Posted in French

A peek into grade 1

Alors les amis, we celebrated la Francophonie. There are  thousands of reasons why we love the french language: it is smooth, rich, and flowing: we love speaking french because, with its nasal vowels and melodious intonation, it sounds very musical to a non-native ear. We want to learn French because it is also called the language of love, cooking, fashion, theater, visual arts, dance, and architecture.

During la francofête at our school, we had the pleasure to admire all the students from JK-grade 8 sing, dance, act, and recite poems in french!!!! All the teachers worked hard to make that happen. The students were proud of themselves, and their energy and passion were evident throughout the afternoon. During the week of the francophonie, we read books, heard stories, watched movies, played games, learned the ten magic words, and tasted french treats.  My amazing kiddos learnt the benefits of doing sports and shared their ideas during the celebration. We continue learning the sounds. They have mastered OI,OU,CH,ON, and this week we are starting working on EU. Have I told you how much they love quizzes? Well they are about to do a big one on all the sounds and vocabulary they know already. They take huge pride in their work and their faces glow when they see the results. Also this week we had the opportunity to visit the SK and our kiddos read to them words starting with the letters C and D. They are delight to teach and their enthusiasm to learn is lovely to see.

A très bientôt!

 

Posted in General Studies

The latest from Grade One

                             March Madness

March Madness has arrived in our classroom, and it’s not just about basketball. We’re exploring the world of books with the help of the Novel Effect app. The app creates beautiful soundscapes that play with the teacher’s voice, making story time more engaging and interactive for the students. The four brackets are Women’s History, Spring has Sprung, Guaranteed Giggles, and Award Winners – with each having its unique selection of books. The children are thoroughly enjoying the daily books and even get to vote on their favorites.

We will be sure to share the book that is declared champion.

 

 

                                    Innovation Day

Students are keeping busy with their projects for Innovation Day. They are really putting in the effort, collaborating and designing their projects to make them the best they can be. Building something from scratch can be a real challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity to learn new skills and collaborate with others.

 

                                     Special Guest

 

Today we had a special guest visit our class. She also happens to be a mom of two students in our classes. We learned how the how Canada helps refugees. We even got special little bags from one of her trips. It was a very special way to end the week.

                                                   

 

 

 

                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorised

Innovation Day and Ruach Week

  All parents are invited to Grade One on Wednesday March 20th, from 9:00-9:45 AM for Innovation Day. The children have worked hard on their wildlife crossings projects.

 

If you are unable to attend Innovation Day, I will send you a video of your child presenting their project so that you can experience the excitement of Innovation Day from afar.

TukTukDesign / Pixabay

Posted in General Studies, Jewish Studies, Ruach

A Week full of Ruach

What a week in Grade One! The students loved celebrating the 100th day of school on Monday. They wrote 100 words in Hebrew and French words. They even counted by 10s to 100 in all three languages. The children visited different stations throughout the day. They built a tower with 100 cups, made a 100th-day hat, and created 100th monsters. The day ended with 100th-day stories and a freezie treat.

On Tuesday, Let’s Talk Science visited Grade One for a workshop on structures. The children learnt about natural and man-made structures. They were challenged to make houses for the Three Little Pigs with straws, sticks, and wooden blocks. The workshop had all the students engaged and building.

 

JNF visited on Wednesday morning, and the children had the opportunity to learn about different parts of Israel with a beautiful parachute. The children played a collaborative parachute game while reviewing different places in Israel.

Winter Fun ended the week perfectly. The children were so excited to ride a school bus for the first time and go tubing. The location was perfect, the weather was great and everyone had fun.

Posted in General Studies

The latest news from 1A & 1B

 

  Tu B’Shevat

Grades 1-3 spent the afternoon working on special activities together. The children were split into mixed age groups for the afternoon. They loved travelling to different classrooms to work at each station. #We Learn Better Together

 

In honour of Tu B”Shevat, Brigitte read a wonderful book. Everyone loved it!

Both classes also got together to plant some salvia seeds from JNF. The seeds were attached inside the top of a pencil. It was funny to put the pencil into a cup of soil.

 

 

 

 

The children said good bye to Morah Andy last week.  They each made a special page for a special class book for Morah Andy. She took time to look at each page and read the messages the children wrote.


 

The children enjoyed a second Zoom call with children from different parts of Israel. They took turns presenting slides they made about their favourite foods. Our next Zoom call will take place on February 27th.

This week we read a story called Mimi’s Dream House. After reading the story the children were asked to draw their perfect dream house. The children let their imaginations run wild. They wrote about their dream houses and displayed them in the class.The students loved this type of writing.

 


 

It is so much fun to watch the students read each other’s work.

Kiran has been helping out in Grade One and SK classes on Mondays and Tuesdays over the last month and a half. He is a student at Algonquin College, and he is a natural fit in the SK and Gr.1. We will be sad to say goodbye to him this Tuesday.

1A and 1B recited a poem at the Rosh Chodesh Assembly this morning. They did a great job!

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER! 

(Poem for Rosh Chodesh Adar)

Kitah Alef is a special place,

See the big smile on each face.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

Hebrew, French, English and the Arts

We learn Judaics to fill our hearts.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

Adding and subtracting is challenging but fun,

11 + 10 is 21.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

We play games, sing a song,

Lots of fun all year long.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

Books to read, poems to say,

Learning new things everyday.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

Reading, writing, spelling too. 

So much to learn, much to do.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

We work as partners, small groups or a team

In our classroom, outside and in the gym

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

1A & 1B are the best team,

Every day our teachers beam.

WE LEARN BETTER TOGETHER!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in French

Learning never ends!

The kids have been working beautifully, enriching their vocabulary, improving their writing, and practicing speaking French.  We worked on the winter vocabulary, and we learned everything that is associated with the snow like winter clothes,sports etc.  They played charades, memory games, and puzzles to help them remember the words. Going outdoors during recess gave them the opportunity to practice the vocabulary as well as doing activities with their reading buddies.  We also had our first quiz on the vowels.They are very proud of themselves and they are asking me when they have the next one which will be on the new sounds. We are continuing with our complex sounds like CH and OI, and the best way to practice is by doing ‘Je lis’ regularly. I insist on them listening to the story many times before recording so they pronounce the words correctly. I am happy to see that they have become more comfortable with common words like Voici, C’est, Mon, Regarde, etc. Right now we are practicing using EST  when we make small sentences combining the vocabulary we already know. Thank you for all your effort and support on our journey.I hope you enjoyed your kiddos’ presentations I sent you.

 

Posted in French

Joyeuse Hanukkah!

Salut les parents!

What an exciting month December has been!!! It is so interesting to observe different celebrations and spend quality time with our loved ones. In class, we worked on the theme, Hanukkah. The students got familiar with the new vocabulary through games, stories, songs, word searches, mazes, decoding sentences, bingo games and writing activities.  Finally they did once again a wonderful presentation and they sang beautifully during the school event. In addition,we keep working on our letters and  vowels and I must admit that I am very happy with their progress. The more they read and practice, the better they become. After the holidays, they will get their Je lis accounts so they can start reading simple stories which  will help them improve their fluency and remember vocabulary.

Posted in General Studies, Grade 1 Reading

Happy Hanukkah!

The children had a great week getting ready for Hanukkah. They made beautiful chanukiahs with Morah Andy. Morah Ada and the classes got into the spirit by making spinning dreidels, lego chanukiahs, and dreidel snowflakes

Grade 1 and 2 lit the candles virtually with schools from all over Canada and Israeli through our Etzbah Hagalil Partnership!

                                     Kitah Alef Shabbat

Both 1A and 1B love celebrating Shabbat together each Friday.

 

 

 Reading

 

What is Amplify reading?

Amplify is the new reading platform (the umbrella company) that the OJCS purchased licenses for this year to use as a pilot project to enhance our current reading programs. We bought three programs for our school through Amplify, each explained below.

 

1. mClass – DIBELS 8 assessment 

2. Boost Reading (K-3)

3. Boost Close Reading (Gr. 4-8)

Why did we choose Amplify? 

This program aligns with the ‘Science of Reading’. The Science of Reading research shows the need for students to have word recognition skills (such as phonemic awareness, decoding skills through phonics, and reading fluency) and language comprehension (including knowledge of vocabulary, morphology, and syntax) to read and comprehend text. 

1. mClass is the system that allows us to run the DIBELS 8 Assessment with all of our students in Grades K-3. 

What is DIBELS?

DIBELS ® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of procedures and measures that assesses the acquisition of literacy skills. They are short (one-minute) fluency measures used throughout the year to monitor the development of early literacy and reading skills. In Grade One, the DIBELS 8 assesses different skills, such as letter names, phonemic awareness, letter sounds, decoding, word reading, reading accuracy, and reading fluency. The classroom teacher does the assessment individually with each child.

Results of these assessments help us identify who is below, at, or above grade level in each skill. We can tailor our instruction in small groups and resource support accordingly. 

2. Boost Reading is the reading program license we purchased for students K-5. Boost Reading is a literacy acceleration and remediation program that uses adaptive technology to deliver personalized learning instruction for K-5 students. The engaging world of Boost Reading adapts to each unique reader. 

Can my child use this program at home?

Yes, please! Boost Reading adapts to your child’s needs, so you don’t need to, and you should NOT assist them with their learning. Once they log in, they’re ready to start using the program. Some students will begin with a placement activity that helps the program match them to the best content. To ensure the most accurate placement, students must complete each activity independently. Your child can have fun playing the Boost games and improve their reading skills.

Posted in General Studies, Jewish Studies, Ruach

A peek into Grade One

On Tuesday, the Grade One classes took part in a Let’s Talk Science workshop called the Tree of Life. Science students from the University of Ottawa taught us about the different characteristics of animals. We then had fun sorting and classifying the plastic animals. This was the perfect introduction to an upcoming research project about animals in the winter.

We also had the chance to make our own Tree of Life.

In a unit on Data Management we have been making graphs and interpreting the data. Corn seems to be the favourite vegetable in Grade One. Cherries are a favourite fruit in 1B while 1A seems to prefer peaches.

 

 

The children are very excited to visit the Scholastic Book Fair next week. The flyer with some of the featured books came home in the note totes yesterday. 1A and 1B will visit the Book Fair on Thursday December 7th.

Save the date for our Family Chanukah Celebration. We have already started to practice the song we will be singing. It is a terrific one.

Posted in French

Videos speak louder than words!

Salut les parents!

Another 2 and a half exciting weeks full of learning and fun is over.  The students proudly recited the poem “Voici mon coquelicot” during the Remembrance Day ceremony.  Apart from that, they also learned the song ,”Mon beau coquelicot”.  We did different exercises where the students had to put the missing first letter of the word after hearing me say the word.  That exercise develops both their listening and writing skills.  In addition, I was reading different sentences to them with already familiar vocabulary and expressions, and they had to match them with the correct photo. Regarding the vocabulary,they started learning the shapes so now when they describe an object,they can give me more details.We also continued practicing the vowel A combined with other letters and last week they learnt another poem related to numbers “Un,deux,trois”.Poems are catchy,repetitive and help students learn vocabulary and pronunciation. In addition, I love how they describe photos from the Taoki book.What makes me really proud is to see them fully engaged with a huge enthusiasm to learn.That drive for taking risks and acquiring new knowledge is what makes my GRADE 1 so so special! Je vous adore mes anges!Enjoy the videos.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xhuYpPqDwGv9fl59e7KL7ow8InOqRlUS/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ehtaPcQUdgvKz0zxnMoZl3vDGb83s86/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sguASh_ZU7BoDBx2-5JpKp7ZdoAjHXce/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ucNqmUCaL9uYnYScG0Wlr_zDhOY-tkXs/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OpVwjR6mCJ44l029GF_jzgAqE1cpD0rZ/view?usp=sharing