Dear Families,

I hope you've enjoyed the sunny skies these past 3 days, it's been reviving hasn't it?!  The weekend is supposed to be equally as bright, yahoo!  Enjoy being outside and getting all the Vitamin D you can with your loved ones.

A big thank you to ALL the students who dressed up for the 80's!  Check us out below, amazing!!

Spring Fling Basket:
On Tuesday, the School Council came around to the classes and collected the Gift Baskets for the upcoming Spring Fling on May 14th.  I am overjoyed with the generosity of families who contributed their time, energy, and money for this event.  As mentioned, all money raised will go towards playground equipment for our school yard!

I would like to send out a huge thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Beitz (Thomas' parents) for providing a Tote (see pic below) for ALL OUR ITEMS to be put in.  It is perfect and goes well with our theme of Healthy and Active Living.  Your acts of kindness are valued and appreciated.  

FYI!  SPRING FLING Sat. May 14th @ 10:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m (see note below that was sent home today with the youngest and only children).

Our Class' Gift Basket!

Spring Fling Note

Book Fair May 4th - 9th:
The Book Fair will be arriving next week!  I have signed up our class to view the fair on Wednesday and Friday.  I will send home the "wish list" on  Wed. so you can see which books your child desires.  Any student who is interested in purchasing books, please bring money in a zip-lock baggy to school and students can go to the Fair during Breaks.  Thank you for supporting our school Book Fair.

Make a Wish List!

Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser:
On Thursday, we had an assembly for Jump Rope for Heart!  It is always so engaging and gets everyone excited to do their part in helping raise money for such an important cause.  So many people are affected with heart conditions and every pledge helps those affected.  You can do your part today!  We are fundraising online this year.  Here is the fundraising link for our school's personal online page.  http://bit.ly/JumpRope2016

Happy Pledging!

Math:

This week, I introduced multiplication to my students.  I hope you were able to go over the math note that came home on Thursday.  When I went to school, I learned this concept by memorizing the multiplication facts from 0 to 12. Certainly, mental math is a handy tool to have and I encourage families to work with their child on the times tables at home so they become more efficient.  But in class, I have also taught the students that multiplication is 'repeated addition' and 'groups of.'  For example, 3x5 is "3 groups of 5"' OR "3+3+3+3+3."  It is important to give children a variety of strategies to solve problems, and they then use one that works for them and meets their needs.

Ask your child about what they learned about multiplying this week.  Give them a question and they can then solve it using their learned strategies e.g., groups of, repeated addition, making an array. Next week, I will be teaching division.  Stay tuned!!

Math Note

Year Book Cover Contest:
Students who wish to put an entry into the yearbook cover contest are encouraged to do so.  All covers must be done on 8' 11' paper and have the following on them in order to successfully enter:

School Name:  Ernest Cumberland Elementary School or E.C.E.S.
Year:  2015/2016
Illustration;  use school colours (blue, black, white)

All entries will be collected next Friday!  See examples below from previous years for inspiration.

Upcoming Field Trip:
On Tuesday, we will be going to the Tiffin Centre for a field trip!  Please ensure you send in the permission form and payment ($20.00) before we depart.  As always, On Line payment is encouraged.  Students are already happily 'buzzing' about this experience and so am I.  It will serve as a purposeful, engaging, and FUN learning time!  Parents who have an approved Criminal Background check in our school office are encouraged to attend and volunteer their time.  Please let me know in your child's agenda by Monday if you are able to come, many thanks in advance!!

Signed permission form and $20.00 to school by Monday!

Quote:
"Be kind.  Help others.  Be truthful.  Be responsible.  Be a good friend.  Work together.  Play fair.  Share.  Have respect.  Believe in yourself."

Namaste,

Miss Gill

Dear Families,

Happy Earth Day!  We are blessed to live, work, and play in a community that is safe, strong, and free.  I believe it is such an important day to honour this day (and yes, everyday) because together we can make a difference for our planet!  It is our role and responsibility to do our part BIG or SMALL to ensure Mother Earth looks, sounds, and feels healthy and clean.  We spent time this week doing our part to think, learn, and grow from ways to help our Earth!!

Thank you to ALL who dressed up for Earth Day in their greens and blues!

Earth Week Clean Up:
On Wed. and Fri., I took our class into the community to help clean up.  Students got into pairs, put on their blue gloves, and got a bag to begin our mission.  We walked along the sidewalk on 8th Ave. to the local park.  All students were actively engaged and enthusiastic to do their part.  It was a delight to see and we collected so much!!  We certainly made a difference and I encourage you to #pickapiece on your walks!  Check us out!

Look at ALL the garbage we collected?!

Earth Cookies:
In honour of Earth Day and to connect to our Social Studies learning of Canada and the World, we learned about our continents and oceans.  We learned that green represents land (continents) and blue represents water (oceans).  At the end of this lesson, we decorated Earth cookies and enjoyed devouring them.  Can you tell?  See pictures!  Mmmmmmmm :)

PINK Wednesdays:
Thank you Reanna for wearing PINK on Wednesdays to help promote Anti-Bullying!  Your peers look up to you as a model and you're making a DIFFERENCE!  Continue being the Change We Wish to See in Our World :)

Thank you Reanna for reinforcing Anti-Bullying!

Social Studies:
On Thurs., Thomas B. came to school with some research that he did with his family for his country report on Japan.  He shared a map of the world which clearly stated the continents and oceans, this was very beneficial for the class.  Thank you Thomas for taking initiative yet again and doing work at home to contribute to your project.  I have also taken a few photographs of other students who have researched their country at home too!  Well done boys and girls :)  Your hard work is valued.

Students are encouraged to research their chosen country by finding out the following:
-which continent is your country located in?
-what is the population of your country?
-research information about the schools, sports, celebrations, food, and clothing
We will then be comparing the similarities and differences to Canada.  Happy researching!!

Thank you Thomas for your contributions!

Awesome flag!

Amy's researching all about Jamaica!

Interesting countries to research boys and girls!

Alexis has already begun her jot notes about facts of Italy!

Madison  has printed off a map and flag for Egypt!

Madison ready to compare Egypt to Canada for her project.  Way to go!!

Gift Basket:
Wow!  We have a wonderful variety of Healthy & Active Living items for our gift basket!  Families, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your GENEROUS contributions.  It means a lot to our school as the money raised will be put towards playground equipment.  All items are being collected on Monday to be assembled in a basket.  I am confident ours will be most appealing for the Spring Fling Auction!  Below is a picture of students whose families helped donate!!

Thank you families for your contributions to our basket!

Quote:

Namaste, 

Miss Gill