Hoppy Easter ;)

Dear Families,

This year was the first time we got to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on its actual day the 17th!  The kids were excited and showed their spirit by dressing up in green!  I loved seeing most students and staff get into the spirit!  Check us out below :-)

As a way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we made a folding surprise art piece.  The kids always enjoy doing these and revealing what's inside ;)  Hopefully you were able to see your child's completed sliding leprechaun when it came home on Wednesday.

Ryker:

Ryker had some fun with building a leprechaun trap at her house with her family.  Check it out!  She even brought in the sneaky footprints he or she left behind, hehe.

Additionally, it was another first this week for some students who have birthdays during March Break to actually be at school to celebrate with their peers and friends!  This was a special moment :)  

I could feel Mason's (Mar. 16th) excitement and how much he's valued having his birthday being shared on the announcements and playing with his friends at recess as he turned 9 years old.

There is always a silver lining to the changes that we've experienced this school year, but as always, we are continuing to focus on the positive!       

Language:

Thank you to Mrs. Teeter (Kaylee's Mom) for introducing me to Malala Yousafzai's book "The Magic Pencil."  I shared this read aloud at Byng, but we revisited it this week as we continued our discussions about ways we can make a difference for our home, school, and community.

Malala's Magic Pencil  

Malala's mission was to help empower young girls and women to the same rights and freedoms that boys and men have such as an education.  She set out to amplify girls' voices and ensure that every girl has access to twelve years of free, safe, and quality education.  She is one of my personal heroes!!

After listening to the story, students were given the writing prompt ... "If I had a magic pencil ..." and were asked to write a paragraph about the ways they would help make our world better and brighter. 

Here are just the beginning of some of their ideas:  

If I had a magic pencil, I would ...

• "Provide food and a home for all the homeless.  Remember to never give up on your hopes and dreams."  (Payton, Lilia, Ryan, Taylor, Carter)

• "Erase Covid-19 and bad sicknesses like cancer."  (Jamie)

• "Help people believe in the power of God, to erase all the garbage in the world, and plant more trees."  (Kaylee)

• "Make everything reusable."  (Brooklyn)

• "Erase bullying and if I erased it all people will be kind and no one would feel hurt."  (Clara)

• "Use it to spread love so everyone is treated fairly."  (Gavin)

• "Erase all the plastic in the oceans so animals don't get sick or die."  (Ben)

• "Draw peace all over the world so that people could live a peaceful life."  (Ryker, Mason)

• "Make everything recyclable."  (Owen)

• "Put an end to racism in different countries.  It is not right to mistreat or judge others."  (Noah)

• "Stop cutting down trees so we can have fresh air, oxygen into us so we can breathe better and calmer."  (Colin)

• "Erase pollution to make our world cleaner and nicer."  (Dougie)

• "Erase Covid-19 and endangered species."  (Lily)

"Use it to make things fair and equal between all people."  (Gabby)

All of my students' responses are heart soaring and I am so proud to be surrounded with children who genuinely care about helping others and our planet!! 

Below is just one example :-)  Please enjoy listening to your child's completed message when this piece comes home next week.

Coding with a Hundreds Chart:

This week, we worked on honing our skills with mental math for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  To link to coding, I had the students write a mathematical code for their partner to unlock.  Ask your child how this math task worked :)

Below you will see the kids working away and getting their brains to think, Think, THINK!  

Over the weekend, please have your child write a code for you to unlock.  Once you've solved it, then please go ahead and make one for them to solve too :-)  I have provided hundreds charts as a tool to use!

Art:

This week, we finished up our Barbara Reid inspired art and they turned out so well!  We were so proud of these pieces that we hung them up in the hallway in the school for others to admire and that THEY DID!  

Thank you Mr. Perry for taking a photograph of our art and sharing it onto the announcements for the school to see!!!!!

Check out your child's bright smile as they show case their art!  Please note, I also had each student write an artist statement to share the inspiration behind their thinking.  These pieces will come home soon for you to see in person :)  Stay tuned!

Norval Morrisseau:

Our next art project will be inspired by Norval Morrisseau.  As some of you may know, I am very interested and passionate about Indigenous Studies.  I have so much learning and growing to still do in this area, and am excited to share my passion with my students :)

So, who is he?  'Norval Morrisseau also known as Copper Thunderbird was an Indigenous Canadian artist from the Anishinaabek First Nation.  Known as the "Picasso of the North," Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality."

His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colours.  He founded the Woodlands School of Canadian Art and was a prominent member of the "Indian Group of Seven."  He was a recipient of the Order of Canada in 1979.

We will begin our art project next week!  I request that your child please bring in a black sharpie or two on Monday if they have it.  Many thanks in advance for your support in this art endeavour.  

Science:

Here is a what Mrs. Johnson taught the students today in science class.  I took a photograph for you to see.  Have a closer look and have your child explain what "BATS" stands for to reinforce this learning at home.

Mindfulness:

Thank you to Mrs. Johnson for sharing this TedTalk - The Effects of Lying" on today's announcements.  It links directly to this month's character trait - Integrity:  "We can always be trusted EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING."

This talk is presented by a 4th grade student.  She explains the damaging effects that lying can have on your life and your health.  

Please ask your child's the importance of its message and why we should always tell the truth :)

Growth Mindset:

"You can't change the way you look, but maybe, JUST MAYBE, people can change how they see you.  CHOOSE KINDNESS."  - Clara

Namaste,

Miss Gill