Dear Families,
No snow days this week, yay! It was wonderful to have all my students in class for 5 days in a row ;) As a class family, we continue to work hard and have such meaningful experiences with one another. It's truly a joy to be with your child at school to learn and grow with!
Valentine's Day:
I'm excited to share that we can still honour and celebrate Valentine's Day with cards!
We'll celebrate this occasion on Mon. Feb. 14th by dressing up in red, white, purple, pink, and hearts!
If your child wishes to participate in giving Valentines to his/her classmates, please have them include all of the members of our class family using the list that was sent home last week.
If you would like to send in any kind of treats, please ensure they are individually wrapped and store bought.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as always.
Language:
Our focus in language continues to be on listening, reading and writing about Black History. In class, I have been sharing stories, videos, and activities to help my students gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the significant contributions that African American and African Canadian men and women made in helping bring about positive change such as EQUAL AND FAIR TREATMENT no matter your race, religion, gender, orientation, size, or ability.
I believe it is such an important subject matter to teach kids because it gives them perspective about the past and how it's helped shape our current lives. I've shared with my class that we must extend our gratitude to the amazing civil rights activists not solely during the month of February, but throughout the year!
Please ask your child to share with you why Black History is celebrated in the month of February :) They should be able to tell you by watching the video posted below!
A Lesson on Discrimination:
I really appreciate students and parents actively discussing and taking part in Black History Month at home too.
Here is a great example of it. Evelyn's Mom shared with me the video below.
In it, Jane Elliott a third grade teacher first gave this lesson on April 5, 1968, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It’s called the “Blue Eyes - Brown Eyes” exercise, and it teaches a powerful lesson on discrimination.
This book shares about a kid from Akron, Ohio, who is dedicated to uplifting youth everywhere, LeBron James knows the key to a better future is to excel in school, do your best, and keep your family close.
I Promise is a lively and inspiring picture book that reminds us that tomorrow’s success starts with the promises we make to ourselves and our community today.
Featuring James’s upbeat, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations perfectly crafted for a diverse audience, this book has the power to inspire all children and families to be the best version of themselves now and always!!
Please enjoy listening to Illustrator Nina Mata read I PROMISE, the debut picture book from NBA superstar and cultural icon LeBron James, encouraging kids to always #StriveForGreatness.
I Promise:
We were so inspired by LeBron James' book that we decided to create an anchor chart and write down our own promises to help be and bring out the best versions of ourselves.
Thank you boys and girls for taking the time to think and reflect upon this! These promises will continue to make our school life BETTER and BRIGHTER!!!
As a class family, we will continue to add more ideas to this chart throughout the school year. It will be great to see what else we come up with :)
Practice Multiplication Facts:
Our focus in math has been on multiplication and division. As a youngster, my grandfather used to drill multiplication facts into my brother and I during our summer holidays. Truthfully, I didn't approve of it at the time, but I soon realized the value in it as it sure came in handy as I entered the older grades when I needed to readily know my 'math facts.'
Math is much more than 'memorizing facts' as children need to understand what the equations that they're presented with mean. I do explicitly teach this in class and we're getting the grasp of it.
At home, I do encourage that you please have your child practice their multiplication facts 0x - 12x so these become more 'automatic' just like if I asked, 'What's 2+2, 5+5.'
Becoming more comfortable and confident in this area of math will surely come in handy as the kids progress into the junior division in the fall.
Try out some of these friendly math games that can help develop your child's math facts for multiplication and division!
Health:
This term, we have focused on thinking about ways to live an active and healthy lifestyle. Each day, we incorporate D.P.A. (daily physical activity) to increase our physical fitness. The kids love participating in our GoNoodle exercises!
This week, I had students watch the following video which promotes making good choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
After my mini-lesson, students worked on a task to create a menu to serve a well-balanced meal.
Check us out below as we collaborated with our peers.
Please ask your child what some of his or her food items were that they chose to write and draw about.
Cooper:
How blessed am I ... Cooper came to school at the beginning of the week and gently placed this stone (see pic below) on my desk. I came across it later and beamed!!
Thank you Cooper for sharing YOUR KIND HEART and PRESENCE with me. I will cherish and keep this stone always. It is a beautiful reminder for me too to remember to always put forth KINDNESS in the front and center of all my days with my students.
Ally:
Thank you Ally for your contributions to our TABS FOR WHEELCHAIRS. You radiate kindness and joy!! It makes me so happy seeing young children striving to make a difference in the lives of those who need it the most.
Ally's contribution also reminds me of the quote ...
This week, Ally also shared a beautiful book titled "I Like Me." It is a children's book about a young girl, illustrated in the front of the cover, who likes everything about herself. She is happy about the way she looks, even when she looks messy. She does not care what anybody else says, because she likes herself just the way she is right now.
We often discuss in class about the importance of accepting and embracing our differences. "Be yourself, everybody else is taken." This realization may take some longer to accept than others, but if we can instill this value into our children at a young age, it will serve them well in life.
As your child's teacher, I will continue to encourage them to BE WHO THEY ARE and CELEBRATE THEIR UNIQUENESS WITH THE WORLD.
Clara:
Check out what Clara did earlier this week :) Can you spot it on our porch?
At the end of the day, I was heading outside to dismiss the bussers and walkers and came across this heart shaped snow structure that Clara made and placed on our railing. She did this to express her love to her peers and teachers.
This kind gesture is cherished and certainly brightened all of our hearts!! Meegwich, Clara!
Jardine:
Thank you so much Jardine (and Mom) for gifting me with a homemade cedar smudge stick! Your thoughtfulness and generosity is appreciated! I can't wait to try it out :-)
It is said that using cedar to smudge releases positive energy and takes out the negative. How amazing is that?! In Indigenous tradition, cedar is used to also carry prayers to the Creator.
Below, I have posted a description of the benefits of cedar. You may find it intriguing too!
Mindfulness:
Did you know that the Underground Railroad wasn’t a railroad at all? It was a secret system of railroad terms that were used in helping fugitives escape slavery.
Conductors (abolitionists) would send or receive parcels, dry goods or packages (Black men or women) to arrange destinations (safe houses). Various means of escape were used, by foot or in wagons with false bottoms or physical disguises.
Freedom seekers crossing the border into Canada found refuge in various settlements throughout our province. Many settlements were stop-off places or terminals on the Underground Railroad leading to established communities such as Amhertsburg, Puce, Sandwich, Dresden, Chatham, North Buxton, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Ancaster.
Did you know that Owen Sound and Collingwood were the two most northern terminals???
Explore this more by visiting https://www.sheffieldparkblackhistory.com
Growth Mindset:
Students continue to be eager to share their own growth mindsets with me which is fantastic and warms my heart! We have been doing this for quite some time.
Just a friendly reminder, if your child has a quote that he or she would like to share, don't hesitate to have them write it down, bring it back to school, and we can then post it in our classroom for everyone to benefit from!
I think you can all sense by now, I'm a huge fan of inspirational sayings ...yes, they are words, but if we can put these positive thoughts into our daily actions, we can surely make this planet even better and brighter :)
Thank you Emily for sharing this meaningful message, it's so true!! Dreams become a reality by working hard each and every day!
"Be happy with what you have while working for what you want." - Emily
Meegwich,
Ms. Gill
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