Good afternoon!

We started off the day today with a surprise spelling test.  The children are not going to be in the classroom tomorrow (ROM trip) or Friday (P.D Day) so today was the only day we had to get tested on the weekly spelling words.  I was confident in the students' ability to score high with only a few study nights and I was right!  The students are bringing home their marked tests with them tonight.  In language today the students worked on suffixes, special sounds, opposites and cursive.  We also read another chapter of The Tale of Despereaux which is getting exciting!  During math today the children worked on estimating the masses of various objects (grade one) and identifying the length of various objects (grade two).  In our IB unit of inquiry the students once again got into pairs and explored books relating to art forms from cultures all around the world.  The pairs were asked to come up with 2 facts and 1 questions that they presented to the class in an oral presentation.  I hope this exercise has helped them to develop inquiring minds regarding art which can be used on our trip tomorrow!  At the end of the day the children worked on a media based activity where they studied a newspaper ad that advertised something. We identified the purpose of this type of media, and then the children designed their own newspaper ad that advertised either a bike, toy or garage sale.  They all had a lot of fun doing this!

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the spelling chart, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each (including bonus word), cursive pages 128 - 129, and Letters and Sounds page 126 - 127.

Important information: 

We had the in-class poetry competition today along with Mrs. Haag's class.  All the children did a great job and I was really proud of them showing off their hard work.  Three students have been chosen from each grade level to compete in next Thursday's whole school competition.  Congratulations to the winners!

Grade One:  Adi B, Mishal L, and Angela H.
Grade Two:  Carter C, Lukas V, and Adam R.

All the children are bringing home their marked rubric with them tonight from the poetry competition.

There are a number of exciting and important dates coming up.  Please make a note of the following:

• Tomorrow is our class ROM trip.  Lunches should be sent with the children.  Backpacks are not allowed to be brought into the ROM.  Lunch bags will be left in a class cubby to be used at lunch time.  The bus is leaving the school at 9am sharp.  Please make sure you are not late on Thursday, as your child will miss the bus.
• Please make sure all children come in their full SJA uniforms tomorrow and not their gym uniforms for the ROM trip as we are not going to be here for the gym day.
• Friday is a P.D day.  There is no school on Friday.
• Monday is Family Day.  There is no school on Monday.
• Tuesday, February 21st is the SJA Pancake Eating contest.  All houses will compete to see who can eat their stack of pancakes fastest for house points!
• The whole-school oral presentation contest is on Thursday, February 23rd.  Parents are welcome to attend to watch the children compete, even if your child is not in the competition.  The judging starts at 9am.

Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson