Monday, 6 November 2017

Blog form is working again!

My apologies to anyone who submitted the form on the blog and did not get a response from me. Upon further investigation, the notification settings were somehow turned off. The notifications are now working and I look forward to hearing from anyone needing to contact me.

November Update

Bible Ceremony

Thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who came out to our Bible Blessing Ceremony on Friday afternoon. It was great to see so many of you! The children were so excited to receive their very own bibles, and wanted to read them as soon as we got back to class! A big THANK YOU to school council as well, for purchasing the bibles, and to Mrs. Desjardins for inscribing them for each student. They were much appreciated.

Progress Reports

Last Thursday progress reports went home. Please send back the brown envelope with a signature so that we can use it to send the next two report cards home. If you wish to meet with me regarding your child(ren), please sign up online.  Just go to https://clare.youcanbook.me/, click on the name of the teacher you want to book with, choose a time, and fill in your name. Once you click "Confirm", the interview is booked and appears on my calendar. If you would prefer a telephone interview, or would rather meet at a different time, please send me a note through the blog. The information was sent home with progress reports. 

Grade 6 Keepsake Clothing

If your child would like to order clothing with everyone's signatures on it, please ensure that the form has been completed with payment by Wednesday, November 8th.

Student Portal. 

By clicking on the link, you and your child will be able to login to all of the sites OCSB has provided access to. All your child will need is their username (firstname.lastname@ocsbstudent.ca) and password (unique to your child).

Mathletics

Over the past few weeks, students have been introduced to a site called Mathletics. It is used to provide students with grade level practice questions for knowledge and understanding. In class, we will be focusing on solving "thinking" questions that cause students to use the skills they have learned and apply them to logic and problem-solving questions. I would like students to practice Mathletics for 20-30 minutes, 3 times per week as homework. The information collected is used for planning purposes. It allows me to see where students need extra practice and where there may be "gaps".

Friday at 10:30 a.m. we will be observing Remembrance Day with a liturgy. Parents are welcome to attend.

Math

Both grade 4 & 6 are working on our Patterning unit in Math. The grade 6s will have a quiz on Tuesday, November 14th and the grade 4s will have a quiz on Wednesday, November 15th. I will post more information with anchor charts in the next few days. Starting tomorrow, we will be working on a larger patterning assignment. Students will have 2 blocks to complete their work; collaboration is not required but is encouraged. Our next unit will be Geometry.

As part of our Math program, our school has been using a resource called "Number Talks". We have been working on strategies for addition in September and October. This week we started multiplication strategies (Ex. repetitive addition, factoring numbers, doubling half, etc).

Language

Grade 4: We have wrapped up our unit on Making Connections and will start a read aloud this week for Evaluating, a funny book named "Nibble, Nibble, Jenny Archer. The students will really enjoy it! 

Grade 6: We are reading Part II of Wonder (Via's perspective) in reading. As a writing component, students are working on writing a proper paragraph with 3-5 sentences using the ROPES (Restate question, Opinion, Proof and Evidence, Summary) strategy. Students have received feedback on "Halloween" responses in a student-teacher conference. Now students are asked to use that feedback to "bump up" to the next level. We will also have another session with Mrs. Campeau-Leblanc, the facilitator from the board who will help us to learn all of the ins and outs of Google Read and Write on Tuesday, November 7th.

Wednesday, 18 October 2017

Crazy Hat/Hair Day Friday, October 20th

A reminder that the next United Way student event is this Friday, October 20th. It is Crazy Hair/Hat Day. Bring in a loonie or a toonie to support those in need! Thank you in advance for your generosity!


Saturday, 14 October 2017

Grade 6 Math Test- Thursday, October 19th

Our grade 6s have been working hard on their Number Sense and Numeration Unit. We have been collaborating to solve more complex, multi-step problems and now students will be reviewing all necessary skills needed to prepare for next week's test. The concepts and skills needed for next week's test are outlined below with an anchor chart to assist your child to study for the test. We worked on a review of our unit this week and the class will be going over the answers on Monday. Students are not required to know each strategy for addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc. All I ask is that they use a strategy that they feel comfortable with. I provide them with a variety of strategies to explore so that they can see what works for them.

Image result for place value anchor chartStudents need to be able to:
-identify the place value of an underlined digit


-write, read, and draw numbers in standard, expanded, word, and base 10 form

-identify the value of an underlined digit and say what that digit is worth. For example, in the number 257 931, the seven would be in the thousands place and it is worth 7 000.









-find the product (multiplication), sum (addition) and difference (subtraction) in word problems (1 mark for showing their work, 1 mark for the correct answer, 1 mark for a proper sentence that answers the question.


Image result for subtraction strategies with regrouping anchor chart
Image result for multiplication strategies anchor chart


















-using < and > symbols to identify which number is greater/less
-round numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, or hundred thousand.

Image result for greater than less than anchor charts   Image result for rounding anchor chart

-identify prime numbers and draw a factor tree for composite numbers. An example for a factor tree below.
Image result for prime numbers anchor chart   Image result for factor tree anchor chart

Wednesday, 11 October 2017

United Way Fundraising Fridays


Sent to be the Good News
October 2017
United Way
Give. Change A Life.

As you are aware, the United Way/Centraide of Ottawa-Carleton has launched its 2017 Campaign to support those in need in the Ottawa area. United Way/Centraide supports many programs in over 100 member agencies. This year, the staff and students of St. Clare school are called to make a conscious decision in taking an active part in the community by continuing to care for those in need. This supports our Board’s theme, “Sent to be the Good News.” We have designated three Fridays, October 13, 20 and 27, to raise money for our neighbours from the Ottawa area who are in need. Although we ask that students donate a loonie or a toonie for our special days, they can donate anything they can afford to participate in the activities outlined below. Students can do chores in order to earn money to donate to this cause.

You have touched the hearts of many people with your previous, generous support as seen with the Terry Fox walk and the Thanksgiving St. Vincent de Paul food drive. Please help us support United Way.  Your contribution is most appreciated.

Here is the outline for the three days:

Screenshot 2016-10-11 at 11.19.59.png Friday, October 13th: Board Game Day
Bring a toonie and a board game to play during a block today!
No electronic games, please.

Screenshot 2016-10-11 at 11.25.14.png
Friday, October 20th:    Crazy Hair and/or Hat Day         
Students can wear a funny hat and/or have crazy
hair all day for a loonie.


Screenshot 2016-10-11 at 11.22.47.pngFriday, October 27th: Black & Orange Day and Movie Day
Bring a toonie and come to school in Black & Orange clothes.
Let’s enjoy a movie for this last afternoon before Halloween.

Thank you for your continued support of the United Way in our community of Ottawa-Carleton!

                      

Thursday, 5 October 2017

United Way Campaign Starts Next Week!


Friday, October 13th: Board Game Day for United Way
Bring a loonie or a toonie and a board game to play during a block today! No electronic games, please.

Image result for board games

Congratulations!

I would like to congratulate one of our grade 6 students for achieving his goal of raising over $10,000 towards Cancer Research and Patient Care over the past 7 years.