Dear Families,

Jersey Day!  Thank you to all the students and staff who participated!  School Spirit Rocks!

I would like to take this opportunity to say how very grateful I was today when I saw your child’s bright smile at school!  I am so happy everyone got home safely last evening.  The boys and girls mentioned a few busses experienced problems, but thankfully no major issues.  I always look forward to seeing their rosy cheeks, bright smiles J and eager hearts/minds to learn, Learn, LEARN!  It’s our last week before the winter holidays, can you believe it?!  Time sure flies when you’re having  FUN!!

Timeline Project Presentations:

This week, your child had the opportunity to share and present his/her Project to their peers.  Ms. Hartley and I used the school Ipad and Green Screen to record it J  We are very pleased with the students efforts.  We provided them with feedback about the importance of speaking clearly, loudly, and making eye-contact to engage the audience.  As we progressed through the presentations, we noticed some students using this feedback which certainly enhanced their presentation!  We will be watching the recorded presentations next week and having the students Inquire further by asking their peers questions about the Timelines and providing each other feedback (stars and arrows).  Here are a few pictures from the presentations :) this week!  It is my intention to somehow be able to share these Timeline videos with you as I think you'll really enjoy seeing your child present.  Mr. Leal will help me with this!  Stay tuned everyone.

Excellent Emma (Ms. Hartley recording each presenters Timeline)

Courageous Carissa!

Kind Karrington!

Lovely Layla!

Amazing Alexander!

Brilliant Brody!

Awesome Ashlee!

Happy Hannah!

A Keeper Kurtis!

Nice Nolan!

Kind Karina!

Cooperative Conrad!

Amazing Ava!

Keen Kaden

Way to go Miika! 

Peer Sharing

Giving 'feedback' to improve student achievement!

Accountable talk, thanks WALT for helping us with this :)

Holiday Concert – Santa Knows

The Primary Division has worked very hard preparing for our concert which is taking place next week.  Just a gentle reminder:  families are invited to attend either our matinee show at 2pm or the evening show at 6:30pm.  The students are very excited to present as am I to see them perform!  Please have your child dressed in 'holiday' colours (red, green, white) on Wed., I will provide a colourful bandana (like the ones from Stone Soup - thanks Mrs. Roth for lending us these) to finish off our concert look ;)

Quote:

“No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.” --  Zen

Namaste,

Miss Gill

Dear Families, 

Character Recognition Assembly:

Congratulations courageous Carissa & Alexander!!

Congratulations to Carissa and Alexander for being recognized for displaying Courage – “We do the right thing even when it’s difficult” 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. 

Mrs. Roth:

I would like to introduce you to a very special educator, mentor, friend and person in my life.  There may be many parents who may have heard about "Mrs. Roth" in their homes through Mother Earth Treasures, The Talking Stick, Love Can Build a Bridge and her coming in this week to be a supply teacher while I was away coaching our Intermediate Girls Basketball team. 

Mrs. Roth is a cherished member of our Learning Community.  She has contributed her time, efforts, gifts, love with us all.  Her passion for helping children grow into their best selves is most admirable and valued.  Mrs. Roth came into our Learning Community to teach, honour, and celebrate your child’s growth thus far this year.  I know it meant a lot to the students to learn from her and get to know the compassionate, caring, and thoughtful person she is.  Thank you Mrs. Roth for consistently supporting, loving and caring about our learning!  We HONOUR YOU.  xo.

Below is a picture of a novel that we are currently reading as a whole class.  Please ask your child about which characters have been introduced, the setting, and problem of the story thus far :-)  Our next chapter is entitled:  The Marvelous Ears

Thank you Mrs. Roth for this engaging, thought provoking, and entertaining novel for our students!

TimeLine Projects:

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the students and families who completed the TimeLine Project.  I deeply appreciate the time, energy, efforts, and love that went into this Inquiry.  Parents, your guidance and support has made a significant difference!   Ms. Hartley and I are really looking forward to each student presenting his/her project.  Please note, we have our Inquiry on Day 1’s and we will be selecting 5 students/day 1 to share.  If your child doesn’t present this coming Monday, please know they will have the opportunity on another Day 1 J  Ms. Hartley and I are going to be using the Ipads to record your child’s presentation, stay tuned!  Here are a few pictures of completed timelines:

 Lock-Down Drill:

Today, we had a practice lock-down drill as a whole school, perhaps your child may have shared this with you earlier this week when I had a discussion with them.  Mrs. Bell works very hard at ensuring the safety of all our students and staff.  My students and I were well prepared for this procedure and I am proud of the children for being silent, safe, and supportive during this.  We are fortunate to live, work, learn, and play in such a caring, friendly, and safe community.    

Jersey Day:

On Wednesday, please have your child dressed in his/her favourite team jersey!  I’m a huge soccer fan, so I definitely will be wearing my Italian shirt ;)  If your child doesn’t own a professional sports jersey, no worries at all, they may wear their soccer or hockey jersey from the team they’re currently playing on or have played on.  Thank you for your support in our schools’ spirit day!  I’ll be sure to take a class photo to share on next week’s blog post!      

Quote:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

Namaste,

Miss Gill

Dear Families,

Happy Movember!  Thank you to all the students and staff who participated in this Spirit Day today and raising awareness and funds to help find a cure.  There were many creative 'staches' which were great!  I have captured some pictures for each of you to enjoy! 

Alexander, Brody, Conrad, Layla, Emma, Karina :)

 

Stace (Gr. 4), Ms. Doka, and ELMO ;)

Mr. Leal & Mr. Daniels - creatively carved staches, amazing!!

Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones.  It’s supposed to get warmer on Sunday 13C but then back to cooler temperatures when we return to school on Monday.  Thank you to the parents who’ve been sending in with your child extra mitts, hats, and splash pants just in case it gets too wet during a recess break.  Students are feeling warm and cozy J 

Character Recognition Assembly:

On Monday at 9:15a.m. we are having our 3^rd recognition assembly at 9:15am celebrating November’s Character Trait of ‘Courage – We do the right thing, even when it’s difficult.’  Congratulations to our recipients whom I will be sure to take a picture of and post on our blog next week!  I am so proud of my students for consistently striving to be the best they can BE in and out of the classroom. 

“There is within each one of us a potential for goodness beyond our imagining for giving which seeks no reward; for listening without judgement; for loving unconditionally.”

December's Character Trait is EMPATHY “We think about the feelings of others!”

Social Studies Inquiry-Based Learning – Roles & Responsibilities:

Welcome Mrs. Bell!

Sharing her Role & Responsibilities

Welcome Mrs. McQuay who shared her Role & Responsibilities

As part of our learning for the Roles & Responsibilities of various community helpers, Ms. Hartley invited Mrs. Bell (our principal) and Mrs. McQuay (our custodian) to visit and share their specific role and responsibilities.  The students then used the Q-Chart (aka ‘Question Chart’) to ask our visitors questions relating to their responsibilities. 

Some of the questions asked were:

“What tools do you use to do your job?”  “Why did you choose to be a principal/custodian?”  “What is your most favourite and least favourite part of your role?”  “Who inspired you to become a teacher/custodian?”  Ms. Hartley and I have been modelling ‘Questioning’ and some of the students are beginning to ask deeper questions in their Inquiry notebooks.  Thank you to Mrs. Bell and Mrs. McQuay for participating in our Inquiry, I know the students really enjoyed listening and learning from you!! 

Thank you Ms. Hartley for writing this down for us

***REMINDER:  “Timeline Projects” which I sent home earlier this month are due next Friday (Dec. 5^th).  If you require Bristol board, please let me know by indicating it in your child’s agenda.  I have posted below an example which may help some families, thank you to Alexander for bringing in your Timeline, it is serving as a model. 

Alexander's Timeline - thank you for giving us this model!

Math – Patterning

This week, I sent home a Math Note with our new Learning Goal and Success Criteria for mathematics which has a focus on Patterning.  I am encouraging parents to read over these notes with your child as I refer to them in class when we do our 3-Part math lessons (Minds On – activate schema, the Action - task, and Consolidation – class sharing).  For each math lesson I teach, I ensure I post the specific Learning Goal (“We are learning to …”) with the Success Criteria (“I can …”) for my students so they know exactly what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they will achieve the learning goal.  Students are beginning to be actively engaged in this process J  Ask your child what his/her learning goal for math was each day.

     

Library Visit #4:

Our final visit to the library was a huge success!  Students listened to 3 entertaining read alouds, made a neat bear/den craft, mailed their letter to Santa (wihoo!!), and we had a mini-celebration for our amazing librarians who helped make our experience a meaningful and FUN one!  We look forward to seeing you again Ms. Janice and Ms. Glenda in the spring!  I have sent home your child’s very own library card, I’m encouraging you to visit our local library and enjoy signing out a book.  Your child will be very enthusiastic to share where we sat for stories and did the crafts.  I was very pleased with how the students behaved and represented our school!  I know the librarians were very impressed with their attentiveness and respect.  Way to go boys and girls!!!  Here are a few pictures from our visit: 

Thank YOU Ms. Glenda and Ms. Janice (local librarians)

Ask your child about this neat book called "Press Me"

Grade Ones ready to create!

Carissa & Karrington - working together to get the job done!

Crafty Emily & Ashlee

Miika, Joel, Alexander - what a neat book!

Layla, Conrad, Jake, Cassius, Hannah

Madi and Karina

Kaden, Brody, Cassius

Ava & Emma

Proud of her efforts!  Writing a letter :)

Karrington mailing her Santa letter

Ashlee carefully placing her Santa letter to the North Pole

Alexander who was our Helper of the Day presented Ms. Glenda with a Thank You card we made in class

Ms. Glenda reading our card!

Quote:

“If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal.  Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.”  -Nelson Mandela

Thank you Ava and Ashley for taking the time to make me such loving cards and a bracelet! 
I HONOUR YOU!

Namaste,

Miss Gill