Good afternoon!

 Our class started off the day by working on a writing activity.  Today's activity focused on writing adventure stories.  As a class we read a story about 4 friends who got into some trouble on their way to a parade.  We discussed the important elements of that story (character, setting, problem, solution) and then put all the elements onto a story board.  The students then had to independently create their own story boards that they turned into an adventure story.  All the children had chance to read their stories to the class which was a lot of fun!  During language today the children were introduced to our new project- a novel study.   As a class we are going to be reading Winnie The Pooh by A.A Milne, and the children are going to work in groups to complete a novel study booklet.  The children will meet at the end of each chapter to discuss the characters, setting and main events.  Eventually the whole book will be summarized in their novel study booklets, which will be assessed with a rubric.  This is a major language project for this term.  In our unit of inquiry the children worked on letters to 'Mother Nature' thanking her for the environment.  They used their brainstorms from yesterday to give them ideas of ways we use the environment, and ways we can conserve it.  The letters will be completed tomorrow and marked with a checklist.  During math the students worked on counting before and after numbers, and counting money (grade one) and breaking down and creating shapes (grade two).   The students also went to French class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Jump Math pages 198 - 199 (grade two), and Cursive pages 203 - 205.

Important information:  Our class is heading out on a field trip!  We are going to attend the Peel Children's Water Festival on May 24th from 9am - 3pm.  On this trip we will be learning about water and our environment, and how humans need to be careful in the ways we use and treat water.  This trip is a part of our current IB unit.  The signed trip form and $7.00 are due by May 22nd, 2012.  All students brought home a trip form with them last night. 

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.

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.  The choir's next performance is going to be at Arts Night on June 6th.


Best regards,

Mrs. Nelson