[email protected]

POD: On a Reading Quest

This morning wasn’t just chilly—it was downright cold! I was glad to see hats, mittens, and jackets on everyone. We spend a lot of time outdoors, and being warm makes it much more enjoyable.

Our spelling words today were 100, 1000, 14, and 24. We wrapped up our “Show, Not Tell” activity using the sentence “She behaved badly at the assembly.” After that, we worked through our Heggerty phonemic awareness routine and tackled our maze challenge.

During UFLI, we focused on digraphs—two letters that come together to make one sound. Students are doing a great job identifying and practicing them.

Math time included reviewing different ways to represent numbers and more practice with skip counting. The Grade 2 students discovered that skip counting by 100 felt easier than by 10—until they had to start at 2 and keep adding 10 each time! Grade 3 students started from zero and practiced as well. We also solved some word problems and reviewed addition and subtraction skills.

Recess was still cold, but that didn’t stop us from having fun outside.

After recess, our JMH mentors returned for another visit. They rotated to new groups so they could meet more students and learn everyone’s names. Ask your child which JMH student they worked with today and what activity they did together!

A focused “read to self” helped us reset before we tried logging into our Reading Park app. After lunch, with fresh energy, we gave it another go—and success! Some students zipped through their first quest, while others needed a little more time to navigate. With more practice, we’ll all improve.

In Social Studies, Ms. Doucet guided us through our journals and led an important discussion about inclusion and exclusion. We also talked about Indigenous peoples and the history of residential schools.

We continued reading School Days According to Humphrey, practiced some new French phrases, and filled out our Book of Gratitude with the prompt: “I showed teamwork today when…” Before the day ended, we signed our home-to-school books and enjoyed a bit of free choice time.

Our soccer team is on the road to Miramichi Rural for a game after school today—good luck, Cubs! Show your spirit and make us proud!

POD: Activities with our JMH Reading Mentors

It was a chilly start to the morning, but we quickly settled into our routine. Our spelling words today were fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen, and our “Show, Not Tell” sentence was “She was excited.” We worked through Heggerty and our word maze before doing a quick write about Halloween.

In math, we practiced skip counting and filling in the next numbers in a series. Grade 2 students focused on counting by 10s, while Grade 3 students worked on counting by 100s.

After recess, we welcomed visitors! Students from JMH will be coming daily to help us with literacy. Today we played some icebreaker games to give the K–3 students a chance to meet and interact with them.

Lunch was cool but enjoyable outside, and afterwards we had a joint PE class with the K–2s. The focus was on hula hoops—always a favorite!

Later, in Ms. Doucet’s class, we worked in our journals and talked about important vocabulary words like community and inclusion.

We ended our day with our Book of Gratitude using the prompt: “I was proud of myself when…” After that, we packed up, and many students were picked up early while the bus headed off to cross-country at Gretna Green.

Good luck to our Cubs tonight! Rest up, and I’ll see you all in the morning.

POD: Sunrises on a new day in Napan

It was a chilly morning, and many of us were glad to be bundled up in layers. Our spelling focus today was the number words eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. We also wrapped up our “Show, Not Tell” activity using the sentence “He was tired.”

We started the day with a school assembly for Orange Shirt Day. We watched a few short videos, had a thoughtful discussion, and took a school photo together.

Back in the classroom, we worked through our Heggerty phonemic awareness routine and completed our maze. Math time included reviewing different ways to represent numbers and practicing skip counting. Grade 2 students worked on counting by 2s, while Grade 3 students focused on counting by 25s.

Although it warmed up as the day went on, sweaters were still needed—fall has definitely arrived!

Our “read to self” time went very well today. Afterwards, we tried out a Lumio lesson about Orange Shirt Day. Each student used their own iPad while I controlled the lesson. We’re still learning how to scan QR codes and adjust the volume, but everyone is improving with practice.

In PE, we focused on building new routines and learning how to transition from free time and game time back into “serious time” in our home spaces so the teacher can teach. We also did a quick Tabata workout—some students really showed grit and stuck with it! We ended the class with shout-outs that were thoughtful, positive, and on point.

The afternoon was warm enough for t-shirts, but it’s clear that summer is over and fall is officially here. We used orange paper, markers, and craft supplies to create our own orange shirts. Folding paper can be tricky, but everyone stuck with it and the results were fantastic.

I was very impressed when we visited Ms. Doucet’s room. Students quickly grabbed their pencils and journals and got right to work. Ms. Doucet read a story about Orange Shirt Day and led a great discussion.

Later, we read more from School Days According to Humphrey, practiced some French phrases, and filled out our Book of Gratitude with the sentence starter: “I laughed today when…”

We did not sign our home-to-school books today due to some technical issues printing new pages. Updated books will be sent home on Wednesday. We finished the day with a few minutes of free choice time before packing up.

Reminder: There is no school tomorrow for Truth and Reconciliation Day. Enjoy the long weekend, and I will see you all on Wednesday.

POD: Terry Fox Walk – Dugout Pic

The big news off the bus this morning wasn’t the cross-country results from England’s Hollow last night—it was about a few students who got stung by hornets!

We started our day with our regular routine. Our spelling words continued to focus on numbers, and we did a “Show, Not Tell” activity using the sentence “He was stung by a hornet.” We followed that with our maze and Heggerty listening games. Miss Brown also stopped by for a visit. This month’s school focus is on respect, and we had a good conversation about what that means. It was a chilly morning, so the breakfast program was extra busy today. Some students forgot to be polite and left a mess behind—an important reminder that we can all do better.

In math, we reviewed representing numbers and using a hundreds chart to add and subtract. Today’s new skill was skip counting—Grade 2 students practiced by 2s, while Grade 3 students worked on counting by 25s.

During literacy, we had a “read to self” session and then a free write. Some of the stories were pretty silly today, but creativity is always welcome!

PE was full of fun as we showed off our amazing hula hoop tricks. We also spent extra time on shout-outs, cheering for one another and building each other up.

Lunch was extra special—it was pizza day, and we even celebrated a birthday! As a bonus, we watched a little Netflix as a special end-of-week treat.

In the afternoon, we prepared for our Terry Fox Walk. We put on our Terry Fox stickers and tattoos, then headed to a school-wide assembly. We watched videos about Terry’s story, revealed our fundraising results, and did a quick warm-up before walking to the baseball diamond for the big event. Everyone walked with pride, and afterward, we enjoyed a few extra minutes on the playground while staff cleaned up and returned our materials to the school.

Before heading home, we grabbed our belongings and packed up for the long weekend.

Just a reminder: there is no school tomorrow for students because teachers will be in meetings. And when we return on Monday, it will be Orange Shirt Day.

POD: Every Child Matters!

My apologies, apparently I messed up publishing yesterdays post.