WE WON!!

It's official!!

Our gingerbread house won! The students worked sooooo hard on it and the efforts paid off!!

On January 6th Spartacat will be coming in with a pizza lunch for the students (please send your child in sens gear that day if they have any)

Each child will be getting 2 tickets to the Sens vs. Florida game the next night January 7th.

PLEASE let me know if you will not be able to make it to the game. This way I can raffle/ make a draw for any extra tickets, if there are any extra tickets, to other students.

Also if you cannot make it but still want your child to go, please let me know because I am sure there are other parents that will happily escort your child.

As of right now all I know is the tickets will be in the 300 section but I am not sure where. I already asked for that information in case you would like to purchase extra tickets.  When I find our I will let you know! 

Congratulations to the boys and girls for a job well done! I am a very proud teacher!!
GO SENS GO!!!

December 14th

Hello Parents,

This is the 3rd week of Advent. The liturgical colour is purple. Advent is a time for waiting. We are waiting for the birth of our saviour, Jesus! Mrs. D'Ettorre added the shepherd and Three Wisemen to our Nativity display in the front foyer. We gathered around the Nativity Scene last week to talk about it. Your child should be able to talk about the meaning of the following: manger, stable, Mary, Joseph, Angel Gabriel, Jesus, Advent, Advent wreath, shepherd, wisemen, gifts.

• Note that there will not be any new word wall words this week. We will resume our word wall word study in January. You can take this opportunity to review all the words studied to-date. I will send home a list of all the words studied so far this week. Remember that they are required to know all these words by sight. I will be assessing each child on their knowledge of the word wall words in early January.

St. Cecilia Advent Project

A very BIG thanks to those who sent their items for needy families. Some money from Spirit Day and the White Elephant Sale will also go to purchasing items for needy families for Christmas.

The White Elephant Sale was a lot of fun! Each child had a chance to purchase something from the sale. The Kids loved it!

In Language, we are finishing up our study of descriptive writing. The children had many opportunities to practice this writing form and get very good at it. Our next writing form will be procedural writing (e.x. How to make a snowman, How to make lemonade etc.).

We are working our data management unit (ex. tallies, surveys, bar graphs, pictographs, interpreting data). The children are getting good at collecting data from a survey question, tallying the votes and completing a bar graph. They are also getting good at interpreting the data using math terms such as more, less, most popular, least popular, more than, less than.

A big thanks to Nanny Sue and the awesome volunteers for making our elf crafts last Wednesday. The children really enjoyed making this craft and are also getting better at following step-by-step instructions. Super!

*Note that you can keep the yellow Poems and Songs at home. We are not using them as part of the homework in January.

Important Dates:

• CGE Assembly - Tuesday, December 15th at 2:30pm
• Grade 1 Art-O-Rama - Wednesday, December 16th (all day)
• Library Books due by  Wednesday, December 16th
• Library exchange will be Thursday this week

Also I should hear mid week this week if we won the Gingerbread contest or not. Fingers crossed I get an email this week!!

I would like to wish all of you a wonderful holiday with your families! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello Parents,

**** THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE IN YOUR CHILD'S AGENDA. PLEASE CHECK.

Last week we gathered as a school community for our Advent Mass. This is the 2nd week of Advent. The liturgical colour is purple. Advent is a time for waiting. We are waiting for the birth of our saviour, Jesus! We gathered around the Nativity Scene last week to talk about it. Your child should be able to talk about the meaning of the following: manger, stable, Mary, Joseph, Angel Gabriel, Jesus, Advent, Advent wreath.

• Note that there will not be any new word wall words the week of December 14-18th. We will resume our word wall word study in January.

St. Cecilia Advent Project

As you know each class is collecting items for a needy family this Christmas. Each child picked an item to bring in to put into the basket. Thanks to those who have already sent their item in. If you haven’t done so, please send your item in.

We can still use donations for the White Elephant Sale. The Grade 6’s are looking for books, toys, stuffed animals, puzzles, games, movies, cd’s etc. Note that shoes, clothing or earrings are accepted. Gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper etc. would also be helpful. Thanks for your help. Donations are accepted up until December 10th.

In Language, students designed a gingerbread house and then described it. We have been discussing and practising “Visualizing” while they listen to a story. I encourage you to have your child write as much as possible at home for real purposes - write a letter or email to grandma/grandpa, write out the grocery list, write out a recipe, write sentences about  your weekend, describe your pet/house/room/favourite toy etc.

We have started our unit on data management (ex. tallies, surveys, bar graphs, pictographs, interpreting data). The children really like collecting data for our graphs. We will be doing for the next two weeks.

In Science, we are exploring our knowledge about Seasons and Seasonal Changes. This week, we will focus on the Summer season (clothing, animals, activities, celebrations, food, weather etc). Seems fitting to do this season this week since our temperatures are above seasonal so it feels like a little bit of summer still lingering!

Christmas Spirit day is on Wednesday this week. Children are encouraged to dress as "Chirstmasy" as they would like. Donations are being accepted.

Important Dates:

•  Christmas Spirit Day: Wednesday, December 9th :
• Grade 1 Art-O-Rama - Wednesday, December 16th (all day)
• Next Library Book Exchange - Wednesday, December 16th

• December Craft with Nanny Sue - Wednesday, December 9th 1:00-2:10pm

(We need some volunteers to help out with this awesome craft! Write a note in your child’s agenda if you can help out for an hour)

Hello Parents,

This is the 1st week of Advent. The liturgical colour is purple. Advent is a time for waiting. We are waiting for the birth of our saviour, Jesus!

We have some very exciting news to share. Today we received a gift from Santa! His name is Gary the Scout Elf. Gary will be joining our classroom until Christmas, making sure the students are staying on the nice list! I have a feeling you will be hearing A LOT about Gary in the next coming weeks!!! I will be making sure I tweet out Gary's antics every day. Last year he pulled a few fast ones on us. He is a clever little elf!

Please remember to have your child review their word wall words each night for 5-10 minutes. They are expected to know all these words by sight.

In Language, students learned to draw Olaf, add details to the picture, colour it and then describe him. They are getting better at using the descriptive writing checklist to ensure that they have met all the success criteria. We have a few more descriptive writing assignments left to do in order to get really good at it.

Last week, in Math, we practiced comparing numbers using anchors of 5 and 10 and using math terms such as “more” and “less”. Next week, we will be starting our unit on data management (ex. tallies, surveys, bar graphs, pictographs, interpreting data).

In Science, we are exploring our knowledge about Seasons and Seasonal Changes. This week, we will focus on the Spring season (clothing, animals, activities, celebrations, food, weather etc). Unfortunately, focussing on Spring won’t make it come any faster! Ask your child to retell the story “Alfie’s Long Winter”. This is Mrs. D'Ettorre's absolute favourite story!!!

Important Dates:

• Advent Mass - Tuesday, December 1st at 10:45am
• Library Exchange - Wednesday, December 2nd
• December Craft with Nanny Sue - Wednesday, December 9th 1:00-2:10pm

(We need some volunteers to help out with this awesome craft! Write a note in your child’s agenda if you can help out for an hour)

Have a wonderful week!

Tiffany Lawless

November 22-27

Hello Parents,

It was so nice to have a chance to meet most of you at our Parent-Teacher interviews. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to come and talk about your child’s learning. Remember that your child will benefit from the partnership we have in their learning journey. Grade 1 is a HUGE year! The children learn so much - new word wall words, how to read (for most of them), how to write sentences, how to work collaboratively, be responsible for an agenda and homework only to name a few! It is the most wonderful thing to watch them grow as the year goes on!

Our students learned a lot about Digital Citizenship last week. They know how to be responsible and safe while using the internet. They do understand that they need to ask an adult before going on any computer or Ipad device that can access the internet. To ensure safety, it is advisable that you monitor your child while they are using internet sites. We taught them to type in “xxxx for kids” for Google searches.

Please remember to have your child review their word wall words each night for 5-10 minutes. They are expected to know all these words by sight.

In Language, students will continue to practice descriptive writing. They are responsible for using a descriptive writing checklist to ensure that they have met all the success criteria. The writer’s checklist is integrated in the descriptive writing checklist.

Last week, in Math, the students showed 1 and 2 more and 1 and 2 less using ten frames. They were also given a bunch of counters and asked to organize them in an efficient way to count (Ex. by 2’s 5’s and 10’s). It was interesting during our “Share Out” to hear all the different ways the groups came up with answers to the following inquiry math question: There were 12 legs in the barn. What animals could there be in the barn? Students had access to pictures of barn animals with the number of legs written on each animal. Then they went off to collaborate to figure out possible answers. Great teamwork and collaboration was visible throughout the groups! Last week, we also did a small lesson on odd and even numbers. This week, we will be focussing on showing numbers using anchors of 5 and anchors of 10. Example: 8 is 3 more than 5, 7 is 3 less than 10. In addition, each week, the students will work on an inquiry math problem.

In Science, we are exploring our knowledge about Seasons and Seasonal Changes. This week, we will focus on the Winter season (clothing, animals, activities, celebrations, food, weather etc).

Important Dates:

• St. Cecilia Feast Day Liturgy - Monday, November 23rd at 1:15pm
• Advent Mass - Tuesday, December 1st at 10:45am
• Homework calendars are due back by Friday, November 27th

The new poem will go out on Friday, December 4th. There will not be a poem going out on Friday, November 27th since that is when the homework calendar is due.

Have a wonderful week!!

Tiffany Lawless

November 16-19

Hello Parents,

Our Remembrance Day Ceremony was lovely! Our children were very respectful as we honoured all our fallen heroes and our veterans. Your child should be able to tell you several facts about Remembrance Day (e.g. Veteran, National War Memorial, Lieutenant Colonel John McCRae MD, In Flanders Fields, Poppies, Wreaths, Belgium)

This Thursday evening is parent-teacher interviews. I would like to meet with every family. If you haven’t already made an appointment, please do so by Wednesday. If I have already met with you over the last two weeks then you don’t need to come Thursday night. If you prefer to a phone interview please indicate that in your child’s agenda.

Please check your child’s agenda every night. Sometimes I write a note for you in the agenda and ask for a parent signature but it doesn’t get done. We take the time every day to write a message for you. Please take the time to read and initial it each night. Please remind your child to bring it to school every day. I remind them that it is their responsibility to pack their bag with their belongings. The agenda belongs to the child and not the parent. Responsibility is one of our many important learning skills.

On Friday we started the first of five lessons on Digital Citizenship. We heard and discussed the story of The Good Samaritan. Children will discuss and discover ways to be kind, respectful and show peace to others.

In Language, we are continuing our study of Descriptive Writing. Students are expected to refer to the Descriptive Writer’s checklist as they do their work.

In Math, we will continue using manipulatives to practice showing quantities using the terms: one more, two more, one less and two less.

In Science, we are exploring our knowledge about Seasons and Seasonal Changes. This week, we will focus on the Winter season (clothing, animals, activities, celebrations, food, weather etc).

Important Dates:

• November 16th-20th - Bully Awareness and Prevention Week
• Library book exchange - Wednesday, November 18th
• Thursday, November 19th - Parent-Teacher Interviews starting at 4:00pm
• Friday, November 20th - PD Day - No school
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Have a wonderful week!!

November 9-13

Hello Parents,

We had another fantastic week last week! The pyjama and stuffy day was enjoyed by all our friends! They worked hard and deserved it! Love the teamwork!

It was so neat to hear the children tell me that they notice so many word wall words while reading the levelled books in class during Independent Reading. I encourage you to have your child use Raz-Kids as much as you have time for it. A child last year started at level 2 in October and he read and improved weekly and by the end of the year that child read at a level 22! That child used Raz-Kids often throughout the year and all the hard work paid off! Remember that understanding the text is key. A child who can decode the words but doesn’t understand what has been read is not ready for that level of text. There is so much growth and change that goes on in Grade 1. Your child works hard at school. We learn a lot and have fun doing it! As you can imagine, it is challenging to be one teacher to 19+ children in one class. Some children need a little extra support. They are all at different levels in reading, writing and math and that is ok. Your child will be most successful if they work hard at school (We call it being “On The Job”) and have some extra support with their reading, writing and math at home, that only a parent can give them, one-on-one. The amount needed varies per child of course. I am looking forward to meeting with every family during interviews so we can talk about your child’s learning.

In Language, not that most children can write a simple sentence, we will introduce a Descriptive Writing Checklist during our descriptive writing work. Here is what it looks like:

Descriptive Writing Checklist:

• I have an opening sentence
• I have included 3 details
• I have a closing sentence

This is used along with the Writer’s Checklist which is now expected with all written work.

In Math, we talked about number sentences with addition and subtraction and how to write them using math symbols ( +  -  =  ). We will continue to explore numbers and do Inquiry Problems each week. Here is an example: Katrina has 12 apples. Some are red and some are green. How many of each apple might she have?

In Science, we are exploring our knowledge about Seasons and Seasonal Changes. This week, we will continue to focus on the Fall season (clothing, animals, activities, celebrations, food, weather etc). If time permits, we will do a leaf collage after reading the story “Leaf Man”.

Last week, our class did very well during our school lockdown. I had to remind just two students that there is NO talking aloud at all during this time. Please ask the how a lockdown works at our school when they are in the bathroom, hallway and in our classroom.

Note that interview night is Thursday, November 19th starting at 4:00pm. If you already know that this night doesn’t work for you, please write me a note in your child’s agenda.

Appointments are booked online.

Please sign and return Report Card envelopes by Tuesday. Thanks

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, November 11th - Remembrance Day Ceremony at 10:45am
• Wednesday, November 11th - Special Remembrance Day Craft Session with Nanny Sue
• Friday, November 13th - Gospel Value Assembly - Justice at 9:30am
• November 16th-20th - Bully Awareness and Prevention Week
• Thursday, November 19th - Parent-Teacher Interviews starting at 4:00pm
• Friday, November 20th - PD Day - No school

I hope you all have a great week!