May 27-31 Update

Dear families,

Congratulations Holy Name School for celebrating 100 years of Catholic education! This is such a memorable milestone; thank you to all the families that came out on Saturday to celebrate this day. Decade projects will be sent home this week (thank you families for all of your hard work in helping to support these).

From May 27-June 4^th, the grade 2 and 3 students are involved in provincial assessments. The grade 2 students will write the CAT-4 test everyday (except this Tuesday) for one hour in the morning. The grade 3 students will also write the EQAO test everyday (except Tuesday) for one hour in the morning. The students had a successful first day of testing and I know they are excited to continue. I will link the EQAO website page on this blog so students may look through past test questions to help them prepare.

In Language Arts, the students will learn how to write a persuasive piece. This will also connect with science as they will think about topics relevant to protecting our environment. Persuasive writing links well with paragraph writing as students generate ideas and supporting details relevant to their topic. For Spelling, both grades should be working on Spelling List 28 activity pages due this Thursday. They grade 2 students will have 15 list words (+2 bonus words from now until the end of June) as they prepare for grade 3.

In Mathematics, we are beginning a new unit on Probability.  In this chapter, students further develop their understanding of the likelihood that an event will occur. They will investigate probability through everyday contexts and through activities with coins, dice and spinners. Some new math words throughout this unit are: certain, likely and unlikely.  Alongside these terms, students will grasp a clear meaning of the words: always, sometimes and never as they explore outcomes.

In Social Studies, the students are learning about mapping symbols as they prepare to create their own maps with a title, legend and relevant symbols.

In Fully Alive, we have been discussing new born babies and how fragile and special they are. The students love sharing stories of when they were babies and remembering those precious moments. To connect with this theme, I have asked that students gather four baby pictures for each headline on the poster due this Thursday. Finished posters will be showcased on our Baby Wall of Fame! I cannot wait to see all their adorable pictures.

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bertone

May 25th Celebration news

Dear families,

Join us tomorrow May 25th for a memorable day as Holy Name Catholic School celebrates its 100th Anniversary!
Mass: 1:00 pm
School open house: 2:30pm-6:00pm

I am anticipating a lovely day! You will be delighted when you see all the excellent decade displays the classes have been working on for this celebration.
Hope to see you all there!

May 21-24 Update

Dear families,

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful long weekend! As it is a short week, there will not be new spelling words. All classes are busy wrapping up their 100^th anniversary decade activities. Our class will finish working on our vintage film posters and project presentations. I have seen such amazing work so far and I am truly impressed with the level of creativity in room 202!

There will be a math drill this Friday and the students received a practice sheet to take home for this Friday’s drill. Much of our lessons will be based on last week’s focus areas in order to review important concepts.

As we come to end our measuring time unit, there will be a math quiz on Thursday on all of the concepts taught in class thus far. The grade 2 students are building up their confidence in using the time language of “quarter past” “quarter to” and “half past.” The grade 3 students are focusing on differentiating between 3D pyramids and prisms. To help us better determine time, the grade 2 students will be building their own clocks (once complete, they can take them home) and the grade 3 students will create 3D models from nets.

Have a great week everyone!

Important Reminders

-         Students should be reading every evening for 15 minutes

-         Please bring in clothing donations this week

-         Pizza Day this Friday

-         Beginning on May 27, there will be testing for the grade 2 and 3 students. The grade 2 students will be doing a CAT/4 assessment and the grade 3 students EQAO (Province wide test)

-         Holy Name’s 100^th Anniversary on Saturday May 25^th at 1:00 pm at Holy Name Parish. Come join us in celebrating this memorable milestone!

May 13-17 Update

Dear families,

Can you believe it? Our class won $25.00 worth of free books at the Scholastic book fair! Ms. Harding, the Librarian was very pleased with the amount of enthusiasm and participation our class showed last week at the book fair and announced our big win on Friday.  Congratulations to Esther and her family for also winning free books at the fair!  Keep those pages turning boys and girls!

I love the 1930's projects I have seen so far. Much thought and effort has gone into creating some wonderful masterpieces. I hope the students are gaining some insight as to what life was like during this decade. Thank you families for all of your hard work and support in this school wide celebration/initiative.

Here is a look at our week:

In Language Arts, both grades are working on Spelling List 27 activity pages that are due this Thursday. Our non-fiction reading will be based on our new science unit topics (air, water and soil). The students will work in small groups to analyze text features and make inferences. We are also continuing to build strong paragraphs in writing.

In Mathematics, we are concluding our unit on multiplication and division and moving on to Measurement. The grade 2 students will learn about measuring time and money. They will learn about minutes and hours. One concept we will focus on is what a “quarter to” and a “quarter past” look like on an analog clock. With regards to money, the students will need to know: how many pennies make one nickel; how many nickels make one dime; how many nickels make one quarter and how many quarters many one dollar.  These are great concepts to be reviewed at home or at the store.

The grade 3 students will estimate and measure capacity using the units of millilitres and litres. They will also estimate and measure mass using the units of grams and kilograms.

In Social Studies, both grades will begin a mapping unit. We will focus on the cardinal directions, legend symbols and learn how to create a map with symbols needed for our community.

In Dance, our class is preparing a routine for the spring concert being held on June 13.^th The concert theme is based on the decades and as all of you know, our decade is the 1930’s. To compliment our vintage film poster idea, the students will be dancing to songs from the Wizard of Oz and Snow White. Parents don’t be alarmed if you see or hear an abundance of skipping, side stepping or humming this week because for 40 minutes a day the students will be dancing away!

 

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bertone

Important Reminders:

-         Spelling test on Friday (list 27)

-         Subtraction math drill on Friday(a practice sheet goes home every Monday)

-         Parents please sign agendas every evening

-         Our class could really use some Kleenex boxes as it is allergy season

-         The virtue of the month is Compassion: Let us all remember how to show compassion through our words and actions.

Happy Mother's Day!

May 6-10 Update

Dear families,

Congratulations to all the students who received their First Communion at Holy

Name Church yesterday! It was a lovely celebration and all of the students were prepared and excited to receive the Holy Eucharist amongst their families and peers. I am very proud of you all.
In Language Arts, the students are generating ideas, producing rough drafts and editing their work as they embark on paragraph writing. Here is a list of the success criteria for writing a strong paragraph:

1.  Your first sentence is the topic sentence and should contain the topic and an opinion on the topic. Always indent your topic sentence.

2. Include three supporting sentences about your topic. These can be three supporting ideas, with facts, reasons or examples.

3. The last sentence should be a concluding sentence/closing sentence which reasserts the main idea of your paragraph.

We are off to a great start boys and girls! You all have creative ideas. Use theses tips as you write your paragraph for your 1930’s project.

As students create their 1930’s film posters they will be meeting the Media Literacy expectation focused on creating a media texts by using specific conventions, and techniques to attract an audience.  The students have been introduced to how text (size and form), images and overall appearance (colour, texture) attract different audiences for different purposes.

In Mathematics, this week’s focus is Division. A sample question that the students will be investigating is: “I have 15 stickers for 3 friends to share. How many stickers will each friend receive?”  For extra at home practice, students can create arrays at home and make multiplication sentences or find ways to divide and share objects equally among family members. There will be a quiz this Thursday on all of the concepts we have practiced at school so far: arrays, dividing equal groups and counting jumps along a number line.

In Science, the grade 2 students will begin a new unit on Air and Water in the Environment. Some of the big ideas of this unit are: Air and water are a major part of the environment; Living things need air and water to survive; changes to air and water affect living things and the environment; our actions affect the quality of air and water in the world.

The grade 3’s will explore Soils in the Environment. Some of the bid ideas of this unit are: Soil is made up of living and non-living things; Soil is an essential source of life and nutrients for many living things; Living things including humans interact with soils and can cause negative or positive changes.

As many of you know, Holy Name will be celebrating its 100^th Anniversary on May 25, 2013. Each class has been asked to create a display of important events, fashion, art and people for a specific decade.  Our class has been assigned the 1930’s.  Therefore, our visual arts lessons will be focused on designing our 1930’s display board.  At home project outlines were sent home last weeks. Students will select a topic of interest and design a component related to their topic (collage, structure etc). A paragraph should also accompany their work.

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bertone

Important Reminders:

-         1930’s project due on Friday May 10th

-         Holy Name’s 100^th Anniversary on May 25^th

-  2-Minute math drill every Friday (a subtraction practice sheet was sent home today)

Update

During the week on May 6^th, our class will be re-creating film posters from the 1930’s of the original Snow White film and other popular films. To help us achieve this visual effect, it would be wonderful if each student could please bring in one tea bag. The students will age the white poster paper by staining it with tea water in order to achieve an antique appearance. They will work in pairs on their historic film posters and decide on which catchy slogans and images to include on the posters to attract filmgoers.

I look forward to celebrating First Holy Communion with all the participating students on Sunday May 5th at 10:00 am at Holy Name Parish. Please arrive on time for the group photo taking place at 9:30 am. The photographer will begin individual student photos at 8:30 am. This is such a special event and I anticipate a glorious celebration with all the families. God Bless.

Scholastic Book Fair update!

How exciting boys and girls!