October 13 - 16, 2026

I hope you had a restful, joyful Thanksgiving weekend. This is the time to reflect on and thank God for our many blessings. I am so grateful to have your children in my class.

Our Learning

Math: 

In Grade 3, we will continue to develop our number sense in our place value unit. This week, we will practise plotting numbers on a number line to place them in order and compare them. 

In Grade 2, we continue to work on adding and subtraction small numbers. We will soon practise solving addition and subtraction word problems.

Language:

This week in Writing, we will review how to write a personal recount (recounting a personal experience). We will use an anchor chart/criteria chart for the features of a recount (title, opening, events, closing/conclusion, past tense verbs, time order and sequence words such as first, next, then, after, finally, the next day ... etc.) to write about something we did on the Thanksgiving weekend. At home, you can help by asking your child to recount an event to you using the order and sequence words first, next, then, after that, finally. 

This week's UFLI phonics lessons will include a review of what we have learned about long vowels, as well as the _ce and _ge endings. We will also learn about some exceptions to the silent e rule, such as in the words have, give, live, love, some, done, none, come.

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:

For each spelling check-in (usually on Mondays), you can help your child learn how to spell each of the heart words we have learned this year "by heart". The spelling check-in on Monday, October 19th will also include words with the spelling patterns we have recently learned: _ce, _ge.

During our grammar and word work lessons, we will continue to review the parts of speech called nouns. A noun is a person, place, thing, or animal. We will be exploring proper nouns and common nouns. 

*Please see this video about common and proper nouns here.

Reminder About Homework:

Please have your child return their homework next Monday, October 19th. The reading homework should be kept at home for the week to practise reading the words and short text (story) more than once per week. Thank you in advance for supporting your child at home by helping them review their phonics skills when the home practice is sent home.

Important Dates:

Tuesday, October 13 - Pizza lunch

Friday, October 16 - School Thanksgiving liturgy 9:30 a.m.Monday, October 19th - Grade 2/3 homework due and Spelling check-in

 

Week of October 5 - 9, 2026

Terry Fox Walk Friday, October 9th:

Once again, St Gabriel is excited to participate in the Terry Fox School Walk/Run this Friday, October 9th at 9:20 am on the All Saints High School track. On this day, students will walk or run the track to raise awareness and help carry on Terry Fox's legacy.

During the Terry Fox Event on Friday October 9th, parents are welcome to join us on our walk to All Saints. You will come in through the office at 9:00 and stay with your child in their classroom until we leave. We will be leaving at 9:20 after morning announcements and returning from All Saints at 11:00. A police check is not required to come on the walk.

Please wear your Terry Fox Shirts (from any year) or grey, white and purple to show off our St. Gabe's spirit!

Also, our school is still accepting donations online through https://schools.terryfox.ca/134710. Even a small amount makes a big difference. Thank you in advance for your support.

Our Learning This Week

Math: 

In Grade 3, we continue to develop our number sense in our place value unit. We are using base ten blocks to represent and compare one-, two-, and three-digit numbers. We will apply what we've learned about using base ten blocks and place value to determine which number is greater. We will also use the greater than, less than, and equals symbols (>, <, =) to compare numbers. After that, we will practise plotting numbers on a number line to place them in order and compare them. 

In Grade 2, we are working on adding and subtraction small numbers. 

Language:

During our grammar and word work lessons, we will review the parts of speech called nouns. A noun is a person, place, thing, or animal. We will be exploring proper nouns and common nouns.

Reading/Spelling: Our next UFLI Phonics lessons (Reading and Spelling) will focus on the -ce ending. We will learn that -ce says /s/ such as in the words rice, trace, twice, space.

No new heart words this week. Last week's Heart Words: 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:

Please note that the date of our first spelling check-in will be moved to Thursday, October 8th instead of Friday due to the Terry Fox Walk/Run. The spelling check-in will be an assessment of your child's skills in spelling the Heart Words listed above and long vowel a, i, o, e, and u words practised in class (see homework sheets sent home over the last few weeks). If your child has been regularly practising reading and writing Heart Words and the words and stories sent home for homework, they will feel prepared for the assessment.

Religion:

This week we will prepare for Thanksgiving. We will discuss what we are thankful for and how we can use prayer to show that we are thankful.

Physical Education:

We will practise our dribbling and trapping skills in our soccer unit.

In Visual Arts, we will continue our learning about the primary and secondary colours and the colour wheel.

Important Dates:

October 7 - Photo day

October 8 - Spelling check-in

October 9 - Terry Fox walk

October 12 - Thanksgiving day - No school

October 22 - First Subway Day - sign up before October 16th using schoolcash online

 September 28 - October 2, 2026

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Wed., September 30:

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on Wednesday, September 30. On Wednesday, September 30th, staff and students are invited to wear an orange shirt to participate in the day because it is also Orange Shirt Day.

Each year on September 30th, people from all over Canada are invited to wear orange in honour of The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to remind ourselves that Every Child Matters. Wearing an orange shirt on September 30th is an initiative to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. The inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was recognized by Parliament in partial fulfillment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 80.

The origin of Orange Shirt Day is based on Phyllis Webstad’s story of having her new orange shirt, that her grandmother bought her, taken away on her first day at Residential School. It was replaced by the school uniform.

For more information about why we wear orange on September 30th, see official website:  http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation provides an opportunity for each of us to recognize and commemorate the legacy of residential schools. This includes quiet reflection and participation in school and class activities.

Your child will be learning about the Indian Residential School system in Canada and about reconciliation through participating in this week's stories and activities. The Residential School System was an attempt to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society and to educate them in an environment that removed them from their families and their culture. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission defines reconciliation as “an ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.” First Nations educator Pamela Toulouse says, “Truth and reconciliation are even more necessary in a world that is challenged and for our children and youth who have inherited it.”

Topics of Learning

Language: 

In Writing, we continue to learn about how to stretch out our sentences and add details, without writing run-on sentences. We also continue to learn about how to put several sentences together on a topic to write a good paragraph. 

In grammar and word work, we will review common nouns and proper nouns. 

Our next UFLI phonics review lesson is 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 reviewed 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:

Please note that we will have our first spelling check-in next Friday, October 9th. It will be an assessment of your child's skills in spelling the Heart Words listed above and long vowel a, i, o, e, and u words practised in class (see homework sheets sent home). If your child has been regularly practising reading and writing the words and stories sent home over the last couple of weeks for homework, they will feel prepared for the assessment.

Physical Education:

We are beginning our soccer unit. We will be practising our dribbling and trapping skills.

In Visual Arts, we will continue to learn about the primary and secondary colours and the colour wheel.

Multi-Language Learners: Things to do at home

Please find below some information and helpful strategies for supporting your child at home, shared by our school board ESL (English as a Second Language) Teachers. Researchers have found that speaking multiple languages at home offers significant benefits to young children. Speaking in your home language to your children from birth helps develop their minds and prepare them for success.

Community Activities:

• Visit the Ottawa Public Library

• Visit the Museums in Ottawa

• Become involved in community activities 

Language Building Activities:

• Reading together and talking about the book, in any language

• Writing a journal/drawing pictures, and adding names of things 

• Talking about things they see/do

Card/Board Games:

• Scrabble

• Bananagrams 

• Pictionary

• Charades 

• Picture BINGO 

• Spot It! 

Online Reading and Games:

Unite for Literacy 

FlyLeaf 

Starfall

ABCya

Games to Learn English

Phonics and Stuff

Duolingo

Important Dates:

September 28 - First WIZE Academy (until Dec. 14)
September 29 - First Pizza day- Every Tuesday

Wednesday, Sept. 30th - Wear orange for National Day for Truth & Reconciliation 

Friday, October 2 - P.D. Day: No school

Monday, October 12 - Thanksgiving: No school

  September 21 - 25, 2026

Topics of Learning and Curriculum:

In Math, both grades have completed their units about the basics of skip counting. This week, we will begin our number sense units. In Grade 2, our numbers unit focuses on reviewing and strengthening basic numeracy skills with numbers to 20. We will review counting using written numerals, quantities, spoken numbers, and numbers written as words, as well as the notion of one-to-one correspondence and the concepts of more, fewer, and less. We will also review and strengthen addition using a number chart, addition within 20 using a tens block and ones blocks, and solve simple word problems involving addition and subtraction. We will also spend some time reading and writing number words up to twenty, and ordinal numbers up to tenth (10th).

In Grade 3, our unit is about place value, which is the system for reading and writing numbers using base ten concepts. We will practise finding the place values of a digit in one-, two-, and three-digit numbers, read and write three-digit numbers using words and numerals, and explore the connection between number words, expanded form, and base ten block representations. We will also compare three-digit numbers using the symbols < and > with base ten blocks and using place value.

In Language, we continue to learn about how to stretch out our sentences and add details, and we have begun to practise writing a proper paragraph. We have also started to focus on determining important ideas to share with others orally and while writing complete sentences (with a beginning uppercase letter and ending with proper punctuation). 

During the phonics parts of our Language lessons, we continue to review some basic skills learned last year. This week's UFLI phonics lessons 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").

Reminder: What Are "Heart" Words? 

Many common words present challenges to children because they are irregular in some way. These words contain letters or letter combinations that do not follow the most common letter-sound correspondences, and those must be learned “by heart,” hence the term “heart” words. Some words are permanently irregular (the sounds of the letters are unique to that word or to a very small number of words) and others are temporarily irregular (words in which we have not yet learned the letter-sound correspondences in the word).

Please have your child practise the heart words we have been practising 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.

An email will be sent to parents on Monday with further information about how you can support your child in learning the Heart Words.

Our Grade 3 Science unit for the next few weeks continues to be soils. We look forward to sharing what we already know and dig deeper into the components of soil. In Grade 2 Science, we are exploring air and water in the environment.

In Visual Arts, we will be learning about the primary and secondary colours and the colour wheel.

Dates to Remember:

Wed., Sept. 23 - First popcorn day
Mon., Sept. 28 - FIrst WIZE Academy! (Until Dec. 14)
Tues., Sept. 29 - First Pizza day - deadline to order is Sept 25th
Wed., Sept. 30- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation & Orange shirt day
Fri., Oct. 2 - PD Day

October 7 - Photo day
October 9 - New date for Terry Fox walk
October 12 - Thanksgiving day

 Week of September 14 - 18, 2026

Students have transitioned very well into their new class and successfully learning the new routines. We are enjoying getting to know each other.

Here are a few updates and reminders:

Technology News:

We have received our class set of Chromebooks. Each student in our class has been assigned their own class Chromebook to use. Over the next couple of weeks, the students will receive a copy of their board-issued email and new password for this year. They will then practise logging in to their Chromebook using their new password. Once we have practised that a few times, we will learn how to login to their new Google Classroom (coming soon).

A copy of your child's login information will be sent home once they are comfortable logging in and using these features. This may take a few weeks until we all become comfortable with all of this new learning.

In the meantime, you are asked to complete our school board's Responsible Use of Technology agreement form for your child/children. Instructions can be found HERE

Reminder to Parents to complete forms on Parent Portal

Every SEPTEMBER Parents MUST complete the following documents.

• Consent for Use and Disclosure of Student information

• OCSB Student Verification form (ONLY if there are changes)

• Responsible use of Technology

Please log into the Parent Portal to access each form.

**IMPORTANT TO DO**

Visit  “Quick Links” on our  SCHOOL WEBSITE  for links or see below.

1. Please sign up for School Messenger to receive important updates.  LINK 

NOTE Please select ‘general' to receive Weekly news from Principal/Office and "teacher to parent messaging" in order to receive emails from teachers. This step must be completed for each child.

2. Please sign up for School Cash online. LINK

3. Please sign up for the Parent Portal with the OCSB. This is where you will access report cards etc. LINK

4. If you would like to volunteer in our school please complete the necessary Vulnerable Sector Check paperwork. LINK

5. Please review with your child and complete the Acceptible Use of Technology online submission. Instructions can be found HERE

St. Gabriel Meet the Teacher Open House:

Please join us on Thursday September 17 between 4:30pm - 5:30pm for our St. Gabriel Meet the Teacher. You will be able to tour the school, see your child's class, and meet their educators. This will be a ‘drop-in’ format so you can come and leave as you need between the hours of 4:30 and 5:30. We encourage your child(ren) to come and be your tour guide.

Dismissal Routine:

Please send an email to your child's teacher or call the school to let us know if there are any changes to your child's usual routine (picking up early for an appointment, picking up in person rather than taking the bus, etc.). This will help ensure smoother transitions and allow us to keep your child safe.

Our Topics and Learning This Week:

In Math, we have almost completed our first units on counting. Both the Grade 2s and 3s will have an assessment task this week in order to assess their learning during our skip counting units. Our next Math unit for both grades is about numbers. In Grade 2, students will begin with a review of how to read, count, represent, compose and decompose, add and subtract whole numbers up to and including 20. In Grade 3, students will focus on representing numbers and place value up to and including 999. 

In Language, we will continue to explore how to write a complete sentence and how to write a paragraph. We will spend some time in the coming weeks learning how to develop interesting opening and closing statements, and detailed sentences in between. We will practise adding adjectives and descriptive words to our writing to make it clearer and more interesting.

In phonics, last week we learned about the long a vowel. This week, we will learn about the long i vowel sound as in the words ice, bike, side, ride, five, and kite. 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. Reminder: The E does not make a sound so we say it is "silent" ("silent E" or "bossy E"). 

No new heart words this week.

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.

In Family Life, we have been discussing how we are each unique, with unique names, unique likes and dislikes, and unique family traditions. In Religion, we are working on our Samaritans on a Digital Road unit and learning how to be positive digital citizens who model the gospel values during their online citizenship.

**Reminder to please send an email to your child's teacher or call the school to let us know if there are any changes to your child's usual routine (picking up early for an appointment, picking up in person rather than taking the bus, etc.). This will help ensure smoother transitions and allow us to keep your child safe.

Homework:

This week, your child will bring home some phonics homework to help review skills. Please have your child return this homework next Monday, September 21st. The reading homework should be kept at home for the week to practise reading more than once per week. Thank you in advance for supporting your child at home by helping them review their phonics skills when the home practice is sent home.

If possible, the Ministry of Education recommendation is that Grade 2 students should be reading or reviewing concepts for 20 minutes at home daily. The recommendation for Grade 3 students is that they should be reading or reviewing concepts for 30 minutes daily at home if possible.

In addition, your child may occasionally bring home some of their unfinished classroom work to complete at home, or work in which they need to make their corrections or review concepts with you at home. Thank you in advance for your support with this and for helping your child return this work to school when finished.

Looking Ahead:

Tuesday, Sept. 15 - Wear dots to celebrate International Dot Day Thursday, Sept. 17 - School Meet the Teacher Open House 4:30 - 5:30

September 23- First Popcorn day - sign up using schoolcash online

Wed., Sept. 30th - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation/Orange Shirt Day

Thurs., Oct. 1st - School Terry Fox Walk