Week of November 18th

A heartfelt thank you to families for coming in to discuss progress reports over the past 2 weeks.  As a teacher, it's always nice to meet families and build connections between school and home.  I am always available by email if you have any questions going forward, before our next report card.

A few things to note:

December 10th - field trip

With the winter holidays on the horizon, I like to focus my instruction around giving and helping those in need.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be having discussions around poverty and homelessness in Toronto and sharing ideas on how we can help those in need.  On Monday, December 9th, the students and I will spend some time preparing bagged lunches together (I will provide the food) that we will then distribute to the homeless on December 10th.  We will travel by subway and walk around the downtown core, handing out bagged lunches to the homeless.  We will make our way to Nathan Phillip's Square where we will rent skates & helmets and enjoy some winter skating as a class.  If you're available and interested in helping out, I'm looking for LOTS of adult volunteers for December 10th.  To help offset costs, I would ask that adult volunteers bring their own skates or rent on-site.  Permission forms will be sent home next week.

Sock drive

In anticipation of our field trip, we are collecting new socks to donate to the homeless on December 10th; we hope to add one pair of socks to every bagged lunch we hand out.  Feel free to read the following website for other ideas on how you can help.

https://www.fredvictor.org/2019/11/11/lets-help-homeless-this-winter/

Winter concert 

Last year's winter concert was such a huge success that we're going to offer the same format this December.  The concert will be on the evenings of December 18th & 19th; my class will perform on the 19th.  Join us in the gym for some amazing musical performances lead by our fabulous Ms Purvis.

Clairlea Reads

I'm blown away by the interest in our reading club this year; hopefully those of you who signed up are enjoying "The City of Ember".  Students have been very positive and engaged during our first 2 meetings.  Our next meeting is on December 18th over lunch; our goal is to read to page 193 by then.  Don't forget to mark your calendars for our final celebration on the evening of January 30th.

Have a great weekend!

week 9

I hope that everyone survived Halloween and the huge amounts of sugar!  It appears that with Halloween and October behind us, we're now into cold weather and darker days.  A friendly reminder to ensure that students come prepared for the weather.  You may want to stop by our school clothing swap to trade in your gems for some gently used gear and keep everyone warm this winter!

A few dates on the horizon:

Progress Reports
On Monday, November 11th students will bring home their Progress Reports.  A reminder that these reports are simply an overview of your child's progress over the past 2 months, and give teachers & families some data going forward.  I'm available to meet and discuss any questions or comments you may have on November 12th, 13th and 14th.  Please look for an interview letter which will go home with students tomorrow.  I will schedule interviews on a first come, first served basis.

Remembrance Day
November 11th also marks our annual assembly for Remembrance Day.  This commemoration is open to families; if you'd like to join us, we plan on starting at 10:15 in the gym.

Clairlea Reads
We hope you're enjoying "The City of Ember" at home with your child.  Our next book club meeting is on November 19th.

Congrats
And finally, huge congrats to several students in our class who had significant achievements over the past week.  Congrats to Cross Country runners, Girls Junior Soccer and our SLT reps for being exceptional Panthers!

I look forward to connecting after Progress Reports.
Bonne semaine!