June 23 to 26th, 2025

It’s hard to believe that the last week of school is upon us. We have

had many opportunities for discovery and learning. Congratulations

to all the students for their efforts, growth, and accomplishments

this year! Thank you to all the parents for their support!

This Week:

We will be finishing up a few activities we had previously started. We will also work on a memory bag/student portfolio in which students will bring home many special pieces of work and their notebooks. They will bring these home on Wednesday. Your child will bring home their other school supplies on the last day of school.

Spirit Week:

Outdoor Playday Wednesday:

We’re excited to have a fun outdoor play day on Wednesday afternoon, which will include some water activities! Please send your child with a complete change of clothes and a towel so they can dry off and change afterward. No swimsuit necessary!

Looking Ahead:

Wednesday, June 25th: Report Cards available on the Parent Portal

Thursday, June 26th: Last Day of School

Friday, June 27th: P.D. Day - No school for students

  June 16 - 20, 2025

It is so hard to believe that we are in our second last week of school for this school year! 

If the weather cooperates, we hope to enjoy more outdoor activities so please be sure to continue to send a reusable water bottle to school so that your child can stay well hydrated. Sun hats and sunscreen are also recommended. 

Our Learning

Language:

We will continue our learning about fictional narratives by using what we have learned about the elements of narratives to write our own narrative stories. We will also finish up our last phonics lessons of this year, with a focus on r-controlled vowels such as -ar, -or/-ore, -er, -ir, and -ur.

Math:

Over the next week, we will finish up our study of fractions and probability. 

Science:

In Grade 2, we will finish up our study of animals with an exploration of animal habitats and why animals are so important. In Grade 3, we will finish our study of plants. We will finish exploring the parts of a plant and their functions, and discuss why plants are so important to us. We are enjoying caring for the gladiolus bulbs we planted a few weeks ago.

Drama 

This week, we will have fun using reader's theatre activities to practise using facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate. Later this week, your child will be invited to bring in simple props and costumes to add to the fun. 

Looking Ahead:

Friday, June 20 - Jump Rope for Heart

Saturday, June 21 - National Indigenous Peoples' Day

Tuesday, June 24 - Grade 6 School-Leaving Ceremony

Wednesday, June 25 - Report cards and IEPs available on Parent portal

Thursday, June 26 - End of year liturgy

Thursday, June 26 - Last day of school for students

 News for Week of June 9-13, 2025

Just a reminder to have your child bring sunscreen, a hat, and their reusable water bottle to school each day.

Trip to Museum of Science and Technology - Monday, June 9

A reminder that on Monday, June 9th, Mrs. Rocco's/Mrs. Young's Grade 2, Mrs. Bean's Grade 3, and my Grade 2/3 students will be visiting the Museum of Science and Technology to provide the children with a learning opportunity that will complement concepts addressed in the Science curriculums. The students will have an opportunity to visit various museum exhibits and participate in a STEM workshop.

Please ensure your child arrives to school by 9:00 a.m. on Monday as the bus will leave the school by 9:20 am. We will return to school by 2:15 pm. We will eat lunch on site, so children will need to bring a water bottle, snacks and a lunch, as per usual. We respectfully request that parents do not send money as there will be no opportunity to purchase food at the museum. The cost of the bus and admission will be covered by the activity fees paid by each parent in September.

We ask that all parent volunteers meet in their child’s classroom at 8:55 a.m on the day of the field trip. Each parent will be assigned a group of 4 to 5 children and will be responsible for their supervision at all times while we are at the museum. As such, we respectfully remind you that siblings cannot attend.

Our Learning

Our school year is quickly coming to an end but we still have some things left to explore in our learning.

Language:

In Writing, we will continue to work on procedural writing (writing instructions). Last week, we looked at various instructions for how to do things, such as the instructions for washing your hands. We will write more instructions this week. Last week, your child was asked to choose a topic for writing instructions in class and be ready to give me their topic this week. Your help with this is greatly appreciated. We will begin writing our instructions in class on Tuesday. Examples of appropriate topics include instructions for routine activities such as how to brush your teeth, how to get dressed for school, how to set the table for dinner, how to tie your shoes, etc. Some other topics include simple activities that your child enjoys (e.g., How to draw a dog; How to score a goal in soccer) or simple recipes (e.g., How to make a smoothie; How to make an omelette; How to make a ___ sandwich; How to make a fruit salad etc.). 

Math

Over the next few days we will finish up our study of counting and representing money in both Grade 2 and Grade 3. In Grade 3, your child is also expected to be able to make change from various amounts of money (including bills and coins). We will also continue exploring fractions and probability. 

Drama 

We will continue with our exploration of how to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate during our drama activities. We will apply what we've learned during our reader's theatre activities.

Looking Ahead:

Monday, June 9 - Grade 2, 2/3, and 3 trip to Experimental Farm all day

Friday, June 20 - Jump Rope for Heart

Saturday, June 21 - National Indigenous Peoples' Day

Tuesday, June 24 - Grade 6 School-Leaving Ceremony

Wednesday, June 25 - Report cards and IEPs available on Parent portal

Thursday, June 26 - Last day of school for students

 News for Week of June 2 - 6, 2025

As the warmer weather finally approaches, we encourage each student to wear sunscreen and a hat and to ensure they bring their water bottle to school each day.

St. Gabriel School BBQ Wednesday, June 4th 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.

We hope you can join us for a fun-filled evening of delicious food and great company at our end of year school BBQ event.

Grade 3 EQAO

We would like to say a big congratulations to the Grade 3 students for all of their hard work and efforts in completing the EQAO standardized testing. The students stayed motivated and tried their best every day. Thank you to the families for helping to support their child during the preparation and assessments. 

Our Learning

Language:

This week, in our phonics lessons, we will explore the -ar sound, as in the words far, star, art, arm, bark, part.

This week's new heart word:  pretty

We will also have a phonics assessment at the end of this week. The assessment will be about the ending patterns we learned about during our last unit: -dge, -tch and -ch,  -ed, -ild, -ind, -old, -olt, -ost, -y, -le. It will also consist of an assessment of the heart words learned so far.

Please have your child practise the heart words we have learned so far in class: the, I, a, said, to, do, of, see, he, be, me, from, you, what, have, look, book, are, was, your, want, go, no, so, goes, says, they, their, were, talk, walk, could, should, would, or, for, who, by, my, one, once, use, two, does, many, any, been, into, friend, because, woman, women, both, four, fourth, forty, people, *pretty.

Math

We have come to the end of our data unit and we will have an assessment at the beginning of this week. Over the next couple of weeks, we will continue with our study of money, explore fractions, a bit of coding, and we will begin our study of probability. 

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Representing Fractions here

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Fractions of an Area here

Drama 

We will continue with our exploration of how to use facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice to communicate during our drama activities. We look forward to applying what we've learning during our small group reader's theatre activities. 

Trip to Museum of Science and Technology - Monday, June 9

A reminder that on Monday, June 9th, Mrs. Rocco's/Mrs. Young's Grade 2, Mrs. Bean's Grade 3, and my Grade 2/3 students will be visiting the Museum of Science and Technology to provide the children with a learning opportunity that will complement concepts addressed in the Science curriculums. The students will have an opportunity to visit various museum exhibits and participate in a STEM workshop.

Please ensure your child arrives to school by 9:00 a.m. on Monday as the bus will leave the school by 9:25 am. We will return to school by 2:15 pm. We will eat lunch on site, so children will need to bring a water bottle, snacks and a lunch, as per usual. We respectfully request that parents do not send money as there will be no opportunity to purchase food at the museum. The cost of the bus and admission will be covered by the activity fees paid by each parent in September.

We ask that all parent volunteers meet in their child’s classroom at 8:55 a.m on the day of the field trip. Each parent will be assigned a group of 4 to 5 children and will be responsible for their supervision at all times while we are at the museum. As such, we respectfully ask that siblings do not attend.

Looking Ahead:

Wednesday, June 4th - St. Gabriel School BBQ 

Friday, June 6th - P.D. Day No school for students

Monday, June 9 - Grade 2, 3, and 2/3 field trip to Museum of Science & Technology

 May 27 to 31, 2025

Grade 3 EQAO this week:

Grades 3 and 6 will write their EQAO assessments this week, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, for a total of four days. Our Grade 3s will write in the mornings. They will complete two sections each morning. We have been working hard to ensure that each child is ready for the provincial test. You can support your child by ensuring they have working headphones at school, a good breakfast, two nutritious snacks each day (one for the a.m., one for p.m.), and a good night's sleep (including early bedtime) during their testing period. Please note that we will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and will be finished by 11:45 a.m. from Monday through Thursday this week, so it is important that your child arrives at school by 9:00 a.m. this week. Thank you in advance for your help.

Our Learning

Math

In both Grade 2 and 3, we will continue to explore how to display data in a variety of graphs and interpret displays of data, as well as continue to practise counting money. Our next study will be about fractions. 

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Interpreting Data Displays

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Counting Coins and Bills

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Bar Graphs With Scale

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Making Conclusions About Data

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Counting Money

Language:

This week, we will continue with our review of the ending patterns we have been learning about recently: -dge, -tch and -ch,  -ed, -ild, -ind, -old, -olt, -ost, -y, -le. 

Please have your child practise the heart words we have learned so far in class: the, I, a, said, to, do, of, see, he, be, me, from, you, what, have, look, book, are, was, your, want, go, no, so, goes, says, they, their, were, talk, walk, could, should, would, or, for, who, by, my, one, once, use, two, does, many, any, been, into, friend, because, woman, women, both, four, fourth, forty, *people.

In Writing, we will continue to work on procedural writing (writing instructions). Last week, we wrote instructions for how to make a new student feel welcome in our class. We will explore more procedural writing with instructions for how to wash your hands. Other examples of procedural texts or instructions are recipes, so if you are cooking or baking at home, please take the time to show your child the recipe and talk about how it is laid out (e.g., title, goal or purpose, ingredients/materials, steps, diagrams/pictures, conclusion).

Science:

In Grade 2, we will continue our study of animals. We will sort animals into the 6 types of animal groups (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, insects). In Grade 3, we will continue our study of plants. We will learn about the parts of a plant and their functions.

Drama: The students are enjoying our unit on drama through a variety of games that focus on using gestures and movements, facial expressions, and tone of voice to communicate. 

Trip to Museum of Science and Technology - Monday, June 9

Thank you to the parent volunteers who contacted me last week to offer to volunteer for our Grade 2 and 3 trip to the Museum of Science and Technology on Monday, June 9th. It looks like we may have enough volunteers to proceed with our trip. Just a reminder that our school board requires volunteers to complete the following process (included in the letter that went home):

Volunteers wishing to accompany us on this trip must have completed a current Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) from Ottawa Police. The Ottawa Catholic School Board requires all volunteers to have this check completed. Please visit the St. Gabriel School website gab.ocsb.ca  and under Quick Links, click on the Volunteer link. Please register as soon as possible. If you have informed me that you would like to accompany us on our field trip, please let me know once you have received confirmation that your Vulnerable Sector Check has been completed.

Looking Ahead:
May 26-30 (a.m. each day): EQAO for grade 3 students 
Friday, June 6th: PD Day (no school for students)

Monday, June 9th: Grade 2/3, Grade 2, Grade 3 classes trip to Museum of Science and Tech.

 May 20 to 23, 2025 

Trip to Museum of Science and Technology - Monday, June 9

On Monday, June 9th, Mrs. Bean’s Grade Three class, Mrs. Maidment’s Grade 2 / 3 class, and Mrs. Young/Mrs. Rocco’s Grade 2 class will be visiting the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa to provide the children with a unique opportunity that will complement concepts addressed in the Grade 2 and 3 Science curriculums. The students will have an opportunity to participate in the Zap, Boom Kaboom! STEM presentation and visit a few of the museum exhibits.

Please see the note and permission form that went home with your child last week for more details. We are still looking for a few adult volunteers to join us and help out. If we do not have enough volunteers, we will have to cancel our trip. I will contact volunteers to confirm once we have finalized details. Please return your child's permission form/volunteer form and the Parent/Guardian Permission and Medical Form before May 23rd. Students who do not return their forms signed will not be allowed to participate. Thank you for your help.

Our Learning 

Math:

We will continue our unit is about sorting, describing, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. We will also learn about money while studying our other units in Math. 

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Creating Concrete Graphs and Bar Graphs

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Creating Pictographs

Grade 2 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Creating Line Plots

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Describing Data Using the Mean

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Pictographs With Scale

Grade 3 MathUP Parent Summary Letter Bar Graphs With Scale

Language:

This week in our phonics lessons, we will do a review of the ending patterns we have been learning about recently: -dge, -tch and -ch,  -ed, -ild, -ind, -old, -olt, -ost, -y, -le. 

Please have your child practise the heart words we have learned so far in class: the, I, a, said, to, do, of, see, he, be, me, from, you, what, have, look, book, are, was, your, want, go, no, so, goes, says, they, their, were, talk, walk, could, should, would, or, for, who, by, my, one, once, use, two, does, many, any, been, into, friend, because, woman, women, both, four, fourth, forty, *people.

This week, we will begin to work on procedural writing (writing instructions). We will practise with instructions for how to wash your hands and how to do a fire drill practice. Examples of procedural texts or instructions are recipes, so if you are cooking or baking at home, please take the time to show your child the recipe and talk about how it is laid out (e.g., title, goal or purpose, ingredients/materials, steps, diagrams/pictures, conclusion).

Science:

In Grade 2, we will continue our study of animals this week, with a focus on exploring what animals need to survive and the 6 types of animal groups (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, insects). In Grade 3, we will continue our study of plants. We will learn ways in which plants are important to humans, what plants need to survive, and the parts of a plant.

Grade 3 EQAO:

St. Gabriel students in Grades 3 and 6 will be writing the EQAO's (Education Quality and Accountability Office) provincial assessment of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics next week on May 26, 27, 28, 29. The Grade 3s will be writing the assessment each morning on those dates. We will be completing the standardized testing online using Chromebooks during class time in the morning on these dates. In preparation for EQAO next week, please ensure your child gets a good night sleep and a healthy breakfast each day. This will help your child have the energy and alertness to feel good about their efforts. Students will complete two sections each morning. Please note that we will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. and will be finished by 11:45 a.m. from Monday through Thursday next week. 

Looking Ahead:
May 26-30 (a.m. each day): EQAO for grade 3 students 
Friday, June 6th: PD Day (no school for students)

   May 12 to 16, 2025

I hope all the mothers enjoyed a fantastic Mother's Day! Thank you for all you do. I hope you will enjoy the Mother's Day gifts that your child made with love. Please note that the decoupaged pot is for indoor use as we did not treat it for outdoor weather elements. 

Our Learning 

Math:

The Grade 3s will continue to practise their multiplication and division skills, while beginning to learn about data. Our data Math unit is about sorting, describing, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. We will continue to also learn about money while studying our other units in Math. The money curriculum in Grade 2 focuses on counting and representing coin amounts up to and including 200 cents, and dollar amounts up to $200 using combinations of bills. The money curriculum in Grade 3 focuses on estimating and calculating the change from whole dollar amounts and amounts of less than one dollar. 

Grade 2 parent letter about collecting and organizing data

Grade 3 parent letter about sorting, classifying, and describing data

Grade 3 parent letter about collecting and organizing data

Language:

This week in our phonics lessons, we will learn about the -le ending, such as in the words apple, little, table, puzzle, middle, simple.

This week's new heart word: people

Please have your child practise the heart words we have learned so far in class: the, I, a, said, to, do, of, see, he, be, me, from, you, what, have, look, book, are, was, your, want, go, no, so, goes, says, they, their, were, talk, walk, could, should, would, or, for, who, by, my, one, once, use, two, does, many, any, been, into, friend, because, woman, women, *both, *four, *fourth, *forty, *people.

In reading comprehension, we will continue to learn about the parts or elements of fictional narrative stories (make-believe stories). The students will have another practice in using a Shape Go! Map graphic organizer (see image below) to retell a story by summarizing the beginning (characters, setting, problem), middle (3-6 main events), and end (solution or resolution of the problem). We will use this knowledge to learn how to write our own fictional narrative story (a make-believe story).

Science:

In Grade 2, we will begin our study of animals this week. In Grade 3, we will begin our study of plants.

You're Invited - Matilda Musical:

Several of our students at St. Gabriel have been working hard all year rehearsing and now they are ready for the stage! We would like to cordially invite you to our performance of MATILDA the musical at ALL SAINTS HIGH SCHOOL (5115 Kanata Ave) on MAY 14th at 6:30pm. Tickets will be sold for $10 at the door.

LOOKING AHEAD                                                 

Tues., May 13 - Matilda performance for our school at All Saints in a.m.
Wed., May 14 - Matilda performance @ All Saints at 6:30 p.m.: $10 at the door
Mon., May 19 - Victoria Day: No school

  News for Week of May 5 - 9, 2025

Catholic Education Week

This week is Catholic Education Week. There are several activities and events planned for us this week by our school board and in our school. Our Ottawa Catholic School Board spiritual theme this year is "We are called to open doors, build bridges, and nourish new beginnings."

Education Week Activities:

Monday, May 5 - Kindness rock painting; Luv 2 Groove

Tuesday, May 6: Luv 2 Groove; Spring Clean the Yard (Spring Clean the Capital); Our class visit to school Book Fair p.m.

Wednesday, May 7: School Easter Mass 11:00 a.m. in gym; Motivational speaker 

Thursday, May 8: Kindness rock painting part 2

Friday, May 9: St. Gabriel School Open House 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Our Learning 

Math:

The Grade 3s will finish up their unit about multiplication and division. 

Link to Parent summary letter about Multiplying By Special Numbers

Link to Parent Summary letter about Multiplication Patterns 

In Grade 3, the curriculum focus is to represent multiplication of numbers up to 10 x 10 and division up to 100 ÷ 10, using a variety of tools and drawings, including arrays and number lines. In addition, Grade 3 students need to recall and demonstrate multiplication facts of 2, 5, and 10, and related division facts. 

The Grade 2s have completed their units on multiplication and division and will spend some time learning about sorting, describing, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data, as well as some more work on counting and representing money. We have been learning about money while studying our other units in Math and will continue to do so. The money curriculum in Grade 2 focuses on counting and representing coin amounts up to and including 200 cents, and dollar amounts up to $200 using combinations of bills. The money curriculum in Grade 3 focuses on estimating and calculating the change from whole dollar amounts and amounts of less than one dollar. 

Link to Grade 2 parent letter about sorting and classifying data

Link to Grade 2 parent letter about collecting and organizing data

In addition, we have been learning about money while studying our other units in Math and will continue to do so. The money curriculum in Grade 2 focuses on counting and representing coin amounts up to and including 200 cents, and dollar amounts up to $200 using combinations of bills. The money curriculum in Grade 3 focuses on estimating and calculating the change from whole dollar amounts and amounts of less than one dollar. 

Language:

In Grade 2 and 3, we have been learning about the parts or elements of fictional narrative stories (make-believe stories). The students will continue to learn how to use a Shape Go! Map graphic organizer (see images below) to retell stories including the beginning (characters, setting, problem), middle (3-6 main events), and end (solution or resolution of the problem). We will soon use this knowledge to learn how to write our own fictional narrative story (a make-believe story).

 

 

Grade 3 EQAO:

St. Gabriel students in Grade 3 will be writing the EQAO's (Education Quality and Accountability Office) provincial assessment of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics on May 27, 28, 29, 30. We will be completing the standardized testing online using Chromebooks during class time in the morning on these dates. On Friday, your child will bring home their next EQAO homework booklet. Just a reminder to please have your child return their EQAO at-home practice booklet to school on the due date even if it not fully completed as we will review it together in class to help with understanding. In this week's booklet, please remind your child to answer the open response questions using complete sentences, with proof from the text, and an explanation of their answer. This usually requires at least 3 sentences.