Dear Families,

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween celebration on Wednesday!  Many students shared with me their excitement and all the fun they had with their family and friends!  I'm delighted to hear everyone was safe and had a blast!  

Thank you to all the students and staff who participated in our spirit day by dressing up in orange, black, and purple!  Check us out!

Can you believe it's already November!?  This month's character trait focuses on Courage - "We do the right thing EVEN WHEN IT'S DIFFICULT!"  Accepting challenges outside our comfort zones is something that isn't easy, but when we do, we can become a better version of ourselves and realize our potential has NO BOUNDARIES!

Halloween Celebration:

Thank you to Sebastien's family for your time, energy, and loving thought to provide some treats for our Halloween PARTY!  We appreciate and devoured the goodies, YUM!  We needed to burn off our energy, so we enjoyed a class dance party during period 6!  Many kids have spectacular groovin' thriller dance moves!

Halloween Math:
This week, we had a friendly competition to guess how many pumpkin seeds were in our class pumpkin which we decorated for the school contest.  Congratulations to Alex and Karson for having the closest estimate!  There was a total of 584 seeds!!  Alex won the pumpkin and Karson won the seeds!!  Way to go boys :-)

School Halloween Fundraiser:

Thank you to all the families who donated a toonie or cat/dog item to help support the Georgian Humane Society.  You have and are continuing to make a difference, it is appreciated!!  Our class raised $55.20!  Plus, Addy's Mom donated a GIANT bag of dog food!  I am really pleased with how generous the hearts of my class family are!

Below you will find a google slide which shares just how generous our whole school was!  We raised over $463.00!!!

'Success Criteria' for Learning Skills & Work Habits:

Last week, I had students work in small groups to collaborate as a team to come up with their own 'Expectations' and 'Criteria' of what each Learning Skill "Looks Like, Sounds Like, and Feels Like."  The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to set their own goals to help them reinforce their strengths and improve their achievement in the areas of:

• Responsibility
• Independent Work
• Collaboration 
• Initiative
• Organization
• Self-Regulation  

We will be referring to their 'Criteria' that they've established throughout the school year!  I believe in the importance and value of having my students' input and voices heard.  I strongly feel this activity will serve as a purposeful tool in helping the kids put effective work habits into place to achieve their personal best in their academic, social and behavioural learning.

Below are some pictures of students working collaboratively to come up with ideas for each learning skill!  We'll have a closer look at these when I see parents for their child's student-led conference the week of Nov. 19^th – 23^rd.  I look forward to it!

Writing:

This week’s writing task focused on students thinking about and reflecting upon all 6 learning skills and work habits.  What I had the students do was to write their own Progress Report Card and self-assess how they think they’re doing in these areas.  They wrote a specific star comment (what they think they’re doing well) and an arrow comment (what they need to improve upon).  They had fun during this process! 

This task was also an opportunity for students to set goals for themselves in various other subject areas.  Don’t worry, you will have the chance to see these very closely at the student-led conferences. Your child will be eager to share all their hard work with you!   

Math:
We have worked very hard in class in our measurement unit for telling time.  I sent home a review sheet yesterday with practice questions which I highly encourage students to work through over the weekend in preparation for their Time Quiz on Tuesday.  Thank you parents for your support in helping your child with their study skills.  It's making a difference!

Family Yoga Night:

Location: Nottawa E.S Gym

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018

Time: 6:15 - 7:15 pm

Yoga Instructor: Karie Steinberg

Please sign-in on the attachment from the link below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11gqOTNE_VPSgDzu80iYDvfM6Q57KS1UbrA1yw7roS7I/edit

Student-Led Conferences:

Please use the link below to access your child's teachers’ sign-up sheet regarding the Parent, Guardian/Student Led Conferences during the week of Monday November 19^th to 23^rd.   

Please feel free to call the school if you are experiencing technical difficulty.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cuuwNvqjue145buPIKSP5OBWrdU_1w4rll3zapTEYsc/edit#gid=1364534048

School Newletter:
Mr. Perry and Mrs. Beattie have worked hard in the office to prepare and publish our November Newsletter - happy reading!  Click the link below ...
http://not.scdsb.on.ca/parents/newsletters

Adalyn:

Thank you Adalyn for bringing in an interactive magnetic game to share with your peers and me.  This links directly with our science learning about different kinds of forces!  I had fun playing it with you!  You're great at it :)

Mindfulness:

What does being PRESENT mean?  When we are in the moment, we can achieve so many wonderful things!  You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.  Give it a TRY!  Be mindful.  EVERYDAY!

Growth Mindset:

“Do the right thing, EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING!”

Namaste,

Ms. Gill