September 13th, 2020

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to school!  I am very excited to be back in the school and I am looking forward to a great year.  At first, we will spend a fair bit of time learning about our new safety protocols.  We must follow a science-based approach, adhering to the advice of our Public Health experts.  I also believe that we should face this challenge with a positive and hopeful attitude.  I hope every single person in our school will feel safe, supported, valued and optimistic.

This year, I will be teaching your child the core subjects (Mathematics, Language, Sciences, Physical Education and Visual Arts).  Mme Harris will be teaching French and Music.  Mrs. McCabe will be teaching Health.  All subjects will be taught in room 5.

In Language Arts, the grade one students are starting the year with a review of basic phonics.  In this unit we will be reviewing the letter names and learning about their sounds as they appear in words.  Throughout the month, we will be reading a variety of alphabet books.  We will be discussing the purpose and process of reading; elements of the stories and encouraging the children to start reading and writing themselves.  I will be working with each child to determine his or her individual strengths, weaknesses and next steps.  Together we will establish individual learning goals that will evolve as the year goes by.

In Mathematics, we will be starting with Number Sense and Numeration.  The grade one students will need to count objects to 50.  We will be investigating number meanings and the relationships between these numbers.

In Science, we will be learning about Roles and Responsibilities.  We will focus on their own class, family and immediate community.

Please check the monthly calendar for more details about our daily activities.   As well, I will be updating our class website periodically.  You can find us at

https://teachers.wrdsb.ca/schroec  or you can find a link at the staff directory on our school website at https://nlw.wrdsb.ca/.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the school (519-885-1115).  To leave a voice message, call the school phone number, press 2, then say my name and wait for the cue.  You can also email me at Chris_Schroeder@wrdsb.ca.

FOOD ALLERGY ALERT

Several students in our school have dangerous, life-threatening food allergies.  It is extremely important that the children do not share food with the other children.   Please do not send food that contains nuts.  Please encourage your child to thoroughly wash before coming to school.

WORKING WITH WORDS PROGRAM

Each Monday, the children will be given a list of words or a short sentence to study.  Throughout the week we will be using these words to complete activities and learn spelling rules.  If you would like to keep track of the words and sentences that we will be exploring, they will be posted on our class webpage under the Working with Words tab. 

ALPHABET BOOK

Throughout September and October, the children will be working on an alphabet book that helps them review basic phonics.  The children will be drawing pictures and recording words that begin with the letter of the day.  Stronger writers may choose to write sentences or short stories using these words.  I will indicate the letter of the day on the monthly calendar (please note that we will not be going in alphabetical order).  If you feel your child would benefit from extra review of the letter sounds and symbols at home, you may want to find pictures of words that begin with each letter in books, magazines and their surroundings.  Try to emphasize the initial letter sound when you say the word.

HAPPY FACES

When I mark the children’s work, I prefer to code the work with happy faces and stars.  A star or a great big grin means that the work is very well done.  A regular happy face means that the work meets my expectations.  A straight or wavy mouth means that the work needs some improvement.  If you see a WA on the work, that means that I had to help your child to complete the activity successfully.  Specific teacher feedback is given verbally and individually so that each student can be apart of the goal setting process.

GYM CLASS

Everyday, the students will participate in Quality Daily Physical Education in our classroom or outside.  For now, we will not be using the gymnasium.  Please ensure that your child wears appropriate clothes and shoes to school everyday.  Children should not wear any jewelry during Daily Physical Education and long hair should be tied back.

RED READING BOOK

Each week, the children will be given a new poem to put in their Red Reading Books.  We will explore the poems together in class.  We will use these poems to review spelling, punctuation and grammar rules.  As well, we will practise specific reading strategies with these poems.  Later in the year, I am hoping to send the Red Reading Book home on a weekly basis.  Then you can encourage your child to share the poems with the family.

HOME READING PROGRAM

The Home Reading program has been put on hold for now.  Eventually, your child will be participating in our grade one to three, Shadow’s Home Reading Program.  More information will hopefully be coming soon.

WATER BOTTLES

All of the children should bring a water bottle to school since we no longer have access to the drinking fountains.  Children need to stay well hydrated.  Did you know that dehydration can lead to fatigue, dizziness, poor concentration and reduced cognitive abilities.  (Don’t worry, I will provide frequent washroom breaks!) Please remind your child to bring home the bottle to be washed regularly, I will do the same thing.

STUDENT PLANNERS

At this time, we will not be using the Northlake Woods PS Student Planners.  I hope we will get permission to start using them soon.  I will let you know when I get more information.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

All of the necessary school supplies will be provided by the school.  At this time, the children should not bring their own pencil cases with special pencil crayons, markers, scissors, glue etc… 

STAYING INFORMED

For now, in-person parent/teacher communication and paper notes need to be kept to a minimum.  Please visit the board, school and classroom websites regularly at

https://www.wrdsb.ca/ and https://nlw.wrdsb.ca/ and https://teachers.wrdsb.ca/schroec/.  Messages will also be coming regularly from our School-Day account.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the school by phone (519-885-1115).  You can also email me at Chris_Schroeder@wrdsb.ca.

BALANCED SCHOOL DAY

The children will be having two nutrition breaks during the school day.

First Nutrition Break:

Eating Inside: 10:30 – 10:50

Quiet Activity Time Inside: 10:50 – 11:10

Second Nutrition Break:

Eating Inside: 1:10 – 1:30

Quiet Activity Time Inside: 1:30 – 1:50

Please discuss with your child the foods you would like him/her to eat at each break.  We encourage families to make healthy choices and avoid processed foods with excess packaging.  Please remember that we have children in our school with dangerous, life-threatening food allergies.  Please do not send food that contains nuts.

For now, the children will need to stay at their tables for the entire Nutrition Break.  I will give them regular “Body Breaks” and take them outside during instructional periods.

Thank you,

Mr. Chris Schroeder