Hello everyone!
I hope a good week was had by all.  We are having a nice Spirit Week here at SJA.  Remember that tomorrow is Hawaiian Day...wear something tropical!!

I am very sorry to report that we are going to have to cancel skating for tomorrow again, both the morning and afternoon. We have a scheduling conflict in the afternoon and the weather looks like it will be just too cold in the morning.  We are going to try for next Friday, March 6th.  I will send home the permission forms (again!!) early next week!  I know that the students are looking forward to it!

Also, look for information about our OK Clean Water Project!

Students will be receiving their Term 2 IEPs within a few weeks. Here you will see the new expectations that your child will be working toward for this coming term. If you have any questions or if you would like to chat about it, please feel free to give me a call.  I am happy to go over the IEP with you!!

Stay warm and stay tuned for more information about our class happenings next week! 

Due to the weather forecast for the morning, we will be cancelling our MORNING skating trip tomorrow.  Watch for more information about rescheduling the activity!

Please stay tuned for information about our afternoon trip!! 

Happy Thursday everyone!  One day closer to the long weekend!  Hopefully the weather will warm up and you can get outside to enjoy the time with family!

This week, your child's report card and IEP will be coming home.  I am so proud of their hard work and successes!! While there is no official interview day here at St. John the Apostle, I am more than happy to meet with you if you would like to discuss your child's progress and/or next steps.  Please write a note or call the school and we can find a time to chat.

This week we focused on friendship, love and kindness to lead us up to Valentines Day. There were no word wall words, only Valentines words!  The students have been reading, writing and talking about Valentines all week! They are pretty excited! So.....we are going to have a Pyjama and Pancake Party tomorrow!  Students can wear their jammies, or they can wear red and white.....or BOTH! The students are also welcome to bring in cards for their classmates tomorrow. There are 10 students in each group. I am sure it will be a wonderful and lovely day!

Stay warm tomorrow!  Enjoy the long weekend.  Looking forward to hearing about all of the adventures had!

Happy Monday Everyone! Can you believe it is February already? January just flew by! I feel like we just returned from our holidays!

I hope everyone managed to stay warm and safe through the snow today! 

With all of the snow, please understand that there may be delays with the student vans. To add to this, please remember to contact OSTA if your child will be away.  

We had a busy day today!  We learned our Word Wall Words for the week, we worked hard at our Daily Five Work Stations and we discussed Groundhog Day. 
We read a book and a poem about Groundhog Day.  We also looked at some information online. Apparently, we have 6 more weeks of Winter.....silly groundhog! 

Ou words for the week are:

came, down

three, pretty, not

make, give, had, one, at

doesn't, until, getting, first, you

Recently, we have been talking about predictions Predicting is a good strategy to further students understanding. When student know how to make predictions and use this skill prior to reading, they not only have a reason to read, but this knowledge will improve their comprehension.  By activating prior knowledge they can get at the deeper meanings and learn to read between the lines. 

We have also started looking at procedural writing.  We have read some books that tell us "How To". We will be looking at writing our own procedural texts in the coming months.  

The students have been exploring different kinds of words in our vocabulary.  We have discussed synonyms, antonyms and multiple leaning words. We have been adding to our fancy words and tricky words as well.  Ask your child about these!

This week, we will learn some Winter Vocabulary Words.  I will be challenging the students to use these words in complete sentences in their writing, and in more complex sentences in their speech.  

As Valentines Day is on a Saturday this year, we will be celebrating on Friday February 13th. We will be having a pyjama and pancake party to honour the special day of friendship!  Your child can wear their cozies, bring in a stuffy and share a pancake treat with their friends. Of course, we will likely do some writing about how to make pancakes too! If your child would like to bring in Valentines to share with their classmates, please make sure that everything is peanut free. I will send home a list of the students first names!  

In the next few weeks, your child will be bringing home their report card as well as their IEP.  Please let me know if you would like to meet to discuss your child's progress at any time. I am always happy to meet or organize a phone interview.  

Thank you again for all of your support and dedication to your child's education!  Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week!!!

Hello everyone! 

January is flying by and we have so many important things going on in our class.  The students are hard at work and I am so proud of each and every one of them. Their perseverance and enthusiasm for learning are incredible to witness every day!

With all we have going on, I want to take a moment to thank you as well.  Your dedication to your children's learning is very much appreciated. I know that it may be not be easy to have your child at two different schools, but together we can give your children the best days possible! I am so thankful to be able to spend my days with your children. 

Ok, so here are some of the things going on in our class!!

Word Wall Words

Here are the Word Wall Words for this week.  We will continue practicing spelling patterns using the triangle form for homework.  The students have been working on using these words in a sentence.  Ask your child to tell you a sentence with one of their words!!

The students have been learning about how to use our success criteria to help our writing.  

When given a writing task, we have been using a writer's checklist to help them remember how to improve their writing. 

WORDS have been a big topic in our class lately!  We have been talking about synonyms, antonyms and multiple meaning words. Here are three words we have been looking at this week. Each of these words has more than one meaning.  There are so many multiple meaning words!!! Ask your children if they can help you think of some more!  

We listened to a story called "You Are Special". It is written by Max Lucado.  He writes a series of stories outlining the simple and true fact that we are all unique and wonderful. We exist in God's love and our differences and special talents are what make us amazing.  I love these stories because they deliver such a true and important message.  The students will be listening to more stories in this series and we will be talking about how they make us feel, how we can relate to the characters and how the important message relates to our lives. 


The Story Retell Journal will be coming home tonight. Please take some time to listen to your children tell you the story of Sneezy the Snowman! Please return the journal once the retell is complete!!  Enjoy!


I hope everyone has a nice weekend!! 

Happy New Year!!!!

Welcome back!

I hope that everyone had a nice and relaxing holiday!

What a great day we had today! I was so excited to see everyone today and hear about the amazing adventures everyone had over the holidays.  I am very happy to hear that everyone had a nice holiday with family and friends. 

On with our day!

Today we learned our new word wall words.  Here are the words for the week! 

You may notice that the format of the Word Wall homework has changed.  The students are being asked to write their words in triangle form.  This requires the students to write the words one letter per line, adding one letter each time, creating the shape of a triangle. 

For example:

TOY

T
TO
TOY

The goal is to help the students remember the spelling patterns in each word.  The students practiced this today in class! 

 Please let me know if you have any questions about the activity! 

As the new year has just begun, we took some time today to discuss resolutions.  We talked about how people use the turning of the new year to set a goal for themselves, to try and improve on something. The students did a good job brainstorming some good ideas for resolutions.  Some great examples were: learning to play an instrument, reading more and practicing a sport! 
Throughout the week, each student will be setting a goal for him/her self.  They will also be looking at steps they need to take to meet their goals. Ask your child about what they are looking to improve on! 

Today we read the story, Sneezy the Snowman.   It is a tale of a snowman who is sometimes too hot and sometimes too cold.  We will read this story many times throughout the month.  At the end of the month, the students will be asked to complete their Story Retell Journals about using this story! 

I apologize for the delay, but homework calendars will be sent home shortly, Check your child's homework folder for their calendar this week.  Thanks! 

Just a reminder that this week will be COLD!  Please make sure that they children are dressed appropriately. 

This will be a busy month, so stay tuned for more information! 

Again, I wish you all a Happy New Year!  
Stay warm!! 

Sarah Faloon 

DECEMBER

Happy December everyone!!  
Where did November go? 

As December starts, so does Advent and we are reminded of the magical time before Christmas.  We will be using these next few weeks to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Saviour!  There will be many songs, prayers and other exciting activities in the days to come!
Throughout my Advent season,  the students of SJA are making a difference in their community by collecting non-perishable food items and toiletries to support Morrison Gardens. Our School Council continues the tradition of collecting hats, mittens and socks for the Shepherds of Good Hope. Your donations are much appreciated.  

A reminder that  we will celebrate an Advent Mass held at St, John the Apostle Church tomorrow, December 2nd at 7:00 pm.  Please come if you can!

Also, tomorrow there will be class picture retakes.  Please remind your son/daughter to show up with a big smile!! 

A few reminders about transportation. If your child is going to be away for the day, please call STS at and let the staff know.  They can alert the drivers.  
If there is inclement weather and the busses are cancelled, so are the vans.  This means there will be no transportation to or from St. John the Apostle for our kids.  The link to OSTA is on this blog. Check it out if you are unsure!! 



Here are our word wall words for the week!

Your child may have told you that we received a special Tweet from a little elf today! Murphy the Elf has returned to SJA to help keep Santa informed of all of the wonderful things that he sees!  Murphy will chat with us on our class Twitter account and we will look for him in the school throughout the month of December.  We will keep a journal of all of the places we find him!  Stay tuned for more info about our little friend from the North Pole!

I hope everyone has a good week.  Keep checking your child's mail bag and agendas, our class Twitter account and this blog for important information and to hear about our exciting learning!!