Tree of Light

First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The first purple candle is lit and it symbolizes "hope" and reminds us that Jesus is coming.

Letter this week is Ee

Advent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent.  We talked about the  seasons of the Church and how during ordinary time we have a green cloth on our prayer table. During Advent we put on a purple cloth because purple is a a colour associated with royalty and Jesus is our King!
Today your child is bringing home an Advent wreath and prayers that you can share as a family during Advent. The wreaths have candles but they don't all have wicks so they aren't really meant to be lit.  It is incredibly hard to find purple birthday  candles  (not sure why that is) so we had to cut the ones we had in half.
Also coming home is an Advent calendar that your child can colour and then place an angel sticker on for each day in December.

Also during Advent we will be sending home an Advent bag with a book, journal and activity for you to share with your family.  It is yours for one night only, please send it back the next day so another child can take it home.

Thank you.

Grocery Store

Our grocery store is a huge hit! Thanks for all the awesome donations.

Week of Nov. 23rd

The letter this week is K.

Our school library is having a Scholastic Book Fair this week so we will not be going to library for a story and book exchange.  This means your child can keep their library book for an extra week if you like.
Information came home on Friday regarding the Book Fair.  Our preview day is Wed. Nov. 25th.  The children get to look at the books that are for sale and then we help them write a wish list for two books that they would like.   We will explain to the kids that their parents may chose to buy only one of the books or they may decide not to purchase any.  It is totally up to you, please do not feel obligated.  It is a great time for a teachable moment with your child; just because they want something, doesn't always mean they will get it.

Friday November 27th is a PA Day, so there is no school for students.

Save the Date
Tuesday Dec. 8th will be our "JOY DAY".  This is a day where we invite parents in to make crafts with their children.  It will take place in the morning. More info will be posted soon.

Last Week

Thanks for taking the time to come in and spend some valuable time with your child in the classroom last week during observations.  They were so excited to see you and proud to take you around their classroom!   Miss Araujo and I enjoyed touching base with you regarding your child's progress.

On Friday afternoon we had our ice cream and movie party, which was a result of our class coming in third for the most money raised at the dance-a-thon.  We had Chapman's mini, peanut-free, ice cream sandwiches and we watched Finding Nemo.

Grocery Store

The movie theatre is closed and we will be opening grocery store in our drama centre.   Please send in empty food boxes, rinsed juice containers, empty yogurt containers etc., so we can stock our shelves.  Please ensure that the empty containers were peanut free food items.  A grocery store allows the children writing opportunities as they make grocery lists, learning their numbers on the cash register, they practice printing their numbers when making prices and it promotes social skills such as turn taking, role playing etc.  If you have re-usable grocery bags we can use those too.  Please label them if you want them returned ( I can't guarantee they will come back in excellent condition, but we will try).

Bus Safety Presentation

Today we went to a presentation about bus safety.  The presenters talked about the "danger zone" around the bus which is 10 feet around the perimeter of the bus.  If you are in the "danger zone", then the bus driver can't see you.  They discussed the proper way to get on and off of the bus and how to sit properly on the bus.  The kids enjoyed the presentation, especially the remote controlled bus that rolled around the gym.  As your child what they remember about the presentation.

Learning From Each Other

We love it when our students share their knowledge with everyone. One of our students printed the numbers from 1-10 in Arabic and brought it in to show everyone.  It created quite a discussion about the similarities and differences between the English numbers and the Arabic numbers.  We learned that in Arabic writing goes from right to left. our students love learning from their peers!  We are all teachers and learners at the same time!

Looking for Lids

Please send in your lids from yogurt,  sour cream,  cream cheese,  margarine containers etc . We need them for a Christmas craft that we will be doing soon.  I know I  can't believe that we are talking about Christmas either!

Next Week's Letter is Cc

Words to review

Each week we introduce a new letter and the children bring in an object and present it for pat time.  Along with this letter we also introduce words for our word wall.  So far this year we have introduced the following words:
a
am
an
and
are
I
is
it
in
no
not
she
said
this
to
the
play
put

Please practice these words at home with your children.  Put the words on cue cards and put them on the stairs  so your child has to say the word as they walk up the stairs.  Help your child find the words in stories that you  read, or make a matching game with the words.  Most importantly, have fun while learning.

Remembrance Day

Today we had a Remembrance Day liturgy in our class.  We sang O Canada and then had a brief prayer service that included a minute of silence to remember those who served in the military in order for us to have such a peaceful country.  The children were amazing,  so reverent and respectful!  You should be very proud of your children.
We have included a picture of our bulletin board that showcases our still life poppy paintings.  A special thanks to Mrs. Liu for creating the art with the kids.

Remembrance Day

We have been talking about Remembrance Day and the meaning of wearing a poppy.  We focus on what peace looks like and how we can be peacemakers.  The children have been very thoughtful, coming up with ideas such as peace is quiet, peace is sharing, peace is loving others.  We read a book today called The Peace  Book which was a simple story about peace. 

Important Dates This Week

Thursday November 12th is photo re-take day.
Friday November 13th is Diabetes Awareness Day- Please wear blue

If you have not returned the bottom portion of the observation note, please do so this week.  Thanks

Next Week's Letter is Nn

Volunteers Needed

If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom, and you have a police check, then please send us a note indicating when you would like to come in.  It can be a weekly commitment or an occasional commitment, whatever works best for you.  However,  we would prefer the assistance in the mornings.
We would like to have volunteers start the week of November 23rd,  after observations.  Any amount of time is appreciated.

Looking for "popcorn "

Our drama centre has become a movie theatre, as voted on by the children.   We have a movie listing and snacks for sale. We have an awesome popcorn machine and we are looking for those Styrofoam packing peanuts to use as popcorn .  If you happen to have any that you no longer need or want, please send them in.

Pizza coupon

All students in the school received a pizza coupon for participating in the dance-a-thon.  
Adriana in our class won the Minion Playdoh pack from the  dance-a-thon prize raffle.  Congratulations!

Movie and ice cream Party

As a result of the generous dance-a-thon pledges from our families,  our class came in 3rd in terms of the most money raised.  Our prize is a movie and ice cream party for our class.  YAY!  The kids are really excited about it.  We will let you know when that is going to take place. Thanks again for your generosity!

Snuggle Up and Read

SK FAMILIES
The blue duotang in  your child's mailbag is their Snuggle Up and Read folder. Each Tuesday and Thursday it will be sent home with a new book. Please have your child read it to you.  Please see inside the cover for reading strategies.  We  have already read this first book together at school so it should be familiar to them.
The JKS Snuggle Up will begin in January.   Please continue to read to your child daily as the love of reading is the best gift you can give them.

This week. ..

Scholastic book order forms came home today. Please return the form by Friday November 6th if you would like to place an order.

Please return your child's reading log for October so that they can receive a certificate.

P is the letter of the week