News for Week of April 29 - May 3, 2024

Language:

Since April is poetry month, we are listening to and reading poems, and showing our comprehension by answering questions and visualizing. We have also been learning about the parts or elements of fictional narrative stories (make-believe stories). We will begin to plan our own fictional narrative story (a make-believe story).     

Our next UFLI phonics lesson will be about the long u vowel sound as in the word use. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel's name, u. 

The vowel u says its own name, u, when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words cube, mute, and cute and also words such as flute, rule, tube, duke, and tune. The E at the end of the word does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" ("silent E" or "bossy E"). 

This week's new heart words are: one, once

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.

Spelling Check-In Friday, May 3rd:

On Friday, May 3rd, we will have another heart word spelling check-in. Your child is expected to know how to spell the heart words learned in class so far. In addition, the assessment will include words that follow the long vowel patterns we've been learning. At home, please continue to help your child by practising reading and writing the heart words. Remember, the heart words are high-frequency words so it is essential that your child learns to read and write them 'by heart".

Math: 

This week, the Grade 2s will have an assessment of their learning about multiplication and division. The next unit will be about data, with the first few lessons focusing on sorting according to two attributes. 

The Grade 3s will continue to learn about multiplication and division. 

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. 

Link to Grade 3 Parent Letter Multiplying By Special Numbers here 

Link to Grade 3 Parent Letter Multiplication Tables and Patterns here

HELP PLEASE - Grade 3 Multiplication: To support your child in this learning, practising the times tables of 2, 5, and 10 (e.g., 2 x ___; 5 x ___; 10 x ___) on a regular basis will help your child's confidence. If your child already has his/her times tables of 2, 5, and 10 memorized, encouraging them to practise times tables for all other numbers to 10 will surely do wonders to prepare for Grade 4. 

Important Dates:

Thurs., May 2 - Library books due

April 29, May 1, May 6, May 10 - Jewelry Sale for Ryan's Well

May 6 - 10 - Education Week

Wed., May 8 - Catholic Education Week Mass in gym 11:00 (Mrs.

Maidment's class responsible for the readings)

Fri., May 10 - St. Gabriel Open House 8:15 a.m.

  News for Week of April 22 - 26, 2024

Earth Day Monday, April 22nd: 

We will honour Earth Day by discussing how we can care for God's creation. On Monday, students are invited to wear Earth colours (blue, green, brown) and/or Earth slogans. 

Curriculum Update:

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 link and image 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).          

             

Our next UFLI phonics lesson will consist of a review of the long vowel sounds we have learned so far (long a, long i, long o) as well as the long e vowel sound as in the word eve. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel's name, e. 

The vowel e says its own name, e, when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words theme, eve, and Pete. The E at the end of the word does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" ("silent E" or "bossy E"). 

This week's new heart words are: one, once

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.

Math: 

The Grade 2s and 3s will continue to learn about multiplication and division. Please note that in Grade 2, the expectation is only to learn to represent multiplication as repeated equal groups. The focus of division in Grade 2 is to represent division of up to 12 items as the equal sharing of a quantity. 

Link to Grade 2 Multiplication Parent Letter

Link to Grade 2 Division Parent Letter

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. 

Link to Multiplication Parent Letter #1: Representing Multiplication Using Sets and Arrays

Link to Multiplication Parent Letter #2: Representing Multiplication On a Number Line

Link to Multiplication Parent Letter #3: Representing Division as Sharing

HELP PLEASE - Grade 3 Multiplication: To support your child in this learning, practising the times tables of 2, 5, and 10 (e.g., 2 x ___; 5 x ___; 10 x ___) on a regular basis will help your child's confidence. If your child already has his/her times tables of 2, 5, and 10 memorized, encouraging them to practise times tables for all other numbers to 10 will surely do wonders to prepare for Grade 4. 

As stated in the Grade 3 Math curriculum, "Having automatic recall of multiplication and division facts is important when carrying out mental or written calculations and frees up working memory when solving complex problems and tasks."

Grade 3 EQAO At-Home Preparation Booklets:

The students are doing an excellent job of preparing for the upcoming EQAO assessment (end of May). I have heard many positive comments from parents about the at-home review booklets. The material that is being sent home is also helpful in showing parents the type of curriculum-based learning our students are doing at school. Thank you so much to all of you for assisting and encouraging your child to complete their weekly EQAO Practice booklets. 

Important Dates to Remember:

Mon., April 22: Earth Day - Wear blue, green, brown

Tues., April 23: Wear red or orange

Wed., April 24: Wear lines or stripes

Thurs., April 25: Wear yellow or white

Thurs., April 25: Library books due

Fri., April 26: Wear school colours (purple/gray)

Fri., April 26: Homework due

  News for Week of April 15 - 19, 2024

Thank You

The Grade 3 students are doing an excellent job preparing for EQAO. Thank you to parents for assisting and encouraging your child to complete their weekly EQAO Practice Booklets and return them by the due date (Friday) so we can review their answers together. ***The next EQAO homework (Practise booklet #3) is due back to school on Friday., April 19th.

A reminder to Grade 2 students that it's important for them to return their phonics homework by the due date requested. The latest Grade 2 phonics homework is due Monday of this week.

IMPORTANT: Grade 3 Coding Workshop/Hackathon Challenge:

Students in grade three will be participating in a “Coding in the Classroom” experience hosted by Coder Sports. Students will take part in three 1-hour coding sessions (April 22, 23, and 26), specially crafted to offer a fun and engaging introduction to coding. A group of co-op students will be leading the workshop, and they are part of a STEM leadership program, coming from various high schools across the city, including All Saints.

The aim of the experience is to foster teamwork and creativity among the students, who will be organized into small groups based on their prior coding experience. This hands-on approach not only introduces them to the basics of coding but also encourages collaboration and problem-solving. 

In an effort to organize students into the appropriate groups, please follow this link and complete the registration form by Wednesday, April 17th. The information will be used to group students based on their individual comfort levels with coding. 

We look forward to the students engaging in the Hackathon challenge!

Our Learning 

Language:

In Writing, we have completed our persuasive letters. We will complete some more persuasive texts over the next couple of weeks as additional practice. We will soon begin to work on retelling fictional narrative stories using the Shape Go! Map as an organizer. We will then use what we have learned about the elements of narratives to write our own narrative stories. You can support your child's learning by asking them to retell the important parts of a fiction story they read to you.

Our next UFLI phonics lesson will focus on  the long o vowel sound as in the word open. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel's name, o. 

The vowel o says its own name, o, when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words home, bone, code, rope, and note. The E does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" ("silent E" or "bossy E"). 

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.

Math:

In our Grade 3 time unit, we have been using analog and digital clocks to tell the time in hours and minutes, and we will soon learn how to include seconds to tell the time. Please review how to read and write the time to the hour (e.g., 2:00), half hour (e.g., 8:30), quarter hours (e.g., 3:15, 3:45), as well as to the 5 minutes (e.g., 6:05, 6:10, 6:25, etc.). We will have an assessment of our learning about time this week. 

Link to Grade 3 Parent Summary Letter About Time here

In Grade 2, we will review how to use non-standard units and standard units of time, including seconds, minutes, hours, to describe the duration of various events. We will have a short assessment early this week.

Link to Grade 2 Parent Summary Letter About Measuring Time in Seconds and Minutes here

Help Please

We still need your help! We are working on a collective Welcoming Multilingual mural. We are seeking parent volunteers to come and help us paint Welcome in as many languages as we have at St. Gabriel School. Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to help us. If you are interested in getting involved, please fill out this form:

Welcome Mural Form

Important Dates:

April is Earth Month

Thursday, April 18: Library books due

Friday, April 19: St. Gabriel School Movie Night

Monday, April 22: Earth Day

April 22, 23, 26 (morning): Grade 3 Coder Sports "Coding in the Classroom" Hackathon 

 News for Week of April 9 - 12, 2024

On Monday, April 8, we will experience a near total solar eclipse in Ottawa. The eclipse will begin at 2:11 p.m. and will reach its peak at 3:25 p.m. The event will end by 4:35 p.m. We are all super excited! Ask your child to tell you what we've learned about solar eclipses, including the paper model we made on Friday. 

Help Please

We need your help! We are working on a collective Welcoming Multilingual mural. We are seeking parent volunteers to come and help us paint Welcome in as many languages as we have at St. Gabriel School. Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to help us. If you are interested in getting involved, please fill out this form:

Welcome Mural Form

Our Learning 

Language:

In Writing, we are finishing up our first persuasive letter. We will soon begin to work on retelling fictional narrative stories using the Shape Go! Map as an organizer. We will then use what we have learned about the elements of narratives to write our own narrative stories.  

Our next UFLI phonics lessons will focus on long vowel sounds. Our next lesson will be about the long i vowel sound as in ice cream. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel's name, I. 

The vowel i says its own name, I, when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words bike and side. The silent E makes vowels say their names, or long vowel sounds. 

*Usually, when there is a silent E at the end of a word it will tell us to say the long vowel sound like in the words five, ride, and kite. The E does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" ("silent E" or "bossy E"). 

New heart words: by, my

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.

Math:

In our Grade 3 time unit, we will use analog and digital clocks to tell the time in hours, minutes, and seconds. Please review how to read and write the time to the hour (e.g., 2:00), half hour (e.g., 8:30), quarter hours (e.g., 3:15, 3:45), as well as to the 5 minutes (e.g., 6:05, 6:10, 6:25, etc.). This unit is a short one and should be completed this week.

Link to Grade 3 Parent Summary Letter About Time here

In Grade 2, we will continue to learn how to use non-standard units and standard units of time, including seconds, minutes, hours, to describe the duration of various events.

Link to Grade 2 Parent Summary Letter About Measuring Time Using Non-Standard Units here

Link to Grade 2 Parent Summary Letter About Measuring Time in Seconds and Minutes here

Science:

The Grade 2 students will continue to explore the properties of solids and liquids, because, matter matters!

The Grade 3 students will learn more about magnetism in our forces unit. 

Grade 2 Homework:

The Grade 2 students will bring home their long a vowel sound phonics homework as a follow-up to last week's phonics lessons.

Grade 3 EQAO Homework:

The Grade 3 students will bring home their EQAO At-Home Practice Booklet #3 at the end of this week. It will be due back to school on Friday, April 19th. Please ensure your child brings their booklet back for our discussion and review even if they have not finished all of the questions. It is much easier for them if they have a copy in front of them to follow along with.

Looking Ahead:

April is World Autism Awareness Month

April is Earth Month

Monday April 8th - PD Day & solar eclipse

Thursday, April 11: Library books due

  News for Week of April 2 - 5, 2024

I hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter long weekend. We will continue our learning about Jesus' resurrection this week. Ask your child to retell the story of Benjamin's Box to you. We will complete the last part of this story over the next few days.

Help Please

We need your help! We are working on a collective Welcoming Multilingual mural. We are seeking parent volunteers to come and help us paint Welcome in as many languages as we have at St. Gabriel School. Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to help us. If you are interested in getting involved, please fill out this form:

Welcome Mural Form

Our Learning:

Language:

In Writing, we continue to work on writing our first persuasive text. We are having fun exploring how to convince or persuade others that our opinion of a topic is correct. 

Our next UFLI phonics lessons will focus on long vowel sounds. Our first lesson will be about the long a vowel sound as in the word acorn. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel's name, A. 

The vowel a says its own name, A, when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words made and tape. The silent E makes vowels say their names, or long vowel sounds. 

*Usually, when there is a silent E at the end of a word it will tell us to say the long vowel sound like in the words cake, same, and skate. The E does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" or "silent E". 

New heart words: who, by, my

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.

Grade 2 Homework:

The Grade 2 students will bring home their next phonics homework once we have completed our long a vowel sound lessons.

Math:

In Grade 2, we will finish up our unit on two-digit addition and subtraction. We will have our end of unit assessment task this week. 

Our next unit in both Grade 2 and Grade 3 is about time. 

In Grade 2, the time curriculum focuses on how to use units of time, including seconds, minutes, hours, and non-standard units, to describe the duration of various events.

Link to Gr 2 MathUP parent summary letter measuring time in seconds and minutes here

Link to Gr2 MathUP parent summary letter about relating units of time here

In Grade 3, the time curriculum focuses on using analog and digital clocks and timers to tell time in hours, minutes, and seconds. 

Link to Grade 3 MathUP parent summary letter about time here

Grade 3 Homework:

***Grade 3 EQAO Practise booklet #2 is due back to school on Friday., April 5. Please ensure your child brings the booklet back for our consolidation even if they have not finished all of the pages. We will be taking up each question and it is easier if your child has the booklet to follow along with.***

Looking Ahead:

April is World Autism Awareness Month

April is Earth Month

Thursday, April 4: Library books due

Friday, April 5: Wear blue for Autism Awareness

Friday, April 5: EQAO prep booklet #2 due 

Monday April 8th - PD Day & solar eclipse