[email protected]

POD: Writing & Rested Start After a Snowy Surprise

Yesterday’s snow day was a nice surprise and made for a long weekend, so everyone came in today looking well rested and ready to learn. We jumped right into our regular morning routine. Our spelling words were corn, score, carpet, and scarf. Our UFLI sentence was, “I sold art at the market.” Our “Show, Not Tell” prompt was “The kitten was cute.” We completed our Heggerty listening games and our maze, then did a quick write about our weekend.

In math, we continued introducing multiplication stories and reviewed arrays and different ways to represent numbers. We also practiced some addition to keep our skills sharp.

After recess, we stayed outside for guidance with Ms. Lehnart. At one point, I looked up and saw my class all the way across the playground near the baseball field, gathered around a huge mound of snow. I’m not quite sure what you could build with a snow pile that big—but I’m sure the ideas were creative!

We had a short PE session where we did some dancing and played a bit of basketball. Then it was time for Burger King hot lunch, followed by some outdoor play.

When we came back inside, we settled into a calm routine with Read to Self, Write to Self, and some time on Reading Park. After that, we went to see Mr. Comeau, who talked to us about community and the many different jobs people can have within it.

We finished the day by reading more from Geronimo Stilton, watching a short video about courage and facing your fears, and completing our Book of Gratitude with the sentence starter: “I remember showing courage when…”

There is a basketball jamboree tonight at Gretna Green, and I hope all of our players have a great time.

Get lots of rest tonight, and I will see you tomorrow.

POD – Hanging Out in Our Reading Corner (It’s Not a Fort)

I was away yesterday, so when I came in this morning and it was still dark outside, the snowmen on the playground definitely caught me off guard. I’ll admit—they were a little creepy in silhouette! As soon as the students arrived, though, they got to work turning them into snow forts, which I was much more okay with. Much less spooky, and way more fun.

Once inside, we got right to work. Our spelling words today were arm, dark, shore, and artist. Our dictated sentence was “The store is in the shape of a star.” (Yes, we had a few good laughs over that one!) Our “Show, Not Tell” sentence was “She was frustrated.” We completed our Heggerty listening games and our maze, and since today was our last day with our James M. Hill reading mentors, we took some time to make thank-you cards for them.

In math, we continued working on arrays and building our understanding of how groups and rows help us count more efficiently.

After recess, our JMH mentors arrived for their final visit. We had a lot of fun with them today, and the students did a great job showing appreciation for all the time and energy they’ve put into helping us.

In PE, we warmed up with some basketball, did a little dancing, and even had a bit of free time on the scooters. Lots of movement and lots of smiles.

It was Pizza Friday, so after lunch we headed outside to play. When we came back in, we settled into our Read-to-Self, Write-to-Self, and Reading Park routines before heading down to an assembly.

At the assembly, we watched our December recap, which had a very different format this month, and played a few school-wide games. When we came back up, we still had about 10 minutes left in the day, so we enjoyed some free choice time—many of us choosing to relax in the reading corner area the students built. (Not a tent. Not a fort. Definitely a reading center.)

Get lots of rest, have a great weekend, and I will see you on Monday.

POD – Working on a Write to Self

We started the day with an indoor recess, but after O Canada we got straight to work. Our four spelling words today were child, cry, baby, and puzzle. Our UFLI sentence was, “Does the pony try apples?” For our Show, Not Tell, we worked with the idea that “she was very old.” We completed our Heggerty listening games and our maze before moving on with our day.

We also did Day 2 of our UFLI lesson, reviewing the endings ind, ild, old, olt, y, and ost. We read our UFLI decodable passage and did a great job using our strategies to figure out tricky words.

In math, we continued our work on arrays and also practiced telling time on an analog clock. After that, we enjoyed an outdoor recess. When we came back in, our James M. Hill reading mentors arrived. This is their final week with us, and we appreciated the activities they prepared.

In P.E., we did a quick warm-up and then tried some Zumba. You don’t have to be perfect at it, but you do have to be active—and we were!

After lunch and another bit of outdoor fresh air, we came in to work on Read-to-Self, Write-to-Self, and Reading Park. Then we went next door with Mr. Kummel, who reviewed east and west, where the sun rises and sets, and talked more about our community.

We ended the afternoon with our chapter book, Geronimo Stilton and the Temple of the Ruby of Fire. Geronimo finally made it out of the airport and landed in Crocodilia—though it doesn’t quite seem like he’s enjoying his stay so far. We watched a quick video on courage, and our Book of Gratitude entry finished the sentence, “An example of courage is…”

We packed up our things, got our home-to-school books signed, and learned that our basketball game was canceled due to weather. We bundled up, got on the bus, and headed home.

Get lots of sleep tonight, dress warm, and stay healthy.

POD – Serious Fun Outside

Another cold start to the day meant we began with an indoor recess, and we even had a late bus arriving. After O Canada and the morning announcements, we learned that courage is our new virtue of the month, and then we got straight down to work.

We used our UFLI trigraph words for spelling. Today’s words were batch, fridge, pitch, nudge. Our dictated UFLI sentence was, “I put a batch in the fridge.” For our Show, Not Tell, we used the idea “she was courageous.” We completed our Heggerty listening games focusing on r-controlled vowels, and then worked through our maze. After that, we continued with UFLI, reviewing word endings such as le, ine, ild, old, olt, ost, and y.

In math, we practiced working with arrays and telling time on analog clocks. By recess time, it had warmed up just enough for us to enjoy a serious but fun outdoor recess.

When we came back in, we went straight to P.E. We used yoga mats and practiced some yoga movements to stretch and calm our bodies. Next, we went to Guidance with Ms. Leonard, where we used a talking/speaking ball to help us take turns listening and sharing.

After lunch, we went outside again for some fresh air. When we returned, we worked on Read-to-Self, our writing, and spent time on Reading Park.

We then went to see Mr. Comeau, where we worked on NB capital city, provincial bird, and East – West direction for sunrise and sunset.

We finished the day reading Geronimo Stilton, and then completed our Book of Gratitude entry using the sentence starter:
“In the new year, I will work hard on…”

We got our home-to-school books signed, packed our bags, and even received a candy cane from Ms. Gillespie on the way out — a great way to end the day.