Week #32: April 29th - May 3rd

Dear Families,

School Principals' Day was recognized on May 1st.  It is a day the Simcoe County District School Board acknowledges the valuable work performed by our principals and vice-principals.

This week over our morning announcements, we acknowledged our very own Mrs. Mortimer for her tremendous care and compassion that she brings to our school community each and every day!

Thank you Mrs. Mortimer for creating an inclusive and positive learning environment for our students, staff and families. You truly have been a leader for our school community! #Nighthawkpride

CHARACTER ATTRIBUTE:

As a new month is upon us, we look to acknowledge and learn more SCDSB character attributes!

Our class family will do a deep dive into Respect - "We treat other people the way we want them to treat us."  

To get my student's thinking about this trait in their thoughts, words, and actions, here is a public service announcement.  

Please watch and discuss its message with your child.

CHARACTER RECOGNITION:

Congratulations to Cara, Hazel, and Kaleb for demonstrating Optimism in their thoughts, words, and actions. They were recognized at Tuesday' assembly in front of the whole school :-)

These 3 students always put forth effort, energy, and a willingness to try their very best in their academics and interactions with others. Their I Believe I Can Do It mentality helps their peers around them to also have this mindset.

We are so proud of you, well done!

KINDNESS CALENDAR:

With a new month upon us, another opportunity to make KINDNESS THE NORM! I hope you were able to see the calendar provided in your child's agenda :)

I encourage you to keep this on your fridge as a daily gentle reminder and perhaps try out the suggested activity (if it works for your family of course). The calendar's posted in our classroom and I see some keen children take a look at it each day and then sweetly acknowledge the activity:)

MARGOT & MAE:

Speaking of spreading kindness, Margot and Mae both shared some heart filling notes of appreciation with me this week. It truly made my day :-)

These two girls both graciously and effortlessly share their emotions and it's such a wonderful quality to have! We often talk about having an attitude of gratitude and they certainly display this regularly!

Thank you girls for taking the energy and effort to express yourselves, I'll cherish your sweet sentiments always!

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE:

Did you know May 5th is The National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples?

The RedDress Project raises awareness and draws attention to gender- and race-based violence. 

It is a time that we honour those who have gone missing, and the lives lost as well as pay tribute to the strength and resilience of families, survivors and communities. 

In class, we took a moment to show our respect and reconciliation towards the survivors, the lives lost, and that we stand together as one.

No one should experience gender- and race-based violence EVER. This was NOT and IS NOT ok. #putanendtoviolenceagainstindigenousgirls

To learn more, visit https://www.collingwood.ca/culture-recreation-events/heritage-museum/awen-gathering-place 

#werememberthetruth

BRAIN BREAKFAST CONSOLIDATION:

As you've noticed since the beginning of school, at the start of each week, your child brings home his or her 'Brain Breakfast' aka Daily 5 Math to 'consolidate' (show & share) with you.  

Thank you to those parents who are consistently taking the time to read and review your child's strategies.  It's making a DIFFERENCE!

We spend 100 minutes on math daily and part of this time is completing the 5 math questions that come home in the agenda weekly (see below).  

As you can see from the example above, we spend quality time taking up the answers as a class and thinking of ways to 'bump up' our work.  Students are asked to utilize and record my feedback to help improve their achievement in mathematics.   

Many students are using my feedback well and work so hard to write it down, it's fantastic!  We're not only learning grade 4 concepts, but I'm also exposing the children to concepts for the next grade levels that will get them well prepared for the junior division (grades 4-6). 

NOVEL STUDY:

Many students continue to work hard on their reading responses and it's been a joy to read & receive these!  

We have completed chapters 1-3 and I have completed giving feedback.  I encourage you to please check it out and see the examples I post via private comments in Google Classroom to help your child build upon his or her reading comprehension :)  

I promise you, completing this weekly assignment will serve the children well as they move forward in the junior and even intermediate divisions.  Thank you :)

CODING:

Another week of awesome coding!  Please ask your child what the terms sequential, concurrent, loop, and nested events mean :)  These are the 4 types of coding that we've been working on and they should be familiar with this.

To help practice their skills and to show you what they know, I have posted coding activities #3 & #4 as well as an interactive slide deck for the children to work through via Google Classroom, check it out and us in coding action below :)

WYE MARSH VISIT:

We had the perfect sunny day for our final outdoor education learning with Wye Marsh on Tuesday afternoon.  

I would personally like to thank the instructors for organizing such a meaningful and interactive 100 minutes of science for us :)  

The focus was on Birds and students participated in a variety of stations:

• building a nest
• match the bird 
• bird banding
• bird beak investigation
• identifying bird sounds

Below is a collection of 24 photos I took of the children in science action.  Take a look and ask your child about the various things they did and learned about :)

FUN FAIR BASKETS:

Today, your child came home with a yellow note in his or her agenda bag.  Each year at our Family Fun Fair, school council members put together a silent auction table with many great prizes.

This year, Kindergarten to Grade 6 classes are putting together themed baskets for the Silent Auction table.  It would be greatly appreciated if families could donate an item to contribute to the class basket.  

This being said, there is NO PRESSURE to do so as we recognize the cost of living and you're all raising / providing for your family.

Our class basket theme is:  SPORTS

Some ideas for the themed basket are:

• skipping rope
• frisbee
• water bottle
• Nottawa spirit wear
• balls (basketballs, soccer baseball, football, tennis balls, golf balls)

Our Fun Fair will be held on Thursday June 6th.  We would appreciate ALL ITEMS for the sport basket by Friday May 24th to allow time for wrapping the baskets :)

Thank you for your contribution, we appreciate it!  We hope to see you at the Fun Fair!

HARLOW, HAZEl, ANNA, & AYDEN:

The tabs keep coming in and I'm just so thankful for the children continuing to collect and place them into our water bottle.  We have reached the quarter mark which is impressive seeing as how the bottle is 5 gallons.

Thank you Harlow, Hazel, Anna, and Ayden for your contributions this week!  You're making a difference :-)

SOPHIE:

Thank you Sophie for contributing a 'Jar of Awesome' for our classroom.  As you're well aware, our class family is filled with AWESOME, AMAZING students!  

As we enter the final 2 months of school, we are going to use this jar to celebrate our positivity and kindness by placing a ones block or maybe even some popcorn kernels as Kaelynn suggested in it every time we see, hear, and feel a GOTCHA MOMENT :-) 

As an educator, I'm not necessarily into extrinsic awards for children, but I do believe in honouring kind moments so when we reach a certain amount, I'll provide an experience the kids will enjoy :-)

Guess what, we've already gotten one acknowledgement which is exciting!  This week, Mrs. Newman came up to me after recess and shared how members of our classroom were playing soccer and didn't hesitate when other older children came up to them and asked, "Hey, can we join you guys?"  She mentioned, they did right away!  Ohhhhh yes, inclusiveness at its finest, I loooooove it!

MINDFUL MINUTES:

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month (May), I am excited to share an endeavour that we started this week!  

Our class will be taking part in World Meditation Day on Tuesday May 21st.  

Educator Tyler Boyle's goal is to get 10,000 children to meditate together, I'm optimistic we can get there!

To help boost our meditation skills, we have started Mr. Boyle's guided meditations using his Dreamwalkers videos.

Here is the link to all the videos, it's terrific -->  Mindful Minutes for Schools and Kids    

Dreamwalkers is here to improve and inspire students’ mental health, wellbeing, resilience, imagination, calm and self-regulation through ✨Mindful Minute✨ meditations and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) resources.

Check out the video below as Mr. Boyle explains the immeasurable impact that meditation has on young people's overall well-being.  We've already been benefiting from them :-)

As you know throughout the school year, we have been meditating and many children within our class have reaped its benefits.  

The evidence is right there for me - many children are more focused, present, relaxed, and ready to learn after we're done our mindfulness exercises & meditation.  Check out the proof below, way to go Kieran! 

Kieran mindfully meditating as our helper of the day on Thursday

Below I have also shared the 2 informational videos and 2 guided meditations that we have watched and completed so far.  It went so well!  

I encourage you to try the meditations out :)  My Ma did and she loved it! 

1 of 5 S's:  SILENCE

Mindful Minutes:  Forest Soundscape

2 of 5 S's:  SPACE

Mindful Minutes:  Stretch & Relax

I honestly couldn't imagine not incorporating mindfulness daily in our classroom.  I truly believe it's been a game-changer for creating our calm & cooperative class community :)

As I finalize this portion of the blog, I already can't wait for our next week's guided meditations!  

GRACE:

Grace came to school on Wednesday and said, "Ms. Gill, I have something for you."  We sat together and I opened a beautiful hand written card, a message holder that reads somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world, and a mindful journal.

Gosh, the children know me too well :-)

Thank you Grace for these precious gifts, I will cherish them always, but more importantly, your beautiful heart.  

You are helping brighten the world with one kind act at a time.  I look forward to continuing to watch you soar and grow as a changemaker!  

MINDFULNESS:

Please check out the powerful story (video) below. I loved it :-) It is called Preston's Positive Thoughts, it encourages positive thinking for our kids.

This read aloud does a deeper dive into developing a Growth Mindset for children that shows them not to fear failure, and to work hard & not give up because sometimes, we have to try and try again before we get things right.

In this inspiring KidTime StoryTime, we see the things that would NOT exist in a world without failures. From author Esther Pia Cordova, who loves writing about Growth Mindset to help kids be fearless as they grow and learn!

How do we foster positive thinking in children?

1. Let children know that it is okay to express their feelings.
2. Be a role model. 
3. Encourage and motivate your kids. 
4. Give them freedom.
5. Let your kids be surrounded by positive people. 
6. Encourage them to talk about positive events. 
7. Teach morals and values to them.

As your child's teacher, I promise to continue to use and reinforce these strategies in the classroom to help boost their self-esteem and confidence so they can BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING :)

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Margot for this week's mindset message!  I appreciate your positivity and sharing your light!

"Stop thinking what could go WRONG and start thinking, what could go RIGHT!"

If we focus on all the things that could go wrong, then we will miss out on all the things that could go right.  

So remember, always put your energy towards possibilities and you will have opportunities to shine, shine, SHINE.

With appreciation & respect,

Ms. Gill