to their work. You will notice when I am marking their work I am using an apple.or heart to show what they did well, then a tree symbol to show what they can work on the improve (room to grow). This week we will be doing work around Children’s Rights. We will be watching a video produced by Unicef called ‘’Children First’ that talks about the Rights all children as established by the United Nations. We have begun our home reading program. Students should receive 2 books at their approximate reading level to practice for the 2 weeks. I have also sent home sight words for certain students who need to practice.
Grade 7/8: Students have been continuing their reading of Craig Keilberger’s Free the Children. I have been drawing their attention to the various literary elements used in the book including similes and metaphors. We will continue this work examining the symbolism, imagery, paradox, irony and foreshadowing that is used throughout the various chapters. The students are also excited to be leading the Vow of Silence, and they will soon have the results tallied and organized of the Climate survey they distributed on November 17.
Have a great week Ms. Legault

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK

2011-11-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

November 14, 2011

Dear Parents,

An exciting event-filled week here at General Lake culminating in a special family performance with Maria Hawkins on Thursday Night at 6:00. Throughout the week the students will be involved in a number of activities designed to bring awareness to the problem of bullying. Among the activities students will make trace a hand to be displayed in the front foyer; participate in a student led presentation about bullying on Wed; and wear pink and be part of a group picture in the shape of a peace sign outside on Thursday.

Thanks to students for completing a card of the person they wished to honour. All cards are displayed prominently on the front bulletin board. At our Remembrance Day Service students breathed a quiet thank-you as they proceeded back to their classes.

Also a reminder that our Book Fair is taking place in the library from November 14 -18.

Finally any parents wishing to speak with me on Friday should return the bottom form to ensure a time. I will be available for most of the day in the office. I will post my schedule outside the office.

JK/SK Students have been completing their retell of the Very Hungry Caterpillar and sharing with the class. Students are encouraged to use the words first, next, then and finally in their oral retells. Students also participated in a reading of 'Have You filled a Bucket Today?' by Carol Mc Cloud. The story talks about filling everyone's imaginary buckets by doing good deeds and positive actions everyday. More activities will follow particularly in December when the Habit of Mind is caring.

Grade 2 Students have participated in an echo reading of a hilarious story called Pigs APlenty, Pigs Galore. Students should have this text in their green folders and I encourage you to practise reading the text at home using the echo reading technique. Echo reading is basically where a skilled reader models small chunks of text and then the student echoes the model by reading the same line. It is designed to improve fluency and expression while eliminating the pressure and frustration of reading an entire passage. I will post more information shortly on this blog about this technique. Students also participated in a Read aloud of "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud. The story talks of filling everyone's imaginary bucket by the things we say and do towards others. More activities to follow during December when our Habit of Mind is Caring.

Grade 7/8 Students are working on a short presentation designed to educate a younger class about bullying. Students identified the success criteria for their presentation, then they used the information from last weeks presentation from the Rec Plex, as well as the parent information brochure to develop their own presentation suitable for their audience. On Wednesday groups will present to their respective classes.

Here is the Interview Request Form for Friday November 18 in Ms Legault's office.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview Request Form: (Ms. Legault will confirm your time either via note or by phone)

Student Name: ________________________

Grade/Teacher: _______________________

Parent Name: _________________________

Phone Number: ________________________

I would like to attend an interview with Ms. Legault at the following time on Friday, November 18, 2011.

Time: ___________

November 1, 2011

2011-11-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

November 1, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,
A number of things are happening school-wide. First we will be having our Remembrance Day assembly Friday, November 11 at 10:30. Parents are always welcome to attend our service. In preparation, students are encouraged to fill out an information card about someone in their family they would like to honour on this day because of their Military Service. More information should go home with your child or is available on the school blog at http://www.generallakenews.blogspot.com/.

The following week November 14-18 is our Anti-bullying week. Please mark off your calendars for the evening of November 17, as General Lake will host a Free Performance by our favourite Blues Lady Maria Hawkins. Maria visited our school last year and the students were so enthralled with the performance that we invited her back for our family event. Students should wear PINK on this day in support of anti-bullying.

Also during that week we have a Bookfair throughout the week, as well as Parent/Teacher Interviews on Thursday, November 17 from 4-6pm and Friday, November 18 during the P.A. Day.

Jk/SK: Students compared the book of Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown and the Halloween parody Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. This week students will be exploring The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Students continued to work on the Jolly Phonics activities as well as the review of sight words. Students practiced a Remembrance Day song entitled This Little Sign of Peace (to the tune of This Little Light of Mine).

Grade 2: Students completed their Pigs and photos were taken of the little stuffies. Students participated in reading the Story of the Three Little Pigs. You can practice reading these at home. In a couple of weeks students will complete written instructions about how to make a Pig, but we took a break from the Pig activities for Halloween. Students used a Venn Diagram to compare the book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and the Halloween parody Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex.

Grade 7/8: Students have continued their reading and discussions of Craig Keilburger's Free the Children. Interesting discussions have taken place around where our clothing has been manufactured and what the possible implications for the people if we choose to boycott the manufacturer. As part of the Anti-bullying week activities students in this class will explore the different types of bullying. They will be involved in educating other students about bullying and surveying the school to see its prevalence.

October 17, 2011

2011-10-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2011

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the third edition of the newsletter. Students are continuing to work hard and to get into the habit of bringing home their folders. Its a bit of a challenge with the Kindergartens as they are only here half time but I think we are starting to get into the routine. A couple things to note around the school we had a Ned presentation last Wed. Students were inspired with the message to Never give up, Encourage others, and Do the right thing. As part of the presentation students can purchase Yo-yo's. They will be on sale until next Wed. Proceeds go back to the Ned company. Grade 7/8 students are organizing a Food Drive called Halloween for Hunger for the local food bank. You can send along your canned foods anytime or on Halloween you can watch for the students as they trick or treat for canned goods. Finally, if you are not aware General Lake also has a blog designed to keep everyone up to date with the events happening around the school. You can access this at www.generallakenews.blogspot.com.

In the classes:

Kindergarten: Students are continuing to develop their sound symbol correspondence. We have now completed work with S,T, I, E. For the next couple of weeks we will work on P, N, C, and K. We have been working on identifying the sight words including the, I, am, as, it, you can. You can reinforce this at home during your read alouds, by drawing attention to these letters, as well as the sight words. Here's one of our favourite songs we refer to as 'serious business':

Arubisha, Arubisha, Arubisha, Sha Arubisha, Arubisha, Arubisha, Sha: Feet Together, Head up, Arubisha, Arubisha, Arubisha, Sha; Arubisha, Arubisha, Arubisha, Sha, Feet together, Head Up, Shoulders back,....It continues adding different actions each time. Ask your child about the last action. It will definitely put a smile on their face.

Grade 2: Student have continued their author study of Phoebe Gillman. We began making a sock pig which we will continue to work with throughout the week creating profiles as well as writing using the procedural writing format to describe how we made the pig. You can assist with this by asking your child to explain how they made their pig including list of materials and steps involved. We also will be doing mini-lessons involving syllabication and review of vowels and consonants. This will reinforce some of the work done in their Immersion class.

Grade 7/8: Students are pretty excited about the up and coming 'Halloween For Hunger'. Students are asked to collect canned food instead of trick or treating for candy this year as part of their 'WE day' promise to act locally. Students are also continuing to read Craig Keilburgers 'Free The Children' book sparking many interesting conversations, as well as written activities. You can reinforce the work in school by talking with your child about the issues we have been discussing including children's rights, child labour and poverty. Students in this class have been responsible for the morning announcements and will take a leading role in our up and coming Character Assembly on October 31st.

Thank you for your continued support. Hope to see everyone at the Parent Involvement Committee symposium on October 22 at Fellowes High School. More information and registration available at www.renfrew.edu.on.ca

Have a great week Ms. Legault

October 5, 2011

2011-10-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The Kindergarten Core English program continues to focus on the Jolly Phonics program. We have now covered the first six sounds including s a t i p n. Students have also been exposed to the Pre-primer sight words of I, am, as, it, you, can, so which we will continue to practice through poems. One of our favourite songs is:

Hello neighbor

What do you say? (clap!)

It’s going to be a happy day!

Greet your neighbor

And boogie on down

Give ‘em a bump,

And turn around!

Students are also excited to be singing “This Little Sign of Peace’ which we hope to present at an assembly soon.

The Grade 2 Core English classes have been reading Jillian Jiggs text by Phoebe Gilman. Students have continued their work with retells and they are going to work on a comparison of two books using a Venn diagram. The students have expressed an interest in making a sock pig. I have included a copy of the instructions. Students may bring in the necessary items to make their own pigs or complete their pigs at home. I would love to have the students then explain how they made their pig as well as create profile details about their pig including name, birthday, favourite food, favourite activity etc...

I have completed most of the sight word testing for the Grade 2 class. Your child’s results is inside his/her folder. Once I complete all the reading assessments I will send home books for you to read together.

The Grade 7/8 Core English class is getting into their ‘Me to We’ work by planning their first initiative of Halloween for Hunger. Students are collecting non-perishable food items for the local food bank. Please send along any items you may have right away or on Halloween Night be prepared when the grade 7/8 students come by trick or treating for canned goods, instead of treats. Thanks in advance for your support. The students are also involved in a novel study of Craig Kielburgers book ‘Free The Children’. This non-fiction book was given to the students during their recent trip to Toronto and chronicles the story of the Free the Children initiative.

Thanks Ms. Legault

2011-09-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

September 19, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Its been a great couple weeks in the Core English class and the programs are starting to get into full swing. The Kindergartens and the Grade 2's have been working on different retelling activities around the book 'The Kissing Hand' by Audrey Penn. The grade 7/8 class have been busy doing peace related activities including a comparison of the speeches The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and "I have a Dream Speech" Martin Luther King" They have also been discussing and preparing for their class trip to Toronto coming up September 26th and September 27th for Free the Children "Weday". More information available at www.weday.com. They also did a fabulous job leading the school in our school wide cheer leading event on Friday September 16th. Since the programs are varied, I will be dividing the newsletter into sections Kindergarten. Grade 2, Grade 7/8, from now on, so its easier to read what is happening in your child's classroom. Homework will not be given until October. I look forward to meeting everyone for the Open House on Wednesday September 21.

This week in

Kindergarten: Jolly phonics sound/letter activities S, A, T

Sight words: am as my can you so Read Aloud Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman

Grade 2 : Author study Phoebe Gilman Jillian Jiggs Rhyming word activities Sight word review continued PM Benchmark evaluations

Grade 7/8 Free the Children awareness activities to prepare for Monday's trip. Permission forms to go home early in the week.

See everyone on Wednesday.

Thanks Ms. Legault

Here We Go Round the Letter Ss Kindergarten

2011-09-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here We Go 'Round the Letter Ss
Tune: Mulberry Bush
written by Mrs. Jones

Here we go 'round the letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Here we go 'round the letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Sun begins with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Sun begins with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Soap begins with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Soap begins with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Seahorse starts with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Seahorse starts with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Seal starts with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Seal starts with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Saxaphone starts with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Saxaphone starts with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Sunflower starts with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Sunflower starts with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Sombrero starts with letter Ss,
Letter Ss, letter Ss,
Sombrero starts with letter Ss,
Ss-Ss Ss-Ss-Ss Ss Ss

Welcome Back

2011-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back! September 2011

Dear Parents,

It's school time again! My name is Ms. Debbie Legault and I will be your child’s English teacher for 2011 -2012 school year. I am very excited to be returning to General Lake and continuing some of the work I had begun last year. I believe that by all of us working together we can make this a very successful year. I consider it of prime importance that you be an active part of your child's education. You are invited to phone me any time that you have a question concerning your child's progress. I also welcome volunteers in my classes, if you have some time you would like to share. To keep you informed I will send home regular newsletters, as well as samples of your child’s work. My classroom blog is www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com where I post the newsletters as well as other information pertinent to my classes. I have four basic classroom rules or Agreements which are to demonstrate mutual respect; to show attentive listening; to have the right to participate and sometimes pass; and to show appreciation only to others/no putdowns allowed. For this first week we will be reviewing these Agreements during our class. I consider it a great privilege and responsibility to be your child’s teacher and I look forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Debbie Legault

Have a Great Summer

2011-06-29T12:51:00.001-07:00

June 29, 2011

Dear Parent/Guardians,
Just one last post before the holidays officially begin. I apologize, as I had hoped to get out one final hard copy of the newsletter. It has been a wonderful year and I want to thank all the parents and students for their continued support. I am looking ahead to the future and I am excited to be coming back and continuing some of the work we have started. Have a wonderful holiday and I will see everyone in the Fall.

Enjoy the summer
Ms. Legault
(and Chippy)

I'm back at General Lake

2011-06-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

It's official. I have been pulled back to General Lake for the 2011-2012 school year. Looking forward to continuing all the wonderful work with all the wonderful students, parents, and staff.

General Lake's Got Talent

2011-06-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

Thanks to everyone who helped make this years talent show a resounding success. First of all to Vanessa, who came to me in the Spring with the idea. Thanks to Mme Bell's and Mme Malette's class for the wonderful posters advertising our event throughout the school. Thanks to the Grade 7/8 Committee: Vanessa, Sarah, Fiyin, Melora, Ocean, Jayde, Jeris, and Kim who met with me regularly giving up their recesses to plan the event, help with the auditions, as well as curtains, lights and music. Thanks to Fiyin and Jeris for putting together the program and a wonderful momento of the event. Thanks to the MC'S, Mylora and Sarah, who put it all together in a day and did an extremely awesome job. Thanks to the Grade 5/6 class for announcing the event over the PA daily with their creative announcements and making the gorgeous banners in the gym (with Emma C also). Thanks to Shirley the Secretary for helping with numerous requests throughout the hectic day. Thanks to all the teachers who pitched in and supported the students through auditions, as well as on Show day pitching in as needed to help everything run smoothly. Thanks to Administration for supporting this initiative. Thanks to the audience for being supportive with such enthusiastic appreciative applause. Thanks to Connie, the Custodian, for making sure the gym was set up with chairs and cleaning up at the end. Thanks to all the students who demonstrated courage and initiative by auditioning for the show. Thanks to Mme. Major for being the General Lake official photographer documenting the event. Thanks to our parents for supporting the kids in their talents. Thanks to the selected performers for putting their best effort into making the show a wonderful success. I am extremely pleased with our work and would like to congratulate everyone on their team effort.

General Lake Talent Show Program

2011-06-20T16:51:00.001-07:00

General Lake Got Talent

1. Piano Fiona Pink Panther

2. Jada , Brianna and Zoey Dance Routine

3. Piano Sydney “Scarborough Fair”

4. Kim Song “Bubbly”

5. David and Connor Stacking Cup Routine

6. Dance Ava , Taylor and Lauren “Feel Good Time”

7. Song Jeris and Fiyin

8. Song Chloe “Skunk In Your Trunk”

9. Piano Bethany with Special Guest Mrs Marquardt “Hickory Dickory Dock”

10. Piano Skye “My Heart Will Go On”

11. Dance Sarah “Footloose”

12. Song Leslie “Ours”

13. Dance Vanessa “California King Bed”

14. Emily and Sarah Piano and recorder

15. Mika and Marissa Dance “Hi, Ho, The Dario”

16. Song Simon “Bakugan”

17. Song Alexis “Loser Like Me”

18. Dance Mikayla “Wild Horses”

19. Song Sarah and Danielle “Land of The Silver Birch”

20. Violin Bobbi “Perpetual Motion”

21. Miranda Step Dance

22. Song MacKenzie “Highway of Heroes”

23. Dominic Liam and MacKenzie “Big Mac Rap”

24. Guitar Case “Star Spangled Banner’

25. Guitar Jarod “Auld Lang Sang”

26. Song Aaron “Soul Man”

27. Guitar and song Melora “Our Song”

28. Remi , Emma , Bobbi and Julie with a Tap Dance “Alice”, by Avril Lavigne

29. Piano Emily “Persian Market”

30. Violin Julie “Floppy Earred Mule”

31. Jarod and Ryan Karate Kata

32. Song Ms. Melanson Grade 7/8 “Airplane”

June 14, 2011

2011-06-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thanks to all parents who requested books for summer reading. Anyone else wishing books, please let me know, as it will take some time to organize the packages. I will get that out to everyone next week.

As of Wednesday, I have assessed all the grade 1 and 2 students, so everyone should've received a sheet indicating the students reading levels and highlighted sight words. If you did not receive one, please let me know.

Again this week, I am not assigning homework again as I am trying to gather all resources and assemble homework packages. Please return any books you are not using.

Talent show auditions are underway this week. We are extremely impressed with all the students who have tried out. It's going to be a difficult task to narrow it down to only 24 acts. General Lake definitely 'Got Talent'.

Thanks again for all your support

See everyone at the Spring Fling on Wednesday!

June 7, 2011

2011-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2011

Dear Parents,

Grade 1 and 2 only

I am still working on sending out the assessments for the grade 1 and 2 students. If your child is below the expectations for his/her grade level, I would like to offer a package of reading books and sight words to help you during the summer holidays. If you are interested in receiving a package just send along the enclosed form and I will prepare some books for your child to read during the summer break.

I will not be assigning any more homework, as we are wrapping up the school year. If you would like some books, please do not hesitate to ask and I will assist your child in choosing some at their appropriate level.

Grade 6 students will begin their EQAO assessment today. I will not be seeing them for the next three days, as classes have been rearranged to accomodate the testing.

Students are now working on reading their own novel in grades 3 to 6. Students then have a choice of how they wish to share their book. Among some of the suggestions are making a speech, creating a play; creating a poster; making a commercial, designing a new book cover, creating a picture book, writing a journal. Students in grade 1 and 2 are also joining in the reading fun. Grade 1's are reading Alexander and the Horrible No Good Day and the grade 2' are reading Dr. Seuss' books. Grade 1's and 2's will also have some choices around how they would like to share about their book which may include drawing a poster; orally retelling the story or favourite part of the story; acting out their favourite part; or writing a diary entry.

Have a great week.
Ms. Legault

May 31, 2011

2011-05-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Another great week at General Lake, ending with one of the most popular of the spirit days... Pyjama Day. Students in most Core English classes cozied up for a read aloud by Dr. Seuss called "Hooray For Diffendoofer Day". I chose this book in honour of our Grade 3's who began their EQAO testing on Monday. All students have been reminded to be on their best behaviour keeping the noise down for the week showing respect to our grade 3's who will be working hard at completing the assessment. Grade 6's will begin their testing next Tuesday.

Many students have signed up for the Talent show. Wednesday will be the last day to sign up and a note will go home with all students who have signed up informing them about the dates of the audition, as well as the criteria the panel of judges will use to select the successful candidates. Unfortunately we will not be able to take all acts because of time constraints, but we do hope to get a good variety of acts included. I do hope to videotape all the auditions, so even if your child is not selected for the show, we can show a short part of their peformance during another assembly.

Finally the following links were forwarded to me from a colleague about how families can deal with the stress of military life.
http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/tips-military-families
http://blog.whileyouwereaway.org/. I thought I would pass them along as they seem quite useful and informative.

Coming Events
June 3 Character assembly: Mme Bernardin's class cheer

June 6 PA Day

May 30 -June 10 EQAO Primary and Junior Assessment
June 15 Spring Fling
June 13,14,15 Auditions for talent show
June 21 Talent Show: 12:00 -2:00
June 24 Grade 8 Graduation

Homework

Grade 1 Reading
Grade 2 Reading
Grade 3 No homework
Grade 4 Bell No homework

Grade 4 Independent Reading
Grade 5 Independent Reading
Grade 6 Independent Reading

May 24, 2011

2011-05-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

May 24, 2011
Dear Parents,
It was a great end to the week with an anti-bullying show presented by the Blues Lady Maria Hawkins, as well as our school-wide Hawaiian Day. Students in Core English learned an Hawaiian song called The Hukilau. I have enclosed the words for the younger students to practice at home.

In the Core English classes students have been participating in lessons on parts of speech including several lessons from the Ontario Resource Bank. You can access these video lessons at http://resources.elearningontario.ca/.

I am still working on assessing all reading levels and sight word recognition for the Grade 1's and 2's. As soon as I assess your child I will send home some feedback for you to see how your child is doing.

Finally the Parent Council would like to invite you on May 30 from 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm for an introduction to the School Food and Beverage Policy that will be in force September 1, 2011 in all Public School in Ontario. The purpose of this meeting is to inform you on how this School Food and Beverage Policy will affect our hot lunches as well as our fund raising activities and more. Ms Carolyn Froats-Emond, community dietitian from the Renfrew County District Health unit, will be our guest speaker for this hour. She will provide valuable information and will be happy to answer all of your questions or concerns regarding this new Policy. The regular Parent Council meeting will follow from 6:00 until 7:00.

Up and Coming Events:

May 30 Parent Council Meeting with special guest speaker on new Food and Beverage Policy (5:00 -6:00 )
May 27 Pyjama Day
End of the month Character assembly: Mme Bernardin's class cheer
May 30-June 10 EQAO Primary and Junior Assessment
June 15 Spring Fling
June 13,14,15 Auditions for talent show
June 21 Talent Show: 12:00 -2:00
June 24 Grade 8 Graduation

Homework:
Grade 1 and 2 Reading Printing worksheet
Grade 3, 4, 5, 6 EQAO assessment prep
Ms. Legault

Hawaiian song

2011-05-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hukilau - by Jack Owens

Oh we're going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki huki hukilau
Everybody loves the hukilau
Where the laulau is the kaukau at the luau
We throw our nets out into the sea
And all the amaama come a swimming to me
Oh, we're going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki hukilau

A huki huki huki huki hukilau
Everybody loves the hukilau
Where the laulau is the kaukau at the luau
We throw our nets out into the sea
And all the amaama come a swimming to me
Oh, we're going to a hukilau
A huki huki huki hukilau

May 17, 2011

2011-05-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

May 17, 2011

Dear Parents,

Lots of Superstars showed up for Core English on Friday. Among the celebrities we had Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Princess Kate, Michael Cammalleri, Justin Beiber, Corey Hart and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Even Michael Jackson made an appearance. It was a pretty exciting day which ended a pretty busy week. Don't forget Hawaiian Day on Friday.

We have been continuing our work with the EQAO type assessments, preparing the grade threes and sixes for their assessment at the end of May. The other grades (2, 4 and 5) have benefited by learning what will come. I have marked many of the assessments and I was quite pleased how well all the students are doing. Even the students who are not participating in the assessment this year are achieving level 3's and 4's. Thanks to all students for working so hard. Don't forget to return all EQAO prep duotangs.

I am currently working on assessing all reading levels and sight word recognition for the Grade 1's and 2's. As soon as I assess your child I will send home some feedback for you to see how your child is doing.

Up and Coming Events:

May 20 Hawaiian Day and Maria Hawkins Performance (Anti-bullying theme)
May 23 Victoria day Holiday
May 27 Pyjama Day
End of the month Character assembly 'Compassion' (date to be announced): Several students in Mme Bernardin's class have been working on a cheer to present to the school during the assembly.
May 30-June 10 EQAO Primary and Junior Assessment
June 15 Spring Fling: More information to follow. But mark this date on your calendar. It's sure to be a fun filled event for the whole family.

June 13,14,15 Auditions for talent show to be held in the gym during first nutrition break. We will have a sign-up sheet. We hope to accept about 20 acts represented by a range of grades and varying talents.
June 21 Talent Show: Time to be announced
June 24 Grade 8 Graduation

Homework:

Grade 1 Reading Printing worksheet

Grade 2 Reading Printing worksheet

Grade 3 EQAO assessment prep

Grade 4 EQAO assessment prep

Grade 5 EQAO assessment prep

Grade 6 EQAO assessment prep

Enjoy the long weekend!

Ms. Legault

Spring Fling

2011-05-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Spring Fling is being held June 15, 2011. Mark your calendars with this date. Sorry for any confusion with dates ( I had posted the incorrect date previously on this blog. Luckily the mistake was caught and the hard copy of the newsletter is correct). It's sure to be a fun-filled family event at General Lake. Thanks to the Parent Council for all their hard work putting this amazing event together.

May 9, 2011

2011-05-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians
I am away May 10, so the homework packages and the hard copy of newsletter will be delayed one day.

Thanks to everyone for supporting our Fundraiser for Technology. The final numbers are not in yet, but we estimate we raised about $700.00. Special thanks to Claudia and Erin for volunteering to process the orders and count the money. If anyone has any ideas for fundraising we would love to hear from you. The next Parent Council Meeting is at the end of the month.

Another great week in Core English as the students are working hard preparing for the EQAO. Students in all grades are being introduced to sample questions. For the next couple of weeks we will be working on both persuasive and descriptive writing. Primary students have been working on Persuasive Writing (Writing designed to persuade or convince) I introduced the lesson by having the kids decide whether Chippy (the Rat) would make a good Yard Patrol(Peer Mediator) and then they developed their argument either for or against. Lots of creative ideas were put forward and we enjoyed a laugh or two as we worked. Junior students have been working on descriptive writing by describing their favourite memory from this year. We spent a couple of days substituting some 'SALSA' words to enhance our writing. Instead of 'laughed' we discovered 'heehawed' and instead of 'funny' we added 'jocularity'. Again lots of fun was had with the new super vocabulary.

This week the Primary will be working on descriptive words (adjectives). Here's a copy of the funny old camp song we sang together with descriptive adjectives:
Great green gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts
Mutilated monkey meat
Little birdies dirty feet
Great green gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts
Shucks I forgot my spoon

Up and Coming events
May 3 New 'Yard Patrol' schedule has been established. Students should check outside Mme Legault's room or listen for announcements for their duties.
May 13 Dress like your favourite Superstar
May 20 Hawaiian Day and Maria Hawkins Performance (Anti-bullying theme)
May 23 Victoria day Holiday
May 27 Pyjama Day
End of the month Character assembly 'Compassion' (date to be announced): Several students in Mme Bernardin's class have been working on a cheer to present to the school during the assembly.
May 30-June 10 EQAO Primary and Junior Assessment
June 15 Spring Fling: More information to follow. But mark this date on your calendar. It's sure to be a fun filled event for the whole family.
June 21 Talent Show: More details to follow. I will probably hold auditions the week before.
June 24 Grade 8 Graduation

Homework
Grade 1 Reading/ Sight Word Worksheet
Grade 2 Reading/ Spelling Word Worksheet
Grade 3 EQAO Package/Reading Incentive Program
Grade 4 EQAO Package/Reading Incentive Program
Grade 5 EQAO Package/Reading Incentive Program
Grade 6 EQAO Package/Reading Incentive Program

Thanks for your continued support
Ms Legault

May 3, 2011

2011-05-02T12:17:00.001-07:00

May 3, 2011

Dear Parents,

Just one last appeal to everyone to get those orders into the school for our Technology Fundraiser. The date has been extended until Friday, May 6 . Every little bit counts. Thanks to all those who have already returned their orders.

Monday was Music Monday, a day designated to promote awareness of the importance of music in the schools. Students in schools all over Canada sang the song written by Luke Doucet entitled "Tomorrow is Coming". In Core English many of the classes examined the lyrics looking for the main idea. Some students on Friday had the opportunity to create a media text (poster) to inform students, staff, and parents about Music Monday. I gave copies of the lyrics to those students who wanted. You can access the song at Itunes for 99 cents. All proceeds go back to support Music Monday. For more information see http://musicmakesus.ca/musicmonday/

Homework

Grade 1 Independent Sight words (Chosen by student) Reading Program

Grade 2 Independent Spelling words Chosen by student) Reading program

Grade 3 -6 EQAO Prep package/ Reading Incentive Program

Mme Malette's class completed their non-fiction brochure. Students are reminded to hand those in by Wednesday, if they have not yet done so. We will not be using any more class time for completion.

Thanks and have a wonderful week
Ms. Legault

April 25, 2011

2011-04-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents/Guardians

I hope everyone had a safe and restful holiday.

Don't forget to return those fundraising orders in this Wednesday. The money we raise is all going toward Smartboards for the classrooms. I will continue this week adding technology to my classes. The students are very enthusiastic about these lessons, although they could be so much better with the Smartboard. I am hoping it will inspire everyone to commit to getting smartboards for the classes.

Homework

Grade 1 Sight word review (Students have chosen 8 words from the list that they need to practice. Students who have mastered all grade level words have created a list for spelling practice) Home reading program

Grade 2 Sight word/Sentence writing (Students who ave difficulty with some sight words will choose 8 words to practice for the week. Students who have mastered the words, have picked 8 words to practice spelling. Home reading program

Grade 3 EQAO work to be returned on Thursday Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 4 EQAO work Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 5 EQAO work Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 6 EQAO work Home Reading Incentive Program

Have a great week

Ms. Legault

INFER SONG

2011-04-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

The Infer Song

(Tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)

Sometimes when you're reading a story

The words are not all there for you

So being a good book detective

Will help you to find any clue

Infer! Infer!

Filling in what is not in the book

Infer! Infer!

It's taking a much closer look

Some authors leave clues in their pictures

Some authors leave clues in their text

They give you just part of the story

And want you to fill in the rest

Infer! Infer!

Filling in what is not in the book

Infer! Infer!

It's taking a much closer look

April 17, 2011

2011-04-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

April 17, 2011

Happy Easter!

This week in the Primary Core English I will not be assigning homework due to the holiday.

Just so you know, in the Primary and Junior classes we have been discussing Non fiction writing and its features including captions, glossary, index and table of contents. Primary students had the opportunity to explore non fiction writing, while the Juniors are designing their own brochures. You can help at home by drawing your child's attention to these features and discussing their purposes.

We have also been continuing our work with inferring. Students participated in a read aloud of 'Something Beautiful' by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find "something beautiful" in even the most unlikely places. As a follow up students then learned 'The Infer Song', which I have enclosed on the blog and on the back of this newsletter.

This week I have been introducing the classes to different media clips that I downloaded from the Ontario Educational Resource site that I recommended in the last newsletter. Ask your child about the technology they have viewed in the classes. The students seem to respond enthusiastically to these lessons. I have downloaded them on my laptop and I project them through my projector on the screen. These same resources can be accessed more effectively through a Smartboard and could be more interactive with touch screen capabilities.

The Parent Council is currently organizing a fundraiser to help raise money to equip the school with Smartboards. I strongly encourage everyone to support this initiative to help support our students. There's a variety of products available in the brochure and the more money we raise, the more technology we can purchase. I would love to see every classroom in the school equipped with this technology. Orders are due April 27th. If 100 people sell just twenty dollars through the holiday we'll have just about enough for 2 Smart boards. Imagine what can happen if we all participate!

Finally be sure to check on the blog for updates on our classroom visitor. Three students wrote some information about Chippy. More information to come, as I post the Primary 'Diary entries of a Rat'. Thanks to all the students for their hard work in completing these.

Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

Ms. Legault

All about our friend Chippy

2011-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Chippy is very calm. Chippy is a Russian Blue Rat. I think he is cute. People think rats are ugly. People are wrong. Rats are very smart. Emily M

Chippy is a Russian Blue rat. He is very calm. He is cute. He has a long tail. He eats seeds, carrots and lettuce. My Mom thinks rats are scary. Chippy is a boy. He is 5 months old. When he is really stressed red liquid comes out of his nose. I hope he never gets stressed at our school. Emily N

Chippy likes to play hide and seek. He likes to twitch his nose. He likes to eat a lot. He likes to climb. Chippy likes kids. He likes to go in his dome. He likes to smell kids. Jeremy

Stay tune for our 'Diary of a Rat' coming soon.

APRIL12, 2011

2011-04-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

April 12, 2011

DEAR PARENTS/GUARDIANS,

Thanks you to all students who handed in their contest entry for the Waste Recovery Centre Recycling Contest. I will get those delivered and I will let you know as soon as I hear of any winning entries.

Just a reminder the Book fair is going on in the school this week April 11-15. Come on out and support the school by purchasing some of the excellent books available for the students.

Our character trait this month is Perseverance.

Homework

Students in grade 1 and 2 are invited to create their own journal entry/diary entry for our new friend Chippy. I have enclosed the worksheet. Students may decorate the page as they wish. I have reminded students to use their Pre-primer/Primer word lists to assist with spelling.

Grade 1 Diary entry Reading A-Z program

Grade 2 Diary entry Reading A-Z program

At a workshop on the PA day I was lucky enough to attend a workshop on the EQAO assessment and best practices. As recommended by the presenter, I am including all students in the EQAO Prep homework. It is no longer considered a grade 3 and 6 assessment, but rather a primary and junior assessment and the format and review will be beneficial to all students. I will introduce the work on the first day. Students bring it home to review with parents to give you a better idea of the expectations. Students will return their work on the designated day for review. I will then be able to address the gaps in their learning. I will begin this next week for the grade 1 and 2 students.

Grade 3 EQAO Prep/ Home reading incentive program

Grade 4 EQAO Prep/Home reading incentive program

Grade 5 EQAO Prep/Home reading incentive program

Grade 6 EQAO Prep/Home reading incentive program

Finally, another resource I was introduced to on the PA day is the Ontario Educational Resource Bank. It is a password protected web site with resources for teachers, students, and parents of students in Ontario District School boards. I will send home the user id and password in the newsletter. As it is an Ontario resource funded by the taxpayer, we have been asked to keep passwords protected. You can access the website at http://resources.elearningontario.ca.

Thanks for your support.

April 5, 2011

2011-04-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

April 5,2011 Dear Parents/Guardians, A short week at General Lake with the PA Day on Friday. Students in the Core English classes were excited by an unexpected visitor to their class. He's furry and friendly and he seems to be adjusting well to the classroom environment. His name is Chippy and he is a Russian Blue rat and he seems very excited to be in the classroom. The students have shown great respect for his needs keeping the noise down. He is part of our introduction to nonfiction writing and text features. Text features are parts of a text that help the reader locate information and learn information. Students are learning to identify features such as captions, bold/highlighted words, glossaries, table of contents, photographs, labelled diagrams, charts, index, maps, headings, titles, fonts. You can help your child by drawing their attention to these features in their reading and discussing how they help the reader. We have finished all the sight words to the end of grade one. Please continue to review the sight words at home. Homework Earth Day Contest Entries due April 14, 2011 Grade 1 Reading Grade 2 Reading Grade 3 At Home reading Incentive Program EQAO Prep Grade 4 At Home reading Incentive Program Return 'Student in Good Standing' Form for Yard Patrol Grade 5 At Home reading Incentive Program Return 'Student in Good Standing ' Form Grade 6 At Home reading Incentive Program EQAO Prep Enjoy your week, Ms. Legault

March 29, 2011

2011-03-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Students in Core English have just about completed their recounts. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to publish some of the works on the blog soon. Students also examined the parts of a recount and should be able to name several different types of recounts including a diary, newspaper account and a journal. Primary students enjoyed the read aloud of the Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin which is an imaginative recount of the fictitious life of a fly. We will be doing more work with this book this week, as well as creating our own Diary of a Rat. More information to follow. Yard Patrol training is now being extended to the grade 4 students. I will use some class time to be training the students in conflict mediation strategies, as well as practising some roleplays with the primary students about how they can use the Yard Patrol. Although I am the English teacher, I feel very passionate about educating students in solving their problems and managing conflict effectively. I feel this training works well in the language program by developing effective communicating and problem solving skills. I will be extending a training session to other classes (grade 4 and up) during first recess on Wednesday at first nutrition break for students interested in learning the strategies to participate as a Yard Patrol. All students involved in the program must have a 'Student in Good Standing' form returned to the school by next Monday.

Special thanks to Mrs. Lavoie and Mrs Kernaghan for all their assistance replenishing the Reading A-Z books for our borrow-a-book library. These are a valuable and well used resource to the students. Thanks for volunteering your time for the students.

Also at last nights Parent Council Meeting it was brought to my attention that parents may be interested in accessing the EQAO website in preparation for the Grade 3 and Grade 6 test. On the site there are assessment samples, as well as information for parents. The test will occur at the end of May beginning of June. Specific dates will be announced closer to the dates.

Here is the site: http://www.eqao.com/

Homework Earth Day Contest Entries due April 14, 2011 (See previous newsletter for information)

Grade 1 Reading Sight Word Worksheet

Grade 2 Reading Sight Word Spelling Worksheet

Grade 3 At Home reading Incentive Program EQAO Prep Booklet (Due Thursday)

Grade 4 At Home reading Incentive Program Return 'Student in Good Standing' Form Practice Peer Mediation Script

Grade 5 At Home reading Incentive Program Return 'Student in Good Standing ' Form

Grade 6 At Home reading Incentive Program EQAO Prep (Due Wednesday)

Ms. Spencer's class will begin a novel study next week. Students can choose to bring in a novel or one will be provided next week. Enjoy your week Ms. Legault

March 22, 2011

2011-03-20T13:08:00.001-07:00

March 22, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back. I hope everyone had a restful March Break.

This week students are working on a recount or newstelling. Students told their story orally, then used a framework to plan their writing addressing the questions who, what, where, when and why. As a sample in the junior grades I used the crisis in Japan as a model. I posted some of the teaching resources on my blog.

Environmental Contest : Students in grades 1-3 are invited to participate in a drawing contest sponsored by the Waste Recovery Centre. Students interested in participating can pick up the template with rules from Ms. Legault. The poster should encourage recycling in public spaces or at special events.

Students in grades 4-6 invited to submit a 25 second environmental radio ad focusing on promoting recycling at special events. Students interested can pick up the entry form and rules from Ms. Legault.

All entries are due to Ms. Legault by April 14, 2011.

Thanks again to all students who submitted a Black Inventor Project to our Museum. The Museum will be set up for another week on the gym stage. Parents may check in at the office during breaks or after school if you wish to have a self-guided tour. I hope to post pictures shortly on the blog of the presentations.

Homework:

Grade 1 Sight word worksheet /Reading Program

Grade 2 Sight word spelling worksheet/ Reading Program

Grade 3 Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 4 Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 5 Home Reading Incentive Program

Grade 6 Home Reading Incentive Program

Teaching Resources for the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami | Edutopia

2011-03-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the March 11, 2011 disaster in Japan, and the ensuing nuclear crisis, Ms Legault's classroom will be giving the students an opportunity to gain deeper understanding of their world through discussion.

I refer to the following blog post as a guide to our inquiry at each grade level.

Teaching Resources for the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami | Edutopia

ONE DROP

2011-03-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

ONE DROP

Limericks by Mme. Malette's Class

2011-03-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

There once was a girl named Emily

Who once got stung by a bee

She let out an ouch

She lay on the couch

And now she can no longer see

By Emily

There once was a girl named Emma

Who had a sister named Femma

Then she went on her bike

And had a big sike

She knew she would not get in that dilemna.

by Emma

One day there was a boy named Kale

Who liked to drink ginger ale

He drank it in bed

And it spilled on his head

Now that poor boy named Kale is in jail.

by Abby

There once was a boy named Kale

Who liked to go for a sail

He had a wish

To capture a fish

But then he got eaten by a whale.

By Maddy and Kale

There once wss a boy named Gared

Whose best friend was named Jarod

They were such big fools

Always near pools

Poor Gared and his dear friend Jarod

There once was a black little bat

Who was mixed with a little black cat

He tried to fly

He went bye bye

Because he was incredibly fat

There once was a kid named Cale

Who drank too much gingerale

He drunk it all

He got too tall

He had to go on sale

By Jarod

There once was a boy named Jack

Who let out a giant WHACK

He hit the ball

There was a fall

His body was blue and black

By Danielle

There was a strong boy at our school

Who acted like a fool

He pushed a kid

Oh yes he did

And then he fell in the pool

By Colby

There once was a girl named Maddy

Who always acted crabby

One day she was mad

So she acted very bad

And her new name was Baddy

By Maddy

There once was a boy named Billy

He always acted so silly

He walked to school

Because he was cool

Waiting to see his best friend Willy

by Liz

Once Billy went to his school
And he tried to act so very cool
He saw his friend Willy
They acted all silly
And they laughed a lot like a fool
By David

There once was a girl named Sarah
Who got bit by the evil fara
She went to her house
She saw a big mouse
And she named the big mouse Lara
By Sarah and Emily

There once was a girl named Alexis
Who lived in the great state of Texas
She had no hope
Till she found a jackalope
And then she drove home in a Lexus
by Alexis

There once was a girl named Danielle
Who loved her cockerspaniel
She called it Maddy
It was always crabby
She should have named it Sunielle
by Maddy and Danielle

Sometimes I wear a a bright yellow vest
And sometimes I can be a naughty pest
When I go to school
I act like a fool
But to my friends I am always the best
By Remi

MARCH 8, 2011

2011-03-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

TWIN DAY ON FRIDAY AT GENERAL LAKE

Only a few days until March break and the excitement is definitely in the air. On Friday we will be holding a Twin day. Students are encouraged to dress alike and participate in the fun! It should be a double fun day!!

I have set up the Black History Museum in the gymnasium. Classes are encouraged to go with their teachers during their scheduled gym time to cut down on disruption to physical education classes. It will be a self guided tour and hopefully very informative. Parents are welcome to stop by during the break time or after school to view the exhibit. Be sure to check in at the office as we are trying to closely monitor all visitors in the school for the safety of our children.

In the Junior classes this week students have been working on poetry. We have focused on similes, metaphors, personification and limericks up to this point. You can read some of our limericks on the blog.

In the Primary classes, students had an opportunity to participate in centres. These include reading, writing, building, and puppetry activities. During this time I have an opportunity to listen to students read individually. Students are really progressing. It's quite a joy to see the gains the students have made. They get very excited about it as well. I will send a note with individual students as I meet with them to let you know the progress they have made. I don't anticipate I will get through all the students so if you don't hear from me, I will be continue to assess after the break.

I had the pleasure of attending the GLPA committee meeting last Thursday and I was surprised to learn that many of our current parents are stepping down in their roles due to postings and other commitments. They have done a phenomenal job in their roles porviding invaluable services to the children including pizza lunches, spaghetti dinners, and other fundraising ventures. We will miss them greatly. That being said. I was also surprised to hear that we are in desperate need of replacements to step forward in order to be ready in September to take over. From what I was told, many of these things we come to enjoy and expect at General Lake for our children may not be possible without the GLPA and the parental support. The next meeting is on March 28 at 6:00 pm (School Council Meeting is at 5:30pm) and we really need people to come out to help fill some of the postitions and to help continue providing the excellent sevices to our children. We would love to see you even if you can only provide minimal support. If we all do just a little, it can make a tremendous difference to our kids.

Finally, I will not be assigning homework this week and for the Break. Students and parents have worked very hard and I think a break is in order. Have a safe and restful holiday and just enjoy some time playing with your kids.

Grade 5 Adventures

2011-03-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Shrinking Adventure by Kale

One day Zac, Braeden and I go for a walk. We see a light and we go over and touch it and we shrink. We get attacked by a monster and I get eaten and I go to its brain and make it beat itself up and then I kill it. Then we go to a scary forest and see one million monsters. We killed all of them. So after we ran I got shot, bit and stabbed. I go to the anthole. The ants heal me. We go in to look for the same light so we can grow, but then we see the light explode. Then we saw 500 pieces flying. We split up to look for the pieces then we find an army of 300 million people. We all split up to find all the pieces. We travel through poisonous swamps, deserts and oceans and a volcano.
I meet a kracken. I kill it and now we have 500 pieces. It is built. The light is a monster you have to kill it to grow back to normal size. It hammers us then we kill it. We grow back. Then out of no where gun fire. The bullet goes through my head. THE END.

The Journey of the Mysterious Frame by Elizabeth

Dear Journal, It's Ryan again. I'm really missing Ami since she moved. She moved to Hollywood to try to live her dream of being a photographer. We went on crazy adventures that no one could imagine. Like the time we went to the abandoned house of Ghost John. It was crazy and when we were there I found a map. I didn't tell Ami about it but it's probably leading to our next adventure. Well, it's 11:00 pm and I should probably get some rest.

10:00 am...Bizzz...I open my phone as I'm half asleep. Dear Ryan, I'm going to the studio today for photography class. Talk to me at 4:00 pm. I quickly text back, "Ami, I really need to tell you something. It's eating me in my sleep." She texts back, "Hurry, just tell me." "I found a map...it has a picture of a ghost with a cross. Got any ideas?" She doesn't answer. "RYAN!" my dad calls, "You have to get to the shop!"

Oh ya, my dad owns a fishing shop. I work there on weekends.

At about 4:05pm I get a text back. I explained to her how I found the map. I took a picture of it and mailed it to her with the phone. This may lead to our next adventure.

"Ryan I got it! I know what the picture is about! It's from the abandoned shack an old man who owned it with his wife. Now they haunt it and there are a lot of clues there!"

" That's great Ami! How far away is it?"

"It's actually 5 hours from where I live. It also says there is an old crate with another map in it, but people are too scared to go. Listen Ryan, tonight I'll sneak out of my house and drive there."

" Okay, but be careful!"

I'm sweating to death! I'm too scared there could be traps or worse, they could be waiting for her....Its 12:00 pm and she says she's at the shack. They're waiting for me Ryan!!They really are!! Be brave! We did this stuff before! Ya, easy for you to say! I'm the one out here freezing and they're waiting for me!

"I got it!"

" What?"

"I got the crate! I'm trying to open it. There were traps everywhere! Luckily I brought my spywear glasses!"

I started texting her like crazy. Fifteen minutes later she answers.

"I opened it and found an old picture frame. I feel like they're surrounding me! I feel like they're following me! They want this back Ryan and they want it now! Well at least we saw some history".

She then took the frame and took it to the library to research it. The librarian stared at the picture frame for a long time when I showed it to her. It was almost closing time so the librarian cleaned the floors. As she did, she slipped and the picture frame smashed to pieces, slowly sinking in the floor. Then the floor opened.

"There it is!" she cried! "The missing stones!"

After that Ami and Ryan were in the newspapers, but when Ami looked through the stones she found a map. Their journey is not over yet!

The Walk by Jasmine

One day Leslie and Fiona went on a walk. But on the way they felt like they were being watched or followed. They stopped and looked back. Nothing was there! So they kept on walking, but they heard a branch snap. But then....A dog ran out of the bush. Fiona screamed!

"Oh, it's only a dog,"said Fiona.

Leslie looked to see if the dog had a tag. There wasn't a tag so Fiona and Leslie took the dog with them. They asked everyone in the town, but no one claimed the dog. So Leslie and Fiona decided to keep the lost wild dog. The End.

A Mouse named Mousey by Zac C

Once upon a time there was a cute mouse walking in the park. That mouse was the nicest mouse in Cheeseland. But one day something bad happened to that mouse. Mousey became evil.

How did he become evil? It was at school. It was first break. There was a bad mouse named Cheddar. He was very mean and scary. Mousey was terrified when Cheddar walked up to him. Cheddar told him the worst story of his life:

"Once upon a time there was a mouse named Mousey", said Cheddar. "Mousey hated everybody in Cheeseland country. The only person he liked was Cheddar. The End:"

After hearing that Mousey changed. He became evil. Then it looked like he was transforming into a monster. He looked at everybody. He had stitches on his face. He had red eyes. He had razor sharp nails and razor sharp teeth. After a few seconds he killed everybody in the playground except Cheddar. Cheddar said something to Mousey, "If we stick together we can rule the world". Mousey said okay. To be continued....

Friendly Adventure by Emma

One day I went on a walk with our teacher Ms. Legault and my two friends Remi and Sarah. Sarah was walking with Ms. Legault and Remi and I were talking about how cool it would be to be in a jungle. At that moment we saw something in the forest. Remi and I went to check it out.

We were both walking when we fell into a hole. But it was not just any hole, it was a magic hole! We fell but when we got up from that huge fall we found ourselves in a jungle with all of these magical creatures. Remi's favourite was the frog that could fly and talk. Remi and I started walking around this magical place.

When Remi and I found ourselves where we could not find Ms. Legault or Sarah. We kept looking and looking but they were no where to be found. Then I fell into a gigantic footprint. It was Big Foots print.

Remi heard something in the bushes. It was BIG FOOT!

Remi and I ran. Finally we got away from him, but we knew he was going to keep looking for us. Emma and Remi finally were brave enough to come out of hiding. After the day and night we found him. He was sitting looking very lonely. So we went over and asked if he knew where we could get home.

He said yes. He took us to a transporting hole. He also mentioned that we could not say anything and that the people we were with won't even notice we were gone. He sent us home. But before I went, I introduced him to the frog that could fly and talk and told him to write if they became friends. Remi and I left and went home without saying anything.

But before you knew it, it was the next day and I got a letter. It was from Big Foot. He said that they were great friends and they do everything together. Now he is not lonely and everything was great. THE END.

Forbidden Island by Zack R.

In a place I like to call the forbidden island surrounded by fog, there was a kingdom with guards who always listened to the king. That's where our story begins. I'm a terrorist and I am looking for the kings crown which isn't easy you know. That's why I prepared a special team to do the right job. We have been training for months. We zoomed past the guards when they were asleep. We went in the treasure room and stole as much as we could take. Then we ran for our lives.

But they were chasing us on horses, when we were on foot, but we still ran for our lives. But they fell in a hole that led to a tunnel. They made it their headquarters and they were never seen again. Until they came out to steal yet again.

Ryan by David

Hi, my name is Ryan. I live in Bob's place. I know its weird, but I have to deal with it. Okay, one of my friends is named Sarah. We live close. She is across the street. I am fifteen and she is sixteen.

So one day we went in the forest and we found a box. It had a map. If you want to know what it had, keep reading. If not, leave! Okay we found a map. In the middle it had the name old Bob Bush written on it. Sarah and I did some research. Guess what! He was the founder of our town.

We went to California. It said to go there. Sarah went and it said go to a stop light. We found a tape and we watched it. We were scared but that is okay.

Well it had a guy who said beware of old Bob Bush and we did. So we still have a mystery.

It said watch out. He can come in your dream and kill you. Well no one has seen him. No reports either. Okay so Sarah and I went to his old house. It was abandoned. There was nothing but pictures.

So we grabbed one. It said it was taken in 1928. It is now 2008. I just came back from Protland. My parents don't care but they don't know what we're up to so I hope they don't care. My journey is not over yet.

The Curse of the Sphinx by Alexis

One day my friends Liz, Sarah, my Mom and I went on a trip to Egypt. When we got there we met an Egyptologist. He gave us an ancient box.

When Liz saw a picture of a sphinx on the top we tried and tried to open it. It was really rusty so my mom washed it and it was pure gold! The next day on our way to the sphinx we passed a line of stones. As soon as we passed it the box opened up to the shape of a star. We searched the sphinx until we found the same star on the sphinx.

We went back that night and placed the star and turned it. Suddenly Liz fell in a trap door, so we followed Liz and we saw two paths. We also saw hieroglyphs on the wall in front of us. Luckily Sarah had a hierogylphics dictionary. The path left was the emergency exit and to the right was the Tomb of Queen Arieanithiya, so of course we went right. When we got to the end of the path there was a solid gold sarcophagus. Like all sarcophagus' there was hierpglyphics on it. So Sarah translated it and it said "Here lies Queen Arieanithiya. Do not disturb or face the wrath of a deadly curse!" So instead we touched it with a stick. All of a sudden the tunnel and we heard a horrifying screech like nails scratching a chalkboard but a lot louder. Then the walls started to cave in so we ran up the stairs and took the emergency exit. When we got out we smashed the box with a hammer and burned it so that the curse would never be set free.

Forbidden Forest by Jarod W

One day my friend and I went on a walk in the forbidden forest. We walked for hours and hours until I hit a tree.

"Huh?" I said

I waited for awhile, then I looked up. I saw an old rusty treehouse called Cheeseland. So we climbed up. The treehouse looked pretty small from the outside, but its really a city of cheese in the inside.

My friend loves cheese so he began eating the cheese. He kept on running and running and he wouldn't look out so he fell in a sink hole and an army of rats took him away to a different dimension.

It was night time so I had to find a place to sleep, but I didn't want to sleep in cheese, so I walked outside and found a place to make a shelter. When it was morning, I had breakfast then I went on my adventure to find my friend. To be continued.

McDonald's Adventure

One day we were going on a walk and the trees started spinning. We thought it was a tornado, but then the whole world turned dark. When it turned light our dog Rover ran to a drive through McDonald's. The dinner guy stole Rover by tricking him.

"Rover... Where the heck can you be?" yelled Max.

"I don't know, but he's a dog. Dogs like exploring. He might show up again."

"I hope!" says Max and Stella together.

Suddenly the McDonald's place turns into a secret mansion.

"FRANKENSTEINS CASTLE" yelled Stella.

They entered . Then skulls appeared everywhere. "AHHHH!" screamed Stella.

"It's Okay", Max told Stella.

Then the floor creaked.

"Don't move!" Max told Stella.

"Let's get out of here!" said Stella.

CRACK BOOM

The floor broke and they landed on the basement floor with a loud bang! They saw Rover in a cage. They tried to get him out but then they heard a snoring sound. ZZZZZZZZ!

Stella broke a metal pipe and got Rover out of his cage. Frankenstein woke up and Rover go eaten, but a different pipe sliced Frankenstein in the head. Then the world turned back normal.

"I can't believe Rover sacrificed himself for us" said Max.

The Fight by Sam

One day Sarah, Maddy and Samantha went on a walk. Sarah and Samantha got into a fight about who Maddy likes best.

Maddy gets mad and goes home to think of a plan, but Sarah and Samantha are still fighting.

The next day Maddy comes back with a plan and it works. Sarah and Samantha stop fighting and they are best friends again. The End

War Adventure by Connor

One day my friend and I walked into the forest. We saw JB signing the a drop ship and a pelican crash landed in the park. Everyone went to see what happened. An elite killed JB with an energy sword. We looked back and 100 elite came. We thought one elite survived that killed Noah.

We said NOOOOOOOOO!

BiZZZZZ zzz from the hunter Zac!

ZZZZ

What happened?

Prepare to fire!

What?

He can take it!

I betrayed my teams confidence.

Hold your fire. You're on our team.

Yes says the armatour. Good.

Oh no another drop ship.

Come on hide.

Okay GO GO GO. Why did we have to hide.

They didn't know I betrayed them. Okay let's follow that drop ship.

Get on my pelican.

Okay

Fire, bam, bam, bam BOOM!

Yes

BOOM

That was our ship.

BAM,BAM, BAM BOOM!

We're going down!

Everyone okay.

Yup!

Good!

If you want to win you have to take out the command ship. Let's go.

There!

We're on! Let's go!

Fries. Go Kale fine

(computer) Self destruct in ten seconds

Run

Jump!

We're on Kale

Hurry

BOOM NO His helmet.

Ten years later.......

Cluck. His helmet belongs here where he died but we should go okay. To be continued.

The Soule Adventure: Book One by Jarod K

One day my friends and I went on a walk. We were walking in a forest in Petawawa. I said come here guys. Jarod, Fatso, Werdy, Heart, Silver, Gold and Bouy went to the path. Then a murderer attacked. We started to run.

We hid behind a tree. The murderer used his flame thrower and burned the tree down. I said, "Run for your life!"

The murderer threw his dynamite and TNT box and his bomb. We got away from the massive explosion. He gets out his machine gun and starts shooting at us. Nerooooo! We were a head by alot. Then the murderer got one and he was on our tail. We ran to Afghanistan in a second. Then we ran back. We were so scared. He was on our tail still. We were going faster by the minute. We were turning and turning to try to get ahead, but it didn't work. He was still right behind us. We were getting tired but it was a break with death or no break and living. We took no break and life. We tried to do a turn again. He got closer to us. He shot a bullet. It reflected off Fatso's belly and it killed the murderer. We were safe.

The Walk By Jenna

One day Kendra and I went on a walk. It started to get dark. We fell in a hole. We didn't stop falling until we saw a tunnel and we climbed in. We saw a land changing colours by the second. But they weren't colours of the rainbow. They were dark colours. Half of the land was colourful but turning dark slowly but fast. Talking animals came and said, "the person that runs this land and make it nice is making it worse by sending evil creatures everywhere to capture us animals!"

Kendra and I asked, "Well what can we do?"

"Well save us, of course" said the animals.

"Well how do we know you guys aren't bad or mean?"

"WELL GIRLS IF YOU DON"T TRUST US, WE"LL CAPTURE YOU....SHHHH'!"

"Well we don't trust any of you so we're going to leave now."

Kendra and I went back in the hole and started to fall the opposite way we fell before..

When we got back to our world we woke up and found out it was just a dream and we never talked to strangers again.

The Shrunken Mystery By Braeden

One day a man was walking in a forest. He saw a light and he was shrunk. It was getting cloudy so he found some shelter. He woke up the next day and a beast attacked him. He was eaten. Luckily he has a pocket knife and he cut the beast opened. He escaped but what happened to him? How did he shrink? Whatever the reason he was going to find out.

TEN YEARS LATER...

After years of searching he finally found something to turn him back to normal size. It was a golden apple. The juice turned him back to normal and he lived happily ever after.

The Very Scary Day by Liam

Once upon a time three friends were walking in the woods when one of the three friends had a weird feeling that someone or something was following them. About an hour later it started to get dark and they started to get scared and suddenly they saw something.

"What was that?" said Kyle.

"I don't know!" said Russell.

"Who cares!" said Liam.

"Should we start to go home?" said Kyle..

"Your such a scaredy cat!" said Liam.

"Scaredy cat, Scaredy cat," sang Liam and Russell.

"I'm not a scaredy cat!" said Kyle.

"Then prove it," said Liam.

"Fine, let's keep going ," said Kyle.

Now it was 9:30 and Liam, Kyle, and Russell were hearing bushes moving and branches crunching and they were lost.

"Do you think we should camp out here at least for the night?" said Russell.

"I guess," said Kyle.

The next morning when Kyle woke up Liam and Russell were gone. He yelled,"Russell, Russell, Liam?"

Then Kyle said, "I need to find them!" So Kyle packed all of his stuff and started his adventure to find his friends.

Meanwhile...

"Where are we", said Russell.

"We're in super man's lair! How would I know where we are!" said Liam.

"Hello", said the big bad wolf.

"Who are you. Show yourself!"said Russell.

"No, why would I. That will give away my identity." said the voice.

"But I already know who you are", said Russell. "What's your name again?"

"The big bad wolf" said the voice.

"Oh you're the big bad wolf. You're going down!" said Russell.

"Run", said Liam as they started to sprint away.

There is no escape said the big bad wolf.

"HELP!!!" yelled Liam and Russell.

Meanwhile, Kyle heard a voice. "What was that. It's coming from that direction," thought Kyle. I'm going to check it out.

Two days later its time said the big bad wolf.

"No it's not!"said Kyle and he took Liam and Russell and they escaped the big bad wolf.

The boys learned a lesson never to walk in the forest without a flashlight and they lived happily ever after.

The Heroes of the Day by Kendra

One day my friend and I went on a walk. It was very strange. We saw a bird with four wings. There were trees made of bananas, that looked good enough to eat and there were little people everywhere screaming, "Save us, save us. An evil robot dinosaur is trying to take over our world!"

After we went to a secret place to discuss it. We were determined to save the little people, but we were scared. We looked up a magical scientist on the internet to find out what the evil robot dinosaurs' weakness was.

After hours and hours we finally found it! We went to get lots of it. We went under cover as baby dinosaurs. We found it sleeping. We put its weakness beside it which was pie. We left....but we left cameras in his lair.

The next day we went back to our secret place. We looked on the magical scientist computer and saw that the dinosaur woke up and ate all the pie and EXPLODED!!!!

We told the little people we saved their world. We were the heroes of the day. THE END

Susan and Fido's Walk in the Forest by Leslie

Once upon a time a little girl named Susan and her weiner dog named Fido went for a walk in the forest. As they got deeper into the forest they realized that they were LOST. But suddenly they heard a noise that was coming out of the bushes. It got closer and closer, AND THEN!.....

It was just a squirrel. Fido chased and chased the squirrel until they realized the squirrel had led them home, YAY!

Mary and Buster by Fiona

One day Mary and her dog Buster went for a walk. They kept hearing strange noises and while they were walking Mary noticed the path was getting smaller and smaller until there was no path at all. They were lost. Mary ran with Buster but Buster had such stubby legs he couldn't run as fast. Buster finally got in front of Mary and fell down a hole. Mary tried to grab him...but this strange rabbit pushed her in. As she fell she noticed she was falling in the clouds. When she was falling her eyes were closed. So she landed on some type of wood floor. SHE WAS ON A PIRATE SHIP! She looked down and all there was were clouds! She was floating in the sky! She felt alone until Mary remembered that Buster fell down the hole first!

S0 Mary looked around and around until she found a door. The door led to a really big room where all the pirates were circled around something. She squeezed through everyone and found Buster. The pirates acted like they never saw a little girl or a dog.

"HMMMMM...hi,"said Mary. 'My name is Mary and this is my dog Buster." She asked if the pirates knew where her house was. The pirates looked at each other and nodded their heads. But one said,"I don't know but I know who would!"

So he looked at a thin pirate slave and nodded his head. The boy got whale bait but it wasn't normal bait. It was the biggest whale bait Mary had ever seen. The thin pirate slave threw the bait and a big whale came. The pirate slave told them to jump on. So we jumped on. The whale asked where Mary wanted to go. She said to 406 Prowse street in Pat Forest. The whale took her in three seconds. She finally got home. She felt happy. The End.

MARCH 1, 2011

2011-02-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Awesome work done in Core English! Students in grade 3-6 have completed some fine projects commemorating the Black Inventors. Work will be showcased soon on the stage in the gym. I hope to get it all set up in the next few days for the rest of the school to view. Students in Mme Bell's class have an extension until next Monday, March 9 due to insufficient time given in class to research their inventor.

Last week we began an anti bullying campaign with Pink shirt day. Emma C and Fiona have continued the work through daily announcements about the role of the bystander. We will continue this work at this month's Character Assembly on Friday. Students in the junior grades will be doing an anti-bullying presentation.

Junior grades have been working on poetry and examining poetic techniques used in writing. Mme Bell's class continues to work on the Chapter book Stone Fox. They have been presenting chapter summaries to the class using various presentation techniques. They will continue their work diving into the text more in depth and responding to questions regarding the text using the EASY method of responding to questions.

Primary grades worked on short plays using sight words, as well as continuing their work reading the story of Harriet Tubman. Students then learned a 'Sound Off' song about question words (which I will send home with their homework folders) and they developed a list of questions they still have regarding Minty and the Underground railroad. This week they will continue respond to the text by comparing their life to Minty.

Finally congratulations to Grade 3 students Abby and Tommy for being the first in their division to read and record their reading for over 100 days. These students have been rewarded with the first of the DAK bands. These bands are deliberate acts of kindness bands. They are linked to a website which has a number to register their act online. These students have received 4 bracelets to kick off this initiative. One is for them to keep for their hard work reading and acting as role models to inspire others to read. The other 3 are for them to give away to someone they recognize that is doing a good deed or act of kindness. I have registered the bands at http://www.deliberateactsofkindness.com. This is a website that tracks the bands. Students can register their act of kindness on this site, then the bands can be passed along to someone else. I will continue to reward students throughout the school with these bands and hopefully it will begin a chain of good deeds throughout the school. Watch for these bands on the General Lake community!

Homework

Grade 1 Reading A-Z Printing Worksheet

Grade 2 Reading A-Z Printing Worksheet(spelling words)

Grade 3 Home reading incentive program

Grade 4 Home reading incentive program

Grade 5 Home reading Incentive program

Grade 6 Home reading incentive program

DEADLINE EXTENDED

2011-02-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

The deadline for the Black Inventor Project has been extended for Mme Bell's grade 3/4 class, as many students did not have the same amount of time working on the project and accessing the inventor site during class time as the other classes. Most students have chosen their Inventor and if they do not have internet access at home, I will provide time to print off some information to use in their projects. Some students mentioned that some information is limited on several of the inventors so we may need to duplicate several projects.
Some helpful sites include:

http://www.blackinventor.com/
http://inventors.about.com/od/blackinventors/a/black_inventors.htm
Thank you for your patience with this project. I look forward to displaying the students museum in the front entrance of the school.

Poetic Devices Definitions

2011-02-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

Poetic Devices

Definitions

Tone

feelings or meanings conveyed in the poem

Not so much what is being said but how it is said

Stanza

a grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme.

Provides order and an expectation of closure

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using like or as.

“My love is like a red rose.”

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things without using like or as. Something is something else

The doctor inspected the rash with a vulture's eye.

Personification

Giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects

My shoes are killing me.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in a group or words close together

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound

The eagle lived free and easy.

Hyperbole

Overstatement or exaggeration

I will just die if I do not go to the party.

Symbol

On object or idea that stands for something else.

Common symbols for love are roses and hearts. A dove is a symbol for peace.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words which imitate sound

Buzz, tweet, ping

Imagery

Words that appeal to the senses.

Creates vivid mental pictures (sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound).

Speaker

The voice in the poem (not always the poet).

Provides focus.

Oxymoron

a seeming contradiction in two words put together

Jumbo shrimp

February 21, 2011

2011-02-21T06:57:00.001-08:00

February 21, 2011

Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday!!

On Wednesday, February 23, 2011 of this week students at General Lake are encouraged to wear something pink for an anti-bullying awareness day. This idea comes from two incredible Nova Scotia high school students and their friends who organized a high school protest in support of a grade 9 boy who was being bullied. They distributed pink t-shirts to all the boys in their school. Here's a part of the Globe and Mail article describing their idea:

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school.

‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’

So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag.

As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled.

The bullies were never heard from again.”

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Legions's Public Speaking Event on Sunday February 20, 2011. In the Primary division we were well represented by Skye, Mitchell Jeremy and Keira. In the Junior division we were represented by Tiana, Emma, and Miranda and in the intermediate we were represented by Melora, Annie and Mikayla. Many people commented to me what a great showing General Lake made this year. Special congratulations to Jeremy and Miranda for placing second in their division. Well done General Lake!!

This week the Grade 1 and 2 students are working on their plays, as well as reading the story of Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder.

The grade 3 students have been reading a novel called Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner and they are working on a group presentation of their assigned chapter. Students have chosen a variety of ways to present their work including making models, acting it out, creating a stick pivot animation and making a picture. I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful presentations.

The grade 4, 5,and 6's have been working on an anti-bullying presentation for Wednesday, poetry work, as well as beginning their Black Inventors museum. For the inventor project, at this point most students have an idea of who they will be studying. I will provide computer time for students to print out information about their inventor. The due date is February 28. Students are asked to have a picture of their inventor (if possible), a prop as well as a short write up about their person. I modelled what I expected in class using the streetlight and the inventor Garrett Morgan. I will leave my model on display outside the classroom for students to look closely at. The write up should include who they are, when, where, what they invented, why they invented it. It should be a paragraph including a topic sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence. I look forward to having the work on display in the school for other students to view.

The criteria for marking will be as follows:

Included an effective, interesting prop and photograph (if possible) 1 2 3 4

Writing includes all details (who what where when and why 1 2 3 4

Overall presentation is visually effective and appealing 1 2 3 4

Grade 4,5,and 6 students will be reading the poem I Rise this week by Maya Angelou and discussing the various poetic devices used in her work. Here's the poem we will be discussing.

I Rise by Maya Angelou

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Homework

Grade 1 Reading Printing

Grade 2 Reading Spelling

Grade 3 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 4 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 5 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 6 Reading at home program Inventor project

Have a great week everyone!

Grade 6 Adventure Stories

2011-02-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Missing Voice by Mikayla

One day my friend and I went for a walk. Then all of a sudden a door appeared in front of us.

"I wonder where it goes?" said Morgan.

"Maybe we should go through it."

We stepped through the door. First thing we noticed was we were under water. Then a shark was in the nearby distance. The shark said to follow him, so we did!

Right in front of us was a giant palace with sea horses, sharks, sea turtles and fish. Pearl, the Queen of the mermaids, gave us a scroll.
It said, "Please help me! I lost my voice and I can't find it."
So we told the Queen we would help her find it.
So we set out on our journey. We were swimming for hours, then we saw a bright light and heard someone signing. We saw a giant octopus. She had Queen Pearl's voice. Morgan tried to grab it. What a surprise she got it! We swam as fast as we could. Queen Pearl thanked us for finding her voice and she granted us a wish and we were home. The End

Farkles by Sydney

One day My sister, Scribble and I were walking in a tropical forest when we heard a loud roar behind us. We turned around and saw a pink sparkly dinosaur!

"Run!" yelled Scribble.

Scribble and I started running really fast, but the dinosaurs legs were longer than ours and it caught up to us easily.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" we yelled.
"Shut it, please" yelled the dino.

Then we got quiet. We heard the big roar, but it was coming from the dino's tummy.

"Sorry," said the dinosaur, "I'm very hungry. Do you happen to have something to eat?"

"Nope," said my sister, "We didn't know that we would meet a hungry dino." "Who are you guys, anyway?"

"I'm Doodle," I said.

I'm Scribble." said my sister.

"Cool!" said the dino." "I'm Jube-Jube. Pleased to meet you!"

In the following days Jube-Jube, Scribble, and Doodle became good friends.
The End

The Cookie Saviour by Jada

One day my friend Julia and I went on a walk. We decided to go in the forest. We didn't really know where we were going because we hadn't been there before but we didn't have bread crumbs. We just kept walking. We went pretty far and we were both tired and hungry.

"Julia, do you know the way home?" I said.
"How am I supposed to know?" complained Julia.
"Of course," I said, "All you have been doing is facebooking the whole time!"

"It's not my fault. I'm trying to update my Farm on Farmville!!"
"Whatever!" I said "Let's just try to find our way back home."

"I think we're going the wrong way."said Julia.

"Well , sorry. I didn't bring a map, but there wouldn't be a way of..."

I cut her off. "I know Julia".

It had been hours and we were both tired and hungry.

"Julia...Julia? Julia wake up", I said.

"Huh cookies." said Julia.

"What?" I said.

"I smell cookies!"said Julia.

"Ow!" I screamed, "You bit me!"

"Sorry", said Julia.

"Hey, I see somebody. OVER HERE!!!" we both screamed "It's Taya and Maria!"

"Are you guys lost too? Julia asked.

"Yep, we can't find our way out," said Taya.

"I smell cookies!"said Maria

"I told you," said Julia.

"Follow the scent", said Taya.

"I can see the light," I said.

"Grandma!" Julia and I screamed

"A way out, we found a way out by cookies," said Maria.

"Yum..."said Julia.

"Hi Grandma, we're all starving. Can we have a cookie?" I said.
" Of course but what happened?" said Grandma .

It's a long story" we all said.

And we all fell asleep on our plates of cookies.

THE END

Forest Adventure by Taya

One day Sydney and Jada were walking in the forest and they started to hear noises. They met Julia and Maria. Then it started getting dark as the four friends walked.

Then Jada heard some freaky noises and then she asked Sydney, "Did you just hear that?"

Jada looked around and then Sydney said, "Yes I did!"

The four girls kept on walking through the forest. Maria stopped walking and turned around. Julia said, 'RUN!"

All four of the girls screamed and ran.

Sydney said, "OKAY, I think we can stop running now!"

"But I'm still scared!" Sydney and Jada were very scared!

Then Jada screamed, "Maria!"

Then Maria says, "WHAT??"

Jada said, "CELLPHONE! Where is your cellphone? Call for help!!!!...You do have your phone don't you????"

"Yes..ohh yeah. Who do you want me to call?"

"I don't know call anyone who would know what to do or how to help us!"says Sydney.

Maria says "Okay, well ummmm. How about Erin? She might know."

They are calling Erin. Erin picks up the phone. She says sleepily, "Hello, who is this?"

"It's Maria, Sydney, Jada and Julia", they all say.

Erin says "Okay, well where are you in the forest?"

Jada says, "I don't know!"

Sydney says, "Near a hole!"

"Okay I'm coming!" Erin says.

They hear footsteps.

"Hey! I told you I would be hear soon!"says a familiar voice.

"Thank-you Erin. You came super fast!"

Then Erin saved them. "You know you should have put out bread crumbs!"

"Whatever Erin!" says Sydney.

Then they all walked out of the forest. The End

The Monster Tummy by Erin

Once upon a time Popcorn, the butterfly was flying with her friends in a rain forest. They loved to play tag.

One day they were playing tag and they saw a dinosaur. "We better stay away from that Dino,"said Popcorn.

"Well I don't care," said Jada, "Come over HERE YOU FAT DINO!"

The dino saw and heard Jada and came over and snapped her up in his jaws and as a dessert he snapped up Tub too.

The rest of the butterflies flew away and hid in a hollow log.

"We have to get Tub and Jada back", said Marty.

"Yeah, we should" said Taya.

"So we should feed him something nasty," said Buttercup.

"Good idea", said Popcorn.

So they all went and picked a green mushroom. We took it to the dino and said, "We brought you a green butterfly!"

The dino ate the mushroom. He started to say "this butterfly is nasty, what is...."But he never finished because he started to puke up butterfies. Finally we saw Jada and Tub come out. "Woah, that was nasty." they both said and they rushed off to the river to wash off all the dino puke.
"Well that teaches you not to call a dino fat,"said Popcorn, as they rushed off to find Tub and Jada.

Will you be my friend? by Kyle

Once upon a time there was a twelve year old boy named Mr. K. He's been looking for friends for his whole life. This story started with a walk in the park, and like always Mr. K was looking for a friend.

Then he saw someone leaning on a tree. Mr. K decided to ask him if he wanted to be friends. But right before he was going to ask him, he knew that person.

THAT WAS THE COOLEST PERSON IN HIS SCHOOL! It was Russell.

Mr. K started to shake. It looked like he had guts in his pants. Russell had no interest in being his friend.

Walk in the Woods by Dominic

One day my friends and I went on a walk in the woods. It started getting dark so we headed home.

"It feels like someone is following us", whispered Liam.

"It is just the wind" I replied.

As we walked home Liam and Russell noticed that someone was walking toward us pretty fast! A couple of seconds later he started chasing us.

"Run", I yelled.

We hid for awhile after ditching the man and we left Liam running away from him. When we got home we told our parents and we went looking for Liam.

"Whoops!"I said in my head. After three hours we heard his voice.

"No,no, let me go!"

Liam was in a hut deep in the woods trapped by the hobo.

"Call the cops!"said Mom

No, we shouldn't. He'd probably run away,"I said. to myself and after constantly filing the rope with my Mom's nail file, Liam was free and we ran home!

Spots and Dippie by Zoey

One day Jada, Maria, Sydney and I went to the pink sparkly caves in Africa. We walked into the cave. When we walked in a cheetah jumped out.

"Halt, who goes there? said Sydney.

"My name is Spots," said the cheetah.

Then all of a sudden the cheetah fell through the floor of the cave.

We all looked through the hole and we yelled "SPOTS!".

"MEOW!"yells Spots.

"Oh no, Spots fell down the hole", said Jada.

"Are you okay?" I said.

"Yes," said Spots.

Spots was okay. The girls all jumped down the hole to save Spots.

When they got down there, they saw the most amazing thing ever...

"DINOSAUR! we all yelled.

"AHHHHH HUMANS" yelled the dinosaur.

They ran away. Then Spots ran after the dinosaur and told her to stop.

"What's your name?" said Spots.

"My name is Dippie", said the dinosaur.

"Well, its nice to meet you" said Spots as we caught up to them.

"Hi, Spots, it's good that you made a new friend, but we need to get you out of here," said Sydney.
"I know", said Dippie, "Climb on my back!"

"Okay", we all said.

"Finally home", I said. The End

Park Adventure by Russell

One day my friends and I went on a walk in the park. We saw these guys that were drunk. Kyle got really scared because they started walking towards us. So we ran away and we got lost.
We didn't know where we were. Kyle got so scared he wet himself. The guys that were drunk were catching up to us. So Kyle climbed a tree and waited until the guys walked by. Then we got out and ran the other way which scared me even more.
Then they said that I was drunk but I said no. I called the cops. They were on their way so I made a trap to catch the guys that were drunk because they looked like the robbers that had escaped from jail and were never seen again. I climbed a tree but they saw me, so they were waiting for me at the bottom of the tree. But the cops came and they hit the trap. It was to make them hit a bench and fall down and that's what happened. Then the cops came and took them away. I went home and told my parents what happened. They didn't believe me one bit. I wonder why. The End

February 15, 2011

2011-02-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

February 15, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians
Another great week in the Core English. Students practised and performed their storytelling and speeches. So many students did such a great job. It was a really difficult task to pick only three from each class to participate in our school-wide public speaking events. COngratulations to the following students who will present in the gym on February 16 at 9:30 am: Komal, Gbolu, Lauren, Skye, Breaelle, Emma M, Mitchell St, Rebecca, Tanner, Angelina, Jeremy and Farati.

In the Primary grades 1 and 2 you will notice we have returned to the reading program. You should receive 2 books in your package, along with a different format for recording the reading. I am trying to get the students to think about the strategies they are using during their reading which include sounding it out, looking for smaller words, looking at pictures, and reading on then going back. Students should be able to articulate what they do when they come to a word they don't know. Also the Grades 1 and 2 students have completed all Primer and Pre-primer words. I am sending home a copy of our word wall with all of these words to assist the students when they are creating their stories and sentences in the homework. We are beginning our level 1 words this week in the homework assignments.

Special thanks to Mrs. Kernaghan for volunteering her time to make some new A - Z books. Hopefully the new titles will inspire some of our beginning readers.

Please continue to send in those pennies for the Pennies for Peace as well as your canned tabs for wheelchairs. There is a drop off jar at the front entrance to deposit these items.

February is Black History Month and as part of program the junior students will be creating a mini musuem of artifacts invented by people of African descent. Students chose their inventor/invention this week and next week they will prepare a short write-up about the inventor, as well as some information on the invention. Watch for the framework, as well as the criteria I will use for marking the work. The due date will be the end of February.

Homework
Grade 1 Printing worksheet Reading Program
Grade 2 Printing worksheet Reading Program
Grade 3 Cursive Writing Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 4 Cursive Writing Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 5 Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 6 Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28

February 8, 2011

2011-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

February 8, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

After much thought and deliberation I have decided to maintain the paper newsletter. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. It's really important for me to be communicating with parents especially in the Core English program. I have the students with me for such a short period of time and many forget a lot of the information or activities. At least with the newsletter and the blog everyone gets two opportunities to peek into the classroom.

This week we are carrying on the work begun by Ms. Bernardin in 'Pennies for Peace', which was founded by Greg Mortenson. For those who may not know, General Lake is collecting pennies to provide educational opportunities for students in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have/or will be (depending on the class) reading the following books and the students will be/ have been involved in various activities to develop awareness for the cause. I encourage everyone to bring in their pennies. More information about the program is located at http://www.penniesforpeace.org/

A penny in Canada has little worth, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy:

1 penny = one pencil

2 pennies = one eraser

15 pennies = one notebook

$2 or $3 = one teacher’s salary for one day

$20 = one student’s school supplies for one year

$600 = one teacher’s annual salary

$5,000 = support for existing school for one year

$50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

(Source: Central Asia Institute)

Students in Core English have been busy practising their public speaking. Students in Grades 1 to 3 have been practising and presenting their storytelling. Students in Grade 4 - 6 have prepared a speech on their own individual topic. Official presentations will begin on Friday. Good luck to everyone. Most effective public speakers in the primary division will be asked to present in the gym on February 16 at 9:30. I will let individual parents know if their child is selected. On February 17 the speeches will be presented at 2:40 in the gym. Again I will let individual parents know if their child is selected. Thanks to everyone for their help.

The Peer Mediators have just begun their duties on the kindergarten and primary playground this week. They voted on their name and they are now officially the 'YARD PATROL'. The grade 5 and 6 students are very excited with their new role. Any feedback is welcome as we are always trying to improve. I will be training another group of students after the March break. I already have a huge list of interested applicants. Thanks to everyone for being so enthusiastic and working so hard to learn their mediation skills.

Finally another young group of General Lake leaders have demonstrated initiative by proposing a canned tab collection. The idea was originally proposed by former student (Morgan), then Brianna, Zoey and Mikayla have quickly taken on the cause. Watch for more details, but for now please start collecting your pop tabs. The tabs are converted to money to buy wheelchairs. The girls have investigated this idea and more information will follow. Until then, Save Save Save!

Homework:

Grade 1 (No reading books have been distributed) Printing practice; Storytelling (Something From Nothing)

Grade 2 (No reading books have been distributed) Printing/Spelling practise; Storytelling (Something From Nothing or their own story)

Grade 3 (No reading books have been distributed) Cursive; Storytelling (Individual books)

Grade 4 Cursive; Speeches

Grade 5 Speeches

Grade 6 Speeches

Have a great week!

Something From Nothing

2011-01-31T16:52:00.000-08:00

Summary:

When Joseph is a baby, his grandfather makes him a wonderful blanket. After a while

his mother tells him that the blanket is worn out and should be thrown away. Joseph

does not want to give up his blanket and tells his mother that his grandfather can fix

it. Grandpa turns it round and round. His scissors go snip, snip, snip. His needle goes in and out,

in and out, in and out. Sure enough, Grandpa has “just enough material” to make a wonderful jacket.

Over time, Grandpa uses the material to make a vest, then a tie, then a handkerchief,

and finally a button. When Joseph loses the button, his mother declares that even

Grandpa cannot make “something from nothing.” The next day Joseph goes to school

and starts to write. He realizes he has “just enough material” to make a wonderful

story. This warm story was adapted from a Jewish folk tale and offers a loving portrait

of shtetl life in Eastern Europe.

February 1, 2011

2011-01-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the last hard copy version of the class newsletter. Next week the newsletter will only be posted on the blog, unless I hear otherwise. So far I have been hearing only positive responses to my paperless proposal.

Students have been busy this past week preparing speeches and storytelling. Students in grade 4, 5, and 6 chose a topic for their speech and they were given time to write. They should now be practising their speech memorizing as much as possible. They should be working on adjusting their speed; using gestures effectively; and making eye contact with the audience. The speeches are expected to be 3 - 5 minutes. Students will be given opportunities this week to practise their work in front of the class, if they want. Beginning on Friday, I will start the presentations and I hope to pick the top three from each grade level. School-wide presentations take place on February 17th in the gym.

Students in grade 1-3 have been working on storytelling. Grade 1 students prepared a story board of 'Something From Nothing'. I have posted the story online for those that would like to help their children and are not familiar with the story. I encouraged the students to retell it changing the details to make it their own. Grade 2 students had a choice of 'Something From Nothing', 'Anansi' or their own adventure story. A framework went home but all completed primary stories should be posted on this blog. Finally grade 3's picked their favourite story (Lots of Robert Munsch) and they began to practise these. Students should now be trying to retell their stories adjusting their speed and voice; using gestures and making eye contact. Stories are supposed to be 3 to 5 minutes but no points are taken away in this division if the story is too short. Storytelling will take place at 9:00 am on February 16th in the gym. Winners from this division will be attending the Legion's Storytelling event.

This Thursday is the Chinese New Year and to mark this occasion we will be reading and working on activities related to this event. On Friday students are asked to wear red (another reason) and bring a noisemaker as we parade through the school in a dragon parade.

Thanks to all the grade 3, 4, 5, and 6 students for submitting their inspiring person poetry and writing. I will be submitting many of the pieces for the contest. I was quite impressed with many of the works. I learned so much about many of the students and the wonderful things they do. Hopefully I will get to publish these on the blog in the future. It is just so uplifting to know about the truly important things our kids are doing and how special they make someone feel.

Finally I am extremely pleased to announce that the Peer Mediators have been completely trained and they are ready to start their duty. They will be visiting the kindergarten and primary classrooms on Friday to introduce the program. Then next Monday watch for their bright yellow vests, as they make their presence known. Peer Mediators have been trained to work with students to assist with conflict mediation. They are not their to judge or punish, just to help students solve their own problems.

Homework: (Please return all white A-Z books when you are finished reading)

Grade 1 Practise Storytelling; Sight word worksheet

Grade 2 Practise Storytelling; Sight word spelling

Grade 3 Practise Storytelling; Cursive writing

Grade 4 Practise Speech; Cursive Writing

Grade 5 Practise Speech; Practise individual spelling list (Most common misspelled words)

Grade 6 Practise Speech; Practise individual spelling list (Most common misspelled words)

Finally I am running out of the beloved white Reading A-Z books and I am looking for some volunteers to come in replenish my supplies. Let me know if you are available.

Thanks

Gung Hei Fat Choy

Ms. Legault

Storytelling: Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock

2011-01-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

ANANSI AND THE MOSS COVERED ROCK

Once upon a time, Anansi the spider was walking, walking, walking through the rain forest, when something caught his eye! It was a strange, moss-covered rock!

"How interesting!" Anansi said. "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!"

KABOOM! Everything went black & down fell Anansi, fast asleep!

An our later Anansi woke up, his head was spinning. He wondered what had happened!

"I was walking along the path when something caught my eye, I stopped and said "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock"

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi again! But this time, when he woke up an hour later, he knew what was happening.

"Yes, Anansi," said Tiger. "it is terribly hot!"

'I am going for a walk in the cool jungle," said Anansi. "Would you like to come?" "I certainly would!" said Tiger.

So Tiger and Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Tiger to a certain place.

"Tiger! Do you see what I see??'

"Oh yes Anansi!" said Tiger. " Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'

KABOOM! Down fell Tiger! Anansi ran back to Tiger's place and made off with all Tiger's food!!

An hour later, Tiger woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single bit of his food was gone! Tiger was very sad!

So Anansi and Elephant went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Elephant to a certain place. "Elephant! Look! Do you see what I see?"

Elephant looked. "Yes I do Anansi! Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" KABOOM! Down fell Elephant. Anansi ran back to Elephant's house and made off with the bananas!

An hour later Elephant woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was nowhere in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single one of his bananas was gone! Elephant was very sad!

But Anansi was very happy! He couldn't wait to play his trick again!

He played it on Jaguar

He played it on Snake.

He played it on Fruit Bat.

He played it on Turtle.

"NO!" Anansi shouted. 'You're not supposed to say 'You know!'"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You're supposed to say, 'Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'"

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi.

Little Spotted Deer rain and got all the other animals. Together they went to Anani's house and took back all the good things he had stolen from them.

An hour later Anansi woke up. His head was spinning. Little Spotted Deer was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found his house was as empty as it was before.

But if you think Anansi learned his lesson, you're mistaken. Because he's still playing tricks to this very day!

Grade Three Adventures

2011-01-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

Portal to the Secret Place by Angelina
In the park near my house I found a map. I followed it and it led me to a portal and I transformed into a mouse. I had a name tag, My name was Cheezy. I was in school in room 23. At the end of school I went on the bus. I got off and started running, I fell in a hole and got stuck. I saw a light and I thought I was dead. It touched me and I was back at the park. I ran home and said, “Can you come to the park with me next time?”“My Mom asked why. “Oh”, I said, “I had a pretty big adventure.”“What happened”, said Mom.“Oh, I can’t tell you. It’s a pretty big secret”, I said.
Lost City by Tommy
When I was at school in the playground I found a shovel. So I started digging and I found a map. So I started following the lines and it took me to a desert and I found a dragon.
The dragon was scared at first but when I introduced myself he relaxed. I started to follow the map again and I found army men. I asked myself,"Where am I?" because I didn't actually know where I was. I started walking and I found a map. It took me back to the playground but they were inside, and I was outside. So I got in big trouble, but I was okay.

The Hot Air Balloon by Tommy
I found an air balloon with tons of holes in the balloon. I went to Home Hardware and I got some patches. So I went back and started to patch all of the holes with a sewing machine and some patches. When I finished I just remembered that I had to have fire to make it float, so I made a huge fire in it. So I started to float but I wasn't in it, so I jumped really high and I got in. I was really scared because I hadn't ever been in one. When I got really high, it took me to a starnge mountain. So I got off. There were aliens. When I got off I found Mario. He took me to his own den and gave me some juice and said,"Don't let them see you or they will kill you!".
I said "Why are you here?"
He said, "I'm here to kill the aliens. He said,"Do you want to go home?"
"Yes," I said.
He said, "Come with me".
He took me to a ship that could float and he hopped on and I followed him. He started the loud engine and it was really fast and took me back home where I found the air balloons. The End

Pirate's Gold by Farati
It all starts when we're all at the playground. We're digging in the sand. Emily M. finds a map.
"What does it say?" asked Emily N.
Emily M says, "It leads to a cave".
After we're on a pirate ship with gold.
"We're going to be rich," says Rabab.
We start following the map.
"We're at the place", I said.
"Are you sure?" says Tommy.
"It's the place, on the map. There is an 'X' and we're standing on the X", says Emily M.
"Lover!" we all say, with some joy. "Now we're on the pirate ship! Yay!"
"We get gold now", says Rabab.
After awhile some pirates come out ,"ARRRRR! You want to steal our gold. Are you nuts?"
"NO, we're not. We want to fight for the gold".
"Bring it on", says the pirates.
"Okay, bring it on", says Emily N.
Then Rabab kicked the pirate. And then we get the gold. The End.

Mario by Connor
Mario went to the castle but Bowser just attacked! Mario had to get all six worlds. He gathered 120 stars and beat Bowser! Then the 120 green stars appeared. I got most of them. The End

The Pokemon World by Jeremy
I find a map. I touch it. I'm in the Pokemon World falling from the sky. Rayquaza flips. I fall off. I'm knocked out. I wake up and a Pikachu is on me. I push it off. A voice calls out 'Pikachu'. I see the famous Ash, Ketchum, Dawn, and Brock.
Ash says, "There you are. I want to battle you".
"I don't have Pokemon", I say.
Dawn says, "Then go to Prof Roan."
I go to him. I choose Chimchar. I find two fire stones. I give them to Chimchar. He is infernaee. I go to Mt. Cornet. I stop Cyrus. A map pops out. I'm in the real world, falling from the sky! I grab a bird and say "Fly birdie fly". I land on a gymnastics mat thankfully. They were doing gymnastics outside.

The Sky Pavillon by Jeremy
I find a hot air balloon. It took me to the sky pavillon. I saw Mew! He gave me an infernape, and played chase and relaxed. It was awesome. But it got dark and I was going home...But Mew said I could go if I wanted! I went home. The End.

Dumb Prince by Seth
Once upon a time, a Prince was playing on baby swings and fell off. Oh I almost forgot, it is in a playground. Well let's get back to the story. He found a map. It led him to the under surface, where the dragon and princess lived. But when he got there, he well died because the dragon beat him. Then the Army comes out of nowhere and throws a bomb on the castle and kills the princess. But the Dragon was there too. So don't worry. Then they dealt with the dragon.

Supper Time by Ryan
Me, Weiny and I were walking in the park. All of a sufdden I saw a map. I went to go and pick it up. When I touched it, I disappeared into a Stickman world. There was thousands of stickman, but I had to get home to supper time. But maybe I could just stay for awhile. A guy came up to me and asked, "Are you lost?"
I said "Yes I am. Can you help me get out of here?"
He said "No one knows how to get out of here".
So I just walked around for a bit. I went to have a snack at a snack bar. Then when I turned around I saw an Exit sign. In a blank space I opened the door. I was in my room.
My Mom yelled "Supper Time."
I was just in time for supper and I ate it up really fast. It was delicious. The End

Sarah's Life by Connor
One day Aunt Yvonne gave me a phonecall. She asked me if I would like a cat. We went to meet her and my Mom said I could have her.
We named her Sarah. She was a domestic short haired Tabby. We loved her very much. When my Mom brought out wet cat food, Sarah would start meowing. I had to clean her litter box, and feed her dry food and water.
Then one day when I went to school she ran out and never came back. We loved having a cat. I learned to be responsible. We are getting a new kitten this spring. The End

Nickleback Going Back in time by Ridge
Nickelback was a group of kids that were friends. They grew up together and they said "I think we should start a band. I will play lead guitar and sing. You play a guitar. You play drums." They grew up and called it Nickelback and became my favourite band. Rock on forever,

Hot Air Balloon Adventure By Owen
One day Mario was walking around. He saw a hot air balloon and got in it. He took off the sandbags sandbags and started slowly floating away past California, San Francisco. Then when he got to Las Vegas there were some people who were not just civis. They had guns and grenades. He tried floating away but they shot down his balloon. There were no parachutes so he had to try and get away. Then when he was running they threw a grenade but he threw it back. Then it killed three out of fourof the people. There was one more left so he started running at him. When he passed him he stole one of his pistols and shot him. He got back in my air balloon and floated away.

Ella and Sarah by Emily N
One day me and my sister Sarah found a map in the snow at school. "It leads to the Arctic!" said Sarah.
"Wow I always wanted to go to the Arctic" said Ella. "I heard that penguins, puffins, polar bears, arctic foxes and snowy owls live there."
"Wow! that's a lot of animals!" said Sarah. "Hey I know, lets follow the map".
So we made a plan to go to the Arctic. When we got to the Arctic we met a girl named Bobbi. She lived in an igloo. She wore red snow pants and a pink jacket. We asked her if we could have some food for the trip ahead of us. She said Yes. So she packed up my backpack with some mugs, hot chocolate and hot water. When we got out of there we had some hot chocolate.
Right then we saw an X. We dug up a treasure chest with chocolate chip cookies. We brought some in the igloo and me, Sarah, and Bobbi had them.

The Trick Adventure by Rabab
Another ordinary day doing school work. After lunch we went outside playing soccer with my friends and other people.
When I was passing the hole on the corner of the fence I saw an old piece of paper. There was pictures. Farati called me. She came here. As soon as she came I picked up the paper. It was a map of a treasure, but I left it.. "Cool!"
"Who said that"
"Boo"
"Ahh You scared me Farati", I said.
Why are you leaving that map? Farati said.
"It's fake" I said.
"Okay leave it", said Farati.
After the whole soccer game, I went to the hole with Farati. "Are you really sure about this?" said Farati.
"Yes", I said.
But recess is over.
I will use magic to freeze everyone.
I got my wand. Then suddenly every one stopped.
We took the map and followed it.. It took an hour. It took us to a desert. It was sandy and the other side had cakes and chocolate. It said the same thing on the map.
Farati said, "I'm tired." She got her water bottle out of her backpack and put it in her mouth.
I said, "Come on". When I went closer I saw an X on each side. The map said one of them has the golden key. But you have one chance. So I went to the person in front. So I asked her. She said,"Choose one for the golden key." So I used magic to get two shovels. Then Farati and I started digging on the other side. I started digging. I saw Emily N. I said, "Boo!"
She got scared. "I got you!" I said.
Emily N explained she made this whole thing up to trick us. "I knew it was fake", I said to Farati in an angry face. It wasn't me!

Pirates by Madison
It all began one day when a little girl named Elizabeth went to the beach. She was collecting seashells but the she saw something in the water. She looked closer. It was gold! She went to show her Mom but her Mother said it was just sand. So Elizabeth decided to go in the water and she saw a boat. Well at least she thought it was a boat. Elizabeth came out of the water and took a nap. She was dreaming of being a pirate.....When she woke up she was on a boat with PIRATES!! She was scared because they looked mean but she saw that they were looking for buried treasure. Then she asked them where they were going and the boss of all pirates said that we were going to Whale Island. Then two minutes later the boat crashed into an island. Then Elizabeth saw a big X marked where I was standing. There was also two shovels. She took one of them and she was digging. Finally she found a BIG treasure box. Then she opened the treasure box and found a map. She followed it and it brought her back to the beach. Her Mom asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said a PIRATE!

A Big Surprise By Emily N
One sunny day I found a map in the playground. So I followed it. First it led me to my house in the backyard where my dog Miley was. I remembered I had a bone in my pocket, so I gave it to Miley. He ate it up very fast. So I played a little with her for awhile and then I followed the map again. But I brought Miley with me. I took her for the treasure hunt. So we could both see what it was. Then the map took us to the little farm down the big hill where there were free apples. I found Emily waiting. So I asked her what or who are you waiting for. She said "Somebody said, I would find you here and they were right! I did find you here. So do you want to go somewhere or something because they said you wanted to go somewhere when I found you." I said, "Well I'm following this map and the next place is in the restaurant, that's about a five minute walk from here. So come on let's go to the restaurant."
When we got to the restaurant it told us to sit down and have a bite to eat and it was the day that the food was free so we both sat down to have a bite to eat. Emily M chose pepperoni pizza and I chose alfredo pasta with shrimp on the side. When we were done eating, the map led us by the beach and into the boat. None of us knew how to drive a boat so we had to go home and get Mom or Dad. So we went home and it was about a twenty minutes walk to get back home. So when we finally got home I made my Dad drive us down so we didn't have to walk all the way back to the beach. So when we got to the beach my Dad drove the boat to the beach. There were lots of people from where I llive that like to go to the beach. It's nice and relaxing going to the beach. You can have time to yourself just alone or maybe with a friend or a boyfriend or girlfriend. I like to have ice cream. There my favourite flavour is cookies 'n' cream. It tastes so good with those little oreo bits. So anyway back to the map. After that it took me to my aunts and uncles cottage where they were making hot chocolate, social tea squares, and wonderful goey chocolate chip cookies. My Mom was there too. After they were done baking, they asked me, Emily and my Dad if we wanted to try them. I had a social tea square first. Second I had the hot chocolate and then chocolate chip cookies. They were very very good. Emily ate her chocolate chip cookies, then her social tea square, then her hot chocolate. My Dad ate his chocolate chip cookie, then his hot chocolate, then his social tea square. Then we followed the map to the water where a canoe was. We got on the canoe and put on the life jackets so we didn't drown. The map said to canoe to the other side of the island where the island was like a jungle. Then the map told us to move to the middle of the jungle where there was a big X. We didn't bring any shovels so we had to dig with our hands. When we finally dug up all the sand we saw a treasure chest. We all had butterflies in our chests so when we opened it there was some packs of cupcakes, some streamers and some candles. Right then I knew what had happened. I said I forgot my birthday? Then all of my friends jumped out of the bushes and from behind trees and said 'Happy Birthday". I was so happy. Everybody remembered my birthday. But the wierd thing was I was the one that forgot my own birthday. We put up the streamers and had cupcakes and I made a wish. My wish was that all my birthdays were this exciting. The End!

January 25, 2011

2011-01-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

January 25th, 2011

What a great week full of school spirit at General Lake! Students were excited and showing off their various costumes for the various Spirit Days. It is really a great time to be in school with all these fabulous activities taking place. Congratulations to all the students who took part and made this event a resounding success.

In Core English students were busy preparing either their story telling (Grades 1-3) or their speeches grade 4-6. I have enclosed a copy of the rubric I will be using to mark the students. All students are expected to complete this assignment. I would like all students to present in front of their class. I will make special arrangements for students at recess if they are absolutely unable to do this, but I am hoping most students will feel safe, secure and comfortable in the classroom to be able to present. Speeches are to be completed by Feb 11 when we will begin the class presentations until Feb 15. Student chosen to go to the school speak off will present on February 17. I haven't got the final dates for the grades 1 -3 school wide event, but I anticipate it to be before the junior/intermediate event. Students will begin bringing home their storytelling and speeches so the can practice as much as possible before the event.

Rubric for Public Speaking grade 4 and up Name:___________________________

Delivery:

Appearance Suitable 1 2 3 4

Gesture natural unaffected 1 2 3 4

Manner natural sincere 1 2 3 4

Material

Worthwhile suited to topic 1 2 3 4

Organized in logical order 1 2 3 4

Suitable in keeping with age and background 1 2 3 4

Originality, thought and presentation 1 2 3 4

Language and Literacy Form

Words effective and clear 1 2 3 4

Fluency easy to follow 1 2 3 4

Grammar correct usage 1 2 3 4

Pronunciation correct with good enunciation 1 2 3 4

Rubric for Grade 1-3

Delivery

Visual Appearance 1 2 3 4

Contact with audience 1 2 3 4

Voice, Quality/Dramatics 1 2 3 4

Material

Suitability 1 2 3 4

Introduction 1 2 3 4

Organization 1 2 3 4

Creativity 1 2 3 4

Language 1 2 3 4

Fluency -easy to follow 1 2 3 4

Finally I would like to make a proposal to help move towards using less paper. I would like to propose that I post this newsletter on the blog only on Tuesdays, rather than photocopying over 100 notes. If you would prefer I continue sending the letters, please let me know with a quick note. I feel its very important to have regular communication between school and home and I don't want to make a change if its going to be detrimental. I will continue for the next couple of weeks with the same paper format to give everyone time to respond. If I don't hear from anyone I will move to the online forum. Also thanks to all for the positive comments you left on the Blog. I really appreciate hearing from you.

Homework

Please return all paper reading a-z books when you are finished using them. I will exchange them for new ones when you return the others. Also don't forget to let me know how the reading is going (too easy, too hard or just right).

Grade 1 printing / Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help remember their story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.

Grade 2 spelling/Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remember the story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.

Grade 3 cursive/ Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remeber the story. Students should practise telling their story as much as they can to help prepare for the contest.

Grade 4 Cursive writing/ Speech preparation Due Feb 11

Grade 5 Speech preparation due Feb11

Grade 6 Speech preparation Due Feb 11

Finally many students in Mme Spencers class indicated an interest in becoming a Peer Mediator at General Lake. These students have completed the Peer Mediation Training program. These student have been trained in effective strategies to help students solve problems on the playground. These students will be visiting classes in the near future to introduce the program to the rest of the school and begin their regular patrol on the playground.

January 19, 2011

2011-01-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

January 19, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

A busy week as we finished up writing our adventure stories. I have started posting the stories on the blog. I hope to get all of them posted in the near future. I will post them in booklets on a bulletin board outside the classroom. Also there is an up and coming contest with the Young Writers of Canada. I hope to enter some of the stories in the contest. As I mentioned many of our poems were selected to be in their up and coming anthology entitled 'Under the Pumpkin Tree'. It is very exciting for the students to have their work published. Watch for the students photo to appear in The Observer. Many of the poems are posted on a previous blog post entitled GREAT POEMS.

I am changing the direction a bit for this week as I was just informed about an up and coming public speaking contest that is sponsored by the Legion. (I will return to the poetry unit at a later date) Students in grade 1 - 3 have begun preparing to tell a story. I have introduced one of my favourites 'Something from Nothing' by Phoebe Gilman as a model for the Primary students. Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 will be involved in writing a speech about a topic of their choice. As we all know the ability to speak in public can be learned and it improves with practice. Once we have our stories and speeches I will be encouraging students to practise at home.

Thank you to all the parents who sent in some pencils. We should be well equipped for now. When I run out I will let you know. Thank you so much.

Also I need to make a correction on last weeks newsletter. I had neglected to mention the name of some of the junior students who had completed their 25 days of reading. Once again for 25 days of reading congratulations to: Rabab, Abby, Seth, Emily M, Dante, Emily N, Connor, Ryan, Jarod, Emma, Farati and Owen

For 50 days congratulations to Tommy, Abby, and Ryan. Keep up the excellent work.

Finally parents of students in grade 1 and 2 should have received some feedback regarding reading level and sight words in last weeks homework. If you did not receive information or if you were missed please let me know.

Homework

Grade 1 Printing Reading

Grade 2 Printing spelling words Reading

Grade 3 Handwriting Reading at home program Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 4 Handwriting Reading at home program Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 5 Reading at home/ Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 6 Reading at home/ Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 1 and 2

Ask us about 'New Business'

Hello, my name is Joe.

And I work in a button factory.

I have a dog, a house and a family.

One day my boss said, "Hey Joe, Are you busy?"

I said "No!"

He said, "Turn the button with your right hand."

Grade 2 Adventures

2011-01-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Catching a beautiful butterfly by Emma M.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Samantha. She saw a beautiful butterfly and she wanted to catch it. But when she went to go catch it the butterfly went into a dark scary cave. She was too scared to go in but she had to go in so she could catch it so she went...and she stepped on one of the star steps and something flew down at her. She wondered what it was...then she ran all the way out and a bat was looking right at her and he said "Hi". What!!!!, a bat can not talk. Well I can but get out of here. It is too scary over here. But before she could go a bear was there. And said with his big loud voice GET OUT OF HERE!!!! and she ran all the way home. But the butterfly followed her all the way home and she followed him and she caught it and then she had to let it go. She did and she went home. The End.

The Bad Safari by Samantha

A long time ago there was an old cave. Three girls got caught in the rain so they went into the cave and dried off then a bear came and chased them to Africa. In Africa it was so hot the girls went to a tree and sat in the shade until a monkey went crazy and they went to the sea. In the sea a big catfish was guarding her nest. The girls went past it so she bit one. So the girls went home. At home their Mom gave them a towel and some hot chocolate. After they had lunch and watched TV on the computer for the rest of the day. The End

Iron Man's Great Adventure by Mitchell St

Once upon a time Iron Man was flying in the sky, then there was trouble. There was an enemy Iron Man said "Die" and the enemy surrendered. He said No! No! and then War Machine shot a bullet. The enemy died. Iron Man said Finally. THe End.

Lilly's Jungle Park Adventure by Bethany

One day Lilly went to the park with her Mom. And she wanted to go to the monkey bars but it was scarier than you think. So she went to the slide. and she thought to herself "This is scary too." And then she thought I will go to the swings?! And theree she sees a monkey. And they learn to be friends. I wonder if monkey can come home but that's another story. ANd that's what happened. THE END

6312 By Cole

Crackey was looking for birds in the tree. And then he found money behind the tree. And then Crackey brings the money home. There's the cops! AHHHHH!!! And then the cops brought him to jail. Crackey was in a big cage with a bed. The Cops went to Crackeys cage and said, "You can come out."

Magical Door by Madison

I found a map in my backyard. It led me to a magical door that led to a magical land. It had magical creatures. ANd a magical castle which an evil king takes over. So me and the creatures have to find the real King. And we travel through the forest and towns that had no people that lived in them.

Snowflake by Rebecca

Snowflake's owner was going on a trip. But Snowflake didn't want to be left behind. And then she saw the suitcases. She climbed in one. And then her owner went on a airplane and Snowflake crawled out. And looked around and then she crawled back in. And then after a couple minutes she poked her head out again but it looked different. Snowflake knew that this was the place her owner was coming to. She saw lots of water. Her owner was going somewhere too. She followed her until she got to a big boat. Her owner told her it was called a ferry. Her owner went on . She followed. When her owner went on and left. Her owner junped off and swam back over. She followed. When she got back she climbed back in and they went home.

3102 by Tanner

The robber robbed the bank. THen the cops came. Two criminals got arrested. One got away and the swat team came and it was a fight in the bank. One robber jumped out the windopw and went into a dark alley. He got away with a map to every bank in the world. The End

The Zombie Map by Hunter

I found a map. It was a Zombies map and I didn't know what to do with it. So the Zombies got shot. WHOOOOOCH! I shot the Zombies.

Blacky's Great Adventure by Sydney

Blacky told his sisters that Blacky, Wingy, Fangy and Zangy were going on a great adventure. Blacky, Wingy, Fangy and Zangy were off into a forest of Doom and it didn't make Blacky not even one bit scared. It made him bored. But Blacky saw two animals that looked like a Yoshi and a Teradacto. Wingy, Fangy and Zangy stood right behind Blacky. And then Yoshi and the Teradacto saw Blacky. Blacky walked up to the Yoshi and Teradacto and asked them if they wanted to go on another great adventure with Wingy, Fangy and Zangy. The Yoshi and Teradacto said "Sure!" In the foggy forest it was very quiet. Blacky knew something was going to jump at them and something did. It was a Dino! Blacky said, "ANOTHER DINO!!!!!" The Dino said, "Run for your life! There's a stampede of T-Rexs!" So Blacky and his friends flied as fast as they could and the Teradacto cornered Yoshi and they did a sharp turn into a cave. Blacky and his friend were safe now and also the Dino. The End

Yoshi by Erin

Yoshi was walking along with nothing to do but then Yoshi had an idea. I'll go for an adventure. Then Yoshi went. First Yoshi went through the haunted forest. Yoshi was scared but still bored. Next Yoshi went through the piranna sea. It was scary but Yoshi was still bored. Next Yoshi went through the lava ocean. He was scared but still bored. Next Yoshi went through the mini mushrooms dome. He was scared but still bored. Last but not least was the bog. When Yoshi saw it his eyeballs popped out and he was not bored anymore. He was freaked to death!

Who Dies by Sam

Once someone found a map. His name was Aran. He was in war. He got caught by two bad guys. They ordered a tank to come and shoot him. THe people were sad. The map was not seen again.

Jungle Adventure by Lauralei

I find a map in my backyard. It leads me to a jungle and I find a hidden door that leads to a haunted house. It has a secret room. I read hieroglyphs and I do some research on my phone. I go home and take a nap. I wake up and it was all a dream. I get up in the morning and I heard a voice at school and it was nobody....or was it?

Cat and the Map by Faith

I go to the cat. The cat goes to the map. I followed the map. The map leads to the pond. I jump over the pond. I run and run and run. I go to the blue zoo. I go to the little dragon. I attack the dragon. I go to the monkey, then I go to a haunted house. I see the haunted house. I see a ghost. The ghost said, "Go to the zoo!" I go to the zoo. I find the treasure.

Rudolph Going to the North Pole by Sydney

Rudolph said, "I'm going to the North Pole!" Rudolph flies up into the air. Rudolph says, "I'm going to the North Pole!" Rudolph was standing right in front of the entrance to Santa's Workshop. And finally he's at the workshop.

Grade One Adventures

2011-01-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Building a Fort With Dad by Kalee

My sister Madi and my friend and me Kalee and my Dad were building a fort. First we make a hole. Next we take the snow out of the hole. Then we make the hole all the way to the other side. Finally we get to play in it.

Henry by Edward

This is Henry. He is working. He has a big face.

Indiana Jones Great Adventure by Luke

He walks out of the house. Then he goes on an adventure. Then he builds a rope. So then he launched it. But he didn't see anything!

Mouse His name is Mouse by Mika

He goes for a swim. Then he dries off. THen he goes to the bathtub. Then he goes to bed.

Chippys Great Adventure by Alex

Chippy woke up. Chippy sat on the couch. Chippy went to his friend's house. Chippy sat on his friend's couch. Then he went back home.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by Maison

He is walking. The bad guy is Victor. He right kneed him. Harry Potter won. He fell through the ground. He is walking. He found the half blood prince.

The Fort by Caleb

I am playing on the fort. My sister says get down. We are going home. My friend says see you tomorrow. A monster appears. The monster eats us. It is filled with money becuase monsters eat money.

The First Day of Happy's High School by Komal

It was Happy's first day of High School. Happy was so happy that she went inside WOW It is like a museum HAHAHA She found a girl and asked her to be friends. She said YES YES YES!

I love being at school. The bell rang. Her room number is 20 and her room number is 20 too. She asked for her name. Yessir my name is Nella. Cool. My name is Happy. Nella you are in my school. Yes Nella said. Terrific and when they went in Madame said are you all ready. They said yes We are and the class said Hurray. The school was cheering. They were all fine.

I Like Sid The Kid by Mitchell Sm

Sid the Kid plays hockey. He plays for Pittsburgh and he beats them 9 - 1. One day Sid the Kid scored a goal and I went to see it. I was happy and that day he was happy too. The End

I like Cammalleri by Drew

I like Cammalleri. He plays hockey. One day I went to Ottawa. I went to see Cammalleri play hockey. He scored a goal. It was fun. The End

Chippy Chippy by Nicholas

This is the school. This is Chippy. Chippy is sitting on his desk. Then they play ball. Then he goes to the office. Chippy goes home.

Skye the Rabbit by Ava

Skye walked in the forest. She found the carrot. Then she ate the carrot. Then she walked in the hole. The End

A Dragon's Life by Skye

First I get dressed. Next I go on the swing. Next I go flying. Next I sleep. ZZZZZZ!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by Marissa

Harry Potter is walking and he sees something. It's ghosts. They were trying to get him. His friend punched the evil guy in the face. Then they time travelled. He tries to save himself. And he walks away. And all of the stuff is over.

Gbolu and Emma B and Superdog by Emma B

Gbolu and Emma B and Superdog search it. Gbolu and Emma B and Superdog find Emma M. Emma M and Emma B. and Gbolu and Superdog find Dara. Dara and Gbolu and Emma M. and Emma B. and Super dog find Rita Jeanne and Samantha. They live happily ever after.

I am sleeping by Emma B

I am sleeping. We were chased by a monster. We became friends.

The Magical Rock by Lelia

I went to go find the magical rock. I was walking in the forest. I found the rock.

The Magical Santa by Brody

Santa goes down the chimney. He brings toys and a nerf gun. He has reindeer. He brings presents. Santa goes home. Santa is sleeping.

Once Upon A Time by Ryan

Once upon a time I went to sleep. The rat took me to the castle. I woke up and saw the rat. I go through the maze. The rat did not know which way to go. I went through the obstacles. I found the door. I went home. The End.

The Magical Tree by Breaelle

One day me and Dahlia looked for a tree. We almost fell off a cliff!!! But the Tiger saved us! The Tiger saved us from the lion!!!. We found the tree. Kalee gave it to us. Dahlia made me carry the tree home!!! At home we decorated the tree. It was fun!! At night Santa came and he left presents. Kalee loved her Barbie. Me and Dahlia loved our Teddy bear. The End.

A Mouse Cooks by Sophia

He cooks a piece of cheese. He eats the cheese. He goes to bed. Then he goes to school. Then he goes back from school. Then he sees his family.

Play Hockey by Caden

Brody hit into the boards. He is asleep. We played the game last. We went home.

My First Time At The Pet Store by Faith

I walk a cat. I buy a cat. I pay @20.00 for the cat. I walk home.

Chippy's Great Adventure by Sarah

Chippy goes to school. He sits down in class. He goes outide to play soccer. He has to go to the Principal's office. THen he goes home. THen he goes to bed.

My Name is Indiana Jones by Evan

Hi my name is Indianna Jones. I am walking through the forest. I find a cave. I go in it. I almost got killed by spikes. Oh no I forgot my hat. I got it before the door closed quickly. I pass by a big hole with spikes. I quickly got passed. THe End

Chippys Great Adventure by Cole

Chippy went to school. He had to do his homework. Chippy and his friends play soccer. Chippy goes to the Principals office because he ate the ball. Then he went home.

First Day Going to School by Preslie

She see the school. She tries to go in. She can't. And then she goes in.

The Tank by Kristopher

A tank shoots a mouse. A running guy shoots the mouse. Then they are friends. He punches him in the face. They are not friends. They both run. The mouse loses his head. The running guy loses his head. The mouse is sad. The running guy is sad.

Boomer is the Dog by Andon

Boomer is the dog. The dad owns the dog. Dad goes to get groceries. Dad goes into his car. Dad comes back from the store.

Mouse Greatest Adventure! By Matt
One day mousie found a firework. He wanted to launch it, but it was day. So he launched it! One day mousie found a ice cream shop. He wanted to get some ice cream so he ate it.

2011-01-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

1st Grade Frequently Misspelled Words List
because	when	like	they	went
too	said	there	house	know
with	have	very	friend	my
would	are	want	friends	were
people	about		play	was

2nd Grade Frequently Misspelled Words List
because		friend	friends	know
people	said	there	they	too
went	were	when	would	their
favorite	our	a lot	upon	outside
	once	again	didn't	scared

Ninety Most Common Misspelled Words

about

again

almost

also

always

anyone

are

before

buy

can't

could

didn't

doesn't

don't

enough

except

excited

first

friends

getting

have

hole

I'm

into

it's

its

knew

know

laugh

let's

myself

new

off

one

our

people

really

right

said

school

that's

their

then

there

they

they're

threw

too

trouble

two

until

usually

very

want

was

wear

we're

went

were

what

when

where

who

whole

with

won

won't

write

your

you're

beautiful

because

especially

everybody

everyone

everything

favorite

probably

something

sometimes

terrible

through

whether

wouldn't

January 11, 2011

2011-01-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2011

Welcome back. It seems everyone had a restful holiday and they are ready to get back into the swing of things. Last week the students got right to work creating an adventure story. I hope to post some samples in the near future. It was very interesting to see how the different grade levels approached the same topic. This week we are working on editing and revising the finished product. I have posted in the classroom and on the blog a list of words that are commonly misspelled. Students are encouraged to edit their work paying attention specifically to those words on the list.

Students in grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 also had an opportunity to examine samples of adventure stories from the EQAO web site to determine what the criteria is for level 3 and level 4 work. Samples of the assessment and samples of levelled work is available for your information at http://www.eqao.com.

I have completed assessments on all the Grades 1 and 2 students in regards to their reading level and sight word identification. I have included this information in your child's homework package. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to write a note in the agenda or call me at the school. I was really pleased to see the progress that has been made.

Many students have been enjoying participating in our Home Reading Incentive program (Grade 3, 4, 5, and 6) Congratulations to Seth, Conner, Madison, Emily, Jeremy, for reading for 25 days. Special mention to Tommy and Abby for continuing to read throughout the holidays and completing 50 days of reading. I would like to see more students involved in the program. Daily reading is one of the best ways to ensure academic success.

Congratulations to all the students that had their poetry accepted in this years addition of the Young Writers of Canada contest. Please have your child let me know if you received notification. Mme Laselle would like a list of all the students who were accepted. We look forward to seeing the book 'Under the Pumpkin Tree' published in May with your fine work.

Next week we will be beginning some poetry lessons. If anyone has a particularly favourite poem, I encourage students to bring them along to share with the class.

Finally, I have a special request for pencils. The Core English program seems to go through an enormous amount of pencils due to the large number of students using the supplies daily. When you are replenishing your supplies for your regular classes, I was wondering if everyone could donate a few extras to the Core English class. It would help me out tremendously.

Thank-you

Ms. Legault

Homework Grade 1 Levelled Reading program / Sight word printing practice

Homework Grade 2 Levelled reading program / Sight word printing practice and spelling

Grade 3 Reading at Home program/ Cursive Writing/ Story or poem assignment due January 25 (Assignment posted on separate blog)

Grade 4 Reading at Home program/ Cursive Writing/ Story or poem assignment due January 25 (Assignment posted on separate blog)

Grade 5 Reading at Home program/ Story or poem assignment due January 25 (Assignment posted on separate blog)

Grade 6 Reading at Home program/ Story or poem assignment due January 25 (Assignment posted on separate blog)

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year General Lake! For those that check the blog I just wanted to let you know I am not sending homework this week. I thought I would ease everyone back into the routine. I did however return the cursive and the reading logs to students (grade 3, 4, 5, and 6). I know many students were anxious to get working on their reading again! The students seem rested and very keen. This week we are working on an adventure story in all the grades. It should be interesting to see the different levels of work. I will post some of the stories and I hope to put together a class book of adventures. Watch for my newsletter next Tuesday. As always thanks for your support.

Ms. Legault

DECEMBER 7, 2010

2010-12-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2010

Dear Parents/Guardians,
This will be the last newsletter from Core English for 2010. I want to thank everyone for their tremendous support and help in delivering the program. I look forward to the New Year and all the learning that will be taking place for both students, staff, and parents. I have collected all the folders, so everyone will be pleased to know there will not be any homework assigned again until after the holiday. I know the students have worked extremely hard throughout the term and they need to take some time to reconnect with family and friends through quality time together.

Thanks for making the Core English food drive an outstanding success. We collected over 100 food items which translates into almost one item for each student in the classes. Amazing work students and parents!

This week the students shared inforamtion about their home traditions and customs through the holidays. I shared with the students a book called 'The Mummer's Song' by Bud Davidge and Ian Wallace. It discusses a tradition called 'Mummering' that was popular in rural Newfoundland and dates back to the early 1800's. It occurs between December 26 until January 6 when people visit their neighbourhood homes dressed in outlandish disguises. Its a guessing game for fun loving souls. Once you guess who is under the costume, the disguise comes off. Although mummering became less widespread with changes in culture, in recent years it has made a comeback with the song by Bud Davidge. I know my family enjoys dressing up and taking part in this fun tradition with family and friends. Who knows...it may very well show up as part of our Christmas Concert on December 15th.

Have a safe and restful holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone again in the New Year!

November 30

2010-11-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

From the Desk of Ms. Legault
November 30, 1010
Thanks again for all the food donations you sent along as part of our door decorating initiative. Our door looks great! I realize the individual classes are now collecting,, so I encourage you to continue to bring the items in to your own class. The more we gather, the more people we can help. It is the season for giving!
The Primary students have now completed all their pre-primer words. We are now beginning the Primer list. Students are working hard on making sentences, as well as writing their letters to Santa.
The junior students have been discussing bullying and its effects. We have been talking about it in the context of our school and what we can do to help put a stop to it. Students in grade 5 and 6 have begun training as Peer Mediators and they are anxious to begin helping on the playground in this role. Hopefully we will be ready to begin in January.
All students have been participating in a Read Aloud of 'Just Kidding' by Trudy Ludwig. It is the story of how teasing can sometimes cross a line into bullying when the teaser's intent is to hurt, humiliate, ridicule or demean another person. Some websites that address bullying are
www.bullying.org
www.cyberbully.org
www.no-bully.com
www.stopbullyingnow.com
www.ifcc.on.ca/bully.htm
www.stopbullingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp
www.stopcyberbullying.org

Homework
Grade 1 printing worksheet/reading poem/reading program
Grade 2 printing spelling words in sentences/ reading poem/reading program
Grade 3 cursive writing/ home reading
Grade 4 cursive writing/ home reading
Grade 5 home reading/ Bullying advice columm (See handout)
Grade 6 home reading/ Bullying advice column (See handout)

NOVEMBER 24

2010-11-23T12:53:00.000-08:00

Quite a busy week we just had in the Core English classroom. As many of you know I was in the office for much of the week assisting in that capacity. Luckily we had some awesome Guest Teachers who continued to deliver the curriculum for a practically seamless week.
We continued our work on Children's Rights using the book For the Rights of the Child and many students in the junior and intermediate classes took the Vow of Silence on Friday in support of Children's Rights and the Free the Children Campaign. Thanks to Leslie from Ms Spencer's class for leading the school in this initiative.
The food for our Food Drive has also been piling in and the door is starting to look very festive with the gifts. We have until December 14 and I would like to cover as much of the door as possible, so keep those non-perishables coming in. Special thanks to Julia and Jada for leading this initiative in the class.
I have been testing the Grade 1 and 2's on their sight words. Hopefully by next week I will send home the results. I am very pleased with the progress most students have made. Thanks for all your hard work in helping your children learn those words. Some of the students who have mastered the Grade 2 list have requested the grade 3 list. I will post it on line for your reference and if you would like a hard copy I will send home. I have also enclosed the Dolch word phrases for students learning the Pre-Primer words as I spoke about to many parents at the parent teacher conference. These are also posted on the blog. Sometimes it helps students learn the sight words when they are put in the context of a phrase.
grade one and two students have been talking about the 'keys to reading', which include four reading strategies. These strategies are to sound it out, to look for smaller words, to read on then go back and finally to look at the picture for clues. Students practiced using these strategies as we chanted the words to Alligator Pie by Dennie Lee. I will post these on the web site for your reference.
In all the classes we have been getting into the inferring activities. We began with a comic for the students to infer meaning. I will post examples of the different level responses for your reference shortly. In the grade 3 to 6 classes during their written response I have also brought their attention to the EASY Acronym in the level 4 response. You can ask your child what this means (hopefully they will know). I will post it as well shortly.
Finally on the newsletter last week it was brought to my attention that I mispelled Dominic's name. He was our fabulous MC for the Remembrance Day Assembly. I also forgot to mention Erin who volunteered endless hours folding paper cranes for our tribute. Thanks again

Have a great week!
P.S. We will start letter writing in the class this week, as Canada Post requires all letters to be in to Santa by December 3 in order for Santa to be able to respond.

Homework
Grade 1 Reading levelled book Worksheet Printing words(Last week of Pre-primer words)
Grade 2 Reading levelled book Worksheet Printing sentences/Spelling test(Tues
Grade 3 Home reading program Cursive
Grade 4 Home reading program Cursive
Grade 5 Home reading program
Grade 6 Home reading program

VOW OF SILENCE PERMISSION FORM

2010-11-17T16:52:00.001-08:00

VOW OF SILENCE
The Vow of Silence campaign is held in November because 21 years ago, on November 20, 1989, the world was introduced to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention, ratified by more countries than any other United Nations treaty, solidified the universal rights that every child in the world should receive regardless of race, nationality or religion. These include the right to an education, health care and proper development, as well as protection from exploitation and abuse. But after all this time we must ask ourselves: are the voices of children around the world being heard? Are their rights being upheld? The answer too often is no. Some children are still being silenced by hunger, others by lack of education. Some are forced to work as child labourers and are punished for speaking out against unsafe and unfair work conditions.
Your child has expressed an interest in staying silent for 24 hours to show solidarity with children whose human rights are not being upheld. You can find out more information about this grassroots campaign at www.freethechildren.com. With your permission, your child will receive a badge to wear prominently showing his/her participation in the campaign.
Thank you for your support
Ms. D. Legault
Please return the following form indicating your consent to have your child participate in this awareness raising event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:_________________________________________________
I, (name)__________________________________ consent to having my son or daughter (students name) _____________________________________participate in the VOW of SILENCE event to take place on Friday, November 19.

GRADE 5 AND 6 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

2010-11-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

WRITE A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT THE VOW OF SILENCE. BE SURE TO INCLUDE DETAILS OF A WELL WRITTEN NEWS ARTICLE. (SEE BELOW)

DUE NOVEMBER 23, 2010 NAME: ________________________________________
RUBRIC complete adequate somewhat limited

ARTICLE ADDRESSES THE 5 W’S
(WHO,WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY) 4 3 2 1

SPELLING AND PROOFREADING 4 3 2 1

CONTENT ONE PAGE,TITLE,SUBTITLE 4 3 2 1

CLEAR, EFFECTIVE, VIVID DETAILS 4 3 2 1

November 16, 2010

2010-11-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

November 16, 2010

The Remembrance Day Assembly was definitely a day to remember thanks to the hard work of many of our students. Thanks to especially to Ms. Spencer's class who assisted in putting together the assembly. Special thanks to our Master of Ceremonies Jarod, Kendra, Fiona and Dominique for leading the assembly both in English and French. Thanks to Kendra and Jenna for the informative speech about Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes. Thanks to Jenna, Morgan, Bryce and Dominique for making over a hundred paper cranes for the presentation of deployed parents. Thanks to many behind the scenes students who helped throughout the day putting up and taking down decorations including Brianna, Emma, Kendra and Leslie. Finally thanks to Morgan for the fabulous technical job controlling the sound system and slide show.

All students have begun their focus on the Rights of the Child. November 19th marks the 25th Anniversary when the declaration was signed by the United Nations. To mark this occasion students from Mme Spencer's and Ms. Malette's class have been learning about the grassroots campaign called the Vow on Silence. On Friday many students in the Junior/Intermediate divisions will be taking a Vow of Silence for 24 hours in support of the Rights of Children and to bring awareness to children who have been silenced in the world because of poverty and exploitation. The junior students are organising a short assembly on Wednesday to introduce this campaign to the students and provide information for students to bring home. Students interested in participating must bring in a note from home indicating their intent to participate. Students participating will have a badge to wear throughout the day. More information can be found at www.freethechildren.com

The Primary students have also been focusing on the Rights of Children through discussion of the book For Every Child by Caroline Castle. Students participated in a discussion of Children's Rights and they explored which Right they felt was the most important. Students have also enjoyed reading the book called The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This is a wonderful book about a raccoon who is going to school for the first time and feeling scared. Many students made personal connections to the story as we recounted times when they had to do something that they were worried or scared to do for the first time. We focused on retelling the story using the words first, next, then and finally. We will continue to focus on this book next week and making inferences.

The holiday are quickly coming upon us and General Lake has proposed a door decorating contest to help bring about the Christmas Spirit. In this same spirit, the Core English class will be decorating our door with a little social awareness twist. Students are asked to bring in a non-perishable food donation. Students that bring in an item will receive a picture to colour of a 'gift'. Students will put their name on this 'gift' and it will be posted on the door. We hope to cover the entire door by December 14. You may send in items anytime.

Thanks to all the students who handed in their homework.

Ms. Legault

Homework
Grade 1 sight word printing reading program non-perishable food donation
Grade 2 sight word spelling reading program non-perishable food donation
Grade 3 cursive writing reading program non-perishable food donation
Grade 4 cursive writing reading program non-perishable food donation
Grade 5 reading program /writing assignment
Grade 6 reading program/writing assignment

READING LEVELS A-Z Equivalents

2010-11-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

The following is a list of the Reading A-Z numerical equivalents. The students in Core English Grades 1 to 3 have been given a numerical Benchmark level. The books they have been assigned for homework are from the Reading A-Z program
(www.readinga-z.com)This is an online reading resource that requires a fee to access, although there are some free books available for downloading.
Level A = 1
Level B = 2
Level C = 3-4
Level D = 5-6
Level E = 7-8
Level F = 9-10
Level G = 11-12
Level H = 13-14
Level I = 15
Level J = 16
Level K = 17-18
Level L = 19-20
Level M = 21
Level N = 22
Level O = 22
Level P = 23
Level Q = 23
Level R = 24
Level S = 24
Level T = 25
Level U = 26
Level V = 27
Level W = 28
Level X
Level Y
Level Z

Home Reading grades 3,4,5, and 6

2010-11-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

HOME READING PROGRAM
Students in grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 have begun a home reading program. The purpose of the program is to help motivate students to read, as well as to have students think about what they are reading. Enclosed you will find a calendar for students to record their reading on, as well as to record the genre.
Here is a genre choice list and coding system
P = Poetry
F= Fantasy
RF = Realistic Fiction
I = Informational
M = Mystery
B = Biography
HF = Historical Fiction.
As we work together we will probably find we need to add to this list. As this is a new format for me, I welcome all suggestions. I am very excited about trying this idea.
Remember on a busy night road signs, menus and such are informational reading. Also the students may read English or French. My purpose at this point is to have them read.
Every 25 days of reading will be rewarded with a small prize. 100 days will receive a bigger prize. Students may still take out books from the Reading A to Z series. Also I have included a copy of the rubric I will be using to assess the home reading program. The following is a description of the categories.
CATEGORY
Frequency
Level 4
Daily reading
for the entire
month.
Level 3
Read five days
a week - about
20 days.
Level 2
Read three
days a week -
about 12 days.
Level 1
Seldom read.
Read less than
12 days for the
month.

Variety of
Genres
Represented
Level 4
Sampling of
text from
different
genres.
Level 3
Read three
different
genres within
the month.
Level 2
Read two
different
genres within
the month.
Level 1
Little or no
experimentation
with genres this
month.
Responsibility
Level 4
Student
completed
reading log
and turned it in
on time.
Level 3
Student
completed
reading log
and turned it in
late.
Level 2
Parent
completed
reading log
and the
student turned
it in on time.
Level 1
Parent
completed
reading log and
the student
turned it in late.

November 9, 2010

2010-11-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Thank you to all the parents who stopped by to say hello. I am really pleased with all the positive comments and all the hard work we have done in Core English up to this point. Some changes, as a result of your input are as follows:
The newsletter will now list homework assignments by grade clearly on the reverse. Grade 3, 4, and 5 students will now bring their agendas to English class on Tuesday or Wednesday to ensure assignments are clearly listed. If you lose the assignments all information is posted on the blog (www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com)Assignments are generally due the following Tuesday.
Also as suggested here's a list of the Read Aloud books I will hope to use this term with the students. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown; Weslandia by Paul Fleischman; The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn; Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting; Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti; Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts; One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss; Faithful Elephants: A Story of Animals; People and War by Yukio Tsuchiya; and Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig. As I indicated, my books centre around social issues which I am hoping will spark lots of conversation and dialoque, particularly in the area of inferencing which is our school wide focus. I am also very interested in the work being done at http://www.freethechildren.com/ so my lessons may be related to some of the issues addressed through this organization.
Also, as requested here is a list of the reading levels and their corresponding grades. Grade 1: 1 to 17; Grade 2: 17 to 22; Grade 3: 22 to 27. Remember this is only a guideline. Many children vary between these levels. Also it was suggested that I send home a sample of what reading at each level looks like. I am in the process of putting together samples.
Finally many parents expressed concern over the amount of homework. As a guideline the Board suggestS 10 extra minutes for each grade each night. Therefore grade 1 is about 10 minutes/night; Grade 2 is 20 minutes; Grade 3 is 30 minutes and so on. If your child is doing significantly more than that please let us know and we can adjust the amount of work. The most important thing to me is that the students are reading everyday, as well as learning to take responsibility for their work by setting aside some time daily to do some work.
Thanks again to everyone for the tremendous support and all the suggestions.

Homework:
Grade 1 printing sight words/reviewing sight words/reading enclosed levelled books Grade 2 printing sight words/practicing spelling/reading enclosed levelled books
Grade 3 cursive writing/reading at home program
Grade 4 cursive writing/reading at home program
Grade 5 read at home program/ research: Who is General Lake?/ check out: http://www.freethechildren.com/
Grade 6 read at home porgram/ research: Who is General Lake?/ check out http://www.freethechildren.com/

No Homework this week

2010-11-04T12:48:00.001-07:00

There is no homework for the next week in Core English. I will return homework packages on Tuesday, November 9. I am looking forward to seeing many parents at the progress report meetings on November 5. I will be available from 8:00 until 9:30. Then again from 11:00 until 4:00. If you are not available at these times please don't hesitate to write me a note and we will schedule a meeting. Thanks for all the imput provided. Have a safe weekend.

Our Retell of Moose’s Loose Tooth

2010-11-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

Author: Jacqueline A. Clarke
In the beginning, Moose is in the forest. He bumps into a tree. His tooth is loose. The problem is his tooth will not fall out.
In the middle of the story his friends try to help pull out the tooth. Finally the tooth flies out and into elephants mouth. Elephant swallows the tooth. So elephant had to sleep with Moose so the tooth fairy can collect the tooth.
At the end of the story the tooth fairy leaves money for everyone. She leaves a little extra for elephant along with a note. She thanks him for taking good care of the tooth. On the last page elephant thinks he is getting a loose tusk.

GREAT POEMS

2010-10-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

WINTER IS WHITE by Rabab

Winter is white
Snow makes more height
I see sparkles in the snow
In the Spring snow get low
We make snowmans
With our warm hands
When its snowing
The clouds are showing
With the fun forts
And has rocks like warts
But when it melts
It has lots of felts
When the trees are back
The flowers are bloomed
We don't use a rack and people go zoomed
REMEMBER
Remember the soldiers who died
Everyone in the military does good things
Most important people in our country
Everyone cares for them
My Dad is in Afghanistan
By my side always in spirit
Everyone respect the soldiers over seas
Respect the soldiers for always
by Mikayla Duperron

CHIPMUNKS
Chipmunks are brown, white, black and grey
They like to jump, run, and play
They hide their nuts in the ground
They make a squeak sound
They play around
They always know where their nuts are found
They are very cute and sweet
Getting one for a pet would be a treat!
by Ryan Kernaghan
MY BUNNY
Twinkle, Twinkle little bunny
How you are so soft and funny
Watch you sniff
Watch you jump
See you nibble, hear you thump
The way I put you in your cage
Your fuzzy hair gets in my face
But I don’t care
I’ll love you into outerspace
by Abby Walker

MY DOG MILEY
by Emily Norman
She loves going for walks
She doesn’t like coming when called
She loves catching balls in the water
She doesn’t like bringing them back
She is always happy
Except when she doesn’t get any attention
She loves when you pet her
She doesn’t like to get needles
She used to love her red rubber bone
But she ate it!
She is very loving
But she doesn’t like birds
She is usually very quiet
Except when she snores and says “woof woof” in her sleep
She likes to curl up in my pink beanbag chair
She loves treats like pig ears
But she sometimes saves them to eat later
She loves her nickname Smiley Miley and Miley May
But she doesn’t like being called Bad
She is cute and cuddly
But sometimes she’s stinky!
But we LOVE her anyway!!

SEASONS
It’s Spring. It’s warm out
Plants are blooming. Rainy days
Splashing in puddles. People wearing raincoats
It’s summer. It’s hot out.
Going to the beach. Playing in the water.
School is out. Time to go camping.
It’s Fall. It’s cool Out. Leaves falling. Colours exploding.
Windy days and time to go trick or treating.
It’s winter. It’s cold out.
No leaves on trees. Making snowmen and forts.
Drinking hot chocolate. Snowball fighting.
Animals hibernating
By Jarod Kernaghan

THE DAY I LEFT HOME
On the day that I left home
It was not what I thought
When I wanted to roam
Everyday it got colder and colder
Yet everyday I got bolder and bolder
Until the day that I hit ground
And there I lay, so very proud
by Farati

POEM ABOUT FALL
When leaves fall off trees their colours change
In our school I want fall leaves around the stage
I like Fall because there’s Halloween and it’s scary
I think ghosts eat black food so I think of black berries
In Halloween there comes snow,
But when you play long you won’t know
Make sure to be warm and cozy
And comfortable and snoozy
by Rabab Azeem

A POEM BY BRAEDEN
I’ve got no idea what to say,
But I have to write this poem
Because my Mom says if I don’t
get it done to the movie I’m not going.

MY HORSE STORY
I would like a horse for my own
So every day I could say
Let’s gallop away
I love when horses raise their ears
It means they’re full
Of curiosity and cheer
When I walk outside
I want to see horses galloping and jumping
Excited with glee
I would groom my horse
Before and after I ride
So it would be comfortable and pretty
With a lot of pride.
I wish for the day
My dream will come true
So I can gallop away
On the morning dew
by Remi Lavoie

POPPIES
Poppies
Red and black
Bloom at the place where
Men who fought
Died
Poppies
Soft and smooth
Worn on the heart
Sad Remembrance Day
Remember
By Seth Malino

MY DOG AVES
My dog Aves
Hates waves
She likes to bite
But not at night
She sleeps in her crate
And goes to bed late
Sometimes she’s bad
But she’s the best dog I’ve ever had
She bit my brothers fingers and made them bleed
And when I take her for walks she tries to lead
Everyday I take her for a walk
And we walk around the block
She poops on the floor
And barks when someone’s at the door
She plays with me
And she loves me
I love her a lot
And I’m glad that she got bought
August is her month of birth
And she is worth
She was born on the 15th
And likes going over to the table underneath
by Abigail Jupp

PEACE TO THE WORLD
by Madison Hunt
Believing happiness and love
Being happy, loving people and helping
Being brave when people go to war
Helping stop war
Loving the people who died
Died so others could survive
Survive and go home with families

BOILED FISH
My Dad is allergic to dogs
My Dad is allergic to cats
My Dad is allergic to birds and all that
If my Dad meets a bunny
he’ll get really sick and that’s not funny
So I can’t have the pets that I wish
The only thing left for me is a fish
On one Winter day we went to the bank
Then to the pet store to get a good tank!!
Home in a bag came two fish of gold
My Mother was worried they might be cold
While I got their new home all prepared
They waited in a cozy spot “Don’t be scared.”
Okay, everything was ready...HEY!!! I cried with a frown
Why are my new fish floating upside down?
In their tank swim three new friends
Goldie, Chompers, and Kissy Face
This time my Mom didn’t put them
Too close to the FIREPLACE!!!
By Julie Deschambault

HALLOWEEN NIGHT
There’s a lot of kids
On Halloween Night
Oh my gosh
What a fright!
Can you see what I see?
There is a lot of scary
Costumes out there, if I weren’t a pirate
I would have been a girl, horse or mare.
Halloween night is my favourite
Time of the year
Because when I am dressing up
I can look in the mirror
I love Halloween night
Because it’s so much fun,
Especially when we can start
And the sun is gone
My sister and I love to decorate
But our favourite time is on Halloween Night
by Bobbi Lavoie grade 2

HE SHOOTS HE SCORES
He shoots He scores
Hockey is fun speed and strategy to score goals
Team work is how you get the goals
Winning the face off is about speed and stick handling.
by Tommy Campbell

October 28, 2010

2010-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

From the Desk of Ms. Legault

Dear Parents,

Thank you for all your support and assistance getting the homework completed. I received many fine examples of poetry and I hope to submit many of these shortly to the contest, as well as showcase some of samples on our classroom blog (www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com). The primary students did an excellent job sharing their procedures to the class. Some of the work is on display outside the classroom. We had a great variety including pizza, jack’ o’lanterns, turkey, lego and so much more. Students have demonstrated a lot of improvement in speaking clearly and loudly. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this an exciting and enjoyable experience for the students.

In the classroom we have been reading and responding to a number of stories. The grade 1 and 2 students have been retelling the story of a Bear in War by Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat. Grade 3 and 4 have been working on a book called The Enemy: A story about Peace by Davide Cali and Serge Bloch
and the grade 5 and 6 class have been reading Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Corr. Many students also followed instructions provided online at http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Make-a-Paper-Crane-1100 to fold their own paper crane. Origami square (scrapbooking) paper is available at Dollarama.

As part of a schoolwide initiative to improve students skills in literacy, we will be beginning a focus on the development of inferring skills. Inferring is drawing conclusions, making predictions, evaluating and judging using information from the text. The key point we are trying to stress with the students is that they need to provide proof by referring to the text/story. One question you can ask during your daily story time is “What does the author want us to learn from the text?” You can also talk about the characters and what we learned about the characters from the story. Be sure to ask your child to provide evidence from the story to support their thinking. I will send more information about this home as I begin exploring it with your child at school more in depth.

Homework

Grade 1 and 2: New sight words and word patterns to print and spell. For those who like technology, I stumbled on an APP for the Ipod that helps children with sight words. My twin daughters are in grade one. One of them loves this game, the other does not care for it. Its just another way to help them learn their words. You can find it at http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dolch-sight-words-complete/id352798485?mt=8

Grade 3 and 4: Continue with the handwriting work and research frameworks are due on Nov 3.

Grade 5 and 6: Research frameworks are due November 3. Students from these grades have shown an interest in beginning a Peer Mediation program to help younger students solve their problems on the playground. Some students have also been selected to assist with the Remembrance Day assembly. Watch for more information to be sent home soon.

Thanks again for your support. Enjoy your week. Ms. Legault

P.S Any parents interested in assisting with the Remembrance Day Assembly or the Peer Mediation Program please contact me or send a note. I am looking for someone to speak at the Assembly. Thanks again

OCTOBER 20, 2010 CLASS UPDATE

2010-10-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
An exciting week in Core English as the Remembrance Day contest came to a close. Thank you to all the students who participated in the contest. You can view many of the students work in the halls of General Lake. The winning entries will be entered in the Legion’s contest. Congratulations to the following students Connor Chalmers-Wein Grade 5, Erin O’Hara Grade 2, Clancy Bridger Grade 2, Marissa Nelson Grade 1, Emily Norman Grade 3, Farati Femi-Babalola Grade 3, Nic Bennett Grade 1, Emily Scott Grade 4, Rabab Azeem Grade 3, Emma Baird Grade 1, Kalee Granter Grade 1, Emma McKinnis Grade 2, Mackenzie Carter Gorin Grade 4, Bethany Marquardt Grade 2, Erin Stacy Grade 6, Jada McInnis Grade 6, Ridge Chartrand Grade 4, Gabe Layden Grade 5 , Elizabeth Houde Grade 5, Ryan Kernaghan Grade 3, Alexis Arnott Grade 5, Carson Gallant Grade 4, Jenna Chan-Watson Grade 5, Julia Suprenant-Johnson Grade 6, Zac Corrie Grade 5.
Grade 1/2 Homework: Students in Grade 1 and 2 are asked to make an oral presentation of the procedure they followed to make something. It can be something they already made, or something you create together. I am looking for their use of the words first, then, next and finally in the presentation. The following is the rubric I will use to mark this assignment. Presentations will begin for students whose first name begins with the letters A -J on Wednesday; K-Q on Thursday; and R - Z on Friday.
Rubric
Topic
Speaks in simple correct sentences yes no
Speaks loud enough to be heard yes no
Has a prop (picture or model) yes no
Tells how it was made using first, then, next, finally yes no
Uses some descriptive adjectives to add interest
(e.g. colour, texture, quantity words) yes no
Grade 2 only Write out the instructions using the words first, then, next and finally
Students should continue learning their sight words and practicing reading daily. Students who know their sight words are encouraged to begin practicing spelling the sight words. I have enclosed a book for students to practice spelling their words. Students should choose 10 words from the sight word list beginning with the pre-primer. Using the words in a sentence will help students associate the spelling with meaning. See the classroom blog www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspotcom for a list of tips.

Grade 3 - 6
Part 1 Poetry Writing Contest. Students are asked to submit one poem of the topic of their choice. Poems should be of 24 lines (maximum) or less. Ms Legault and her a group of esteemed judges will select several poems from each grade level to be submitted in the Young Writers of Canada Poetry Contest. All poems eligible for the contest must be submitted by October 27th. Students may submit more than one to Ms. Legault but only one entry per student may be submitted to the Official Contest. Students may not wish to submit an entry to the contest but all students must submit one poem as part of their homework. First prize of thee Young Writers Contest is $50.00 and a free book with their poem published. There are over 75 awards of excellence. All poems accepted for publication will receive a certificate to mark their achievement.
Part 2 Students in grade 3 to 6 have been talking about a number of historical events related to peace and Remembrance Day through their read alouds in English class. Students are asked to research one aspect they are interested in using a research framework, jotting notes to answer five guiding questions which may include who, what, where, when. why and adding any interesting details they may find. For example we talked briefly about the Battle of Passchendaele. Students may use the internet or the library to find out information.
Research rubric
Five guiding questions clearly labeled on framework 1 2 3 4
Located and recorded information which clearly covered the topic 1 2 3 4
Organized, easy to read notes 1 2 3 4
Wrote notes using own words 1 2 3 4
Oral presentation (3 minutes) not required N/A 1 2 3 4
Students may wish to present their information to the class with a 3 minute presentation which can include props and pictures. Students will be given until the week of November 3 to complete this research. Oral Presentations will begin Nov 3 for students whose first name begins with the letters A -J on Wednesday; K-Q on Thursday; and R - Z on Friday.

Thank you for your continued support
Yours truly Debbie Legault

Dante's Poetry

2010-10-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

My Mom I love my Mom
She is really calm
She likes to shop
And drink lots of pop
She has her own store
And it’s called ‘Decore I Adore’
She sells lots of gum
And man it’s really yum!

My Dad
I love my Dad
And he hates when I’m bad
He loves to play hockey
He hates disc jockeys
He works in construction
But he hates destruction
He loves his wife
And has a happy life

My Dog
My dog’s name is Piper
And she is really hyper
She has lots of hair
She’s like a bear
She’s really small
She’s a fury ball
She likes to sleep in my bed
All curled up by my head

SAMANTHA: My Nice Caring Good Friend

2010-10-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Wishes to be a teacher or a doctor

Who wonders about animals and insects

Who fears spiders

Who likes to colour and use her imagination to draw and hang out with friends

Who loves animals,

Who believes in friendship

Who plans to be a teacher or a doctor

Sam is a good friend

By Emily

OCTOBER 12, 2010

2010-10-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a happy and relaxing holiday. Thank you to all the students who returned last weeks homework. It may take several weeks for us to get into the routine of getting it in on Tuesday. If I have not received homework from your child I made a note on this sheet.
Homework:
Grade 1 and 2’s continue working on sight words: Please continue to work on the words, as well as the printing practice worksheet enclosed in folder. Grade 1’s are also reviewing the ‘m’ sound.
Grade 2: Grade 2's need to practice spelling the enclosed sight words: away, down, my, up we and I as well as the new list bat, cat, hat, mat, rat, sat and flat. Grade 2’s will have a spelling test next Tuesday.
Grade 3 and 4: Students continue to complete their handwriting worksheets. Complete a couple of sheets then practice what you learned on lined paper. Return all practice sheets for me to monitor. Students should also continue reading daily. After they read I encourage them to discuss the characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end of the story. This will reinforce what we are talking about in the classroom.
Grade 5 and 6: Students will complete 3 entries again. This time I request that at least one entry be a proper paragraph including a topic sentence, three supporting details and a conclusion. We have been using the hamburger model, which I have attached to the journal for quick reference.
EVERYONE SHOULD CONTINUE TO READ, READ, READ DAILY
In the classroom students in all grades had an opportunity to ‘read’ a procedural writing piece in the form folding instructions. Students folded fortune tellers, frogs, and paper cranes. I have assessed all the reading levels of the primary students. The following is a guideline of recommended reading levels
By the end of Grade 1: Level 17
By the end of Grade 2: Level 22
By the end of Grade 3: Level 27
By my assessment, your child appears to be currently reading at level: _______
Our target for January for Grade 1 students is level 8; Grade 2 students is level 17; Grade 3 students is level 22.
I will send home information to the Junior students in the near future. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Yours truly, Debbie Legault Be sure to check out the blog at www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com

My Grandpa by Alexis

2010-10-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

I admire my Grandpa. He is like a Dad to me. His name is James, but everyone calls him Jim or Jimmy. He is awesome, the best and so cool. He also does everything with me including hunting,fishing,taking me to hockey games, watching tv with me. You name it, and he does it. He is practically like a Dad to me. My Grandpa is my hero and most important he is my best friend.

OCTOBER 5, 2010

2010-10-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Oct 5, 2010
Dear Parents,
What a wonderful September we have had in Core English, and I am now offering a variety of homework packages to assist you at home and help students become successful in the English language. A special thank you to Mrs. Claudia Major for volunteering her time and putting together these packages.
Grade 1, 2: Sight word review. Enclosed in the folder you will find your child’s list of sight words. The highlighted words are the words your child successfully identified. Also in the folder you will find a printing worksheet with this weeks sight words. In the printing worksheet we are working on:
1. Practising the formation of the letters
2. Practising where the letters go on the line.
3. Learning our sight words. As your child is writing the word, have them read it.
Please continue to practice placing the letters in the correct space and to have a finger space between each word. If your child is having trouble, ask them to show you how we are practising spelling sight words at school. Here’s a prompt “Sit on our chairs for the letters a,c,e ......sit on the floor for the letters y, j....stand up with our hands above our heads for ...b,d,f.... Please return the folder every Tuesday so I can monitor their progress and add additional printing worksheets and update sight word progress.
Grade 3 and 4 Students have a handwriting practice book using the ‘Handwriting without Tears’ Program. I encourage students to work slowly at the cursive writing activities and to practise the letters they learn on separate sheets of paper. Please return the folder every Tuesday so I can monitor their progress.

Grade 5 and 6 students are asked to keep a journal which we will call their ‘Super Thought Spots.’ I have provided students with a book for them to record a minimum of 3 entries/ week. Students can write on anything they wish....fiction or non fiction. The idea is to get students writing about anything that is important to them. Thought spots are to be handed in on Tuesday’s for me to monitor their progress. One writing entry should be about someone they admire. We will be using this information next week to create poetry.

Classroom Update: In the classroom the students presented their wonderful Remembrance Day homework in both small and large groups. I was very impressed with the student's hard work. Posters will go on display shortly in the halls. We will choose the top 2 from each grade level to enter in the Legion's contest. We have been reading a variety of books in our Read Alouds. The Grade 1 and 2 students read Proud as a Peacock, Brave like a Lion by Jane Barclay. The grade 3, 4, 5, and 6’s read A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes . Be sure to ask the students about their reading. We are currently working on retelling these stories in our own words. We will continue to work on a theme of Peace for the next few weeks as Remembrance Day is coming soon. Ms. Spencer’s class examined the words to the song ‘One Tribe’ by the Black Eyed Peas and Ms. Gibson’s class, Ms. Bernardins class and Ms. Turgeon’s class sang a song called ‘This Little Sign of Peace’. Ms. Bell’s class and Mr. Mallette’s class have been reading the story of Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Be sure to ask these students to show you how to fold the paper cranes.
Watch out for the following coming activities in the next update:
General Lake Great Reading Challenge: I hope to have all the reading levels completely assessed next week and I am hoping to begin a reading challenge for all students.
Students will have the opportunity to enter a poetry contest. The maximum number of lines is 23. It is open to all students grades 2 and up.
Finally I would like to invite you to view my classroom blog at www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com. I hope to post all these letters as well as pertinent classroom information, homework assignments and samples of students work in the near future. Of course no student pictures will be posted. Thanks for your continued support.

Ms. Legault

Making a no sew teddy bear

2010-09-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

How to Make No-Sew Sock Dolls and No-Sew Sock Animals

What you will need:

Socks - Children's stretchy socks in a variety of colors and designs, the stretchier the better. I used socks that were 75% cotton, 22% polyester and 3% spandex from K-mart. They were on sale, 3 pairs for 50 cents.

Poly-fil - for stuffing the socks,

Tiny rubber bands (You can find this in the hair accessories section of your department store.)

8 mm eyes, and other decorative items,

Scissors,

Hot melt glue gun - One that uses low temp. glue sticks.

What to do:

1. Flatten a sock so that the heel part of the sock is facing up.

2. Roll a wad of poly-fil into a ball about one inch in diameter and stick it inside the sock so that it is in the toe area on the bottom left-hand side as shown in the diagram to the right. Use your pointer finger to press the ball up against the side of the sock so that you can see your finger shape from the outside of the sock. Grab the ball of Poly-fil from the outside of the sock and wrap a rubber band around the ball to form a foot as shown in the diagram to the left. Do the same thing to the other side of the toe of the sock to form the other foot of the sock critter.

3. Roll up two more wads of poly-fil and place them just below the heel of the sock. Form them into arms just like you did the feet. See the diagram to the left.

4. Place a rubber band just above the arms to form the neck.

5. Put in more stuffing to form the head and secure the top with a rubber band. Once you have the body the way you would like it, you can replace the rubber bands with heavy thread.

This basic shape and technique was used for many of the sock critters shown below.

SECOND WEEK

2010-09-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

September 15, 2010

Dear Parents/guardians,

Welcome to the second week at General Lake. We had a great first week in Core English getting back into the routines and serious business of learning. Be sure to ask students in Mme. Gibson’s, Mme Turgeon’s and Mme Bernardin’s classes about Ms. Legault’s ‘serious business’. The students in all classes have been learning about different kinds of reading. We enjoyed reading Robert Munsch’s Love You Forever and some student’s in Ms. Spencer’s class performed their own adaptation of the story. All students participated in a Multiple Intelligence survey to find out their learning preferences. It is based on a theory by Howard Gardner that found that kids have different learning styles. We can use multiple intelligence theory to help identify the students' strengths and better help them learn by personalizing instruction and assessment. I look forward to sharing this information with you in the near future.

What we have been doing in Grade 1 and 2: The students have participated in many getting to know you oral language activities, as well as shared reading (looking at text together). This week the students in grade 1 and 2 are practicing how to read by themselves by doing a picture walk. I am in the process of assessing the students on their sight word knowledge as well as their reading ability. Once I have assessed all the students I will be sending home a sheet highlighting the words your child knows. I will also be sending home books for your child to read appropriate to their reading level. For this week, please continue to read daily with your child. Reading aloud to a child has many academic benefits including developing attentiveness, expanding vocabulary and develing imagination and creativity.

*****As a homework assignment I am asking the students to complete the following oral language assignment:

Students are asked to share about themselves with the class orally. Students should talk about their family, their favourite activity, their favourite book and their favourite toy. (e.g. My name is Lauren and I live with my mom, dad, brother, and sister. My favourite thing to do is colouring. My favourite book is about Chester and my favourite toy is my rock collection.) Students may bring in props to share. Ask the students about our friend Buddy Bear and what he shared. The following rubric will be used to assess this assignment.

Oral Language Assessment

Speaks in simple correct sentences yes no Speaks loud enough to be heard yes no Has a prop picture or model yes no

Date due: September 21st

What we have been doing in Grade 3 , 4, 5 and 6: The students in these classes have been participating in various getting-to-know-you oral language activities. They also have explored the various classroom books and began looking at them and identifying the various genres (or kinds of books). I am encouraging the students to discuss what they are reading in terms of its genre, then to explain what characteristics makes it that genre. Ask your child the genre of Robert Munsch’s ‘Love You Forever’. The students have just begun talking about the characteristics of a biography through our discussions of Terry Fox. I will be assessing the students reading ability in the next couple of weeks through the PM Benchmarks and CASI Reading Assessment. I look forward to sharing this information with you in the future. In the meantime, please continue to set aside a regular time to have your child read daily. Students also benefit greatly from being read aloud to even in the junior grades. Reading aloud to your child helps motivate them to read, helps build listening skills and expands their vocabulary. It also provides a purpose for sharing time together and bonding.

****As homework this week I am asking the students to share some information about themselves in an autobiography. Students may choose how they would prefer to present this information. It may be a written piece, a visual display, an oral presentation or any other way that has been given the okay by the teacher. It needs to include some information about their family, their background, their preferred genre of reading, their interests, three goals for the future, as well as some interesting facts. An oral presentation should be only 2-3 minutes and the written product should be a maximum of 2 pages.

Autobiography Rubric

All information is included 1 2 3 4

Format:

Visual presentation is visually attractive 1 2 3 4

Oral presentation is clear and loud enough to be heard 1 2 3 4

Written piece uses conventions appropriate to grade level 1 2 3 4

Project is handed in on time 1 2 3 4

Planning notes (to be completed at school) 1 2 3 4

Date due: September 22nd

Thank you for your support and I look forward to meeting you on September 23rd at Meet the Teacher Night.

Ms. Debbie Legault

WELCOME

2010-09-28T17:19:00.001-07:00

Welcome Back! September 2010

Dear Parents,

It's school time again! My name is Ms. Debbie Legault and I will be your child’s English teacher for 2010 -2011 school year. I am new to General Lake, but I have been teaching for 20 years. I believe that by all of us working together we can make this a very successful year. I consider it of prime importance that you be an active part of your child's education. You are invited to phone me any time that you have a question concerning your child's progress. I also welcome volunteers in my classes, if you have some time you would like to share. To keep you informed I will send home regular newsletters, as well as samples of your child’s work. I have four basic classroom rules or Agreements which are to demonstrate mutual respect; to show attentive listening; to have the right to participate and sometimes pass; and to show appreciation only to others/no putdowns allowed. For this first week we will be reviewing these Agreements during our class. I will begin sending homework next week once we get into the swing of things.

I consider it a great privilege and responsibility to be your child’s teacher and I look forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Debbie Legault

2010-09-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

2009-04-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

2008-08-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

2008-08-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ezra’s Banana Muffins

2008-06-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

(YUMMY, YUMMY)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
3 medium bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
Mix together, bake @350 for 50 minutes

Ezra’s Something From Nothing

2008-04-25T07:14:00.001-07:00

A long time ago Ezra’s Grandma made him a beautiful blanket. It was red. He loved it so much and carried it with him everywhere he went. It got very old and dirty.

So one day his mother said “ It’s time to get rid of that old blanket.”

Ezra said “No, Wait…Grandma can fix it.”

Grandma looked at it and she agreed. There was enough cloth to make a wonderful red hat.
Ezra loved his new hat and wore it all around. Soon it got very old and dirty. Then his mother said he should throw it out.
Ezra said “But Grandma can fix it!”
Grandma looked at it and she agreed to make it into a button. Ezra wore it all around until one day when he was playing outside he lost it.
Ezra felt sad but Grandma said, “It’s okay because we can sit down and make a wonderful story about it”
And that’s just what they did. So Ezra carried this story with him everywhere he went and even told the story to his friends in his classes.
The End

The Force by the Primary Mac class

2008-04-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

THE FORCE

It was a regular Tuesday in the MAC class. Everyone was excited to go to the computer lab. When they arrived they were all surprised by the sight of new computers. Zach touched the computer screen then ZAP…..the force came into his hand.

He decided to use the force for good things. At first he just helped his classmates turn on all the broken computers.

Ezra said “That’s cool!!!”

Then he helped the caretaker move the piano.

Billy, the number one Star wars fan exclaimed, “Now he’s using the force!”

But Zach wasn’t happy just using the force in the school. He wondered how can I use this force to change the world.

He went to his friends the Framptons and asked them what they thought he should do. They suggested he use it for good, instead of evil.

Zach had a plan. He decided to give the power to the Frampton’s because he knew they would use it wisely. And he was right. The Frampton’s took the power and used it to suck the cancer out of all cancer patients. Cancer was cured all over the world and all because of the generosity of very special boy named Zach.

Sound Off

2008-04-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Traits of writing I know some
to learn the rest is why I come
Sound off 1 2
Sound off 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2....3-4!

Write, Write,
It’s fun to write

Not in order but here they are
Learning each helps us go far

Sentence Fluency, Organization and Voice
Conventions, Presentation, Ideas and Word Choice

Sound off 1 2
Sound off 3 4
1 2 3 4
1 2....3-4!

Left, Left,
There’s nothing left

Ms Legaults New Mac Class: ABOUT THE PROGRAM

2008-03-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

The Mac class is a pilot program, where for twelve weeks, students attend the program for an Intense daily program developing strategies in social skills, organization, self-esteem, conflict resolution and problem solving. The academic areas of current grades are covered, as well as Health and Physical Education and daily computer time. Students are integrated with school for assemblies/lunch/recess and special events. The activities reflect the interests of the students and problem solving centers around real-life. Students take part in the program for about 60% of the school day, then they are integrated back into their regular classes to practice the skills they have learned. The first group to complete the program was Junior students, followed by intermediate students and finally from March to June is the Primary division. The program is seeing over a 50% success rate with its graduates. Ms Legault joined the program in January 2008.

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS from the IntermediateDivision

THE BEST PART OF THE MAC CLASS IS:
“Everything …playing guitar, building bridges, and making pizza” (Activities reflect interests of students)
I LEARNED ABOUT:
“Anger signs, hot talk, finding my peaceful place, the Tribes Agreements, getting along with each other”
I THINK THIS WILL HELP ME:
“Improve my social skills, work with others on projects, use cool talk instead of hot talk, use ‘I-Messages’, deal with my problems in a good way”

Mac Class enter Annual Engineers Bridge Building Competition

2008-03-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Make a Change...Ms Legault's new class

2008-03-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

Make A Change

The M.A.C class is one of the best classes that I went to in a day. It makes a change, it helps you get along with other kids, and it makes you want to do well in school. Some of the changes that happened with Ms. Legault as a teacher was that I stop losing cards in my classroom for forgetting things because Ms. Legault would tell us to remember.

Also the rest of the staff of the M.A.C class are awesome, like Mrs. Van-Hoof our wonderful EA, she was always there with her bucket when we needed a pencil, or to help us in class, oh and did I mention that she also is an awesome person!

If you ever had a problem, you didn't have to wait in line for the teacher or EA. This was written during transition week and I am already starting to miss the class, no matter where I may go I will always remember the time spent in Ms. Legault's Class.

Did I forget to mention about how we had a different teacher to start the class and Ms. Legault came about a month in and still helped us right off the bat! Mrs. Van Hoof also came in, after Ms. Legault but like Ms. Legault was an immediate success.

Sincerely,

Caleb
___________________________________________________________________________

Health Hustle Comes to Braeburn

2007-12-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 is the Official launching of the school-wide Health Hustle. If all goes as planned, Ms Legault's physed students will arrive in your class, after O’Canada. The Health Hustle will be played over the PA and your class should watch the Junior Leaders and follow the directions. Please make sure that the students are listening and following directions. We also encourage teachers to participate as role models. The leaders have been trained and they are expected to behave appropriately at all times. The students have been practicing hard since September and they are very eager to lead.
Ms. Chang Ali Alyssa Amal
Ms. Padda Jayden Asmaa Miske
Ms. Dulku Kevar Chelsea Hanadi Sadaf
Ms. Reid Mohamed K Jenica Kimberly
Ms. Brennan Iqbal Maryam M Kevin Vladimir
Ms. Wilson Mohamed A Nicolette Raquel
Ms. Townsend Jordan Johnnie Karen
Ms.Dorosko Naid Jason Ahmed Salma
Ms. Livingston Teniola Nadia Ramsha Farhad
Ms. Crawford Roman Phillip Abdirahim Maryam A
Ms. Malhotra
am Anna Maha Hassan
pm Omar Kowthar Libin 3:00 pm
Ms McPhail
am Aneesa Zayed Destiny Tyler
pm Najma Osazee Sounia 3:00 pm
GO BRAEBURN GO!!!!!!

How Does It Feel To Be In A Your New Classroom

2007-09-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

I didn’t know what class I was going to be in but when I heard I was going to be in Ms.Legault class I was so excited. I sat down with my class and I said, “I, Raquel can’t wait for school”. Even though 9:30 was bedtime, I was so jumpy for school! On Wednesday I had alot of fun. We did DPA for the second time, it was so much fun. I thought, “I wonder what we’re doing tomorrow”? The class ran around the WHOLE school and then we were streching. I saw my sister then the bell rang. We got our stuff and went home. Which brings me to today . Ms.Legault marked my work even after I was late. I feel like my friends and classmates and we made new friends this year! I feel like Ms.Legault is the coolest teacher ever. We’re having Art at the end of the day. Ms.Legault says that we’re having two activities for Art.
I love this class!
Sincerely Raquel

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE IN A NEW CLASSROOM

2007-09-27T08:29:00.001-07:00

I feel confident and ok this year so far in my new classroom. I feel I can connect with people. So far I think Ms. Legault is an
awesome teacher. My group is a great, magnificent group. I’m so happy Ms. Legault put me in this group. This school year is going to be fascinating. I’m looking forward to learning about rocks and minerals, science, art and lastly music. This classroom has very interesting facts. I hope we raise enough money to go to Medieval Times. Hopefully we get to go on lots of field trips. My classmates are very nice to one another. In this class we will all get a special day. When it’s my special day I’m going to play my recorder. I know how to play two songs they are called “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Turn on the Sun”. I can’t wait to learn more new songs for the recorder.
MS. LEGAULT... YOU ARE THE GREATEST
TEACHER EVER !
Sincerely,Teniola

Welcome Back to Grade Four

2007-08-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

From the desk of Ms. Legault

September 4, 2007

Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to the fourth grade! We are going to have an incredible year. I take education very seriously, but I also love to have a good time! We will be doing quite a bit of writing this year. We will publish some of our work in our classroom blog located at www.mslegaultsclassroom.blogspot.com. We are going to learn about rocks and minerals, animal habitats, pulleys and gears, light and sound, medieval times and Canada. We will be doing many Math activities including learning to play the game of Chess. A monthly schedule will go home to keep you informed of the up and coming events. We will be doing a lot of fund raising, as we hope to attend Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament like we did last year. This is an extremely educational and one-of a kind learning opportunity for the students, but it is very expensive. We will fundraise as much as possible but if students begin saving $5.00/month right now they will have more than enough to cover the cost in June. A web site I recommend to all parents to access is www.raisingsmallsouls.com. It has a wealth of information on parenting which I use with my own family. I know we will have a wonderful year at Braeburn. I look forward to meeting parents at "Curriculum Night" in September. Please watch for coming announcements.
Room 11 Policies and Procedures
Please have students bring in a bottle for water to drink in the classroom throughout the day. Water can be refilled during the day but should go home in the evening for washing. It's a vital nutrient for the body that kids don't get enough of AND it doesn't make the desks sticky during math... Students should also have an extra pair of running shoes at school. We will be involved in daily physical activities regardless of whether we have a scheduled gym period.
Homework
Homework is given to reinforce the lesson and help prepare students for the next lesson. Students will be expected to read every night for a minimum of 20 minutes and practice their spelling words. Students will also have some other homework in another subject area. Homework assignments and spelling words will be recorded in the planner, as well as on the classroom blog. Parents, it is very important that you review your child's homework every night. If you see errors, ask them to find them and correct them. If the student is unable to complete homework due to lack of time please record a note in the planner.

While your children are reading very well on their own, they will still get an ENORMOUS benefit from your reading to them. Many parents stop reading to their children when they can read independently. Research shows students of all ages benefit from being read to. When children are read to, they hear inflection and animation in the reader. They are exposed to vocabulary that they might not otherwise consider. And they see you reading- which is benefit enough. If your child is reading a chapter book, read a chapter to him or her occasionally. Or select a book together that is "above" fourth grade reading level, and read it to them for 15 minutes each night. When you get to a new word, ask if they can figure out what it means, or what other word would fit there... Talk with them about what they are reading; cast the characters with people you know and relate the story's events to similar situations you've encountered in your own lives. And enjoy the story together!

Parents, homework is one of your greatest responsibilities. Set a special time and place aside for homework nightly. Please remind your children to place their completed homework in their backpack the night before, with all necessary forms and supplies for the following day... especially during the first few months.

Homework Projects
Please remember, "it is the process, not the product" that is most important. I have seen parents create beautiful projects that were very impressive, but they deprive children of the benefits of creating them on their own. While your help is encouraged, and often required, please allow your child to come up with their own ideas. Ask questions like:
Where would you like to start? Could we sketch this out on scrap paper?
What do you think this will look like when it's done?
How do you think we could...?
What is your favorite... How could we incorporate that?

Fourth Grade Policy Students are required and expected to do all assigned homework. Planner is expected to be signed very evening. All reading needs to be recorded in planner with the title of the book and the author. If a student misses 3 homework deadlines, parents will receive a phone call.

Miscellaneous
As the budget is very tight at school I would like to ask all students to donate the following items to the classroom. If everyone contributes it should be enough to cover our needs throughout the year. It also lets the students take responsibility for the supplies therefore they tend not to waste.
Kleenex boxes
Paper towels
Soap (bar)
Ziploc bags

Parent Volunteers
Teaching time is very valuable therefore its hard to find enough time to do all the preparation. It would be helpful to have volunteers in the classroom to complete the following activities:
Photocopying
Small group reading
Small group math
Marking
Also if anyone has any skills/ talents/ knowledge they wish to share we always love to have people in the classroom do demonstrations. E.G. Dancing, Art, Storytelling, Henna, Paper folding/Paper cutting/ Knowledge related specific culture or subject areas

FINALLY, please remember... Knowledge is power. Grades are just letters.

Do your best and be proud of what you've accomplished!

Thank you for your partnership in your child's education!

Mrs. Legault

DAILY CARTOON

2007-08-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

DAILY CARTOON
click to enlarge

Cartoons by Andertoons

2007-08-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

DAILY CARTOON click to enlarge

Cartoons by Andertoons

Trip to Etobicoke Field Studies Centre

2007-05-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

On May 8, 2007 Ms. Legault's class and Ms. Borselli's class went to the Etobicoke Field Studies Center to learn about habitats. It took about 10-20 minutes by bus to get there. At first we met all the staff then we changed our shoes. We then went up the stairs for a talk. After, in that room, we explored and we saw a turtle and a guinea pig. We also saw many real animals like a deer and a raccoon. After a talk about habitats we went back down stairs for our snack of oranges. It was then time to go outside to walk through the forest. We then made a cool habitat for a chipmunk with sticks, leaves, pinecones and snail shells. Later we went back to eat lunch. I got to roast a hot dog over the fire. We then got to roast marshmallows. After lunch we went into a room to read a story, then it was back outside to catch bugs in a net. My partner was Sophia. It was lots of fun and we learned a lot. Then it was time to go. We went back and got everything. The bus ride back was bumpy and fun. By Danielle

Super Hero Night

2007-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, May 3 it was Superhero night at Braeburn. There were different groups. Ms. Legault's group was the hardest. I was in the purple group that started at Ms. Legault's group. It was an endurance, speed and strength test and it was so hard. We had to make up Superhero moves and we did a move called the suicide. We also got to meet Spiderman, who some people think was really Patricia's brother. Patricia was dressed up as Black cat. We got Super hero masks when we were leaving. Soiman was dressed up as Batwoman.
The next group we went to was the red group. The teacher was Ms. Dorozko. Danielle and Abdirashid were also there. The red group was the snack group. We had cookies and juice, while we listened to a story.
The next group was Ms. Townsend's group. It was the green group. In this group we were supposed to make a comic book.
The next group was the orange group led by Ms. Young. We were suposed to decorate our very own Superhero.
At the end we got a loot bag to take home. In the loot bag we got a comic book, a book, stickers, a pencil and some candy. It was a great night. By Chantel

The Great Turtle Race

2007-05-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Students in Ms. Legaults class logged on to www.greatturtlerace.com to cheer on their favourite leatherback turtle and learn about this endangered species. Abdirashid reported on Billie, as did Ms. Legault's daughter. Adithya reported on Drexelina, the same as Ms. Legault's son . It was a close race but Billie came in first and Drexelina came in 10th place. Check out the website to find out the results of the other competitors.