This afternoon, staff, students, and many parents attended our heartfelt Remembrance Day assembly to honour and express our sincere gratitude to all those who have, are, and will continue to serve our country.
Thank you to all who wore red, white, and black to recognize Remembrance Day. We are immeasurably blessed to live in a safe, strong, and free country!
Each day, we sing O' Canada, and during this time, I ensure that my students and I demonstrate our utmost respect and take time in our own way to say 'thank you' for being part of a wonderful community, country, and world.
In the assembly, I was so proud of my students who sang and did sign language to accompany the song called 'Just One Candle' with Mr. Morin.
It required a lot patience and practice as there were many actions to remember, but we did it solemnly and beautifully. Everyone performed with such love and compassion.
A special thank you to Jonas and Ayden for laying our class' wreath during this part of the ceremony. You both did so respectfully and lovingly.
ISLA:
Today, Isla came to school with a shoebox and I wondered what it was ... hmm? She sweetly replied, "Ms. Gill I made poppies for everyone to take home. May I hand them out?"I immediately replied, "Yes of course!"
Isla's honour and remembrance of our Indigenous and Non-Indigenous veterans is cherished. Our class family will always remember your kindness. Thank you for making these creative poppies for us, Isla!
I truly am in constant awe of my students willingness to share and show their care towards their classmates to help commemorate special occasions (like Thanksgiving, Halloween, and now Remembrance Day).
PROGRESS REPORTS: Yesterday, you all received your child's progress report card. It was a joy writing these as it gives me the opportunity to think and reflect upon all the wonderful things your child is contributing in our learning community thus far.
It’s been a remarkable start to the year! I truly feel blessed to teach, learn, and grow with your child each and every day!
I have encouraged my students to carefully go over the Learning Skills portion of this report card with you and to not focus solely on the letter grade (E, G, S, N), but to read the star (areas of strength) and arrow (areas for improvement) comments.
It is these comments that provide valuable insight into what will guide your child into continuing and instilling important work habits which will ultimately help them be successful in their academic, social, emotional, and behavioural journey in school.
"HOW AM I DOING?" Along with each progress report card, I had students think and reflect upon the following skills:
Completing my work
Using my time wisely
Following directions
Keeping organized
Students did a self-assessment (see photo above) in these areas as a means to set goals for themselves moving forward into term 1. I will be regularly reinforcing these work habits throughout the year to help each child achieve their personal best! Please feel free to do so at home as well using the criteria provided.
Your child knows this 'by heart.' A catchy 'poem' for students/parents to understand how levels (grades) are established :)
SUCCESS CRITERIA FOR LEARNING SKILLS & WORK HABITS:
This week, I had students work in small groups to collaborate as a T.E.A.M. to come up with their own 'Expectations' and 'Criteria' for what each Learning Skill & Work Habit "Looks Like, Sounds Like, and Feels Like."
We started out with blank charts, but soon got our brains thinking, learning, and growing to begin jotting down our ideas!
The purpose of this activity is to explicitly teach my students what each learning skill means and how they can achieve these in their daily life. Students are learning to set their own goals as well to help them reinforce their strengths and improve their achievement in the areas of:
Responsibility
Independent Work
Collaboration
Initiative
Organization
Self-Regulation
We will be referring to their 'Criteria' that they've established throughout the school year! I believe in the importance and value of having my students' input and voices heard.
This process empowers students and they are more apt to apply these skills if it comes collaboratively and directly from them :)
I strongly feel this activity will serve as a purposeful tool in helping the kids put effective work habits into place to achieve their personal best in their academic, social, emotional, and mental well-being.
Below are some pictures of students working collaboratively to come up with 'criteria' for each learning skill!
We'll have a closer look at these when we meet in person for your child's student-led conference the week of Nov. 14th - 18th. I so look forward to it!
WRITING:
This week's writing task focused on students thinking about and reflecting upon the above mentioned 6 Learning Skills and Work Habits.
What I had the students do is write their own Progress Report Card and self-assess how they think they’re doing in these areas! Their reflections are stellar :)
As a teacher, it's my responsibility to write your child's progress report which I have done, however, I also feel having my students think and reflect upon their own strengths and next steps in these areas is vital too.
For each learning skill, your child wrote a specific star comment (what they think they’re doing well) and an arrow comment (what they believe they need to improve upon). We all enjoyed being thoughtfully reflective during this process!
This task was very meaningful as it provided an opportunity for students to set goals for themselves in various other subject areas as well.
Please note, you will have the opportunity to see these student made progress reports very closely at the student-led conferences next week. Your child will be eager to share all their hard work with you! Stay happily tuned :)
STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES:
Speaking of conferences, I am really looking forward to meeting with YOU ALL IN PERSON next week at your child's scheduled student-led conferences where we will get to celebrate your child's strengths and areas of improvement!
A friendly reminder, if you haven't already done so, please ensure you sign up online for a day and time using the link that was provided via School Messenger to book and confirm your child's conference.
If you have challenges with this, please don't hesitate to contact our office. I know Mrs. Mortimer and/or Mrs. Beattie will be happy to help you with this process.
BOOK FAIR:
Exciting news, the Nottawa Book Fair is coming next week as well from Nov. 14th - 18th! You will have the opportunity to check this out with your child next week during the student-led conferences.
Mrs. Johnson is welcoming families next week to check out the books in the library after school until about 5:00PM. All proceeds go to supporting our school! Thank you in advance for your contributions :)
TREATY RECOGNITION WEEK:
Students and staff in Simcoe District School Board are learning about the importance of treaties, treaty rights, treaty relationships, and our obligations in honouring them.
During Treaties Recognition Week from November 6 to 12, 2022, we focus and reflect on the role and history of treaties in establishing agreements between Indigenous communities, governments, and Canadians, and their relevance today.
Treaties Recognition Week in Ontario was first declared by the provincial government in 2016 following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
It is an opportunity for us to increase our awareness of treaties, build and strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and take further meaningful action in our reconciliation efforts.
Information on treaties, videos featuring Indigenous voices, treaty maps, and resources for learning can be found at https://www.ontario.ca/page/treaties.
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS VETERANS DAY NOV. 8TH 2022:
Did you know the First Nations, Inuit and Metis of Canada have a long and proud tradition of military service to our country?
The rate of Indigenous participation in Canada's military efforts over the years has been impressive! These determined volunteers were often forced to overcome many challenges to serve in uniform, from learning a new language and adapting to cultural differences, to having to travel great distances from their remote communities just to enlist.
Many Indigenous people brought valuable skills with them when they joined the military. Patience, and marksmanship were well-honed traits for those who had come from communities where hunting was a cornerstone of daily life.
These attributes helped many of these soldiers become successful snipers (military sharpshooters) and reconnaissance scouts (people who gathered information on enemy positions).
Indigenous soldiers earned at least 50 decorations for bravery during the war.
On November 8th, Canadians proudly marked Indigenous Veterans Day!
It is a day to commemorate the unique contributions and sacrifices that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples have made serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.
From the First World War to the Korean War, and still very much today, Indigenous peoples have volunteered their diverse talents and skills, with more than 12,000 Indigenous women and men answering the call of duty to serve Canada with pride and honour.
Thank you Cruz for taking the time at home to research about some of the Indigenous sporting practices that they partake in. This shows your dedication in learning about different cultures, amazing!
I am thankful to have students who take an active interest in thinking about all Canadians who have made an impact on our extraordinary land!
ANNA:
Speaking of taking an active interest in learning about other cultures, Anna did exactly this as well!
Her grandmother is Dutch and she shared some ways to say different words in this language such as thank you - bedankt; good morning - goedemorgen; table - tafel; good - goed; please - alsjeblieft
Thank you Anna and grandma for sharing! It's now intrigued us to learn more Dutch and use it as a greeting and to express our gratitude to one another too :-)
REMEMBRANCE DAY WRITING & ART:
This week, I had the students think, brainstorm, and write about what Remembrance Day means to them and how we can bring peace to our home, school, and community.
The goal of this exercise is to promote love, kindness, and respect towards ourselves and peers, and in doing so, it will help create an environment that is peaceful and enjoyable for all!
Students’ responses were excellent and I am confident they will implement these thoughts and words into their daily actions. That is the goal :)
Please ask your child over the weekend what some of his or her ideas for peace were. You will have an opportunity to see these up close and personal at the student-led conference. For now, they're in class with us for everyone to read and admire.
GRAMMAR RULE #3:
This week's focus in grammar has been on CONJUNCTIONS!
In class, we worked collaboratively in our guided and shared groups, and then independently to build sentences which included the words and, or, but (which are joining words).
Here's a friendly video that we watched to help us with learning more about conjunctions and how they're effective in helping us join groups of words and/or sentences.
Your child's grammar sheets have come home. Please take some time to review this and encourage your child to finish up any questions they may still need to complete. Many thanks!
MINDFULNESS:
Please take a moment to watch a heartfelt and powerful video titled: “We Remember.” It brought tears (of gratitude) to my eyes.
The lyrics and images teach us that "Living is Giving" and we must look beyond ourselves and act in ways that support humankind because after all, I do believe we are a 'Human Family.'
"We remember, when we love, when we give.
We remember, when we stop and forgive.
We remember, when so many lives are left to give."
After listening to the song with your child, you may wish to discuss the images that you saw and think of ways we can continue to create a more peaceful world. Use evidence from the video (be specific) to support your ideas.
CRUZ:
Thank you Cruz for taking the time to write me a message of gratitude. Upon receiving it, I was immediately touched! Your thoughtfulness is appreciated beyond measure.
In it, you shared just how much you're enjoying being in the class to teach, learn, and grow with us all. I want to share that you're a valued member of our class family and I am so grateful to be your grade 3 teacher.
Keep spreading your love & light, Cruz!
GROWTH MINDSET:
"Instead of thinking Plan A didn't work, try thinking, there's always Plan B!"
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