Week of December 19

Christmas is almost here! Just one week to go! This is sure to be a busy and fun week at school. I'm sure families are busy at home as well, so there will be NO homework assigned this week.

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, we continue to work on procedural writing. We have completed a shared writing activity and students have worked with partners and in small groups. This week, they will do some individual writing.

In math, we will continue to work on reading and writing time to the hour and half hour.



The Christmas concert is this Thursday, December 22 at 12:30 pm. I hope you can make it. We have been working hard on our song and dance. Please have your child wear a green top and dark bottoms on Thursday.

On Tuesday, December 20, we will be making gingerbread houses with our grade 4 reading buddies. Please send in some nut free candy, white icing and a plastic bag for carrying the gingerbread houses home.

Week of December 12

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, our word wall words for this week are:
     fun
     not
     want
     play
     from

We will look at the "wh" and "th" sounds. I will also introduce the students to procedural writing.

In math, we are completing our unit on patterning and will begin to look at time. We will begin with telling time to the hour.


In religion, the third Advent liturgy is on Monday, December 12 at 12:45 pm. We continue to learn about the Christmas story and are focusing on completing good deeds to prepare for Christmas. I am noticing the students really making an effort to help each other!

We are also rehearsing our Christmas concert song and dance. If possible, please look for a green top and dark (blue, black, brown) bottoms for your child to wear on the day of the concert. The concert dress rehearsal for the school is Wednesday, December 21 and the presentation for parents will be on Thursday, December 22 at 12:30 pm.

Week of December 5

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, our word wall words are:
     who
     will
     why
     said
     out

In math, we are continuing to work with repeating patterns.

In religion, we are learning about the Christmas story and the true importance of Christmas. On Thursday, the grade 1 and 2 classes will visit Madonna della Risurrezione Church. If you have not yet returned the permission form, please send it in tomorrow.

In music and dance, we will begin rehearsing our song for the Christmas concert.

Grade 1 Virtue Assembly

The grade 1 classes will be presenting the virtue of "Faith" at the assembly tomorrow morning at 10:15 am. We have also completed the "Faith" display in the school lobby. Hope you can join us!

Angel Tree

                                                         

St. Rita School is proud to announce its continued involvement in the Angel Tree initiative.  The angels on the tree support students from our school as well as students from St. Michael’s School. If your family is interested in participating in this worthy cause, please instruct your child to take an angel off the tree. The angels are organized by gender and age for those who already have a special gift in mind. We ask that the gifts be returned back to the school by Wednesday December 14th. Please wrap the gift and return the angel with the gift. Thank you for your support during this blessed Christmas season.   

White Elephant Sale

St Rita is holding its 4th Annual White Elephant Sale on Friday December 9th. All proceeds will be going to CHEO and Children at Risk. We ask that you please bring in items to donate beginning on December 7th and 8th.

Examples of items that you may donate are: toys, books, household items (frames, mugs, tea towel, costume jewelry etc.), holiday decor. Please NO clothing. Grade 6 students have visited the classes with examples of what can be sold so please also speak with your children. All items will be sold for between 25¢ - $3.00, most under $1.00. We will also have items up for raffle. Raffle tickets will be 25¢ each.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to buy gifts for family and friends! Thank you for your generosity.

Thank you and Merry Christmas,
The Charity Committee

  

Week of November 29

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, we continue to look at different types of media and their purposes. We are writing 5 sentence recount paragraphs in our journals following a model. Our word wall words for this week are:
     all
     on
     there
     did
     then

In math, we continue to work on repeating patterns.

In religion, we will continue the "Samaritans on the Digital Road" program as well as focusing on Advent as a time of waiting and preparing our hearts for the birth of Jesus.

Upcoming Activities and Events

This Thursday, December 1, the grade 1 classes will present the virtue of Faith at the school assembly. The assembly begins at 10:15 am.

We have three Christmas charity events taking place:

1. Angel Tree - if you are interested in helping a family by purchasing a gift for a child this Christmas, you can pick an angel from our tree. The gifts will be distributed to students from St. Rita School and St. Michael's School.

2, Food drive - students from our class are asked to bring in pasta (an information will be sent home later this week).

3. White Elephant Sale - if you have any gently used household items or toys that you would like to donate to our sale, it would be much appreciated. The sale takes place on Friday, December 9 (more information to come).

Our Line Design Art

Writing Sentences

Here are the ideas students came up with when asked how to be a good writer.

Week of November 21

Winter has arrived! 

We have a busy week ahead. Here are some of the things we will be working on in the classroom and some activities taking place this week.

Literacy

We will be reviewing the last 20 word wall words that we have learned. We will continue to look at hard and soft c sounds as well as hard and soft g sounds. We are adding more sentences to the recounts we are writing about in our journals. I also plan to begin a unit on media this week. We will look at what media is and the different purposes of different types of media, For example, a nonfiction book informs us about a topic, whereas a TV commercial tries to persuade us to buy something. 

Math

We will start a new unit on patterning. In grade 1, the focus is on being able to identify, describe, extend and create repeating patterns.

Family Life

We are reading about families and how families can change when a new baby arrives. As part of this unit, I will be sending home a page for you to please complete and return to school. Please attach a baby picture of your child and a short story about something your child did or liked. We keep the pages together in a book and the students just love to look at their baby pictures and hear stories about themselves.

Religion

We will also be beginning a unit called "Samaritans on the Digital Road." This unit is built around Jesus' parable about the Good Samaritan. Its goal is to teach students to participate in the digital world in a proactive, responsible and compassionate manner.

Activities this Week

Wednesday, November 23: Photo re-takes

Thursday, November 24: Bus evacuation practice

Friday, November 25: Save the Bees presentation 

Luv2Groove

The students had a great time at our Luv2Groove dance workshop on Wednesday and got to practise their dancing at the dance-a-thon on Thursday.

Week of November 14

Thank you to everyone who came in for parent teacher interviews. It was wonderful to meet/speak with all of you. Feel free to call any time if you have any questions.

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, our word wall words for this week are:
     eat
     big
     of
     saw
     this

Our word wall test will be on Thursday. We will continue to work on the short vowel sounds, the hard and soft c sounds, and writing complete sentences.

In math, we will continue to work on the names and values of coins from the penny to the toonie. We are also working on counting and creating amounts up to 20 cents.

In science, we are discussing how animals move and the different places they live.

In religion, we are learning about stories from the Old Testament. This week, we will learn about Noah's Ark.

Other Notes

Wednesday, November 16: Luv2Groove dance workshop (paid for by the Parent Council)
Thursday, November 17: Dance-a-thon (school fundraiser)
Friday, November 18: PD day (no school)

Week of November 7

It's already November! Today was a beautiful sunny day, but the cold weather is beginning. If you can, please label your child's hats, mitts, neck warmers and/or scarves. It will help me make sure all clothing makes it back home.

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, our word wall words for this week are
     an
     they
     old
     have
     day

We continue to work on recount writing in class. We also continue to review the short vowel sounds. The focus of our reading and writing this week will be Remembrance Day.

In math, we continue to learn the names and values of the Canadian coins. We will be working on making amounts up to 20 cents.

In religion, we are learning about the story of creation. We will also be learning the Bible story of Noah's Ark.

Other Notes

Tuesday, November 8: pizza day for those who ordered pizza
Friday, November 11: Remembrance Day Service (gym, 10:30 am) and book order are due

Progress Reports and Interviews

You should have received your child's progress report on Tuesday. Please sign and return both the envelope and the bottom portion of page 2.

The interview request letter was sent home today. Please check and return it as soon as possible in case interviews need to be rescheduled. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's progress so far.

Thank you for your support.

Pumpkin Fun

We read this story today:

Then we scoop the seeds out of our pumpkins and counted them in groups of 5's and 10's.

Week of October 31

It looks like a busy week ahead. This week is Spirit Week. There is a special activity each day. The social justice club will be accepting donations all week long for CHEO.

Monday
Black, orange and purple day

Tuesday
Pyjama Day
Subway Day (for those who ordered Subway lunches)
All Souls Day Paraliturgy (9:00 am)
Progress Reports and IEPs will be sent home

Wednesday
Wacky Hair Day
Virtue Assembly (10:15 am)

Thursday
Twin/Triplet Day - dress the same as friends

Friday
Gum Day - students can chew gum in class
Halloween candy will also be on sale

Curriculum Notes

Our word wall words for this week are:
     me
     make
     and
     boy
     girl

A reminder that practising reading for just 10 minutes each night can make a big difference. All students have a snuggle club reader and access to Kids A-Z (online) for reading practice.

In math we are learning the names and values of coins from the penny to the toonie.

In science we continue to look at seasonal changes.

Spider Art

We have been learning about warm and cool colours in art. Students chose to paint with either warm or cool colours and then used their abstract painting to create some happy spiders.

Jersey Day

Thank you to everyone who participated in jersey day for the United Way.

Jersey Day on Friday

St. Rita will be having Jersey Day on Friday, October 28. This is a fundraiser for the United Way. Students are asked to bring in a small donation and wear any sports jersey or sports related tops to school. Thank you for participating.

Week of October 24

Curriculum Notes for this Week:

Literacy

Our word wall words are:

     it

     she

     what

     you

     your

We will be working with Halloween stories this week. We continue to look at characters, the setting, the problem and solution in the story.

Math

We are completing our unit on sorting this week. We will start to look at money - the names and values of coins.

Visual Art

We are looking at warm and cool colours and will complete some spider art.

Free Book

Thanks to the TD Grade One Book Giveaway, each student will receive a copy of:



Look for this book in your child's school bag on Friday, October 21.

Week of October 17

A reminder that tomorrow (Monday, October 17) is PICTURE DAY.

Curriculum Notes

In literacy, we will be reviewing the 20 word wall words students have been working on so far this year. We will also continue to discuss story elements and work on recount writing in our journals.

In math, we continue to work on sorting. An information page about Dreambox will be sent home tomorrow. Some students have already had the opportunity to try this program at school. It is a games based math program that teaches and reinforces math skills in different strands.

This and many other educational software programs can be found by going to the school website.

rit.ocsb.ca

Click on the student portal tab at the top of the screen and it will bring you to a number of programs. Some may require that your child login with his or her google address. Students addresses are:

firstname.lastname@ocsbstudent.ca

For double last names, the last name is hyphenated (ie. mary.smith-jones):

firstname.lastname-lastname@ocsbstudent.ca

Please call or send me a note if you have any questions or difficulties.

In science, we are learning about the human body.

Sorting Activities in Math