Dear Families,

Yesterday, we had a school spirit day - sports jersey day!  A lot of staff and students participated with enthusiasm and school pride. We truly have amazing students, staff, and families! Thank you ALL for demonstrating spirit everyone!  I loved seeing all the different jerseys everyone was sporting! Check out our class below :)

Kups for Kids:

I would like to send out a big thank you to Mrs. Calvert and her team of volunteers for coming to our school on Wednesday to run this meaningful event for our students. Your time, organization, and kind nature is appreciated and we all had fun while thinking about the feelings of others who are in need.  Check out all the smiles of the children!!

Thank you to all the families who sent in their order form with payment to purchase your child’s cup that they painted.  If you did not, that is perfectly ok too because by simply participating in this experience, it will make a difference in the lives of men, women, and their children who need our support!  It was a wonderful experience for our class especially learning about the Home Horizon foundation.  Everyone was excited, engaged, and enthusiastic!  The kids’ designs were creative and unique!  All the cups are now sent away and will be put into a kiln (a furnace or over for burning, baking, or drying, especially one for calcining or firing pottery) which will produce a bright colourful mug with your child's personalized touch!  Amazing!! 

Now, you may be wondering when you will receive your purchased cup J  There will be an event on Sunday April 22^nd between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. at the Georgian Bay Hotel & Conference Centre, 10 Vacation Inn,  Collingwood. 

If you wish to attend please do so and you will receive the cup there.  However, if you are unable to go then the cups will be delivered to our school at the end of April and I will hand out your child’s cup to them.  If you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Speeches:

Also on Wednesday, our school held the 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 the grade 4’s in our class who prepared and delivered their speeches in our cozy portable.  It takes a lot of courage and poise to stand up in front of a group of people and share a speech.  You should be proud of your efforts!  Always reach for the stars and try your best in everything you do!  

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.

Congratulations to Nate’s older sister Samantha who made it to the gym!  My students and of course your brother were so excited for you – you  did amazing!!

Character Recognition Assembly:

Yesterday, we honoured and celebrated January’s Character Trait of Honesty as a school family.  Congratulations to Nate for being recognized for displaying this trait.  Please continue being your truthful self in and out of the classroom!  Your actions are making a difference in our school.  I know that your peers admire this quality about you!

February's character trait is INCLUSIVENESS – “We invite everyone to play, we never turn anyone away.” 

We are fortunate to be in a school culture that is sensitive to the needs of others – staff and students work together to ensure that we foster a community that is safe, strong, and free.  This being said, as your child’s teacher, I will continue to explicitly model, guide, reinforce, and support inclusion so all my students feel a sense of belonging J

Help Needed:

With the January thaw that we've been experiencing here and there, the surrounding area by our portable is extremely muddy.  We are requesting that students please remain out of these mucky areas for two reasons. First, all this mud comes into the portable upon entry and creates hazardous conditions for walking as it is wet.  In addition, I would like to help our custodians out by keeping our floors as muddy free as possible. They have asked me to encourage students to try to stay out of the mud to keep our portables clean, sanitary, and most importantly, safe for our students.  Secondly, entering the mud causes students to have wet feet and this sensation is not pleasant.  As a result, some students then request a call home when parents can't always come to school to provide new boots and dry socks.  Providing extra socks would also be beneficial.

If you could please speak with your child about this and help support our school endeavour, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much :)

Math:

In the coming days, I will be introducing the concept of telling time.  The Grade 3 expectation is to tell time to 5 minutes and to represent time in 2 ways. For example, 4:05 can be said as 5 minutes after 4 or 55 minutes before 5.  The Grade 4 expectation is to tell time to the minute and to understand elapsed time (the passage of time).

Supporting your child at home in telling time in real-life situations would be beneficial.  For example, asking about special times in your day such as dinner time, bedtime, when gymnastics or hockey is, etc .. "What time do we eat dinner?"  If it is 6:35pm, and we eat at 7:00pm, how many minutes until dinner?"  The more exposure to and practice with reading time and thinking about the passage of time will help build this skill.  I will be providing course work on Mathletics for students to further practice as well.  Please have them visit their account over the weekends. They love it!

Alex:
Thank you Alex for bringing in a lego structure you built at your house to share with us at school.  I can tell you were inspired by your peer, and it's great to see students take their learning from the classroom and applying it at home!  Way to go, buddy!

Growth Mindset:

“Be kind, caring, and respectful.” – Paige

Namaste,

Miss Gill