May 5-9

 Dear Parents,

Words can not express how wonderful a week we have had at City Hall School.  Thank you to our many volunteers who came along to support our work this week.  Without you, we would not have been able to do it! 

Please look below to hear about our week and the impactful learning we participated in. Share the photos with your child and ask them to explain the stories they uncovered in our city. At the end of the month, a celebration of learning will be happening to recognize and share our good work and learning from our City Hall School Experience.  

City Hall School

Monday

Question of the day

What is the story of the land?

Highlights

We began our week exploring the land at the Confluence, where the story of our city began.  We moved along the river valley, and the children had a chance to explore the four directions from the Confluence. We had the opportunity to explore the playground at the Open as well as the natural spaces at St. Patrick's Island. We walked over 7km that day!

Tuesday

Question of the day

How does the story of this place contribute to our identity?

Highlights

On Tuesday we spent the day in the City Hall School Classroom with some experts from our city.  In the morning we learned about the purpose of public art in our city.  We met with a local artist Michelle Ku.  She is a muralist whose art appears childlike and was so engaging for the students.  She shared her experience growing up as a child, how she creates art, and how she thinks and engages in her art.

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with some people from urban planning. They discussed how communities and their members can contribute to the building and naming of new neighborhoods.

Wednesday

Question of the day

How does the story of this place contribute to our identity?

Highlights

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to meet with Mayor Gontek and Councillor Peter Demong.  We were thrilled to to share with them who we are as students from Andrew Sibbald, spend some time hearing about how they listen, participate and lead our city,  and were able to ask some questions. We also had the opportunity to explore the Central Library and discover more pieces of public art.

Thursday
Question of the day

How can perspective shape our understanding of ourselves?

Highlights

On Thursday, we were fortunate to participate in a City Council meeting.  We were honoured to be introduced by the council and recognized by the audience.  We later explored historic Stephen Avenue and spent time at the unique space of Devonian Gardens. We walked 6 km this day!

Friday

Question of the day

How can a shared experience shape our identity?

Highlights

On Friday, we had the opportunity to look more closely at the the Attirium of City Hall as well as the outside area around City Hall.  We found so many artifacts and gifts to the city that contribute to and tell the story of our city and its people.  

Learning intentions:

Social Studies

• I can examine how I belong and am connected to the world.

• I can determine what makes my communities thrive. 

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect to my family and community to the present:

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect my family and community to the present.

• I can analyze how families and communities in the present are influenced by events or people of the past. 

Language Arts

• I can examine ways that messages can be organized and presented for different purposes.

• I can develop listening and speaking skills through sharing stories and information.

• I can create messages through the application of writing processes.  

Wellness

• I can examine personal characteristics, feeling and emotions and explore understand of self. 

Science

• I can discuss the responsibilities to care for environments is shared by all peoples and is fulfilled by showing respect for and protecting all aspects of nature.  

• For First Nations, Metis, and Inuit, a sense of responsibility towards nature can be connected to place and traditional teaching for future generations, such as taking only what is needed. 

April 27- May 2

 Dear Parents, 

-Reminders: Mrs.Kosior’s class will be attending City Hall School.  This week will be busy for our Grade 1 students.  Please remember to dress for the weather.  We will be outside and on the move each day.  Your child may be extra hungry this week.  Pack a large lunch, two snacks, and a full water bottle for the day.  As well, your child will be tired at the end of the day.  We will have many new experiences.  Please be mindful and help your child get the needed rest to be successful during this week at City Hall School.

City Hall School Ready - Walk to Lake Bonavista!

This week we went on another adventure to our local landmark - Lake Bonavista.  Once we got there, we hiked up the big hill to see the amazing view of the mountains and the city skyline.  Students observed and sketched the city view.  We were excited to see downtown from so far away. 

     

         

Learning Intentions:

I can collect ideas that are inspired by a variety of experiences 

I can express ideas through a variety of different written forms 

I can record factual information in various ways

I can describe seasonal changes

I can describe how seasonal changes affect humans and animals in the environment

I can record seasonal changes over time

I can recognize familiar landmarks and places in our own community from other communities

Mustard Seed Visit

On Friday Seed School Coordinator Miss Danielle visited our Grade 1 community.  She spoke to our students about poverty and people experiencing homelessness in our city.  We gained a good understanding of what poverty and homelessness are.  She also read a story to us.  Ask your child about something they learned.   

Learning Intentions - Wellness

I can recognize how individuals are valued 

I can describe the differences between safe situations and unsafe or uncomfortable situations

I can describe ways that communities support relationships with others

Math

What Is Counting On?

Counting on means starting to count from a number other than 1. To count on, you hold one number in your head, while you count to add a second number.

For example, to count on from 4, you would say 5, 6, 7, … .

Usually, you don’t say the number you are counting on from, but you could say it in a whisper.

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How Can You Add by Counting On?

•	You can add two amounts by starting with the first amount and counting on the second amount. Don’t count the first amount again. For example, you can add 5 and 3 by counting on from 5. You could say 6, 7, 8. The addition is 5 plus 3 is 8. You can put down objects to count the second group, or you can use your fingers to keep track of the numbers you say. The number of numbers you say is the second amount. You could say 5 … 6, 7, 8. That’s 5 and 3 more is 8.
•	Sometimes it is quicker to count on by 2s. If you count on by 2s, it can be a little trickier to keep track of how many numbers you count. For example, to add 6 to 8, you might say 10, 12, 14 if you can keep track of adding 6 by saying only 3 numbers.
•	Most students in Grade 1 will find it easier to keep track of addition if they count on by 1s.

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When Is Adding by Counting On Useful?

You can add any numbers by counting on, but counting on is especially useful when the second number is small. That’s why it is sometimes useful to think about adding numbers in a different order.

For example, you can think about 3 + 8 as 8 + 3 since it’s much quicker to add 8 and 3 by counting on from 8 than it is by counting on from 3.

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Helping Your Child

It is useful for children to practise counting on, and they can practise at any time. For example, if you and your child are waiting for an appointment or travelling on a bus or in a car, you can say, “Count on from 10” or “Let’s count on from 4.” But to count on for addition, you need an adding situation.

You can encourage your child to count on whenever two amounts are being combined. For example, if you have gathered 4 library books and another 5, you could say, “This pile has 5 books. Count on 4 more to find out how many books we are taking out altogether.”

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Definitions

count on: to count beginning with a number other than 1; for example, to count on from 3, you would say 4, 5, 6, …

Literacy 

This week we moved on to looking at the endings of words.  We learned about plural words, and that sometimes we need to add -es, not just the letter s.  We also learned about verbs and past tense and that the ending -ed has some important rules as well.  We also reached 100 book exchanges!  Well done!  We enjoyed an extra recess time.  What will be chosen next for our earned reward!  Keep up the home reading!  

April 22-25

 April 22-25

It was another week packed with learning and fun, as we really start to shift our minds towards being ready for City Hall School.  Here are some of the things we got up to this week in our learning.

City Hall Ready - Walk to the Ridge

Even though it was a little chilly, the sun was out, and we walked together to the ridge on Tuesday.  We got a different perspective of the land and saw some landmarks far away.  We then captured what we saw in a landscape drawing.  We are really starting to build our stamina for sitting and sketching.  We even got to sit on the camping stools!  Take a look!

   

          

More Time Outside

We took time on Thursday to go outside as well.  We did a Daily Double journal, where we recorded observations from around us, using our 5 senses.  We noticed many different things, especially connected to spring.  We then reflected and wrote down ideas starting with I think…. I notice…. I wonder….  This time allowed us to notice and pay attention to the world and things around us.  

 

Learning Intentions:

I can collect ideas that are inspired by a variety of experiences 

I can express ideas through a variety of different written forms 

I can record factual information in various ways

I can describe seasonal changes

I can describe how seasonal changes affect humans and animals in the environment

I can record seasonal changes over time

I can recognize familiar landmarks and places in our own community from other communities

City Hall Special Guest - Miss Janelle - Friday 

We ended our week with a special guest joining us - Miss Janelle. She will be our City Hall School coordinator who will be joining our class each day, during our days at City Hall and coordinating the activities and experiences that we will be doing each day.  She has already met a few times with Mrs. Kosior and Ms. Gardner to talk about our big question about stories, and has helped to create a plan for the things we will do together.  We are getting very excited.  

We are excited for….

• Seeing the City Hall School classroom in person

• The revolving door going into City Hall

• The city bus we will get to take to and from City Hall

• Using some lockers for the week inside our classroom

Miss Janelle read a story book to us.  We then got to look at some special artifacts she brought from City Hall School.  We looked at them and also thought about what we noticed, what we thought and what we wondered.  We thought about the stories that the artifacts might be about and can’t wait to explore more artifacts when we are at City Hall School and learn more about the stories of our city and our connection to it.  

 

        

Next week, we will also be having a guest joining us from the Mustard Seed, to talk a bit more about things we might see while we are downtown.  

How can you help your child get ready for City Hall School?

Walking is going to be a part of our days every day when we are at City Hall.  To help your child feel ready, it may help to go for a walk together every day - start off short and then build up going a little farther each day.  This will help get your child’s legs ready and strong for walking downtown!  

Take a trip downtown?  If your child isn’t familiar with the downtown area and is having feelings of nervousness, going together as a family for an outing together might also help relieve some worries and help your child to feel prepared too!  

Literacy 

This week we focused on reviewing long vowel sounds with silent e with g making the “j” sound with silent e and some exceptions to the silent e rule, such as v at the end of a word but still needing a silent e and scribal o.  These are some interesting and challenging rules to remember, so a few minutes of extra practise can definitely help.  Please see below.