Dear Families,

It was a busy Friday here at Nottawa Elementary!  As always, our school showed excellent spirit for our assembly today dressing up in our GREEN and COWBOY hats!  YEEHAW!  Our school's green team did an excellent job delivering their message to reduce, reuse, and recycle EVERYDAY! Together, we can help KEEP our planet healthy and green!

Their smiles say it ALL, we love our planet Earth!

Character Recognition Assembly:

Today, we had our third character recognition assembly to celebrate November’s character trait of Courage – “We do the right thing, even when it’s difficult.”  Congratulations to our recipients Hannah N. and Pierce.  I am so proud of you for striving to be the best you can BE in and out of the classroom.  Continue on this path and you’ll succeed in all that you set out to do!

Way to go Hannah and Pierce!

“There is within each one of us a potential for goodness beyond our imagination for giving which seeks no reqard, for listening without judgement, for loving unconditionally.”

December’s Character Trait is EMPAHTY – We think about the feelings of others!”

Goodbye Mr. Comish:

On behalf of my students and families, I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to our amazing principal Mr. Comish as he transitions to his new school on Monday.  We will always remember your kindness, professionalism, and expertise in helping guide students and their families to experience the best education.  I would also personally like to thank you for believing in me as an educator and providing me with the opportunity to be part of the Nottawa family.  It has been a dream come true for me, and it has exceeded all my expectations!!  I am a proud NIGHTHAWK.  We will remember you fondly and carry on your teachings!  Best wishes at Cameron Street, they are fortunate to have YOU!!

Tristan's family saying farewell to Mr. Comish

We're going to MISS YOU!!

Balanced Math & Literacy Workstations:

This week, we spent some time learning about Math and Literacy Workstations!  Students will work in small groups to reinforce and practice learned concepts, in this case, the workstations will have a math and language focus.  They are very excited about this!  Below I have listed the workstations with its accompanying learning goal (see pictures) so you have an idea of what your child will be doing and his/her expectations when they're working in small groups.  They had a blast working with their groups and we will continue these guided groups throughout the year!  Here they are in workstation action!

STEAM Challenge:

S.T.E.A.M. stands for science, techonology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.  The idea behind this is to incorporate these subject areas in a meaningful way for students to engage in activities and challenges that get them exploring, investigating, inquiring, and creating!  

This week in the library, Mrs. Johnson challenged my students to work in a group to create the tallest free standing structure using pipecleaners and scissors.  There was very little direction from the teacher as we encouraged this activity to be student-driven to understand, plan, solve, and explain their thinking. These challenges are an excellent opportunity for students to work on their learning skills, specifically collaboration.  They were so excited to partake in this, and the winning duo was Tate and Wesley.  Great work boys!!  I hope to have more STEAM challenges throughout the school year!  Stay tuned :)

Tate and Wes' tallest free standing tower!!

Growth Mindset:

"Do not be anyone but YOU!"  

Thank you Alexis for this meaningful quote!!

Namaste,

Miss Gill