Dear Parents,
I hope you've had a restful week with the kids. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Before the holidays I had introduced Loulwa as our class parent representative. Unfortunately she has had to step away from the role due to unexpected work commitments. Marwa, Hammoody's mother, will thankfully be stepping into the role as a seasoned GWA parent. She will take over setting up the class whatsapp group once everyone has shared their contact details. If you haven't already, please add your details to the following document to be a part of the class community discussions/decisions:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eC1o2Thyaoz-BlMVRWxJ37vtzqkEWHm9tBdhioSdJ7M/edit?usp=sharing
Last week, we tuned in to our ideas of peace and conflict. The children brainstormed and came up with ideas (see above) they associate with the two words/concepts, understanding that conflict is at the opposite spectrum of peace. This week for our Unit of Inquiry we will fine tune some of our ideas specific to our lives and local community. What does conflict look like to us? Why or how does conflict arise? What elements are necessary to keep that balance? A gentle reminder that Peace Day falls on the 21st of September and as part of our Unit of Inquiry looking at Sharing the Planet we will be looking at ways we can promote peace.
Spelling
This comes home starting this Monday in the Home Learning Book and is to be returned on Sunday for our weekly spelling quiz. Your child does not need to bring their Home Learning Book back to school daily. However, please make sure it comes to school every Sunday, ready for the next set of words on Monday from us. We will also be looking at the evidence of spelling practice done over the week in the home learning books. Along with the Home Learning Book, I will send home some suggested spelling activities and practice ideas from which your child can pick and choose for practice.
Reading Books- The leveled home reading books will be coming home from this week. REMEMBER they are easier independent level books that go home and the instructional level books are used in guided reading time with me in the classroom. The books are based on the ability to read the words in the books as WELL as on the student’s ability to understand what is read, answer comprehension questions and make inferences, and retell the story/information. If for some reason the book is too hard for your child, they are tired or have undertaken enough in the day - read the book to them and discuss the main idea, the main character/s, the setting, the underlying message or ideas the author is getting across. Some students can read words very well and may not need to read aloud to you - but ask them some questions that require them to think a little beyond the literal ideas that can be found in the book. The idea is to instill a love of reading and to grow through the process without frustration.
I will send home a reading log with your child today. I will check their log history every Thursday. It might be easiest to simple keep it in your child's folder daily.
Literacy this week is a Roald Dahl focus - many of the students didn’t really know of Roald Dahl - so we are doing a little focus on him and some of his books this week. His work fits well with our writing focus which in addition to using capital letters and full stops in the correct place we are also looking at how writing has to appeal to a reader. To do this we need to create ‘pictures in the reader’s head’. This means we have to describe and add detail to our writing. We will be talking about verbs and adjectives.
In Math this week, we continue to focus on patterns in shape and number. We also move on to symmetry. Along side this we will focus on strengthening our recall of basic number attributes - odd and even numbers, different skip count patterns and using number lines and other tools to support us, etc. Check out IXL for activities to do with patterns in number and symmetry in shape. (optional)
Other reminders and announcements:
Have a GREAT week !
As always, thank you for your support at home.
Warm regards,
Bhavna
I hope you've had a restful week with the kids. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Before the holidays I had introduced Loulwa as our class parent representative. Unfortunately she has had to step away from the role due to unexpected work commitments. Marwa, Hammoody's mother, will thankfully be stepping into the role as a seasoned GWA parent. She will take over setting up the class whatsapp group once everyone has shared their contact details. If you haven't already, please add your details to the following document to be a part of the class community discussions/decisions:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eC1o2Thyaoz-BlMVRWxJ37vtzqkEWHm9tBdhioSdJ7M/edit?usp=sharing
Last week, we tuned in to our ideas of peace and conflict. The children brainstormed and came up with ideas (see above) they associate with the two words/concepts, understanding that conflict is at the opposite spectrum of peace. This week for our Unit of Inquiry we will fine tune some of our ideas specific to our lives and local community. What does conflict look like to us? Why or how does conflict arise? What elements are necessary to keep that balance? A gentle reminder that Peace Day falls on the 21st of September and as part of our Unit of Inquiry looking at Sharing the Planet we will be looking at ways we can promote peace.
Spelling
This comes home starting this Monday in the Home Learning Book and is to be returned on Sunday for our weekly spelling quiz. Your child does not need to bring their Home Learning Book back to school daily. However, please make sure it comes to school every Sunday, ready for the next set of words on Monday from us. We will also be looking at the evidence of spelling practice done over the week in the home learning books. Along with the Home Learning Book, I will send home some suggested spelling activities and practice ideas from which your child can pick and choose for practice.
Reading Books- The leveled home reading books will be coming home from this week. REMEMBER they are easier independent level books that go home and the instructional level books are used in guided reading time with me in the classroom. The books are based on the ability to read the words in the books as WELL as on the student’s ability to understand what is read, answer comprehension questions and make inferences, and retell the story/information. If for some reason the book is too hard for your child, they are tired or have undertaken enough in the day - read the book to them and discuss the main idea, the main character/s, the setting, the underlying message or ideas the author is getting across. Some students can read words very well and may not need to read aloud to you - but ask them some questions that require them to think a little beyond the literal ideas that can be found in the book. The idea is to instill a love of reading and to grow through the process without frustration.
I will send home a reading log with your child today. I will check their log history every Thursday. It might be easiest to simple keep it in your child's folder daily.
Literacy this week is a Roald Dahl focus - many of the students didn’t really know of Roald Dahl - so we are doing a little focus on him and some of his books this week. His work fits well with our writing focus which in addition to using capital letters and full stops in the correct place we are also looking at how writing has to appeal to a reader. To do this we need to create ‘pictures in the reader’s head’. This means we have to describe and add detail to our writing. We will be talking about verbs and adjectives.
In Math this week, we continue to focus on patterns in shape and number. We also move on to symmetry. Along side this we will focus on strengthening our recall of basic number attributes - odd and even numbers, different skip count patterns and using number lines and other tools to support us, etc. Check out IXL for activities to do with patterns in number and symmetry in shape. (optional)
Other reminders and announcements:
- Ms. Nina, the Counsellor, is coming in this week to share some ideas about peaceful behaviors. We will look at some ways to solve conflict and what to do when something or someone may annoy us.
- ROALD DAHL DRESS UP DAY THURSDAY 22 SEPT 2016. See posting earlier about this event.
- Ms. Lucas, our swimming and aquatics director, has asked us to remind all parents that students are expected to bring their swim wear, a swimming cap, and a towel for every session. Goggles are optional but swimming caps are not.
- Peace Day is on the 21st. If you have a Peace Flag home project to send in, please do so by the 20th.
- Scholastics book order forms will go home today. If you wish to order any books for your child, there will be details attached for how to order online.
- Lastly, a parent kindly pointed out that there was some incorrect information in the Parent Night powerpoint I sent out earlier. I have made corrections to the specific slide with regards to swimming days. Please see below.
Have a GREAT week !
As always, thank you for your support at home.
Warm regards,
Bhavna