Week #35: May 21st - 24th

Dear Families,

WOWIE, it sure feels like summer doesn't it!?  The sensational sunshine this week was welcomed and certainly energized our minds, bodies, and spirits to remain actively engaged in all our meaningful learning opportunities :)

Check it all out below!

DECADES DAY:

Thank you to all the students in our class who showed school spirit and dressed up for our Decades Day theme.  Many brought back the 70's, 80's, and 90's trends, very funky and creative :-)  I loved it!

POETRY:

Over the next few weeks, I will be teaching my students about Poetry in preparation for our Poetry Cafe.  Yes of course, you are ALL INVITED, invitations to follow :) Stay tuned!!  

Your child will be excited to write and share their poems with you! 

For this unit of study, our Learning Goal & Success Criteria is the following:

Learning Goal:

We are learning to read, listen to, and write our own poetry using adjectives (descriptive words) to help our reader visualize and create a deeper meaning from our writing.

Success Criteria:

1. I can choose a topic for my poem that is meaningful to me.

2. I can use rich, descriptive (adjectives) word choice when I write.

3. I can include voice and expression in my writing.

4. I can help my reader create mental imagery (visualize) as they read my poem.

5. I can think with my head and heart to create a meaningful poem.

POETRY IS ... "Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages!"

On Google Classroom, I will be posting our Poetry Unit filled with lessons and a digital workbook that we will be utilizing oh so soon! 

Click the link below to learn about some of the different types of poetry we will be exploring!
http://mrswarnerarlington.weebly.com/poetry.html

WORLD MEDITATION DAY:

It is with tremendous joy and excitement that I share Mr. Boyle's goal of achieving 10,000 children meditating on Tuesday was not only reached, but exceeded by an enormous amount to 23,375!

Mielle mindfully meditating with Mr. Boyle on World Meditation Day :)

Here's our class family doing the "Weight" meditation 

I am so proud of him and our class family who participated in the 2 guided meditations listed below using the 5 S's - silence, space, stillness, sbreathe, and share.

Thank you Harlow for making a special note of appreciation for Mr. Boyle!

I encourage you to give the meditations a try this weekend, allow your child to lead it :)  They'll be excited to do so!  I promise you will feel more relaxed, focused, and energized.

Focus of the Meditation: The Dragon - I Am Brave Summary: In this guided meditation, you find a large stone. As you approach and touch it, it hatches and so begins a journey of trust and friendship with this special dragon.

When it is full size, you choose to be brave and climb up onto its back to soar into the night sky. As you fly together, your dragon's magical powers are revealed.

Focus of the Meditation: Weight

Summary: You will need space to lay down for this meditation. Put your focus to different body parts, one by one.

Allow these muscles throughout your body to feel heavier and heavier with each breath. Heavy as stone, as you breathe softly and with ease, releasing any tension.

TALENT SHOW:

Please see photo below for the Talent Show details :)  If your child's interested in participating in this annual event, jot down the dates ASAP.  Thank you!

Can't wait to see and celebrate all our Nighthawk spirit and skills on display on Thurs. Jun. 27th (last day of school) at 11:45 - 1:15PM!  Goooooo Nighthawks GO!

AYDEN:

It is with sheer pride and joy that I share with you that our very own Ayden has been recognized for the prestigious Character Education Award from the Simcoe County District School Board.  

"Character Education is a deliberate effort to nurture universal attributes that transcend racial, religious, socio-economic and cultural lines.  It is a whole school effort to create a community that promotes the highest standards of student discipline and citizenship." 

The annual Character Recognition Awards Evening is an opportunity to recognize students, staff, volunteers, and employees of a co-operative education employer who demonstrate good character in their daily lives. 

The awards were held last evening at the SCDSB Education Centre and it was my pleasure to not only nominate, but to also be in attendance with Mrs. Mortimer to see our Ayden receive his well deserved recognition.  

So proud of your extraordinary achievement!

Continue BEING WHO YOU ARE, Ayden.  You're an exemplary model for what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to have TRUE CHARACTER.  Excellent work :-)

HARLOW, MARGOT, & MIELLE:

Speaking of character education, Mrs. Mortimer asked our staff a while back if there was any staff member that would like to work on creating a short video explaining what character education means to Nottawa.

I immediately responded and said I'd like to!  However for me, it's very important for the children's voices to be heard (not solely mine) so I thought what better way to convey Nottawa's Mission Statement about character than having some kids from our class create the video.  

I asked Harlow, Margot, and Mielle many weeks ago if they'd be interested, they immediately jumped on the opportunity!  

Not only did they make such a FANTASTIC video message, to my delight, it was also featured at the Character Recognition Awards Ceremony last evening (see images below) for everyone in attendance to watch!  AMAZING :-)

Thank you girls for putting so much of your time, effort, and heart into this using your own time to do so!  The girls collaborated over a weekend to make this beautiful creation!  

A special shout out to Margot's Mom who helped video tape and then share the finalized video with me.  I really appreciate your contributions as well.  With your support, it helped bring this endeavour to fruition - thank you, thank you!

I have attached the video below and hope it works for you to see it here!  If it doesn't, please visit Google Classroom over the weekend as it's posted there now ;)  

I have shared the video on Monday's announcements for the entire school to see in the morning too.  Oh my goodness, I'm so proud of these special sweet souls!  Way to go girls :-)

ISLA:

As many may know, Isla and her family had the opportunity to travel and explore internationally to some amazing places!  

The children and I have been eager to hear more about it and this week we had the chance to do so!  

Thank you Isla for preparing a very special and meaningful google slideshow with so many photographs, captions, and stories to share, we loved it!  

Below are a few images I took from Isla's sensational presentation :)  Now I'm getting the travel bug ;)  Good thing summer vacation's right around the corner!

Home sweet home oh so soon :)

NATIONAL ACCESSIBILITY WEEK / RED SHIRT DAY OF ACTION:

The week of May 26th to June 1st is designated as National AccessAbility Week.  

This week provides an opportunity to celebrate the valuable contributions and leadership of persons with disabilities, with the ultimate goal of creating a more inclusive and accessible world for people of all abilities. 

Wednesday, May 29th is recognized as Red Shirt Day of Action where SCDSB students and staff are encouraged to wear red shirts.  

Doing so demonstrates solidarity and a commitment to reducing stigma and attitudinal barriers towards those with disabilities. 

SCDSB staff and students can demonstrate their support through social media including #SCDSBredshirtday and #SCDSBAccessAbility.  

JAMES:

Thank you James for your contributions to our tabs for kids this week!  You brought in so many and this is helping us get to the halfway mark in our 5 gallon jug, yay!

MINDFULNESS:

Below is one of Johnny Reid's hit songs entitled "Today I'm Gonna Change the World." Please enjoy this songwriter's heart warming message. It's one of my favourites :-)

Its main message focuses on ... if we all just reached out to one person today and helped them, the world would be a better place. Absolutely!! We all have it in us to GIVE ...

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Molly for this week's mindset message!  It reminds me of Mother's Teresa's famous words of "We may not all be able to do great things, but we can all do small things with GREAT LOVE."

May we always give back in small generous ways to ourselves, our families, friends, and community.  We all have it in us to give :)  

"The smallest things can make the BIGGEST difference!" - Molly

Respectfully,

Ms. Gill