This week, we have been really focussing in on fluency. We are trying to move from speaking word by word (like a robot) to speaking smoothly like we do when we speak to one another. We are at all stages along that continuum but we are all trying to make improvements!

We have been doing this by using phrase boundaries. Here we clump together the words that feel glued together. So, instead of saying 'up... the ... stairs,' we make a real effort to say these words together. To remind us, we use brackets. The example below shows how some students used phrase boundaries:

As a bonus, phrase boundaries help us to understand why and where commas and periods work as they always fall at the edge of a phrase boundary. We had lots of fun practicing!

In math, we have started to look at the relationship between addition, skipping and multiplication. We took the opportunity to incorporate a little festive spirit by using our own version of the 12 Days of Christmas! This also gave us the opportunity to use and spell the words first, second, third etc. Ask your child to show you what the math for the fifth day might look like. They should be able to explain using 'groups of,' multiplication and skip counting. Look forward to getting your own personal book at the end of the term!

Housekeeping:

All books should now have been returned to the school library. I have two students who still need to do this, so please check at home.

Early dismissal Thursday. Much as I love your child, please remember to pick them up at noon:)

Performance - the schedule is on the last post, along with the dress up theme for the day. Our class is performing on Monday at 1:30pm. A big thank you to all the students who really rose to the occasion. When the music teacher fell ill, I was asked to step in and teach a dance. As in, a half hour before the dance class!  It's all part of team spirit, kindness and stepping in to help, which is what we try to impart to our students. The students are doing a really good job of remembering what to do!