Category: 1A

Posted in 1A, French

Learning while having fun!

Posted on by emouchou

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 them. We are fortunate to have two wonderful grandmothers, Madame Elizabeth and Madame Robin, who generously dedicate 2 periods per week each to supporting our students in improving their reading, writing, and speaking skills. We are continuing with our complex sounds like OU 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, Je vois,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. Enjoy the videos with Felix,Liv, Laz, Nora, Tamar and Charly.






Posted in 1A, 1B, French

French Class Update

Posted on by mcohen23

Chers Parents, 

Hope you have been enjoying working with your children on the French reading sheets that we have been sending home. We appreciate your help in creating some space at home for your child to review the vowel letter sounds that we are working on at school.  We want to ensure that your child has a strong grasp of the vowel sounds as this is one of building blocks for successful reading and writing in French.  If you have any questions regarding supporting your child with French at home, please do not hesitate to contact us! 

Here’s an update on what’s been happening in our French Program:

Vowel Work: We have moved from getting familiar with the sound A, to working with the sound O.  The children are learning words with each of the target sounds and are doing many different listening, writing and reading games and exercises to integrate these sounds.

                       

Vocabulary Development: In order for the children to be able to follow the class instructions and express themselves in French, we have been reviewing the vocabulary for school materials and common classroom words and phrases.  They have also been doing some exercises to review the names of the colors.  To raise the level of challenge we combine the vocabulary categories, and say to a child: Donne-moi un crayon rouge, apporte-moi quatre marqueurs, range les ciseaux, etc.

Jewish Holidays: Where possible, we like to make a place for the Jewish Holidays and rituals in our French classes.  This is an opportunity for the children to live their Jewish experience in a French context.  For Rosh Hashanah, the children made cards and collages and learned the names of the Rosh Hashanah treats in French!

Song: With the Fall season here, we have been singing and acting out the following fun song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmObD5sbac and today the children drew a picture showing Michaud going up the apple tree and wrote their first sentence in French: Michaud est monté dans un grand pommier. 

 

                         

 

 

Posted in 1A, 1B, French

Bonjour!Bonjour!Bonjour!

Posted on by emouchou

Hello OJCS parents and welcome to Grade 1!

Can you believe another school year is upon us?If you don’t already know me, my name is Madame Efi Mouchou. This is my 2nd year at OJCS. I look forward to forming relationships and teaching your kiddos. It has been a pleasure working with your children, and I have seen so much growth and learning already in the short amount of time we have had together. Last week we spent time getting to know each other and establishing the classroom rules. We played games revising the letters of the alphabet, and practicing the calendar, we did some writing activities and we read lots of books.This week’s focus was on the french greetings, and saying our name in French. I look forward to meeting you all at back-to-school night on the 19th when you will have the chance to see your kids’recordings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me through email or a phone call.

e.mouchou@theojcs.ca

Posted in 1A, 1B, General Studies

Building, Mapping and Collaborating in 1A

Posted on by kzuorro

Building, Mapping and Collaborating in 1A

Collaboration is a learning skill that all grade one students work on throughout the year. Working and communicating with different partners and small groups takes lots of patience.

Teachers help students navigate any problems or conflicts as they arise. They arrange for students to work with different classmates throughout the year to practice communicating and collaborating.

In Social Studies, students started creating maps with a partner. Each group created a community map and presented it to the class.

The class had so much fun creating their communities that we decided to work all together to create one community. Each student chose a specific community helper to research. They also needed to make the community building each helper worked at. The ER doctor built a hospital, while the principal and teacher made a school and playground together.

 

Student Zev Delilah Rachel Levi Ilay Aliyah & Maia Miles Nate Emma
Community Helper Vet Vet Postmaster Farmer Chef & Restaurant Owner Teacher & Principal Policeman Firefighter ER Doctor
Community Building Animal Hospital Animal Shelter Post Office Barn&Farm Restaurant School & Playground Police Station Fire Station Hospital

The students researched and wrote about their community helper’s role and responsibilities. They presented their findings to the class. They designed and created community buildings. Together they decided on symbols for the map key and worked on mapping the 3D community.

 

The collaboration I have seen over the last few weeks has been terrific. The children have been so supportive and encouraging with each other. Best of all, the children had so much fun.

 

Memories of our year in 1A

It was a wonderful year in 1A! The Grade One team loved teaching these amazing students.

Here is a link to the Summer Learning Resource page

Dear 1B Students, 

It has been an incredible experience watching each and every one of you grow, learn, and evolve into the amazing individuals you are today. I am SO proud of each of you and the progress you have made throughout this year. Thank you for being such a wonderful group of students and for making this year so fun and memorable. Your enthusiasm, curiosity, and dedication have made my role as your teacher an absolute joy. You have inspired me with your hard work and determination, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of your educational journey. 

Dear Parents,

It has been an absolute joy to watch your children grow both academically and socially this year. Thank you for all of your support throughout this school year. It has been an honour and a privilege to be your child’s teacher this year and I want to thank you for entrusting me with their education and growth. 

Summer is upon us and it is time to recharge our batteries by taking time to enjoy our family and friends. Whatever way you choose to embrace the summer months, we hope it is filled with fun and laughter. As I have stated in your child’s report card, here are things to use at your discretion to strengthen their understanding of a particular concept or improve their reading and math fluency.

From Ms. Karissa

 

Posted in 1A, French, General Studies

A school where fun never ends!

Posted on by emouchou

The school is buzzing right now! There has been so much activity lately at the school, and students are shining. Kids enjoyed spending a morning with their grandparents doing fun activities in all three languages, and they proudly showed them their work. For Mother’s Day, they made beautiful cards with wishes in French, and we read how people celebrate this special day in other countries. They keep practicing their reading and writing skills through reading buddies and playing games so that they can review all the new vocabulary, such as spring, the parts of the body, and animals. We are currently learning about animal habitats like the sea, the jungle, the farm, and the type of food they eat, and of course, as the weather steadily improves, we spend some time outdoors. As the end of the school year is getting closer, I insist on reading with the children daily so they can finish Grade 1 positively and successfully.

 

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The Three Little Pigs

by jbennett31

 

1A had fun reading The Three Little Pigs recently. After reading the story, I challenged the class to build three solid houses that the big bad wolf couldn’t blow down. The requirements were that each group needed to make a straw house, a stick house, and a brick house. The students got excited and started to build. The Big Bad Wolf/Mrs. Bennett came calling.

                                                                 

I huffed and puffed, used a hair dryer, and made wind with a plastic top. As much as I huffed and puffed, I could not blow the houses down. All the structures were stable and standing: the children were so happy.      

The class wanted to write a new version of the Three Little Pigs. Listen to the children read their story of The Three Little Pigs.

Listen to the stories we wrote and recorded. We hope you enjoy them.

 

Posted in 1A, General Studies, Science

Scribble Bots and a Special Day 1A

Posted on by jbennett31

Scribble Bots in 1A

We had so much fun in the Makerspace last week. Mr. Ray challenged us to make a Scribble bot. He told us that we would need to use our engineering skills to make a moving robot. He told us the materials for building would be three markers, a plastic cup, a motor, a battery pack, and lots of tape. First we made a plan of what we wanted to build.

The next step was to start building. It took lots of patience to attach all of the parts. We had to tape our markers inside the cup, making sure everything was stable. There was a lot of trial and error with attaching the battery pack wires to the motor. Mr. Ray helped us problem-solve and get our scribble bots ready to scribble.

The scribble bots started to move and scribble. It was so exciting to watch them move and scribble on the paper. Take a look at them in action below.

 

 

A special Day in 1A

Posted on  by jbennett31 •Edit“A special Day in 1A”

There was a special surprise in the library today.  Melanie came to enthrall us with her performance of Opera Mouse.

You can see more info about the show here: https://www.melaniegall.com/opera-mouse“
This afternoon there was a wonderful Shavuot Assembly on the front lawn of our school. It was beautiful to sing and gather together in the sunshine. The students donated lots of food to the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank.
We finished off the day with a frozen Menchies treat. Yum!

 

 

Posted in 1A, 1B, General Studies

Innovation Day!

Posted on by kzuorro

Innovation Day in 1A

Our Innovation Day projects have been inspired by the book Make Way for Animals! A World of Wildlife Crossings by Meeg Pincus.

The students’ challenge was to design and build a structure to help animals cross busy roads. All projects needed to be strong enough to hold 100 g, and at least 30 cm long.

The class got busy planning, designing, cutting cardboard, and gluing. Many designs changed during the building process, but ultimately they all worked. Students practiced their patience and perseverance and were proud of their accomplishments.

 

 

Innovation Day was exciting. Showing the projects to the parents and other classes was lots of fun. Now the students want to keep building and planning with more STEM challenges. As a teacher I have to admit these challenges are so much fun.

Innovation Day in 1B

This year for Innovation Day, the grade 1s were inspired by the story “Make Way for Animals” by Meeg Pincus. Students were so excited and interested in learning about different bridges, underpasses, and creations that help animals to safely cross the road so we thought why not create our own inventions!

 

The challenge: design and build a structure to help animals safely cross the road. Students were challenged with having their inventions stand by themselves and hold 100g. Students got busy planning, designing, cutting cardboard, and gluing. Many of their designs changed throughout the process, but in the end they all created amazing structures!

 

Innovation day came quickly and the students were so excited to show off their projects to teachers, parents, and other OJCS students. We even got to tour the school and learn about the different projects other students did as well. It was so fun to explore the projects around the school!

Posted in 1A, General Studies, Jewish Studies, Ruach

The latest from 1A

Posted on by sbaram

The latest from 1A

This past week we celebrated the 100th day of school. In General Studies, we read 100 words, worked on 100 math problems, and wrote the 100th-day news. We counted to 100 en français and wrote 100 words in Hebrew. The highlight was making Fruit Loop necklaces with 100 Fruit Loops. The students had fun snacking as they counted and made their necklaces.

100 Hebrew words

 

In Social Studies, the students worked on personal timelines. Seeing all the beautiful pictures of children of different ages made everyone smile.

 

Friday was our kickoff for the love of reading. We made reading forts in class. Reading in forts was a big hit. It was our surprise for our homework bingos. One of the students said, “It is a dream come true!” He had wished only a month ago that we could make forts in school.

 

A few children also enjoyed some quiet reading after story time in the library today.

 

Hebrew with Moreh Saar

Hey there Grade 1,

It’s almost Pesach and I figured a bit of showing off our conversational skills is in order.

As a part of my methodology I find it extremely important to anchor the learning in real life, as language is a “use it or lose it” skill. That’s why I decided to connect Hebrew studies with Israeli culture. As you might know, the students surely realized it by now, Israelis are loving, passionate and welcoming, however they are also loud and full of Chutzpah!!

Taking this into consideration I decided to teach the kids several different ways to ask and answer people “how are you doing?”, some are formal, some are good old fashion cheeky!! Please feel free to listen to them answer about their day and ask me how I’m doing. It was a calculated risk, but boy am I bad at math, the kids can definitely talk, but now I got a classroom full of cheeky Israeli sounding kids.

Have a great Pesach vacation,

Saar

Posted in 1A, French, General Studies

La Francophonie

Posted on by emouchou

      

La beauté de la langue française!!!

Alors les amis, why celebrate la Francophonie? I can think of thousands of reasons why but it comes down to one thing: we love the french language because 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, they read books, heard stories, watched movies, played games, learned the ten magic words, and tasted french treats. Alors mes amis as the legendary teacher Dorothy Grace Boyajian once said, “Let us keep the flame of knowledge alive so we can light the candle of our children.”

A très bientôt!  

 

     

The latest from 1A

A Virtual Author Visit

JK to Gr. 2 students got a virtual visit from Lark the Shark author Natalie Newman from her home in the U.K. The story and presentation helped our students learn about sharks and their role in the ocean ecosystem. Natalie shared how she wrote the book with her son and her son after learning about pollution in the ocean in his Grade 2 classroom. The students were curious about the publishing process, and Natalie talked about how they wrote the book. I think some students will be writing their books one day.

 

 

                                      Math Olympics

 

In honour of Pi Day on March 14th, students celebrated a love of Math by participating in the first-ever 1A Math Olympics. The children picked their teams a chose a name. The Marvelous Mathers, Math Detectors, and the Air Force A Math AA teams problem-solved, collaborated, and had fun with Math.
Congratulations to the Marvelous Mathers for winning the 1A Olympics!

 

Take a look at our opening ceremony

 

 

La semaine de la Francophonie

La semaine de la francophonie was lots of fun. The students loved all the French activities on Wednesday afternoon. The first stop was visiting the Makerspace cafe for croissants and hot chocolate. Obstacle courses, word searches, and bingo helped the children review all the French they are learning this year.

1A enjoyed a workshop with Quinn, our school social worker. Quinn taught about empathetic and active listening. The children practiced using listening skills by playing a few games. The students will continue to work on these skills throughout the rest of the year.