Posted: November 1, 2024
Mr. McCallum
2024-2025 Napan Elementary School 2/3
Posted: October 31, 2024
Daily Update:
We kicked off our day with morning announcements and then had a final rehearsal of our Halloween song for today’s performance. Our spelling word was “Frankenstein,” and our Show Not Tell prompt was “She was scared.” For Haggerty, we finished Week 8’s Thursday listening games, and in our Doodle session, we learned to draw a haunted house (at 1.5x speed!). Our Work on Writing prompt was “In Canada, Halloween is…” and we got into the spirit with a fun Halloween activity packet.
Math:
While the K’s and 1’s enjoyed some Halloween-themed activities, the Grade 2s and 3s stayed in our classroom for a special math session. We worked on solving secret codes, color-by-equation challenges, mazes, and other fun Halloween puzzles.
Lunch:
We headed downstairs to an amazing spaghetti lunch with garlic bread and juice boxes, prepared by our Home and School. They also provided cupcakes for dessert that we got to decorate ourselves!
After Lunch:
We headed back to our classrooms to get into costume! After transforming, we gathered in the gym to carve pumpkins with the help of some amazing parents, grandparents, and other volunteers. We showed off our outfits in a costume parade, then each class had a turn on stage to perform songs and poems we’d rehearsed (and in some cases, even wrote ourselves!). If you missed us today, tune in to 95.9 Rewind FM at 8:25 AM tomorrow to catch our performance. We wrapped up with a quick dance party, went back upstairs for treats, and packed up for home. It was organized chaos and a lot of fun! Good luck trick-or-treating tonight—stay safe!
Picture of the Day:
High fives from Minnie Brown to kick off an afternoon of Halloween fun!
Posted: October 30, 2024
Daily Update:
We began our day with the morning announcements, followed by several rehearsals of our Halloween song for tomorrow’s performance. Our song will be aired on 95.9 FM Friday morning at 8:25 AM, so you can catch it even if you miss the live show tomorrow. Today’s spelling word was “Halloween,” and our Show Not Tell prompt was “She had a belly ache.” For our Haggerty session, we completed the Week 8 Tuesday listening games, and in our Doodle activity, we practiced drawing a haunted house at 1.5x speed. Our Work on Writing prompt was, “If I could invent a toy, it would be...”
Math:
The Grade 1s and 2s continued working on patterns, focusing on AB and AABB patterns and exploring new ones like ABB, AAB, and ABC, which we call the “core” of the pattern. The Grade 3s practiced modeling subtraction with two numbers.
After Lunch:
We headed straight to the gym for a final polish of our song with Mr. Whalen. We’re feeling ready! Just a couple of practice rounds tomorrow morning, and we’ll be set for the big performance in the afternoon!
PE:
For PE, we went outside to play some baseball. There was a bit of a debate over who made the best pitcher, but we all agreed the game ended in a shutout!
Day End:
To wrap up the day, we reflected in our Book of Gratitude with the prompt “My favorite memory of today was…” After ensuring all our work was complete in our morning books, we signed our Home to School books and added a Remembrance Day memo and an invitation to Fletcher’s Farm hide and seek event on Friday night. Most of us have siblings, so we extended the invite to everyone—the more, the merrier!
Picture of the Day:
Mr. Whalen helping us with our final rehearsal before the big performance.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 2024_napan_remembrance_day.pdf | 112.14 KB |
Posted: October 29, 2024
We dont want to ruin the surprise, but we are practicing for our big performance this week!
Posted: October 29, 2024
Daily Update
Daily Update:
We began our day with the morning announcements and a quick review of yesterday’s work. Afterward, we rehearsed our Halloween song for Thursday’s performance. Our spelling word for the day was “Character,” and our Show Not Tell was “She was jealous.” We completed the Week 8 Tuesday Haggerty listening games, practiced drawing a haunted house in our Doodle session (at 1.25 speed), and did a quick two-minute workout to get moving. In UFLI, we reviewed the "ck" and "sh" sounds and started working on the consonant digraph “th.” For Work on Writing, students responded to the prompt, “The most fun game to play is…”
Math:
The Grade 1s and 2s continued patterning work, reviewing AB and AABB patterns and learning new ones like ABB, AAB, and ABC. Can you think of a shape pattern we tried? The Grade 3s tackled addition word problems, modeled the equations with concrete and visual representations, and recorded their process symbolically. They also practiced mental math with quotients and finished with Dreambox Math.
After Lunch:
We went straight to Mrs. Robichaud’s guidance class, where we explored emotions, empathy, and strategies for overcoming challenges.
PE:
For PE, we took advantage of the nice weather and played baseball on the field. What was your favorite position to play today? I always enjoyed hitting, even if I wasn’t the best at it!
Day End:
To close out the day, we added a reflection to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt “I felt included when…” We checked over our morning books to ensure all our work was complete, signed our Home to School books, and added a November calendar. We also had two special guests, Megan and Claire, who taught us a fun beach ball game as a final activity.
Picture of the Day:
The girls in our 2/3 class love the playground and playing with equipment! See if you can spot any familiar faces.
Posted: October 28, 2024
Daily Update
Daily Update: We started on the mat watching the morning announcements. We did a quick evaluation of Friday's work. Our spelling word was "Apology." Our show-not-tell phrase was "He was embarrassed." We did our Haggerty listening games (if you’ve never seen them before, check them out here) and awarded our first Haggerty Hero. We doodled a haunted house for Halloween at its normal speed. We continued with Literacy rotations. Miss Brown joined us today for Work on Writing. The prompt “When I grow up, I want…” brought out some creative responses! We also reviewed "ck" sounds and started with the new "sh" sound in UFLI.
Math: The 1’s and 2’s worked on AB and AABB patterns. Can you think of an example pattern we used with shapes? The Grade 3’s modeled addition with concrete materials and recorded their process symbolically. They also did some mental math bridging to friendly numbers.
After Lunch: We read more of *The One and Only Ivan*. Julia was a bit too old for some finger paints her aunt gave her, so she gifted them to a friend who LOVED them. Who was that friend? We also worked on our Halloween song, excited to share it soon!
PE: We headed outside to the field for a game of soccer baseball. Mr. Ross joined us as the all-time pitcher to keep things fair. Not sure who won today, but everyone had a blast!
Day End: To wrap up the day, we wrote in our Book of Gratitude with the prompt, “The most fun activity I did today was…” We checked our morning books to ensure all work was done, signed our Home to School, and I tucked picture orders into the books for those who ordered this round.
Picture of the Day: These models are striking a pose to remind us to check our Home to School books for the school photos that went home today!
Posted: October 25, 2024
Daily Update:
We began the day on the mat, watching the morning announcements. After a quick review of yesterday's work, we practiced our Halloween song again. We talked about how giving our best in practice will make for a fantastic performance! Our spelling word was “championship,” and today’s “Show, Not Tell” phrase was “He went skating for the first time.” We completed our Heggerty listening games, followed by a quick ghost doodle (hot chocolate included!) at twice our usual pace. Next, we jumped into an intense two-minute workout before taking a healthy snack break. One of our students celebrated a birthday today, and her mom brought us a fruit tray—no way we could wait until recess to dig in! After fueling up, we started our literacy rotations. Mrs. Hill joined us for Work on Writing, and I think today’s prompt, “My favorite food is…,” made her extra hungry! We also reviewed “ck” sounds and began working with the “sh” sound in UFLI.
Math:
The Grade 1s and 2s practiced skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, plus some Halloween mural coloring for added fun! Our Grade 3 group used concrete materials to explore the meaning of zero in numbers, practiced mental math, and worked on bridging to friendly numbers like 10, 20, and 30. They ended math time with some DreamBox practice.
After Lunch:
In the afternoon, we colored sections of our Halloween mural and had some fun with Just Dance Halloween songs! After cleaning up, we got bundled up for outdoor PE.
PE:
We took advantage of the nice weather with basketball drills on the outdoor court, practicing dribbling, passing, and shooting. It looks like these late summer days may be wrapping up soon!
Day End:
To finish the day, we added to our Book of Gratitude with today’s prompt, “One thing I am grateful for at school today is…” After checking our morning books to ensure everything was complete, we signed our Home to School sheets, and each student received a Timberwolves ticket!
Picture of the Day:
That fruit tray didn’t stand a chance until recess—it was way too tempting to wait!
Posted: October 24, 2024
Daily Update:
We began our day gathered on the mat, watching the morning announcements. We did a brief review of yesterday's work and continued rehearsing our Halloween song. As we discussed, the way we practice reflects the way we’ll perform, so we’re aiming for a strong rehearsal. Today’s spelling word was “whispering.” Our "Show, Not Tell" sentence was “He was a good skater.” After completing our Heggerty listening games, we doodled another fun ghost holding a hot chocolate. For our Work on Writing, we focused on the prompt “If I could have 3 wishes, I…” We also worked on decodable texts and practiced letter formation during UFLI.
Math:
The Grade 1 and 2 students tackled fact families, ordering numbers, and subtraction within 0-10. The Grade 3 group explored the meaning of digits in numbers with three identical digits, representing numbers with base ten blocks and organizing them in different forms.
After Lunch:
We continued our read-aloud of The One and Only Ivan. Mack tried training Ruby, but things didn’t go as planned. When he brought out the metal stick from his office, it only made the situation worse for Mack! Miss Brown visited us and reminded students that while watching floor hockey, they shouldn’t stick their hands through the screens for high fives or heckle the players. We also spent some more time practicing our Halloween song—it's really starting to come together!
PE:
We headed outside to work on our basketball drills. We focused on dribbling around pylons, as well as passing and shooting practice.
Day End:
To finish the day, we contributed to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt “I was proud of my effort today when…” Then, we checked our morning books to ensure all our tasks were completed. We signed our Home to School books, and I updated the pizza and milk count.
Picture of the Day:
It's tough always having to dodge the paparazzi!
Posted: October 23, 2024
Daily Update:
We started our morning gathered on the mat, tuning in to the daily announcements. Afterward, we quickly reviewed our work from yesterday and practiced our Halloween song. Our spelling word today was "subtraction"—that tricky "shun" sound at the end continues to catch us! For "Show, Not Tell," we worked with the sentence “She was shy.” We completed our Heggerty listening games and doodled a ghost holding a hot chocolate for fun. During Work on Writing, we tackled the prompt “The thing that makes me happiest is…” In UFLI, we focused on spelling words with a “ck” ending.
Math:
In math, Grade 1 students practiced breaking apart numbers and using doubling strategies. Grade 2 worked on fact families and doubles as well, while Grade 3 represented 3-digit numbers in different forms—using materials, pictures, and digits.
After Lunch:
We headed to the library where Mr. Whalen helped us continue working on our Halloween song. We recorded a few more lines and rehearsed for our live performance. It’s hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner!
PE:
For PE, we took to the basketball court. We practiced dribbling around pylons, passing, and taking some shots, getting in some good skill-building drills.
Day End:
To wrap up, we added to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt, “I enjoyed playing with…” After that, we double-checked our morning work, signed our Home to School books (including the attached Halloween memo), and even got to record some of tomorrow’s announcements. The day finished with some free choice time on the iPads.
Picture of the Day:
Mr. Whalen was working hard to bring out the best in each of our singers!
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| halloween_memo.pdf | 352.28 KB |
Posted: October 22, 2024
Daily Update:
We began our day gathered on the mat, catching up with the morning announcements. Our spelling word was “cranium,” and our "Show, Not Tell" sentence for today was “He likes candy.” We also worked through our Heggerty listening games. For doodling, we sketched a ghost holding a cup of hot chocolate—perfect for the season! A quick two-minute workout helped wake us up before tackling the day's writing prompt, “If I were the teacher for the day…” The ideas shared were hilarious, though I don’t think free kittens for every student will happen anytime soon! In UFLI, we focused on word chains and blending sounds.
Math:
In math, Grade 1 students practiced skip counting by 2’s and identifying even and odd numbers. Grade 2 worked on the doubles plus 2 strategy for mental math. Grade 3 explored 3-digit numbers using base 10 materials, creating various representations, and spent some time working in Dreambox Math.
After Lunch:
We headed to the library after lunch to visit Mrs. Robichaud. She brought out some puppets to accompany her story, which made the lesson extra fun. The discussion focused on when to keep secrets and when to share them, as well as how to trust your instincts.
PE:
It was a beautiful day, so we headed to the outdoor courts for a game of basketball. By the end, I’m not sure who won the 4-on-2 game, but it looked like everyone was having a great time!
Day End:
As the day wrapped up, we added an entry to our Book of Gratitude with the prompt: “I felt supported when…” Afterward, we double-checked our morning work to make sure everything was completed, signed our Home to School books, and enjoyed a few minutes of free choice before heading to the bus.
Picture of the Day:
While sharing their writing, some students sounded like they were running for office with promises of free kittens and Nintendo DS systems for everyone!
