This week, we continued to focus on consonant blends with r. Our words were: crib, bring, friend, and drum.

We also worked with compound words. We learned that a compound word is made up of two words that have been glued together to form a new word. The students practiced identifying compound words and their root words and wrote sentences using these words.

As we continued to learn about the Grandfather Teaching of Honesty, we learned about the being that represents this Indigenous teaching. He is named Sabe (pronounced Saw-bay). Sabe is a giant (Bigfoot) because when one lives with integrity, is true to themselves, and honest with others, they walk tall.

The students coloured a Sabe designed by a Gitxsan artist from northern British Columbia named Michelle Stoney. We looked at some of her art for inspiration when choosing which colours to use. The students' Sabes are all beautiful and unique. I will post some for you to see next week but here is the design we worked with:

In Math, we continue to review and practice using the strategies of counting back, using a number line, using a drawing, and/or using fingers to solve subtraction problems. Next week, we will begin to learn about and practice using Fact Families such as 3+2=5 / 5-2=3.

In Science, we started to learn about the properties of matter and used these properties to describe toys. The properties include: colour, size, texture, weight. We will continue this work next week and will begin to incorporate this vocabulary into our writing as well.

At the end of each day, I have started to read a chapter book to the students. We are just finishing up the first book in the Magic Treehouse book series by Mary Pope Osborne titled Dinosaurs Before Dark. If you haven't heard of these books before, they are favourites with elementary school-aged children. They weave fiction with non-fiction and are always filled with exciting adventures! :)

Today, we joined our Grade 4 buddies and learned about the use of lines in art. Mrs. Miller introduced the students to many different line designs and the students created a new hairstyle for themselves using a variety of line designs. If your child did not bring their artwork home, you will see it on Monday as a few of them left their work at school! Here is an example:

Our Grade 1 Curriculum Newsletter:

As it does not come through clearly, please email me if you would like a printed copy - jllarmer@cbe.ab.ca

Please see the message below regarding our school's yearbook:

​​​​​​​McKenzie Towne School 2024/25 Yearbook ordering is now live!

To order go to: https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca/
Use Yearbook ID code: 10614125
Early Bird Pricing: $29 (Now until Feb 28, 2025)
Regular Pricing: $34 (March 1 - May 24, 2025)

Last day to order:  May 24, 2025

We would like to invite parents to submit photos of their child for the yearbook by emailing them to yearbook@mtsparents.com. Submissions can include pictures from the first day of school, Terry Fox Run, Halloween Dance, Tropical Beach Day etc.

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Our focus words this week all began with the "gr" blend - grab, grin, green, and grey. We will continue to focus on other letter blends with r next week - cr, fr, br, etc.

The students continued to develop their writing skills this week by writing a variety of sentences using a picture prompt and a word bank. The examples I am sharing below show both a well-developed entry and one that relies more on patterned sentences. Just as with reading, these skills will develop at different times for different students.

In Science, we continue to work at completing our Winter booklet. This week, we completed a page about activities people do in Winter and another one about the clothing we wear throughout the season.

The students also listened to a reading of the book, Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner and completed an art piece depicting the animals that hibernate or adapt during the winter months.

In Math, we have been developing our subtraction skills with numbers up to 20. The students have been practicing using simple drawings and number lines to solve equations as well as oral word problems.

I introduced a third Grandfather Teaching this week. It was the teaching of Honesty. We listened to a story called, Betty Bunny Didn't Do It by Michael Kaplan. We followed this up by sharing about a time when we hadn't been honest. We talked about how it felt not to tell the truth and the consequences of being dishonest.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and the return of Winter! Stay warm. :)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays. 

Our focus words this week all began with "qu". They were: quiet, question, queen, and quick.

We began working on a Winter booklet this week in Science. We have started to learn more about animals and living things such as reptiles and insects that hibernate. We have been checking on the two Grizzly bears at the Hibernation Station on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. Here is the link for the web cam should you be interested in taking a look. https://www.grousemountain.com/web-cams/bear-den-cam

A writing task this week was for the students to write two New Year's Resolutions - one for something they want to learn this year and the other for something they want to get better at doing. Please ask your child to share what they chose to write. This work was based on a book we listened to called Squirrel's New Year's Resolutions by Pat Miller.

We did an oil pastel art piece of fireworks to accompany this writing. This work is on display in the hallway outside our classroom.

In Math, the students are being challenged to reach target numbers from 5-15 by creating addition equations. Some students have also been using subtraction to reach the target numbers. For example, if the target number is 11 the students might write 5+6, 2+2+7, etc. or 12-1, 13-2, etc. 

We have also been learning about balanced sums. The students are given two addition equations to solve and then must determine whether they are equal or not equal. We will begin to focus on subtraction next week.