Week 5: Oct 1-5

Tomorrow is Orange Shirt Day in the ocsb, because Every Child Matters. During Library time this week, students listened to the story When We Were Alone, by David Alexander Robertson. This story, which is recommended for a K-4 audience, is about a grandmother's memories of her time at a residential school, and about empowerment and strength. We will follow this up with designing our own Orange t-shirts for display in the hallway. You can read about Orange Shirt Day here. Your child is encouraged to wear an orange shirt or t-shirt to school Monday, Oct. 1.

Our Thanksgiving Mass will be held on Wednesday morning, at 9:30 a.m. Some students from the Gr. 4 class have been chosen to read at Mass. Parents are always welcome to join us in the gym.

Thursday will be a very busy day! First block will be our Annual Terry Fox Walk. Thank you to those parents who are able to volunteer to supervise during the walk, and to everyone who raised funds for this very important cause. We have talked about Terry Fox, who he is, and why he ran from Newfoundland to Thunder Bay.  Second block will be our first Faith Buddy block. The Gr. 4 class is partnered with a primary class to participate in "buddy" activities focussed on Community. I will post pictures on Twitter! In the afternoon, with the Gr. 5, Mrs. Burgham and I are planning a STEM challenge to wrap up the week - it should be a lot of fun!

Don't forget: 
- Friday is a P.D. Day; there is no school for students. It is Christian Community Day for teachers. 
-Monday is Thanksgiving - have a great long weekend!
-Tuesday, Oct. 9 is the Cross Country Running Meet - good luck to the team!
-Wednesday, Oct. 10 is Picture Day! Bring your smiles!

In Math, in both groups, we had a short review quiz on Friday, just to check for understanding of place value, including standard form, expanded form and word form , as well as addition with regrouping. Any students experiencing difficulty with these topics will be sitting down 1:1 with either myself or a parent volunteer. We will move on to subtraction and decimals next.

In Language Arts, Grade 4 are finishing up their paragraphs about their "Dream", and Grade 5 students are interviewing each other to write their biographies. These will be presented to the class before they begin researching and writing the biography of a person they admire.

Week 4: Sept 24-28

Wow, that was some weather on Friday! Our prayers are with those students, families and schools affected by the winds and tornadoes that touched down in our area on Friday, Sept, 21. Please note the following in response to the damage:


In math this week, both groups worked on games and activities designed to give them a better understanding of place value. Gr. 4 are required to read, understand and record numbers to the ten thousands place, and Gr. 5 to the hundred thousands. Each group completed an Exit Ticket, which is a brief evaluative snapshot, on Thursday. Any child who did not demonstrate an understanding of standard, expanded and word form of numbers, as well as the value of digits in place value, went over the exit ticket 1:1 with either myself or my parent volunteer to ensure understanding. We are moving on to applying our knowledge to addition and subtraction in the coming week.

In Language Arts, both groups will be learning about Terry Fox and his incredible contribution to raising funds for cancer research. This is in preparation for our own Terry Fox walk on Oct. 4. (Please remember to return permission slips if you haven't already.) Gr. 4 will be connecting the story of Terry having a dream and the steps he took to reach his to their own dreams and the steps they will have to take to reach theirs. Gr. 5 will look at a biography of Terry, as we are reading a biography of Thomas Prince right now. We will follow that up with writing biographies of our own in the coming weeks, and presenting them to the class.

Week 3: Sept 17-21

It was great to meet so many of you at Curriculum Night on Wednesday!  If you were not able to make it, here is a link to my presentation. Please let me know if there is anything you would like more information about, or if you have any questions.

We had a very busy first full week back, and it looks like our schedule will look like this: 

Grade 4 will have their library time during their Tuesday Religion period, and Gr. 5 will have their library time during their Friday Religion period.

In Math, we completed the rest of the Week of Inspirational Math videos and activities from Youcubed, the Stanford University site produced by Jo Boaler. They really enjoyed growing their brains, and trying new activities! We have moved on to our Numeration unit; making and ordering numbers to the ten thousands place (Gr. 4) and to the hundred thousands place (Gr. 5). This week, as our warmup, we will be playing a fun game called JunkIt that you can play at home, to emphasize the importance of place value. All you need is a dice, a piece of scrap paper, and a pencil or pen. Set up your game board like this:

Take turns rolling the dice and placing the number you rolled on a line. You have 2 opportunities to "Junk It" if a roll is not what you wanted. The player with the highest number wins! You can switch it up and have the player with the smallest number win. There is some luck, and some strategy involved.

In Gr. 4 Language Arts, we finished our Read-Aloud about Marcenia Lyle/Toni Stone, and have moved on to a shared reading activity, Zero's Math Adventures. We wrote a short paragraph about a dream we have for our future, and some obstacles we may have to overcome to reach our dream. 

In Gr. 5 Language Arts, we finished our Read-Aloud, Beautiful Warrior, The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu, and moved on to the shared reading activity, which was a pamphlet entitled, "Being a Genie". The students have read the information and are considering whether they may actually be Genies themselves! They are also designing pamphlets of their own, with their own creative "Being a ___". I can't wait to find out if I'm a cat, unicorn, fluffy bunny or rainbow sprinkle cupcake! 

Terry Fox walk permission forms will be coming home soon. It is being held Oct. 4 this year, and volunteers are always needed!

Please remember to return:

-chocolate money or unsold chocolates; more are also available if you would like to sell more

-the forms that were sent home on the first day if you haven't already

Week 2: Sept 10-14, 2018

We had a great first week back at school! What a wonderful group of Gr. 4 and Gr. 5 students I have this year! We are settling into our room and adjusting to routines. Here's what we did last week:

In Language Arts, we wrote little "Gr. __ Times" newspapers, that tell briefly about our vacation memories and what we are most looking forward to learning this year. These are posted on the bulletin board at the back of the classroom, take a look on Wednesday night if you are able to attend Meet the Teacher / Curriculum Night!  We have also begun our first Strategy Unit, Self-Monitoring, which give students strategies to deal with unfamiliar vocabulary and to understand confusing texts. In Grade 4, we begin with the read-aloud Catching the Moon.  It is one of my favourites, based on the life of Marcenia Lyle, also known as Toni Stone, who was the first woman ever to play professional baseball in a men's league.

In Grade 5, we begin with the read aloud Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu, which is a beautifully illustrated story of two strong female warriors.

Math, we have been working on the Week of Inspirational Math activities put out by Jo Boaler from Stanford University. Her research into brain science and how everyone can be good at math is inspirational! The videos and activities that she and her team develop help students learn that speed is not as important as thinking deeply and making connections when it comes to math. We will be completing the activities this week, and moving on to the Numeration strand in both grades.

As part of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, students will have the opportunity to participate in STEM challenges on a biweekly basis. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Students are given a challenge, or problem to solve, and some simple materials to solve it with. They must work as a team and use their Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Character and Citizenship skills to find a solution to the problem. We started this week with a spaghetti and marshmallow tower challenge. Ask your child what solution they came up with, and how successful they were! Also, check out the pictures posted on Twitter in the sidebar.

A few more notes to remember:

*library day for Gr. 4 will be Tuesdays, and for Gr. 5 will be Fridays; your child will have the opportunity to borrow a library book each week and return it the following week, starting the week of Sept 17th

*thank you to everyone who sent in kleenex and other assorted supplies! Please remember to send indoor shoes if you have not already.

*your child came home with a number of papers and forms on Thursday last week, please sign and return them as soon as possible if you have not already. The package contained :

• a school year calendar -for your reference at home
• a checklist of forms - to keep you organized!
• a Student Verification Form (white) - please verify the information, make any necessary changes, sign and return with your child
• the Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement - read it over with your child.  Both your child and yourself need to initial and sign both sides, then return it to school.
• Informed Consent for Student Participation and Acknowledgment of Risks - please read this form carefully, complete, sign and return
• Permission letter  - to go on Learning Walks and to the park at Arc-en-Ciel, please sign and return

* On Friday, your child also came home with letter about the School Council Fundraiser, Chocolate sales. Everyone benefits from the purchases made from the funds raised! Please support this initiative by selling chocolates at your place of work, or to family and friends. Children are not to go door-to-door. If at any time you would like more boxes of chocolate to sell, drop a note to the school or send me a note through the blog and we will send more home.

*While each child came home with a school agenda, most teachers will not be using agendas in the junior grades, we will be making use of classroom websites and blogs to pass along information. You can follow my blog by subscribing at the bottom of this page. 
Mme Corriveau has her blog at http://madamecorriveau.blogspot.ca/ 


Please feel free to drop me a line or leave me a message using my parent contact form on the side of the blog.  If your child is going to be absent, or late, or you would like to set up an appointment, or you just want me to be aware of something that may be affecting your child, it's easy to reach me.  

I look forward to seeing you all at Program Night on Wednesday, Sept 12, at 6:30, starting in the gym. Afterwards, I will be in Room 110.

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to a new school year at St. Clare! And a special welcome to our new students! We hope that your family had a wonderful, fun-filled summer - it sure was a hot one! - and are returning to us with enthusiasm for new challenges. We look forward to working together in the upcoming year.

My name is Alane Martinuzzi, and this is my 30th year teaching, the last 17 or so have been at St. Clare. This year, I will be teaching Grade 4 Math and English Language Arts in the mornings, and Grade 5 Math and English Language Arts in the afternoons. The morning class will have Mme Corriveau for the afternoon, for French Immersion, and will have Mrs. McKittrick as their Religion teacher. The afternoon class will have Mme Joly as their Religion teacher. Parents, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns that may arise over the school year. You can contact me directly through the form on the right hand side of this blog, or by calling the school at 613-834-6334. Check the blog regularly - you will find lots of information about what is going on in our classroom, upcoming events, and what might be due in the next little while.  You can also follow the Clare Calendar of upcoming events and our Twitter feed there!

Our classroom will be Room 110 this year. Each student will be bringing home an agenda, with a schedule of their day and a list of their teachers for your reference.

While most of the necessary supplies are provided by the school, students may prefer to have some supplies of their own. A list of suggested items is posted on the school website: here . Each child will need a pair of indoor running shoes with non-marking soles for use in the gym and the classroom. We also welcome boxes of Kleenex, Ziploc bags, and bottles of hand soap or sanitizer for general classroom use. (Please note that in my virtually paperless classroom I have bins of communal supplies for students to share, and do not require additional items to be sent in, other than indoor shoes - but I do appreciate Kleenex!)

Please remember that the safety and well-being of our students is of the utmost importance. St. Clare is a nut-free, peanut-free and scent-free school. Please check the ingredients of lunch and snack foods carefully, and enjoy any containing nuts or peanuts at home only. As well, parents volunteering at the school are asked to avoid the use of perfumes and other scented products for the comfort and safety of students with environmental sensitivities. Your cooperation is very important and greatly appreciated. Also, beginning this September, all volunteers working with students in the schools must complete a vulnerable sector criminal reference check. Below is a copy of the letter emailed home in June:
June 25, 2018

 Dear Parents and Guardians,

 Beginning September 2018, volunteers working with students in the OCSB must complete a vulnerable sector criminal reference check.   This includes parents and other volunteers taking part in field trips, those working with students in schools, and those volunteering at events where they may be in isolation with students even for a brief period of time (e.g., reading with students, helping in classrooms, distributing food, etc.). 

If you will be volunteering for any activity at the school next year, you will be required to have a Criminal Reference Check for the Vulnerable Sector.  In order to apply for a reference check, please visit the following site:

https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/contact-us/Police-Record-Checks.asp

 Please note that St. Clare School can provide you with a letter that will waive the fee associated with the reference check.  The fee waive will apply to a reference check that is not a same day request reference check.  If you choose a same day reference check, you will be required to pay for this.

 Given that there is often a wait for criminal reference checks to be completed, we are sending out this communication now to permit you to consider making your request to the Ottawa Police prior to the beginning of the next school year.   When making your request, please select a mailed copy as it will be embossed with an official seal.  Please bring your reference check for the vulnerable sector to the main office.  We will make a copy and place it on file to enable you to volunteer in the school

Thank you for considering volunteering in the school.  Volunteers are a valued part of our school community and enrich the experience of school for all of our students.

 Sincerely,

Martine Mitton, Principal

Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to keep on their desk throughout the day. Staying well hydrated, together with eating healthy snacks, helps to improve energy, concentration and alertness, and builds better eating habits for a healthy lifestyle.

I look forward to meeting most of you during Curriculum Night on Wednesday, September 12 at 6:30 pm.  If there are any concerns you would like us to be aware of now, or at any time in the school year, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you!

Your partner in education,

Alane Martinuzzi