A Sunny Fun-Friday!

We had a wonderful day today! 
The boys and girls wrote beautiful cinquain poems about summer, enjoyed a refreshing summer punch and had a sunny art lesson this afternoon!  

Check out the photos from our afternoon! You'll love the hilarious contrast between the boys' art and the girls'. I knew that my students would take this cute activity and make it their own!  

New Photos! Click here!

How to do comparative writing (7 Steps)

We reviewed the seven steps to comparative writing today. Here's the video that the students watched back when the concept was first introduced. 

Two more days!

Everyone in Room 208 is working very hard getting ready for EQAO on Tuesday. The great thing about preparing for the booklets is that students are revisiting so many important skills that will help them to be successful in future grades. 

This week, we've really focused on the following: 

• the difference between you're/your
• memorizing our parts of speech song 
• the pros and cons of gist answers
• the importance of knowing how to tell time
• the importance of knowing how to correctly identify 45 minutes after the hour (many children get the hour itself wrong) 
• ways writers use words to create mood and visual imagery for their readers 
• the importance of proofreading our work
• spinners and probability 
• why a quiet work space is essential and that mouth sounds or tapping are distracting to others 
• the importance of using all available resources to be successful 
• you are what you eat, so be sure to eat a good breakfast and pack a healthy lunch always! 

We're in great shape for Tuesday and I'm thrilled that my students have learned so many skills that I hope will assist them next year in their studies.  

An important talk today

We had an important discussion this afternoon about friendship and showing respect for others. 

To address a couple of playground issues that have arose, we  talked specifically about the following: 

• only teachers are in charge of "clubs" at school
• students are not permitted to form recess clubs where another student is in charge of who can join and who can not 
• we use kind words that demonstrate our love for God and respect for the dignity of all students
• we don't name-call 
• when adults don't intervene and help resolve problems or situations that upset children at a young age, they can become bigger problems as they get older 
• students understand they are to come to me right away if they feel they are not being treated with the respect and kindness they deserve 

Socializing and forming meaningful friendships is essential to every child's well-being and it is important that as teachers, we do everything we can to set children up for success, especially in later grades.