Safety Tips for Halloween

The Saskatoon Police Service would like to remind the public to keep Halloween safe this year. These tips come from a news release the police sent out yesterday. Please consider the following safety tips: Parents - Ensure younger children are accompanied by an adult when trick-or-treating. - Older children should trick-or-treat in pairs or groups. - Know the route your children will be taking and when they will be home (routes should be well lit). - Children should carry flashlights, glow sticks or wear reflective tape to make them more visible. - Instruct children not to eat their treats until they have returned home and an adult has had a chance to examine them. Avoid homemade treats and throw away anything that looks suspicious. Children - Do not trick or treat alone. - Wear a costume that is easy to move around in and is easily seen at night. - Cross streets only at corners and in crosswalks. Obey traffic signals. - Stay on well lit streets. - Never go inside a home or enter a stranger's car. - Wait until you return home to eat treats. Motorists - Drive slowly and cautiously. - Keep alert for children crossing the street. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

October 31

As Halloween approaches, the students and I took time today to review the guidelines for costumes on October 31. Students must arrive at school wearing their regular clothes. They will wear their normal clothes for the morning. Students may choose to wear a costume in the afternoon. If they choose to dress up, students must change or put their costume over their clothes independently. Costumes with weapons, blood and gore, or other innappropriate content are not acceptable at school. Likewise, students should keep in mind that they will still have recess outside in the afternoon. They must wear or bring with them suitable outdoor clothing so they stay warm. Have a great weekend! 

Operation Veteran

Just a reminder that those families wishing to participate in Operation Veteran fundraising should send donations next week. All money raised goes towards providing free lunch to veterans who visit the Canadian War Museum in Ontario.

If you would prefer to donate money to help veterans living in Saskatoon, we will have a poppy sale closer to November 11. Money raised from poppies helps support those veterans living in our community.

Xtra Math and Typing Web

Students benefit from extra time at home spent practicing basic math facts (computation) and typing skills. Practice of these skills will help them to complete tasks more efficiently; they will also be able to take on more challenging tasks because the basic skills will already be in place, providing a strong foundation for success.

On the right-hand side of this page there are two website links to Xtramath.org and Typingweb.com. These websites offer free and easy to use drills and games for your child to practice at home. We will continue to practice these skills at school as much as possible, but at-home practice is essential to encouraging high achievement and self-efficacy.

Please take a moment to test these sites with your child. They do not need to practice these skills daily, as I realise how busy many of the students are after school! If you have questions about your child's specific needs, please contact me as always.

School Dance

The first School Dance is this Friday, Oct. 26. Students need to bring $1 to help cover the cost of the dance. Please send your child with $1 on Friday, October 26.

Je présente…

This week, students are presenting short stories in front of the class so that I can assess each student's oral proficiency in French. The goal is not at all to memorise a long story. Students should simply choose a topic to introduce to the class, and be prepared to answer questions about that topic or story. I have advised them to choose something that they find easy to talk about, rather than a topic requiring a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Students and I discussed last week how I would be evaluating them. The rubric that I am using comes from the Canadian Association of Immersion Teachers (http://www.acpi.ca/index.cfm?M=3191&Repertoire_No=2137989657&Voir=menu). The same rubric is used in all Saskatooon Public Immersion schools to evaluate French oral proficiency.

Education Week Photostory

 

Please use the following link to enjoy our class photostory for Education Week 2012. The Photostory contains a sample of each student's writing in which the student recounts a story (in French) about feeling a strong emotion.

http://video.spsd.sk.ca/uploads/HamiltonJ2012101411347.wmv

October Class Newsletter

Last week I sent out our October class newsletter by email. If you did not receive the newsletter, or if you require a paper copy, please leave a note in your child's agenda. I hope that everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving!

Les dictionnaires

Mme Hegarty remarked today that some students were not using their French-English dictionaries when asked. When we investigated, we discovered the reason: some students do not have French-English dictionaries at school.
 
While an all French Dictionary is a very useful tool, it has a different purpose. If you were able to find a children's French Dictionary with images, that would work in place of a French-English Dictionary in some cases; however, many of the French Dictionaries that I saw are too advanced for our students to use with comfort when searching for specific words.
 
I know that Madame Hegarty plans to use French-English Dictionaries in Science class, so please ensure that your child has a French-English Dictionary at school. Students from Mme Ollerhead's classroom each received a Dictionary at the end of last year which would be perfect for this year!
Thank you for your cooperation.

Way to Be

A little pink slip may come home with your child in recognition of good behaviour. Any teacher can present a slip to a student at any time to recognise that the student is demonstrating respect, responsibility, good listening, etc. Please sign the slip and send it back to school so that your child enters in our weekly draw.  Every Friday, I will draw a slip and put that student's name in the Way to Be Friday morning announcements. That student will win a small prize.

Small Change to Due Dates

In response to a change in our schedules at school, I am adjusting our weekly due dates:

- Mondays - spelling or dictée work is due
- Wednesdays - spelling quiz or dictée takes place

I hope that this will also give students more time to complete the work without feeling rushed.

Please note: there will be no dictée work coming home until after the long weekend, due to the two shortened weeks. I know the students are thankful for that!