Book orders and PTI

The second I feel like I am ahead of ‘the game’…I find out I am not!! 
I sent home scholastic book orders to be returned December 1st. Yesterday, I received the Nov. book orders and they sent ANOTHER order! So, today you will receive a book order called, Holiday Gift Books. I will delay my book order until FRIDAY DEC. 2nd. I know this only gives you a couple days to get it in and I apologize for that but I want to ensure arrival before the holidays. **Please remember to add a note in the agenda if you want them as a gift and we can arrange a pick up.
And just a reminder that parent-teacher interviews are tonight and tomorrow night. I am happy to reschedule if the time scheduled does not work for you. Please call or email if you need to reschedule. 786-5510 or rheshka@mail.gssd.ca
See you soon 
Ms. Heshka

Needed...

I am asking each child to bring a clean 1-quart mason jar (or any glass jar of that size) with NO lables.
You can send the jar any time...we will not be starting the project till mid December.
The project is TOP SECRET so don't even ask!!! :)

Thanks in advance!!!!

Halloween 2011

WHAT a FUN, FUN day!! I loved watching the kids faces as the day unfolded! I hope everyone has as good of a Hallowen as we did! Enjoy the pics!!!

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Halloween is MONDAY!

Just a few reminders:
*No blood or weapons on any costumes*

-We are having a party in the afternoon (starting with the parade at 1:15)
Please do not send your child to school in the morning dressed in his/her costume. We will be having regular classes that morning.
-I am on supervision that day at lunch so I ask that you try and find arrangements to get your child dressed/ready. I do however understand that this is sometimes a challenge and I of course will be able to help them out !!

-At the party we will play games, read stories, Make witches Brew and have some treats. You may send snacks for that day and we will eat them right after afternoon recess.

See you Monday...............BOO!!!

SURPRISE!

I hd a surprise planned for the kids today...carving pumpkins to make Jack-o-Lanterns! Check out how much fun we had!

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The week of Oct. 17th...

Here are a few reminders for the week...

It is Education Week!!! The kids and I will be talking about where we will be in 14 years??? I am looking forward to hearing their answers!

Wed. Oct.19th- Columbia School Open House from 7-8:30pm. Come check out your child's room amd see some of the fun stuff we have been doing!!!

Fri. Oct.21st- I will be away at a conference today. Mrs. Irving will be in for me and is looking forward to having a lot of fun with the kids!!!

***The week after***Picture retakes are on Oct.25th. If you want your child to have retakes, write a note in their agenda and I will make sure they get them tsken.

Thanksgiving Feast

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REMINDER....

Tomorrow is our THANKSGIVING FEAST! Remember to bring your fruit (cut and washed if possible)! The kids are sooooo excited!....and so am I :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Sept. 28th!

Mazula Theatre came today and did a workshop on using your imagination! It was SOOO FUN!!! Check out our slideshow to see the fun we had!

*Reminder*-Tomorrow is Terry Fox day at Columbia. For a donation of $2.00 your child can wear a HAT all day!! We will be walking at 3pm so please make sure they are dressed for the weather and have good walking shoes on!

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13 days of school!!!

Here is a collage of our first 13 days of school! Enjoy!

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New word alert!

Today we learned about the word CAN!
I explain to the kids that the letters /a/ and /n/ are buddies...they like to hang out:) We talked about who their "buddies" are. Then we learnt that /an/ says an.
We added a c and we got CAN!
Our new Reading Rainbow page is called, "Can I See Green?"
ENJOY!

Getting Excited!

I am sitting at the school getting ready for the new school year.
Yesterday we attended a meeting on intervention in the classroom and today we are meeting with our staff, our grade partners as well as our division partners and are busy making new plans to make our year more successful!
I can not wait to get started on some wonderful learning!

See you Thursday!

Talent Show success!

The kids did AWESOME!!!! I am sooooo proud! I am looking for someone who taped it on a camera so we can easily transfer it to this blog. Comment on this post or email if you can help me out! Here are a few pics Miss. Boychuk took for us!

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Last field trip to the SPLASH PARK!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Mother Nature for being so nice and giving us AWESOME weather on Friday! The kids had a BLAST and so did the adults watching them!

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Jeff!

When I get home from working all day, this is what Jeff is doing! MUST BE NICE!! lol

PLAY DAY!

Day 4 of the busiest week of my life...lol!!
Enjoy!!!

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Good Spirit Lake!!!

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National Aboriginal Day!

WOW...What a day! We had soooo much fun and learned sooo much about First Nations culture(s). We also had a chance to see some Ukrainian and Philippines culture!
Have a look at our slide show to see everything we did. What a BLAST!
P.S.
It was also the first day of summer! YAY!

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Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY! (and the 1st day of summer!!) YAHOO!!

We will be leaving here at about 9:15am...rain or shine, so send an umbrella (with your child's name on it) along with a healthy snack, a water bottle and a towel.

You do not have to send bug spray and sunscreen but I would ask that you put it on before they leave the house in the morning.

Remember that they DO NOT need a lunch as one will be provided!!

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates!!!

**A note will be sent home today to remind everyone of the weeks activities...it'll be a busy one!!!

VERY Interesting!!!

I was reading an online article and found this:

MATH: On average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Studies reveal that the greatest areas of summer loss for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, are in factual or procedural knowledge (Cooper, 1996).
So, if your child is leaving grade 1 at a 2.0 (grade 2) level, without daily home reading and math they will start grade 2 behind (at approximately 1.7. That is where they were in about March of Grade 1).
If you need some help with resources for the summer please contact me and I will be happy to help. Walmart has some excellent activity books that are well priced.

READING: ...Children are ready to shrug off the mantle of "student" for the two-month break, along with the backpacks, the math homework, and the quizzes and tests. But just because school is out, it doesn't mean that reading and learning should stop. Teachers know that many children can't afford to take such a long break. Young readers who don't continue to read over the summer — especially those who are reluctant or at-risk — are likely to lose crucial ground. One summer off can sometimes mean a whole school year of struggling academic performance.On average a typical child will lose 2 reading levels over the summer if there is no consistant support from parents or family.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/summer_reading.htm

It is important to read as well as work on basic addition and math facts daily. Giving them problems and having them figure them out will also keep their minds sharp and enhance skills that will be needed in grade 2.

There are many articles on this topic on the internet...education journals are the best place to find accurate facts on this topic.

We survived our first field trip! YAY! It was sooooo FUN! Special thanks to all the helpers who came to give us a hand.

Also, a special thanks to HALLE!!! Halle made this blog! She downloaded pictures, added text...everything!!! Way to go girl!!!

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They emerged...on the weekend :P

So, 2 years in a row the caterpillars decided to emerge over the weekend :(
I have been like the crazy lady with my camera trying to "catch the moment". Oh well, I'll try again next year!

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Caterpillars to Butterflies....ALMOST!

In the Science unit 'Daily and Seasonal Changes' we have been discussing the changes that occur with Spring and Summer. We have been learning about the changes a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly...aka...Metamorphisis!!!
The following video is of our classroom caterpillars that have already formed their chrysalis. The chrysalis was shaking like crazy today and we were on our way to computers so to make sure we didn't miss anything I set up my camera to capture the 'magic'!!! As you can see in the video, the caterpillar was working really hard to change but never broke free. I hope to be able to capture the release!!!
ENJOY!

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Just a couple things!

Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. I know I am! Played some tennis, planted potatoes, garlic, and onion (good Ukrainian staples) and doing some fishing...I love this time of year!

Just want to remind you that there will NOT be a spelling test this Friday. I will hand out the words for the following week this Friday.

I do need your field trip forms back as soon as possible. We are looking for parent volunteers for our trips. If you can help out please let me know. (and ignore the spelling mistake on the form...lol....noticed it after I photocopied them!) :)

For now, that's all! I'm heading out to enjoy the day and hope you are too!
Happy Long Weekend!

Ms. Heshka

Don't forget...

Early Dismissal this Thursday (May 12th).

www.spellingcity.com is an awesome way to study spelling at home. Check it out!

Spelling List 21

little

where

thank

right

most

away

Halle and Joshua B.

pajamas

paleontology

parachute

Pakistan

Mother's Day Tea!

Ok, so I had this whole speech thing to tell you guys at the beginning of the tea and because I am an emotional wreck I had to cut it short.
I do want to say that you all are amazing! You have the toughest job in the world but the most rewarding!! I have spend 152 days with your child and have become very attached to each and every one of them. When I seen their faces when you arrived it made my heart melt. They worked SO hard to make this day perfect and I think they did a FANTASTIC job!
I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures. Time flew by and before I knew it it was time to go.
Thanks again for coming and especially for raising such awesome kids!

Ms. Heshka

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Mother's Day Tea

Reminder that the Mother's Day Tea is on Friday May 6th from 1:00-2:00pm.If you can not make it please send another special lady in your child's life.

Please RSVP in your child's agenda or on the blog!
We look forward to seeing you!!

WOW...WHAT A DAY!! The kids made their own Egg Salad Sandwiches...ALL BY THEMSELVES!
They cut the celery, peel and cut the egg, got some mayo, mixed it and spread it on the bread!! It was AWESOME!
I am very proud of them for trying their sandwich. If they didn't like it they didn't have to eat it but they all tried it! YAY for them!!

Enjoy the show!

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Scrambled Eggs!

OH MY was this morning ever fun! It was all about eggs! We learned the different parts of the egg and had a huge giant egg we labelled! Then ONTO THE COOKING! Mrs. L was in to help us and we were glad she was there! We learned how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave!! YUMMY!!!
The kids had soooo much fun! I LOVE watching them doing things like this...amazing learning goes on without them even knowing!
Tomorrow we will journal about what we did today and then onto Part B...the boiled eggs! We again will learn about what happens to a hard boiled egg in the cooking process and then make something out of them!
Stay tuned for another slideshow!
And thanks for sending the eggs!!!

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don't forget...

I am just getting settled in to my Math Mentor workshop and wanted to quickly post a reminder to bring your eggs tomorrow. 2 hard boiled....2 raw.
Please pack them up safely in paper towel so there are no breaks! :)

words for Friday

again

here

thing

say

come

after

Josh B. and Halle
magnificent

medieval

Mexico

muscles

Food for the Soup Haven

Yesterday we were talking about healthy eating in our health unit. We got on the discussion of how people might not have a lot of healthy foods to eat. One of the boys in the room came up with the idea that we should collect food for them. So, thats just what we did!! Class 1H was very generous and brought LOTS of food for the Soup Haven. I am so proud of the class.

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Spelling Test for Fri. April 8th

man

woman

call

long

over

because

Halle and Joshua B.

language

lasagna (YUMMY!!)

laundry

leopard

Today we tried some fruits and vegetables

We tried coleslaw, mangos, kiwi, and sugar snap peas! Some of the kids LOVED the coleslaw (others...not so much...lol)!!!
I was proud of them for trying!

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Making Quesadillas

In Health, we have started our unit on Healthy Bodies. We are starting the unit with Nutrition (learning about the 4 food groups and how foods give us nutrients). We will learn each food group in detail and try at least one food in that group. This week we made Quesadillas. (Grains and dairy). It was SOOO MUCH FUN!!! Stay tuned for more pictures on other food groups!

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Building castles!

We had a BLAST building castles! I am SO impressed with their creativity! Check out our pics to see our creations!!!!!

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next week...

Parent Teacher Interviews are next week (Tuesday and Wednesday). Please send back the confermation form as soon as possible.

It is GREEN day on Thursday March 17th. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our spelling test will be on this day. The new words are:
first
people
now
look
who
way

Halle and Joshua B's words are the same plus:
independent
invisible
Ireland
identity

Have a great weekend!!!

There is NO SCHOOL on Friday the 18th!

This is how WE study for spelling!

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back into the swing of things!

Welcome Back!!!
I hope everyone had a great winter break and got to spend some quality time with your family!

This weeks spelling words are:

these

so

has

would

other

into

I will be starting to mark words with caPiTals in the middle wrong so practice printing using lowercase letters!

I am also going to start giving bonus sentences sometimes. This is to see where they are with using capitals at the beginning as well as proper punctuation. Keep practicing writing at home.

On Fri. March 4th- The Saracho family will be providing lunch and morning snack to help celebrate Tisha's birthday! If your child does not like pizza or does not wish to take part just send them a lunch that day.

**Report cards will be out soon. I will be sending a form home to choose which time/day you'd prefer. Please send the form back as soon as possible to allow time to get the whole school scheduled.

*Don't forget that we are collecting material to build a castle for our fairy tale unit. Cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, styrofoam, anything we can use that will stick together with white glue or tape! I am looking forward to this unit...it is usually a lot of fun!!

**New blog link. Raz-Kids!! (in the language arts section) The kids LOVED this site. It really is fabulous! The best part is, is the books on Raz-Kids are books we read in guided reading so the familiarity helps them build confidence! I entered them all in under their own reading level. They read books, listen to them and answer questions and are moved up to new levels accordingly. While they are doing all of this "work" they are collecting points to build a "rocket room". They earn points and can buy things to decorate their room. Have them log on at home and enjoy a 'new way to read'!


The monthly calendar will be sent home today.

I think I got it all??? I hope I got it all! :)

Have a great week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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OH did we LAUGH today!

Today we had a wonderful performance by Wide Open Productions out of Saskatoon. Their production was called A Prairie Life. It is based on the bestselling books by Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet, illustrated by Yvette Moore (A Prairie Year, Heartland, a Prairie sampler and A Prairie Alphabet).
We enjoyed a one hour show featuring 30 outstanding Muppet-style hand puppets, a live narrator, comedy, and music that brought these wonderful depictions of a prairie life- off of the page and to the stage- in a very unique way!
Ask your child about the afternoon! I am sure a smaile will be on their face while re-telling the events!!
Check out their website!


And DON'T FORGET....tomorrow is EARLY DISMISSAL!!!

WHAT a DAY! FUN, FUN, FUN!

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MATH GAMES in MATH CLASS!

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TOMORROW IS Wacky Hair Day!!! Show your Columbia School spirit and be CRAZY!

Snow Day

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