Hallowe'en Party

This Thursday, is Clairlea Spirit Day! The students and I have decided that it would be grand to have a party since it's also Hallowe'en. Everyone is invited to wear a Hallowe'en costume to school for the day. I will bring in some treats from everyone, but would be delighted if families wanted to send in some additional food items.

Please do not send in foods containing the following ingredients:

• nuts of any kind

• eggs

• soy

If you do not celebrate Hallowe'en, your child may wear purple instead to celebrate school spirit. Celebrations and traditions of Canada are an important part of the Grade 2 social studies curriculum. I'm looking forward to seeing some fun costumes and to teaching the students a little about the history of Hallowe'en!

Speaking in French.

I'm disappointed at how little French is being spoken by my students. In French Immersion, the expectation is that all students speak French at all times during the instructional day. If students do not use their French, they will not develop confidence, fluency, or vocabulary in their speech.

Yesterday, Madame Demeter spoke to me about her frustration with the students too. Please, please speak to your child about the importance of speaking French as often as possible. If they fall behind, it will become incredibly challenging to catch up.

Having said all that, my congratulations go to several students who always make a valiant effort to use their French - these students include Edna, Julianna, Arshad, Adalia, Emily, and Heysome. Bravo!

Voilà Learning Homework Club.

Voila Learning Homework Club

Thank you to those parents who came out for our information session last week.
The following are the details about the French homework club:

- for French Immersion students in Grades 1-6
- small group support for classroom work and homework
- every Tuesday from 3:15 - 4:15 in room 103 for 20 weeks
- online registration is open and closes Friday, Nov. 22
- first session takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 26
- parents/guardians can find more information or register at www.voilalearning.com
- cost is approximately $14.00 per session
- discounts for families with multiple children in the program

Please send me a note in the agenda if you are interested in registering your child.

Merci!

Les Devoirs - due le 31 octobre.

Homework for this week:

1. Read your book every night.

2. Study your spelling words every night.

3. Write ten INTERESTING sentences using all 10 of your spelling words.

Dictée. Le 1 novembre.

Le soir                             un choix

Une poire                        un roi

Le comptoir                     le toit

Un oiseau                        toi

Le froid                           moi

Spelling words for Friday October 25th

Oops - thanks to Mrs. Dineen for reminding me that I haven't yet posted the spelling words for this week! Here they are...

L’été                       une poupée

Un élève                  un évier

Une école                un bébé

Indépendant            une dictée

Une journée             un café

Les Devoirs

Homework is due on Thursday October 24.

1. I will study my spelling words EVERY night.
2. I will read my book EVERY night.
3. In my homework notebook I will write down the 11 success criteria I need to have in every retell I write so that I can earn an A. Madame and the class came up with these criteria in class. We wrote them down, we practised them, we tried to remember them. If I forget them, I can ask Madame to remind me. 
4. I will finish all my unfinished work from my duo-tangs. I will bring them home and I will check EVERY page so that I can get better marks in my progress report.

This week's spelling test...

A quick note to say that I was very impressed with how well the students did today in our first spelling test of the year. Bravo tout le monde!
Students have brought their marked test home with them. Please sign and return to school.
Merci!

Les devoirs pour la semaine du 14 octobre.

Homework is due next Thursday, October 17.

1. Students will read their book bag book every night.
2. Students will practise their spelling words every night.
3. Students have learned about Thanksgiving this past week. As such, they are to write a short retell about how they celebrated Thanksgiving with their families this weekend. For those who do not celebrate Thanksgiving, students are to write about how people in Canada (our friends at school) celebrate Thanksgiving. For example, some families gather together and enjoy a giant turkey dinner. They spend time together and give thanks for each other and for all the good things we have in our lives (our family, our friends, our home, our food).

Students should have all the vocabulary they need to complete this assignment. However, below I will put some key terms in case anyone forgets!

La dinde     - Turkey (meat)
Le dindon  -  Turkey (the bird)
L'action de grâce - Thanksgiving
Le dîner   -  dinner
L'amour - love
Fêter - to celebrate
Dire merci - give thanks

A note on book bags: 
Some students did not return their book bag.
Some did not return their book.
It is very important that the book and the bag be returned every Thursday.
You will notice that I have inserted a book log inside the bag. This is for parents to sign that their child has read the book every night please (or at least most nights!).

Punctual and conscientious completion of homework assignments is important for glowing report cards!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

La Dictée pour vendredi le 17 octobre.

Le lait   

la paix

Faire   

j’ai

La maison  

une araignée

J’étais   

épais

J’avais  

une saison

Homework Club courtesy of Voilà Learning.

Please see below an information poster regarding Voilà Learning's homework club. This programme runs after school, once per week. There is a cost associated with having your child attend. Voilà Learning will host an information session in the gym on Wednesday 16th should you wish to find out more.
The club provides homework assistance, enrichment, and/or support for struggling students.

Homework and spelling words (la dictée)

Today your child should have brought home a book in a Ziplock bag as well as a homework journal. If s/he has not done so already, please ensure that the words "Les Devoirs" (Homework) are clearly written on the cover of the journal.

Students should:

1. Read their book every day.
2. Study the spelling words written in the agenda (and also here for your reference) every day. The spelling test will be on Thursday 10th.
1. la banane
2. une abeille 
3. un arbre
4. un caravan
5. un bateau
6. un garçon
7. un adjectif
8. une table
9. un sac
10. un ananas

There will also be a surprise bonus word that uses the sound "a". Bonne chance !    

Later in the week, once your child is  v e r y  familiar with the book bag book, here is what s/he needs to write in the journal:

1. WHO the story is about (a dog? red riding hood? two brothers?)
2. WHEN the story takes place (if this is not explicit, an inference can be made from the context and the illustrations)
3. WHERE the story takes place

Next, write down one or two words to tell me:

1. What happens in the beginning
2. What happens in the middle
3. What happens at the end

Next, write a simple retell (6 sentences).

Bonus points for adjectives!

The book bag, book, and homework journal are all due by next Wednesday please. It's a short week!

Should your child need help, of course s/he should ask me! That's what I'm here for!

Happy weekend,

Mme Paré

Scholastic Orders

If you plan to order books from Scholastic magazines, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please pay cash.
Also, please do not return the entire magazine(s) with your payment. Simply fill out the order form, cut it out, and place it in a sealed envelope or baggy with your payment.
Thanks!

Pokémon cards

Please, please, please, have your child leave all Pokémon cards and other toys at home. If your child wishes to bring in something specifically to show to the class, then that's fine. The item may be presented, in French, at the carpet, and then put away for the remainder of the day. Otherwise, toys and other distractions belong at home.
Over the past two days there have been multiple issues at recess with students trading items and later having a change of heart. In addition, students are bringing cards and toys out during lesson time - this is inappropriate and I will confiscate them. This particular activity has made me somewhat unpopular lately!! C'est la vie!

Curriculum Night and Long Range Plans

Tonight, Thursday September 19, is Clairlea's curriculum night.
At 5 p.m. families are invited to a barbeque following which you are invited to the classroom to see your child's learning environment.
Below is a copy of the Grade 2 year long plan for your reference. Please be aware that these plans may change according to student needs.

Retells.

Our class is learning how to write a retell of an event. To help us to do so, we took a little excursion to the Kindergarten playground.

I took photos, which you will see here below. During the remainder of the week, the students and I put together a recount of our outing. In addition, the students practised visualizing what they enjoyed the most as well as which things we did not write about. They drew pictures of these things - a few samples of which are also below for your enjoyment!

In writing our retell, we focused on finding words that clearly identify the beginning, middle, and end of our story - these words are underlined. In addition, we added adjectives - these are in yellow.

Notre nouvelle classe joue au parc.

Un joli matin, avant la récré, la belle classe de la salle 101 et Madame Paré ont décidé d'aller au parc de la maternelle. Nous y sommes allés pour écrire ce merveilleux récit et pour nous amuser. Pendant que nous avons joué nous étions très excités et heureux. Nous avons vu la belle nature, les fleurs et les insectes. Heysome était triste parce qu'il pense que le parc est trop petit. Arshad, Adin, Moustapha et Omari étaient fâchés parce qu'ils pensent que ce parc n'est que pour les bébés ! Quand même, tout le monde a joué, et on a joué Man Hunt. Ensuite nous avons marché autour de l'école en chantant superbement ! Finalement, nous sommes retourné à l'école. C'était un bon aventure ! 

Welcome to the second week of school!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. A quick and gentle reminder to you all regarding the following items that all students need to bring to school, if they have not already done so:

1. Proper gym shoes for days 2 and 5.
2. A pair of indoor shoes which will remain at school (why not make these gym shoes!).
3. Agenda money
4. First day back package with all forms signed and completed, including parent council nominations.
5. A healthy, nutritious lunch and snack with zero or minimal packaging.
6. An enthusiastic and curious attitude.

Regarding point 5, please remember that as a boomerang school, all packaging and uneaten food items will come home with your child. If you anticipate messy lunch-bags, perhaps keep an empty Ziplock bag in the lunch-bag, into which your child may place his/her garbage. Better yet - go package free. It's less expensive and more nutritious.

Happy Monday!

Mme P.

Bienvenue à la deuxième année.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful summer break! I'm excited to welcome parents, guardians, and especially students to my class and to our classroom blog. I'll be using the blog instead of sending home paper newsletters. We're a PLATINUM EcoSchool so we do what we can to reduce our negative impact on the planet!

Below I've posted our timetable. Please take a good look at it and take note of when we have Gym, Drama/Music, Visual Arts, and Library. You must come to school prepared for these subjects so that you can participate fully. For example, if you don't bring proper gym shoes, you will have to sit out for Gym. If you don't bring your library books back on time, you won't be allowed to take out another library book... oh dear!

First Assignment
Don't panic! It's a fun one! As a way to get to know each other and to exercise our French oral skills, students will be creating an "about me" bag. Each student will bring home a paper bag to be filled with FIVE things that reveal something about who s/he is. For example, if your child loves gardening s/he might put in a packet of seeds. Once five things have been collected, the bag comes back to school and your child will present to the class, explaining what each item is and why it is important or representative of who s/he is. I will model my own "about me" bag so that students are clear on what is expected. If you have questions, please ask your child to explain my presentation to you.

Happy Labour Day Weekend and 

Welcome Back to Clairlea!!

CLAIRLEA IS PLATINUM!

Thank you to all students, parents, and staff who worked so hard this year to help us to achieve this lofty goal! Clairlea PS is now a Platinum Certified EcoSchool. I do so look forward to continuing to earn this status next year and in the years to come... 

We are all eco-warriors! 

Bon été.

Mulching, weeding, decorating...

Today we tended to our garden and observed how the plants had grown, what had changed, and whether there was any sign of increased animal activity outside. We discovered two things. The first was an ENORMOUS worm! This caused a great deal of excitement and the poor thing was petted by almost every student in the class before being returned to its habitat. Poor worm. The second was that one of our plants is being enjoyed by some sort of insect. The leaves have been greatly munched upon. Unfortunately we couldn't see the actual insect so we'll keep our eyes out and hope to see it - and all its friends!

Painting rocks

A couple of weeks ago the students painted rocks to depict the kinds of animals they would like to see coming to our native plant garden. We have butterflies, chipmunks,  bluejays, hummingbirds, caterpillars, ants, rabbits, and many more!

Science Assessment

Yesterday the students completed an assessment of their learning during our unit on liquids and solids. They had 80 minutes to complete the assessment and were allowed to refer to their Science duo tang as well as to all classroom resources. Today your child will bring home his/her test. Please sign it and return it to school.
Thank you.

Unfinished work.

As report cards loom ever closer, you may notice your child bringing home unfinished work. I am encouraging students to do so in order to improve their final mark. It is rather tricky to give a grade to a student who has not completed assignments! If your child does bring home unfinished work, please begin by congratulating him or her for the diligence and perseverance it took to get to that point!

A word about study habits.

This week's spelling/grammar test left a little to be desired. While I realize that the year is almost over, the weather is improving, and students are becoming excited for the summer holidays, it is equally important that students take their homework assignments seriously. This week, I stopped the spelling test halfway through as it became clear that more than half the class had not studied for it. Most students failed the test. Conversely, the two students who studied every night, received full marks. Each and every student in the class is capable of achieving an A if they apply themselves fully to the task assigned.
I apologize for the rant, however report cards are due to be written soon and poor performance in homework assignments will affect grades. I'm sure that we would all like to see our Grade 2 stars reach their full potential.
With that, I wish everyone a very happy weekend!

Dictée - vendredi le 31 mai

parce que           - because (with a space between parce and que!)

et                       - and

est                     - is

j'ai dit                - I said (there's a t at the end!)

mais                  - but

je mets              - I put

il ressemble à    - he / it looks like... (we don't say "Il regarde comme" EVER!)

dans                  - in (there's an s on the end!)

il peut                - he can

beaucoup          - many

This list contains words that are often misspelled in class. They are not new to the students, however words like et and est; as well as mais and mets are frequently confused. The challenge this week to learn when to use which one!

Collecting small-ish rocks!

Hello everyone - today I'm going to let the students know that we are going to think about the kinds of animals we want to attract to our new garden. They are going to paint rocks depicting these animals and we will then decorate our garden with these rock animals! Rocks should be smooth and not too big - have your child think about the kinds of animals they might see outside at Clairlea (more likely squirrels, chipmunks, ladybugs and butterflies than a giraffe!). If each student could bring in one or two rocks, that would be great! Size-wise, I would suggest no bigger than a tennis ball please.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Notre beau jardin !

Nous avons passé une belle heure dehors pendant laquelle notre classe et la classe de Madame Trott ont planté deux petits jardins. C'était très amusant et nous avons hâte de voir les fleurs qui vont bourgeonner bientôt !  En plus, on espère voir plus d'insectes et d'animaux ! On verra !