A Peek at the Week: May 29- June 2nd

It is hard to believe that we are heading in to June already! As I mentioned last week, this is a busy time of year and it will be important to be looking at updates during this last month of school. Whole school updates are found on the school website http://wps.blackgold.ca/and classroom updates are found on Class Dojo.

Ms. Tailor Pedersen will be starting on Monday as our guest teacher for the remainder of the school year. She is a recent graduate from the Concordia University Bachelor of Education program and has been completing an internship called the Bridges Program at Willow Park School for the month of May. She has been working in our classroom during the mornings this month. It is nice that our guest teacher is someone the students are familiar with, and that she is also familiar with them! I will be transferring the ClassDojo account to her on Friday. She will be in touch with you next week with her contact information and how to best communicate with her until the end of the year. Later on this week, I'll be sending home some of your child's work that has been completed this term.

This week:

• Field trip forms were due last Friday, May 26th. If your child's forms and payment have not been returned, they will not be attending the zoo field trip. 
• Tomorrow is 'Moving On Day', which means grade 1s will spend some time in the grade 2 class with the grade 2 teachers learning more about what grade 2 will be like. 
• We could still use 1-2 volunteers for Monday's field trip. If you are available please let me know by Thursday.
• Friday is our last pizza by the slice lunch of the year. $2/slice. Please send in your payment by first thing Friday morning. Also, please let your child know WHERE there money is. We've had a few cases of students finding payment for frozen treats or pizza after the money was collected because they didn't know they had it or where to find it. Home/School folders are the best place to put the money as I check them first thing in the morning during announcements (as long as your child remembers to hand their book in, which is their responsibility!)
• We are celebrating our class UNBIRTHDAY PARTY on Friday- rather than encourage individual snacks sent on individual birthdays, I like to set aside a day to celebrate everyone's birthday all together! That way students with birthdays that fall on the weekend or during holidays get a chance to join in on the fun, too! If you'd like to send a special snack please let me know so that I can inform you of student allergies and how many students are in the class. 

As always please let me know (by the end of the week!) if you have any further questions or require additional information. As I mentioned, Ms. Pedersen will be in touch with you early next week!

A Peek at the Week: May 22-26th

It is a very busy week and month ahead! Please be sure to check updates regularly, as things tend to run a little off schedule due to all of the special events that happen around this time of the year. As always, do not hesitate to ask if you have further questions or require additional information.

• School Pictures: Our 1H Class Photo is tomorrow morning before swimming lessons!
• Swimming Lessons tomorrow- send swim gear!
• Div. 1 Choir Pizza Party on Thursday at lunch in the Music Room
• Jump Rope for Heart pledges are due on Friday
• Zoo Field Trip permission forms and payment are due this Friday, May 26th. We are in need of about 1-2 more volunteers. Please let me know if you are available! 
• Spelling Tests are on Friday
• Frozen Treat Friday this Friday- please send your $1.00 in by Thursday
• Hot Dog forms are due next Wednesday

A note about LIFT:

Now that everyone participating in LIFT has received all of the LIFT packages, I'm going to stop sending them home. Thank you to everyone who participated in this program. If you have any bags or items from the bags at your home, please send them back. I am missing the Colours card game and the blue sea horse stuffy. We will continue nightly home reading! 

On Friday, June 2nd we will be having our class UNBIRTHDAY Party! It is a chance for us to celebrate EVERYONE in the class' birthday, as many have birthdays in the summer or on weekends. We will play some classic birthday party games and enjoy some birthday treats. If you would like to send some birthday treats such as cupcakes, cookies, fruit, veggies, or cheese and crackers on this day, please let me know! This will also be my last day before I head out on maternity leave so it will be nice to end the day with a party!

A Peek at the Week, May 1-5

Next week is Education Week, and we have many exciting plans!

Our Jump Rope for Heart kick-off assembly was today. I will be sending home fundraising forms on Monday. It is easy to get started. Simple go to www.jumpropeforheart.ca and click register, then choose your province and school, and fill out your fundraising information. Every student who signs up to participate receives a skipping rope!

It is track and field season as well. Students interested in participating in the track meet came home with permission forms yesterday. Please sign and return promptly. If your child did not have a form, it is because they have decided they do not want to participate.

Library has been moved to next Tuesday afternoon as we missed Library this afternoon. Students will have their books from Tuesday-Friday as we will still have Library next Friday.

Wednesday May 3rd is Early Dismissal as well as "Hats on for Mental Health" day. Students are encouraged to wear hats, We also have swimming lessons on Wednesday.

On Thursday May 4th we will be having a school-wide Spirit Day- "May the 4th be with you". The dress up theme is 'Space Day'.

Students will receive their new word sorts on Monday, and their spelling tests will be sent home. I was not able to get spelling tests marked and recorded to send home as a result of all of our FUN activities today like Stuntnastics presentations and the Jump Rope for Heart kick-off!

Please consider sending a change of clothes to school.
With the wet weather, we have had many soggy pants, socks, shirts, etc. after falls in puddles. It is always a good idea to send an extra pair of clothes to change into in back packs. Our school supply is limited and running very low. 

Have a great weekend!

A Peek at the Week, April 24-28

I hope that you had a great weekend! 

• LIFT home reading program will continue this week
• ATB Bank Day tomorrow
• Swimming Lessons Wednesday
• Frozen Treat Friday orders need to be in by Thursday 
• Friday is our Jump Rope for Heart kick-off presentation. Older grades will also be showcasing their Stuntnastics routines. The students will be excited to have their own chance to make up routines in small groups at the end of the week as well (not for presentation in grade one). 

We have started a unit on Fairy Tales in Language Arts this week and are focusing on The Three Little Pigs while continuing to learn about building things in Science. Today we toured around Willow Park School and inspected how the walls were built in our school. We noticed that just like the strongest house was made out of bricks, our school is built out of a similar material! (Cinder block). Students practiced using different materials to build walls and later in the week they will build homes of their own! Take some time to note walls made out of different materials as you go about your week (stone walls, brick walls, cinder block walls, wood, drywall, etc.).

A Peek at the Week, April 10-14

Keep practicing word sorts and spelling words at home! This week's Spelling Tests will be on Thursday.

We are learning all about how to read and identify 'bumper words', which are words where the e is silent at the end. The 'silent' or 'sneaky' e reaches over one letter, and 'bumps' the vowel on its head to make the vowel say its name. Examples include game, here, bone, nine, and tune.We are also learning about compound words (rainbow, cupcake, butterfly). While reading with your child, keep your eyes open for these two new types of words! 

We continue to work on Mental Math (addition and subtraction) strategies in Math and will begin our Measurement unit soon. 

In Science we continue to work on Building Things, and in Social we will begin to learn all about the community of Leduc. 

On Tuesday the ATB bank will be open at lunch!

On Wednesday morning we will head to the LRC for our 2nd swimming lesson. Please remember to send swimsuits, towels, goggles, etc. in a separate bag from their backpacks. A plastic grocery bag works just fine if your child does not have a swim bag. 

On Wednesday, students are encouraged to wear their OILERS gear (or Oilers colours) to celebrate Game 1 of the PLAYOFFS Wednesday night! 

Wednesday also happens to be our community event for the month: a family movie night at the school. More information to follow!

On Thursday it is Pizza by the Slice lunch. 

No School Friday, April 14th; Monday, April 17th; Tuesday, April 18th. Enjoy the Easter Long Weekend!

Book Fair Information

The Scholastic Book Fair is going to be held in our library learning commons and is scheduled to run from Friday, April 7th, 2017 to Thursday, April 13th, 2017. The book fair will be open daily from 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. We will also be open on Wednesday, April 12th from 3:00-6:00 p.m. for our family night.

Students will visit the book fair during their regular scheduled library class to browse and make their purchases.  Students are encouraged to make their purchases during their regularly scheduled library class.

Scholastic Book Fair Shopping Schedule - April 7th - April 13th

TIMES	Friday - April 7th	Monday - April 10th	Tuesday - April 11th	Wednesday - April 12th	Thursday - April 13th
Period 7: 12:45 - 1:15	2P - Peters	3T -Taylor	5T - Titus	KK M-W - Kubik	2H - Hannon
Period 8: 1:15 - 1:45	1H - Haugan	3M - Mitchell	1HR - Hoover	Open	Open
1:45 - 2:00	RECESS	RECESS	RECESS	RECESS	RECESS
Period 9: 2:00 - 2:30	Open	KS M/W - Schroeder	4M - Mackiewich	Open	KK T-TH Kubik
Period 10: 2:30 - 3:00	4P - Peterson	1C - Clarke	5D - Diduck	2E - Elgert	6 C&H - Chapman
After School 3-4 p.m.	Open	Open	Open	Open	Open
After School 4-6 p.m.	Closed	Closed	Closed	Open	Closed

Looking Ahead at Next Week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The students had a blast setting traps for their leprechauns today. Leprechauns are too sneaky to come around when students are in school...We will wait and see what happens on Monday morning!

Looking ahead at next week:

• The Lego Field Trip fee of $7.50 is due on Monday
• Hot Dog Day payment for April 5th Hot Dog Day is due on Wednesday (I had originally said it was due the 15th... I apologize for the miscommunication!)
• Frozen Treat THURSDAY is next week. Payment must be in on Wednesday morning
• Report Cards go home on Thursday
• NO SCHOOL FRIDAY! School resumes after spring break, Monday, April 3rd. 

Because we will have so much change floating around next week, PLEASE make sure your child's payments are labelled with their name and what the payment is for! Thank you in advance :)

Have an excellent weekend!