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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Happy Monday!

The students started off this morning by copying down their new weekly spelling words and working in their spelling books.  The students focused on 'y' vowel words (grade ones) and suffixes (grade two).  In our IB unit of inquiry the students completed their KWL charts that we began as a class a few weeks ago.  In today's class the students were asked to complete a brainstorm of all the different things they have learned in the structures unit to date, and add them into the 'learned' category of their chart.  It was nice to see how their learning has progressed so far from the beginning of the unit.  In tomorrow's class we are going to begin our final task for this unit.  The children are going to be asked to turn all their learned facts into a book that they are going to create, write, illustrate and present to the class.  This project is going to be marked with a rubric that I will have posted tomorrow for you to review.  Help your child tonight by practising interesting facts with them from this unit.  During math today the children worked on sorting data into groups (grade one) and problems and sides and vertexes (grade two).  We read another chapter of Dealing with Dragons, the children wrote a weekend summary in their journals and the children worked on cursive during language.  They also went to french and P.E classes.


Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, Jump math pages 178 - 179 and cursive pages 178 - 179.

Important information: 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 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. away                   1. having
2. pay                      2. serving
3. try                       3. loves
4. sky                      4. baked
5. they                     5. trades
6. cry                      6. fried
7. my                       7. bodies
8. day                      8. luckier
9. why                     9. funniest
10. deny                 10. carries

Friday, April 20, 2012

Happy Earth Day! (at SJA)

I was away this morning at an IB event with SJA's grade 5 class, so our class got to spend the morning with Ms. Poland.  While I was away the students worked on an Earth Day writing activity where they were asked to reflect on personal changes they would like to make for the earth and the way they are going to help make that change.  The students had their weekly spelling tests which are marked and coming home with them tonight.  In our IB unit of inquiry the students completed their structures research project in their pairs from earlier this week.  All students were asked to present their project to the class to share their knowledge with the class.  Every class member was then asked to complete a reflection sheet on a peer's presentation to show what they learned from them.  When I returned in the afternoon we worked on cursive, special sounds, vowel sounds and contractions in language. During math today the children worked on sorting data into groups (grade one) and problems and puzzles with mass and estimation (grade two).  The students also got to head out as a school to help clean up the grounds for Earth Day!  They had a lot of fun with that activity!


Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, re-write incorrect spelling words ten times each (including the bonus word), Letters and Sounds pages 154 - 155, Jump math pages 176 - 177 and cursive pages 176 - 177.

Important information: 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.

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.  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, Sofia, 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 at http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Nelson

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Happy Thursday!

We started off the day today by working on story writing.  The students were asked to use their weekly spelling words and turn them into a fictional story.  A number of very interesting story ideas were presented which was great to see!  In language today the students worked on finishing sentences, contractions, special sounds and cursive.  We also read another chapter of Dealing with Dragons.  Ask your child tonight to summarize what has been happening in the story for you either orally or in writing! During our unit of inquiry today the students got back into their pairs from yesterday and continued working on their structures research project that they began at the library.  The students were asked to take the rough copy information they collected yesterday and turn it into a good copy.  In tomorrow's class the good copies are going to be completed, and the pairs are going to present their good copies to the class.  During math today the children worked on completing puzzles using symmetry (grade one) and measuring masses using a variety of objects (grade two).  The students also went to french class.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, and cursive pages 174 - 175.

Important information: 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.

The structures re-test took place at 1st recess today.  All students who wrote the test are bringing home their marked copies with them tonight. 

Adam's family is sending in a pizza lunch for our class tomorrow to celebrate his birthday!  This means a lunch will not be required.  Thank you to the Rangwalas!

Tomorrow is our Earth Day celebration at SJA.  Children may come to school dressed in green, blue and brown to celebrate.  The whole-school is participating in a yard clean-up in the afternoon, so please make sure your children are dressing appropriately.

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.  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 many 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, Sofia, Seanna, and Alex.

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 at http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Beat regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Good afternoon!

We had a great day today at the Streetsville Library!  The children were treated to a number of stories read by the librarian, we were given a class tour of the library, the children were able to browse for books to sign out, and they even completed a research project on structures.  It was quite a trip! Ask your child tonight to tell you about the famous structure they studied today.  Many of the children are bringing home library books with them that they signed out with their own library cards.  These books may be returned to any Mississauga Library location by the due date indicated on the sign-out slip.  When we returned from the trip the students completed a library reflection sheet where they were asked to reflect on the learning they did at the library, the friend they were most proud of at the library, and their favourite part of the library.  It was very interesting to see the answers that were given with this activity! The students also went to french and P.E classes.

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


Important information:  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.

OUR CLASS WILL BE HAVING A SCIENCE QUIZ RE-TEST TOMORROW FOR THOSE THAT NEED TO WRITE IT STILL, OR SCORED 85% OR LOWER ON THE FIRST TEST.

Adam's family is sending in a pizza lunch for our class this Friday to celebrate his birthday!  This means a lunch will not be required on Friday, April 20th.  Thank you to the Rangwalas!

This Friday, April 20th is our Earth Day celebration at SJA.  Children may come to school dressed in green, blue and brown to celebrate.  The whole-school is participating in a yard clean-up in the afternoon, so please make sure your children are dressing appropriately.

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.  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 many 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, Sofia, Seanna, Dumeir, and Alex.

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 at http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Beat regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Bonjour!

We started off the day today by working on a writing exercise.  The students read over sample journal entries and then were asked to write their own journal entry about a topic of their choice.  We had a focus on comas and quotation marks for this exercise and the students showed great results!  Ask them tonight to practice sentence writing using these important pieces of punctuation.  During our unit of inquiry today we had preparation period for our library trip tomorrow.  The students all were asked to come up with questions, predicitons and behaviour plans for the trip.  It is hoped that by having a plan in place, the experiences at the library tomorrow will be much greater.  In language today the children worked on adding suffixes to root words, picture words, a comprehension activity and cursive. During math today we had a mental math competition with a focus on odd and even numbers.  Ask your child tonight to tell you the chant they use to remember their even numbers.  The students also went to french and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, and cursive pages 172 - 173.

Important information: Our Streetsville Library field trip is taking place tomorrow.  If your child already has a library card and has your permission to sign out books, please do not forget to send the card with them on Wednesday.  Children are not allowed to bring snacks with them on the trip.  We will be back in time for the regular lunch period.  Children may come to school in their gym clothes for the trip, as it is a gym day.

Adam's family is sending in a pizza lunch for our class this Friday to celebrate his birthday!  This means a lunch will not be required on Friday, April 20th.  Thank you to the Rangwalas!

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.  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 many 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, Sofia, Seanna, Dumeir, and Alex.

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.  Invitations have gone home with each student.

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 at http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Beat regards,

Mrs. Nelson

Monday, April 16, 2012

Happy Monday!

We started off the day today by copying down the new weekly spelling words and working in the Spelling Workbooks.  The students focused on 's' blend words (grade one) and words with suffixes (grade two).  During our unit of inquiry today we had our mid-unit test.  I was very happy with the results from the students!  I can see that they have all grasped a lot of information from our structures unit so far, and I can only imagine what additional learning we will accomplish in the last couple weeks of this unit.  All students are bringing home their marked tests with them tonight.  In language today the children worked on writing summaries.  As a class we discussed the importance of being able to summarize an event, and also the important elements that a summary includes.  The students were then asked to use their journals to write proper summaries of their weekends.  During math the children worked on creating symmetrical shapes (grade one) and estimating masses of various objects (grade two).  The students also went to french and P.E classes.

Homework:  Read for 15 minutes and record in the reading chart, practice weekly spelling words, cursive pages 170 - 171, and Jump Math page 173.

Important information: Our Streetsville Library field trip is taking place this Wednesday.  If your child already has a library card and has your permission to sign out books, please do not forget to send the card with them on Wednesday.  Children are not allowed to bring snacks with them on the trip.  We will be back in time for the regular lunch period.  Children may come to school in their gym clothes for the trip, as it is a gym day.

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.  An invitation was emailed out yesterday.

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.  I am looking to get returned copies from the following students: Emerald, Ninara, Sofia, Seanna, Dumeir, and Alex.

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.  Invitations have come home with each student tonight.

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 at http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theparenttrap/doyoubelieveinmagic.htm and play the song for them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyGyH9mWHk.


Beat regards,

Mrs. Nelson


Grade One                  Grade Two
1. small                        1. jogging
2. last                           2. running
3. spot                         3. trimming
4. slow                         4. shopped
5. snow                        5. sadder
6. spoon                       6. skipping
7. slide                          7. gladdest
8. star                           8. hopped
9. smell                         9. winning
10. sneak                     10. mixed