Good afternoon!

The students started off today by working on a writing activity that focuses on paragraphs.  We had a discussion as a class about the proper elements of a paragraph (one topic, opening/closing sentences, the body, etc.) and as a class we wrote a proper paragraph about my dog Duke.  The children then had to go back and write their own paragraphs about either a real or fictional pet in their lives.  Ask your child tonight to tell you what they wrote about.  In our IB unit of inquiry the students watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy clip all about structures.  The children collected interesting facts from the video that they are going to use in their structures books that we are creating tomorrow.  In tomorrow's class the children are going to be asked to turn all the facts they have learned in this unit into a book.   They are going to create, write, illustrate and present their to the class.  This project is going to be marked with a rubric that I have posted at this end of today's blog for you to review.  Help your child tonight by practising interesting facts with them from our structures unit.  During math today the children worked on sorting data into groups (grade one) and problems and sides and vertexes (grade two).   They also went to french class.


Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words and cursive page 181.

Important information:  This Friday SJA's upper class is holding a hot dog sale!  Hot dogs will be on sale during 1st recess for $2.00 each.  The class is hoping to raise money for their trip to Ottawa.  If you would like your child to have a hot dog for lunch that day please send money with them.  There will be all beef or halal chicken hot dogs available both at $2.00.


Invitations for the French Cafe have gone home with all children and have also been sent out electronically.  The French Cafe is taking place on May 4th from 12 - 3pm at SJA.  All friends and family are welcome to attend this event.  Grandparents are especially welcome to attend, as this event is taking the place of the traditional Grandparent's Day concert.  Families are asked to RSVP to me in your child's agenda as soon as possible so that food preparations for the light lunch can be made accordingly.  Details for the children's costumes can be found on Mme. Stella's blog.

This Thursday is the next casual day at SJA.  Students may come to school dressed in any casual clothing they wish.

The upper year students are having a production of The 12th Night on this Thursday!  All students from SJA are welcomed and encouraged to attend this free production with their friends and families.  The production begins at 7pm in the SJA auditorium.  Any students that attend the concert will receive 1,000 house points for coming!

Information for SJA Summer Camps are now available.  SJA offers a range of camps over the summer months with a variety of themes ranging from karate camps, to writing camps to traditional summer camps programs.  Please contact the school for more information about these exciting programs.

I am still waiting for report cards to be completed and returned to me from a few students.  Please complete the 'Parent's Comments' section of the report card and return to school as soon as possible.  I am looking to get returned copies from the following students: Ninara and Seanna.

If your child is part of the SJA choir, please make sure they are practicing the choir song at home.  You can find the song lyrics athttp://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Quality of oral presentation.	Excellent. Presentation was always clear and easy to follow.  The information always made sense.  The presentation consistently provided relevant information.	Very good. Presentation was clear and mostly easy to follow.  The information usually made sense.  The presentation provided relevant information.	Fair. Presentation was sometimes easy to follow.  The information sometimes made sense.  The presentation provided some relevant information.	Poor Presentation was unclear and hard to follow.  The information did not make sense.  The presentation did not provide any relevant information.
Use of work periods.	Excellent.  Worked well at all times.  Consistently participated well in the class no distractions.	Very good.  Worked well most of the time.  Usually participated well in the class with little distractions.	Fair. Sometimes worked well.  Participation needs improvement.  Often was distracted.	Poor. Was not able to work well.  Did not participate well and was consistently distracted.
Quality of written work.	Excellent.  Showed excellent cursive. No errors throughout the writing.  Main points were always well summarized on each page with no missing information.	Very good. Showed very good cursive.  Few errors.  Main points were usually well summarized throughout each page with no missing information.	Fair. Cursive requires improvement. Writing had some errors.  Main points were loosely summarized, with missing or incorrect information on pages.	Poor. Poor quality cursive, with many errors.  Main points were incorrect or missed on a majority of pages.
Quality of illustrations.	Illustrations were always meaningful and reflected the information presented on the page.  Title page showed great effort.	Very good. Illustrations showed good effort and usually reflected the information on the page.  Title page showed some effort.	Fair. Illustrations were attempted and sometimes reflected the information on the page.  Title page showed a little effort.	Poor.  Little to no illustrations that did not reflect the information on the page.  Title page was not complete/ had no effort.