WE Scare Hunger

Orange Shirt Day

Auburn Bay School will be participating in Orange Shirt Day on Monday, September 31st. We encourage students to wear an orange shirt or something else that is orange to school on Monday. 

What is Orange Shirt Day?

"Orange Shirt Day is on September 30 annually. It began in 2013 when residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad shared how her orange shirt was taken away on her first day at residential school. This story is an opportunity for students and staff to reflect on history, legacy and implications, to discuss stories of survival and strength and to share ways we can work together toward truth and reconciliation. It is also an opportunity to commit to commemorating the children who attended residential schools, recognizing their experiences, honoring them and sharing a collective commitment to ensure that every child matters and that each student is welcome, safe, respected and cared for in their learning community every day." @ 2019 Calgary Board of Education

A Glimpse of Our Day

MORNING ACTIVITY

This morning the students were able to work in small groups. Building blocks and interlocking blocks were made available to each group.

Benefits of block play:

- motor skills and hand-eye coordination,

- spatial reasoning,

- cognitive flexibility,

- language skills,

- a capacity for creative, divergent thinking,

- social competence, and

- engineering skills.

MORNING MEETING

Our Morning Meeting consists of reading our morning message, singing our months of the year song, reading one to two poems and calendar time. We have been learning how to sign the days of the week. 

CORE VOCABULARY
Our core word of the week is: I
This morning students located the core word on their communication devices and on the classroom's core word poster. We listened for the word "I" in our story and sang our "I" song of the week (Apples and Bananas https://tarheelgameplay.org/play/?key=nominal-diana-taboo ).
We then created our "I" sentences. Students were asked to verbalize or use their devices to respond to the question, "What do you like to eat?". Students were required to respond in complete sentences.

BODY BREAK

The movement song, Pop-See-Ko, gets everyone moving. Students chose this song three times today!

LITERACY GROUPS

Our small groups participated in Guided Reading. This group read their books independently and then they read it to Ms. Purcell and answered two questions to demonstrate that they were ready to take their books home to share with their families. 

SNACK TIME

Students can choose where they would like to sit during snack time. There is one desk available if a student would like to sit alone. After students eat their snack, they can read a book or do a puzzle.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Ms. Danielle, our occupational therapist came for a visit this afternoon. She shared two centers with us. In one center, we printed our name, coloured and then used a pushpin to poke holes over the lines in our name and on the pictures that we coloured. If we didn't bring this activity home, we will bring it home tomorrow after we complete it. While in our second center, we had to roll a die and count out that number in clothespins. We then clipped the clothespins on a paper plate. 

TERRY FOX RUN

We joined the school outside for the Terry Fox Run. Cooper is ready for the run and is getting into a sprinter's ready position. 

Our Mornings At School

Our morning schedule is coming into fruition. We begin each day with different tabletop morning activity. For example, every Monday, we participate in a colouring activity, every Thursday, we participate in an activity requiring the use of scissors and one to two days a week, we work in our Morning Book (focusing on personal information, our age, name of our school, our birthday, printing our name...). 

We then meet as a large group for our Morning Message, where students will learn what we will be doing that day and may also include a question that each student must answer. We also learn how to read one to two poems this month. Students are provided with the opportunity to lead the class when reading the poems and also participate in word-finding activities. We then begin our Calendar routine. We sing the months of the year song, talk with our hands by signing the days of the week, verbally sing the days of the week song, figure out today's date and take turns completing our Today is..., Yesterday was..., Tomorrow will be and weather chart.  

Depending on the length of time that we have been sitting, we may break for a body break before or after we participate in our daily Core Vocabulary activity. We then practice lining up and walking in a straight line as we go to the bathroom before we eat our snack. Students either read or complete puzzles while they wait for their peers to finish his snack. 

The remainder of our morning include a sight word song and/or activity (our core word of the week is the sight word that we focus on) and Guided Reading. Students are divided into two Guided Reading groups. Guided Reading class is followed by either Music class with Mrs. Bourgeois or a 10-15-minute body break. On the days that we do not have a Music class, after our body break, the students are again divided into two groups. One group participates in activities that focus on letter sounds and the other group participate in activities surrounding reading and creating sentences. 

Although a lot of learning is planned for our mornings, our mornings are flexible and depending on student need or student engagement, and therapist visits planned activities may change. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences are upon us already. Conferences are next week, Thursday, September 19th from 4 pm - 7 pm and Friday, September 20th from 8 am to noon. If you are unable to come during these times, please let me know as soon as possible, as we may be able to schedule our conference during lunch or after school. I am also available to meet on Thursday, September 19th, between noon and 3:30 pm. Online registration for conferences begin on Sunday, September 15th (I need help booking my Parent-Teacher Conference). If you have difficulty registering, please email me the time and day you wish to attend and I will schedule the conference for you.
During our meeting, we will review how your child is doing in class and then work collaboratively in creating two to three short-term goals for your child. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Snap Shot of Week 2

As we continue to progress in student work stamina and the group dynamics within the classroom, student expectations are gradually being increased. We continue to have body breaks throughout our day but the length of these breaks has been increased or decreased depending on the preceding activity. 

We have begun our Core Vocabulary portion of our daily communication lessons. These lessons have been adapted to the individual needs of the students. Some students are supported in extending their sentences both verbally or on their communication devices, whereas other students will be learning to use the focused core word in context. This week while working with the core word "more" we have read stories, sang songs, played games and have created sentences. The core word "more" has also been presented as a sight word.

During math class, students are participating in activities focusing on numerals from one through 10. Presently, our literacy class has consisted of guided reading lessons and completing sentences related to the story read. Small groups will soon be introduced where students will either be participating in activities related to letter-sounds or word work activities.