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!!

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend!! Can you believe that the end of November is almost here!!
This time of year can be extremely busy, and it is no different in our classroom.  We have many exciting activities going on!  Please continue checking the blog, Twitter and your child's agenda for updates on what is coming up for the next few weeks!

Advent will begin this Sunday.  Here at St, John the Apostle, we will celebrate with an Advent Mass held at St, John the Apostle Church on December 2nd at 7:00 pm.  Please come if you can!

If we have not yet had a chance to chat about your child's progress and you would like to do so, please feel free to give me a call.  I know how busy life can be!  We can certainly arrange a time for a meeting, either here at school or over the phone.

This weather forecast for this week looks wet, wet, wet!!  Please make sure your child is dressed properly for the day.  An extra pair of socks and/or mittens in their back pack is also a good idea.......just in case!

A Story Retell Journal went home last week.  The purpose of this journal is to have your child tell you a story in his/her own words.  Last week's book was called, Go Home Daisy!  It is a story about a dog that loves to chase her family as they drive down the road.  In the end, Daisy helps her owner find his way home after being lost.
When completing the journal entry, please record what your child says without adding anything. You can ask questions to help him/her along (i.e., What happens next?)  This information is a good tool for me to see what the children can retain from the story and how they have processed the details.  It is certainly not about being right or wrong....just about your child doing his/her best!

Here is what we are up to this week!!

Check out our word wall words!!!
on, he
jump, for, red
two, six, come, all, an
should, picture, earth, high, answer

Today we practiced our words using our Tic Tac Toe board which is filled with fun and interesting ways to practice each word!
They love using the markers to write RAINBOW WORDS!!!



A few weeks ago we inherited this PUPPET THEATER!!!
Lately we have had a large conversation about...conversations!  We have discussed what makes a good conversation, how to start a conversation and how to end a conversation.  We will be using our puppet theater to practice taking turns talking and listening while having a conversation.  The kids have really had fun with it so far!  Sometime in the near future, we will also be making our own puppets!! Watch for more information!

   

Tomorrow we will look at the word family _eat.  We will use this group to discuss how the vowel blend of "ea" creates the long "e" sound.  Ask your child about words in the _eat family.  

We are going to look at Visualization as a reading comprehension strategy.  The goal is for the students to create pictures in their minds to help them gain a deeper understanding of a text.  

That about covers it for now!  As always, please do not hesitate to call or write if you have any questions at all.  Have a great week and I look forward to the exciting days and weeks coming up!!!!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Looks like winter is here!!  What a beautiful sight!  The snow is here!

I was so happy to see everyone in their winter warmest today! The kids were cozy and dry in their snow suits.  With all of this extra clothing, it is necessary that the students be able to dress independently.  I will certainly be there to help with stuck zippers and finicky boots, but the children should be able to put on and take off their snowsuits by themselves.  Please practice at home!!

Today we reviewed some really important information about the snow, the yard and safety.  Students are not permitted on  the play structures throughout the winter and they have been officially closed for the season.  We discussed how throwing snow is not at all allowed at school.  We also talked about how important it is to share the snow. With all of the forts and snow men being made, all students need to remember that the snow is a gift from God and does not belong to anyone.

Please remember that student agenda and mail bags should be coming to school every day!  I completely understand that we all forget things from time to time, however, these books are our daily communication formats.  It is a good idea to have your child be responsible for remembering to bring them back every day.  What a great way to teach responsibility and routine!  If you have misplaced either, please let me know and I can provide another one! Thanks you for your help with this!

Each month, our school community takes one of the Catholic Graduate Expectations and looks further into what it means.  For the month of October, St. John the Apostle School thought about Empathy and what it means to be an empathetic person.  One person from each class is chosen as a good representative of this value.  Today, we had a little assembly to recognize those people.  I am very proud to say that Lily (from the morning class) and Kristina (from the afternoon class) were recognized for this month!  Way to go guys!!

OK, on with our week!

Our word wall words for this week are:
you, my
run, make, up
will, very. but, was, what
right, thank, sound, found, better

Check out our Twitter page for a pic of our neat new way of practicing our word wall words!

We have been learning about the different sounds that vowels make.  We know some fun little tunes about all of the short vowel and long vowel sounds!  Please talk to your children at home about the different sounds they hear in words.  For example: What vowel sound do you her in dinner?  Is that a long or short "i" sound?  Can you tell me a word that has the short "a" sound in it?

Tomorrow, the students will be introduced to words in the _est word family.  Ask them about the book, A Pest in the Nest!

Tomorrow we also have a special guest!  Todd Nicholson, a Paralympic Sledge Hockey player will be at SJA in the morning to talk about his amazing career! Please wear RED tomorrow, Tuesday to support this amazing athlete! 

In the homework calendars for Thursday, there is mention of The Story Retell Journal.  This book will be going home once a month and the students will be asked to tell you a story.
It will be a story that we have read multiple times in the class.  We discuss the details of the story together.  Their job will be to retell you this story in their own words.  Please write down only what they say. A retell is not an exact memorization of the story.  It may take some practice for the students.  If they can only remember one part, that is fine.  With consistent practice, the students will develop a deeper understanding and their retelling ability will improve.
Check the cover of the journal for more instructions!

A reminder that Friday is a P.D. day.  There is no school on Friday.  Also, Wednesday is our Library Day.  Library books should be returned weekly so they can take out a different book.  If your child would like to keep their book longer, please return the book to school and your child can ask to renew the book for another week.

I hope everyone has a warm and snuggly week! Enjoy the long weekend!

Monday November 3rd 2014

I cannot believe it is November already! Time really flies!
I hope that everyone had a nice Halloween and a relaxing weekend!

With the cold weather upon us, please make sure that your child has all of the clothing they will need to stay warm. Can you believe that we have officially entered mitten season?
Also, if your child does not already have indoor shoes, please make sure that he/she has a pair.  It is preferable to have a pair that they can leave here.  It is essential that the children be able to put their shoes on independently.

A reminder that this Wednesday, November 5th is parent-teacher interviews here at SJA.  I would love to meet with you and discuss your child's progress. Please call Mrs. Guilfoyle at the office if you would like to schedule an interview with me.  The interviews will be held between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on that day.  If you would like to arrange a meeting on another day or a phone interview, please do not hesitate to ask! We can arrange something that works for all of us!

We have a busy week ahead of us!  We will be practicing new word wall words, learning new letter sounds and continuing our conversations about story elements. We will talk about words in the _op word family. We will also start talking about the importance and significance of Remembrance Day. 

Ask your child about what he/she is learning this week!

Prayer
Every day, in the morning and the afternoon, we say a prayer together as a part of our beginning routine.  Check it out! Please review the prayer with your child.  The morning class will be saying the prayer over the announcements next week!  I will send home the prayer on paper so the students can practice over the weekend.  

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 leaning about in class. The picture here shows the strategies listed on the students reading cards.  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!

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

Monday October 27th 2014

Happy Monday everyone!!!

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I am really looking forward to this week.  The days leading up to Halloween are always so exciting, and we have some fun activities going on here at St. John the Apostle.  

A reminder that on Friday the students are invited to wear black and orange.  We will also be participating in a Pumpkin Raffle!  Each class will be decorating a pumpkin, and then there will be a pumpkin display in the Learning Commons on Friday.  Tickets for the raffle will be 25 cents each or 5 for $1.00.  For students bringing $5 or more, their names will be put into a draw for SJA Spirit Wear! All money raised is going to the United Way. 

Also, this week, homework calendars and Scholastic orders are due back on Wednesday.  A big thank you if you have already returned these things.  

Just a reminder that our class visits the Learning Commons on Wednesdays.  Please help your child remember to return his/her book on or before Wednesday so that he/she can take out a new book.  

Last week we started some photography with Kate Settle.  Kate shared her expertise with the students and they had a blast taking pictures of different things from different perspectives.  

This week, we will be reading a book called There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat! The book follows the same patterns as the story, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly (I am sure you have all heard of it!!).  The story allows the students to focus on rhyme and repetition which are both excellent strategies to use on our journey to becoming better readers!

Last week, we read a story called Birthday Party Pandamonium!  After reading the story, we discussed who the characters were, where setting was (where the story took place) and what happened.  We identified what happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the story.  These story elements will help the students learn more about how narrative stories are structured as well as developing their comprehension of the text. 

Our word family this week is _in.  We will read a poem about spiders and how they spin a web.  Talk about words in the _in word family with your child.  Stay tuned for pictures of our work! 

Here are our word wall words for the week!  


In the mail bag today, you will see a fundraiser package.  Please take a few minutes to read through and see if this is something you would like to participate in.  I know it can be difficult to juggle the activities of two schools, so please do not feel pressured to participate in this fundraiser.  It is there as an option for you!

There will also be a letter regarding parent teacher interviews.  Your child's progress report and IEP will be going home some time this week from their home school.  I would love to meet with you to discuss your child's progress and next steps in language and.  Our interviews here at SJA are being held on Wednesday November 5th from 4:00 pm-7:00 pm.  If you would like to schedule an interview with me on that date, please call the office and Mrs. Guilfoyle will help you set up a time that works for you.  If you are unavailable on that day and would like to schedule an interview on a different day, please write me a note in the mail bag with some dates and times that work for you wand we will schedule a meeting.  

I hope everyone has a nice week.  Please do not hesitate to call or write a note if there is anything you need!! 

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.  

This week will be short and sweet!  While there are only 4 days at school, we still have plenty of work to do! 
We had our pictures taken as a class yesterday.  I cannot wait to see all of the beautiful smiling faces!  There will be a class picture for each student.  I will send them home when they are ready.  

Here are our word wall words for this week.  You will notice that there are MANY more words that 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.  

Word families are an excellent way to learn rhyming words and spelling patterns.  This week, we have discussed words in the _ip word family (for example: dip, hip, flip, ship, ship, sip). We read a story about an alien named Zip who lives on Planet Blip! Please review the words with your child!   

We are staring to talk about stories and their elements.  Earlier in the year we explored what the characters (who the story is about) and the setting (where the story happens) of a story were.  This week, we will begin looking at what happens during the story and identifying what takes place at the beginning, the middle and the end of a narrative story.  

Take a look at our writing goal.  We are working toward writing perfect sentences, and this chart shows how we will get there!! For students who have mastered these steps, they are working toward creating more descriptive sentences by adding details and explanations.  

A few reminders:
*This Friday, October 17th is PJ and Crazy Hair Day.  We are raising money for United Way, so bring in your loonies and wear your cozies!! *The following Friday, October 24th, will be wear your SJA colours day.  Wear your SJA gear or sport some navy blue and/or grey and show school spirit! 
*On October 31st, students will be invited to wear orange and black to celebrate Halloween.  Each class will have the chance to decorate a pumpkin.  After being on display, students can enter into a raffle for a chance to win their favourite pumpkin!  Raffle tickets will be 25 cents each or 5 for $1.00.  Students who bring in $5.00 or more for the pumpkin raffle will be entered into a draw for one of several school t-shirts.  
*SJA is working together to SCARE HUNGER!  We have been collecting canned goods and we will continue to do so until Halloween.  We will be donating all goods collected to Morrison Gardens. Please give if you can!

Thanks for reading!!  I hope everyone has a nice week!

WELCOME!!

Hello!!!

Welcome to our class blog!  I am very excited to tell you all about the amazing things we do here in the Primary Language Class at St John the Apostle!
I am hoping to use this blog as a way to keep you more informed of what we do here in our class. There are useful links and important dates listed here as well.
Check back often to see what's happening!