Week #8: Oct. 23rd - 27th

Dear Families,

With Halloween approaching next week, 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 Tuesday, 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 their 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 :-)

MINDFUL WALK:

Can you believe the fall we've been having?!  It's nearing the end of October and we're continuing to have temperatures that are 'spring like,' AMAZING!

Today, we went on a mindful nature walk and we took the time to think about and reflect upon all that we're grateful for as we were one with Mother Earth.  

There is so much for us to be thankful for isn't there?  I am sooo grateful to be your child's teacher this school year, they truly bring joy to my heart each and every day :)

Thank you Molly & Libby for picking these flowers for me!!

Each time the children share with me what they're thankful for it makes me sooo happy!  

We enjoyed seeing, hearing, touching, and feeling all that was around our very own backyard of Nottawa.  How blessed are we to live, work, and play in this community!!

  

MATH:

Earlier this week, students wrote a WHOLE NUMBERS assessment which I am in the process of marking and will send home in the coming days.  

I shared with my class that this year, assessments will emphasize celebrating our stars (strengths) and arrows (areas to improve/continue to work on).  

I will provide lots of class time for assessment completion as well as provide lunch and learn to support their achievement.  I am very proud of everyone for doing their personal best in our place value unit!  

A big shout out to all those students who completed the practice questions that I posted on Google Classroom to help them study.  

Your responsibility and dedication to your academics is exemplary and appreciated!  Check out the smiles of these hard working mathematicians :)

NEW MATH UNIT:

Our new focus in math will be on Decimal Numbers & Fractions.  

In this unit, students learn about:

• using place value to work with decimals

• comparing, ordering, and representing fractions and decimals

• the relationships between fractions and decimals

• addition, subtraction, and rounding of decimal numbers

In the video below, Mr. Khan does an introductory lesson on decimals which was informative for us as we dove into this topic :)

Please note, a math note has been sent home in your child's agenda this week.  I hope your child was able to show and share its expectations with you :)

NOVEL STUDY & SOCIAL STUDIES:

I am so excited to share that we will soon be doing a novel study about the moving memoir that I'm oh so passionate about - an Inuit girl who emerges from a residential school because of her RESILIENT & COURAGEOUS spirit.

This book also links directly with our Social Studies learning about 'Early Societies.'

On Google Classroom, students will read and respond to each chapter to show and share our reading comprehension skills: 

- Making Predictions
- Inferring 
- Visualizing
- Summarizing
- Questioning  

The expectation is for students to complete the questions asked by the specified due dates which we will discuss in class :)   

I am really looking forward to reading my students' responses and for us all to continue MOVING FORWARD IN THE SPIRIT OF RECONCILIATION & RESPECT with our Indigenous brothers and sisters :)

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 4 Types of Sentences (see image below).  

Learning about this new grammar rule has really enhanced our sentence building skills already!  Please ask your child about this, I am hopeful, you will be amazed at how much they've consolidated this concept!

We watched the video below in class and it gave us some practice to help us identify the types 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!

SCIENCE:

This week in science, we explored animal adaptations! Please ask your child what the 3 adaptations are :) HINT: { Behavioural, Physical, and Life Cycle }

There are a number of ways that different animals do this, from- Migration or Hibernation, to Body Structures and even changing their colours and in this video below, you will explore them all!

Each animal might use a different technique, but ultimately they are adapting to survive & thrive in their environment.

The video below explores the different ways that animals can adapt to their environments.

Please watch & discuss the video below with your child that we viewed in class this week. I think you'll find it informative & intriguing like we did!

ANNA:

Thank you to Anna and her family for donating boxes of Kleenex for our class family.  It is truly appreciated!  

We were running out of this item in class and clearly Anna noticed this and mentioned this to her parents.  Now we have Kleenex to wipe our noses when they are running.  

Che Meegwich to our Rolling family!!!

TABS FOR KIDS:

Every time your child lovingly brings in tabs for kids, it brings me immense joy because they (and you) are LIVING & GIVING to a foundation that needs it the most.  

Thank you to all the children and families who are consistently doing their part to provide tabs to support other kids who need accessibility.  It's truly making a difference!!

MOLLY:

O' Molly, Miss Molly ... I am eternally grateful to have the opportunity to teach, learn, and grow with you again this school year!!  

Thank you for showing, sharing, and gifting me this mindset message notebook that speaks to one of the foundations of our classroom :-)

No one was 'born perfect,' we will all falter, make mistakes, and that's OK!  

Remember to get back up, smile, and P.A.C.E. yourself = POSITIVE ATTITUDE CHANGES EVERYTHING!"  You got this :-)

PS:  Thank you and Gramma for baking my Ma, brother and I some sweet oatmeal cookies too!!  
We devoured them :)

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!"

Respectfully,

Ms. Gill