A Poem for Spring!

The Crocuses

They heard the South wind sighing
A murmur of the rain;
And they knew that Earth was longing
To see them all again.

While the snow-drops still were sleeping
Beneath the silent sod;
They felt their new life pulsing
Within the dark, cold clod.

Not a daffodil nor daisy
Had dared to raise its head;
Not a fairhaired dandelion
Peeped timid from its bed;

Though a tremor of the winter
Did shivering through them run;
Yet they lifted up their foreheads
To greet the vernal sun.

And the sunbeams gave them welcome.
As did the morning air
And scattered o'er their simple robes
Rich tints of beauty rare.

Soon a host of lovely flowers
From vales and woodland burst;
But in all that fair procession
The crocuses were first.

First to weave for Earth a chaplet
To crown her dear old head;
And to beautify the pathway
Where winter still did tread.

And their loved and white haired mother
Smiled sweetly 'neath the touch,
When she knew her faithful children
Were loving her so much.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

 

I grew up west of Edmonton where crocuses are rare!  I love the fact that Hillmond's sandy soil grows crocuses!  However, with livestock grazing and buildings, crocuses are becoming rare.  Go for a walk and find some!  But remember to take your camera and leave them to grow for future generations.

 

Oratory in Marshall School, Wednesday, May 8

 

It was great to see that our Oratory winners have been practicing their poems at home!  They did a super job today.  Our whole class will also perform, "The Dentist pulled my tooth out!" in Marshall.

 

Spelling results

 

Congratulations to Lexi, Jonathan, Tori, Austin, Hailey W. for achieving 100% on Unit 24 words!

 

Unit #25 words

 

1.  all

2.  wall

3.  call

4.  will

5.  tell

6.  well

7.  small

8.  smell

9.  fall

 

Have a great week!  It's going to be sunny!

 

 

 

The Week that flew by!

Sorry, I thought I had blogged earlier in the week!

I missed school Wednesday and Thursday to attend doctors/dentists etc appts and to watch my daughter dance in her last Dance Competition (sob).  I remember when she was four and just a little bumblebee for her first recital!  Time flies by so remember to take the time to attend those important milestones and be there for all those accomplishments big or small, whenever you possibly can. 

So, it is finally looking more like spring!  Today we wrote spring haikus.  We really enjoyed this activity and their haikus are on the wall outside our room.

No school Monday, April 29 for students.

Tuesday, April 30 is our unit #24 spelling test.  Spelling patterns:  ay says long a, oa says long o

1.  day
2,  may
3,  stay
4.  play
5.  away
6.  boat
7.  coat
8.  toad
9.  road

Have a great weekend!

Friday Update and some thoughts on mud....

Good Luck to Jonathan Rollheiser who is performing in Music Festival next week!

Unit #23 spelling words for test on Monday.  The spelling pattern is 'st' beginning and ending words

1.  fast
2.  last
3.  nest
4.  must
5.  most
6.  step
7.  stamp
8.  still
9.  stop

Did you know that playing in the mud is beneficial to children?
1.  Playing in the mud can make you happier.

Scientists have discovered something that children have always known - playing in the mud can lift your mood.  Recent studies have revealed that dirt contains microsopic bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae which increases the levels of seratonin in our brains, helping to relax, soothe and calm.

2.  Playing in the mud connects you with nature.

If you never know something, it’s hard to care about it. Many kids these days never know the outdoors beyond the school playground or their own backyards, if they even have one. Getting kids outside to play (as a place to act out make believe worlds and explore) creates happy memories with the one most primal element in our world: nature.

3.  Playing in the mud can make you healthier.

Step away from the antibacterial hand wipes.  Research has shown that playing in the dirt - including very wet dirt - is good for a child's immune system.

“So let your child be a child. Dirt is good. If your child isn’t coming in dirty every day, they’re not doing their job. They’re not building their immunological army. So it’s terribly important.” - Mary Ruebush is the author of Why Dirt Is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends

4.  Playing in the mud can make you smarter.

Throw away the flash cards and sent your child outside to play instead.  Studies have found that playing in the dirt can make you smarter.  The same release of serotonin that occurs when playing in M. vaccae dirt has also been shown to improve cognitive function.

5.  Playing in the mud helps children to learn and develop.

Sensory, hands-on play feeds children's brains.  Listing all the ways playing with mud - a delightfully sensory experience - can help children to learn and develop would be a whole post in itself.  So I'm going to send you here for a thorough look at the value of sensory play.

6.  Playing in the mud helps develop positive dispositions.

Having an area outdoors set aside for mud play - a mud patch or a mud pie kitchen for example - provides a space for children to retreat to for some time alone in a soothing sensory experience or to play with peers co-operating, communicating, negotiating and sharing.

7.  Mud is a wonderful art medium.

Mud can be moulded and decorated and it responds differently than sand, clay or playdough.  For ideas hop on over to The Art of Mud from Artful Adventures.

8.  Mud play welcomes all comers.

Mud is an open ended material that meets the different needs and interests of different children.  A younger child might be right into the sensory experience while older preschoolers are busy making their own mud bricks.  With mud, there is something for everyone.

9.  Playing in the mud encourages creative thinking.

Playing with open-ended materials like mud stimulate creativity and imagination - things that are hard to jump start later in life.

10.  Childhood memories.

Think back to your own childhood.  Do you have happy memories of playing outside in the mud and the dirt?  After all, making mud pies is one of the iconic images of childhood.  We are creating the experiences, the memories and the childhoods of today's children.   What do we want them to remember?

So, if your child plays in the mud this spring - you are being a good parent lol!!!!!!

Oratory Results!

Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway.

John Wayne

Congratulations to the grade ones and all the students for participating in Oratory this year!  I was very proud of them!  They were very brave!

While all the students really did a great job, our judges decided on the following winners:

Original Poem:   1st  Lexi Lundquist
                         2nd  Hailey Wenger
                         3rd  Aiden Stang

Published Poem:   1st:  Jonathan Rollheiser
                            2nd Caybrie Cathcart
                            3rd  Tori Rutherford

There will be an assembly at 10:40 on Friday where the winners from each grade and the choral presentations from each grade will be presented.

Field Trip Reminder

Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'

Robin Williams

Field Trip Update

I do expect ALL students to be at school tomorrow morning!  We need to practice our Oratory poem as a class as well as a few other morning activities.

Students can wear a light jacket and shoes tomorrow if you wish as we will not be outside.  They won't need splash pants tomorrow either.  However, they will still need their backpacks and a bag lunch.  We will take our indoor shoes with us to wear at Barr Colony.  We will have a snack before we leave school at approximately 9:30-9:40.

Week....end update!

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"...
"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Wide Open Theatre:  Today we had a fabulous Puppet Performance by Wide Open Theatre!  The show was based on 6 stories by Robert Munsch.  We had read the stories in class this week.  Ask your child which their favorite story was:  Wait and See; Mud-puddle; Smelly socks; David's Father; Mmmm Cookies; or Up, up down.  I was very impressed by the young puppeteers!

Sight words:  I tested all the students today.  For those students still working on Level 1 words, you will really need to hard work and practice daily.  I expect the students to be at Level 2B words by the end of June.  There are 12 levels altogether and some children will be able to achieve that level but All students should have finished 6 levels (150 words) (2B) by the end of grade one.  Work hard!!!

Spring Weather Clothing - with the spring comes mud!  Please make sure your child is still dressed warmly.  It is cold in the mornings but warmer in the afternoon so layers are a good idea.  Splash pants and rubber boots are a must, please!

Field Trip:  Thank you very much for sending in the permission forms so promptly!  I have Tracy Wenger and Ramona Holman as parent volunteers at Barr Colony.  Their admission will be free.  Of course, any parents are welcome to join us but you will need to pay admission. There is no admission at Ag Days.  See you there!

Oratory info - here is a copy of the note that went home this week!

The much anticipated oratory event is drawing near.  We would like to invite you to join us at 12:45 on Thursday, April 18^th in your child’s classroom, where we will present our individual poems to our classmates, two judges, and you, our parents and community members.  Once all of the individual poems have been heard, we will move to the gym to share our class choral presentations with one another.  At the end of Thursday we will know who our first to third place winners are in each grade for individual published and individual original poems.

                                      On Friday, April 19^th at 10:45 the students who placed first to third in each grade will present their poem to the entire elementary student body and each class will also present their choral piece.

                                      For the first time in many years we will not be competing in a tri-school event so if you would like to see the Oratory competition these two days are your only opportunity to do so.

                                       Please join us for one or both of the sessions; it is most rewarding for our students when they are able to present the efforts of their hard work to an appreciative audience.

                                       See you next week,

                                       Mrs. Burzynski, Ms. Hermanson, and Mrs. Newman

Finally, Spelling words!

Unit 22

1.  went

2.  sent

3.  ant

4.  bend

5.  find

6.  mind

7.  kind

8.  want

9.  bent

 Have a great weekend!

Monday Update

April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. –

William Shakespeare

Hope everyone had a happy Easter Break!  Too bad the weather was not spring-like but it will happen!!!

We had a busy month coming up!

Our field trip is on April 17.  Please make sure to have forms and money into me ASAP.

Our school Oratory is the next day, April 18th!  I  need a copy of your child's poem by tomorrow please.  Indicate if it is an original (written by you and your child) or published (written and published by someone else).  The ones sent in so far look great!  Thank you!

I sent home a copy of the class poem as well.  Please try to practice this with your child so he or she knows it.  I will attach it to the blog.

Congratulations to Hailey Wenger and Jonathan Rollheiser who were the only 100% students on Unit 21 spelling tests!  I think many students forgot to study!

Class poem  -   The Dentist Pulled my tooth out by Kenn Nesbitt   The dentist pulled my tooth out, and he thought it was such fun, he grabbed his pliers and dental priers and pulled another one. "Yippee! Hooray! What awesome fun!" he shouted out with glee. He grinned a grin then went back in and pulled out number three. Then number four and number five and numbers six and seven were followed by a cheerful cry of "Eight! Nine! Ten! Eleven!" He took a few more from the top and some from underneath; he yanked them fast until at last he’d pulled out all my teeth. Without my teeth I cannot chew; I just eat soup and mush. But don’t be sad. I’m kind of glad— I’ll never have to brush!