Week #8: Oct. 25th - 28th
Dear Families,
With Halloween approaching on Monday, the children sure are buzzing with excitement!! I remember as a kid I used to as well and have many fond memories of dressing up and trick or treating with my friends :-)
On Monday, we encourage the children to dress up to celebrate Halloween and show school spirit! It could be in their actual costumes or in PURPLE, ORANGE, and BLACK.
Please note, if your child decides to wear his or her costume, the school is not responsible for any lost or damaged accessories. So please be mindful of this and remind your child(ren) to take care of his or her items.
I'll be sure to post a class picture of us all dressed up in our Halloween gear in next week's post! Stay tuned :-)
CHARACTER RECOGNITION & SPIRIT ASSEMBLY:
Thank you to all the Nighthawks who dressed up in their Nottawa Nighthawk spirit wear to show their school pride! It is always so wonderful to see and feel our school family united in our white and blue colours!
Here we are below, all smiles demonstrating our pride!
It is with excitement that I share with you that we participated in our first school wide assembly in the gym since February 2020 due to the pandemic.
It was wonderful to see many parents and grandparents in attendance to join us as well!! Nottawa truly is an inclusive, safe, and inviting place to be. We always welcome families in our building as one of our own to come in to be part of special occasions such as these character assemblies.
Our class will be leading the Empathy Assembly in mid December which you won't want to miss!! I am optimistic it will be memorable like our Stone Soup Presentation. Please note, I will notify parents of the specific date and time in the coming weeks ;)
Today at our assembly, we celebrated this month’s character trait: Cooperation! Congratulations to Kieran and Ivy for consistently demonstrating this trait in your thoughts, words, and actions!
You two are excellent models for 'WORKING TOGETHER TO GET THE JOB DONE!' Thank you for setting a positive example in and out of the classroom! Your peers and I can always count on you. Well done!!
GRAMMAR:
This week, we started a unit on grammar and punctuation. I will be introducing one new grammar rule a week and we will practice using the rule(s) whenever we write.
Our focus this week has been learning about the parts of a sentence which include the subject and predicate. Ask your child about this, I am hopeful, you will be amazed at how much they've consolidated this concept!
Learning about this new grammar rule has really enhanced our sentence building skills already!
We watched the video below in class and it gave us some practice to help us identify the subject (noun) and the predicate (verb) of sentences. Check it out :)
Each week, students will complete their activities in class via guided (with the teacher), shared (with a peer), and independent (on their own). Once this is done, these sheets will come home in the agenda.
When you have time, please review the grammar rule with your child to help solidify and help enhance their skills. I would really appreciate this!
For example: Write a sentence. Circle the subject. Underline the predicate.
Next week, our focus will be on learning about the 4 Types of Sentences (statement, question, command, and exclamation).
AUTOBIOGRAPHY PRESENTATIONS:
Next week, we will begin our oral presentations for students completed autobiographies. We have been working hard in class to prepare for this and many even unsubmitted their work to make revisions to their slides to help enhance them to be more detailed and presentation ready. AMAZING :-)
It brings me immense joy when students receive and utilize feedback to make improvements to their work. This demonstrates their willingness to apply constructive feedback to learn and grow!
Here are some photos showing your hardworking child using COOPERATION (working together to get the job done)!
Being an observer of your child's active engagement in their classwork is truly heart soaring!!
Please ask your child to take some additional time (20 minutes) over the weekend to continue practicing for their presentation using the success criteria that was sent home last week :)
MATH:
This week, we started a new unit called 'Geometric Reasoning' & 'Measurement.' A math note was sent home earlier this week so I do hope you had a chance to go over these expectations with your child :)
In this unit, students will learn about:
- the geometric properties (e.g., faces, edges, vertices, angles) of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and objects, and how they are connected
- congruent (same size/same shape) angles, lengths and faces of objects
- the relationship between millimetres, centimetres, metres and kilometres
- how to measure accurately using an appropriate unit
- measure and construct polygons
If you're able, please take some time over the weekend to discuss what types of designs your child made using various polygons and the angles they labelled. Completed sheets will come home next week so you can have a closer look at these :)
As a follow up, your child may wish to go for an angle hunt to look for acute, obtuse, right angles found within your house and/or backyard :)
Here's a short video by the Khan Academy explaining the angle names that we've already been exploring and learning about!
NOTTAWA'S WISHING WELL:
Our school has chosen a new organization (charity) to learn about and support this year called the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. This place began its story in the early 1970s. It started as the passion of one woman – Audrey Tourney (photo below) – a high school teacher from Parry Sound, Ontario. Audrey was well known for her love of animals.
Since taking in her first orphaned raccoon, Audrey nursed many more animals back to health, as they were brought to her doorstep in increasing numbers over the years. Today, her legacy has been expanded on by a dedicated group of staff and volunteers.
Please watch the video below for more information :)
Aspen Valley is Committed To:
Providing quality care and respecting each animal’s need for a safe, healthy, species-appropriate environment while in captivity
Releasing each animal into the wild in a healthy condition that gives it the best possible chance for survival
Educating the public about issues regarding wildlife and wildlife interactions with humans
Our Plan to Help:
- We want to show our support to The Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary!
- Donations Please - students are welcome to bring in a donation in a zip lock baggy on Monday, October 31st
- We can make our donations into the Wishing Well before entering the Halloween Dance during period 3
Many thanks in advance for showing your support to help our wildlife back to health and wellness!
ISLA:
Last weekend, I received an email and photo (below) from Isla's Mom sharing with me that her daughter decided to practice her 'math facts' ... just because!!
WOWIE, this shows Isla's tremendous responsibility and dedication to her academics beyond the classroom walls! This makes any teacher beam with pride :-) Way to go Isla!!
I have shared with my students that as a youngster, my Papaji (grandfather) used to give my brother and I math and grammar drills in the summer months.
Before my brother and I could play outside, Papaji would sit us down to do math and language activities. One of the consistent drills he had us complete every day was reading and writing our multiplication facts 0x - 12x.
Truth be told, at the time, I wasn't a fan because all I wanted to do was play basketball and soccer outside. But boy oh boy, did I know my facts by heart and was very successful in my grade 4 and 5 class when we played a friendly math game called 'around the world.'
I didn't understand the value and importance of practicing my math facts at the time, but oh my, it helped tremendously as I aged and went to higher grades because I didn't struggle on the knowledge & understanding questions, I got it due to all the hard work I put in at home with my gracious grandfather.
I am indebted to my Papaji for instilling the value of education not just at school, but to use it in my home and in my community. #learningneverstops #educationisasuperpower
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| My Ma's father, my grandfather :) Bachittar Singh Somal. He was an activist, lawyer, and politician in India. Unfortunately, my Papaji's life was cut short because he was assassinated during a political campaign. "It's not the years in your life that count, but the LIFE IN YOUR YEARS." I aspire to be like my Papaji - a leader, activist, and change maker. He will always LIVE ON IN MY TEACHING & HEART. |
Thank you Papaji and Isla for being such inspiring souls :) It is my belief that you've motivated us to also practice our math facts to build and grow our hippocampus in this area of mathematics!! Meegwich.
MINDFULNESS:
In anticipation of Halloween next week, I shared an inspirational story of one boy's Halloween with my students.
Ethan Smallwood a 7 year old from Clarke's Beach, Newfoundland is a big fan of superheroes!
One year for Halloween, he didn't look to the Avengers or the Justice League for inspiration. Ethan was inspired to dress up as Terry Fox after learning about him at school.
Instead of getting candy, he collected donations for the Terry Fox Foundation. How amazing!!
In class, we regularly discuss the motto of "Living is GIVING," and this young boy is an excellent example of this :-) #inspiringkids
Tune in to watch this clip of Ethan, his Mom, and the Global News broadcaster to share his Halloween experience :)
GROWTH MINDSET:
"Instead of thinking, I made a mistake - try thinking, MISTAKES HELP ME LEARN!
From my heart to yours ... MEEGWICH,
Ms. Gill
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