Happy Holidays!

We packed a lot in to this last week before the holiday break. It was very exciting that's for sure. From our hearts to yours........we wish you all a very happy holiday season!

Have a safe, fun-filled winter break. See you all next year. . . don't forget to come back on Monday, January 5th!

-Mrs. T :)



PJ Day!

To celebrate our successful student led conferences and all our hard work during our concert practices and performances, we enjoyed a day in our pyjamas this week. Students were also able to bring in a stuffed toy to share with the class. It was neat to see the well-loved stuffies that spent a day with us in room 2.
Here are our thoughts:
I loved the popcorn. -Kayden
I liked everybody's stuffies and when we watched the movie. -Ezra
I enjoyed the movie because it was Robert Munsch and that's my favourite author. -Andrew
I liked the movie and the popcorn and when we watched the different movies. -Shelby
I liked when we watched the two short movies and when we ate our popcorn. -Diamond
I liked eating the popcorn and watching the movies. I'm glad we got to bring our stuffies. -Rylee
We celebrated pyjama day because we worked hard during our concert practices. I was watching the teacher the whole time. -Hunter
I liked watching the movie and not having to get dressed in the morning. -Reese
I liked the popcorn and also the movies. -Kyla
We had a cozy day in our comfy clothes. Luckily no one fell asleep. -Mrs. T.
I brought my stuffed bunny named Bunny. -Kody
I liked watching the movie on the projector. -Brayden
We ate popcorn. It tasted good. -Brianna

Pyjama day was a hit!
-Mrs. T :)

I Wonder. . .

We are trying to take time to talk about our "wonders" in Grade 1. . . what are we thinking about and what questions do we have?  Our Wonder Wall is full of interesting thoughts that fill our heads. With it being the last week before Christmas break I thought I would ask the students what wonders they have as the excitement of the holiday season is upon us.

Here are our thoughts:
I wonder what Santa will bring me. -Diamond
I wonder if Santa brings his elves when he delivers the presents. -Andrew
Is Santa going to give me lots of presents? -Shelby
How does Santa fill up my stocking? -Brianna
I wonder what toys Santa will bring me. -Rylee
How does Santa get up and down the chimney? -Brayden
Is Santa going to come to my house? -Kingston
How does Santa go around the world in one night? -Ezra
Did Santa make up Christmas? -Kyla
How do the elves make toys? -Ashley
I wonder when I will get my shopping done. -Mrs. T
I wonder why Santa goes around the city all the time. -Kody
How does Santa fly around the world in one night and give everyone presents? -Reese
How does Santa get down the chimney and how does he park his sleigh? -Hunter
I wonder if I'm on the nice list. -Ashton
I wonder where in the North Pole Santa lives. -Xoie

May we never lose our sense of wonder.
-Mrs. T :)

It's Show Time

It was very exciting to perform in front of audiences yesterday. We had a dress rehearsal for the Grade 3-5 classes in the morning, an afternoon performance, and then an evening show. The Grade 1s did an awesome job singing and also reciting The Night Before Christmas. Thanks to the families and friends who came out to watch us present An Old Fashioned Christmas. We even had a special guest stop by in the evening to celebrate our great performance. Thanks Ms Wasney for being our photographer on concert night.

Here are our thoughts:
I liked singing to everyone. -Diamond
I was nervous because the whole crowd was watching. I did good. -Andrew
I really liked seeing everybody in the audience while I was singing. -Reese
I was nervous because there were lots of people. -Kyla
I was smiling at my Mom and Dad. -Ashley
I looked at my Dad and he smiled and waved to me. -Brayen
I was nervous because there were so many people. I was happy that I got to sing. -Ezra
I was smiling at everybody. -Saydee
I was nervous because there were lots of people watching and clapping. -Shelby
I was nervous performing in front of all those people. -Xoie
I liked that people came to watch us today. -Brianna
I was proud to see everyone trying their best to perform in front of all those people. -Mrs. T.
I looked good because I dressed up. -Kody
I listened and I was proud of my singing. -Hunter
I liked singing all the songs. -Rylee
I'm glad my mom and brother came to the concert. -Kayden
I liked the music. -Kingston
My mom and dad said I did a good job singing. -Ashton

We hope our concert put you in the holiday spirit. Only 15 more days until Christmas. . . I better start my shopping.
-Mrs. T :)

Christmas Concerts

Wow, it's Christmas Concert time tomorrow for our Kindergarten-Grade 2 students. We are looking forward to performing for you at 2:00 and at 6:30. The gym  and hallways are looking festive. These seats will soon be filled with our family and friends. We hope you enjoy our perfomance of An Old Fashioned Christmas.

Gift Tags

The BHS S.P.I.N. (Support People In Need) Club has been busy making gift tags to sell at our concerts this week. These dedicated Grade 5 students have been attending before school, after school, and recess sessions to create handmade tags. They will be sold in packages of 10 for $3. The proceeds from the sale will go to "Free the Children's Year of Empowerment". We are also collecting non-perishable food items at our concerts. These items will be sent to Abundant Life Church where they will be distributed to families in our area.

Thank you for supporting these worthwhile causes.
 -Mrs. T :)

Concert Countdown

It has been a busy week for us in Grade 1. We are preparing for our concert (K-2) on Tuesday. The Grade 3-5 concert is on Wednesday. Our concert is called An Old Fashioned Christmas. We are working hard to learn several verses of The Night Before Christmas. We practiced in the gym for the first time after the stage and risers were set up. It is pretty cool to see the gym being transformed into a concert setting.



During the week we created artwork to display at the concerts. Both ideas had a snowman theme. We read the books, Snowmen all Year and Snowmen at Christmas. For the first snowman art idea we tore paper to make a snowman head, nose, eyes and a mouth. The task wasn't easy, but the results are very impressive. These snowmen can be seen on Artsonia and also on the bulletin board by the gym.

Chalk  was used to make our next snowmen. We drew an outline of a head and a body and then shaded the areas in with white chalk. By blending the chalk with our fingers, we created a neat effect. Scarves and hats could be added as nice details. These snowmen can be seen on the music room bulletin board.

The students are proud of their work that is on display and also the work we have been putting in to prepare for our performances next week.

Here are our thoughts:
I liked practicing for the concert. -Saydee
I like concerts. Our concert is on Tuesday. -Brianna
Today I liked practicing songs. I liked when we said, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." -Diamond
I liked the chalk art that we did for the concert. -Andrew
We made snowmen by tearing faces and noses and eyes and a mouth out of paper. -Hunter
I liked doing both art snowmen. They are outside the gym and music room. -Kyla
I liked doing music in the gym. -Brayden
I liked when we ripped the paper apart for our art. -Ezra
I liked singing in the gym today. -Xoie
I am excited for the concert. -Ashley
We made art for the Christmas concert so everyone can see it. -Reese
I liked singing at our Christmas concert practice. -Rylee
I liked the chalk art. It is in the hall by the music room. -Kayden

Have a restful weekend. Try to practice the words for our part in the concert. I can't wait to see our performances and to see the Grade 3-5 concert.
-Mrs. T :)

Student Led Conferences

We had our student led conferences on Thursday after school and Friday morning. It was great to see the students celebrating their accomplishments this term with their families. It is a privilege spending my days working with incredible young people and also getting to meet their parents. Thank you to the families for coming out to share in your child's learning. Grade 1 is a fascinating time of growth, both academically and socially. We are learning so many things to cover the curriculum, but we are also discovering ways to be kind to people and to own our words and actions. Students, parents and teachers working together to build a positive learning environment warms my heart. Thank you parents for your continued support and encouragement.

Here are our thoughts:
I liked showing them my portfolio. -Rylee
My mom said my work was good. -Kayden
I showed my mom, dad and brother my work. They said, "Good job." -Brianna
I liked showing them my Terry Fox paper. I ran 5 provinces. -Saydee
I liked showing my parents the plasticine I mixed and put on the paper. -Kyla
My mom said I did good work. -Ezra
When we were practicing Brianna and I looked inside our portfolios and shared our work. -Diamond
I liked showing my mom my writing. -Ashley
My parents said they were proud of my work. -Reese
My mom said that she liked my line art on the wall. -Hunter
I liked that they said that all of my things were really nice and good. -Shelby
I liked that I showed my number of the day, number 6. -Kody
My dad said I did a good job on my work. -Ashton
I liked when I showed my parents my primary and secondary colours out of plasticine. -Xoie
My parents said I did nice work. -Andrew

We are looking forward to what Term 2 brings.
-Mrs. T :)

It's Cold Out There!

Wow, it was a cold one on Wednesday. We were inside for all the recesses due to the windchill. As we looked out our classroom window at a sunny blue sky, it was hard to convince everyone that it really was too cold to be outside. Some students managed to keep busy during indoor recess by using hexagons to create an interesting design on their table.

During science we, talked about our fingerprints, examined them with magnifying glasses, and used a stamp pad to make prints on a paper. Then we tried to think of details to add to our fingerprints to make creatures and pictures. . . great ideas Grade 1s.

Our book fair is open tonight from 4-7:30 p.m. and on Friday from 9:30-11:00 a.m. during Student Led Conferences. If you are interested pop by the library to see what is available for some good reading.

As usual at this time of year I manage to lose my voice. Nothing seems to help to get it back quickly. Since my remedies aren't working I decided to see what advice my students may have.

Here are their thoughts:
Hold your breath. -Hunter
Take some Tylenol. -Shelby
Drink water. -Kody
Get someone to scare you. -Andrew
Drink some tea. -Ashton
Take a little nap. -Rylee
Take deep breaths. -Diamond
Sit upside down. -Saydee
Take medicine. -Ezra
Have a bath with Epsom salt and hot water. -Reese
Do some exercise. -Brianna
Take a deep breath every day. -Kyla
Eat toast. -Kayden
Take a little walk. -Xoie
Have some alone time. -Ashley

Thanks for the tips everyone! I feel better already. I'll try not to have a little nap at school ;) Remember to dress warmly for the weather.
-Mrs. T :)

Art: Creating Lines

We have been learning about different kinds of lines in art. Lines can be wavy, zig zag, curly, straight and even dotted. We used oil pastels to make lines on our paper. We talked about thick, thin, vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines too. There was lots of great language shared as students described their lines. We think they look pretty neat so far.

Fort Whyte Alive

We went on  a field trip to Fort Whyte Alive. We learned about how plants and animals survive our cold winters. We sure used our five senses on this trip. We saw so many interesting animals and plants. If we listened carefully we could hear the birds and the prairie dogs. We could smell the fresh outdoors. We touched the animals gently and some needles on the evergreen trees. We could feel the wind in our faces and the cold, crisp air on our cheeks. We tasted delicious food at lunch time to give us nourishment. Even though it was a bit cold with the windchill, we were dressed for the weather and we were able to enjoy the outdoor activities.

Here are our thoughts:
I saw lots of animals. -Kingston
I touched so many furry animals. -Kyla
I liked seeing all the animals. -Rylee
I saw a big catfish. -Ashton
The catfish has long whiskers. -Xoie
I liked touching the animal furs. -Diamond
It was neat to see all the animals. -Reese
I touched a lot of animals there. -Andrew
I liked the fluffy lynx. -Shelby
I enjoyed sitting on the bench to listen and look for the birds that came to the feeders. -Mrs. T
The animals were neat to see. -Brayden
I liked when we got to look around after lunch. -Hunter
I liked feeling the animals. -Shelby
I liked touching the animals and seeing them close up. -Ezra
We got to look at fish. -Brianna
I liked touching the animals. -Kody

Thanks to the volunteers for coming on our trip to help things run smoothly. We appreciate Mrs. Friesen arranging this field trip for the Grade Ones. Thanks to Mr. Unrau for taking great pictures to share with us. What was your favourite Fort Whyte memory? We hope you enjoy the video of our trip.
-Mrs. T :)

Guest Author and Illustrator

What an amazing day! We were delighted to have an author and illustrator come to our classroom to share the book, Doors in the Air. David Weale (author) and Pierre Pratt (illustrator) were very special guests in our room. They talked about how we can use our imagination to take us to different places and to experience different things. Pierre drew a door and then created an illustration of what could be behind that door based on our ideas. It was so neat to see a picture develop right before our eyes. What a treat it was to hear David read the story he wrote.

Here are our thoughts:

I liked the book. The pictures and the words looked really nice. -Shelby
The best part was when they read the book to us and when we got the book. -Kyla
You can think of anything in your imagination. -Ezra
I loved watching Pierre draw and listening to David read the story. Open a door to your imagination and take an amazing journey! -Mrs. T
I liked when they read the story. -Brianna
I liked the pictures in the book. -Ashley
My favourite picture is the one with all the doors because the story is called, "Doors in the Air". -Ashton
I liked the doors book because doors can bring you anywhere. -Xoie
I liked the page where he found a new land and he floated off. -Andrew
Pierre is a really good drawer. -Reese
My favourite part was the doors page because he was checking every door.-Kody
I liked the flower page because the flowers were well drawn. -Hunter
I liked the book because I liked how they made the words rhyme. -Rylee
I liked the book. My favourite page was when he bent down to get the flower. The flower looks beautiful. -Diamond



Our favourite illustrations.

I liked when the author retold the story. He was very exciting. -Kingston
I loved everything. The best part was how they got the students to create their own story using their imagination. -Ms Claydon
I liked listening to the book. -Brayden
I'm glad we got our own book to keep. -Kayden

We would like to thank the Children's Book Centre and TD Bank Group for giving each Grade One student a copy of this awesome Canadian picture book. What a fabulous way to support children's literacy! It was wonderful to be a selected school for the Doors in the Air Author and Illustrator Tour. Special thanks to Gail Hamilton, a former teacher librarian at BHS, for suggesting our school for this unique event.

What could be behind this door?

Sesame, sesame, snap!



Thanks for signing our class copy!

Who wants their very own book? Yes please!!

We hope you enjoy reading Doors in the Air at home with your family and friends! The book is also available in our school library.

-Mrs. T :)

What Does Peace Mean?

We read the book, What Does Peace Feel Like? by Vladimir Radunsky. Students wrote and drew about what peace meant to them while thinking about their 5 senses.

We hope you take time today to remember how lucky we are to live in peace. We are grateful to all those who gave their lives for our country. Enjoy this time of remembrance.

-Mrs. T :)

Good bye Friend!

One of our classmates is moving and is leaving our learning community.

We wish you all the best, Graysen! Thank you for being a special part of Room 2. We will always remember you.

Here are our thoughts:
I will miss playing pattern blocks with you. –Ashton
I will miss playing go fish with you after calendar. –Saydee
I miss that I might not see you again. I hope you will be safe and good. –Shelby
I hope that your teacher is good at your new school. –Xoie
You are really nice. You are my friend. – Andrew
I will miss you because you are my friend. –Brianna
I will miss you, Graysen because you are kind to me. –Diamond
I have been with you for lots of years. I will miss you. –Ashley
I hope you have an awesome new house. –Kyla
I hope you have a good time at the other school. –Ezra
I hope you get lots of new friends. –Rylee
We are sad to see you leave, Graysen. I know you will be a great addition to your new school. –Mrs. T
Have a nice time. I will miss you. –Kayden
I will miss reading with you. -Kody
I hope you have a good time at your new school. Good luck.  –Hunter
I hope you make new friends. –Reese
Good luck in your new home. –Kingston
I will miss you forever. -Brayden

The Cenotaph

The Grade 1s walked to the Cenotaph by our school. We formed a circle around the flag and sang a beautiful rendition of O'Canada. Ms Knoll read the names of the men who died fighting for our freedom. Many of those names were familiar because there are streets in our area named after these men. We remembered and thanked the men of the area for giving their lives for us to live freely in Canada.

Here are our thoughts:
The soldiers died for us. -Kayden
People were in the war. -Rylee
Ms Knoll read the names and we said, "We remember." -Brianna
We celebrated peoples' lives. -Shelby
We went for people who died in the war to remember them. -Graysen
We learned about the soldiers who died. -Kyla
We read the names of the people who died in the war. -Ashton
We went there for Remembrance Day.-Hunter
Soldiers die every day. -Ezra
We stood around the flag. -Brayden
We sang O'Canada. -Saydee
We learned the names of the soldiers who died. -Diamond
We looked at the flag. - Kingston
The soldiers who died wanted to save our world so nobody would get hurt. -Andrew
Soldiers died in the war. -Kody
The names of the soldiers who fought in the war were on the Cenotaph. -Reese
I learned the people who died. -Ashley
The Cenotaph had the names of the people who died. -Xoie

"Lest We Forget"