Joyeux Noel!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks to families and parents who came out to the assembly and to our little Christmas party this afternoon. Thank you as well for the kind gift, it is very much appreciated.
Have a safe and happy holidays and I will see everyone again on January 3rd!

Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee! 

Fete de Noel!

Coming home with your child today is an invitation to our Fete de Noel on Friday afternoon. We put the time of the fete to be at 1:45pm, immediately following the assembly. You are more than welcome to attend the assembly to sing some Christmas carols with us and then join us for the Fete de Noel. I hope to see everyone there on Friday!

le 17-21 decembre

A few notes for this last week before the Christmas Break...

-Library on Monday. Please bring back your books to exchange for new ones for over the break.
-Santa's Workshop is on Wendesday, Dec. 19. If you are able to volunteer, please call the office to let us know. This is a great opportunity for students to get some Christmas shopping done for family members. Items are priced at .25$ - 4$. If you wish to send money prior to Wednesday, please label it with your student's name.
-Home Reading books due back on Friday.
-There will be no dictee on Friday
-Friday afternoon at 1pm we will be having an assembly. Our class will be leading a bilingual version of Vive le vent (Jingle Bells) during the carolling. Following the assembly, our class will have a little Fete de Noel. Feel free to join us for that afternoon.

One final note.. I have already heard from many families who are planning holidays or who will be away for a few days around the break. Please let the office or I know if you know of absences ahead of time. This saves the administrative assistants calling homes of absent students in the mornings. Our last day before the break is Friday, December 21st, and school resumes on Thursday, January 3rd.

Scholastic

Just a reminder that Scholastic is due back tomorrow, Wednesday, December 12th. Thanks!

Math games, and some other things...

Math Games
This week we have started talking about subtraction, and the relationship between addition and subtraction. I have added some new math games to the list on the right of the blog.

Winter Carnival
Just a reminder that Winter Carnival will be on Thursday, Dec. 13th from 6:30-8:30pm. Join us for cookie decorating, craft, sleigh rides and carolling. Hope to see you there!

Santa's Workshop
A note went home about Santa's Workshop in the last school newsletter. This will run the same as last year, and is a good opportunity for students to come and get some shopping done for family members. Items are priced from 0.25$ to 4$. If students wish to bring money prior to Dec. 19, please send it labelled in a bag for me to hold on to. If any families have new gift items that they wish to donate, please send them to school or drop them off at the main office. Also, if you were able to donate some time to help students shop and wrap their gifts, please contact the main office. Thank you!

Marion Gymnastics
We will be going to Marion Gymnastics on the afternoon of January 11th. I will be looking for 4 or 5 parents who are able to come along and help out on this trip. Volunteers will require a criminal records check, as outlined in newsletters earlier this year. Please contact me if you have any questions or are able to come. Thanks for your support!

le 10-14 décembre

Just a few notes for this week:

-Library on Monday. Bring your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones.
-SNOOK  (snack and a book)- Wednesday morning at 8:30am in the LRC
-Scholastic orders are due back on Wednesday
-Winter Carnival on Thursday night from 6:30-8:30pm at the school. Join us for cookie decorating, craft, sleigh rides and carolling.
-Dictee on Friday, the words are as follows. Please pay particular attention to the letters in bold, this should be a review of most of the sounds we have studied to date.

une étoile

un ange

un cadeau

un lutin

des jouets

Bonus : Joyeux Noël

Typing game

During our computer period on Mondays this year, we will be publishing some of our work, which includes typing. Today we started a program that can help us to learn the proper way to type so that we can be efficient and effective typists. The website for this program is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

If you are practicing with your child, reminding them of proper fingering will help to curb bad typing habits. Thanks, as always, for your support at home.

le 3-7 decembre

Into December already... where has the time gone?

Just a few things for this week:
-Library on Monday. Bring your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones.
-SNOOK Wednesday morning at 8:30am in the library
-Band concert on Wednesday afternoon (1-2pm) in the gym
-Math Club will meet this week on Thursday at lunch in the library
-Beach Day and Hot Lunch on Thursday
-Home Reading Books are due back Friday
-Dictee on Friday. This week we will be looking at the sound that an and en make. The words are as follows:

un manteau

blanc

un enfant

tension (une ligne à haute tension)

les bancs

les branches

Have a great weekend!

Thank you!

I just want to say a big thank you to all parents who have come, or are coming to three-way conferences. It is wonderful to see the support that my students have at home. I value very much the opportunity to share how your children are doing at school and hearing how everything is going at home. When we work together we ensure the best possible experience for children. Thank you!
As I mentioned in the conferences, if there is ever anything that comes up that I can help with, please do not hesitate to contact me by dropping in, calling, email or by way of note in the agenda.

Lost and found

The lost and found is on display near the front office this week. We will be taking a stroll by as a class one day this week, but if you are in the school I would encourage you to take a look with your child. Thanks!

le 26 - 29 novembre

Just a few reminders for this week...

-Book Fair is at the school this week. We will have a browsing time on Tuesday and a buying time on Wednesday. If you wish for your child to purchase something from the Book Fair, please send money on Wednesday, not Tuesday.
-Three-way conferences are on Wednesday and Thursday evening. If you have not called the office to schedule a time, please do so. I would like to meet with everyone.
-Because of the conferences, there is no school for students on Friday, November 30th.
-Hot lunch orders are due on Thursday, November 29th.
-I will not be at school on Tuesday, I will be at PD for math education.
-Dictee on Thursday. This week our sound will be 'in', as in cinq. The words are as follows:

les sapins

les patins

un singe

un insecte

cinq

Bonus : incroyable

Self control

We have begun our next trait in character education - self control. We have been discussing the responsible and irresponsible choices we have when we are angry, and how to effectively deal with being angry without hurting others or ourself. The trick we are working on at school is 1 + 3 + 10 = calm. 1 - stop, 3 deep breaths and count to 10 in your head, and then you shouldn't feel angry and can make the responsible choice.

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair will be at Ecole Victoria next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We will be going down as a class on Tuesday to browse, and we will go on Wednesday to buy. If you wish for your child to purchase something, please send money on Wednesday, not Tuesday. The book fair is also going on during interviews in the evenings if you prefer to shop with your child. Thanks for supporting our school!

Voki

On Monday during our computer time we learned to use a new program on the computer that we can use to practice our MIMI words. This website is secure, and nothing is published online unless Mme Denomy or I access the account to do so. Your child is coming home with their sign in information in their agendas today so they can practice at home. The website is https://voki.com/classroom/login_status.php

Have fun practicing your MIMI words!

Three-way conferences

There are still many slots available for three-way conferences next Wednesday and Thursday evenings. If you have not done so already, please call the office to schedule a time to meet with me. Thank you!

Addition with regrouping

Today we were working on adding numbers to 100 with regrouping. We were practicing by using base ten blocks, first as a class on the SmartBoard, and then in groups as we played a game. Here is the link to practice adding with base 10 blocks.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_154_g_1_t_1.html?from=category_g_1_t_1.html

Change the number of columns to 2 to only have 10s and 1s. Have fun regrouping!

Sound of the week

As you may already know from the dictee words for this week, we are looking at the letters 'eau' and the sound that they make. We had some fun this morning thinking of all the 'eau' words we knew and then writing a poem. Enjoy!

Just a few notes...

Our school is collecting non-perishable donations for the Saskatoon Food Bank. If you wish to donate an item, please send it to school by November 28. The collection bins are in front of the main office.

SNOOK (snack and a book) will be starting this week. This is a morning program where families are welcome to come to the LRC, have a juice box and a granola bar and read a book together. This will run each Wednesday morning from 8:30 until 8:55am. (November 28th is in the lunchroom due to the book fair)

Progress reports are going home on Friday and three-way conferences are being held next Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Call the office to book a time that is convenient for you. If these times are not convenient, please let me know and we can make other arrangements. I would like to meet with each student and his/her family. Thank you!

MIMI #2 Glog and game to play at home

I have finished a Glog for the second MIMI poster. This one is a little different in that you will hear the students spelling their own words. It can be found here: http://www.glogster.com/mlleollerhead/mimi-2/g-6l5eivufsremf594trgs6a0

Also, on Friday I sent home a table that had all of the new words. In class we played a game with a partner using the table to practice our words. The object of the game is to connect 4 words. To place a token on a word, you have to read, and spell (en francais) that word. Have fun!

Dictee - le 23 novembre

Next week for centres we will be looking at the sound that eau make (oh). The words are as follows:

• un bateau
• un manteau
• un chapeau
• un panneau
• un poteau

I have found a website that lets you set up a spelling list and then play games with your spelling words. Click here to access the games.

Shining Willow Books #8, 9 and 10 and the vote!

This week we finished reading the Shining Willow nominees. On Tuesday we read Ella May and the Wishing Stone, on Wednesday we read Little Chief and Mighty Gopher The Pemmican Frenzy, and yesterday we read The Flute.

 

After we had read all the books, we voted and made a Wordle to show which book won (the biggest title)

 

MIMI #2

Here is a picture of our second MIMI poster. Today we shook out all the words. We will continue to practice learning these words this week. Look for your home copy of these words in the sac bleu tomorrow. I am hoping to get another glog up and running by tomorrow, as well. Keep checking back here for a link. Thanks for your support at home!

Nov. 13-16

Just a few reminders for this short week.

-We will be going to the library today
-Home Reading Books will come home today and are to be sent back on Friday
-There will be no dictee this week as we will be starting our next MIMI poster. I will be putting up another glog this week so students can practice the words at home
-Progress reports are going home on Nov. 23 and three-way conferences will be held on Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29. Please call the office to schedule a time. If these times are not convenient for you, please let me know and we can find a time that works.

Have a great week!

Jour du souvenir

This morning we attended our Remembrance Day program. I was very proud of my students and their respectfulness throughout the program. We all wore a poppy over our heart, sang Oh Canada, heard the poem In Flanders Fields, heard the Last Post, had 2 minutes of silence and presented our poppy donations. There is a Remembrance Day program on Sunday morning at the Credit Union Centre. The details can be found at this website: http://www.creditunioncentre.com/event.php?event=84-181b1f65

Shining Willow #7

Today we read Tooter's Stinky Wish by Brian Cretney. In this book, Tooter learned several important lessons; perspective, patience, perseverance and partnership.

Shining Willow Books #5 and #6

Today we read two Shining Willow books; I Know Here by Laurel Croza and In the Bag, Margaret Knight Wraps It Up by Monica Kulling
     

L'eau et les plantes

I didn't get a chance to post for Day 2, so I will post the pictures for both days 2 and 3 tonight.

Jour #2 - Flowers without and with water

Jour #2 - Flower in blue water

Jour #2 - Flowers in coloured water

Jour #2 - Flowers in cup with water in plastic bag - condensation in bag

Jour #2 - Stem of flowers with a split stem in two different colours of water

Jour #3 - Flowers without and with water - we are beginning to think that plants do in fact need water...

Jour #3 - Flower in red water

Jour #3 - Flower with split stem in two different colours of water

Poppy donations

We will be having a Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday morning. Each student will be given a poppy for the assembly. We will be having a silver collection for the poppies. If you wish to send a donation, please send it in before Thursday morning. Thank you.

Shining Willow #4

Today we read Loon by Susan Vande Griek. This was a nice book that told the story of two loon babies from the day they were born until they are grown up.

Shining Willow #3

Today we read Shining Willow nominee #3 : The Busy Beaver by Nicholas Oldland. Nicholas Oldland has several other childrens books published, Big Bear Hug and Making the Moose Out of Life. Check them out!

L'eau et les plantes

We have been discussing the importance of water to all living things, so this week we will be conducting an experiment to see if plants really do need water. This experiement will also be an introduction to the scientific process. We started with our question "Est-ce que les plantes ont vraiment besoin d'eau?" (Do plants really need water?). Then today we wrote and drew our predictions. "Je pense que...". We set up our experiment and drew pictures and wrote about what we saw today. We will continue to record our observations until le 14 novembre. Here are some pictures:

We put some flowers in a cup with water, and some in a cup without water.

We remembered that water evaporates, so we put a plastic bag around this one to see what happens.

We coloured some of the water to make sure that the flower is drinking it and the water is not just evaporating.

We cut a stem in two and put it in two different colours to see what will happen. Rouge et bleu? Violet?

 Keep checking back to see what happens!

Progress reports and three-way conferences

Progress reports will be coming home on Friday, November 23rd and Three-Way Conferences will be from 4-8pm on Wednesday, November 28 and 3-7pm on Thursday, November 29. Please call the office to schedule a time that works for you.
If none of these times are convenient for you, or you wish to find an alternate time to meet, please do not hesitate to let me know by email, phone, in person or by way of the agenda.

le 5 - 8 novembre

My apologies on posting this so late. Here are some reminders for this week:
-Library on Monday. Bring back books if you wish to exchange them for new ones. Students will be getting one book in French and one in English. It is important to appreciate books in both languages.
-Scholastic due Thursday, November 8th. Please make cheques payable to Scholastic Canada Ltd
-Home Reading Books due back on Thursday. Many Home Reading Book bags didn't make it back to school on Friday, please send them back on Monday so students will have new ones for the week.
-We will be having a Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday at 11am.
-No school for students on Friday.
-Remembrance Day holiday on Monday - No school.
-Dictee on Thursday. This week we will be looking at the sound 'oi' (wha in English). The words are as follows:

voici

je vois

un oie

le bois

le trottoir

trois

Bonus: une toile d’araignée

Cell phone recycling

The Destination Conservation club is conducting a drive to recycle old cell phones. If cell phones are thrown away, they can be harmful to the environment because of the chemicals that they contain. As well, it takes energy to make new components for new cell phones. Old phones have many parts that are still working and can be reused. Students are invited to bring in old cell phones to recycle until November 16th.

Shining Willow book #2

Today we read Imagine un arbre and Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid. It was neat to read the book in both languages.

 

Here is a video about how the pictures were created.

 

Shining Willow Nominee #1

 

Over the next few weeks we will be reading the 10 Shining Willow nominated books. Once we have read them all, we will vote for our favourites. All the nominated books can be found at http://www.willowawards.ca/nominated-books/2012/shining-willow.

 

Today we read the first book, Small Saul by Ashley Spires.

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of an interview with Ashley Spires.

 



Joyeuse Halloween!

What a fun day! We finished up our toiles d'araignee that we started with Mme Brown this morning. We continued with our centres de litteratie, and Mme Bazin came in to our room to write with us today.
After lunch we were in the costume parade, and we went to the gym to do some dancing. After that, we came back to the classroom and played some Halloween games. We had a lovely snack after recess and we finished our Halloween novel.
I hope everyone stays safe while trick or treating tonight! Joyeuse Halloween!

Oct. 29 - Nov. 2

I can't believe I just typed Nov in the title of this post... Time flies when we are having so much fun in Grade 2.
Just a few notes about next week:
-Picture orders are due back on Monday. Please send in the forms if you wish to order pictures.
-Library on Monday. Bring back your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones.
-Picture retakes are on Tuesday afternoon. If you want your child to get retakes, please send me a note or email to let me know. In the past I have had students who weren't sure and it was a bit confusing. I would like to have a list of who to send to the library to get their picture taken. Thanks for your help with this.
-Halloween on Wednesday. We talked briefly in class about costumes for this day. As in previous years at EVS, we will wear our costumes for the afternoon only. Please do not send students in costumes that depict violence (no weapons), or are too gruesome. Thanks again for your support with this. Look for a note home from me on Monday for our plans for that afternoon.
-Thursday is Hot Lunch and Spirit Day. Students are invited to wear glasses, moustaches and ties to school.
-Dictee on Friday. Next week we will be looking at the 2 different sounds that c can make. Hard c, like k when it is followed by a, o or u, and soft c, like s, when it is followed by e or i. The bonus words are special cases. When we want c to say the same as s, but it is followed by a, o or u, we have to give it a cedille.

l’écorce

le ciel

les escaliers

une sorcière

un costume

Bonus : un garçon

Bonus : le français

As with this week, I am looking for students to have the letters in bold correct when spelling these words.

Have a great weekend!

Les squelettes et les os

Today we learned a few interesting facts while we made our Q-tip squelettes. We learned that there are 206 os in our body, that we have 27 os in each hand, that our femur is our longest os, that our smallest os is in our ears and that our os grow as we grow. We noticed that when there is more than one os, we still spell the word os the same as when there is only one (un os et des os) and we don't have to add an s at the end like with most words. Here are some pictures of our spooky Halloween squelettes.

 

Nos phrases de MIMI

Last week we wrote sentences about our MIMI poster. I hope you enjoy our work!

http://video.spsd.sk.ca/uploads/OllerheadK20121022154057.wmv

Les feux follets

Today we started learning some new vocabulary for Halloween. To help decorate our windows, we made les feux follets. Here are some pictures.

Crayons et croissants

Thanks to all the families who came out this morning for the second annual Crayons et croissants breakfast. It was great to see families sharing writing while having a yummy breakfast. What a fun way to start a Friday!

le 22-26 octobre

Just a few reminders for next week:

-Library on Monday. Please bring back your library books if you wish to return them for new ones.
-Home Reading Books will be going home again on Monday, please return on Friday.
-We will be having a Fall Dance on Friday after lunch from 12:45-2pm. The SLC is asking for $1 from each child to help with the costs. This can be sent in any time this week.
-Dictee on Friday. This week we will be learning some Halloween vocabulary. The words for dictee are as follows:

• un monstre
• un chat noir
• un chaudron
• une bougie
• une citrouille
• Bonus : Joyeuse Halloween

Have a great weekend!

Photos

Photo proofs came home today. If you wish to order photos, please complete the forms and return them by October 29. Picture retakes will be the afternoon of October 30.

Water, water everywhere...

In science, we have been talking about water and its importance to life on Earth. Today we learned about how water can be a gas, liquid or solid, and how it can change between being liquid, gas and solid. We did an experiment with ice cubes, water and salt. Below are some pictures of our experiment:

In the first glass, we had ice cubes and a thermometre. We wrote or drew what we thought would happen to the ice cubes and what the thermometre would look like before and after it was in with the ice cubes.

In the second glass we had ice cubes and water and a thermometre. We wrote or drew what we thought would happen.



 

In the third glass we had ice cubes and salt and the thermometre. We wrote or drew what we thought would happen.
 

Today we learned that there is water in the air around us, and that when it gets cold, it turns into liquid water or solid water, which is why our cold glasses got wet on the outside and why the glass with salt got frost on the outside. We also learned that when ice gets put in a warm place (like our classroom) that it melts into liquid water.

Another fun math game

Today in math we were talking about how we can use our doubles to solve problems that are close to doubles, such as 4+3. We can do the double of 4, and then take one away. We practiced our doubles some more, and then played this fun game on the SmartBoard to practice doubles minus 1.

http://www.ictgames.com/dinosaurDentist/index.html

lundi, le 15 octobre

To celebrate Education Week, we are doing WOTS up! (Write on the spot) twice each day. When the music plays over the PA system, we drop whatever we are doing and write for 10 minutes. Each student has a notebook that they can use to write lists, stories, dictee or MIMI words, or whatever else they like.

This week in math we will be practicing our double facts to 20. Below are the links to some games that students can play at home to practice.
Monkey Drive
Robin Hood Doubles
Robin Hood Doubles Harder

October 15 - 19

Just a few reminders for next week:
-Library on Monday, please bring back books if you want to change them for new ones. I will be watching more closely to see that students are taking out one English and one French book (or two French books). It is important to be reading in both languages.
-Home Reading Books will be going home again on Monday and are to be returned on Friday
-Dictee on Friday. We will be working on the letters ou, which say oo (like in food), words are as follows:

1. un loup
2. rouge
3. les souliers
4. un mouton
5. la bouche

Bon weekend!

C'est l'automne!

Here is a video that we made all about how we know that fall is here. Enjoy!

http://video.spsd.sk.ca/uploads/OllerheadK20121012154250.wmv

One other note for next week

Since we will miss our regularly scheduled library period on Monday, we will visit the library on Tuesday next week. Please bring back your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones.

le 9 octobre - le 12 octobre

Just a few notes for this upcoming week:

• Picture Day is on Wednesday, October 10. Please send back the pose selection form.
• Scholastic is due on Thursday, October 11. Cheques payable to Scholastic Canada.
• Home Reading Books will be sent home on Tuesday and are to be brought back on Friday.
• Dictee on Friday, October 12. The words for this week are:

un chien
un chapeau
un chat
un cochon
chuchote

Tuesday, October 2nd

Coming home today in your child's homework folder are the October Scholastic order and the photo pose selection form.

• Scholastic is due on Thursday, October 11.
• Picture Day is Wednesday, October 10, so please have forms back by this day.

Have a great night!

Glog

I have set up a Glog online. It is like a virtual poster that you can add video, images and audio to. I have made one of our first MIMI poster, adding my voice saying the words to help students practice reading the words correctly at home. Check it out at  http://www.glogster.com/mlleollerhead/our-first-mimi-poster/g-6l8hujclphba2bn7hidjoa0.

Resources

I have added a section on the right hand side of the blog called 'Resources'. I will add links for websites that students can use at home to practice their school work. The first link is Skip counting. Students can set the multiple they count by (we count by 1, 2, 5 and 10 in Grade 2) and count as the computer highlights the numbers. The second link is Base 10 Blocks. We have been practicing showing numbers to 100 using base 10 blocks. This website allows students to show numbers using the virtual blocks.

A couple more things...

Just a few more things about today...

We had our evacuation drill and Terry Fox Walk this afternoon. According to my count (not including all donations made online) our class raised over $320 - WAY TO GO GRADE 2!!!
Mille mercis to the parents who came along and helped out on our walk.

We had a visitor this morning from Troupe du Jour - a French theatre school. They will be offering a session for students who are 7-9 years of age. There is a brochure going home with each student today if you are interested. I was also informed that they have a financial assistance program if you require. For more information, you can call or email (listed on the brochure). Their website is : latroupedujour.ca .

This morning our class, along with Mme de Tilly and Mme Hamilton's classes helped to make our school grounds nicer. We went out for recess a bit early armed with garbage bags and gloves and cleaned up. I am so proud of the great stewards for the earth here in Grade 2.

I will be emailing out another link to a new photobucket album with some photos of the students hard at work, so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

Je me presente!

All of the posters have been handed back in and we are now presenting them to the rest of the class. They are beautiful! Je suis tellement fiere du travail des deuxiemes annees! (I am so proud of the work the grade 2s have done) I hope to take pictures of all of the students with their posters and put up a photobucket album for you all to see. They will also be put up on display in the hall, so if you are in the school late next week, drop by and check them out!

Friday, September 28

I can't believe it's the end of September already! Some reminders for next week...

-I am away on October 1st.

-Please send back Home Reading Books to be exchanged

-Hot lunch forms went home yesterday and are due back on Monday, Oct. 1st. The Hot Lunch will be on Thursday, Oct. 4.

-October 4th will also be Pajama Day. Students are invited to wear their favourite PJs.

-There will be an assembly on Thursday at 9am.

-NO SCHOOL for students on Friday, October 5th.

-NO SCHOOL on Monday, October 8th. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Dictee will be on Thursday, October 4th, words are as follows:

• une maison
• un garçon
• un cochon
• les bonbons
• les pantalons

Lockdown Drill

This afternoon we had our lockdown drill. We did a great job of being quiet, sitting in the back of the classroom and waiting for Mme Denomy to unlock our door and tell us the lockdown was over.

MIMI word practice

On Friday, 2 copies of the MIMI words were sent home. I would encourage you to practice these words each night with your child. I sent home 2 copies so that you can cut them out and play Memoire or Pioche! (Go Fish!). Below are some other fun ideas for practicing MIMI words.

Busy Week Ahead!

Lots of reminders and updates for this week!

• Library on Monday, bring back your books if you wish to exchange them for new ones
• I am away Monday afternoon for a meeting
• Je me presente is due on Tuesday
• Wednesday is the second collection day for magazine orders. Please make sure that the student name is on the order forms
• Thursday afternoon we will have a lockdown drill. We will be talking about this at school each day this week to prepare
• Friday we will have our evacuation drill to Nutana Collegiate and our Terry Fox Walk. If you wish to accompany us, please let me know.
• Dictee on Friday, the words are listed below:

un
une
le
la
les
de
du
des

Meet the Staff night

Thanks to all families who came out to Meet the Staff night on Wednesday night. It was a pleasure to meet and chat with you all. I am looking forward to a great year working with you and your children!

Way to Be!

When students are seen doing good deeds, helping each other, being responsible and respectful, they may be given a Way to Be! This little pink slip may be given to a student by any staff member anywhere in the school or even at recess. The Way to Be s can be given to the students' homeroom teacher and put into the weekly draw. Each Friday, a Way to Be will be drawn in each homeroom and that student will win a small prize.

Our First MIMI poster

Here is a look at our first MIMI poster.

I will be sending home a list of the words to be practiced at home in the near future.

Home Reading Books

Starting today, you will find a ziploc bag of Home Reading Books in your childs sac bleu. These books will be sent home on Mondays and returned on Fridays to be exchanged for new ones for the following week. Please read with your child each night. That said, I understand that my students are busy with piano lessons, swimming lessons, tae kwon do, karate, soccer, hockey, ukelele lessons, dance lessons, and the list goes on. The work you do at home should reinforce the skills learned at school. There may be some books going home this first week that are too easy or too difficult. Please let me know if this seems to be the case and I will send home different books.

Thank you once again for all your support at home!

le 17 septembre - le 21 septembre

Reminders for this week:

-Scholastic due on Tuesday
-Dictee on Friday, the words are as follows:

• je
• j’ai
• j’aime
• je suis
• quoi de neuf

-Magazine double collection day on Wednesday

Quoi de neuf? will be going home starting this week. Quoi de neuf? is the French equivalent of 'what's new' or 'what's up'. Students will take turns bringing home the 'quoi de neuf?' bag. They are to put one item in the bag and they will bring it back to school. They will then share with the rest of the class about their item.

Empathy

This month, our school is learning about empathy. We have learned that empathy is trying to understand and feel what someone else is feeling. We have also been practicing showing empathy to each other, like giving a friend a hug if they are hurt, or saying that we hope that they feel better. We will be reading some stories about empathy and discussing more examples over the next month.

QSP Magazine Fundraiser

Yesterday we kicked off our QSP magazine fundraiser. Your child should have brought home an envelope with a catalogue, some order forms and a letter to parents. If students need additional order forms, please let me know and I can send more home. Orders can also be placed online at www.qsp.ca and our group number is 15661. I have listed the collection days in the Upcoming Dates list on the blog. The first of these is the double points day on Wednesday, September 19th. **When sending in orders, please include your childs name on the order form.**

Thanks for all the work you do at home to support Ecole Victoria School!

Veronique la vache

 Some families have already met the new student in Mme Ollerhead's class, and others will have the honour in the next few weeks. Each night Veronique la vache goes home with a different student. She is accompanied by a notebook in which students are invited to write a short journal entry about what they did with Veronique that night. If Veronique is at your home for the night, please send her back the next day. Thanks for your support at home!

Je me presente

Coming home tonight is a project for students to complete as homework within the next 2 weeks. Below is a picture of my completed example. We discussed how it should be completed neatly, using neat printing, and nice colouring. I have made the due date le 25 septembre. Thanks for your support at home.

Top left: My portrait - students may glue a picture, as I have, or draw a self portrait.
Top right: Who Am I? - I am ___ years old. My birthday is ________. I live in __________. I am in grade _________. My teachers name is ____________. I get to school _a pied_ or _en autobus_ or _en auto_ or _a velo_. The people in my family are _______. When I grow up, I want to be ________.
Bottom left: My favourite things - Colour, Animal, Food, Book, Sport, At school I like to, At home I like to.
Centre (Star): I am special (unique) because ...
Centre right (heart): I show others I care about them by...
Bottom right: Three interesting and surprising things about me are...

Busy week ahead!

Just a couple of things for this week:

• Today we had our first library time. Students will be able to bring books home. Please send them back to school on Mondays to be exchanged for new ones. I will make this a homework item in the agenda on Fridays.
• We also had our first fire drill of the year this afternoon. We happened to be in the library, but students did a great job of quietly lining up, exiting the school and listening until attendance was taken. Way to go Grade 2!
• The first Scholastic order of the year is coming home today. If you wish to order anything, please send back the order form, along with a cheque made out to Scholastic Canada Ltd. by September 18th.
• Thursday is Hat Day! Students will be allowed to wear a hat for duration of the day.
• Friday morning at 11am we will be having a welcome back assembly and kick off for the magazine fundraiser.

I will be sending an email out tonight with a link and password to the first album of photos from our class. Thanks for your patience!
Have a great Monday evening!

Pete the Cat

On Friday I shared one of my favourite books - Pete the Cat. We talked about how sometimes things don't always go our way, but that it's okay, and that everything will be 'all good'. Here is the YouTube video of the author doing a reading of Pete the Cat. I apologize in advance for the song being stuck in your head for the rest of the day...

What a great start to Grade 2!

I am so excited to have such a great group of students! We are going to have a fantastic year!
We are mostly organized now and are working on learning the routines and rules that we will follow this year. As outlined in the letter I sent home on the first day of school, the two important words for this year will be RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY. We have talked about both of these words and what it means to be respectful and responsible.

I also sent home an Interest Inventory on the first day. Thank you to families who have sent those back already. I like to get to know my students and what their interests are, it helps me in planning activities and choosing topics that will engage students.

Today in the homework folders there was a school newsletter, a pack of forms that need to be reviewed, signed and returned, as well as a hot lunch order form. Hot lunch orders are due back on Monday, September 10th. A calendar was also sent home. If your family ended up with 2 calendars by mistake, kindly send one back to the school.

I hope to get some pictures up on the Photobucket site this weekend. I am currently getting my email list together, and once I have pictures on the Photobucket site I will email the password needed to view the pictures. Thanks for your patience as I get everything up and running.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school in person or by phone, or by email.

Bienvenue!

Bienvenue a la 2e annee!
Welcome back to Ecole Victoria School for the 2012-2013 school year. I am very excited to meet all of you and to get started. We are going to have a great year!