Week #20: Jan. 29th - Feb. 2nd

Dear Families,

Happy Black History Month!  I would like to personally thank the Colquhoun family who actively took it upon themselves to bring in a bag filled with meaningful books to help us learn about the importance of equality, justice, freedom, and peace!

Today we read the book called "What is racism?"  It was very informative!

We are all on this learning journey together and it starts with having an open mind and heart to topics that may feel uncomfortable for some, but I am here to do my best to make the uncomfortable topics - be COMFORTABLE. 

It is important that we learn about the past in a safe manner and focus on making our present day and future BETTER & BRIGHTER for our youngsters who are and will continue to be the caretakers of our planet.

I can say with confidence, with the children in our classroom, the future's going to be bright and beautiful because THEY care about equity, diversity, and inclusion :)

FEBRUARY'S CHARACTER ATTRIBUTE:

This month's character attribute that we will focus on is Inclusiveness.  We are fortunate to be in a school climate that is sensitive to the needs of others – staff and students work together to ensure that we foster a community that is safe, welcoming, and kind.  

So what is Inclusiveness?  Find out with Mr. Saad a SCDSB educator who explains what it is by hosting the game show called "IS IT INCLUSIVE?" where a lucky studio audience member will decide if the scenarios are inclusive ... or not! 

As your child’s teacher, I will continue to explicitly model, teach, and reinforce inclusion for all so my students feel a sense of belonging J

MAE & HARLOW:

Creating a calm, safe, and inclusive atmosphere for my students to learn and grow in has been and always will be my goal.

It warms my heart seeing and hearing that my students value and are benefiting from being in our peaceful and calm atmosphere.

Thank you Mae and Harlow for your recognition of this, it means the world to me and I will always cherish your thoughts, words, and actions!

GRACE:

Speaking of kindness, Grace came to school today and said, "Ms. Gill, I'm going away to Florida with my family and I'll be away for Valentines Day so is it okay if I give mine today?"  My immediate response, "Absolutely and thank you for spreading your love with us!"

Thank you Grace for thinking about your classmates and providing everyone with a Valentine's Day gift prior to your family trip.  Your thoughtfulness is appreciated and it speaks volumes about your caring ways.

FEBRUARY KINDNESS CALENDAR:

As soon as I post our kindness calendar of the month in our classroom, I have eager students who actively read what the kind act of the day is and they want to implement it, I love it!!

February 1st was "eat lunch with someone new."  The kids were excited about this one because they got to eat in another area of the classroom with a friend :)  

Their enthusiasm to be kind is heart soaring!  Let's keep this going boys and girls, not solely for February, but all months of the year!!

FEBRUARY'S MENTAL WELL-BEING STRATEGY:

Visualization can help children settle their minds by temporarily shifting focus away from worries and concerns. We can guide our children through a simple visualization exercise: Think about your favourite place. Picture it in your mind. Think of how you feel.

What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like?

Imagine yourself in your favourite place. Imagine all of your fears and worries replaced with a feeling of calm and happiness. Now ... let yourself relax and enjoy the moment.

Try out the exercise by viewing the video below :)

SPEECH FEEDBACK:

Students were excited to read and receive their peers' feedback from their speech presentation.  I hope you were able to have a look through these.  

Although there may be some spelling or grammatical errors in these notes, please know students put their efforts in to try to recognize each others stars (strengths) and arrows (next steps).  

I am hopeful your child will be able to recognize what they did well so they can continue to thrive in their public speaking and make adjustments (improve) in areas that need more work :)

SPEECH COMPETITION:

On Wednesday, our school held our Annual Speech Competition in the gym.  Students from grades 4-8 delivered their speeches to our staff, students, honourary judges, and some parents who were able to attend.

I am so proud of all students who prepared and delivered their speeches in their classes.  It takes a lot of courage and poise to stand up in front of a group of people and share a speech.  Everyone should be so proud of their efforts!  Always reach for the stars and try your best in everything you do!

As shared in last week's post, despite my many opportunities to public speak, I still get the jitters and have to compose myself before I have to speak in front of large audiences such as in our assemblies.  I was definitely thinking of all the speakers who had to patiently wait for their turn to speak.  Delivering a speech is a memorable experience and helps build upon ones growing confidence in public speaking.

A special recognition to our very own Mae, Malcolm, and Jonas who represented our class family at the gym.  These three were absolutely amazing!  I don't say this lightly as it truly was a "you had to be there moment."  

They projected their voice, spoke with expression, used effective eye-contact, and had confident body language!  That's right, they commanded the audience's attention from beginning to end of their presentation.  Everyone was in AWE!!  

I couldn't stop smiling and even had tears of JOY!  It was a heart-warming experience and made US all so proud!  

Congratulations to Mae for achieving 1st place and Malcolm for achieving 2nd place for the junior division.  

Both have moved onto saying their speech at the Legion.  Special honourable mention to our Jonas who was the very first speaker and boy o' boy did he set the bar for the rest of the presenters. 

Way to go Mae, Malcolm and Jonas!

SCIENCE QUIZ:

Your child has brought home 2 science sheets to read and complete.  The focus is on Endangered & Invasive Species.  

Students are to bring their science work back on Monday as they will come in handy for their assessment :)  Thank you for your support in this!

DIORAMA ASSIGNMENT:

Thank you to all the students for their dedication, hard work, and energy put towards their group science projects!  Our classroom is vibrant with the dioramas displayed!  Check out the pride in all their smiles!

Each group will have the opportunity to present and share their findings (Google Slide Presentation) once all group members are present.  We've had a few absences due to family trips, extra-curriculars, and illnesses.  

In the coming days, we will also display these dioramas in the glass case of the Rotunda for the whole school to honour and admire as well!    

MATH:

We have wrapped up our Patterning unit and students wrote the following 'Pop Quiz' (see below) this week.

The question that most children had a challenge with was the word problem:  How many days would it take you to read 132 books?  

Please discuss and review this with your child :)

Our next unit in math will focus on Multiplication & Division.  

We have been working on this concept from the beginning of the school year in our daily math so most students are very familiar with this, but we will be doing a deeper dive into this math strand as you will notice from the expectations listed below :)  

Here are the specific expectations for grade 4:

• use the properties of operations, and the relationships between addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, to solve problems involving whole numbers, including those requiring more than one operation, and check calculations

• recall and demonstrate multiplication facts for 1 × 1 to 10 × 10, and related division facts

• use mental math strategies to multiply whole numbers by 10, 100, and 1000, divide whole numbers by 10

• represent and solve problems involving the multiplication of two- or three-digit whole numbers by one-digit whole numbers and by 10, 100, and 1000, using appropriate tools, including arrays

• represent and solve problems involving the division of two- or three-digit whole numbers by one-digit whole numbers

BLACK HISTORY MONTH:

Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present.  

This is exactly what we're doing throughout our social studies & language lessons for this month!

Our announcement slides will feature learning about Black History in Canada

The Black History Month theme for 2024 is “Rhythms of Resilience: One Soul, One Sound.” 

This month's theme centers on the concept that Black history, culture, and music embody a tapestry of diversity and interconnection, rather than being a single narrative.

So how did Black History Month come to be?  Watch the video below and ask your child :)

Black History is a topic near and dear to my heart because as a young child, I faced racism and discrimination due to the colour of my skin.  

I have shared this experience with my students because I want them to learn the importance of treating others the way they would want to be treated no matter their race, orientation, size, ability, or religion.  

We are all human, and it is our right to share and live in equality!  

Black History Month is a time to celebrate and remember all the ways that Black Canadians and Americans have contributed to North America's history and culture.  Throughout February, this celebration provides a chance to learn about African cultures too.  

In class, my emphasis will not focus on the negativity that many people faced in the past, but more so on the positive changes that have come as a result of the actions took by inspirational civil rights activists like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou, and many more! 

Of course, we are also learning about and acknowledging the amazing contributions made by our fellow black Canadians who helped shape our country. 

• Viola Desmond (Canadian entrepreneur who fought segregation and is now on our very own Canadian $10.00 bill)
• Lincoln Alexander (first black member of Parliament in Canadian history)
• Carrie Best (founder of Nova Scotia's first black owned and published newspaper) 
• Elijah McCoy (inventory and mechanical engineer)   

It is up to us and our children to help reinforce a future that will be SAFE, INCLUSIVE, and EQUAL for ALL humanity.  After all, we are a HUMAN RACE.  

We have come a long way from the injustices of the past, but we must remember to always put in the work to ensure we CONTINUE to live with EQUALITY.

MARCIA:

Exciting news everyone! I am very excited to have Collingwood's very own and Black History Advocate / Activist Marcia join our Black History Cafe in our library on Friday February 23rd at 12:00PM (please note the change in date).

Not only will Marcia be an audience member, but more importantly, she will share her personal story about her mother's experience with racism and overcoming this discrimination.

As a tribute to her mother's experience, Marcia will also share her special song she created called The Colour of Her Skin and the children in the class will join in to sing with her! We will be practicing via Google Meet with Marcia :) Can't wait!!

Our Black History Cafe is going to be an experience you won't want to miss! Please jot down Fri. Feb. 23rd 12:00PM into your calendars now :)

Marcia (far right with white vest) proudly helped raise Collingwood's Black History Month flag with fellow Unity Collective members and Town Council.

I am so proud to be part of this community for 35 years (I moved to Collingwood when I was 8 years old) and to see our community members LISTENING, ACTING, and UNITING to aspire to embrace all races, cultures, ethnicities, orientations, identities, and faiths brings me utmost joy.

From my experience, this was not always the case, but positive change has come and we are only getting stronger, more connected, and embracing each other's differences :)

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION - BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY:

Some more AMAZING NEWS BELOW!  

"The Town of Collingwood is committed to building an inclusive, equitable and accessible community where everyone feels valued, respected and a sense of belonging. 

Our diversity strengthens who we are as a community. The town is honoured to work in collaboration with the Unity Collective with the purpose of building an inclusive Collingwood, together." 

"The Unity Collective welcomes and celebrates our diversity, through unified and collective collaboration and action.  The Town recognizes the importance of ongoing learning (and unlearning) to help build awareness and understanding of our diversity in cultural identity, race, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, religion, age and other diverse backgrounds that shape our life experiences."

"In collaboration with the Sheffield Park Black History & Cultural Museum and the Collingwood Museum the Town is launching a Black History Storyboard initiative. Storyboards share the rich history of local Black community leaders and changemakers, documenting and illuminating the journey, accomplishments, and challenges of Black settlers to Collingwood." 

The goal of the project is to shine a light on our past and to raise awareness of these important stories, preserving and sharing knowledge that has been gathered over time.

 

Storyboards will be in place throughout the month of February, located along the trail at Harbourview Park as well as indoors at the Collingwood Museum and Collingwood Public Library. 

Virtual access to the Storyboard Project is also possible by visiting https://www.collingwood.ca/inclusion. From the website it is possible to read and listen to each story.

KEGAN:

Thank you Kegan for supporting your peer / friend in his math.  You see, he noticed that I was working with another student so he took it upon himself to step in to help :)  Isn't this image so beautiful?

Working together to get the job done!

One of my very first questions I ask the children on the first day of school is "Who is the teacher?  Who is the student?" More often than not, they point at me to indicate being the teacher and themselves as being the students.

This is true, however, then I remind them that we are ALL STUDENTS, annnnnnnd, we are ALL TEACHERS because we all have different brains, ways of thinking and we can teach each other new things!  And I certainly can learn from the youngsters!  #lifelonglearner

I am very proud of Kegan for believing in himself and knowing that he can mentor and guide others in their academics which in turn helps build his confidence too :-)   Way to go buddy!

YARD BEHAVIOUR:

Mrs. Mortimer has spoken at length about the importance of abiding by our policy of HANDS OFF. 

Please speak to your child about the importance of this rule, and if they are not involved in this sort of behaviour which many aren’t J, have them encourage their peers to also make good choices.  

I have so many wonderful leaders in this class who can help others make positive choices and BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE - EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING!!

At Nottawa, it is our goal to ensure ALL children feel safe at all times.  If your child is involved in an issue which involves hands on or put downs, please don’t hesitate to let me know via email, a note in the agenda, or a phone call as I don’t always see, hear, or know what happens during unstructured times such as recesses.

I will always do my best to follow up to support my students.  This is of utmost importance to me.  Thank you so much for your understanding and working as a T.E.A.M.

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Molly for this week's mindset message!  I know you're an aspiring singer and dancer so this quote links beautifully with you!

"Kindness is a song we should ALL be able to hear!" - Molly

I also found a musician and song that links to spreading kindness.  Give it a listen and enjoy its upbeat tune and lyrics :)  

#treatpeoplewithkindness 

MINDFULNESS:
Why are the players in the NBA wearing special shirts during the month of February?  What are some of the powerful words written on the t-shirts?  What does EQUALITY mean to you?

Take a moment to think and reflect on this with your family :)

From my heart to yours - Meegwich,

Ms. Gill