Next week we will be going to the Royal Winter Fair. Our volunteers have been confirmed. If you were not selected to volunteer this time, there will be many other volunteer opportunities throughout the year for which we will need your support.
On Friday the students participated in four hands on science activities related to our Simple Machines Unit. They worked with I Pads, Lego, catapults and pulleys. They had opportunities to test their own hypotheses. Many thanks to Jennifer Decaria, (Rowan's) mom. for planning the afternoon and bringing her resources so our class could have this amazing afternoon of learning. Again, thank you to the parents who helped make this afternoon a success.
A few reminders as we head into the colder weather. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather, especially if they stay for lunch. When we get into winter boot weather it will be important that students have a pair of indoor shoes that they keep at school. Putting an extra pair of socks in your child's backpack is also recommended
Curriculum Outline
Here are some of the highlights from October and some of what is coming up in November.
Language Arts:
The students have been busy working on writing fictional narratives as well as recounts about various events such as Thanksgiving and Halloween. As we continue through November, the students will continue with their weekly journal entries on various topics, spelling , printing and grammar. We are continuing to focus on Capitals, Organization, Punctuation and Spelling.
RAZ Kids is up and running and I am thrilled to see that most students have logged in and have begun reading and completing various activities. I realize that some children would prefer to read their own books in the evening and that is fine with me. The main thing is that your child is reading books at their instructional level everyday. It is also important for you to spend time reading with your child. Choosing a bedtime story or reading a chapter in a book for you to read aloud each night
is such a valuable bedtime routine.
Math
There was some confusion with IXL recently and messages indicating that your child's account had expired. This was an error on IXL's end and has been rectified. We are nearing the end of our first Number Sense and Numeration unit. In this unit, the students have been focusing on Place Value, Skip Counting, Ordinal Numbers, Addition and Subtraction. IXL is a wonderful tool to reinforce and practise what your child is learning a school. At the beginning of each unit I will continue to send home the units your child should be focussing on in the IXL program.
Science
We are almost done our unit on Simple Machines. The children were very excited and engaged during our visit from our Scientist in the School as well as our hands on afternoon of Science with Jennifer Decaria (Rowan's mom).
Social Studies
Our social studies unit on Traditions and Celebrations continues throughout this month and next. Our focus for November will be Remembrance Day. The students will be completing a variety of reading, writing and art activities related to Remembrance Day.
SCARE Hunger Food Drive
A huge thank you to everyone who donated non-perishable food items to our annual SCARE Hunger Food Drive. This was a very successful year for the food drive and your contributions were big part of the success with this initiative
Terry Fox Donations
Another big thank you for all of your contributions to the Terry Fox Walk. Our school contributions are no at $20,000! WOW!
Report cards and Interviews – Progress reports will be going home on November 14. If you would like to book an interview you will need to do so using the online system www.schoolinterviews.ca between Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 with the user id and password provided. Interviews are scheduled in 10 minute blocks, so I kindly ask that you are on time.
Class Trip (Royal Winter Fair)
On November 9th we will be going to the Royal Winter Fair. This is a wonderful trip that we have had the opportunity to enjoy several times in the past. Please spend some time speaking to your child about appropriate behaviour on the school bus and more importantly the importance of listening to their group leader. It is a very busy and exciting place. Encouraging your child to remain calm, listen carefully and to be aware of where their group and parent leader is at all times is extremely important and must be emphasized at home before our trip!
