Let There Be Peace

There have been lots of conversations about Remembrance Day. Thoughts about peace and war have been shared as well as so many good books have been read aloud. We were able to walk to the Cenotaph this week and enjoy the freedom and friendships we have. Mrs. Dent Scarcello came to our class to make peace beads. We worked together peacefully to make something beautiful. The beads will be hung up in the library.

We had a wonderful assembly this morning hosted by Ms. Jeffery's, Ms. Radawetz's and Ms. Booth's classes. We heard stories, poems and singing. The grades 2s and 3s did a terrific job performing
and the audience was very respectful. We talked before the assembly about what we could be thinking about during the moment of silence. It was a time of quiet reflection.

We are working on a book about Peace. Here are our thoughts:
Peace is . . .
giving a hug to my mom and dad. - Marley
having new pets. -Grayson
a kiss from mom. - Kayley
giving a high five. -Noah
loving people. - Laniah
having good friends and having sleep overs. -Claire
hugs from my sister. - Chelsea
the sun shining. - Etta
a tree house. Josh
playing with my cousins. -Sophie
going to bed and having good dreams. -Shain
giving my sister a kiss. -Camden
carrying a wreath. -Kalem
climbing a tree to hide. -Marcus
 a poppy. -Everett
friendship. -Mercedes

I hope you have a peaceful weekend. We thank all those who sacrificed so much for our safety and freedom. Lest we forget.
-Mrs. T :)

Awesome Sign!

Mayor Hart visited Room 2 on Tuesday to share our special surprise. She brought a sign that had our letter printed on it!! There are 25 of these signs that will be placed around the community. How great is that?! Mayor Hart wrote us a letter on the back of our sign which makes it even more special. We hope you see these posted on your walks and that dog owners show responsibility by picking up after their pets.

This experience has been an amazing process. I hope it reminds us all that we are part of a community and how important it is to be responsible, respectful citizens. We have a voice and it can be used in a very positive way to create change, which is what we were trying to do. We wrote to Mayor Hart to tell her that she is a good mayor because she helps our community and listens
to our ideas.

Thanks to all the people who have shared their support and kind words with us. We really have made a lasting difference in our community. 

-Mrs. T :)

CTV Visits Room 2

Our letter to Mayor Hart which was published in the local newsletter caught the attention of CTV news. Katherine Dow came out to visit us yesterday to talk about our experience during our walk for Earth Day clean up. We were able to watch ourselves on TV last night. Thanks for coming to our classroom, Katherine!
You can watch the clip HERE.

A Surprise Visitor

On April 19th, we went down the path on Raleigh Street for Walking Wednesday. We were picking up garbage as part of our Earth Day activities for the week. It shocked us to find so many dog poop bags along the path. When we came back to school we thought we should do something about what we saw. Ms. Scalisi suggested we write a letter. Together we wrote a letter to the municipality. Ms. Wasney mentioned that we should send it to Mayor Hart. So we did . . . and guess what? Mayor Hart replied to our letter and said that she wanted to come to visit our class!! Today she stopped by to meet us. She asked us about what we saw on our walk and the suggestions we had to help solve the problem. Mayor Hart was proud of us for taking action. She is going to use our suggestions and she said that our letter is going to be put up in the community to remind others to pick up after their dogs. How cool is that?!

Here are our thoughts:

I learned that Mayor Hart takes care of our community. -Ava
I like that the mayor came here. -Dominic
The mayor came to the school because she wanted to meet us. -Blake
Mayor Hart told us she is going to do the things that we wrote on our letter. -Jack
She told us that a lady walked down the path and she picked up the dog poop and put them into bags. -Ben
Mayor Hart came to our classroom. I was excited to meet her. -Brody
The mayor came to our classroom because we sent a letter to her. -Andrew
She takes care of East St. Paul. -Lily

I was excited that she came to Room 2. -Marshall
I learned to take care of our East St. Paul. Pick up dog poop. -Chase
I enjoyed talking about the problem with Mayor Hart. Now when we go on Walking Wednesdays we hope to not see any poop bags. -Adria
It was cool that Mayor Hart came today. It was my first time meeting her. -Tyson
I was excited that Mayor Hart came because she was going to tell us about what she will do to fix the problem. -Brooke
I am excited because the mayor is going to put our letter on a sign. -Charlotte
Mayor Hart said that she will use both our ideas to problem solve the poop bags. -Bianca

What a thrill it was to have the Mayor take time from her busy schedule to come to meet us. It was very exciting to hear her news. We can't wait to see garbage cans and signs out on the path. We hope you enjoy walking along a cleaner path, we sure will.
-Mrs. T :)

What a Week!

It has been a busy week. Monday started with an assembly featuring a performance by Fubuki Daiko. They are a Japanese Taiko drumming group. Hiroshi and Naomi held workshops for students with a final performance on Thursday. The grade 1s were able to experience the drumming as well which was such a treat.

With Earth Day on Saturday, April 22nd, we have been talking a lot about how we can all do our part to help our planet. We were encouraged to bring a litterless lunch on Tuesday. Our Walking Wednesdays started up again and we picked up garbage in the area along our route. We wore green and blue to school on Thursday as we continued to think about our Earth. The lights were frequently off in our classroom to help save energy. Our big window provided lots of lighting as we worked throughout the day.

We ended our week with a gallery walk through the school to see the excellent writing that was on display outside all of the classrooms. The kids were excited to see their own work and the work of friends and siblings.

Have a wonderful weekend. Remember it's Earth Day on Saturday, but we have been saying that Earth Day is every day. How are you going to make a difference?
-Mrs. T :)

December means Dinovember is Over

With the start of a new month we are saying good-bye to Dinovember. What a month it has been. The excitement and squeals of laughter filled our days as we found the Dinos in our classroom. They even ventured out of our room to discover new places in our school. We will miss them for sure.

Here are our thoughts:
Dinovember is over. I thought it was fun. -Arianna
Our Dinos are gone. I miss them already. -Stacey
I was excited when the dinosaurs came on the first day. Chase
I loved Dinovember. I wonder what they are going to do next time when they come. -Brooke
I hope the Dinos had a good time here. -Tyson
I liked when the Dinos celebrated Theo and Desi's birthdays. -Adria
I helped clean up the Dino messes. They were funny. -Desi
The first day of Dinovember they got out of a big box. -Andrew
We wrote about the dinosaurs. -Dominic
I'm sad that the dinosaurs went back home, but I'm really happy that they left us some candy and dinosaurs. -Lily
When the dinosaurs messed up the calendar they changed the numbers all around. I fixed the calendar up, -Bianca
On one day the Dinos got into the sponges and bit some of them. I was sad because they chewed some of them up. -Jack
The Dinos jumped on Miss Laura's cart. They were doing stuff to her cart. -Marshall
I'm sad that the Dinos left. I also liked what they did. -Theo
I liked when the Dinos got into the recycling bin. They were recycling. -Charlotte
I was excited when they came in the box. -Ava
I liked when the Dinos went into the equipment room in the gym. It was cool. -Blake

If you follow us on Instagram you were able to see the daily antics of the Dinos. We hope you enjoyed their visit as much as we did. Now we will gear up for another wonderful month as we countdown to Christmas. Let the excitement continue!

-Mrs. T :)

The Weeks are Flying By

It has been a busy week in Room 2. The snow finally arrived, we learned about the element of line in art, Walking Wednesday took us through the community, Ms Gauvreau was in our room for our writing residency and the Dinos were up to some pretty funny adventures!

We have had a guest in our room working with us on our writing journey. I am so proud that the kids in grade one see themselves as writers and readers. We will be making a counting book about dinosaurs as the Dinos have been a great source of inspiration for our writing this month. During our writing residency, other teachers joined us to watch the process with Ms Gauvreau leading the way. We were so lucky to be a host class with Ms G. The Dinos liked her too. They even snuck into Ms Gauvreau's bag and went home with her one night!

Walking Wednesday

Here are our thoughts:
There's a book called Snowmen at Night. Ms Gauvreau read it to us. -Arianna
The Dinos made snowballs and  a snowman. -Stacey
We did art. We drew different lines. -Marshall
We got snow. I was building a snow fort. -Ava
The dinosaurs got into Ms Gauvreau's suitcase and went home with her. -Jack

The writers of Room 2

We had snow. It snowed today I am really excited. I can't believe it. -Chase
On our walk we made snowballs and threw them at the field. -Bianca
I liked Ms Gauvreau because I got to see the other teachers who came to our room. -Brooke
The dinosaurs were at Ms Gauvreau's place. They were eating the fruit. -Andrew
I love the walk. I loved the snowball throwing. We don't throw snowballs on the playground. -Brody
I like playing outside because I get to go in snow forts. -Blake
I wrote so good. I wrote about 2 dinosaurs in a boat fishing for fish. -Ben
We walked in the snow for the first time on Walking Wednesday. -Lily
I love squishing the snow with my hands. -Desi
I stomped my feet in the snow. -Dominic
I made a big snowball and it got joined to a snow fort. -Tyson
I liked when Ms Gauvreau came to do our Dino book. -Theo

I can't believe it is already nearing the end of November. Report cards go home on Monday. We are looking forward to celebrating our learning with you at student led conferences next week.
Have a great weekend.

The Dinos on Ms Gauvreau;s table enjoying fresh fruit!

-Mrs. T :)

A Celebration of the Arts Evening

We had a great evening to celebrate the arts at Bird's Hill School last night. The WSO Group, grade 3 and 4 choirs, grade 4/5 and 5 Orff Ensemble performed. There were video presentations of kindergarten classes, grade 1 and 2 choir, artists in the schools stories and grade 1s. Each classroom had writing displayed for our reading pleasure. A "Good Writers" scavenvger hunt was also set up throughout the halls. Thanks to those who brought in food for all to enjoy.

Here are our thoughts:
I had a long time to finish my poetry about football. I liked how I figured out how to say it when so many ideas were coming into my head. -Russell A.
I liked searching for the missing letters. -Josh
I enjoyed doing the word search because I was almost the first one done. -Anna
I wrote a poem about cats because I love cats. -Gavin
I liked filling out the passport that I got. -Jake
I was in the videos. -Russell L.
I liked all the food there. I liked searching for the words. -Brady
My parents liked my poem about monster trucks. I liked doing the stuff with the passport. -Callum
My poem was about cats. -Jay Dee
I enjoyed the scavenger hunt. I liked finding out what the secret message was. -Levi
I liked writing my horses poem because it was really good. -Eliza
My poem was about McDonalds. -Ethan
I enjoyed eating the yummy food. -Naomi
I liked the poems we wrote. -Cody
My poem was about cats. I used the computer to help me draw my cats. -Zachary
I wrote a poem about Earth Day because I love the earth. -Cady
I liked when I made the poem fit in a fish tank shape. My poem was about fish. -Landyn
Last night was fun because I got to go around and find different words that good writers do. -Sierra


What a fantastic way to bring the community together and to celebrate our learning. We hope you enjoyed the evening. I will post our grade 1 video on the Zones of Regulation shortly. Thanks to Ms. Booth for all her help in the final production.
-Mrs. T :)

 

Letters of Kindess

We have written letters of kindness to important people in our lives. We hope these letters help to put a smile on someone's face and to make someones day a little brighter. Please help us share kind words with others each day. I am so proud to see and hear the grade ones making kind gestures and choosing their words carefully.

Here are our thoughts:

My dad will be happy because he likes getting letters. -Callum
I felt good when I finished my letter because I think my brother will like it. -Jake
I think my dad is going to feel happy that I made it. I will feel good when dad sees it. -Gavin
When my dad gets my letter he will be really warm in his heart. -Brady
My dad will feel happy when I give him the letter.  -Landyn
My sisters will like my letter. -Ethan
My brother will feel happy when he gets the letter because he does a lot of good things for me. -Levi
I think my brother is going to feel so good. He's going to give me a hug. -Zachary
I wrote to Kaitlyn because we always play with each other and we like it. -Naomi
Mommy will smile when she gets my letter. -Jay Dee
Maxx will feel surprised and he will give me a big hug. -Sierra
I hope my friend will feel warm inside when I give her my letter. -Bapreet
Kevin will be surprised when I give him the letter. I think he will call me. -Cady
I felt happy when I wrote the letter to my uncle. It was hard kind of because I had to write lots of words. It was fun. -Anna

Thank you for helping us get our messages to the people we wrote to. We are always trying to share kind words with others. -Mrs. T :)

Author Visit with Cary Fagan

The Canadian Book Centre gave each Grade One student in our school a Canadian children's book. This Grade One Book Giveaway is sponsored by TD Bank Group. Cary Fagan, author of Mr. Zinger's Hat, came to our school to read his book to our students. What a treat! Cary even played the mandolin and taught us a song so we could sing along with him. Thanks to Mrs. Hamilton for submitting our school's name for this fantastic opportunity.

The students loved receiving their very own copy of the book.
We hope parents will enjoy reading this delightful story to their children at home. What story is in your hat?

Cary's favourite stuffy. 

Cary teaching us a song.

Receiving our very own books.

Show us your favourite illustration.

Here are our thoughts:
I liked seeing a guy who really wrote a book. I have never met an author. -Russell A.
I liked it when Cary read his book. -Gavin
I liked the book. I like to bring home the book. -Cody
It was fun to read the book and show our favourite pictures in it. The pictures were cool. -Josh
I have never seen an author before. I loved the book. -Callum
I liked the book. The stories came from his hat. -Jake
I have never ever seen an author before. When the author came he played the mandolin. -Bapreet
I liked the pattern in the song. We all sang. -Naomi
I am going to read the book every day. It was cool how he wrote the song in pictures.-Brady
My favourite part was the story. I really liked how it repeated twice because the girl came after. -Levi
It was fun. I liked the song he played on the mandolin. -Landyn
We had fun looking at our books. He told us his story and he sang a song about hats. -Sierra
I liked when we got the books. I am going to take mine home. -Eliza
I loved the story. -Russell L.
I liked when he sang the song because it was super fun to sing it with him. -Anna
I liked when he read the book. My favourite part about the book was when the story was in the hat. -Cady
I liked the story. At the end of the story I liked when the ogre grabbed his head. -Zachary
I liked when we sang the song. -Jay Dee
It was fun listening to him read. -Sasha
I listened to the story. -Ethan

We have discussed how we are all authors as we write down our ideas and create stories. It was super exciting to meet someone who writes for a living. What a wonderful experience for our students. We thank the sponsors of this event and all the coordinating that went along with having Cary visit our school. We were one of only two stops on Cary's Manitoba book tour. Unfortunately the illustrator, Dušan Petričić could not attend. The students did comment on the terrific illustrations. It was so neat to see the students pick out their favourite page and to look around to see many had chosen the same one. Which page is your favourite?
Happy reading!
-Mrs. T :)