December 19, 2014

Bird's Eye View Snowman Project
This week our class started a new art project to display during the Fireside Festival Scavenger Hunt. Students were eager to learn how to use their metal compass from within their geometry sets in order to create perfect circles with the correct measurements. Students worked with concepts such as measurement, patterning, and perspective to create their snowman masterpiece using pastels!

Our Fireside Scavenger Hunt Clue: Find a snowman with a familiar face! Can you find him?

Fireside Festival
One of the highlights of our week in Learning Centre 4 was the Fireside Festival. The school and community gathered in the gymnasium to sing and celebrate the upcoming holidays. Our class, accompanied by Mr. Sinclair's Grade 5/6 class, sang Jingle Bell Rock, Deck the Halls and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. At the evening performance, families took part in a scavenger hunt around the school. It was a great night with friends and family in our community.

Congratulations to Kate who won a Fireside Festival food hamper!

Holiday Light Art by Khadija A.

GMS Holiday Reading Logs: Read to Succeed! 
School reading logs were sent home on the last day of school to encourage home reading during the holidays. Read with your child for a minimum of 20 minutes every day. Each student that completes the holiday reading log can return it to school after the break. They will have their name entered into a draw to win a prize!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday, January 5: First Day Back to School. December Class Reading Logs are Due (GMS Holiday Reading Log is also due this week if participating in the draw!)


Happy Holidays to You and Your Family!
Ms. Cameron

December 12, 2014

Reading Strategy: Determining Importance 
This week we have been practicing the reading strategy called "Determining Importance". We determine importance not only in reading but in everyday activities such as packing your school bag, lunch kit or purse. To introduce the concept, students were asked to determine importance by deciding what items Ms. Cameron MUST keep in her purse (wallet, keys, phone), what items she MIGHT keep in her purse (kleenex, sunglasses, water, pen...), and items Ms. Cameron DOES NOT NEED in her purse (candy, make-up, jewelery). Students then reflected on using this same process as they read. Good readers sort information they must remember, might need to remember, and do not need to remember. This strategy helps students identify the key understandings of a text. Our class will continue to develop this reading strategy throughout the year.

Pajama Party!
On Friday we celebrated achieving our November reading goal with a reading party! We started the party with a Christmas Tree decorating relay race and played a few rounds of the game "Headbandz" as a class with our special guest - Mrs. McPherson! The students then split up to play their own board games together with their friends while enjoying some yummy treats. Help us work towards our next reading party by reminding your child to read each night and fill in their reading logs! I'm so pleased with amount of success many of our students have had in such a short period of time because they are putting in the extra time in reading at home while working towards their home reading goal! In order to reach our December reading goal, students need to read 16 minutes (or more) each day in the month of December.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Thursday, December 18: Fireside Festival - Daytime - 10:30 - 11:45 AM and Night - 6:30-7:30 PM
Friday, December 19: Winter Caroling Assembly 11:00 - 11:40 AM
                                       Boston Pizza Special Lunch
                                       Last Day of School Early Dismissal at 2:30
December 15-19: SRC Candy Cane Sales - .50 cents per candy cane
                             *All proceeds from the sale go towards buying new school crazy carpets.

Upcoming December Spirit Days:
Monday, December 15: Candy Cane Day
Tuesday, December 16: Blue and Silver Day
Wednesday, December 17: Snowflake Day
Thursday, December 18: Red and Green Day
Friday, December 19: Glitter/Sparkle Day

December 5, 2014

Pajama Party - Here We Come!
The results are in! Our class has met their reading goal for the month of November! Hard work pays off and the students are excited to have a Pajama Day to celebrate next Friday, December 12. Since the students have more time at home during the holidays, we have increased our reading goal slightly so in December every student is expected to read 16 minutes every night (496 minutes in the month of December). December reading logs will be due when the students return to school on January 5th.

Fireside Festival
Fireside Festival notes were sent home this week with the youngest or only children in the school. Please check off whether or not you will be attending the night performance on Thursday, December 18th from 6:30-7:30, along with the number of tickets you would like and return the form to school with your child. Families are asked to bring a blanket to sit on and a small tray of baking to share with our school community at the event. Tickets are not needed for the afternoon performance. Please see the Fireside Festival note for more details.

A New Focus in Science
This week we have officially wrapped up our Rocks and Minerals unit and started our next science unit on Human Body Systems. Our "I Can" statement this month is "I can investigate major organs, and their functions within one (or more) human body systems."

Birthday Shout Outs!
There has been lots of birthday excitement in our classroom this week. Happy Birthday Khadija J, Kate, Micaela and Abiha!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, December 5: Boston Pizza Order Forms are Due and Hat Day
Friday, December 12: Pajama Day Reading Party
Thursday, December 18: Fireside Festival - Daytime - 10:30 - 11:45 AM and Night - 6:30-7:30 PM
Friday, December 19: Winter Caroling Assembly 11:00 - 11:40 AM
                                       Boston Pizza Special Lunch
                                       Last Day of School Early Dismissal at 2:30
December 15-19: SRC Candy Cane Sales - .50 cents per candy cane
                             *All proceeds from the sale go towards buying new school crazy carpets.

Upcoming December Spirit Days:
Monday, December 15: Candy Cane Day
Tuesday, December 16: Blue and Silver Day
Wednesday, December 17: Snowflake Day
Thursday, December 18: Red and Green Day
Friday, December 19: Glitter/Sparkle Day

November 28, 2014

Bricks 4 Kidz
On Monday morning our class took part in Bricks 4 Kidz in the gymnasium. Students teamed up with a friend and were given a Lego kit and an iPad to help navigate their step by step instructions. Each partner group made a moving, battery operated dragster race car using Lego! It was awesome to see the students working together, solving problems, and overcoming challenges to create something they were proud of. After completed their cars, students were bubbling with excitement to race other cars and we ended by having a friendly race with all of our cars. It was a great experience.

Check Out One of Our Races Here!

Creating Dream Catchers with Mr. D
On Wednesday we had our last visit from our CREATE artist, Mr. D. We continued to work on our dream catchers. Weaving the dream catcher is quite a challenging task but our class was definitely up for the challenge! I enjoyed watching the students encourage and help each other complete each step. This was a very authentic project that I'm sure the students will remember for years to come.

Our "Flower Power" Thank You Card for Mr. D - Handmade with Love!

Congratulations Chloe and Gairien!
Chloe and Gairiden were the virtue winners for respect and received their certificates at Tuesday's Achievers Assembly. These two are consistently respectful to others within the classroom and on the playground. Great job!

Student Reflection & Goal Setting
As we set aside our work from Term 1, our class reflected on their performance in order to set new goals for term 2. Students were preparing to lead their conference by reflecting on their organizational skills, work habits, study behaviors, their favorite classes and their most challenging classes. They also chose several pieces of work they are most proud of to share with you at Friday's conference. Completed work from Term 1, aside from the units we are still currently working on, will be sent home at conferences.

Birthday Shout Out to Fatima Z! 

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday, December 1: Home Reading Logs are Due
Thursday, December 18: Fireside Festival - Daytime - 10:30 - 11:45 AM and Night - 6:30-7:30 PM
Friday, December 19: Winter Caroling Assembly 11:00 - 11:40 AM
                                       Last Day of School Early Dismissal at 2:30
December 15-19: SRC Candy Cane Sales - .50 cents per candy cane
                             *All proceeds from the sale go towards buying new school crazy carpets.

Upcoming December Spirit Days:
Monday, December 15: Candy Cane Day
Tuesday, December 16: Blue and Silver Day
Wednesday, December 17: Snowflake Day
Thursday, December 18: Red and Green Day
Friday, December 19: Glitter/Sparkle Day

November 21, 2014

Bullying Awareness Week
This week was Bullying Awareness Week. On Monday, our class took part in a listening and viewing response activity dealing with different bullying situations in Taylor Swifts music video, "Mean". The video introduces 3 separate examples of bullying and students identified the target, the bully, the bystanders, and the effects. We had great discussion involving how to stand up  for what we believe is right, even if it might not be the most popular choice. Our talk about bullying even led us back to some important points about peer pressure as they noticed many of the bystanders in the video joined the bully, rather than put a stop to the bullying. It was a memorable activity that I hope keeps the conversation going at home and school. Putting someone down will never help you reach the top. Let's put an end to bullying!

First Nations Art 
On Wednesday we welcomed Mr. D back into our classroom. We started the first steps of our next project - making dream-catchers! The students created the circle of their dream-catcher out of a willow branch. We have our strings attached and are ready to start weaving next Wednesday when Mr. D returns for his final visit.

This is the dream-catcher Mr D. made for our classroom when he was explaining the steps to our class. The final product is well worth the challenge and we are all very excited to create one of our own!

Fossil Fun!

This week we are learning about fossils as part of our rocks and minerals unit. With help from the Royal SK Museum, I was able to bring many "hands on" fossils into the classroom for the kids! They were highly engaged as they rotated through each fossil station. 

Birthday Shout-Out to Abdullah! 

Holiday Book Orders
Holiday Book Orders were sent home with your child on Monday. December is a short month for school and I know winter vacation will sneak up on us, so the book orders went home a bit earlier then usual. I want to make sure students receive their orders back before the winter holidays begin! They will be due next Monday, November 24th.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, November 21: Report Card Day
Monday, November 24: Bricks 4 Kidz Day and Book Orders Due
Tuesday, November 25: Achiever's Assembly 10:45-11:45
Friday, November 28: No School - 3 Way Conferences

November 14, 2014

CREATE Artist Visits 
Although it was a short week at school,  there certainly wasn't any shortage of excitement in our classroom! On Wednesday we had CREATE Artist, Lloyd Dubois, visit our classroom. Mr. D creates beautiful pieces of Indigenous art work and gave us some tips on how to create our own! Students created beautiful paintings by making their own stencils and using sponges as their paint brush. This project was definitely one of the highlights of our week! We look forward to Mr. D returning to our classroom next week!

Volleyball Skills

During the past few weeks, our class has been working very hard on developing their volleyball skills in Phys. Ed. Students have been learning how to properly serve, set, bump and rotate. They have been practicing these skills through partner and small group rallies, mini-volleyball games and finally a few full court volleyball games. The students were able to demonstrate how to properly keep score while learning the basic rules of the game! This week students were assessed on their basic volleyball skills, while volleying the ball back and forth with a partner. 

3 Way Conferences: Confirmation Sheets

Please sign and return the conference time notes as soon as possible. This note was sent home on Wednesday and I would like to collect them all back by the end of next week in order to arrange alternate meeting dates and times if necessary. At this time, all conference times have been filled, so if you're unable to make your assigned time please let me know on your conference time sheet. Thank you!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Thursday, November 20: Bricks 4 Kidz Permission Forms are Due
Friday, November 21: Report Card Day
Monday, November 24: Bricks 4 Kidz Day
Tuesday, November 25: Achiever's Assembly 10:45-11:45
Friday, November 28: No School - Conferences (See conference note for your assigned time)

November 7, 2014

Elder Betty Visits
On Wednesday we had a special visitor in our classroom, Elder Betty. After learning that we were working on our Rocks and Minerals Unit, Elder Betty shared a few stories along that topic . She also talked to us about the medicine wheel and wild life.  The students also were able to ask her a few questions. We had a great time and look forward to her next visit.

"Bricks 4 Kidz" Day
On Monday, November 24th, Bricks 4 Kidz is coming to Gladys McDonald School. Bricks 4 Kidz is an educational service that uses LEGO bricks to teach the basics of architecture and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Bricks 4 Kidz provide opportunities for children to awaken curiosity and inquiry, stimulate observation and exploration skills and enrich, enhance school curriculum and link the science concepts learning in school to the larger world.

The cost is $7.00 per child. Please make this payment before November 20th using School Cash Online.  Permission notes were sent on Wednesday. Please sign and return at your earliest convenience.

Remembrance Day Assembly
On Friday morning we had our Remembrance Day Assembly. The students wore their poppies and took part in 2 minutes of silence. Earlier in the week we decorated a class wreath and on Friday Fatima Z. and Mohammad P. represented our class in the laying of the wreath.

Reading Party
On Friday afternoon we celebrated meeting our home reading goals with a class party! It was a fun filled afternoon! We played several cooperative games as a class, followed by some free-choice activities and many students joined in on a soccer game. We enjoyed some treats back in the classroom while playing some board games. Fatima E. even shared one of her games from Pakistan! I have a feeling everyone is going to work very hard to reach their November reading goal (15 minutes every night)! A little birdie told me there are already plans for a pajama/karaoke party in the works if we reach our next goal! Stay tuned and keep reading!

Scholastic Book Orders
On Friday, November's Scholastic Book Orders were sent home. If you choose to order, please return the order form with payment before next Thursday, November 13th. Please make cheques payable to Scholastic Ltd.

Conference Times
Conferences are on Friday, November 28th and there will be no classes this day. Next Wednesday,  I will be sending a note home with your conference time, in your child's agenda. Please sign and return your confirmation sheet before Monday, November 24th. If you are unable to attend please let me know on the confirmation sheet, and return it to school with your child. Thank you.

Birthday Shout - Out!
Happy Birthday Ishmal! On Tuesday Ishmal celebrated her 10th birthday!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday, November 10: P.D. Day - No School
Tuesday, November 11: Remembrance Day - No School
Wednesday, November 12: Bear-a-Palooza Day
Thursday, November 20: Bricks 4 Kidz Permission Forms are Due
Friday, November 21: Report Card Day
Monday, November 24: Bricks 4 Kidz Day
Tuesday, November 25: Achiever's Assembly 10:45-11:45
Friday, November 28: No School - Conferences

October 31, 2014

Kicking Off Readers Theatre in the Classroom
This week I introduced our next literacy adventure -Readers Theatre! I'm excited to kick off our Readers Theatre groups because this is an excellent way to get kids excited about reading aloud so they can build fluency. Research shows that repeated reading helps improve word recognition, speed and phrasal reading -all keys to fluent reading! Remember, repeated practice leads to proficiency!

 The play we are working on is a spooky, yet funny story called "A Ghost at the Gifford School". The class was divided into three groups and each student has their own role to read. I love seeing students engaged and taking responsibility for their learning  This is an activity that engages even reluctant readers to participate and builds confidence in all readers.

Spreading Kindness to Our Classmates!
On Wednesday, we took part in a fun, feel good activity to build up our self esteem, as part of our health discussion on positive self talk and self esteem. Students each had their own poster with their name in the middle of the page. The class then moved around the room to each of their classmates desks and added a positive compliment onto others posters. It was nice to see students spreading kindness to others while recognizing their classmates strengths and positive qualities. The students were beaming with smiles during the entire activity, and the smiles grew even bigger as they returned to their own poster to see all of the positive compliments that were written about them!

New Fundraiser Begins - Help Make Your School Some $ Dough $ Selling Dough!
On Wednesday morning our school gathered in the gym to learn about our new cookie dough fundraiser! You may remember last years fundraiser where the students earned monkey lanyards for every odd container of cookie dough they sold. This year works the same, however instead of monkeys, the students can earn BEARS! Students can hand in their money/sales on the designated "Bear-a-Palooza" days. The first "Bear-a-Palooza" day was on Friday. Check your child's agenda for the upcoming "Bear-a-Palooza" days, where students can hand in their orders and collect their bears! Our class is "beary"excited to get started!

Achievers Assembly
On Thursday afternoon we had our achiever's assembly. Congratulations to Austin and Micaela for being great leaders in our classroom and earning the first award of the year for Self Control. We are so proud of you!

GMS Annual Fright Night
Thank you to everyone who came to the Annual Fright Night on Thursday night to support the Grade 7/8 Outdoor School and have some family filled fun. The students were beaming with smiles and excitement as they toured to school, played some games, and showed off their creative costumes! It was a fabulous opportunity to come together as a school community and have some fun!

October Reading Log Results - We Reached Our Reading Goal! 
On Friday we added up our October Reading Logs to see if we met our goal. Our goal was for each student to read at least 15 minutes every night, for a total of 450 minutes per student.  That is 11, 700 minutes as a class! The class total was 12, 012 minutes and we will be having a reading party to celebrate our success!

*A few students forgot their reading logs at home. Please send them to school on Monday as we would like to add the minutes onto our total. Our goal for November is to read 15 minutes (or more) each night and we hope to exceed our October reading minutes!

November Reading Logs Begin
November Reading Logs were sent home on Friday! Please remind your child to read every night and fill in their reading logs. We also talked about reading the blog from home each Friday and including it as part of our reading log minutes! We hope to reach our goal again this month! Reading Logs are due on Monday, December 1st. 

Birthday Shout Out!
Happy birthday to Matthew who turned 10 years old on Tuesday!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Tuesday, November 4: Bear-a-Palooza Day (Hand in Cookie Dough Orders)
Friday, November 7:  Bear-a-Palooza Day (Hand in Cookie Dough Orders)
Friday, November 7: Remembrance Day Assembly 10:45-11:30
Monday, November 10: P.D. Day - No School
Tuesday, November 11: Remembrance Day - No School
Friday, November 21: Report Card Day

October 24, 2014

Simple Machines PowerPoint Presentations
To celebrate the end of our Simple Machines unit, the students presented their PowerPoint Presentations to the class. Each group had their own kind simple machine to teach the class about. Some of the machines included levers, pulley, inclined planes, gears, and wheels and axles. The students really enjoyed sharing what they have accomplished with others and using technology to show what they know was an added bonus for many!

Exploring Rocks and Minerals
On Thursday we started our next science unit, Rocks and Minerals. The students examined the layers of the earth (crust, mantle, outer core and inner core). We also learned about how rocks change through the process of erosion. As water fills the cracks of rocks and freezes, the ice expands breaking the rock. To help students visualize this concept, we filled a glass jar with water and put it in the freezer. The students made a prediction as to what would happen to the glass jar. Students were able to see the power of the ice expanding and were surprised to learn that the ice could break through a glass jar! Lastly we took a close look at sand from our playground under a magnifying glass. The students were able to identify the quartz minerals while learning how quartz is used in everyday life (i.e glass, concrete etc.).

Positive Self Talk Graffiti Board

In Health we have been learning about identity including self esteem and positive vs. negative self talk. Here is our graffiti board where each student added things they like about themselves and examples of positive self talk to boost their self confidence. We are learning about the impact power positive self talk has on our lives and what we can accomplish.

Happy Birthday Ty!

On Monday it was Ty's 9th birthday! Happy Birthday Ty!

Shout Out!

Shout out to Rayan, Jacob, Abdullah and Moeed for working together during the lunch hour to create this astounding tower! They were so proud of what they accomplished they insisted it be shared on the blog! Great teamwork boys!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, October 31: Home Reading Logs are Due *Please Send Back to School
Thursday, October 30: Fright Night Carnival 6:30-8:00 PM *Students can wear their costumes*
Friday, October 31: Boston Pizza Special Lunch & Black and Orange Day

October 17th, 2014

A Visit from Constable Duff
On Wednesday we had a special visit from Constable Duff. He talked to the class about Halloween safety for Trick-or-Treaters. Some key tips from Constable Duffs visit included:

• Be bright at night. 
• Look both ways and listen for traffic before crossing. 
• Cross at corners. 
• If there are no sidewalks, always walk facing traffic. 
• Think about your boundaries and go with a responsible adult. 
• If wearing a costume, make sure it doesn't obstruct your vision. 
• Sort and check candy with an adult before eating. 

First Aid Skits
In Phys. Ed we have been learning about how to treat different injuries. Each pair of students were assigned a specific injury to research and prepare a short skit to teach the class about what to do to treat the injury. The students love the drama portion of this assignment! We are wrapping up our planning this week and have already began to share a few of the skits with the class.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Wednesday, October 22: Picture Retakes
Thursday, October 30: Fright Night Carnival
Friday, October 31: Boston Pizza Lunch