Good afternoon!

We had a great day today, despite the weather!  The students began their day by completing their weekly spelling tests.  The marked tests will be coming home with them tonight.  We also worked on a comprehension activity about Terry Fox and discussed his life.  We then moved on and continued working on our IB line of inquiry on relationships.  We read a story about a boy who's dad was going on a month long trip to Africa.  We discussed the important relationship we saw in the book, and talked about how our important relationships make us feel.  The students finished their peer interviews that we began working on yesterday, and they were given their weekend homework project.  We also watched a Franklin video about rules.  During the afternoon the children ran the Terry Fox run in the gym due to weather.  They still had a great time running in support of Terry Fox!  They also went to french class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each, and complete the take-home interview sheet for Monday.

Important information:  The children need to find someone important to them and interview them over the weekend.  They are going to collect answers and bring them into class on Monday to be turned into a class presentation.  They are all bringing home interview sheets with them tonight.

Next Wednesday is casual day.  As long as they have paid their $20 they may come to school dressed in any casual clothes they would like.

The Mississauga library systems have some fun reading programs happening over the next few weeks.  I have attached some information forms to this blog if your family has any interest in attending.

I have some fun facts about IB schools that I thought I would share with you to ponder over the weekend :)

• The IB Primary Youth Programme (PYP) provides a shared system of learning for St. Jude's
• the PYP works towards a balanced programme of concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes and actions for students
• through international curriculum, IB schools help facilitate transfer between their schools if needed
• IB schools set high standards for and has high expectations of their students
• all teachers plan the programme together, which provides a very cohesive education for your children through the years
• IB promotes good teaching practices, both through written curriculum documents, assessment, and reporting strategies.

Hopefully these reasons explain why we are so excited that SJA is now an IB candidate school!

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/ParentToolkit_Final_Chinese.pdf

http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/Link_NewsletterSept_Oct_2011.pdf

Good afternoon!

We had a lot of fun today working in our classroom.  We started off the day today by working on cursive.  The children reviewed the work from yesterday and learned the letter 'u'.  We also worked further on our IB line of inquiry on relationships.  Today we re-read the story about the little badger and his grandfather and we discussed how we can learn from relationships. In class today the children practiced interviewing to find out information from each other.  They are going to finish their in-class interviews tomorrow in class.
Interviewing and collecting information is going to be a very handy skill for them to develop, because we are going to be starting a research project tomorrow.  Get ready because the students are going to bring home interview questions over the weekend to ask someone with whom they have an important relationship.  The interview questions are going to be used as the basis for an assignment which they will present to the class next week.  So keep your eye out for the interview questions tomorrow night!
After working on the IB unit of inquiry we moved on to math where the children practiced counting, matching, more and fewer (grade one) and number words (grade two).  They also went to music and french class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words for tomorrow's test, finish cursive page 4 - 6 if necessary and math pages 30 - 32 (grade one) 27 - 29 (grade two).

Important information:  Tomorrow is the Terry Fox run.  Please send your children in their gym clothes tomorrow.  We are going to be leaving the school to walk over to the track tomorrow at approx. 2:00pm and will be returning to the school at 3:30 ready for home time.

Next Wednesday is a casual day at St. Jude's.  You do not need to come to school dressed in house colours.  Children may come to school in any casual clothes they wish.

The family trees that your children completed are coming home with them tonight.  All children also have a peer evaluation attached to their work that was completed by a student in the class.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We had a fun day today in our classroom.  We started off the day today by putting our peer editing skills to use by reviewing and commenting on the family trees that we made in class yesterday.  The children had a lot of fun being a teacher for the morning.  The children also began cursive writing for the first time today.  We practiced cursive 'i' and 'e' which was also very exciting.  During our IB unit of inquiry we read a story called 'Can You Do This Old Badger?'.  In the story it followed a young badger and his grandpa and they talked about how relationships change over the years.  This is a big part of the IB line of inquiry we are working on right now.  After reading the story the student used their journals to write about their grandparents and why they are important to them.  During math today the children worked on addition (grade twos) and more/fewer (grade one).  The children also went to drama, french and music today.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes, practice spelling words, cursive page 1 -3 if necessary, math pages 28 - 29 (grade one) pages 25 - 26, and complete journal if necessary.

Important information:  Mr. Murano has asked that everyone bring in a Tic Tac box for music class tomorrow.

On Friday please send in your children in their gym clothes for the Terry Fox run.

If you have any pledge money collected for the Terry Fox run your children may bring that to school on Friday.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

We had a great day today!  We started off the day today practicing peer editing skills.  The children were given sentences and they had to provide one good comment and one suggestion for the sentences.  It was great practice for the peer editing that we are going to start doing in our classroom very shortly.  We continued on working on our IB line of inquiry on relationships.  We read a story called Jesse Bear's Family Tree.  We saw all the different family members that are in Jesse Bear's family and saw the family tree that Jesse Bear had created for his family.  We then discussed our own families and the children created their own family trees.  We continued reading The Year of the Rat as well, which showed a lot of important IB Learner Profile qualities.  During math today the children worked on the terms 'more' and 'fewer' and worked on counting (grade one) and adding double digits (grade two).  The children also went to music and french class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes, practice spelling words, finish family tree if necessary, and finish math if necessary.

Important Information: All students have been asked to bring a box of Tic Tacs for music class by Thursday.

Cookies are not going to be on sale for the rest of the week because they have been sold out.  They will be back to sale next week.

Please make sure to help your children remember to bring their homework, agendas and folders back and forth with them everyday to help set them up for success.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Good afternoon!

It was great day back to school today after a weekend away.  We started off the day today by recording the new weekly spelling words and working in our spelling books.  The new spelling words are listed at the end of this posting for you.  As a reminder, you may practice these words at home with your child in whatever way they chose!  Today we began our new IB line of inquiry on relationships.  We discussed what we knew about relationships today, and what we hope to learn about relationships during our studies.  As a class we read the story 'The Family Book' which discusses one of the most important relationships- families!  In the story it highlights how all families are different, but that they are all equally special.  It is hoped that this discussion will help our class to become more open-minded, which is an important element of the IB Learner Profile.  During math today the children worked on counting and numbers (grade one) and double digit addition (grade two).  The children also went to drama, french and P.E today.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, and complete spelling workbook if necessary.

Important information:  Please help your child to remember to bring their home folders, agendas and spelling books back and forth with them everyday.  We often need all three of these items daily, and even if they are not specifically needed it also helps teach them responsibility for their belongings.

I sent home spelling tests with all children on Friday, but many children did not complete their spelling homework.  All incorrectly spelled works needed to be written out ten times each in their spelling books.  For example, if the word 'pin' was spelled incorrectly on their spelling test, they would have to write out the word 'pin' ten times in their book.  This needed to be done for EVERY word that was not spelled right on their test.  This will happen after every spelling test.

Cookies are for sale everyday at lunch recess for $1.

The Terry Fox Run is taking place this Friday.  Pledge forms were sent home on Friday for any children who would like to collect funds for the cause.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Grade One        Grade Two
1.baby                1. fox
2. cat                  2. cut
3. dog                 3. hill
4. egg                 4. wind
5. ice                  5. put
6. box                 6. all
7. man                7. moon
8. net                  8. saw
9. pig                  9. tell
10. saw              10. new