- The Days of the Cycle are listed on the class calendar, as well as our "Student of the Day". This student does not need to prepare anything or bring anything to school, they just get to help with some special jobs in our classroom.
- Orders for School Spirit Wear (Clothing) are due this Thursday. Sample sizes are available in the office. You can order through the school website.
- Scholastic Book orders are due on Friday, March 11th (deadline has been extended). Each time you order Scholastic Books, we get credit to buy books for the classroom!
- March Break is next week (March 14-18). There will be no school that week or on Good Friday (March 25) or Easter Monday (March 28). We hope you enjoy the holidays with your families!
- Interviews: if you wanted an interview but have not yet had one, please contact us ([email protected]) to arrange a date after March Break.
Guest Presenters: Recently we've had several special presentations made by guests. Thank you so much to "Clio the Clown" and to the students from the University of Guelph who came to do a presentation about flight through the "Let's Talk Science" Program. We had fun dropping our parachutes down the stairs from the second floor! It's wonderful to have these special opportunities, especially when they're offered to us for free. If you're interested in coming in to do a special project or presentation with the students, just let us know (some ideas include: science experiment, cooking, art activity, yoga session, talking about your work, hobby, religion, country of origin, etc.).
Lost and Found: The school's lost and found is currently on display and the items will be donated to charity if they are not claimed by the end of the week. If you have a chance, you can pop into the school to see if you recognize anything on the tables. You can also let us know of any misplaced items and we can help your child look for their belongings.
Classroom Volunteers: If you are available to volunteer after the March Break please confirm if you'd like to keep the same schedule (frequency, day of the week, etc.) or if you'd like to make a change. If you want to be removed from the roster just let us know, or if you want to begin volunteering that would be wonderful. You can even come just once a month.
Curriculum:
Language - We have been doing a "Focused Literacy Time" for about 10 minutes each day, during which the students have been participating in assigned literacy activities. Some of these activities include reading books to themselves, listening to the "Chansons Phoniques" songs (the little booklet we sent home in the fall), reading with Madame, playing games with ABCs or sight words and writing. Many students have been proud to discover they can read books in French all by themselves! They have been writing little books about the things they like (J'aime). We will send these home on Friday. Please have your child read his/her book to you. We will also be sending home a sheet of songs which can be added to the song duotang.
Math - The students have been working on Measurement Skills with Mme Horack. We have been comparing lengths and using the vocabulary "longer than / shorter than". We have measured our feet using various objects such as link chains and cubes (non-standard measurement). We have also been doing a variety of hands-on activities to develop numeracy skills.
Outdoor Fun and Physical Activity - We've been enjoying some long walks to see the water in the river melting, freezing, and melting again. We've also been noticing the activity of the many birds along the river. We had great fun climbing and playing on the giant mound of snow at the edge of the parking lot (this also included a lot of discussion about being safe in parking lots and how they are normally not a place to play!).
Dramatic Play - We have created a store in the classroom and the children have been enjoying purchasing items from one another.
Tapping Trees: Yesterday afternoon we tapped 3 maple trees to help with the school's collection of maple sap. We were able to see the sap dripping out of the tree and many children tried tasting it. This morning the buckets were already full! The sap will be boiled down through Transition Guelph's Urban Sugaring Project and then the school will receive the syrup our trees produced. Thank you to our teacher-librarian, Mme McEwen, for coordinating this special project.