Dear Families,

What a beautiful week it’s turned out to be!  The sunshine and warmth are welcomed and we as a class took advantage of this to spend lots of time outside doing various activities like track & field, Earth clean up, picnic lunches, and D.P.A.!  

Character Recognition Assembly:

Today during period 5 and 6, we had an assembly to celebrate all the students who have demonstrated OPTIMISM - "We believe we can do it!"  Congratulations to Katelyn and Hunter for always believing in themselves and their abilities to persevere even through challenging tasks. Your determination, tenacity, and dedication to getting the job done is an inspiration.  Well done!

Also at the assembly, it was wonderful to see so many Nighthawks decked out in their NEON BRIGHT colours to show school spirit!  Way to go Nottawa!!

Earth Day Clean Up:

On Wednesday, we took time to get involved in helping our Earth by setting out to clean up!  Thank you Mr. Plater for organizing this endeavour so each class was assigned a designated area either on school property or the surrounding area.  Our class focused on Townly Street.  Check us out doing our part! 

I have shared many times with my class that I believe Earth Day is such an important celebration and to not only honour it once a year, but to think of ways to help Mother Earth each and every day!!  In doing so, we can make a significant difference for our planet.  We are truly blessed to live in an area that is safe, beautiful, and FREE.  

Artist Visit:

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of having Mr. Sean Dawson visit our classroom again to teach and engage students in an art lesson.  Sean's lesson focused on pop art and mixed media.  Your child used acrylic paints specifically using primary colours and then mixed them to make secondary colours to create a painting inspired by Andy Warhol.  Students loved this process and their creations!!  Check them out below.  

Please visit Sean’s website if you have time over the weekend.  He is truly a passionate and talented artist who I have invited into my classrooms for many years!  http://www.swd-art.com/

Thank you to families who provided a white t-shirt not only for their child but also for students who may not have brought one in to do the "silk screening."  Your kindness and generosity is appreciated!! 

A friendly reminder about the art note I sent home on Wednesday.

PLEASE NOTE:  Very important!  With the t-shirts, when they get home, they must go in the dryer on high heat for 15-20 minutes on their own (no other clothing in dryer please) to ensure the ink remains on the shirt.  After this process, then the shirt can be washed normally with other clothing.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”  -- Pablo Picasso  

Thank you Sean for reinforcing this powerful quote - it is so very true!!  We thoroughly enjoyed having you join our learning community!  See you in the new school year.

Track & Field:

Over the next several weeks, the junior and intermediate students will be participating in track & field practices.  We will be having a fairly flexible schedule with this due to weather, field trips, and other in school commitments that may come up.  But it is our hope that we will be practicing pretty regularly throughout April and May.  Your child is encouraged to have proper outdoor footwear (running shoes) and if they wish, track attire as well such as shorts and a t-shirt.

This week in gym, I introduced a new track event for my students – Standing Long Jump.  We went through the skills and safety tips for this (see picture below).  At the end of my lesson, we had a friendly competition to see who could jump the farthest.  Congratulations to Tate and Hunter!

Similarly to speeches, the Grade 3’s will participate and be exposed to track & field this year too in preparation for their involvement next year.  They’ll surely be well prepared!       

Nottawa Earth Week:

The Green Team is planning a week of activities to celebrate our Earth!  It will begin on Monday! Below I have listed all the initiatives planned with a brief outline of each so you too can help encourage your child to participate!

Monday - Boomerang and LOL lunch (all week)

·         Everything that comes in your lunch, goes home, except compost

·         LOL means turn out the lights during lunch (which we do regularly in our class)

Tuesday - Walk, Ride or Roll to School

·         Let's try and save energy and get a little exercise

Wednesday - Toys and Books Exchange  

·         Bring a book or toy and exchange it for another

·         This will take place in the library at break time and during the Art Expo

Thursday - Battery and Cell Phone Collection

·         The Green Team will make sure they don't end up in landfill

Friday - Earth Day Picnic and Tree Planting

·         Take your class outside and enjoy a picnic lunch and be part of our tree planting

·         All students and staff are asked to wear green to show our commitment to the environment

Stay Green Nottawa!! 

Farewell Mr. Coutts:
Today marked our chief custodian Mr. Coutts' last day here at Nottawa.  He will be entering a new phase of his life - retirement!  We wish you well and thank you for keeping our school so bright and clean.  Your hard work and efforts throughout the years is appreciated!!  All the best, Mr. Coutts :)

Growth Mindset:

“Think about others too not just yourself.” - Nathan

Namaste,

Miss Gill

Dear Families,

Despite it being a shortened school week, we had yet another productive learning time! Additionally, we have some exciting upcoming events as well such as an artist visit, community cleanup, and the grade 3's final swim!  Check them out below fresh off of their swimming lesson from Wednesday!

Shared Writing:
Over the past several weeks, I have been teaching and modeling how to write a procedure.  See previous post about procedural writing.  This week, I had students work in partners to write a procedure about the gym fitness workstations we've been doing.  Most have a really good idea about this as they've performed the movements and now I am seeing if they can implement these into a writing piece.  Their goal after this job will then be to write a procedure on their own for assessment of their learning.  Stay tuned!

Guided Math:
One of the most important workstations in balanced math is the guided workstation as it is an opportunity for students to work in a small group with their teacher to build upon their skills and then utilizing these learned strategies and applying them into their independent work. This week, I gave the green and orange groups a math problem and they worked on wipe boards to justify their answers using the 4-Block Method.  I was very impressed with their outcomes!  Here are a few pics of students in problem solving action!  If your child is in the green or orange group, ask them how they approached solving this question.

Math Note:
I sent home a new note about our upcoming focus in mathematics.  I hope you're able to sit down with your child to go over these as they're helpful in learning new ways to support your child in math.

Grade 4:  Your child will be learning about fractions and decimal numbers to tenths and how to use them to describe wholes/parts, and to describe and create sets and areas.

Grade 3:  Your child will be working with fractions.  Students will use fractions to describe parts of a group, parts of a whole, and parts of a measure.  They will represent and explain fractions using drawings.  They will also model and describe mixed numbers.

Art Expo:
Thank you to Mrs. O who has been working so hard to organize this wonderful event for us.  We appreciate your efforts in supporting the Arts in our school.  Please record the Art Expo in your calendars for Wed. May 3rd 2:15 pm to 6:30 pm.  Beautiful artwork from K-8 will be displayed for your viewing enjoyment.  It's an event you won't want to miss!

Yoga Night:
Did you get an opportunity to go to the family yoga night Thursday evening?  I heard it went well and everyone had great exposure to this mindful practice.  The hope is it'll serve as a tool to help maintain positive mental and physical well-being.  

Nottawa Softball Team:
Thank you Jack and family for promoting Nottawa's softball team and encouraging others to as well. If you are interested in signing your child up for baseball this summer, please contact the number provided in the poster (pic) below.  Thank you!

Artist Visit:
On Tuesday, we will have the pleasure of having Sean Dawson return for a visit to our classroom to do some art with the children.  I have such respect for him as he provides thorough and informative lessons that cover curriculum expectations.  Wait until you see what we'll produce!!

Please ensure your child brings in a white t-shirt for Tuesday's visit as we will be using these for silk screening and celebrating Canada's 150th!

Growth Mindset:

"Be AWESOME!  Be YOU!" -Marissa

Namaste,

Miss Gill