Friday Forecast

We are going to continue our exploration of CARING this week.

Monday:

- Photo Retakes!
- Chester the Cat Feels Anxious 

- Body Mapping (where do I feel anxiety?) Click here to learn more

Tuesday:

- Mr. Jordan comes for a visit

Wednesday:

Happy Halloween! Students in The Class are really looking forward to dressing up and participating in the annual Cambrian Height's costume parade on Wednesday morning. Just a reminder that costumes worn at school can not include masks, gore, or weapons.

Along with our daily mathematics and literacy instruction, The Class will be making stress ball pumpkins as we continue our discussion about sensory objects that we can use to self-soothe. We will also enjoy playing a few Halloween themed games together as we practice sportsmanship, cooperation, honesty and other social skills. 

Thursday:

- Continued work on our Stop Motion Animation videos for the Remembrance Day Assembly
- Recycling! The Class students have taken responsibility for collecting the refundable drink containers at Cambrian Heights! Ask your child about what can and cannot go in the yellow refundables bins!

Friday:

- Me in My Zones Lesson: Understanding different perspectives. Students explore the idea that they can impact how others feel.

Building Daily Routines

Community Activity Day

Friday October 19th was 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITY DAY (C.A.D.)

The Class students worked on designing and creating their own rollercoasters!

We showed school spirit by wearing our Cambrian Heights T-Shirts. Oh, What Fun!

We joined students across grades K-6 for this STEM challenge.

We will finish building our rollercoasters during our next Community Activity Day in November

Friday Forecast

Next Week's Character Trait: Caring

Caring is giving love and attention to people and things that matter to you. When you care about people, you help them. When you do a careful job, you give it your best effort. You treat people and things gently and respectfully. 

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

- Unknown

Monday (Oct. 22)

• Math
• Practice strengthening our basic addition and subtraction fact fluency.
• Addition Strategies
• Estimation (making a thoughtful guess)
• Individualized literacy instruction and assignments
• Learning how to use the iMotion App to create stop motion animations.
• "The Zones in Video" : In this activity, students view video clips and identify zones in the characters who are portrayed. It is intended to help students become more skilled in identifying emotions and zones in other people.
• Review of the key players in the brain's stress response.

Tuesday (Oct. 23)

• Math
• Practice strengthening our basic addition and subtraction fact fluency.
• Subtraction Strategies
• Estimation (making a thoughtful guess)
• Individualized literacy instruction and assignments
• Continued exploration of the iMotion App to create stop motion animations.
• Visit from Mr. Jordan (School Psychologist)
• Differentiating between mindful behavior and it's opposite, unmindful behavior.
• Being mindful for our Earth

Wednesday (Oct. 24)

• Math
• Practice strengthening our basic addition and subtraction fact fluency.
• Addition and Subtraction Strategies
• Estimation (making a thoughtful guess)
• Individualized literacy instruction and assignments
• Our class has been asked to host the Remembrance Day Assembly on Friday November 9th. Last week we read several short stories from the book "What We Remember," which captures the wartime perspectives of children. Using iMotion, students will work to recreate a short story about a child's perspective during the war. 
• Read Aloud: The Three Questions
• Nikolai goes on a quest to find a way to be the best person he can be. By acting mindfully, he discovers the answer. Underscoring what he has learned, a wise old turtle advises him to pay close attention to the moment, his environment, and the needs of others.

Thursday (Oct. 25)

• Math
• Practice strengthening our basic addition and subtraction fact fluency.
• Subtraction Strategies
• Estimation in our World (why learn estimation?)
• Individualized literacy instruction and assignments
• Ongoing: Using iMotion, students will work to recreate a short story about a child's perspective during the war. 
• The Zones in Me: In this activity, students decide what would be the expected zone for a variety of scenarios.With this activity, students explore the concept that all of the zones are expected under different circumstances, and it is okay to experience all of them.

Friday (Oct. 26)

• Professional Learning Day - No School for students

Once a Day

Share with your child an observation about a 
mindful decision you made in a demanding situation.

SodaPop Head

Today our Occupational Therapist, Rose Koziel, taught us a lesson on "controlling our fizz."

His real name is Lester, but everyone calls him Soda Pop Head. Most of the time he is pretty happy, but when things seem to be unfair his ears gets hot, his face turns red and he blows his top! Lesters dad comes to his rescue by teaching him a few techniques to loosen the top and cool down before his fizz takes control.

"There goes Lester. Watch him fester. His ears start to fizz. He gets mad as a griz. His face turns red. He's a Soda Pop Head. You just never know when Lester will blow. His cap will go flying. If it hits you, you'll be crying, so you'd better stay away from Lester today!"

Some of the strategies Lester uses to control his frizz instead
 of "popping his top" are:

- Taking 5 deep breaths
- The Push-Pull-Dangle

Character Trait of the Week

Being RESPONSIBLE means that others can depend on you. When you are RESPONSIBLE, you keep your agreements. It is a sign of growing up.

Today students worked in groups to brainstorm ways they show RESPONSIBILITY at school and at home. Here is what they came up with:

Friday Forecast

Coming up this week...

Monday:

• Character Trait of the Week: Responsibility

Interested in discussing responsibility with your child at home?

 Watch this short video together. After watching, discuss the questions listed below

Adventures From The Book of Virtues reinforces character education in an entertaining, fun way. This story is seen through the eyes of two kids, Zach and Annie, who live in a town called Spring Valley. They deal with the same pressures faced by kids everywhere, but they are able to turn to Plato the Buffalo, who lives in a cave high above Spring Valley. Plato has collected some of the world’s great stories and when Annie or Zach are faced with a difficult situation in their own lives, Plato and his pals know just the right adventure to offer.

After Watching Discussion Questions:
1. What does the word “responsibility” mean?
2. How did Annie fail to live up to her responsibility?
3. What should Annie have done with her assignment?
4. What did Daedelus plan to do with the feather wings?
5. What did he tell his son, Icarus?
6. What are your responsibilities?
7. What was the old lady trying to prove by tricking her children into returning home?

Tuesday:

• Mr. Jordan, our school psychologist, comes for a visit!
  Currently Mr. Jordan is working with our students on:
• "Belly Breathing," and 
• Guided Breathing Meditations (blowing bubbles)

Here are some Breathing / Grounding exercises you can try at home!

Wednesday:

• Library 

Thursday:

• Mrs. Koziel, our Occupational Therapist, to do Soda Pop Head lesson with students.
• Controlling your "Fizz" - Strategies for Anger Management

Friday:

• C.A.D. (Community Activity Day)
• Designing and constructing our own ROLLERCOASTERS!

Upcoming:

• October 18th - School Council Meeting at 6:30pm (has been re-scheduled)
• October 26th - No School - PD Day
• October 29th - Photo Retakes 

One World Drumming Performance

After a 5 day drumming residency at Cambrian Heights School, our students took part in a celebration of learning. Even though there was initially quite a bit of hesitation, Mrs. Pal and Ms. Brand were SO PROUD our students for getting up in front of the school to show what they know.

Happenings in Room 2

Math

Last week we finished up our Place Value investigation.

Today we took a pre-test for addition and subtraction!

A pre-test is helpful in determining what students know about a concept. 

Moving forward, we will explore addition and subtraction through math games, 1:1 instruction with Mrs. Pal, and independent work.

One World Drumming

The One World Drum Co. continues their residency at Cambrian Heights School. 

Our class has had 3 full 45 minute sessions so far. We have one more practice lesson on Wednesday, and then we present to the other groups on Thursday.

Ask your child what to do when they hear "Chocolate Milk and Potato Chips"

Personal Hygiene

Thursday at 9:30am, The Class will be joining our neighbors, The Paced Learning Program, for a Hand-washing lesson from our School Nurse.

Photo Retakes

Students who missed Photo Day in September are encouraged to participate in our Photo Retake day on October 29th! 

Check-in Champs!

Mindfulness is simply… noticing what is happening right now. 

As we continue to work on identifying our emotions, The Class has started "Checking in" periodically.  Mrs. Pal or Ms. Brand will spontaneously hold up the "Check-in" flag, and students stop what they are doing and tune into how they are feeling. It is important to be "in-tune" with your feelings, so that you can catch yourself before an emotion becomes too big.

Being mindful and checking in with ourselves is the first step in being able to self-regulate!

Taking Care of Our Teeth

Did you know that enamel is the hardest substance in your body? 

This week The Class has been learning about how to properly care for our teeth. 

We learned that our teeth are protected by a substance called enamel, and that we should be brushing two times per day to get rid of plaque and bacteria. Brushing after a sugary snack is a good idea to help prevent cavities! Here are a few pictures of our students practicing good mouth hygiene! 

Don't forget to brush your tongue!