Happy Love Day!

Can you believe it is the middle if February already?!

 
January flew by and I have a sneaky suspicion that this is an indication of how quickly the rest of the year will go! Every year I am amazed at how quickly times goes!

As early in the year as it seems, we have already begun discussions about the student's progress and where their learning journeys will take them next year. For some students, they will be returning to their home school full time while other students will be returning here to the PLC at St. John the Apostle for another year in this program. It is necessary for these conversations to happen this early as there are many protocol to follow and some paperwork that needs to be done! I have been lucky enough to have already spoken with many of you about this. Please know that I will be touching base with everyone about the next steps for your child. If I have sent home any documentation for what is upcoming for your child, please fill it in and return it to the school as soon as you can. Feel free to call me if you have any questions about the forms.

Just a reminder that your child's Term 1 report card and IEP will be coming home soon. These reports are completed as a collaboration between myself and the homeschool. They are sent home from your child's homeschool. 

If you would like to discuss your child's progress at all, either on the phone or in person, I am happy to talk with you. I will send home an interview request form at the end of the week. Some schools will be including the Term 2 IEP's in with the reports from Term 1. This means you will be receiving the grades and evaluations of their progress on their expectations from Term 1 as well as the new IEP goals that your child will be working toward in Term 2. Some schools will be sending the Term 2 expectations home at a later date. Regardless of when you will be receiving the Term 2 document, I am happy to go over it with you as well. There is a lot of information in those documents and your voice as the parents is important. Your input on the IEP is encouraged! 

We have been really busy here in the Primary Language Class! So much learning and many exciting events have happened in the past few weeks!  

The students have been doing a great job with their word wall words. Just as a reminder, I send the words home each week in their notebooks. You are welcome to work through the words as you would like. As I have mentioned before, I completely understand that your lives are busy and there are so many other things you would like to be doing with your children that are not homework! That being said, exposure to these words is extremely beneficial. Repetition and daily use of these words will improve their recognition of the words, alleviating some stress while learning to read. There are many different apps and programs that focus on sight words as well. Please let me know if you would like some information regarding these useful sites. 

Lately, we have been exploring different technological tools to help us in our learning. The students have been working in an app called SeeSaw. We used this program last year and, and the students who were familiar with it were able to teach the new students about it! With this program, they can record their learning in picture, photograph and video format. They are many options including taking a video, recording their voice or show their learning by drawing. They are all able to independently record their learning and store it in their own file. I am pretty impressed with the ease of which they have picked it up!  

I have also introduced an app called Google Read and Write to the Grade 3 students. This is a tool that they will be using to help them gain independence as a learner. This program helps students with reading, comprehension, vocabulary and writing. I am very excited to teach the students this tool as I hope they will be able to use it independently in the junior grades. I will also be introducing this tool to the Grade 1 and 2 students later in the year. 

Today is Valentine's Day! The students will be working on different literacy stations to showcase their learning.

Check out Twitter to see some of the fun! @MrsFaloonPLC

Today is also Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. This afternoon, students will gather in the gymnasium to hear Father Lindsay from St. John the Apostle Parish talk about this important liturgical season. The students will receive ashes on their foreheads.

The students will also be thinking about the importance of a Lenten Promise. They will be writing one Lenten promise (for example: I will help mom with dishes, I will be kind to my friends at school, etc.).  We will revisit these promises often throughout this liturgical season.  It is our hope that parents will continue to encourage their children to make positive choices at home as well (for example: completing chores at home for a small amount of money) in support of our school-wide initiative with the OK Clean Water.
Please see this information for what is coming up in the next few weeks to support our Lenten Projects.

OK CLEAN WATER     

40 cans for lent!

St. John the Apostle’s

LENTEN PROJECTS

BACKGROUND: Ottawa-Kumbo (OK) Partnership

The OK Clean Water Project takes its name from the link that has been developed between Ottawa, Canada and Kumbo, Cameroon, Africa. The volunteers in Ottawa raise funds to support the water delivery systems being built in Kumbo and surrounding villages. The villagers in and around Kumbo volunteer their labour to build the water delivery structures and then receive training to manage and maintain the water supply. In doing so they establish ownership of their efforts.

40 Cans for Lent  We will be working with other schools in our area, St. John the Apostle Church, and the Knights of Columbus to raise 2000 lbs of food which will be shared with Morrison Gardens and Pinecrest Terrace Food Bank. Bring in a can or two every Tuesday during Lent and we’ll arrange a pick up from your classroom.  We will begin collecting every Tuesday beginning on Shrove Tuesday, February 14th.

Events- Mark your Calendars

Wednesday, Feb 14th       Launch of our OK Clean Water Project and 1000 lbs of Food on Ash Wednesday.

Friday, Feb 23rd  Jersey Day/ Hat Day. Make a donation to wear your favourite team jersey and/ or hat.  Some friendly contests will be held during the day.

Thursday, March 1th    Mile of Coins Day.   Let’s line the halls with our loose change donations and see if we can’t go all of the way around the library.  How many coins would it take to do that?  

Friday, March 9th     PJ DAY! Make a donation to OK Clean Water and wear your favourite PJs for the day.

Friday,  March 29th    Presentation of our school donation to Ms. Horan and the OK Clean Water Project at our April Assembly.

We are encouraging students to donate coins from their allowance or money they have earned so that, in a very real way, their efforts and donations are making a direct and positive impact on the lives of others.

Next week is Winter Olympic Spirit and Kindness week. There are many things scheduled for the week. Please take a look at what we have going on!

• Winter Activity Day: For grades 1-6, our winter activity events are Wednesday morning.  Spirit and Participation  points will be awarded for each event, except the hot chocolate station. Our station leaders (St. Paul students) will award the spirit and participation points.   
• We will be having a winter fun block for the afternoon class! Stay tuned for more information!
• Hot chocolate for all. Donations will be collected in homeroom class.
• All outdoor activities are weather dependent.
• Monday is Family Day.

DAY	TUESDAY, FEB 20	WEDNESDAY, FEB 21	THURSDAY, FEB 22	FRIDAY, FEB 23
THEME	TEAM CANADA DAY DRESS IN YOUR RED AND WHITE	OLYMPIC SPIRIT DAY	PAY IT FORWARD THURSDAY	ALL ABOUT SJA FRIDAY BLUE AND GOLD
ACTIVITY		Grades 1-6 Winter Activity Events AM (St Paul Students)	Rosary Leaders in AM	Back-Up Day for Winter Activity 1-6  AM Assembly: Block 4 Class Spirit Songs, Chants, Dances. Spirit Winners!

Thursday, January-11-18

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that this first week back to reality finds everyone healthy, rested and full of wonderful memories from an amazing holiday!

I certainly do not take for granted this special time that I have to spend with my family. I feel blessed to be able to have 2 weeks with my children to celebrate, play and grow together! This week has been hectic and truly bittersweet! While I was a little sad that my holiday adventures with my babies have come to an end, I am truly excited to begin 2018 with YOUR children!

As an educator, I love this time of year!  It is busy and hectic, but it is incredible how students really do seem to grow over the break. They come back refreshed and ready to learn.....so that is exactly what we are going to do!

This week, we spent some time discussing our Christmas holidays with each other. We practiced active listening and some students even tried asking other students questions about their stories! Everyone had such lovely tales of what they did. We turned the conversation into a discussion about the difference between telling someone something, and asking a question. We will be focusing on "telling sentences" and "asking sentences" throughout this month! 

We also used our fun adventures to practice our sequencing and story retelling. The students have been working on writing about their holidays using transition words (first, next, then, finally). They did a wonderful job!

As the New Year has just begun, we will be taking some time to discuss resolutions.  We will discuss about how people use the turning of the New Year to set a goal for themselves, to try and improve on something.  Some great examples would be: learning to play an instrument, reading more and practicing a sport! 

Throughout the week, each student will be setting a goal for him/herself.  The idea is to discover how each student will shine!!! 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! 

As this week is fairly busy already and we have many learning activities planned throughout the week, we will have no word wall words this week.  We have spent some time reviewing many of the word wall words that we have learned throughout the year. We will have new words to focus on next week.

Many people have asked about different apps for iPads and tablets for the students to work on at home. Here are some that I think are useful tools. Some are free and are to be purchased, although they usually have a free version! 

• ABC Pocket Phonics
• Farm Phonics 
• Phonics Genius 
• Starfall 
• ABC Ya Games 
• Raz Kids (same login as on the computer) 
• Sentence Maker 
• Sentence Constructor 
• Draw, then WRITE 
• Say that thing 
• Pixwords 
• Word Match 

Please ask me if there is something specific you would like help looking for! I am always happy to search for new apps and try them out! 

Just a reminder that winter weather is cold and wet!  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 and dry!! 

Sarah Faloon 

Monday November 20th 2017

Hello!

What a weekend! First snowfall of the year. While it made for some slippery driving, it was beautiful and certainly had my kids excited! Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather each day. If you are in need of any winter items, please let me know and we would be happy to help.

Also, if your child still does not have indoor shoes here at St. John the Apostle, please let me know and we can make sure they have the appropriate footwear.

This is a short but busy week. A reminder that there is a P.D. Day on Friday November 24th.

We are celebrating Anti-Bullying week! In our class, we are focusing on the importance of being kind to others, and celebrating our differences. We often talk about how each of us being a unique and special person is worthy of celebration. This week is a great time for us to reinforce the significance of this! Today we will be reading a story called, Invisible Isabelle. The main lesson in this story is that we must remain true to ourselves and not try to be like others. We are exactly who God has intended us to be, and we are all beautiful!

We will also look at the story of The Good Samaritan to guide our actions. How can we be more like the Good Samaritan? How can we help others? What are some ways we can be kind and pay kindness forward?  I am really looking forward to having these conversations with the students!

This week, we will also begin discussing a book called, `Big Deals and Little Deals`. In the book, it explains the difference between a big deal (something that hurts your body, something dangerous, scary situations) and a little deal (someone bothering you, someone hurting your feelings). It teaches different strategies to handle the little deals on our own. The strategies that the book uses mimic those we have learned about while using our WITS! (Walk away, Ignore, Talk about it, Seek help) Look for more info as we practice the strategies in the class! Please let me know if you would like more information about the book or the strategies we are using!

Our new word wall words this week are:

and, it

he, she, no

have, old, little, tell, house

Please ask your child which words are theirs and help them practice them. The students have been playing some games to help reinforce their words here at school. We try to keep the learning exciting! Ask them about what their favourite Word Wall Word game is!

In our writing, we will be looking at procedural writing. This is where the students will be writing "how to" instructions. We will practice writing an introduction sentence, the necessary steps to completing our task, transition words (first, then, finally) and a concluding sentence. You can support this skill by asking your children what the steps are to the tasks they are completing at home. For example, brushing your teeth. First, put the toothpaste on the toothbrush, then brush the top teeth, next brush the bottom teeth and finally rinse out your mouth!!  Look for more updates on our amazing work with this!

This week, we are also going to begin learning about  idioms. Our language has so many sayings that are not so easy to figure out! We will be discussing how sometimes, words do not mean what they say! When I say, "It's raining cats and dogs", there really isn't animals falling from the sky! But what does it mean? This week, we are beginning with, "Get your act together" and how it means to behave appropriately for where you are. I have some other fun expressions up my sleeve for the rest of the year!

Enjoy the week everyone!  As always, please let me  know if you have any questions or concerns. I am happy to chat! Stay warm!

Exciting news!!!

Just a reminder.........

The students have been working hard to earn Dojo points!

At the beginning of the year, we set some goals for the class and we have been meeting each goal with speed and determination!

The students earned some free time, extra recess.....even a lesson on how to make slime!

Now they have reached 500 points and they have earned a little pizza party!

I will be ordering pizza for the class on

Wednesday, November 7th.

I will order two slices of cheese pizza for each student.

I am really proud of the students. They are working harder than ever to be kind and respectful, and to be diligent learners! They really do deserve this!

Thank you for sending me your wonderful children, and for allowing me to reward them with pizza!

Please let me know if there are any dietary concerns, or if you you have any other questions or concerns about our celebration!

Thank you!

Sarah Faloon

Primary Language Class

St, John the Apostle

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend prepping for Halloween! My kiddos at home are so excited, I am sure your families are sharing in the excitement!

This is going to be an exciting week here at SJA. The students are so very excited about Halloween. I love it!  I love that they are putting their enthusiasm into great words that  have turned into fantastic sentences and really fun conversations.  I am happy to hear about their costumes and how they are celebrating this fun day! 

To get ready for Halloween, our activities and lessons are planned around this theme! We will be practicing our procedural writing when we learn how to carve a pumpkin and we will be using our descriptive writing skills when we write all about our costumes!

Students will be invited to wear their costumes on Halloween. We have some fun things planned for the day while they are here to celebrate! Check out our class Twitter for some pictures of the exciting times!

We will not have Word Wall Words this week!! Instead, we will be focusing on our Halloween Vocabulary. Check it out!

We have really been enjoying writing in our journals.  The students have really been focusing on writing complete sentences using our Writers Eye! Here are the things we are looking for with our Writer’s Eyes!

Students can use this chart on the wall when they are writing to double check that they have included these 4 things!  (Capitals at the beginning, lowercase letters throughout the sentence, spaces between our words and punctuation at the end).

As the students become more comfortable with their writing and their skills improve, we will be adding different criteria to the list. The students did an excellent job!

As I review the student's written work, I will be commenting on what they have done using a strategy called, "Tickled Pink and Green for Growth".  You make have heard of this already, all this means is that I will write in PINK something that they did really well, something I am proud of them for doing! Then, I will add in GREEN their next steps.  Since these goals are so different for each student, this is a great communication tools! 

This is an example of what it may look like! 

A few reminders!

* If your child does not have indoor shoes to leave here, they need to bring them to and from their home school. As the weather gets colder and wetter, everyone needs a clean, dry and warm pair of shoes to wear here.  Please let me know if we can be of any help in getting your child a pair of shoes to leave here st SJA.  We would be happy to help! 

* We are in the last week of #WEscarehunger! Please send in any canned goods to help those in need! 

* Students have many opportunities to eat snacks in our class, however, there is a lot going on in your child's day!! Please let me know if you have any concerns about how much your child is able to eat during the day.  

* I will continue to send home the Word Wall Words every Monday. How/When/How Much you practice those words is up to you! I will take the WWW book out of the mail bags once I see that they have practiced, or on Friday.  Please let me know if I take it out and you would still like to practice. The words are usually posted on this blog and on our Twitter account, so feel free to check there as well! 

* The students are doing really well with their Snuggle Book Reading! Again, I will switch the books once I see that you have signed the page telling me how they have done.  You are welcome to keep each book for as long as it takes to read it with your child. 

* Please remember that our Library Day is Wednesday.  Please return all books on or by Wednesday of each week. Thanks! 

*There will be a P.J. Day on November 9th. Please bring in a donation for United Way!

October-10-17

Hello everyone!

I hope that you all had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend shared with family! What a beautiful weekend it was!  I have said it many times, but I feel so blessed to live in a city that gives us the most amazing and glorious autumns. Even with the rain yesterday, the colours of the leaves make me smile! I had some time this weekend to really think about the things I am most thankful for. My family is certainly one! I am also thankful for each of my students. They each teach me something different, every single day!

This week will be short and sweet!  While there are only 4 days at school, we still have plenty of work to do! 

The students had their picture taken here at SJA a few weeks ago. The proofs will be ready soon! Each student will be given an individual picture here. I will be sending them home as soon as I get them. I am sure they had one taken at their homeschool as well, or perhaps picture day has not happened yet. Please do not feel obligated to purchase from both. each group (both morning and afternoon) had a group picture taken and I will send it home as soon as it arrives.  

go, like

am, the look

went, has, down, off, go

Here are our word wall words for this week.  You will notice that there are MANY more words than the ones your child brought home.  As it is with much of our learning, students are working at varying levels. Each student has their own words that they are responsible for practicing.  

This week, we will begin to talk about stories and their elements. We will explore what the characters (who the story is about) and the setting (where the story happens) of a story were. These are some great things to discuss while you are reading with your kids at home! 

On our writing, we are working toward writing perfect sentences. Some of the things we will be practicing are starting the sentence with a capital, using finger spaces between words, using punctuation at the end of the sentence and ensuring that the sentence is a whole thought.  !! For students who have mastered these steps, they are working toward creating more descriptive sentences by adding details and explanations.  

A note about Snuggle Books!!

I try and send home books that will challenge the students and help them feel successful. The books are also chosen to help them work on specific strategies that we are learning about in class. The picture here shows some of the strategies that the students are working on. Depending on your child's reading level, they are using different strategies to solve unfamiliar words. Ask your child which strategy they are working on! If the books are too difficult for your child to read in one evening, please keep the book for longer!  The books only need to returned when your child has practiced and read the book independently. 

Quick Notes:

#WEscarehunger 

SJA is working together to SCARE HUNGER!  We have begun collecting canned goods and we will continue to do so until Halloween.  We will be donated all goods collected to Morrison Gardens. Please give if you can! 

The United Way Campaign is underway. In the next few weeks we will be having fun days and special events here at school to raise money for this amazing cause.  Please stay tuned for more details about the exciting events! 

A reminder that Library Day is on Wednesdays. Please remind your child to bring back the St. John the Apostle library books before Wednesday each week so that they can enjoy another book! 

Your child's IEP will coming home shortly. Your child’s IEP is developed in collaboration between the homeschool team, you the parents, and me. The homeschool will send home a draft copy of the IEP shortly. Please take the time to read it carefully. I would be very happy to arrange a time to sit and discuss the IEP with you. I can also set up a time to talk to you by telephone if that is preferable. Please remember your input is very important. Please note that Rosalind Mcguire, teacher at St. John the Apostle Catholic, will be reporting on the Social Studies curriculum for our students. 

Wishing everyone a great week! As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns! 

S. Faloon :)