Dear friends, parents and families,

It is with mixed emotions that I would like to announce that I will be leaving Room 103 at St. Andrew's School on June 22nd. Please know that I am very sad to leave this woonderful class. Because of projected enrolment for 2018-19, the Board has offered me a position at another school in Oakville.

I would like to let all of you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at St.  Andrew's School and working with your children. I will miss them  dearly. They have taught me a great deal that I hope to apply to my new position.

I am looking forward to spending the next two weeks together with everyone and seeing friends and family at the SK Graduation on June 21st.

I wish you a very happy and restful summer.

Love,

Miss Coulson

Our Walk With Jesus

The Halton Catholic District School Board held its annual Walk with Jesus 

on Thursday, May 10 in Milton. 

Our class held its own in our schoolyard at the end of the day.

Grandparents are Special ...

• they give me kisses - Joemar
• they are in our family - Ben
• they give us lots of stuff - Daniel
• because I love them - Morakinyo
• they sometimes give me cookies, treats and lollipops - Audrey
• because they give me candy all the time - Aaniyah
• sometimes I get to go to their house - Dario
• when they come to Canada, I get presents - Leticia
• they bring me to Disney on Ice - Genesis
• they pick me up every day - Kai
• they love Jesus - Evelyn
• because they take care of me - Olivia
• they shake my hands - Taeyin
• because they love me - Alexandria
• they give me candy - Kamryn
• they help me - Nolan
• they love me a lot - Mila
• I like when they come to my house - River
• they hug me - Luca
• they love me - Ethan
• they are my best friends - Matthew
• they are happy - Joseph
• they love me - James

Thank you to all our special guests for coming to the Grandparents Tea on Thursday! We loved sharing our classroom activities (planting, Lego, journals, books and flower pictures) - and of course the cookies  - with you! What a perfect way to celebrate Education Week!

Our Education Week ended with a Marian Celebration on Friday morning. The Rosary Apostolate prepared a liturgy celebrating Our Lady of the Cape, Queen of Canada.  Our Lady of the Cape (Notre-Dame-du-Cap in French) is a title given to Mary the Mother of God in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec. The title refers specifically to a statue of the Blessed Mother which is currently located in the Old Shrine. Your child will bring home a booklet to share with you which tells the story of Our Lady of the Cape. 

Have a blessed Mother's Day weekend!

Happy Spring!

We love the sunshine ... an opportunity to play and explore and explore outdoors: ball, bikes and bugs!

With the return of warm weather and high UV ratings, please ensure your child is outfitted for sun protection. We recommend sunhats and sunscreen. Since teachers are not permitted to apply sunscreen to students, please teach your child to independently apply sunscreen to all exposed areas. Sunscreen sticks are available, and while a little more expensive, they allow your child to easily and confidently apply their own sunscreen.

With spring comes, new life. We have been talking about baby animals, green leaves and grass and flowers. We have been planting and will continue to plant in the classroom. We have started with grass seed and happily after three days our grass has sprouted from seed. In the coming weeks we will plant flowers and herbs. Stay tuned!

Introducing our Friendship Corner

This week we added a new feature to our classroom ... the Friendship Corner. This is a peaceful area of the classroom where children can think, read books and talk. Here we celebrate the gift of friendship with social stories and friendship apples. If little ones are having a dispute or a "kid problem", they are encouraged to quietly talk out their problem without teacher intervention. This fosters independence, social skills, conflict resolution and problem-solving.

Upcoming Dates

Week of May 7 - PAT Cancelled
Thursday, May 10 - Grandparents Tea 10:00 - 10:45 am (JK) 1:30 - 2:15 pm (SK)
Friday, May 11 - Marian Day Celebration - 9:15 - 10:00 am
Friday, May 18 - Pizza Lunch
Monday, May 21 - Victoria Day Holiday - No School
Friday, June 1 - PA Day - No School for Students
Thursday, June 21 - SK Graduation - Afternoon

What a difference a weekend makes!

Observations:

When we returned to school on Monday, we noticed that all three white carnations had changed colour: blue, yellow and green. We also saw that the blue carnation had the most intense colour.

We still wondered how they changed colour and why the blue carnation had the most intense colour.

Our students determined that the flowers drink or absorb the colour through their stems. The food colour in the water travels up the stem and into the flower. They also remembered that we accidentally added a whole bottle of blue food colouring to the water. This resulted in intense colour.

Further Questions:

We still haven't determined why the green carnation was the lightest?  Further investigation is required!

Literacy

We learned a new song this week:

I Am A Paleontologist

to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

by Deanna Jump

I am a paleontologist

and this is what I know,

I study bones and fossils

from creatures long ago.

I put the bones together

a dinosaur you will see.

This is how they looked

come learn along with me.

Before singing this song, we put on our word detective "glasses" and looked for sight words. Children took turns circling common words such as "I", 'am", "me", "you".  We were impressed that, after our dinosaur inquiry, many little ones recognized "paleontologist" and "fossils"!

At home encourage your child to be a word detective. At story time, have them identify letters and words they know on the page. This is an effective way for early readers to quickly recognize sight words without having to sound them out.

Math

This week we began exploring the concept of symmetry. Using pattern blocks and paint, we created symmetrical designs and spring pictures. Our little ones were proud of their work!

Art

While visual arts are always an important part of learning in Room 103, this week's activity was so cool! We made huge paintings using tempera paint and plastic cars! We drove through the paint to create action paintings in the style of Jackson Pollock.

As a follow-up activity we watched a  video about the artist Jackson Pollock, Art With Mati and Dada. In this animated short story, the characters enter into the swirling action painting of Pollock and learn about some of his techniques.

The Rosary Apostolate visited our classroom on Wednesday. This was their last visit of the schoolyear. We celebrated the fourth Glorious Mystery, the Assumption of Mary. After Mary died, she was taken away to be buried. Because she was Jesus' mother, and had never sinned, God brought her to heaven, body and soul. Mary was the first person Jesus took to heaven.

Our Dinosaur Inquiry Continues ...

How big is a T-Rex Footprint?

We are conducting a science experiment to see what will happen when carnations are placed in water with food colouring. Science experiments allow children to make predictions, observations and to explain their findings and to ask more questions.

Materials:
We used  white carnations and  blue, yellow and green food colouring.

Predictions:
Some of our students made excellent predictions: the flowers will shrink, the flowers will grow and the flowers will change colours.

Initial Observations:



The carnation placed in blue food colouring started to turn blue very quickly!














The carnation placed in blue food colouring also started to turn yellow!

The carnation placed in green food colouring had a few green "featherings".

Questions:
Some of our students questions included:

• How do the flowers change colour?
• Why did the flower in blue change first?
• How come the flower in green is not changing very much?

On Monday, we will discover more!

Math

Our students love representing numbers! We are practicing counting and writing numbers. We show numbers using words, pictures, dots, tallies, ten-frames and even math sentences (equations). The children are exploring the concepts of addition and subtraction by rolling a pair of dice and subtraction bowling.

Literacy

Our little ones are making great strides in reading and writing. Each day, they have an opportunity to read the morning message with the Student of the Day. On a weekly basis they write in their discovery journal. They must write their name for each journal entry and are encouraged to write a story. Senior Kindergarten students write their first and last names as well as a sentence describing their picture. Junior Kindergarten students write their first name and are now beginning to write words sounding out using "rocking fist." The Knights of Columbus and members of the All Star Reading Team read with our SKs individually on a weekly basis.

Snuggle Up and Read

The home reading connection is our Snuggle Up and Read program. While most children bring home books twice a week to share with their parents and caregivers, there are a few who do not send in  their folders on a regular basis. We urge you to consider the benefits of having your child "read" to you at home. Those who regularly participate make significant progress and are so proud of their achievements!  If you have any questions about how to make this program work for your reluctant reader, please feel free to contact us.

Dance Recital

A special treat on Thursday! Sophia in Grade Eight visited our classroom to share her love of dance. She performed ballet and tap dances. Students had a chance to look at her pointe shoes  (toe shoes) and costumes. They also were able to ask questions about dance, lessons and performing.

We Dig Dinosaurs!

Over the last number of weeks, Dinosaurs has been the topic of our classroom inquiry. 

We have researched these prehistoric creatures through Storybots, the internet and a plethora of library books. We have dug for dinosaurs in sand, painted pictures, made dino hand prints and footprints, and written interesting facts. Our dramatic play centre has even been converted to 

Jurassic Park! 

Celebrating the Joy of the Resurrection!

Each day we celebrate the joy of Jesus's Resurrection. We express our praise for God through song and prayer. Our little ones love the hymn, Praise God for New Life. The lyrics may be found below.

Praise God for New Life

Words and Music: Dan Smith

Chorus:

Alleluia, Alleluia, 

Praise God for new life.

Alleluia, Alleluia,

Praise God for new life.

Verse 1:

See the caterpillar spin a 

small cocoon to live in

Changed into a butterfly,

lives a new life in the sky.

Verse 2:

Baby bird there in the egg

waiting of the shell to break

Changed into a little chick,

lives a new life, pick, pick, pick.

Verse 3:

Little seed sleeps in the ground,

sun and rain dance all  around.

Changed into a little plant,

lives a new life with the ants.

Verse 4:

Jesus lived then died one day,

but then God raised him straight away

Changed into our Easter friend,

lives a new life once again.

PAT 

Week of April 16 - v

Week of April 23 - y

Week of April 30 - x (items may begin or end with the letter x)

Upcoming Dates

Wednesday, April 18 - Rosary Apostolate Visit

Friday, April 20 - Pizza Lunch

Friday, April 27 - PA Day - No School for Students