Good afternoon!

We started off today by working on another comprehension activity.  Today we read a story about Tommy who was an energy hero of his neighbourhood.  He saw all the ways that his neighbours were wasting energy and he went about trying to educate everyone on ways to conserve.  The children are doing much better with these activities!  In language today we also worked on finishing sentences, special sounds and vowel sounds.  In our IB unit of inquiry today we began our final summative task.  The children were introduced to a informal letter writing format, and then were asked to begin a brainstorm of ideas to get them ready to write their letter to a friend.  In the brainstorm they have been asked to write down EVERYTHING they know about (1) the types of energy they have learned about, (2) the things that use energy, and (3) ways to conserve energy.  We also went over the rubric for this assignment so that the students will know everything that is expected of them to receive a level 4 for this assignment.  Please see my posting from last night for a copy of the rubric I will be using to assess the letter.  During math today the children worked on problem solving with length (grade one) and adding and subtracting with tens (grade two).  They also went to french and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Letters and Sounds page 96 - 97, math pages 118 - 119, cursive page 91 - 93, complete energy letter brainstorm.

Important information: Your child is bringing home their brainstorm with them tonight to complete at home.  I hope that by sharing this activity with you, you will get a chance to see everything they have learned about energy in this unit.  Please make sure they bring this important document back to school completed with them tomorrow, as we will be using it as the principle source to write our letters tomorrow morning.

I have had a few parents ask me for extra math practice for their students.  I understand that the students are not bringing home as much math homework as they may have in previous years.  This is a philosophy of Jump Math which encourages children to complete their math work at school so that they can be fully viewed and assessed by the teacher, rather than the teacher viewing the work they have completed at home. 
I do appreciate the desire for extra practice with math homework outside of school though.  I want to suggest an online math program for any families who are looking for extra math homework.  This online program is called Khan Academy and is a recommended program of SJA.  Each student can log on and create an account and they can independently go through a LARGE variety of math lessons from a range of topics from single digit addition to advanced algebra.  I can track their progress from my own account to see how they are growing and improving.  To be able to log on to the site, the students must have access to a google or facebook account.  I would suggest doing this as a shared/supervised activity with your children where an adult's account can be used to log on.  To find out how to log on to the site, or to go ahead and join Khan Academy please view their website at http://www.khanacademy.org/ 
Once you have logged in using a facebook or google account, you may then add me as a coach if you would like so that I can view and track progress.  At the bottom of the login page click on the 'add a coach' link.  Then enter my coach I.D which is 'csnider@stjudesacademy.com' and click 'register coach'.  From here I will be able to watch with you as your child advances through their lessons.


The SJA Gala is taking place on Saturday, February 11th and begins at 6pm.  The theme for this year is 'Love Through the Ages'.  Families and friends are all invited for this exciting evening of concerts, auctions, dinner and dancing.

SJA re-enrollment packages went home on Friday.  If you have not seen this important package yet, please keep your eye out for it tonight.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson