It was a wonderful year in 1A! The Grade One team loved teaching these amazing students.
Here is a link to the Summer Learning Resource page
Author: jbennett31
Building, Mapping and Collaborating in 1A
Collaboration is a learning skill that all grade one students work on throughout the year. Working and communicating with different partners and small groups takes lots of patience.
Teachers help students navigate any problems or conflicts as they arise. They arrange for students to work with different classmates throughout the year to practice communicating and collaborating.
In Social Studies, students started creating maps with a partner. Each group created a community map and presented it to the class.
The class had so much fun creating their communities that we decided to work all together to create one community. Each student chose a specific community helper to research. They also needed to make the community building each helper worked at. The ER doctor built a hospital, while the principal and teacher made a school and playground together.
| Student | Zev | Delilah | Rachel | Levi | Ilay | Aliyah & Maia | Miles | Nate | Emma |
| Community Helper | Vet | Vet | Postmaster | Farmer | Chef & Restaurant Owner | Teacher & Principal | Policeman | Firefighter | ER Doctor |
| Community Building | Animal Hospital | Animal Shelter | Post Office | Barn&Farm | Restaurant | School & Playground | Police Station | Fire Station | Hospital |
The students researched and wrote about their community helper’s role and responsibilities. They presented their findings to the class. They designed and created community buildings. Together they decided on symbols for the map key and worked on mapping the 3D community.
The collaboration I have seen over the last few weeks has been terrific. The children have been so supportive and encouraging with each other. Best of all, the children had so much fun.
OJCS Summer Reading Challenge
Brigitte, our librarian, has launched the first-ever school-wide summer reading challenge. Check your child’s note tote for all the information. The students are excited to take part in the challenge. I explained the challenge to the class today, and the children talked about visiting their local libraries to borrow books.
Here are some of her recommendations for K-1 and 2-3
The Three Little Pigs
1A had fun reading The Three Little Pigs recently. After reading the story, I challenged the class to build three solid houses that the big bad wolf couldn’t blow down. The requirements were that each group needed to make a straw house, a stick house, and a brick house. The students got excited and started to build. The Big Bad Wolf/Mrs. Bennett came calling.
I huffed and puffed, used a hair dryer, and made wind with a plastic top. As much as I huffed and puffed, I could not blow the houses down. All the structures were stable and standing: the children were so happy.
The class wanted to write a new version of the Three Little Pigs. Listen to the children read their story of The Three Little Pigs.
Listen to the stories we wrote and recorded. We hope you enjoy them.
A special Day in 1A
There was a special surprise in the library today. Melanie came to enthrall us with her performance of Opera Mouse.
You can see more info about the show here: https://www.melaniegall.
This afternoon there was a wonderful Shavuot Assembly on the front lawn of our school. It was beautiful to sing and gather together in the sunshine. The students donated lots of food to the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank.
We finished off the day with a frozen Menchies treat. Yum!
Shavuot Food Drive
- Friday, May 19: Dress down day!
- Monday, May 22: NO SCHOOL Victoria Day
- Thursday, May 25: DAIRY DAY in honour of Shavuot we are having an assembly with a special dairy treat! We are also collecting donations of food items for the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank. Please see flyer below for more details.
- Friday, May 26: NO SCHOOL Shavuot
Scribble Bots
We had so much fun in the Makerspace last week. Mr. Ray challenged us to make a Scribble bot. He told us that we would need to use our engineering skills to make a moving robot. He told us the materials for building would be three markers, a plastic cup, a motor, a battery pack, and lots of tape. First we made a plan of what we wanted to build.
The next step was to start building. It took lots of patience to attach all of the parts. We had to tape our markers inside the cup, making sure everything was stable. There was a lot of trial and error with attaching the battery pack wires to the motor. Mr. Ray helped us problem-solve and get our scribble bots ready to scribble.
The scribble bots started to move and scribble. It was so exciting to watch them move and scribble on the paper. Take a look at them in action below.
Yom Ha’atzmaut
It was a special week at school. On Yom Hazikaron, we remembered the brave Israeli soldiers who fought for Israel.
Yom Ha’atzmaut was a day full of celebration on Israel’s 75th birthday. We started by decorating our classroom doors and lockers in blue and white. We think we did a pretty good job, don’t you?
All the classes had the opportunity to visit different stations. We learned a special dance, played Twister with JNF, sang karaoke, played musical chairs, and did Israeli Just Dance.
At lunch, we ate delicious falafel. Special Thanks to Levi’s dad for helping make the falafel!
We finished the day with the whole school in the gym doing the special dance we learned in the morning. A birthday cupcake was the special treat we got to eat. It was such a fun day!
JNF Art Contest
The Jewish National Fund has created an art contest that students and families may participate in. Check out the pamphlet below to learn more about it!
Contest:
- Draw or paint a picture (8-1/2” X 11” and suitable for framing) following the story A Tree in the Desert by Avirama Golan.
- Watch the story on YouTube (https://youtu.be/FbevCoM9_2U).
- The artwork can be of the Negev, Ben Gurion, or a tree in the desert.
Dress Down Day tomorrow
A Model Seder to Remember
Kitah Alef’s Model Seder took place this past Monday. It was a memorable day: many children said it was their favourite day of the school year. Moreh Saar and Morah Ada were so proud of the children. They read and sang so beautifully.We hope the children sing beautifully as they celebrate together with family at the Seder tonight.
Wishing everyone a Chag Pesach Sameach!
The Grade One Team
We found the afikomen!
