Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful last day of school today!  The students enjoyed watching The Polar Express with their friends in Mrs. Smith's class and then during 3rd block we got together as a school and sang Christmas songs!  So much fun!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas with extra special time with family and friends and a Happy New Year.

Advent Blessings,

Mrs. Caluori

2nd Week of Advent

The second week of Advent is coming to an end.  This week we got together with all of the Grade 3 and Grade 4 classes to light the second Advent Candle.

This week we focused on the meaning of 'peace' and how we can spread peace and light to one another.  We have also been preparing for the next Gospel Value Assembly on Tuesday.  The Grade 3s are in charge of introducing the next Gospel Value of Hope.  We will be singing two songs and sharing a video message with the school.

The students have enjoyed delivering Advent Blessings to other classrooms.  We are in week two of our deliveries and have had classrooms tweeting messages of thanks, sending back messages to our classroom and have even had teachers request students visit and explain the prayer and project to their class.  It is so wonderful to see how little messages of hope and prayer can really make someone's day.  Ask your child about our classroom Advent project.

We have also been reading many Christmas books and discussing the Christmas Story.  We have written reflections on Isaiah, Mary and the Angel Gabriel so far.  Next week we will finish up our reflections and write The Christmas Story in our own words.  



In Language, we continue with Descriptive Writing and are also focusing on compound words.  In Math, we are also finishing up Number Patterns and will continue working with Fact Families and Temperature (reading temperature on a thermometer as well as knowing the temperatures for Freezing, Boiling and Room Temperature.  

As we move into the Third Week of Advent, I wish everyone many Advent Blessings and I hope everyone enjoys the extra time with friends and family.

Your Partner in Education,

Mrs. Caluori

Yesterday the children participated in the coding initiative called #hourofcode.  This project has been designed to introduce and promote Computer Science, "Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science."  The students had so much fun exploring the world of coding.  If you would like to check out this initiative, visit Hour of Code and ask your child all about it!

Here is a template we used in class.

Hour Of Code QR Codes and Shortened URLs


Have fun!

Mrs. Caluori

Christmas Hampers

Thank you so much for the generous donations to our classroom Food Hamper.  The due date for all items to be brought in is this coming Wednesday.  If you are interested in adding additional items to our basket, please write a note in your child's agenda and I will send home a suggested item to purchase.
The family that we are donating our basket to, is a family of 6.  There is a mom and her sister, a 10 year old boy, 10 year old girl, 8 year old girl and 3 year old girl.  In addition to food items, if you would like to donate a wrapped toy/present to a child in this family please send in the toy by Wednesday as well with a note indicating which child (age) the gift is intended for.  We are also accepting gloves, mittens, hats and scarves for the family.  Please note that this is entirely optional. Again, I can't thank you enough for all of your support.  It is a wonderful way to prepare our hearts for our Advent Journey.

The Grade 6s are collecting used items for the White Elephant Sale.  Please send in any used books, toys, household items, ornaments, etc. (no clothes or used earrings please) by December 11th.  The White Elephant Sale will take place on the 11th.  Children will be able to purchase an array of items ranging from 25 cents to 5 dollars.

It is hard to believe that the 1st Week of Advent in coming to an end.  The students will be working on an Advent Reflection over the next few weeks.  This document can be found in their Google Drive in their Religion folder.  They are welcome to work on it from home as well as at school.  Ask your child what their Advent Promise will be this Advent Season and what they plan to do to work towards this goal.

This week we have read some Advent Prayers as a class as well as a wonderful story called "How Full is your Bucket?".

Mathletics

I have signed the class up for Mathletics.  It is a great way to practice math facts in a fun and exciting way.  Many of the children would really benefit from math fact practice and speed with facts.

It is easy to access the site from home.  You can go to the St. Cecilia Website and click on the tab that says Student Portal.  Once you are in the student portal, click on the app that says Mathletics and if your child is already signed into Chrome, he or she will go straight into the website game from there.

I will also send home the Mathletic passwords and usernames incase you are having difficulty signing into Chrome with the students accounts (firstname.lastname@ocsbstudent.ca) in which case you can go to the Mathletics Website and use the username and password that has been sent home today.

In addition, there is a Mathletic App that is a free download for iPads.

The students can go "live" and play against students in our class or around the globe.

Have Fun!!


Mrs. Caluori

Remembrance Day

Our School Remembrance Day ceremony will be held this Wednesday in our school gymnasium at 10:45 a.m.  Last week and this week, the students have been working hard on their Pointillism Remembrance Day Art.  The artwork is really coming together and is beautiful!

For more Remembrance Day readings and activities visit
Remembrance Day for Students

Students can bring in money to purchase poppies here at St. Cecilia.




The students have really enjoyed looking at some famous examples of pointillism such as, Georges Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande.    






Here are some other famous paintings that we have looked at and discussed.

Our 5th Global Read Aloud!

I am OK at...One day I will be an expert at...but in the meantime, I will have fun exploring.  An amazing message about having GRIT, persevering and having resilience.

Enjoy the book trailer for this week's read aloud below.