Dear Families,

Is it March already!?  One more school week until the Break!  I’m sure you’re looking forward to it as you get to spend quality time with your wonderful child(ren).  It's been a whirlwind of temperature changes hasn't it?!  We're back to cooler weather again!  Bundle up and stay cozy everyone!

March's Character Trait:
Let's put this trait into our THOUGHTS,  WORDS, and ACTIONS boys and girls.  We can do it!!

International PINK DAY:

We had the pleasure of celebrating pink shirt day two times in the month of February!  Once at our assembly to recognize the character trait of Inclusiveness and then again on Wednesday to celebrate pink shirt day all around Simcoe County.  

Pink Day was started as a day to stand up against bullying and spread understanding.  It's becoming a concept spreading throughout THE WORLD!  If you see people getting bullied or harassed, be sure to walk up too them and help them out, don't let them think they're alone in the world.  Together we can help put a STOP TO BULLYING!  
#pinkday #notalone #stopbullying # pinkday2018  

Thank you to the students who helped promote this important cause again this week!   

Speeches:

Our class has been buzzing with enthusiasm and positivity about the upcoming speech presentations!  Thank you to all the families who supported their child on this assignment.  The hard work has paid off and I was delighted to meet with my students to offer them feedback to help continue improving their speech. 

This week, I spent a lot of time doing mini-lessons on how to effectively do an oral presentation.  I shared the rubric (marking scheme) for what I’m looking for when I’m marking the children on their speech presentations (see picture below).  I encouraged them to use this criteria to help them practice at home and school.  If you would like to support your child further, please go over this criteria with them to help them better prepare for this task.  All presentations will take place next week.  We are all looking forward to this!  Each child knows when his or her presentation will take place, but if they forget, I've included the dates below in a chart for your reference :)    

Mon. Mar. 5th	Tues. Mar. 6th	Wed. Mar. 7th	Thurs. Mar. 8th	Fri. Mar. 9th
Carson	Aidan	Paige	Bailey	Sienna
Abby	Grace	Bryce	Sydney	Faith
Alex	Rachael	Avraham	Zach N.	Heather
Zach N.W.	Jackson		Aurora	Nathan

***Nate will present his speech when he’s back from Namibia!!  We can’t wait!***

Science:

This week in science, students worked collaboratively on a challenge I set before them.  Their task involved building the tallest, most stable ‘straw tower!’  I gave each group only 10 straws and 30 cm of masking tape with a 20 minute time cap.  Students put on their architect and engineer hats on and had to plan, design, and cooperate to get this job done.  When the timer went on, students got right to work!  They had a blast with this!  Check them out below.  At the end of the 20 minutes, we did a ‘gallery walk’ to see everyone’s tower and measured them using a metre stick.  Congratulations to Carson, Paige, and Faith who won the challenge!  Their tower measured up to 93cm!!  WOW! 

More fun structure building coming up!  Next week, I will be challenging the students to build another structure, but this time, the winner is the structure that can hold the most load (weight).  Stay tuned!  

Math:
Not only was science engaging and interactive, math was too!  Students worked in pairs to create designs using 2D shapes and 3D figures.  Their objective was to play a friendly and fun game called Follow the Leader.  In Follow the Leader, one player describes a structure so another player can copy it without looking.  The players have matching sets of blocks.  I posed the question: How can you explain how to build a structure?  Students’ goal was to use math words such as positional vocabulary (left, right, vertical, horizontal) as well as describing the attributes (faces, edges, vertices) of the shapes.  Students are working on building their knowledge and understanding of these concepts and are enjoying the process.  Ask them about Follow the Leader (see pictures below) and our other activity we did called Mystery Shapes.  

Gym:

In gym, we have started a unit on basketball!  Some may know, I’m a huge fan of playing and coaching this sport, definitely a passion of mine.  At our school, I coach the grade 7/8 girls’ team.  We have done very well the past two years, and I’m optimistic we will continue on this path as we have many amazing athletes at this school who are keen and motivated to do their best!  I have introduced this sport because I want to prepare my students with the proper skills for next year if they choose to try out for the junior basketball team (grades 4-6).  It will be exciting for me to see some of my current students try out next year!  This week, we learned and practiced the skills of dribbling and passing.  I’m impressed with their skills already!  We will continue to build upon these as the unit progresses!        

The Big Crunch:
The Big Crunch is coordinated by FoodShare and takes place across Simcoe County with the objective of encouraging healthy eating and celebrating nutrition. This marks the beginning of Nutrition Month across Canada. Everyone received an apple on Thursday and enjoyed this nutritious and delicious sweet treat!  See US below CRUNCHING  away!  Thank you to the grade 7/8's for organizing and delivering the apples.  Your hard work is appreciated!

Bailey:
Thank you to Bailey and his family for providing some building materials for our class to use in our Geometry and Structure Unit.  They will come in handy throughout these units – thanks again! 

      

Growth Mindset: 

“If you want a friend, BE ONE!” – Carson

Namaste,

Miss Gill