Dear Families,

Happy HAT Day!  Thank you boys and girls for participating with such enthusiasm!

Wowie!  We certainly have been experiencing quite the weather and climate change, haven’t we?!  On Sunday evening, I was sooo excited to finally get back to school after a restful holiday and see your child’s bright eyes and smiles only to get up to a snow day on Monday.  Mrs. Czerny (LTO planning time teacher at our school) and I car pool together and we set off in the morning to get to school.  We made it safely and were greeted with a four students which was lovely.  We were both very pleased on Tuesday because it was a school day – yay! But then on Wed., it was another snow day.  I was in disbelief!  Another day of rest and relaxation, but let me tell you, I was anxious to get back!  I was relieved when Thursday rolled around and I was reunited with your child :)  But, here we are again, another snow day for today (Friday) – wowza!  I hope you’re all warm and cozy and do enjoy the extra-long weekend J  This all being said, I'm delighted to be back writing you all this update and keeping you posted on all our exciting learning to come and the adventures in our classroom in the year 2015! 

Empathy Recipients:

Empathetic Nolan & Brody - yay, boys!

"Love Can Build A Bridge!"  Thank you Mr. Anderson for taking our picture at the assembly, we adore singing and performing!

Congratulations to Brody and Nolan for being recognized for displaying Empathy – “We think about the feelings of others” in your thoughts, words, and actions.  You both have worked diligently hard to demonstrate this trait and I am so very proud of your efforts!  Continue to be your best selves in all that you do. 

At this assembly, we also had the opportunity to present our song “Love Can Build A Bridge.”  I was so proud of the students, despite being away for the holidays, they sang lovingly with their hearts and remembered all the lyrics and actions.  Way to go boys and girls!!  Thank you Mrs. Czerny for the beautiful slideshow that accompanied our presentation, the art work looked amazing and I know everyone enjoyed honouring these!

This month’s character trait is HONESTY – “We will always tell the truth.”  I have encouraged my students to always tell me the truth if they're experiencing any difficulty. Being dishonest only makes a problem / concern escalate and get bigger.  I look forward to reinforcing honesty is the best policy throughout this month through books, media presentations, and student action!  I am delighted to say, our class is filled with trustworthy students, how blessed we all are :)

Math Learning:

On Thursday, I introduced our new unit in mathematics which is Measurement.  I will be sending home a math note with the specific Learning Goal and Success Criteria with your child next week.  Stay tuned J

Measuring Objects:  Students worked in pairs to pick one object of choice from the class and use various non-standard and standard measuring tools (E.g., snap-cubes, paper clips, links, cm rulers) to measure the lengths of their object.  Once they completed this, we shared our thinking and compared the lengths.  They had a lot of fun with this!  Please take a moment to find your child’s work (see pics below) and ask them about this lesson. 

Brody & Emma - working together to get their job done!

Jacob & Karrington - thank you Karrington for being such a role model and leader for your partner!

Miika & Karina - measuring Karina's water bottle

Conrad & Cassius - measuring a school glue stick

Hannah chose to measure an alphabet chart :)

Emma & Brody measured the length of a ruler

Ava & Kaden - measured a math adding game

Ashlee & Nolan also chose to measure the alphabet chart

Alexander & Layla went to our special activity area and chose a toy basket to measure

Social Studies – Timelines:

I have displayed your child’s Timeline on our bulletin board outside of our classroom.  They look spectacular and many teachers and students have been admiring them!  All the hard work that has gone into these is greatly appreciated!  Ms. Hartley and I are in the process of providing feedback on these and their presentations J 

Quote:

“Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place!”

(Thank you Mrs. Roth for this thought-provoking and meaningful quote!)

Namaste,

Miss Gill