I thank you for making this year so special. You are all wonderful and I will miss you! Thank you for my wonderful class gift It is very, very appreciated!

I wish you all a safe and happy summer. We’ll see you in September!

Mlle. Dawkins

Can you believe it’s here? The last full week of school is upon us. I wish the weather would get a clue that today is the first day of Summer!

Here are a whole bunch of reminders for the last week:

Talent Show

A reminder that our Talent Show is going to be on Wednesday Night at 7p.m. in the PJ Gym. ALL Grade One families are invited, even if your child is not performing a talent. At the end of the show, all the children will be singing together for a final performance. It would be lovely to have as many of the children in the class involved in the final song as possible. Please let me know if your child is not doing a talent, but will be present for the final song.

Also, talent performers, please bring any props/music/CDs you will be using to school Wednesday morning, as we may have a chance for a rehearsal. If not, at least all the props will be ready to go at school!

A huge thank you to Coryn, Joanne, and Susan who volunteered to help decorate the gym with Tracey Corbett and Liisa Wagner from Div. 16. Your help is hugely appreciated!!

See you all Wednesday Night!

Beach Party

Please get your forms into school ASAP. J  Also, start doing your sun dances now! For those children who will need a ride to the beach other than with their parents (we have lots of drivers :) ), please bring your car seat into school on Monday morning.

Je Lis Chez Moi CDs

A reminder notice will be found clipped into your child’s agenda today if your CDs have no yet been returned. Keep searching! Or alternatively bring in three blank recordable CDs.

Supplies

On Friday we will be bringing home most of our books and supplies that we have used throughout the year. Please send your child to school with one of two bags (recyclable cloth bags are the best) in which your child can pack all their supplies to take home.

That’s it for now! Have a great week,

Mlle.  Dawkins

Je Lis Chez Moi – La Fin!

Our Je Lis Chez Moi reading program is coming to an end. Next week will be our final week. Please return your child’s bookbag to school on their assigned reading day with the three CDs that were sent home at the beginning of the year. If you are unable to locate the CDs, please send in three blank CDs so that Mme. Skoglund and myself can burn new copies for next year’s classes.  This is also the time to have a hunt around for any class/library books that may have not made it back to school yet.

Talent Show

Thank you to everyone who has returned their Talent Show forms. A reminder that the Talent Show is taking place Wednesday, June 23rd at 7p.m. in the gym. Everyone is welcome to attend even if your child is not performing to cheer on their classmates and to sing in the final number. If you child is planning on performing in the show please have your yellow form back to me by tomorrow. Merci!

Dictée / Problème de la semaine

Our very last dictée  of the year will come home on Friday. Happy studying everyone! Problème de la semaine will continue for a another 2 weeks. Don’t forget your homework!

Artist in Residence

Tomorrow will be the first day that we paint our project. If you have not already sent in a smock/ old-T-shirt for your child, please do tomorrow.

Updates to follow soon about our last few school activities. Have a great (and hopefully sun-filled) weekend!

Mlle. Dawkins

Thank you to all who came out for Acti-Jeux on Friday! Despite the cool weather, we didn’t get the downpour we were expecting and the day was a great success! Here are some updates:

Volunteer Tea

On Wednesday June 2nd we will be celebrating all the wonderful volunteers who have helped out classes and the school throughout the year and everyone is invited to the gym for the festivities. The grade one classes will be performing a song for the volunteers. If you would like to see them, we will be performing around 2:00p.m. 

Artist in Residence

By now you should have received an email from the school detailing our wondering Artist in Residence project that will be taking place over the course of June. We are in need of 2 volunteers to help us out during any of our painting sessions. If you are able to help out with any of the session please let me know Our sessions are:

Friday June 11th from 2:10 – 2:55

Wednesday June 16th from 10:40 – 11:25

Thursday June 24th from 10:40 – 11:25

Also, as we will be using acrylic paint (which stains) we ask that you bring in an art smock or large T-Shirt for your child to wear over their clothes.  Also, each child, if possible, is asked to bring a large yogurt or ice cream container to school. Thank you for supporting this great project!

Photos

Thank you to those who have sent in some photos. Keep ‘em coming!

Mlle. Dawkins

Can you believe we only have 5 weeks left? The year has flown by.

Photos!

I’m doing a quick call out/plea to all parents that may have taken some great pictures of our grade one adventures throughout the year. If you have any photos of any of our class parties (Apple Pie, Halloween, Christmas, Winter Concert) or our excursions (Pumpkin Patch, *Paralympic Curling Day* [especially this - my camera died that day!]) or any other special event, please send them into me via disk or email at your earliest convenience. Thank you SO much.

Sports Day Notes

On another note, barring torrential rain, Sports Day is on Friday. All parents are welcome to come and watch their children during the games. Please remember that dismissal is at 1:30 that day, and if you did not order a hot dog lunch for your child, to please provide a lunch for them. Thanks!

Mlle. Dawkins

Blue team: Salma, Caitlyn, Polly, Jacques, Ian, Chloe

Yellow Team: Verity Anne, Julia, Isabella, Parsa, Adrian

Red Team: Anlina, Erin, Narin, Jack, Will

White Team: Francesca, Defne Su, Sean, Maysa, Michael

It’s going to be a great day!

Mlle. Dawkins

What a beautiful week!! We can only hope that this gorgeous weather lasts awhile.

Safety First!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who participated in our big Earthquake release drill last Friday. It is so important for the children to practice what may happen in case of an emergency, and they really did a fantastic job of taking it seriously and remaining calm. They waited beautifully in the gym while waiting to be picked up. Thank you so much for packing them some quiet to do while they waited. A big bravo to Div. 15!

The earthquake drill fit in nicely with our study of safety and emergency services. If you haven’t already had the chance, a great way to support at home would be to talk about an evacuation plan with your children and to plan a meeting place outside your house in case of an emergency.

Saleema Noon

As mentioned in the last blog post, Saleema Noon was with us to talk about sexual health with the children today. I sent home an email this afternoon with everything that was discussed, so you can follow up at home should you wish.

Gala

A huge massive thank you to Deidre Weinstein for spearheading and creating our wonderful Gala project. It was absolutely fantastic and very creative. Thank you so much and bravo!! And thanks to Sally for purchasing it! I bet it looks great on your wall! I hope those of you who went to the Gala had a marvellous time!

A Date to Remember

Though it seems ages away, the end of the year is fast approaching. The Grade One students always celebrate the end of the year with a wonderful beach party at Ambleside. Everyone is invited to come – all parents, younger siblings etc. The date for the party will be Monday, June 28^th from 10:45 – 2:30. Details to follow in a few weeks time.

Dictée

Our weekly dictée are still going strong. Please note that due to the Pro-D next Friday (the 21^st) and Sports Day the following Friday (the 28^th) our dictée tests will be on Thursdays for the following 2 weeks.

Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!

Mlle. Dawkins

Earthquake Release Day – Friday May 7th

A few weeks ago you received a very important notice regarding this Friday’s Earthquake Release Drill. Please read it through carefully if you haven’t had a chance yet. Pick up begins at 1:30. If you are unable to pick up your child, please try to have somebody indicated on your emergency release forms do it for you.

The students will all be assembled into the gym while waiting to be picked up. We are asking, if possible, for you to pack a little individual toy (a colouring book with a few crayons, a book to read, a stuffed toy) in your child’s backpack for your child to play with while they are waiting for you. PLEASE no electronic devices (such as iPods, Nintendo DS etc.) as these are forbidden at school.

Butterflies!

Tomorrow we will begin our butterfly life cycle project in the class. Caterpillars have been delivered to our class and over the next four weeks the children will observe them grow, watch them change into a chrysalis, and transform eventually into butterflies that we will release into our garden.  This is a super exciting project for the children!

Elmer!

Elmer the Safety Elephant is coming to talk to us tomorrow all about safety, with an emphasis on bike safety!

Saleema Noon

Our sexual health talk with Saleema Noon is next week. She is an absolutely wonderful speaker. I will send a letter home following the talk, so that you may know what was discussed in class should your child have any questions.

I hope you are all enjoying this lovely spring weather!

Mlle. Dawkins

By the weather it’s plain to see that spring is here! What a beautiful week! Here are a few updates  

Photo Day 

 Class photo day is tomorrow, April 16^th. Smile pretty! 

Je Lis Chez Moi 

Our reading program continues, but has changed a bit for third term. Now, instead the teacher choosing the books for your child, they will be given a new book bag with a coloured sticker beside their name. The colour of the sticker represents the level of books that your child will be choosing from a marked basket in the class. New books have been added, and this gives your child more choice as to what they may like to read. As they progress, the colour of the sticker may change to a higher level of book. 

Please continue take 10 to 15 minutes every evening to read with your child. Your child doesn’t have to read it perfectly or memorize the text. Daily work on decoding and encountering new vocabulary enriches your child’s reading experience. Students will continue to read with me on their designated days as before, and I ask that you continue to keep track each time you read on the new log book sheet that will be provided. 

Some of the books will be from the “Alpha Jeune” series used up until now, and so you are welcome to listen to the cds if needed. Other books are not available on cd, and so children will have to use their decoding knowledge to sound out the unfamiliar words. Now is the time for the children to begin to read on their own, so encourage sounding out words, tracking their reading with their finger, and looking for picture clues to help them along. 

Thank you for your continuing support in helping your child as they learn to read! 

Earth Day Garden 

We could still use a few volunteers to help out with the grade one garden project on April 22^nd. Last year was a blast! The sign up sheet is outside the class on the bulletin board. 

Student-led conferences 

Next Thursday will be an early dismissal at 1:30 to make time for student-led conferences that afternoon/evening. This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to show you their work, daily routines, and to share their knowledge of what they have been learning in class. It really is their chance to shine. The sign up sheets are by the front door of the school. See you next Thursday! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Mlle. Dawkins

We are looking for five gardening volunteers (total, from both classes) to join us at school on the 22^nd at 9 am. Volunteers will need to bring their own tools to share with the students, and be prepared to get dirty. We will need to prepare the soil and plant the seeds (which I will purchase with class funds) all in the same afternoon. We expect it to take approximately one hour. Afterwards we would like to celebrate with an earth day snack, which would also require parent volunteers to organize. Please sign up on the bulletin board outside our classroom if you are interested in volunteering for any of these tasks. In the event of heavy rain, we will postpone the activities to a yet to be determined date.

 In preparation for Earth Day and our garden project, over the next few weeks we will be studying human impacts on the environment, reducing, re-using and recycling, stewardship of the earth, the four food groups and how plants grow. Please discuss these ideas with your children in order to enrich our work at school and let me know if you have any ideas or resources that might help support our explorations.

 Sincerely,

Mlle. Dawkins