First Week of School - SUPERB START-UP!

Dear Families,

Is it March already!?  One more school week until the Break!  I’m sure you’re looking forward to it as you get to spend quality time with your wonderful child(ren).  

With the snow fall and colder temperatures being unpredictable, please be prepared to bundle up and stay cozy everyone!

Primary Olympic Day:

Today, we had a SUNNY day of fun participating in a variety of Olympic inspired events lead by the grade 7 leadership team!  

Students loved participating in hockey, a torch relay, table curling, biathlon, rings, and moguls skiing!  Yes, it was amazing :-)  

A big thank you to the primary team for setting this up for us, we had an absolute blast!!!

Check out some of the photos below :-)  The weather was ideal and our scenery as you can see is picturesque!  

Thank you parents for reading the agenda notes and having your child dress warmly for the conditions.  It truly made a difference! 

Character Trait:

March’s Character Trait is Integrity → “We can always be trusted even when NO ONE IS WATCHING.”

Explaining integrity can be a tough one.  Think of it like all the different qualities rolled into one to form a sense of morals and values.  

In the video below, Mr. Saad explains how to build integrity and resist those who want to challenge your sense of integrity.

Evelyn:

With character education being a daily emphasis in our class, Evelyn took it upon herself to gift me with a book called "The Empty Pot" which links beautifully to this month's character trait as well :)  

Thank you Evelyn for being so kind and considerate, I am delighted to add this book to our classroom library!  Its message is inspiring.

The Empty Pot tells the experience of a young Chinese boy named Chen, whose honesty helped him become the next emperor of China.  

In this story, we are exposed to the most valuable lesson a person can learn - the importance of being honest.  

I have posted the book below for you to listen to as well.  Please discuss the author's message with your child and remember boys and girls - always be HONEST in your thoughts, words, and actions!

Kindness Calendar:

I have already heard many students buzzing about using this month's kindness calendar!  This makes me so proud :-)  I read through the various activities and I must say, they're VERY MEANINGFUL and user friendly.  

Thank you for your active participation as a family!  Let's continue to work together to ...

March Spirit Days:

March is now upon us and what better way to soon celebrate the spring by having some school wide spirit days.  So get out your calendars and please mark down the following dates :-)

Friday, March 11th   - Cozy Clothes Day (wear your comfiest, coziest clothes) 

Friday, March 25^th - Hop into Spring (wear bright colours, green, spring patterns, florals, etc). 

  

Language:

This week, we learned about the magnificent Ruby Bridges!  She is an American civil rights activist. Ruby was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14th 1960. 

Check out the video below to learn more!

We listened to the story of Ruby Bridges and the students were so empathetic and moved by Ruby's courageous actions to stand up for what she believed in at such a young age - the right to have an education!!  Watch the story with your child and enjoy Ruby's powerful journey :)

After listening to the story, students completed an activity (Venn Diagram) in which they compared and contrasted the similarities and differences between Ruby Bridges and themselves.

I wanted my class to think about their experiences in education compared to Ruby's.  The responses written gave students the opportunity to truly reflect upon and gain a greater appreciation for what they have at school - the right and freedom to a fair education without bias and segregation.  

Please take a moment over the weekend to go over your child's entry and ideas.   

Let's Help Put an End to Racism Now and Everyday:

To help consolidate our learning about Black History, we brainstormed various adjectives to help honour little black girls, little black boys, and all the amazing civil rights activists.  See chart below :)

Following this, students were assigned the task to write a letter of gratitude to our fellow civil rights activists expressing their appreciation for their significant contributions to bringing about positive change.  

Below, you will find an entry that moved me beyond measure.  I encourage you to please click the image to enlarge it so you can read it with ease.  I have every confidence it will leave an impression on you too.

As I read this student's letter, it brought tears to my eyes as she has a deep and profound understanding about the past and how it's impacted the present day in the best possible ways!!

Thank you for being YOU!  I will cherish this writing always and will share it with all my future classes as it will surely inspire us not only in our writing, but our actions towards others.

When I spoke with Evie about her writing, she shared with me the following, "Well Ms. Gill, I was very inspired by Amanda Gorman's inaugural speech.  She helped me and that's how I came up with my ideas for my letter.  She's awesome!"  

Wow!!  From my heart to yours ... MEEGWICH, Evie!! 

Kinley:

Check out Kinley's t-shirt :)  It says, "I can change the world!"  She came to school eager and enthusiastic to share its message with me.  Yes Kinley, you most certainly can and will m'dear!  

Our children are the future and I have every confidence that not only Kinley, but the rest of my students in this class can HELP CHANGE THIS WORLD to be more inclusive, empathetic, and supportive to ALL people no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, beliefs, etc ...

War is not the answer to any problem, LOVE IS.  May our children lead our country with compassion and care ... the world needs this now more than ever!!  

Georgia:

Students continue to take such interest in their learning about stones and crystals.  Georgia came to school earlier this week with her very own amethyst.  Check out how big it is!!  

It is said to have the following benefits:

Thank you Georgia for also taking the time to continue to bring in tabs for wheelchairs from your family's business (The Golf Club).  You continue to amaze and delight me with your sweet personality.  All these tabs will most certainly help build a wheelchair for someone in need.  

Math:

In math, we are now working on learning all about fractions.  A math note was sent home in the agenda earlier this week :) 

Students will use fractions to describe parts of a group, parts of a whole, and parts of a measure.  

We will represent and explain fractions using drawings.  They will also be exposed to modeling and describing mixed numbers.

Throughout this unit, I encourage you and your child to do some of the activities listed below to help reinforce concepts taught at school.

• make a list of up to 10 family members your child is familiar with - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.  Have your child describe fractions about parts of that list (e.g., what fraction are older than 20?  What fraction wear glasses?  What fraction live in the same town as you?)
• have your child make a list of the rooms in your house.  He or she can then use fractions to describe the rooms (e.g., what fraction of the rooms have a closet?  a bed?)
• have your child explain to you how to cut or divide appropriate food (e.g., pizza, casseroles, cakes) into equal shares or halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths, or tenths
• even though we deal mostly with the metric system, many recipes still use imperial measurements.  Look at recipes with your child, and discuss the fractional amounts of the various ingredients

Please note, students have lots of schema (prior knowledge) with fractions as we've answered questions with this strand of math in our daily 'brain breakfast' warm-up questions.

Class Fractions:

Students worked in their THINK! PAIR! SHARE groupings to solve the following word problem:

As you can see, this math problem requires their skills with division so it was a great opportunity for me to see how well we've consolidated this unit.

Please ask your child how he or she solved this problem with their group member(s).

Mindfulness:

Below, I have posted a short film about Gratitude by Louis Shwartzberg. His message: to open our hearts and feel grateful for this day, the beauty of this planet, and the people we meet!

I love Jardine's shirt!  I truly believe 'Living is GIVING!'

How do we do this? By focusing on the positive aspects rather than the negative. By showing who other people are, in all their individual special-ness rather than focusing on lecturing and "finger-wagging" to "not judge others" is the way to open people's hearts organically and show our humanity to the people of different beliefs, capabilities, colours, ethnicities, and religions that walk on this earth with us.

The more we see the real person, the less likely we will objectify them as a "category" or as a "group" to hate. Watching this amazing little movie, I believe you will feel a bit more love in your heart, and love life a little more.

If you ever feel sad, anxious, or are finding it difficult to feel positive - which is all of us at some moments - this little movie will perhaps help heal your heart just a little bit!

Growth Mindset:

"It's nice to be important, but it's MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE!"

This image took my breath away and makes my heart soar with joy!  It is located outside the The Tubman Museum and Educational Center which is part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a self-guided, scenic driving tour with more than 30 sites related to freedom seekers in the 1800s.

This world owes Ms. Tubman a debt of gratitude.  

Not only for the many lives she saved and the profound ripple effect of those spared lives.  Not only for the uncommon bravery and courage.  Not only for the role she plated in ending slavery in the United States, one painful step at a time.  Not only for the women who benefitted from her tireless work as a suffragist.  But for the example she set by just being her.  

Ms. Tubman set the bar astronomically high with her selfless devotion to doing the right thing no matter the costs.  

I believe Harriet Tubman's moral compass is something we should all strive towards!!

Meegwich,

Ms. Gill