Academic Update

Dear parent(s)/guardian(s),
Hopefully you and your family enjoyed the long weekend and were able to see some sunshine, along with getting much needed rest. The students and I can hardly believe there are three months left of school!
Nonetheless, we still have much to learn. Please take a few minutes to discuss the work your child is completing at school.

In Mathematics, we are identifying, describing, and building 2 and 3 dimensional shapes through centre activities. Our culminating activity will consist of building a robot describing the shapes used and three types of energy we discussed in Science. Another interdisciplinary task the students can enjoy!

In Language, we are continuing the weekly 'Sac a livre' reading programme. Students are asked to bring their levelled books back every Monday, as we have reading buddies and reading assessments on that day. The students were introduced to the book Mirror by Jeannie Baker and analyzed similarities and differences of a young boy in Morocco and Australia. Then we made a connection with the book to our life using puzzle pieces. 

For the culminating task, students will write about how the Energy robot will benefit the world. We will be watching a video about energy conservation (since Earth hour/day fall in April). The students will go through an extensive writing process (e.g., rough copy, proofreading, word wall & dictionary, peer/teacher feedback, good copy). 

You can start thinking about:

1. What your robot will look like? Collect recycled materials at home. 

2. What 3 types of energy your robot will use? (e.g., wind, sun, electrical, heat, sound, gas).

*An exemplar of a completed robot project and written piece will be shown to students. 

The dictation words for Friday, April 1st:

In Science, we are wrapping up our unit on Energy. We learned about objects that use electrical energy in the classroom and around our homes, the sun is the primary source of energy for many living and non-living things, and that sunlight and wind are strong sources of energy. We hope to have outdoor learning experiences. 

We will be building structures with the shapes discussed in Math, so please collect and send recycled materials (e.g., empty boxes, cardboard tubes, clean empty cans with no sharp edges, cone-shaped birthday hats, old tennis balls, etc.). 

In the meantime, on Thursday, April 14th, the students will participate in a Scientists in School workshop. The workshop will complement and sum up our Science unit on Energy. Students will learn about energy conservation, solar panels, heat energy, and light energy. Students will need to bring their creativity, curiosity, and teamwork skills in order to take part in an exciting morning.

Until next time ! A la prochaine!

A message from 2 lovely students...

Two recess helpers, Ampaii and Alexandra, have brought to my attention that they are trying to raise awareness about Epilepsy.

Alexandra is part of the Toronto Epilepsy Organization and is making hand-made pamphlets for each classroom. Please wear purple on March 24th to show your support.
For more information, visit : www.epilepsytoronto.org

Video message from the two students.

The CN tower will light up purple on March 26th for Epilepsy Awareness Day. 

Go purple Panthers!

Amazing day at Ripley's Aquarium!

The Grade 1 French Immersion classes enjoyed a spectacular day at Ripley's Aquarium on March 9th.
As we arrived, we entered the ocean realm and came face to face with thousands of fascinating fish and sea creatures; everything from jellyfish, sharks, sting rays, giant lobsters, crabs, barracudas, eels, and much more!
Then, we traveled through a giant moving shark and aquatic species tank. A few children were up for a friendly scare from scuba divers during the Dive Show.
Finally, we participated in a workshop and learned about the characteristics of an ideal fish habitat (quite similar to a human habitat).
As a souvenir, we made our own aquarium through an arts and craft activity to remember our role in keeping the fish environment just as clean, if not cleaner than our environment.

A big thank you to the wonderful parent volunteers who came along. Your help was much appreciated!

 

As a student nicely put it, "The trip was a great treat for the end of winter!". 

Bonne fête Toronto!

On March 6th, Toronto celebrated it's 182nd birthday. We are lucky enough to call it home. Since our class has been learning about mapping and geography in Social Studies, we celebrated with a few Grade 6 artists by making a painting with hand prints.

We also discussed some fun, weird, and interesting facts about Toronto. 

• Toronto is Canada’s largest city with a population now of almost 5.6 million. 
• Toronto is the 5th largest city in North America.
• The city of Toronto started off as York, the capital of Upper Canada in 1793. York was renamed Toronto in 1834.
• Toronto is the world’s fourth most livable city.
• Toronto has more than 8000 diverse restaurants. 
• The St. Lawrence Market is one of Canada’s great markets. The selection of food is outstanding. 
• There are over 1600 named parks in Toronto.
• There are about 10 million trees in Toronto.
• The longest street is Lawrence Avenue East (other than Yonge Street.)
• Toronto Island lies on top of a 900-acre floating sandbag! Centre Island is also the place Babe Ruth hit his first professional home-run!  It serves as an urban oasis for residents and tourists alike and is the largest car-free network in North America.
• According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the world's largest underground walkway with a total of 29km of space. PATH connects 50 office towers, 5 subway stations, six hotels and one railway terminal. 
• And much much more!

Eat, Sleep, and Fish!

On Wednesday, March 9^th our class will be going to Ripley's Aquarium (rain or shine). We will be leaving the school at 9: 15 a.m. Please ensure your child arrives at school on time so we can get ready to go as soon as possible! Pick-up time will be 3:15 p.m., as usual.

Packing and Dressing

- A packed litterless, nut-free lunch and a snack is required. Please ensure that your child eats a good breakfast before arriving to school.

- Ensure your child has a small bag/lunch bag appropriate for carrying his/her belongings for the day. Please be aware that each student is responsible for carrying his/her own belongings.

- If possible, dress your child in black pants and purple shirt/ Clairlea shirt. Dress appropriately for the weather (i.e., rain jacket).

- Thank you to the 3 parents (who I have already contacted), who will be volunteering on the trip. You may arrive at school the same time as your child.