Nov 20 - 24, 2023

Hello, Grade 1 Families, 

With gratitude: Thank you for all of the Sweet Treat donations for our Veterans. We are looking forward to making goodie bags for them next week. Thank you for all of the Warm Feet, Warm Heart donations for the Calgary Drop-In Centre. Thank you for the donations for our upcoming surprise project. I am so humbled by your generosity. Lastly, thank you to my students who worked so hard this week creating beautiful holiday cards for the Drop-In Centre. Your kindness will be appreciated!

Learning Intention: I can skip count by 5s or 10s to 100, starting at 0. 

Students have been challenged this week with a few open-ended, rich tasks to strengthen their problem-solving skills. We are using these tasks to build on our number fluency with counting, skip counting and grouping. All of these skills will help when students begin addition and subtraction. When working on our numbers, we are looking to see if students can count towards and backwards from any number, skip count to 100 by 2s, 5s and 10s and group a number in different ways. We have been talking about a couple of strategies that help us with this learning. Students are encouraged to use manipulatives such as blocks, their fingers or a 100s chart to help them. We have also learned that it is important for our work to be organized so we can read it. One important strategy we continue to work on is being strategic in our thinking. For this, if we are trying to find all of the solutions for a problem up to 10, we should organize our numbers in a way so we don't miss any. For example, we can begin at 0 or 1 and work from there. At home, instead of counting to 10 to get ready for example, see if your child can skip count by 5s or 10s to 100. Ask your child what patterns they noticed in the 100s chart. 

Challenge: Try this problem with your child. Get them to be the teacher. How many squares are in this image?

Update on Decodable Books

CBE has created an online library collection of decodable books sorted by our scope and sequence for reading. Here is the link to the collection and I have also added it to our Useful Links on the sidebar. 

Important Date

- Thursday, November 30 TELUS Spark Science Centre field trip. We will be leaving at 8:50 am and returning in time for dismissal. Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for exploring the Science Centre all day. We will be eating lunch at the Science Centre. 

Nov 13 - 17, 2023

Hello, Grade 1 Families, 

Learning Intention: I can discuss and reflect on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit traditional teachings that demonstrate a sense of responsibility to care for nature.

We had the opportunity to "meet" with Elder Evelyn Good Striker who is Lakota Dakota from Standing Buffalo First Nation in Saskatchewan and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. This was available through the Calgary Public Library. She spoke to us about the changing of the four seasons and the different ways her people honour each season. Elder Good Striker shared about different berries, what they contain and how they are used (ex: food and medicine). Did you know Indigenous People created a cache and stored different meat and berries underground for times when their supply was not plentiful or when others needed these items while hunting? She referred to this as a fridge that anyone could use. Elder Good Striker shared how important ceremonies are throughout each season. They celebrate the different seasons and what each season brings. She also shared the importance of oral storytelling and how their stories are shared from generation to generation and this is why there are few books containing their stories. Ask your child what they learned from Elder Good Striker. How do your families share stories?

Nov. 6 - 10, 2023

Hello, Grade 1 Families, 

Learning Intention: I can appreciate multiple points of view, languages, cultures and experiences within their groups and communities. 

Students learned about the poppy and its significance in Remembrance Day. To honour our veterans, we have been collecting Sweet Treats to make care packages for them. We will write a message to a veteran and package up the goodies. Thank you for all of the donations!

Here is the information for our next project at Andrew Sibbald: 

From November 15^th to 30^th, we are looking for help in collecting: 

·       New pairs of warm socks 

·       Gloves, mitts, and hats 

·       packaged bars of soap 

·       lip balm 

·       toothbrushes 

·       toothpaste 

·       floss 

·       travel sized shampoo 

·       travel sized conditioner 

·       travel sized body wash 

·       travel sized lotion / hand cream 

·       coffee / food vouchers 

·       gift cards 

·       chocolate/candies 

In early December, students will be invited to fill the socks with the collected toiletries. These socks will then be brought to the Calgary Drop-In Centre where they will be handed out to clients. We believe this is a wonderful way to give back during the holiday season and allow our Andrew Sibbald students the opportunity to highlight their empathy, kindness, and wellness outside of our building. 

Thank you for your generosity and support!  

Oct 30 - Nov 3, 2023

Hello, Grade 1 Families, 

Thank you to those who attended our Parent Council presentation this week! I love sharing about the work we are doing in Grade 1 and especially love talking about learning to read! I found this link with some amazing parent and child resources for learning to read. Check out the parent resources for tips and tricks and Activities for Students which lists tons of resources and activities. My favourite is the Bananagrams game.

Learning Intention: I can share experiences, ideas and information with appropriate volume. I can respond orally to questions during discussions. I can contribute to discussions as a listener and speaker. 

Whether in a Sharing Circle, learning something new in a lesson or discussing our read-aloud book, we all share our ideas, thoughts, opinions and wonderings orally. When we contribute to our group discussions, we are active listeners by sitting, keeping our hands to ourselves, watching the speaker and raising our hand when we want to share. Students have so many wonderful things to share, I am very impressed by the vocabulary they use such as the word terrifying. When I assess the Oral Language organizing idea from our curriculum, I am looking for students who not only contribute to our discussions by orally sharing but who are also good listeners and focus on the speaker.