Happy Thursday!

We started off the day today working on a writing activity.  The children were asked to create fictional stories of their choice that incorporated at least 3 of their weekly spelling words. It was great to see how innovative and creative the students are able to get with these types of tasks now!  During our unit of inquiry today the students continue working on their 'structures with a problem' stories.  In this assignment all the children were asked to create a fictional story about a structure with a problem (e.g a bridge with no end, a building without a roof, an elevator with no doors, etc.) and draw an illustration to go with it.  The students completed their stories and illustrations today and then all had a chance to read their completed stories to the class.  We all had a lot of fun with his.  We also began discussing a new topic in our structures unit- natural versus man made materials.  As a class we spoke about the differences, the pros and cons of using the two types of materials when building structures, and where the two different sources of materials come from.  The students then worked on an activity that had them sorting and organizing objects into 'man-made' and 'natural' categories.   In math today we had a mental math competition to practice this important skill.  Today's competition focused on odd and even numbers.  This was a new concept to many of the students, so it was nice to see them begin to pick up on it by the end.  Help your child practice counting their odds and even numbers at home tonight!  We had a class Spelling Bee in the afternoon that they really enjoyed that is going to help prepare for the 1st Annual St. Jude's Spelling Bee taking place on June 12th, 2012!   They also went to french and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, complete 'natural versus man-made' worksheet and cursive pages 166 - 167.

Important information:  The Streetsville Library field trip forms are due back by Monday, April 16th if your child is attending.  This is a free trip that will allow them to complete the research component for an upcoming project, as well as explore the library and sign out books.

It seems there was confusion with this week's spelling words.  Please find the list at the end of this posting to help your child study for tomorrow's test.

It has been announced that St. Jude's is going to be having its first annual school-wide Spelling Bee on the 12th of June.  More details for this exciting event will follow shortly!

The upper year students are having a production of The 12th Night on Thursday, April 26th 2012.  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. 

I am still waiting for report cards to be completed and returned to me from many students.  Please complete the 'Parent's Comments' section of the report card and return to school as soon as possible.

The French Cafe is taking place on May 4th at St. Jude's Academy.  All classes are participating for this exciting event.  Invitations with specific details will be sent out shortly.  Our class is doing a Renaissance piece for the event.  Girls are asked to come to school is fancy Renaissance themed gowns or robes, and boys are asked to come in fancy Renaissance themed attire with a tie.  For more information and pictures please see Mme. Stella's blog.

The Grandparent's Day concert is being combined with the French Cafe this year.  This means that all Grandparents will receive special invitations to this event on May 4th.

We did not have choir practice this week due to the Bake Sale.  Please make sure your child is practicing the choir song at home.  You can find the song lyrics at http://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

Grade One                    Grade Two
1. glad                            1. worked
2. flag                             2. sending
3. play                            3. wants
4. black                          4. glasses
5. clock                          5. sees
6. clay                            6. burning
7. fly                               7. reached
8. blue                            8. blue
9. glue                            9. wishes
10. clover                      10. opening