Week Five in Portable Two

Friday, October 5, 2018

We just finished week five in portable two and here is a bit of what’s been going on:

Language – We focused on learning about the variety of texts that we read and write in class. The handout below describes this in more detail:

Computers – We had our first computer class this past week. Our first job was to learn how to sign in to our Microsoft Office 365 account. Each student’s sign-in information can be found at the back of their agenda. Once everyone signed in, we learned how to send an email using Microsoft Outlook. I forget how lucky I am to be able to send and receive emails until I see the student’s excitement when they are learning how to do it (most for the very first time).

Field Trip to the Norfolk County Fair – During our field trip on Thursday, we learned all about the business of agriculture (raising livestock and growing crops).  We watched an agricultural presentation at the fair where we met many different types of farmers (i.e., apple, chicken, beef cow, dairy cow, pig) and learned about their jobs. We also learned how to milk a cow and watched a very strong woman shear a sheep in about five minutes. Finally, we traveled around the fair to answer the questions on our agricultural passports and get them stamped. Here are a few pictures of the day:

Math and Writing – We are working on publishing our first class book. It is a non-fiction, informational text about everything that we’ve learned about numbers so far. We are calling the book, What is a Number? Each student is writing at least one page in the book. It’s a team effort and we can’t wait for you to read it.

Social Studies and Gym – One thing that we learn about in Social Studies is cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) and intermediate directions (north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west). Students tend to learn this concept best when moving so, we combine this topic with gym class. First, the students learn what it means to be in a ready position (on the balls of your feet, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, arms ready, eyes ready). The ready position is great for the many different types of games that we play in gym class because it helps students move quickly and easily change direction. I shout out one of the directions and the students have to move in that direction. They have to be quick on their feet and listening attentively. It’s great exercise for their body and their brain.

Pragnell’s Compost Crew – We will start to collect compost from the whole school starting Tuesday, October 9th. It’s a big job and this hard-working crew has it covered. Each student knows what their job is and how to do it because we were practising this past week. Here are some pictures: 

Lessons with Mrs. Pellazzarri – Each Wednesday, Mrs. Pellazzarri comes in to our class to teach us about a program called, PATHS (it stands for Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies). Mrs. Pellazzarri is a Child and Youth Worker. This past Wednesday was her first day in our class. We talked about rules and why we have them. Here is a picture of Mrs. Pellazzarri talking with us:

Colour Houses – At Waterford Public School, it’s important for us to build school spirit so, every student belongs to a colour house. We have 10 different colour houses. There are colour house challenges throughout the school year where students can participate to earn points for their colour house. The school’s first colour house challenge was last Friday for Orange Shirt Day. Every student that wore an orange shirt received a point for their colour house. Students can check the back of their agenda to see what colour house they are in or they can check the poster in our classroom. Here is a picture of the colour house poster in our classroom:

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at julie.pragnell@granderie.ca OR call me at school: 519-443-8942.

-Mrs. Julie Pragnell