Week #14: Dec. 4th - 8th

Dear Families,

The ski hills are open, yay!  Let’s hope the weather and temperature cooperates to help keep all our winter enthusiasts enjoying their winter sports and adventure!

Thank you to all the students who are working hard on their holiday cards for an elder at Sunset Manor.  I look forward to delivering all completed cards to the residence.  

We will have our Zoom call with the seniors next week where we will sing some songs and interact with them to wish them Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas :)  It will be a heart warming moment for us all.

Thank you Mielle & Margot for working so hard to finish your cards before your ski trip :)

You make me so proud, Margot :-)

NOTTAWA'S 12 DAYS OF GIVING:

It brings tears to my eyes as I write this, thank you to all the staff, students, and parents who have generously and graciously been bringing in LOTS of donations all week for our 'Giving Tree' which is located in the rotunda (by the office).  

This is why I am SO proud to be a Nighthawk!  We as a school family continue to think about the feelings of others and we do it with such care and compassion.  

Everyone's GIVING ways and generosity is inspiring to me!!  Thank you for being YOU :-)  You're all change-makers making a difference in the lives of others!!

As you can see from the photos, leading by example, seamlessly transfers to our children which is heart soaring!!  They are learning first hand what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to be a genuine giver for those who need it the most.  This to me is the essence of humanity :)

WYE MARSH VISIT:

On Wednesday, the educators from Wye Marsh visited our school and taught us science outdoors :)  Thank you to all the students who were prepared and dressed warmly.

I will share some of the activities that we did!  Students worked in groups of 5 where they were given cards with different characteristics/features (certain ears, legs, claws, fur, noses and a superpower) for adaptations.  

As a group, they needed to come up with a (new) species name, its habitat, what it eats, its predators, etc.  

Then, they had to create it using resources available (snow, twigs, leaves, etc.), and finally present to the rest of the group.

Check out the kids in science action below :)

  

Towards the end of the visit, students played a game where they were all consumers, a few carnivores chasing them (freeze them) and then a few decomposers to unfreeze them!  They enjoyed this very much :)

Thank you to all the students who participated actively and remained engaged.  This meant a lot and demonstrates your accountability and respect :)

MAKING EDIBLE CHRISTMAS TREES:
As part of Procedural Writing, we will be making edible Christmas trees in class and we will be writing about it!  

I will be providing most of the materials for this process, but students may wish to bring in some delicious toppings such as sprinkles, gummies, and other tiny sweets to put on their trees.  I know they're going to LOVE IT!  

Please send in toppings in a zip lock baggy with your child on Wed. Dec. 13th.  As always, I appreciate your time and efforts in supporting your child in his or her activities at school.

NOVEL STUDY:

I would just like to commend all the students (and parents who are supporting their child at home on this) who have been working diligently on their novel study at home and at school each week.  

The level of responsibility and commitment to task completion has been outstanding for most students.  

It has been a true pleasure receiving, reading, and offering feedback to your child's completed work.  

I have spoken to those students who have not finished their reading responses yet so I would ask that you please check in with your child and review my feedback via Google Classroom.   

Looking forward to getting into chapter 6 next week!

MATH:

Next week, your child will receive a Block 1 Check In to help assess their knowledge/understanding, thinking, and application skills with math concepts that we have covered from September to the present (e.g., adding/subtracting, whole numbers & decimals, fractions, linear measurement, time).      

This evaluation will provide me with insight into the areas that students excel in and areas which require more support.

Students will be provided with tools to help them and those that have done a great job of note-taking during my lessons, may use their books during the assessment.  Afterall, I am not looking for memorization of facts, instead I want students to understand  what they're learning and applying their mathematical skills in the process.

As you can see, I have posted the questions (see above) on here so if your child wishes to review and create study notes to bring in prior to the assessment, they may do so. 

As always, my assessments are an opportunity for students to celebrate WHAT THEY KNOW (stars/strengths) and WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW YET (arrows/next steps).  

GRAMMAR RULE #7:

This week, we continued our learning about Irregular Plural Nouns.  The English language has many 'exceptions to the rule' so we made sure to do a deeper dive into this and we're getting the hang of this!

I worked with some groups to help consolidate their learning of this rule :)  

Grammar sheets have come home for you to view :)  Can your child think of any other irregular nouns that are NOT on the image above?

CARA:

Thank you Cara for continuing to actively take part in our monthly kindness challenges.  Your willingness to seek out opportunities to spread your kindness is inspiring!

December 6th's act of kindness was make a kindness tree and have your classmates help decorate it.

Cara took the time and energy to make 52 cut out ornaments for her peers to decorate and place on our tree.  How amazingly thoughtful and sweet :-)  Thank you!!

One of the criteria that I encouraged was for students to ensure that they also wrote a message and/or word of positivity on their ornament to help continue to spread joy, comfort, and hope this holiday season and throughout the year :)  

Students enjoyed decorating and put their heart into it!  Check out our completed Kindness Tree below :)

MINDFULNESS:

Thank you to those families who may or will be considering to donate to Sick Kids Foundation in lieu of a teacher gift for me this holiday season.

SickKids isn’t just a hospital, it’s a place of legends and it is their mission to build a new one that can help them fight for even more kids!! Every monthly donor gets them closer to their goal.

Do you have it in you to give? Any donation counts and your contributions can help save a life. Thank you so much for your consideration :)

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Cara for this week's mindset message inspired by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.  

It is a great one and I will do my best to unpack this and offer my takeaways from his words.

• We must always be willing to show up, especially when it's challenging or outside of your comfort zone.  True growth only happens then ;)

• Make learning a daily priority.  Challenge yourself to do the work and then help inspire others. 

• Do the jobs that others aren’t willing to do.  Encourage the team.  And remember to always be consistent.  

• Most importantly, be humble. in your thoughts, words, and actions.  Don't get too high with the highs (achievements) and don't get too low with the lows (failures).  

• Lastly, remember where you came from, stay true to that and always give back to your community :)

With all my love, grace, and gratitude, 

Ms. P. Gill