Cancellation of Classes

Hello to my wonderful CSSI families!

I hope you are all doing well during this stressful and uncertain time. All school and CBE updates and information will be coming through to you via School Messenger or you can access this information on the CBE website:

https://www.cbe.ab.ca/Pages/default.aspx

The complex learning team is working together in order to provide more information about programming while you are at home. More information should be made available after Spring Break. I will update the blog on a regular basis, and in addition, I will be emailing each family after Spring Break. 

Again, I know that this is a stressful time. Please know that we are thinking of you all and we miss the boys terribly. Take care and we will talk soon. 

Mrs. Matiece and the CSSI Team

Reading Time

In Room 7, we have started a daily reading program where students are given the opportunity to explore books independently and with an adult or peer. Research shows that Reading and storytelling help your child’s development in many ways. These activities promote brain development and imagination, teach your child about language and emotions, and lay the foundations for other literacy skills. 

The books that students are exposed to are simple books that often have a repetitive and predictable pattern. When exploring books, students are read to, have the opportunity to try to identify words and phrases, and are asked comprehension questions like "What do you see?", "Where is the ______?" etc. 

Upcoming Dates:
Thursday March 18th- Student Conferences 4:15-8:00
Friday March  19th- No School
Friday March 19th- Student Conferences 8:00-12:00
Monday March 23rd-Friday March 27th- No School: Spring Break
Monday March 30th- Classes Resume

Sentence Writing

Students in Room 7 have begun to print simple sentences using predictable sentence starters. Using the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" as a starting point, we used the sentence starter "I see a". We first read the book, each student being given the opportunity to orally tell their peers what they see. 

Using visual examples of colour words, animals from the book and sentence frames, students then explored printing simple sentences with varying levels of adult support. 

Expanding on our initial activity, we repeated the same task but used animals from one of our favourite songs "Slippery Fish".

During the week of Valentine's Day, we built upon our previous skills in order to make a classroom book. 

All of the students in Room 7 have done such a wonderful job exploring sentence writing. 

Learning About the Letter O

Last week, students in CSSI learned about the letter O. Tasks focused on the letter O were incorporated into our daily activities throughout the week. 

Students first made an octopus craft to put into their letter portfolios. This task required students to listen to verbal instructions and use a visual example in order to complete their octopus craft. 

Using the program "Handwriting Without Tears", students explored using shapes to make the letter O. In addition, they used their fingers to trace and feel the letter O. 

During our daily music and circle times, we would explore songs from Super Simple Songs and Bounce Patrol that reinforced the letter O. 

 

Students continued to practice letter formation and identifying "o words" using their understanding of letter sounds. In addition, some students continued to practice labelling their pictures using visual examples. 

We had alot of fun learning about the letter O!

Weekly Reminders:

Wednesday February 12th: Wear Pink and/or Red Day

Thursday February 13th: No School: Teacher's Convention

Friday February 14th: No School: Teacher's Convention

Monday February 17th: No School: Alberta Family Day

Numeracy Sensory Boxes for January

January is quickly leaving us, but below are some pictures of the numeracy focused task boxes that we explored for the past month. 

This task box required students to order the numbers from 1-20. 

Continuing our work with ten-frames, students were tasked with matching the ten-frame to the number. 

For this activity, students use manipulatives to complete simple addition equations. 

Students in these pictures are matching a group of objects to the number, practicing and reinforcing their one-to-one correspondence and subitizing skills. 

Fine motor and counting skills are practiced and reinforced during this activity as students place beads onto the pipe cleaner. 

Have a great weekend!