Dear Families,

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend with your loved ones!  In class, I look forward to hearing about your family's 'Thankful Stone' sharing experience.  Students were extremely excited to bring home their 'Thankful Bags' and share the contents inside with you!  I know many of you will cherish your child’s Thankful Letter.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as your child enjoyed writing it this week.  As I conferenced with students to offer feedback, I was deeply touched by their thoughts, words, and actions in their heartfelt message to you!  Check us out below as we did a Thankful Stone sharing as a class family about all the things we're grateful for in our life!

Parker:.
This week we spent a lot of time thinking and learning about the word and importance of GRATITUDE.  Ask your child what it means :)

Thank you Parker for sharing your learning about gratitude at home with your Mom and Dad.  Today, I received a heart-warming email from Parker's Mom and she shared the science behind gratitude and how it helps our brains!!

Inside your child's thankful bag you'll find the note created by Mrs. Lloyd (Parker's Mom).  See pic below.  Enjoy reading and learning about this meaningful concept!!  We are so grateful for your time, efforts, and caring about OUR well being.  Thank you, Mrs. Lloyd!!!

Writing Task - Orange Shirt Day:

On Monday, staff and students wore an orange shirt to honour all the Indigenous children who survived the Residential schools and to remember those who didn’t.  These schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.  We have done a lot of thinking about this experience in class and I am happy to share all my students have such great empathy as they're thinking about the feelings of all those affected by residential schools.  

Thank you to all the students who wore ORANGE to support this initiative!

This week's writing focused on the following topic:

I hope you enjoyed listening to your child's writing when it came home earlier this week.  I'm so proud of their powerful messages!!  In our class, we will continue to remember all the boys and girls of Indigenous culture.  We cannot change what happened in the past, but we will all move forward in the spirit of reconciliation and respect!!  

Jeremy:
Thank you Jeremy for bringing in these two wonderful books to share with our class!  It really helped us learn more about Indigenous people and their culture!!  I'm proud of you for connecting your learning at school, taking it home with you, and then bringing something back to our classroom so we can continue to grow our brain POWER!!  Next week, we will read "Stolen Words" to continue honouring Indigenous, First Nation, Inuit, and Metis people :)  

  

Meet the Teacher Night:

It was an absolute joy meeting and connecting with all the parents who were able to come meet me, see our classroom, and rejoice in all the wonderful new learning your child is partaking in thus far this school year!  I have every confidence that together we will continue meeting your child's academic, social, and behavioural needs.  Your support is greatly valued and cherished. 

If at any time you wish to contact or set up a meeting with me, please do not hesitate to!  I can be reached via the agenda, phone call at the school (705. 445. 1827), or by email: pgill@scdsb.on.ca 

Science:

In Science, we are learning about Forces Causing Movement.  Please read over the expectations as this is what I will be covering in class over the next while.  

Students will:

• identify a force as a push or pull that causes an object to move
• identify different kinds of forces à gravitational force, electrostatic force, magnetism, muscular force, and friction
• describe how different forces applied to an object at rest can cause the object to start, stop, attract, repel, or change direction
• identify ways in which forces are used in our daily lives
• assess the effects of the action of forces in nature on the natural and built environment

Students have been given a science notebook (see above example) to record science vocabulary and their knowledge and understanding of concepts taught.  We will be doing a variety of interactive science experiments and students will be expected to write down their hypothesis and conclusions in their notebooks as well!  

Math:

Yesterday, I sent home a math review sheet of concepts we’ve focused on and learned about in the first month of school!  Students are demonstrating a greater understanding of number sense and numeration.  You may wish to help support your child over the weekend by having him or her practice these skills at home so they are well prepared for an assessment next week. 

Art:

On Day 1's from 12:10 – 1:00 p.m., Ms. West teaches the students Art.  She has been enjoying the class very much and has been creating lessons and activities that are very meaningful and fun.  Ask your child what he or she has learned so far from Ms. West :)

Health:

On Day 2’s from 12:10 – 1:00 p.m., Mrs. Johnson (teacher librarian) teaches the students Health.

The learning goal in health will focus on Healthy Living.  Please read over the expectations as this is what will be covered by Mrs. J this term:

  

Students will:

• describe the benefits of healthy goof choices, physical activity, and healthy bodies
• describe a variety of ways to prevent tooth decay (E.g., brushing, making appropriate food choices, rinsing the mouth)

Harrison & Karson:
These two boys decided during their FREEDOM FRIDAY activity time today they would write me a heart-felt message.  I had no idea until they came up to me after and gave me their letter.  Thank you so much for doing this for me, it means the world!  Your kindness is something I will always remember about YOU!!

Growth Mindset:

“I can’t do it YET …with EFFORT, I can!”

Mindfulness:
What are you grateful for and why?  Instead of counting "sheep" before going to bed, you may wish to count all your wonderful "blessings" you have in your life!  Give it a try :)  You'll be amazed at how many things you're blessed with.  This will help you sleep deeper and more restfully.

Namaste,
Ms. Gill