Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Good evening Parents and Carers!

The boys enjoyed a Halloween themed Tuesday in preparation for our party on Friday!

The day began with our morning circle, weather, feeling faces, and some phonics/spelling fun. We got active with our new spelling words and played an exciting game where the boys had to jump on a foam mat. The first one got to say the word, then spell the word once it was hidden, and use it in a sentence. It was a very close game and they all did extremely well!

In Language Arts we read a new story about pumpkins, and went over a rhyming poem from the book. The boys then highlighted the rhyming words and made an art piece illustrating the story. This was followed by Math, where we measured, sequenced, and began carving our pumpkins for Friday!

I had no idea the boys were so squeamish over the pumpkin pulp and seeds. Mr. Jarrod spoiled them with rubber gloves to finish scooping out the insides. Tomorrow we will complete our Jack-O-Lanterns and cook the pumpkin seeds on Thursday.

In Social Studies we continued discussing our emotions, sportsmanship, turn taking, and how to be a good friend. Here is our class list the boys made yesterday:

The day was complete with some sensory gym time and choice based play time, which entailed creating Lego towers and measuring their height.

Have a great night and see you tomorrow!

Mr. Jacob

Monday, October 26, 2015

Happy Monday Parents and Carers!

Oh my what a busy, busy day we had! All three classes were extremely active and vocal today, but lots of great work was completed.

The morning saw Mr. Avery take charge of the class and lead us through our morning routine. After feeling faces (we were all happy but some of our friends were just, "okay", as they were tired) the boys engaged in several dance routines to burn off excess energy. This was immediately followed by a calming, relaxation period that entailed soothing music, deep pressure, stretching, and breathing exercises.

During math we revisited measurement using non-standard units, i.e. markers and unifix cubes. The boys, Mr. Jarrod and I discussed and went over estimation to see who is the tallest in the class. After a great chat and debate the boys drew around each others' body outlines before measuring their heights using markers. It was a lot of fun and there was lots of math vocabulary and discussion from everyone.

In Language Arts the boys learned new spelling words and worked on their decoding, matching, spelling, and oral communication skills. 

The boys also played a fun phonics game involving blending skills and creating sentences from words they created. Before snack and recess we participated in various gym activities with our friends in Ms. Jessica and Ms. Hope's class.

In the afternoon we spoke a lot on 'helping hands' and 'unhelping hands', and the boys made their own list of things to do when other people make them angry, upset, mad, and/ or frustrated. We came up with 11 other things the boys can do other than raise their voices and use their bodies when they're not feeling happy. Social skills was also a hit as the boys went over the steps to properly make brownies with their friends.

The busy day was finalized with obstacle courses in the sensory gym and a great music therapy session!

Rest well and see you tomorrow!

Mr. Jacob

Friday, October 23, 2015

Happy Friday Parents and Carers!

I survived my first full week with the boys! We had a blast and learned so many great things all week long.

Today was a special day as a friend in Ms. Dakota's class turned 7 today. We celebrated with super cool erasers, singing, and Pac-Man cupcakes! The boys also made cards for William's big 7th birthday party.

We started the day sharing our feelings with our friends and discussing about why we are happy and excited to be at school! All of our friends were "excited" or "happy" today for several reasons: "Because I am at school with my friends", "Because today is Friday", "Because it is William's birthday", "Because today is Science day".

Here are the boys during art making witches using paper plates coloured green for the face, our handprints cut out for the hair, and construction paper for the hat!

Lastly, in Science we brainstormed what a volcano is, and what they do. We watched a short video clip, made a word web, and learned about the different aspects of a volcano. The last part of the lesson was the best as we created our very own volcanic eruptions using baking soda, red glitter and red food colouring, and vinegar. BOOM!!!

What a great way to end the week! Have a lovely weekend friends and I will be seeing you on Monday!

Mr. Jacob

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Good evening Parents and Carers!

I cannot believe it is already Thursday! Where has the week gone?

Another busy day in Mr. Jacob's class working on social skills, language arts, measurement, oral communication, descriptive story telling with recall and retention skills, decoding skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and lots of regulation and working with our friends in unison.

Here is Evan playing teacher and helping us through our morning routine.

Here are the boys working well together by taking turns, solving problems, engaging in two-way communication, and having fun with Bingo Bots!

The boys learned about measurement and estimation when they worked with Mr. Jarrod during math and measured his height using non-standardized units of measurement. 

Here are the boys engaging in an oral communication, listening, recall and retention exercise called Descriptive Drawing (one of the Barrier Activities).

Participating in a fun Halloween obstacle course. Here are the boys pretending to be flying wizards!

Focused and loving the Minute to Win It games!

Social skills with our friends in Ms. Dakota and Ms. Ms. Jessica's class. We learned about turn taking, two-way communication, sharing, and things that bug us.

Swinging in the Sensory Gym!

Have a great evening and get some rest!

Mr. Jacob