A Wonderful First Week

I had a great week with my new class. They are all so sweet and kind. (And yes, I do feel this way every year with each new group! 😄) I just love getting to know all of them as they get past the initial shyness /nervousness of the first couple of days. This was an activity we did on Tuesday morning to get to know one another better. It took quite a while but we took it up together and learned so much about each other!

I began using poetry last year as shared readings each week. It was a great way to learn new vocabulary, reinforce sight words, and learn more about rhymes and expression when reading aloud. We read the poem "En Septembre" this week. It was great that several students were willing to try it independently today, even though it's only the first week of school. It will be in their homework next week to practice at home. 

In language, we will usually learn two "comptines" each week, working through the sounds of the alphabet, followed by blended sounds. This week we did the "a" and "b" sounds in "Le lama" and "Le bébé". Our word wall words that we practised saying, reading, chanting, and writing all contained the "a" sound. Some weeks will have more or less words, depending on what sound we are doing. Towards the end of the week, we began making an interactive lap book. These will be on display at the upcoming open house. 

In math, we are working on geometric patterns. The students need to be able to identify the pattern and describe which attributes change (shape, colour, size, number, direction/position). They also need to create and describe their own patterns. They have really enjoyed creating patterns on the SMARTBOARD and getting their classmates to describe them. We did some paper and pencil activities, experimented with various manipulatives and how to use them to create patterns, and made patterns with manipulatives when given a patterning rule. 

We finished the week with drawing some summer activities in Visual Arts and watching some songs, comptines, and short stories on "Le monde des petits" on the SMARTBOARD since it was far too hot to do much by this afternoon. It was a nice relaxing end to our first week together!

Have a great weekend! 😀