Week #4 - Orange Shirt Day & Terry Fox Run

Dear Families,

Happy October everyone!!  Fall is such a beautiful time of year and we're so fortunate to live in a community that is surrounded with nature so we can admire the changing colours of beautiful reds, oranges, and yellow!  

On Thursday afternoon, our class family took a mindful nature walk to enjoy connecting with Mother Earth and our beautiful community!!  We love the EARTH!! 

Like many of my students, I absolutely love going on hikes on the many trails that Collingwood has to offer and this is exactly what I plan on continuing to do over the weekend as well!  Perhaps you will too :-)

Meet the Teacher Virtual Slideshow:

If you haven't had the opportunity to do so YET, please access your child's Google Classroom to see and listen to this year's Meet the Teacher VIRTUAL SLIDESHOW!

Google Classroom

I would have LOVED to have seen you all face to face to welcome you into our classroom community, but for now, we had to do it virtually for you to get a glimpse into your child's grade 3 portable and to 'meet me.' 

To those parents who pick their child up from school, I want to say I'm so happy to have connected with you face to face at the fence.  Speaking with my students' parents is a joy to me.  You're all such caring and compassionate people who are raising remarkable children!!  I am in awe of you!

Orange Shirt Day:

Thank you to all students and staff who wore an orange shirt on September 30th to remember and honour our First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children who attended residential schools from the 1870's - 1990's.  

These were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture.  

Here at Nottawa, we CARE about what HAPPENED to the First People of Canada.  It is OUR MISSION to continue to LEARN & GROW from the past to help create a better and brighter present and future!!  Together, we can MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

In our THOUGHTS, WORDS, and ACTIONS - we will demonstrate that EVERY CHILD MATTERS, now ... and ALWAYS!!!

Since the beginning of school, our class has done a lot of thinking and learning about the survivors and non-survivors of the residential school experience.  It brings me immense joy seeing my students demonstrating such empathy (thinking about the feelings of others) towards all First Nations, Inuit, and Metis men and women who attended residential schools.  This truly demonstrates true character and I'm so proud of my students!

We have discussed that we cannot change the PAST, but it is UP TO US to make a BETTER and BRIGHTER PRESENT AND FUTURE.  

To help achieve this goal of ours, we brainstormed about "What WE can do towards RECONCILIATION."  See chart below of our ideas :)  

Art:

To help honour the Indigenous culture and heritage, we made dreamcatchers in art class.  But before we started this task, we learned all about its significance in the video below :)   

Check out some of the kids holding their dreamcatchers, they turned out well :)  I hope your child is able to hang his or her dreamcatcher in a special place to enjoy and REMEMBER the importance of Truth & Reconciliation.

Dougie:

A special mention to Dougie, a former student I taught in grade 3 last year, he made this dreamcatcher at Cubs and gifted it to me.  I was so touched by this kind gesture!!  Dougie knows how much our Indigenous people mean to me so he made this connection and wanted me to have his dreamcatcher.  

Dougie and I have a special rapport and it warms my heart when former students visit and continue to connect with me about the teachings they learned when we were in class together.  Meegwich, Dougie!!  Your dreamcatcher now proudly hangs in my classroom and ALWAYS WILL.

Reading:

Throughout the week, I've been sharing some stories by Indigenous authors about First Nations and Indigenous children's experiences at residential schools.  When I've been sharing these books, students are fully engaged, attentive, and truly expressed their empathy as they think about the feelings of all the Indigenous boys and girls affected by attending residential schools.  

I am so moved by their questions, responses and how grateful we are to be in a school that is safe and fosters equality and love.

Writing:

After listening to the stories, we worked on using a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the similarities and differences of a child's experience as a Nottawa student vs.  An Indigenous student at a residential school.  This was a very powerful exercise as students were making meaningful connections.

After this lesson, I provided students with an orange shirt template (see pictures below) and we thought about various adjectives that described how Indigenous children felt attending residential school.  Once this is done, students will write a personal message to an Indigenous child.  

Check out two examples below!  You will have the opportunity to see these in person when I send them home.  For now, we're continuing to work on this activity in class and building upon our messages of reconciliation and respect.

Please ask your child, what some of his or her ideas were!  We're really enjoying learning about our Indigenous people and the history of Canada!  This will be an ongoing discussion in our class as it's a passion of mine to REMEMBER THE TRUTH and to show that we are UNITED as Canadians.

Tessa & Family:

I would like to express my heartfelt thank you to Tessa and her parents for gifting me YET ANOTHER Orange Shirt.  It brought tears to my eyes when Tessa quietly and respectfully said, "Here Ms. Gill, this is for you."  

I'd like to share a little back story with you.  When I taught Parker (Tessa's older brother) in grade 3, I didn't have an orange shirt so I bought one from Walmart that had a Halloween pumpkin on it.  I turned it inside out for our National Truth & Reconciliation Day (2018).  

The following year when Parker was in grade 4, I saw him on the yard with an amazing orange shirt from Georgian College with the logo "Every Child Matters."  I admired it so much and just had to get a photo :)

My former students Jeremy and Parker (Sept. 2019)

The next day, Parker came to school, and handed me his orange shirt and said, "This is for you Ms. Gill, my Mom said, she can get me another one from the College."  This immediately brought a lump to my throat as I was desperately trying to hold back my tears.  

I now have 2 precious orange shirts that I CAN and WILL wear with PRIDE every National Truth & Reconciliation Day for years to come!!!  To the Lloyd family, from my heart to yours ... MEEGWICH!!

The Lloyd family is very passionate about our Indigenous people.  Each year, I know they are lovingly putting their energies into helping others spread the message of inclusivity, remembering the TRUTH, and honouring the First People of Canada.  Thank you for being INSPIRERS!  

Terry Fox Run:
We had a fantastic afternoon to honour our CANADIAN HERO Terry Fox!  Thank you to ALL the staff and students who wore their Nottawa spirit wear!  It brought such joy to my heart seeing everyone demonstrating their school & Canadian pride!

Elliott was so excited that he asked me, "Ms. Gill, may we please have a photo of the kids wearing their Nighthawk gear by our awesome wall in the gym?"  How could I resist!?  Nighthawks ROCK!

Can you believe it's been 41 years of the Marathon of Hope!!  What a remarkable achievement for ALL CANADIANS and people around the world who take the time and energy to do their part by donating to cancer research.

Here at Nottawa, it was delightful to see staff and students participating and doing our part in keeping Terry's Dream Alive! I was touched seeing everyone run, walk, and jog in support of loved ones and our beloved Terry Fox.  

Thank you to ALL the students and their families for your generous donations!  So far, our school has raised $3, 700.00 for the Foundation. Amazing!!  

If you didn't get an opportunity to donate yet, you still have time!!  Check out the link that I posted in last week's post :)

Together we can all make a difference and help find a cure through raising money for Cancer Research. Unfortunately, more often than not, many of us have been affected by this terrible illness through knowing family members and friends who have fought or are still fighting cancer.  

Let us all remain HOPEFUL and COURAGEOUS that one day there will be a cure as this is what Terry Fox would want ... never STOP BELIEVING!!  I give my thoughts, prayers, and well wishes to all those who have been affected.  

Mr. Bridson:

Did you hear!?  Mr. Bridson our NOTTAWA HERO dedicated his time, energy, and heart to raising awareness for cancer research.  Today, he woke up and started his Terry Fox Run at 7:30am - 3:30pm on our Nottawa track.  That's 8 hours!!  HE DID IT!!  

Ready to start his RUN (7:30am).

Now, we await to see how many laps he ran in that time.  Our class' guess was 255 laps.  The class who gets closest to his lap count wins a pizza party!!  We will find out next week, stay tuned :-)

Our class ran with Mr. Bridson during period 4 and it made me so happy to see ALL the children putting in their personal best to #TRYLIKETERRY.

Thank you Mr. Bridson for being a true warrior and hero for cancer research.  I know your beloved wife is watching down on you proudly.  You are an INSPIRING Nighthawk!!

Language:

In Language, we are learning to build upon our reading and writing skills.  This week, students completed a writing piece (see blank template below) about Terry Fox's courageous 'Marathon of Hope' which raises awareness about the importance of cancer research.  

Please watch the video below which helped inspire the many writers in our class to record meaningful facts from Terry's journey to help raise funds for cancer research!

Afterwards, I provided some guiding questions to help get the students writing flowing: 

Who is Terry Fox?

Why is he considered a Canadian Hero?

Why do we have the Terry Fox run annually?”

Who are you running for this year?

What has Terry Fox taught you?

I had the joy of reading student's completed entries and I am so proud of their thoughts and words!!  

Over the weekend, please ask your child to summarize / highlight some of the important parts of Terry Fox’s powerful journey and this writing task he or she worked on in class.  There were some students who used the reading comprehension strategy ‘Making Connections’ to connect their life experiences to Terry Fox.  

It was amazing to hear students' moving experiences and how Terry has positively impacted their life.  These completed pieces will be coming home soon with feedback for you to admire and celebrate!!  

Kahoot:

Has your child come home and shared with you about a fun, friendly, and interactive gameshow that we've been using in class!?  If not, I'll explain the premise of this popular program.  

Kahoot is a game-based learning platform used for educational purposes.  Its learning games AKA "Kahoots" are a series of multiple choice questions based on various topics that I'm teaching in class. 

Our Kahoots will always directly link to what we're learning in class E.g.,  Terry Fox, Orange Shirt Day, Representing Numbers (rounding to the nearest 10 and 100), Simple Machines (science), etc ...    

During our Kahoot sessions, it gives me the teacher an opportunity to review students' knowledge and understanding (formative assessment) in areas that I've taught.  This also gives me great insight into how I can further support / challenge students in need :) 

Math:

You will have received a math note with the specific expectations that I will be teaching in Number Sense & Numeration.  Below, you will find the specific expectations.  

Specific Expectations:

• read, represent, compose, and decompose whole numbers up to and including 1000
• describe ways numbers are used in everyday life
• compare and order whole numbers 0 - 1,000
• round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100
• count to 1000, including by 50s, 100s, and 200s using a variety of tools and strategies
• use place value when describing and representing multi digit numbers using base ten materials

Below, you will find my math lesson, anchor chart, and what the students worked on this week (their tasks).  Take some time over the weekend to ask your child about what he or she learned about representing numbers in a variety of ways!

Math Continued ...

In class, we have also been comparing numbers using the greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols.  I showed the kids a helpful way to remember how to correctly use these signs.  

Remember boys and girls, “Ali the alligator always eats the greater number!”  They are really getting the hang of this concept!  

Check out the video below that I shared in class to reinforce this learning at home.

Book Exchange:

Soon, the students will have an opportunity to sign out a book from the library.  I will do a mini-lesson around “Making Good Reading Choices.”  

Throughout my years of teaching, I notice that many students lean towards choosing books of interest, which is a GREAT thing, but I also want them to be mindful of choosing a “’JUST RIGHT” book.  

For example, a “just right” book: perfect choice for grade level, some difficult words, but you can learn them, read for enjoyment, become a better reader, and read it fluently (sounds like talking).  

Here's a chart posted in our classroom to help us make the right choices.  Check it out below!  

When your child comes home with his or her library book, it is my hope, it will be one that isn’t too easy, isn’t too challenging, but …JUST RIGHT!

Mindfulness:

A brief look into a residential school survivor sharing his story.  We cannot change the past, but we can learn and remember what happened to help help create a brighter future.  

EVERY CHILD MATTERS. No one should be treated unfairly or unjustly.  Let us stay united and "Move forward in the spirit of RECONCILIATION & RESPECT!!

Growth Mindset:

Meegwich,

Ms. Gill