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3 FI Newsletter, Hespeler Public School

Developing Potential Together in a Caring Community ___________________________________________________________


Dear Parents/Guardians, January 27, 2013

It has been a true pleasure to teach your child and to watch us grow together as a community over the last ve months. I am very proud of your child and all her/his other 3FI classmates for their valuable contributions and for trying their best to model Hespeler's CARE attributes: Cooperation, Accountability, Respect and Empathy. In our classroom, we know that "Cougars care, even when no one is watching". Just as your child has greatly impacted and enriched my life this school year, I hope sincerely that I have been able to be the best teacher that I could possibly be for your child. I will miss teaching your child, but I know that he/she will be in good hands, under the continued guidance of our team of teachers, Mr. Coffey, Mme. Gallo, Ms. Brown and your child's future French and Mathematics teacher, Mme. Gauthier. We are pleased to let you know that Mme. Gauthier is already a well-loved French teacher at Hespeler PS, and your child probably already knows her. In December 2013, we received some rather sudden and unanticipated news. That month, my family began transitioning our two, new, very active toddlers into our home. As such, I did not have the chance to properly thank you all for your warm wishes and generous gifts for Christmas. Belated thanks! Below, you can read briey about what your child has been learning since December. In French, it was a delight to teach your child several songs for the Holiday Season and to watch him/ her perform them to the whole school. We also learnt a catchy chant to learn how to correctly conjugate the verb "avoir" (to have) and practiced writing simple sentences with the aid of the chant. We have been continuing with our literacy centres, where your child has had the opportunity to be actively engaged in various literacy-building activities including Read-to-Someone, Read-to-self (using reading strategies we have been learning in class, along with sound-actions to help her/him correctly pronounce unfamiliar words), Word Work (to practice spelling with 'rainbow words' and 'pyramid words') and exercise sheets that develop reading comprehension skills and writing skills. Your child has also had the opportunity to read aloud various texts with my guidance, while taking a closer look at various language structures based on your child's individual needs. Since the rst day of class, we have also been practicing using good manners in French, for example, wishing others "Bon appetit" before eating a meal, or saying "Merci beaucoup" and using more polite forms of asking questions such as "Puis-je..." ("May I...") instead of "Est-ce que je peux..." ("Can I..."). In Math, we have been learning about patterns that exist in real-life and how they tie to Mathematics e.g. music, art, architecture. We played some mathematical music games where your child got to tap, clap and whistle to make various repeating patterns. We also looked at numeric patterns of growing and shrinking patterns and also studied briey some geometric patterns. We spent a considerable amount of time learning to analyse and interpret data in tally charts, pictographs and bar graphs. Your child had many opportunities to participate in opinion surveys and create her/his own graphs to represent the data. As part of our language and Math routines, your child has had the chance of being the Prof-du-jour (Teacher-of-the-Day) to lead our calendar routines, to practice common questions/ answer combinations and to measure the length of the stem of our amaryllis plant that has since fully bloomed! We have also looked at various ways to measure objects, using standard measurement tools like rulers, measuring tape and metre rulers, compared to other measurement objects that are nonstandard, such as using a shoe, a nger, blocks and other objects.

Home of the Cougars

In my absence, it is imperative that your child continue to read in French weekly at a minimum of 4 nights a week for 10-15 minutes per session. Please also encourage your child to continue using DreamBox at least 30 minutes per week at home - this will help your child continue to develop mental Math skills. In English, your child wrote a persuasive paragraph on whether or not to have a class pet. Your child will have the opportunity to improve his/her writing based on feedback and to make corrections in the writing process. In Science, Mr. Coffey was very impressed by the hard work many put in during the study of plants. In Music, your child created their own song lyrics and added rhythms to a tune called "Oh I wish I were a shy in the sea". In Drama, your child has been working on using convincing language to persuade their classmates of particular scenarios during a story based dramatic game. Mr. Coffey will be taking the class skating with Mr. Mousseau's class on Thursday, January 30, 2014. This event promises to be a lot of fun, as will "Hespeler... to the Hills", our Tubing Event on 14 February 2014. In Social Studies, your child learnt about how Christmas was celebrated during pioneer times: the night before Christmas, Decorations, Christmas dinner, gifts and traditions. Using a French-English dictionary, your child is learning to look up vocabulary to describe sights and sounds in the village, discuss urbanization today and compare it to the pioneer times. Your chid has also been looking at materials and tools used to build a home. The class will be visiting a Victorian Classroom on 6 Feburary 2014 - a separate eld trip information will be sent out from Mme. Gallo. In Visual Arts, your child experienced making craft on a transparency paper using permanent markers and foil paper for texture. In addition, she/he has been working with plasticine to create a winter scene on cardboard and on CD cases. In their study on various line types, your child did a contour drawing to trace his/her hand, then adding a background. Later, your child got to apply the same technique to the drawing of an object or an animal. Once again, it has been a pleasure being 3FI's teacher. I have come to call them endearingly, "Mes gros choux" (my big cabbages). Please continue to instill a love of learning in your child and to encourage him/her to speak as much French as possible. When watching lms or educational programs, put them on in French - you'll be amazed just how much your child will be able to understand. All my very best to you and your family. Sincerely, M. Chan

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