October 21st: Update + games

Hello Families,

Things are rolling along, and with the students I am putting together a list of what we expect to see in their writing. Look for it in the coming days, and next week they will have to polish a text they wrote using the criteria we establish.

As well, students have a new response assignment this week, responding to the poem "Something Told the Wild Geese." You should see them use their dictionaries for this assignment.

I spoke recently with the mother of one of the students about using board games and card games to practice math skills and different strategies. A couple of games I find very good are:

Blokus (visual spatial strategies, planning skills)
Tock (calcualtion practice, planning, teamwork)
Labyrithne (visual spatial skills, planning)
Zoologic (visual, process of elimintation, working backwards)
Crazy 8 (planning, assessing multiple criteria)
Guess Who (looking for criteria, asking questions, eliminating information guess and test)
Puzzles (visual organization, sorting, classifying, working backwards, elimination, guess and test, looking for patterns...)

Many games can be found all over town, but the mother of a former student of mine works in the children's section of Renaud-Bray, and she is wonderful about finding games that stimulate and are fun to play. I don"t know if she would appreciate my mentioning her on the blog, but ask me and I will tell you who to look for.

Which games do you play with your kids? Let's build this list together.
Have a great week,
Kathy

Happy Monday!

Hello Families,
I had a great day with the students. We had to work on the Ministry Math exam, but apart from that we had a great discussion about a favorite book of mine, 'Whose Mouse are You?' by Robert Kraus, and we worked on grammar and text response using the book as a springboard. It was interesting to hear the students express their ideas and to share opinions with each other.

This week there are a few particular things I want to call you attention to:

*Interim Reports went home today - they need to be signed and sent back to school

*Cross-Country Run will take place Wednesday for students involved. I will accompany them to the race, and we will have a supply teacher for those who stay behind.

*Thursday the nurse from the CSSS (former CLSC) will be giving the students a 2-hour first aid course.

* There have been cases of lice in the school. Please tie up long hair to help prevent lice spreading.

* Back to school time is now over, but it is a good time of year to have your child's eyes checked. Exams are free for children under 12 years,and recommended for all, particularly if one or both parents wear glasses. At this age it is important to keep track of this, especially if your child complains of headaches.

As always, please ensure that your child reads every night, adn you can keep track of homework using the link on the right.

All my best to you! Have a wonderful week,
Kathy Napier