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.