Inspired by a DREAM

This morning our school participated in the Terry Fox Run.  The kids were amazing! They showed determination, perseverance and courage, just like Terry. Together, our class ran a total of 48 laps!  One lap around the school and McLean Park was 1.4 km.  Our class alone ran 67.2 km.  Way to go boys and girls!  It was great to see some families out cheering the kids on today!  After recess the children drew pictures and wrote about the Terry Fox Run.

 

Taking a well deserved break after running.

Here is some of their writing from today.   Don't forget to click the photos to make them bigger!

I went to the Terry Fox Run.

I put the money in the jar for Terry Fox.

I was running with Mrs. Russo.

I put the penny in the jar.

Today I ran for Terry Fox.

We ran in the Terry Fox Run.  I went two times.  But first we had an assembly.

Terry Fox I love him.

Terry Fox Run at school.

We raised money for cancer and Terry Fox

Andy Warhol inspired Portraits

This week we viewed and discussed some of Andy Warhol's art on the smart board in the library.  The children quickly noticed his bold and playful use of colour.  They were quite excited to experiment with coloured markers on their own extra large black and white portraits.

Fall Trees

We used watercolours to paint our backgrounds.  Then we used newspapers for trees and oil pastels to outline them.  We painted leaves with Q tips in fall colours...YELLOW RED BROWN GREEN and ORANGE.  They are beautiful. 

V.D. and A.J.

Time Capsules

On the second day of school we made time capsules.  We printed our names and wrote down our favourite things.  We measured our height with string.  We will open them in June and see how we have grown.  We had fun! 

S.T. and A.R.

Self Portraits

This week the children created self portraits.  First they used tracers to draw and cut out their faces and necks.  Then they cut eyes out of white paper and looked in the mirror for inspiration before adding details such as colour, lashes and brows. They drew noses and mouths and added personal touches likes glasses, rosy cheeks, and even a moustache!  The final step was painting their shoulders and decorating with buttons and fancy ribbons.  They sure were creative!  They made headbands, barrettes, ponytails, earrings, and even a neck tie. The portraits are smiling happily at us from above the chalkboard.  They turned out amazing and the resemblance of the portraits to the children is quite something.  Pop in and have a look!

The class is quite excited about the blog.  I was happy to hear many of the children were able to locate our class blog at home on their computers.  You can also access a computer at our school library or set up a time before or after school to view the blog on our classroom computer.  The children are really excited to share their learning.  We spent time on Friday learning about what a blog is and how it works on the smart board in the library.  The children were able to view the blog and see how to navigate their way around it.  Next week the children will learn to post and upload photos!  Stay tuned...

A quick reminder!   Monday, September 24th is a Professional Day.  There is NO school.  Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Russo

tracing time

decorating and personalizing

headbands, ponytails and necklaces

great hair

such detail...a purple bow to match the shirt and one white hair

glasses and lashes

Class Promise

We recently read the story David Goes to School by David Shannon, a perennial favourite.  We laughed at the silly things David did at school and talked about what we wanted our classroom to look, feel and sound like this year.  Rather than brainstorming a list of things not to do at school, I challenged the children to think about the essential ingredients in creating a classroom we'd all be proud of.  I recorded their ideas on chart paper and realized that together they'd just written a class promise.  It also perfectly echos the theme of our school code of conduct...

We take care of ourselves.  We take care of each other.  We take care of our community.  

Welcome to our BLOG

I am SO excited to be starting a class blog this school year.  I hope it's an easy and fun way for my students to celebrate and share their learning with you at home! All the children will have an opportunity to post news about special events, classroom activities and learning.  It will be a great way to showcase writing and artwork through photographs and hopefully video.  We will be discussing and practicing internet safety and all student blogging will be done under supervision.  The children's faces will not be shown in any posts to respect privacy.  If you have any questions or concerns you can contact me by email at wrusso@vsb.bc.ca.  I hope you enjoy this lens into our Grade 1 classroom.  I'm looking forward to a wonderful year!  Please bookmark our blog and visit us regularly! 

                          Warm regards,

                          Mrs. Russo

Last week we enjoyed an afternoon story outside in the shade.  We read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.  It is a story about a raccoon named Chester who is nervous about going to school.  His mother kisses the palm of his hand and tells him to press his hand to his heart or cheek during school and her love would warm his heart.  The boys and girls drew and wrote about their favourite parts.  They traced their hands and turned them into 'kissing hands' by making red fingerprint hearts covered in glitter.  They did such beautiful work.  Take a peek.