Kindness in Action

This morning, our entire school walked to the Downtown Mission to help deliver all the cans that had been collected.  We were challenged to collect 50 cans for the mission.  Our final can total was 77 cans!!! Thank you to all our families for your support and generosity.  Overall, Dougall collected more than 1,400 cans - WOW!


We set off in the snow, carried our cans, and sang as we walked.  It was a fantastic learning experience for the students.  They definitely were an example of kindess in action today!  Thank you again for your support, and for your willingness to help others.  

Thank you to Miss Chow for the great pictures and to Mr. Krusl for his help on the walk!

The Napping House

We have been reading a fantastic book this week.  The Napping House (by Audrey Wood) tells the story of a granny and a list of characters who have a nap on a rainy day.  The pile of nappers grows until a wakeful flea bites the mouse.  The story ends with a pile of wakeful characters, and even a broken bed.  

The repetitive nature of the story has allowed us to focus on retelling the story in the correct sequence.  The students have been using a story telling kit, made up of various puppets to retell the story in their own words.  The drama centre has been a popular place to visit this week.  

The only character not included in the storytelling kit was the flea - who plays a very important part in the story.  One of our students volunteered to make a flea puppet.  

Let the retelling begin...

It was fantastic to see students using the text to double check that they were telling the story in the correct sequence.  The students did an amazing job retelling the story, and also displayed great teamwork and cooperation!

Ontario Curriculum expectations this activity fulfilled include:

Reading

1.4 demonstrate understanding of a text by retelling a story, including the main idea (e.g. retell a story, role-play or dramatize a story using puppets or props)

Compassion and Kindness

WOW!!  The response to the Downtown Mission can drive has been amazing!  In 4 days, our class has already collected 51 cans!! We have already exceeded our goal total!  This has been a great challenge for the students.  However, the most important aspect is the compassion and kindness all of your families have shown!  Each can will make a difference in the lives of a hungry family this holiday season.


Thank you for your support, and for "paying it forward".  THANK YOU!!

December Oral Language Activities

Here are the December activities to promote oral language and early literacy skills.  How many can you and your child complete this month?

A tip for each day!	√
What 2 words do you hear in “candycane”? What sound does ‘candy’ and ‘cane’ start with?
Do you know another word for “present”? (gift, package)
Here’s a riddle for you: What is warm, chocolate, and has marshmallows?
New word: “famished” What does that mean?
Name as many things that you can think of that come in a can (pop, peas, soup, etc.)
Let’s drum out the beats in the word “decorations” [de/co/ra/tions]—4 parts.
Tell 5 things that you will need for winter that you do NOT need for summer.  Use complete sentences (e.g., I will need gloves, I will need boots….)
Make popcorn. Talk about how it looks (before and after it pops), sounds, smells and tastes.
How many words can you think of that rhyme with the word “sack”? (e.g., tack, rack, pack).
Watch a holiday video with your child. Who were the characters? What was it about?
What do you do with these things: snow shovel, sled, scarf, present, snowball
Let’s stretch out the sounds in the word: “lights” [l-igh-t-s]—4 sounds
Let’s write a list of our favourite things!
Tell me another word for “sparkly”.
Tell me one thing that belongs in each category: furniture, sports, tools
How many things can you think of that zip up? (coat, pants, back pack, pencil case)
What sound do you hear in the middle of these words: doll, log, box, song
Let’s name or point to something that is: *long, *short, *hot, *cold,*sweet, *sour
Which 2 words go together best: mittens, boots, cookies.  Tell me how/why they go together.
What does it mean if a person says “I am roasting in here!”
What kinds of things might you see in a toy store?
Find as many “white” things as you can!
How may syllables do you hear in the word “holiday” [ho/li/day]—3 parts
Tell me some words that rhyme with “tree” (e.g., bee, me, see, etc.)
Sing a holiday song with your family.  Tell what the song is about using complete sentences.  What is your favourite song?
What sound do you hear at the end of these words: love, give, have, save
Tell me where you might find these things: socks, juice, plate, coat, dirty dishes
What is crunchy, orange and used to make a snowman?
Have a chat or look at pictures from this year with your family: “What did you do this year?” “Where did you go?” “What was your favourite thing about this year?” “What do you hope to do next year?”
What month comes next?  Do you know what year it will be?  Bye-Bye 2010!

Provided by: The Speech and Language Services Department of 

                      the Greater Essex County District School Board

Can Update - 30!!!

Wow -- in the first two days of our can drive, we have already collected 30 food items for the Downtown Mission!  It's amazing to see how serious the students are about helping others.  They are very excited to see the pile of food items grow so quickly in just 2 days!  We only need 20 more items to reach our class goal of 50 cans!


Thank you for your generous support.  If you have any food items you could donate, please send them in. They are going to help others in our community.


Our tally sheet jumped quite a few numbers today! THANK YOU!!

Discussion + Collaboration = Mathematical Understanding

Communication is key in many areas of life.  So to, in our classroom.  We love to discuss, share ideas, collaborate and just plain talk about what we are doing, thinking and learning!  One of the toughest areas to effectively communicate for students is often in math.  Sharing ideas, and mathematical thinking can be tough.  However, with the help of a partner, it's often a bit easier.  Here is one example of how talking, sharing and discussing helped the students better understand a math concept.


We have just started our unit which focuses on Addition and Subtraction to 12.  We are in the first stages, just learning how to combine parts to create a whole.  Today we talked about how trains are made up of many cars.  We used connecting cubes to represent the cars, and partner groups worked to find all the different number combinations that make 7.  The students were excited for the challenge, and went straight to work.  Here they are in action...

Working together, the students were able to communicate their answers.  

We CAN do it!!

Once again, Dougall is partnering with the Downtown Mission to help collect canned and boxed food, to help those without enough to eat.  The entire school is being challenged to collect 1,000 cans.  Our class goal is 50 cans!  We will be collecting food from Dec. 1 to Dec. 9.  Regular can count updates will be made over the next two weeks!  The students are excited for the challenge, and are very excited to be helping others.  Thank you for your support!!  Together, we CAN do it!