Dear Parents and/or Guardians,
The first week of school was a great success, we have such a great class. They were all such troopers in making the transition to grade 3!
We have spent our first week getting to know each other, building a respectful, positive and collaborative class culture, and reviewing important routines and safety rules. This practice will be ongoing throughout the entire school year. We are learning to find ‘good fit’ books so we can enjoy reading, and we started some basic review from last year. In the next few weeks, we will begin reviewing and learning new concepts in math, science, and language. We will also be learning the importance of developing good learning skills (listed in the report card) as part of our life time success. We have a lot to accomplish and the students seem keen to get going!
As the routines and expectations become more entrenched in our classroom, each student will benefit from whole class learning, smaller group work, as well as independent tasks while I work with a rotation of students.
As the academic tasks unfold, students in this classroom will spend time learning about mindfulness, about important parts of their brain, and more specifically, that intelligence grows with effort and experience. They will learn how making mistakes is an essential part of learning for everyone. Honouring our mistakes is key, and problem solving for solutions, making discoveries together is the most fun and rewarding part of learning!
As your child embarks on another productive year of learning, please help him or her succeed to the best of her/his abilities by praising their effort rather than their grade. Studies have shown that recognizing children for their effort fosters perseverance and, consequently, students tend to succeed better when faced with challenging tasks (Carol Dweck, The Growth Mindset). Here are some examples:
Thank you for your support in completing all the paperwork and online forms (through school cashonline) promptly. If you haven’t already done so, please complete all the forms as soon as possible.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain a few of the routines that will be taking place in our classroom. I would also like to introduce to you the units we have or will be starting shortly.
A few housekeeping items:
Remind / Agenda - Parent-teacher communication will be done through the ‘Remind’ app, and the agenda will be used for students to record their homework and weekly goals. Please purchase an agenda on School Cash online for $4. Cash payments are no longer accepted through the school.
Indoor/Outdoor shoes - Each child should have one pair of shoes with non-marking soles to be worn in the classroom and during Gym periods to keep the classroom environment clean. The indoor shoes should be labelled and will remain at school throughout the year. Please send a pair of indoor shoes and a spare set of labelled clothing (to be kept in their backpack) as soon as possible if you have not already done so.
School supplies will be provided by the school. If you wish to send your child with any school supplies (pencils, glue, crayons, etc), your child will be responsible for these supplies. A set of comfortable earphones that you child can keep in the classroom for his/her own use is welcome. These are available at Dollarama. Students can use school headphones but some students find them uncomfortable. Kindly label your child’s earphones, I will be keeping these stored in a special place to be retrieved when they are needed for academic tasks only. Also, two one-inch binders and a box of Kleenex will be really helpful.
Absences/Appointments- To report your child’s absence, please call 1-855-203-2994 or go to https://parent.schoolconnectsweb.com/parentportal33/login/default.aspx?yorkrdsb even if you have written me a note.
NOTE that we have students with severe NUT ALLERGIES in our school. Please be extra vigilant about reading snack and food labels when preparing snacks and lunches for school.
Mark your calendars for these important dates:
Monday, September 25, 2016- P.D. day -- No School
Thursday, September 28, 2016-Terry Fox walk
Thursday September 28, 2016 – Open House/Curriculum Night
Curriculum Corner:
Math
We have already begun familiarizing ourselves with the different math manipulatives we use to help us learn math. The next few weeks will focus on Number Sense and Numeration where we will be exploring numbers to 1000, helpful patterns in the hundreds chart, skip counting backwards and forwards in French by 2, 5, 10, 25 and 100.
Science
Our first Science Unit will be about Forces causing movement. We will learn to name and understand six forces we come across on a daily basis (muscular, magnetic, natural, etc.) and their effects, as well as how forces cause movement and changes in movement.
Language
Most of our focus for September is on listening and speaking French, refreshing our minds after the summer break. Teacher is spending a lot of time assessing students through various tasks, to be able to differentiate the teaching to the needs of each child. We also spend a lot time modeling and practicing routines and expectations for daily literacy centers and getting set up for guided reading with small groups in October.
Health
September is a perfect time to start learning about living skills (personal, interpersonal, critical and creative thinking). Although this is ongoing teaching all year long, we start with learning about ourselves. What our unique learning styles are, about our brain, about growing our brain and growing our intelligence. We learn about self-regulation, what we can do to cope during more challenging times, and how we can respect ourselves and others (and things too).
Social Studies, Physical Education and Music
Social Studies is taught by M. Coburn Ext. 231
Physical Education is taught by M. Falcao Ext. 232
Music is taught by M. Falcao Ext. 232
Please contact the appropriate teachers for each subject if you have any questions.
What you can do to help your child:
Praise their effort (“I see you’ve been thinking a lot about this”, “you’re working hard”)
Discuss/review with your child what they have learned at school every day
Review work that is sent home in the folder.
Read, read, read all books that are sent home.
Make use of the public library to sign out books, videos, DVDs and CD’s.
Encourage your child to watch French television, Skype or call a classmate to talk in French
Explore the online French websites and games on the internet.
Read or listen to stories (select language: French) at www.tumblebooklibrary.com
Login: romeodallaire
Password: reads
A monthly newsletter will be placed in the communication folder if you requested a paper copy. It keep you up to date about what your child is learning in class.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at school or by sending me a REMIND app message.
Please check our school site for many more, great resources! http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/romeodallaire.ps/Pages/default.aspx
HOMEWORK EXPECTATIONS:
We’ve already begun practicing our homework routine.
The students are expected to fulfill their daily homework obligations as part of their learning skills grade for “responsibility”. The homework will be structured as follows:
Monday: Word Work
A list of weekly words/sounds to work with throughout the week. Refer to the back of the cover of word work notebook for instructions and success criteria.
Tuesday: Math practice work sheet or workbook page
The exercises will be meant to practice the concepts taught in class.
Wednesday: Reading comprehension passage OR special project OR study for a test.
Thursday: Math problem of the week.
Friday: Writing / writing convention task.
Unfinished class work may also come home to be completed.
On-going assessment
Weekly dictation on the last school day of each week.
Weekly math mini-quiz on the day after math practice homework.
This weekly organization is subject to change due to school events, field trips, holidays and other circumstances.
Please keep in mind that reading is always encouraged, no matter what day! The Reading Log folder in your child’s communication folder is there for you to initial anytime your child reads in French. The children will be recognized for their efforts at the end of each month.
Thank you so much in advance for all your help! I am looking forward to meeting you and working with your children for the school year!
Sincerely,
M Jung
Roméo Dallaire
905-585-0001 ext. 224
