Week of Feb 19th

Happy Family Day!  We hope you are enjoying your day with your family.  The sun is out and it looks like a beautiful day to be outside!

On Friday, we had the kids pack up their blankets to bring home for a wash.  It was time!  Please send the blankets back tomorrow with your child.

This week, we will not have a letter or word or the week.  Instead, we will just review the words and letters that we have already looked at.

On Friday, we will be having an outdoor Olympic play-day for the kindergarten students.  It will take place outside in the morning (for a few hours) so please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately.  The goal is to enjoy the fresh air as well as be active throughout the planned activities.  The kids are going to have a blast!  Let's hope Mother Nature cooperates with us. In support of all the Canadian athletes, we are asking the kids to wear red and white or something showing the maple leaf.  Go, Canada!

On Friday we finished our egg experiment after 20 + days.  Mrs. T had the honours of cutting open both eggs.  The students made many great predictions.  They predicted that the egg in vinegar had grown because the vinegar was inside it.  When Mrs. T cut it open, there was a big gush or liquid - the vinegar.  The kids were a bit grossed out and amazed all at the same time!  The egg in water had remained unchanged.

Week of Feb 12th

Today we looked at the letter "l" and the word "love".  We have another catchy song to help us spell love.  Please ask your child to sing it to you tonight! Our sks wrote many lovely sentences using the word love.  They ALL love their family so much!

Snuggle Folders and library books came home today.  Happy reading!

We are still in need of 10 empty kleenex boxes for Wednesday.  If you have any at home, please send them our way!  We will go ahead with Valentine's Day on Wednesday even though Ash Wednesday falls on the same day.  The students are welcome to wear red, pink and white.  Please do not address each Valentine by the student's first name.  Just fill out the "from" portion of the card.  It makes it easier to pass them out. There are 29 students in our class.

 If you have any used shoes that you are wanting to part with, please send them in.  We are looking to break our record of donations from last year (1048 pairs school wide).  These shoes all go to the non-profit organization Soles 4 Souls.

Here are some pictures from today:

Week of Feb. 5th

Happy February and welcome to Kindness Month.  Today we talked about ways in which we can be kind to each other.  Our focus this month will be to do a kind gesture to at least one person each day.  The kids were very eager to make booklets about how they can be kind to others. 

A big thank you to all our parent volunteers last Thursday.  The kids enjoyed the winter workshops and learned so much from each of the stations.  Hopefully they came home and told you about weather, birds and snow/ice.

Our letter of the week is "e" and our word of the week is "me".  The kids made "Me Books" showing off all their special qualities.  We have so many little artists in Room 138!

Just a reminder to return library books on Friday in order for your child to be able to take out a new book on Monday.  Please do not put your child's library book in with the Snuggle Folder (sk students only)

A few parents have been requesting class lists for Valentine's cards.  We ask that you do not address each card to a particular child.  Instead, please write your child's name in the "from" portion of the card.  Each child will have a chance to pass out their cards into their classmate's "love monster" on Valentine's Day. 

Speaking of Valentine's Day... we have a special craft that we will be making (a love monster!).  Each student will require an empty kleenex box for this craft.  If you have empty kleenex boxes at home, please send them in with your child.  We will need 29 boxes so if you have more than one, we will gladly take them!

The Kindergarten classes are launching their social justice project and asking our whole school community to donate used shoes for a wonderful cause.  We encourage you to send in at least one pair of used shoes on Valentine's Day, but we will be collecting them right up until March break.  For more information on this worthy cause, please check this link:  Soles 4 Souls

Bake Sale this Friday - The grade two classes are running a bake sale this Friday and a special nature day.  For details on all the excitement, please check this link:  Bake Sale Poster

Here are some pictures from today:

Week of January 29th

Our letter of the week is "g" and our word of the week is "go".  The children are having a great time finding our popcorn words and are looking for these words in their library books,  It is very cool to hear them calling out the word wall words that they have found. These are all signs of early readers! Yahoo!

Please remember to send in your child's library book separate from the Snuggle Folders.  There have been a few mix ups with the library books.  Please ensure that the Snuggle Folder comes back every Friday with the easy reader inside. You can send the library book back in your child's mailbag.

This Thursday, we will be having Scientists in the Schools come in for a presentation.  If you are able to volunteer for the afternoon, we would love it.  We are still in need of 2 parents to volunteer.

Today was Day 11 of our egg experiment.  This experiment has proven to be a big hit in the classroom with the children and adults.  The egg in vinegar has undergone some amazing transformations and now looks like a giant bouncy ball (as one of the students described it).  We will keep observing for as long as we can.  Some children are sure that a chicken is going to hatch at the end!

Yearbooks:

ST. GABRIEL

2017-2018 YEARBOOK

We are starting earlier this year!

Purchase your yearbook online now!

Cost: 25$       

ONLY 20$ if purchased before Feb. 5th 2018

www.YearbookOrderCenter.com

School Code: 15978

Here are some pictures from the day:

Week of Jan. 22nd

Mother Nature sure is playing tricks on us with this weather!  The children are loving the snow and were commenting on how it was like we were in a snow globe this afternoon!  It did look beautiful falling down.  Just a reminder that if tomorrow is a snow day, there will not be pizza.  Instead, it will be delivered on Wednesday.  Friday is a PD Day so there will be no school for the children.

This week is Literacy Week.  On Thursday, January 25th, the school will be having a pj and favourite book day.  The students are welcome to wear their comfy pjs and bring in their favourite book to read.  We will ensure that all books get returned home.

Our letter of the week is the letter "c" and our word of the week is 'can'.  The sk students continue to practise their writing by sounding out words.  We do not correct their spelling and encourage them to write down what letter sound they are hearing.  There has been so much growth in their writing and we are so excited to see where they will be in June!

The snuggle folders were sent back home today as well as your child's new library book.  Please keep these books separate from each other.  Please remember that the Snuggle Program should not bring any stress into you or your child's life.  It is meant to take a few minutes to snuggle up and read together - whether it be only you reading to your child or your child eventually reading to you if they are comfortable by Thursday.  Simply enjoy this time with each other!  Please return library books every Friday to ensure that your child can take out a new book on Monday.

Late last week we conducted an egg experiment where the children observed and describe 2 eggs. One egg in plain water and one egg in vinegar.  We continued to observe these eggs and made notes of our findings.  The children are doing so well with not touching the eggs even though it is so tempting (even for the adults!).

Today we began to make our birch tree paintings.  These turn out so beautiful every year and are so deserving of wall space at home.  We are really excited to finish them and send them home.

In Math, we have continued to explore 2D and 3D shapes as well as learn about tally marks.  The children are having a great time asking their friends what shape the like the best and using tally marks when collecting the data.  Ask your child what 5 or 10 looks like using tally marks.

On Thursday, February 1st, we will have a very special afternoon planned with the Scientists in the Schools Program.  We will be enjoying a Winter Wonderland program starting at 1 pm for the full afternoon.  We will be looking for 4 volunteers to assist us that day.  A letter will be coming home to ask for volunteers.


Here are some pictures from today:

Week of January 15th

Our letter of the week is the letter "N" and our word of the week is "and".  We talked about how this word is found everywhere and how we use it so often and don't even realize!  Please continue to practise letter identification and letter sounds with your child.

We continued to look at 2D and 3D shapes today.  At the Art table, we created AMAZING 3D shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks.  Mrs. T and I were so impressed with the shapes the kids constructed all on their own.

Today, the SK students came home with their Snuggle Folders.  Please read the information in the front pouch.  The idea of this program is not to be stressful for you or your child rather to give you a few minutes to snuggle and enjoy looking at a book together.  Please return the folder with the book inside every Friday.  These books will be passed on to other students so please ensure that they come back each week.

Last week, we conducted a fun science experiment where the kids had to predict which bucket of snow would melt first (snow with salt, snow with crayons or snow with sparkles).  The kids were so excited to see which one would "win" at the end of the day.  They had great ideas as to why they thought the snow would melt the fastest.

Be sure to check out the link for our new French song, C'est l'hiver!

Reminders:

Please ensure that your child has spare socks, pants and underwear.  Accidents happen unexpectedly in Kindergarten!

Our water fountain in the classroom is not cooperating with us!  If you could send in a water bottle with your child each day, that would be much appreciated.  Remember to label it.

Week of January 8th

Happy New Year to all!  We hope you had a restful and enjoyable holiday season.  2018 started off great! The kids were so happy to be back and ready to learn.  Mrs. T and I commented many times today on how engaged the students were and what a lovely first day it was.  By quiet time, many were ready to take a little nap and rest their body.

Our letter of the week is "y" and our word of the week is "my".  We learned a song to help us always remember how to spell 'my'.  Please ask your children to sing the song to you.  Our sk friends wrote some pretty fantastic sentences using our word of the week.  Check out the samples in the pictures below.

We also revisited 10 frames today and explored some bigger numbers (11-15).  The students used the gems to represent the number given.  Please continue to explore numbers at home.  Make it fun so the kids will want to engage in learning all about numbers.

We had an issue with one of our reading programs called Raz- Kids but it has now been resolved.  We will be sending home information regarding Raz- Kids and how to get started from home if you wish to.  It is an online reading program that is fun for the kids.

Next Monday, we will be sending our home reading program with the SK students only.  Each Sk student will be bringing  home a duotang with one book per week.  You will find instructions for this program inside the duotang.  It is very simple and allows you a few minutes to snuggle up with your child an read. Please ensure that the folder and snuggle book comes back to school every Friday.

Today we welcomed Mrs. Hanna as our new Vice- Principal.  We look forward to seeing her in our classroom and working with her this year.  She is coming to read to us next week and we are SO excited!

Reminders:

• Please send back blankets and spare clothing if you have not done so already.
• We will continue to stay outdoors each morning so please have your child dressed for the weather.  
• If a snow day (bus cancellations) occurs on a Tuesday, pizza day is cancelled so ensure that your child has a lunch if they are coming to school.  Pizza will be delivered the following day.

Kindergarten Registration:  Registration for junior kindergarten takes place during the week of January 15-19th, at St Gabriel.  Please call the school at 613-271-6181 to schedule an appointment.  Registration will also be accepted anytime during the school year if you happen to miss the official January registration period.  If you live in the area of the NEW Kanata North Catholic School you will register here at St Gabriel.