Week #29: Apr. 11th - 14th

Dear Families,

Wowie, it sure has been summer like temps this week hasn't it?!  I'm sure you're all as excited as we've been at school!  We've taken many opportunities to be outdoors to enjoy the sunshine, warmth, and D.P.A. (daily physical activity).  

Looking at the weekend forecast, we're in for some more 'summer like' heat!  Seize and savour it all with your fabulous family!!  

JERSEY DAY:

Thank you to all the staff and students who participated in our much anticipated jersey day!!  

Check us out below!

With the Blue Jays home opener earlier this week and the Leafs getting some wins, many were excited to show their support for their favourite sports team :)  

The kids enthusiasm and spirit for sport is exhilarating for me as I too love playing and watching sports!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PINK:

Did you know that the second Wednesday in April is the International Day of Pink?

I believe EQUITY, DIVERSITY, and INCLUSION (DE&I) is very important to teach our children on an ongoing basis because it fosters creativity, fresh perspectives, and understanding. 

By implementing DE&I, people of different races, abilities, ages, genders, religion, sexual orientation, and other diverse backgrounds can be made more comfortable, at ease, and peace.

Here at Nottawa, our class family has made it our mission to create a community where everyone feels safe, valued, and happy to BE WHO THEY ARE :)  

To us, LOVE IS ACCEPTANCE.

Thank you to all the staff & students who wore PINK on Wednesday to show our solidarity and support in creating a more inclusive and diverse world!

Yes my friends, we wear pink to stand in solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the continued fight for equality and acceptance.

In order to help your child(ren), I urge you to please consider starting and/or continuing your conversations at home about acceptance. 

WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE through our own INCLUSIVE thoughts, words, and actions!!  

That's right, as a community, we can accept and support our children for whomever they are and however they wish to express themselves.  

To all the children in our lives - YOU ARE SEEN, HEARD, and UNDERSTOOD! 

ISLA:                                                                                                                                                        To help further connect our learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion, our sweet Isla made a beaded creation for our classroom.  Upon looking at it closely, I noticed it was the Progress Pride Flag! Isn't it just amazing!?  Look at the detail, it's RIGHT ON!!

So, what does this flag represent?                                                                                                                 

Well, given the evolving nature of the LGBTQ+ community and society at large, the Progress Pride Flag integrates many of these flags into one.                                                                                                    

It has been redesigned to place a greater emphasis on “inclusion and progression.”                           

Our society is such a huge umbrella of different kind of people and that is what makes us so special, that is what makes us so unique and that is what makes us so powerful!

Thank you Isla for taking the time to thoughtfully and lovingly create this flag for our classroom.  It will be hung up as a reminder for us all to remember the importance of ACCEPTING OTHERS AS AND FOR WHO THEY ARE.

ARIE:                                                                                                                                                              

Our discussions to create a happier, safer, and more inclusive world not only stems in our thoughts and words, but we also express this in our attire!

Yes, check out Arie!  He came to school on Thursday and shared, "Ms. Gill did you notice the message on my t-shirt?  I think you'll like it."  Oh my goodness, yaaaaaaaaaaaas!  

Thank you Arie for showing your support in KEEPING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE ... of GRATITUDE!"  You are admired and valued by all your peers and teachers :)

WRITING:

After having many class discussions about the importance of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, students completed the following activity:  Write about how we can create a school where everyone feels safe to be who they are.  Include details of strategies you would use.

Upon reading and receiving many entries, I was so touched by the responses because your child put their entire heart into it.  I have every confidence that with our collective thoughts, words, and actions we can help continue making Nottawa the brightest and best place to be :-)

These writing pieces have come home in the agenda for you to admire.  Please take the time to celebrate your child's message.  I know you will be proud of your child just as much (if not more) as I am!  

KINDNESS PROJECT:

I hope by now, your child has shared with you that I have posted and assigned a very meaningful assignment on Google Classroom for them to reflect upon and complete called The Kindness Project.

Over the weekend, I encourage you to please have your child access this at home and begin working on it :)  I have shared some examples in class as well as online to help get students inspired!

Here's where we need your help!  One part of the task is to also create, record, and upload an inspirational 1 minute video message for their peers.  Examples of video messages are posted on Google Classroom which will be helpful.  

As always, I appreciate your (parents) help in this endeavour and I look forward to listening to and seeing your child's inspiring message to help make our world the best it can be!

The project is due May 8th and students will be given the opportunity to present these to their peers as well in an oral presentation format.  Stay tuned for this in May!

MATH:

Coding, sometimes called computer programming, is how we communicate with computers.  Code tells a computer what actions to take, and writing code is like creating a set of instructions. 

By learning to write code, you can tell computers what to do or how to behave in a much faster way. You can use this skill to make websites and apps, process data, and do lots of other cool things!

The Grade 3 Ontario Math Coding Expectations revolve around three basic concepts:  sequential events, concurrent events, and repeating events. 

Sequential Events 

As presented in the Ontario Math Coding Curriculum, sequential events are coding instructions that are followed in the order that they are presented (one by one).

Concurrent Events 

As presented in the Ontario Math Coding Curriculum, concurrent events are when two or more sets of coding instructions run at the same time.

Repeating Events

As presented in the Ontario Math Coding Curriculum, repeating events occur when a set of instructions repeat a fixed number of times, or repeat forever. 

So far, the kids are loving this unit of mathematics as it's interactive, creative, and fun to make up their own instructions!

Check us out below as we worked in groups to get familiar with coding sequential, concurrent, and repeating events.  It's been lots of FUN :)

STUDENT CODING TASK:

You will have noticed that I have sent home a coding task (see below) with a success criteria that I encourage your child to try out over the weekend!  Please use the link below to access the coding program.  Enjoy!

CODING

EARTH WEEK INITIATIVES:

With Earth Day soon upon us, our school has thought about ways that we can help make difference for our planet.  

Please click the photo below to enlarge it to view the activities that we will partake in as a school!  Thank you for your child's active participation in this meaningful initiative :)

On Fri. Apr. 21st, you will notice that we will be doing a community clean-up!  If you're able, please send in with your child reusable gloves (gardening ones perhaps) and a plastic bag as this will come in handy.  Thank you so much!

MINDFULNESS:

The International Day of Pink is a worldwide anti-bullying and anti-homophobia event held annually during the second week of April.  

Though similar to Pink Shirt Day in that it also seeks to end all bullying, the Day of Pink is more specifically aimed towards anti-LGBTQ+2 bullying.

I hope this video below helps you further appreciate and value the importance of what love looks like, sounds like, and feels like.

Together, we can help further our society to be more and more understanding and inclusive to all no matter their races, abilities, ages, genders, religion, sexual orientation, and other diverse backgrounds.

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Libby for this week's mindset message!  It is always important to believe in and stay true to ourselves.  We appreciate this reminder :-)  We can help be the change we wish to see in our world!   

"Keep being you.  You can be a CHANGE MAKER!"

With much appreciation & respect,

Ms. Gill