Scholastic Orders

For April's Scholastic orders, feel free to choose any book that is at Level 1 or 2 (Niveau 1, Niveau 2).

Le calendrier d'avril

Avril 2015
dimanche	lundi	mardi	mercredi	jeudi	vendredi	samedi
Cercles de lecture	Annika Benjamin Elsa Brayden	Sinead Joel Makayla Joseph	Sophie David Madeleine Ian	Chrisitian Marjorie Brendan Zoe	Valerie Elliot Caite
			1 Day 1 Musique STEM	2 Day 2 STEM Bibliotheque	3     Joyeuses	4   Paques!
5   Joyeuses	6   Paques!	7 Day 3     MusiquePiscine	8 Day 4   Gym	9 Day 5 Gym   Math Night	10 Day 1Musique STEM	11
12	13 Day 2STEM Bibliotheque	14 Day 3   MusiquePiscine	15 Day 4   Gym Pizza Lunch	16 Day 5 Gym	17 Day 1Musique STEM	18
19	20 Day 2STEM Bibliotheque	21 Day 3   MusiquePiscine	22 Day 4   GymScholastic orders due	23 Day 5 Gym	24 Day 1Musique STEM	25
26	27 Day 2STEM Bibliotheque	28 Day 3   MusiquePiscine 8	29 Day 4   Gym	30 Day 5 Gym	1	2

 

April Newsletter

 

Welcome to April!

Right after March Break the students and I speak ONLY French in class and any time when we are together. They get tickets for using French as much as possible. The tickets are collected in individual pockets for each students. I encourage them to try their best to speak French at all times in order to earn

more tickets. In June during our final class celebration, there will be a variety of things (books, crayons, games, etc) that students will be able to buy with the earned tickets. Please encourage your child to speak in French at school and at home.

 

In April we will continue our programme of Guided Reading. The children keep working on developing decoding and comprehension skills in reading.

They enjoy working in a small group setting with me. Students look for the clues to reveal the point of the author, to comprehend what the author wanted to say and what the story is about.They love to demonstrate their decoding skills. They learn how to check if they read right by asking themselves: ‘Does it sound good?’, ‘Does it make sense?’, ‘Is it written like I read?’.The Guided Reading sessions started  in March and will continue into June, when the students will be tested for the level of reading that they achieved through this school year. As well, we will be working on Retelling. This will involve learning about characters, setting of the story, its problem and how it is solved. What students learn during Guided Reading sessions, will be applied in this unit. 

In Writing, our focus will continue to be on capitals, periods, space between the words, using dictionaries, anchor charts to spell some words correctly. Besides, students will continue learning how to organize their ideas in writing, to insure that their writing makes sense. In class I encourage them to reread what they wrote in order to check their work every time they finish it. Feel free to ask your child what the check points are. 

 

In Math, the unit on 2D and 3D shapes will be wrapped up during the first week of April.Afterwards, we will work on fractions and number operations: addition and subtraction. As usual, a big chunk of our time will be given to solving word problems.

 

As the nature wakes up in spring and the world around us becomes green, we are planning to investigate needs and characteristics of living things, which will be under focus in Science.Some ‘gardening’ activities have already happened and will continue in our classroom. The children planted tomato seeds last Friday. The students were divided into two groups. One group got natural, untreated seeds of tomatoes. The  other group got the seeds that were treated in simulated space conditions (at -80*C in a vacuum) at the University of Guelph. During the month of April, the children will be observing how the tomatoes grow and if there is a difference between the two groups. Meanwhile, during the first week of April, we will be finishing our Social Studies unit My Community. Thank you to our parents who volunteered for the Community Walk last Friday: Ms. Mansworth, Ms. Yang, Ms. Browne, and Ms. Hung. With their help, students were able to use iPads and take pictures of the community in order to discuss its features and what they would do to improve the community they leave in. It was amazing to witness their critical thinking at work! Besides, the Walk material allowed us to wrap up the unit on recount as the children wrote about the walk. Great work!

 

We continue to work with iPads in class. Students record themselves when they work at morning stations.

They use iPads to organise their ideas, to prepare to produce a hard copy writing. They started to learn how to find a word meaning, using Google Image.

 

To conclude, I am encouraging you to pursue more activily the opportunuty to buy Scolasticbooks. Two reasons for that. One is that it is the good time to start creating  your child's "Frenchlibrary" for the summer months. Another one is that the more books we buy, the more points weearn, which will allow me to buy some things (to validate the tickets earned for speakingFrench) from Scholastic for the class final celebration at the end of the school year. 

Thank you for all your support and co-operation.  

As usual, please do not hesitate to contact me in person and via the agenda/email with yourquestio ns, suggestions, and ideas.

 

Amicably,

 

Mme Volokhova

 

 

 

Halloween Parade

November News Letter From Room 20

NOVEMBER 3, 2014 

NEWSLETTER FROM ROOM 20

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Progress Report Cards will be coming home soon. It’s that time of the year! 

Here are some important dates to add on your calendars:

November 6 -  Photo Retake

November 7 - Recognition Assembly

November 11 – Remembrance Day Assembly

November 11 – Progress Report Cards are going home

November 11 – Pizza Lunch

November 13 - 14 - Teacher – Parent interviews

November 24 – Scholastic Orders due

November 29 - Santa's Breakfast.

If there are some other events coming our way, they will be announced on our class blog toutlemondeabord.blogspot.com that you can check regularly now.

In Progress Report Cards you won’t find marks as our Term 1 is not finished yet. This time, teachers have to present a mid-term report on how your child progresses academically and how s/he adjusted to the rules and routines of the Grade.

Letters regarding scheduling Teacher – Parent interviews are going home soon. Please respond promptly so that I could inform you on your interview time asap.

Curriculum Focus

In November, we will continue to learn how to read and write through our morning messages, sound of the week posters, leveled books, shared reading, little poems, class writing projects.

Our morning routines have changed recently. Now, after the announcements, students work at Numeracy and Literacy Stations that include smart board activities, calendar, morning message, math board, reading, writing, 100 chart, number line, t chart to revise and practise the concepts learned in class.

Home Reading Program will continue to run. As you already know, a classroom book goes home every week for your child to read on a nightly basis. A week later, the book comes back to class. I will be listening to every student reading their book.The day for taking out and bringing the book back is your child's Montre et raconte day. The program intends to further promote reading and speaking skills in French. It is very important that your child regularly participate in it.

In Math, we will be concluding our unit on Number Sense and Numeration and moving on  to Data Management unit activities. I will be including a small math activity in every homework, that will give you an idea about what we do in classroom. You might opt to do some extra activities at home to promote the math concept under study.

In Sience, we will be exploring seasonal changes. A project is planned for at the end of the unit.

Also, our class will be participating in the art auction for Santa's Breakfast. Stay tuned.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Madame Valentine and Madame Cunnigham, two Moms in our class, who come to volunteer to read with students individually every week. As well, students and I are very thankful to the parents volunteers who came with us on the field trip to Toronto Botanical Gardens. Dear Ladies, your help is sincerely appreciated.

Please enjoy some photos from our field trip, that Mme Valentine took during the trip and generously shared with us.

Halloween Parade

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We will be celebrating Halloween on Friday, Oct. 31st . In the morning, shortly after O’ Canada and announcements, the morning kindergarten classes will parade (in costumes) around the track.  Parents and other classes are welcome to be their audience.

After recess, classes in the Duke building only will parade starting at approximately 10:15 am. We will all meet in the back field.  Parents are welcome to join the parade.

The route is as follows: Exit from the back of the Duke field (where the Red Rocket used to be) and walk west on Queen Street; go north on Greenwood and at Dundas, head east.  Turn south at Highfield and enter the Duke property via the stair entrance near the parking lot. 

In case of rain, we will be parading in the school. Classes will parade only on their own floor.  Parents are welcome to attend but must first sign in at the office.

Costumes: please ensure that costumes are school appropriate (i.e.: not offensive or provocative)

TRICK OR TREAT SAFETY

• Children should NEVER eat any treats until parents have had a chance to go through them and inspect them. Parents should look for tampering of packages and discard any they believe to be unsafe or unknown.

• Have your child carry a flashlight.

• NEVER go into a stranger's house.

• NEVER trick or treat with people you do not know.

• Trick or treat only at homes you know.

• Children should always stay in groups if no parent is present.

• Younger children should ALWAYS be accompanied by an older person.

• Accompany your child when trick or treating.

• If you can not accompany your child then know the route your child will take.

• Flame resistant (retardant) costumes are in order. Keep costumes short and remind children to stay away from pumpkins with candles in them.

• Remind children to stay away from pets they do not know.

• Remind children of road safety rules. Cross only at corners. Do not criss-cross the road. Go up one side of the road and down the other side. Never cross between parked cars. Walk facing on-coming traffic if there is no sidewalk

• If adults are driving their children, drive slowly, with lights on and be cautious when pulling to the side of the road.

• Children should wear their own shoes when trick or treating. Wearing costume shoes/boots can be dangerous and uncomfortable.

• Remind children that not everyone celebrates Hallowe'en, and to avoid any homes that have no lights on. Also remind children not to run through neighbours yards or gardens.

• With older children, be sure to know what other events (such as parties) they plan on attending.

• Set time limits when children should return home.

FIELD TRIP TO THE TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDENS

This Thursday, October the 23rd, our class is going to Toronto Botanical Gardens to learn about seasonal changes. We will be leaving at 9a.m. and be back at school during lunch time.
Thank you to so many of you who would like to volunteer on the trip. As there are numerous requests to volunteer, students and I will have a name draw. I will write a note in your child's agenda if you come with us on the trip. I will put the list of parents volunteers on this blog as well. Thank you for your support.

FRENCH READ UP

French read up is starting this Tuesday, October 21. It will be taking place in the Danny Kitchen ( 3rd floor, Woodfield building) every Tuesday. Teachers and parents will volunteer to read in French with students. This a wonderful opportunity for your child to have some extra help and practice to enhance their reading level in French. Please consider to use this initiative. If you have questions, please feel free to talk to me.

The same initiative exists in English. Students in French Immersion would definitely benefit from both, as having solid reading skills in the native language promotes the same when a child learns other languages.

SMART BOARD IN CLASS

Students and I are excited to let you know that our smart board is set up and running. We were using it in class every day last week. 

The research says that elementary-aged students learn best using a multi sensory approach. This is what an interactive white board (IWB) exactly provides. It allows students to see, hear, and touch the learning material. The main feature of the IWB is interactivity that help:

- keep learners engaged

- differentiate learning and let students with different styles flourish 

- increase meeting students' individual needs

- increase their motivation.

Last week, students were learning to solve a math word problem using the SB. Have a look. Please ask your child what the problem was about, what we did to solve it, and how we found the answer. 

How Does the Class Reward System Work?

As you know, in class we have a reward system up and running.
At the beginning of every week, all students receive 4 marbles/billes in the class jar. If they keep them through the week, then on Friday at the end of the day, they can choose to have a free play. Sometimes, the free play might be replaced by a prize from Madame's treasure box.
As well, the marbles can be taken away. The reasons for that might be:
- misbehaviour (distracting others, socializing, fooling around, being loud, anything that makes Madame interrupt a lesson) during circle and desk time

- not complying with "Walking in Line" rules

- abusing bathroom time by playing there

- not completing classwork because of socializing/distracting others.

Students know that they can earn the marbles back by correcting their behaviour and trying hard to do their best.

To help students learn to walk properly in line, we have A Secret Walker system. At the end of the day, a star goes to those students who remembered to walk quietly in line during every transition time through the day.

And finally, stars in students' agendas. Children receive stars for their success in learning: active participation, great ideas, presenting, something that shows their readiness to learn and share their knowledge. They get a prize from the treasure box for every ten stars.

Please feel free to talk to or remind your children about the rewards. Count the stars in their agendas together, encourage them to take risks in their learning. Your support is sincerely appreciated.