Thank you for making this first week of school so special and equally exciting. I could not be more pleased with the start up of the year and very much look forward to what the days, weeks, and months bring to the students of Room 7. I would like to invite you to check your email on Friday afternoons, as I will be sending out a weekly learning update to all parents/guardians. This will be a reflection of the past week but also a reminder of upcoming events. I will also be posting this update on our classroom blog.
What learning took place this week?
During this week, the students were involved in several team building tasks. These tasks are designed to engage students in an engineering task, with the distinct purpose of developing their communication and collaboration skills. Students were asked to build the tallest tower with just tape and straws that would be stable enough to hold a tennis ball. We had seven creative and unique towers with several of them designed to in fact hold a tennis ball for a period of time. We took the opportunity to discuss what collaboration both looks like and sounds like. We will be working on these skills on a regular basis as students will undertake design tasks in varying groups.
Students and I also spoke about the importance of Read to Self time of the day. We spoke about the reasons why we read and how this purpose will change from one task to another. We had students role play what Read to Self looks like and sounds like, and we once again practiced these skills. Building stamina in this particular area will be another focus over the next several weeks. The students will be introduced to Shared Reading next week.
The art of brainstorming was also a focus for Room 7 this week. We discussed as a whole the importance of doing so and how this helps us see the perspectives of others. We generated a short list of ways in which we can brainstorm and the proceeded to complete our first attempt around one unit of study in Science: Hearing and Sound. The students brainstormed their questions, wonders, curiosities and personal connections to the topic. I could not be more proud of the work they did with this desk, especially at the beginning of the school year.
This is just a few highlights of the week. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. Please do not hesitate to email me at anytime with questions/concerns. (tdgiffen@cbe.ab.ca)
Ask Me About
*our Welcome Back Assembly
*what we did in our first Music class
*our time in the natural space
Upcoming Events
Monday, September 10th - Photo Day
Thursday, September 20th - Early Dismissal
Parent/Teacher Conferences at 3:30-7:30pm
Friday, September 21st - Parent Teacher Conferences at 8:00-12:00pm
Monday, September 24th - TELUS Spark Field Study
Take care,
Teresa Giffen
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