Category: General Studies

Posted in General Studies

February Homework Board

Posted on by kzuorro

Happy February! Last month 1B had a goal of 35 bingos (which meant 140 homework activities) as a class and they ended with a grand total of 55 bingos (220 homework activities!)!! We counted the first 35 and then saved the extra 20 to go towards our February goal. Stay tuned to hear about the fun activity the students earned from January!

Our new goal for February is 50 BINGOs. The students are SO excited to get a start on the homework and I can’t wait to find out how many BINGOs are earned! I have attached the new February homework BINGO here but everything has been sent home in their note totes. Students are able to bring the papers back at the end of the month. The homework boards are due back on March 3rd 2023.

 

Posted in 1A, French, General Studies

French and General Studies Update

Posted on by emouchou

Salut Grade 1 Parents!

The last two weeks we have been talking about winter clothes and we have been doing different fun activities so that the children can remember the new vocabulary. It goes without saying that we regularly review previous words such as the colours, the numbers, the days etc.  Next  week we are learning the geometrical shapes. As far as reading is concerned, I follow their reading daily insisting on the correct pronunciation and the meaning of the words. In addition, I read with each one of them almost every day in order to boost their confidence. Since they are familiar with the books in Je lis, I started giving them simple  comprehension activities related to the stories so they get the chance to see, write and read the words again. Regarding the sounds, we have started exploring the complex ones like U, and OU and we will continue doing so because once they can recognise them, their reading will improve considerably. I strongly encourage you to go over the sheets they bring home when you have some free time, or even when you are out, and you see a sign in french ask them to identify any sound they know.  The great thing about Canada is that everything is written in both languages so even a simple walk to the supermarket can be a learning experience. Don’t forget that repetition is the mother of learning.

 

  

General Studies in 1A

Treasure Hunt

Excitement filled the halls on Tuesday as the class participated in a well-earned treasure hunt. Each clue had the children reading and walking around the school. The children loved discovering and walking through the maze. The treasure was found and divvied up amongst the class. I think I loved it as much as the children.

 

Groundhog Day

The students made their Spring predictions for Groundhog Day on Thursday. We then watched how Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early Spring and a late Spring, respectively. The class predictions showed most of the class thinking it will be a late Spring.

 

 

Math

The children have been busy working on addition and subtraction facts this week.  On Thursday, we practised math facts by playing fun math games. Quinn, our school social worker, even joined in on the fun.

 

Team Building Activity

How does a class finish off the week on a bitterly cold day with no outdoor recess? You get together with 1B to do a team-building activity. Ms. Karissa challenged the children to pass a hula hoop around the circle while holding hands with each other. The students did it as one big group and then made two smaller circles to move the hula hoop. Two Grade six students came to help the classes with this activity. It was so much fun!

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

Economics 101

Posted on by sbaram

Dear grade 1 parents,

As I’m getting used to the hardships of winter (clearing the snow from my car, every, single, morning, is a new one for me), I had the pleasure of sitting in my car for 15 minutes straight waiting for my fingers to thaw. During that time I came across a meme that really reflects my way of thinking about how school should be.

 

 

It reminded me that while my “I believe” is heavily influenced by this idea, I still need to communicate that to my surrounding. So here it goes:

Since I encountered this phenomena many, many times in the various jobs I had, I believe in the power of incentivizing and fear the impact of dicentivizing. Therefore, I try my best to include the former, not the latter, in my teaching.

That is why I added a new, 100% optional, incentive to do the homework, a game. The game reinforces only some of the words in the homework, offering sound and translations to several words. Please only play the game if the kids have done their readings and still have some time and energy to play the game.

I hope this makes the homework experience more enjoyable,

Saar.

Always great seeing our Reading Buddies! Some of us chose books from our new Science Reading Bin “All About Energy”

Singing and learning in Hebrew Outdoors with Moreh Saar!

Welcome Back Maia! Such excitement in our class as we welcomed back Maia from her family visit to Peru!

A Busy week of measurement in 1A. Take a look at us using both standard measurement (rulers) and non standard units(unifix cubes and popsicle sticks) in and around our classroom!

Mrs Bennett

Posted in General Studies

General Studies Update

Posted on by kzuorro

Our first week of 2023 was terrific! The students settled into their routines, and Morah Yaffa helped me settle into my Grade One routine. It is a joy to teach these children everyday.

In Math, we worked on measuring with our footprints, strings, and rulers.  We measured all kinds of objects in the class. We also took time to make sure we worked on our addition facts.

 

 

Pyjama Day was lots of fun. We liked finding Moreh Saar watering the plants in his special Chanukah pj’s first thing in the morning. Maybe teachers do sleep at school?

Library Time with Brigitte was extra special because our stuffies came with us for storytime. Brigitte read a funny book. She was impressed with all the good manners shown by students and stuffies.

 

Both classes had fun watching Sing for our special movie day redo. The popcorn snack was delicious!

 

Happy New Year 1B Families! It was so exciting coming back to school yesterday and seeing all of the smiling faces and I can’t wait for the rest of the year.

Just a few reminders:

-Note totes and the blue homework tote should be returned to school everyday. We check note totes on a daily basis and are constantly adding things to them or taking things out.

-All students need indoor shoes at school. Students are not able to participate in gym class with their winter boots or in socks so it is important that they have a pair of shoes at school that can be worn inside.

Here is a copy of our monthly newsletter as well as the January homework choice board. All of the worksheet activities have been sent home manually and are in the blue homework tote.

1B Monthly News Newsletter

Copy of Copy of Copy of Homework BINGO by j.bennett

In exciting news, 1B has hit their goal of having 25 bingos which means they have earned their reward! After a close vote, the students have voted on having a movie and stuffed animal morning on Friday to go with pyjama day. Students are allowed to bring one of their stuffed animals to school that day to cuddle up with during our movie! I am so proud of them for all of their hard work!!

 

Bitmoji Image

Posted in General Studies, Social Studies

Our Communities!

Posted on by kzuorro

This month in social studies we have been busy learning about communities and the important people and places that we have in our community. The students in 1B were so eager to share about all of the different places that they wanted to create their own map of a community. They got right to work brainstorming the important places they wanted to include, and then adding some of the important people to their communities and maps.

Once they were done, they became film makers! They took charge and recorded their own videos explaining the important places and people that they thought of. I was so proud of their hard work and I wanted to share their videos with you.

In Leni and Reagan’s community you will find a fire station, a school, a police station, a vet, and a hospital.

Callie, Adlai and Dahlia wanted to include a variety of important places in their community. They included a school (OJCS to be exact), a hospital, a grocery store, a vet, houses, a police station, and a fire station.

If you were to visit Seth and Lev’s community you would find a school, houses, a hospital, a park, a dentist, and a doctors office!

In the final 1B community, Levi, Noah and Hallie included many police, doctors and nurses. There you will find a police station, a grocery store, a work place, a doctors office, a school, a fire station, and a vet!

What important places and people would you include in your community?

bye

Posted in 1A, General Studies

Friday Features in 1A

Posted on by kzuorro

Chanukah is almost here!! We can feel it in the air!

Here are some things we have been doing !

In math we have been working on different graphing activities for our math Unit on Data Management. We conducted a survey for our favourite Chanukah Treats. We are working on a booklet using 3 different types of graphs. Bar Graphs, Pictographs, and Tallie marks. We are looking forward to seeing how your family likes their Latkes, when our homework is returned on  Tuesday.

 

Fun in the Snow!

 

 

Upcoming Activities for next week!

Tuesday :      Live Virtual Magic Chemistry Show (Hosted by Carleton University)

Bingo Homework board Due back

Chanukah Family Night Celebration

Wednesday: Reading Buddies

Thursday:     Grade One will be making Latkes!

Bring a game to school Day!  (One that you are OK with)

Friday:           Pyjama Day! Fun Friday!!

 

 

It’s that time we’ve all been waiting for…a new homework choice board! The students did an amazing job last month with the homework board. If your child still has not brought in their homework board with activities checked off please send it back to school as we are counting how many “BINGOs” we got as a class!

I have learned from last month and tried to make this month easier. I have sent all of the homework activites home in a plastic “Homework Folder” for each student. This is for everyone who wanted the sheets printed off last time. To submit these sheets students are welcome to bring the papers back to me, upload a picture to Classkick (using the link on the bingo board), or emailing me a picture of them!

Please let me know if something doesn’t make sense or any comments/concerns!

Happy December! bye

December Homework Board by k.zuorro

Posted in General Studies

Wednesday News

Posted on by kzuorro

 

Last week Miss Brigitte had a class on Digital Citizenship. After reading the book Unplugged the class participated in an activity discussing what being unplugged means.

In Social Studies we worked in groups to create 3 Posters for our responsibilities at School, at Home, and in the community. Collaboration to create each poster was an important part of the process.

The picture gallery above shows some of the different ways we learn how to read. They include Word Work Booklets at the reading table, using a Blending Board on the ipad to create new words, and relaxing while reading together during Hebrew class.

After reading our final book from the Global Read Aloud Last Stop on Market Place. we all decorated our own Gratitude Mug by adding Marshmallows to say what we were Grateful for. This makes a beautiful entry to our Grade one Classroom!

Just a reminder that tomorrow will be our dress-down day! All donations will be going to the Ottawa Humane Society!

 

Happy Thursday Grade 1B Families,

We have two exciting things coming up on the OJCS calendar and we want to make sure that you have your calendars marked!

The Scholastic Book Fair

This is a great way to support the OJCS library while also purchasing books for your library at home! We will be visiting as a class on Thursday, December 8th. However, throughout the week, parents can pop into the book fair before and after school; it opens at 8:30AM and closes at 4:00PM. The book fair will also be open on Thursday night (Dec. 8) during P/T Conferences from 6:00PM-7:30PM and Friday (Dec. 9) during P/T Conferences from 8:30AM-12:00PM. Feel like shopping from home? Use the Virtual Book Fair Link! I will be sending home a flyer today that you can browse with your child in preparation for the Book Fair! We have already started putting together our class wishlist!

Family Chanukah Celebration

On Tuesday, December 20th at 6:30pm, we will gather as a school community to celebrate Chanukah IN PERSON for the first time in years! Come join us for an evening of performances and a sweet Chanukah treat.

Mark your calendars!

bye

 

Posted in 1B, General Studies

We Remember

Posted on by kzuorro

We were very busy in Grade 1 last week learning and commemorating Remembrance Day. We started off reading the story “Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion” by Jane Barclay and then we learned about the different branches in the Canadian military: the Air Force, the Marines, the Navy, and the Army.

We had a TON of questions about being in the military (what life looks like, what the job is all about, and what some of the job requirements are) as well as what it means to be a veteran. So on Wednesday we had two very special guests come in: Troy and June! Troy and June are two Canadian Air Force veterans (and to make it extra special they are also Ms. Karissa’s parents). They told us all about why they chose to join the military as well as why they chose the Air Force. They told us about some of their travels that they had to do while they were in the military, and answered all of our questions about military life (like the vehicles they got to be in, what they ate, and what their daily life was like). It was so much fun seeing the students so engaged and asking so many amazing and thoughtful questions. Selfishly, it was also so much fun for me having my parents as guests in the classroom!

After learning all about life in the military and everything our veterans have done for us, we decided to write thank you letters to Canadian military veterans. We were so proud of our work that we even decided to put them on display in the hallway to show everyone at school how thankful we are for our veterans and all serving members of the military.

Finally, on November 11th, we got to go in front of the ENTIRE school and recite a poem in French about poppies as well as sing our song “Light a Candle for Peace” that we have been practicing so hard (for a few weeks because Ms. Karissa MAY have gotten the days mixed up and thought November 11th was a week earlier than it actually was). This song was so special because not only did we sing about lighting a candle for peace all around the world, but we also learned the song in sign language.

We couldn’t end the week without making a wreath full of poppies. We wanted to make our wreath extra special to show all of our gratitude for military members and veterans so we took our time to make these beautiful poppies. All in all, we had a great week learning about and remembering the fallen soldiers and thanking all veterans and actively serving military members.

From all of us in 1B, we thank you!

Posted in General Studies

Look at what we did in 1A

Posted on by kzuorro

Welcome to our Grade 1 Homework Board. Here is the link for it

Homework Bingo Board 

Everything you need to know and use is in the Homework Bag that was sent home today.

Here are some of the exciting things that happened in the past two weeks.

While learning about the seasons in Science, we conducted an experiment in the the Maker Space. We took the chlorophyll out of the green leaves. Ask me what happened?

 

We had our first reading Buddy visit! Here I am with my buddy

Global Maker Day was so much fun. We had such great inventions and ideas! Here is a class pic of what everyone made.

Shabbat Shalom

Scholastic Book Orders

I am excited to share that we are re-launching the Scholastic Book Club! What is this Scholastic Book Club? Glad you asked! The book club is an EASY way to order books for your child to read at home AND each time you place an order, our whole class benefits! When you use our class code (RC587908) we earn rewards to purchase new books for our classroom library! Personally, I have my eyes on quite a few books to expand our classroom library!

So how do you join?

You might have a vague pre-covid memory of Scholastic flyers going home with your child each month… well now, there’s no need to check your child’s backpack for a flyer and no need to send money into school for book orders.
Scholastic has gone virtual!

Start by visiting this website: https://www.scholastic.ca/readingclub

Then you just need to follow these few simple steps:

New books and flyers are added each month! Please feel free to share our class code with any grandparents or relatives who are thinking of purchasing books for your child! I hope you take advantage of this awesome program and help us earn class rewards. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out!

 

Posted in General Studies

Science Experiments

Posted on by kzuorro

1B has had the amazing opportunity to take our science lesson down to the Maker-space every Monday morning. The maker-space is a fun space in our school where we get to explore, complete fun Science experiments and STEM activities.

In Science, we have been learning about seasonal changes. We just finished learning about what happens in fall and today we continued on in the cycle of seasons and moved on to winter. We decided to do a fun experiment where we looked to see how we could make ice melt faster. We tested it out by adding nothing, sugar, and salt to ice and then we waited patiently to see what happened.

Before conducting the experiment, the students made some hypotheses on what they thought would work to melt the ice the fastest.

Noah, Reagan, and Seth all thought that the sugar would help the ice melt the fastest as it seemed to be the smallest ice cube when we first put everything into the beakers.

Leni, Callie, Dahlia, Lev, and Hallie all believed that the salt would help the ice melt the fastest as it seemed to them that it was already working and already melting the ice. We also pointed out that during the winter, we have salt trucks on the road to help melt the ice.

Finally, Levi and Adlai both thought that they would all melt the ice cubes the exact same because none of them would be placed in the freezer.

So we put our ice cubes into the different beakers and kept checking them throughout the morning. We found that salt and sugar both worked to melt the ice faster than just leaving the ice by itself, however in the end, the salt was the clear winner!