Mme Delorme Gr 2 EFI September Class Newsletter



|Mme Stairs |

|Gr 2 EFI |

|September Class Newsletter |

|2012-2013 |

|Bienvenue à notre classe! |

|Welcome to a brand new school year! I have been enjoying getting to know the children, both personally and academically, over the last few days. |

|Thank you for your “getting to know your child” responses, as it always helps me get to know students with information from parents’ points of |

|view also. |

|Please do not hesitate to contact me during the year with questions, concerns or information. The best way to contact me is with a note in your |

|child’s agenda. Agendas will be checked daily, so please take the time to sign/initial your child’s agenda on a daily basis. |

|My class website is madamestairs-grade2. .There you will find information about our current units being studied in class, links to |

|Scholastic book orders online, and an electronic calendar with important school and class dates, library days, special events, etc. Stonecrest’s |

|website is . It contains school newsletters and other important information about school events. |

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|I am looking forward to working as a team with you and your child for a great year! |

| |

|-- Mme Stairs ϑ |

|Classroom Expectations: |

|As a class, we discussed our classroom expectations. Here is our |

|class pledge as decided by the children: |

|Raise your hand. |

|Keep hands and feet to yourself. |

|Quiet voices in the school. |

|Walk in the school. |

|Look at the person who is talking and don’t talk at the same time. |

|Don’t share food. |

|Speak in French. |

|Respect others, yourself and the school. |

|Do your best. |

|Follow directions the first time they are given. |

|Follow the Stonecrest rules. |

|Working Co-operatively |

|In our class, every child is a member of a co-operative group. Groups work together to solve problems and share their unique ways of thinking |

|about a problem. This system promotes a sense of team work and collaboration. Children quickly learn to cheer each other on and support one |

|another when there are disappointments. They have already been working together to gently remind each other of the classroom expectations, |

|remind each other to speak in French, and problem-solve together. Groups will be changed periodically throughout the year so the children will|

|gain experience working with all of their peers. |

|Speaking French |

|Speaking in French is the fundamental requirement of the French Immersion program. It requires effort and dedication on the part of the |

|students. I know this is not an easy task, but it is well worthwhile, and can yield some pretty amazing results. In order to support and |

|encourage the children to speak in French, I am implementing a tracking system to monitor their efforts. Each night in the agenda the |

|children will colour a small circle to indicate their use of French that day. |

| |

|Green = best effort to speak French |

|Yellow = English used for simple words |

|Red = English heard more than once for known or simple French |

| |

|I am hoping that by reviewing your child’s progress we can celebrate successes and encourage students to do their best. |

|Homework |

|Homework will be gradually introduced starting over the next week. Here is what you can expect: |

| |

|Reading: |

|Students in grade two will be bringing home a “petit livre” to share with you each night. This book will be at a level that suits the abilities of |

|your child. I will be assessing reading on an ongoing basis and will change the level of difficulty accordingly. Books coming home should be at the |

|comfort level of your child and may appear “easy”. This is done deliberately, so that they may work on areas such as comprehension, expression and |

|attention to punctuation without being bogged down with decoding of the text. Your role at home is to be an active listener and to prompt your child |

|by asking questions about the text and encouraging greater expression. Texts of greater difficulty will be used sometimes in class or in small |

|groups, when children have the support of their peers and teacher. |

| |

|Math: |

|Students brought home a math practice duotang yesterday. At first, this provides students with the opportunity to practice skills learned in Grade 1 |

|and then leads up to skills learned in Grade 2. The program is designed such that during each week students have practice with different areas in |

|math (number sense, measurement, geometry, probability and data management, etc.) Several weeks of the program will be provided at a time, so that |

|you and your child have some flexibility and can choose your own pace within the week. Each Monday, we will correct one week’s worth of practice. |

|Please see the note in the duotang or the class website for due dates. Thank you for your on-going support and help at home! |

| |

|Dictée: |

|Students will have a dictée to review each week based on a phonetic sound group. We call this the “son de la semaine” or the sound of the week. |

|Students will be given the sound list each Monday, work with this sound group during the week at school and will complete a quiz the following Monday.|

|The goal of this exercise is to practice working with the sound. Marks given on dictées will not be used to determine a child’s writing mark, as |

|often children can memorize a word for a dictée, but cannot apply this knowledge in their day to day writing. |

| |

|Special Projects: |

|Occasionally special projects will be given for homework, often tied to the science and social studies themes. Parents will always be given plenty of|

|notice and projects will be divided into manageable steps for children. |

|Agendas |

| |

|I check the agendas first thing every morning and then will write a quick end-of-the-day update in them before the end of the day. In order to |

|keep the agendas fresh until June, it might be a good idea to put your child’s agenda in a Ziploc bag. I will write in the agenda whenever I |

|feel there is a need to be specific about something happening with your child. I generally like to use a happy face system of communication. A |

|happy face indicates that all is well and good, and problems were worked out. A straight face means it was a challenging day and I will let you|

|know the reason for the difficulty. I will draw and sad face if the day did not go well and again, I will explain the situation. It is best |

|that you sign the agenda daily. |

| |

|I will be sending any future newsletters by email, as well as posting them on our class website, in an attempt to save paper. If you would like|

|to also receive a paper copy of future newsletters, please indicate this in your child’s agenda this week. |

|Carp Fair |

|Back to school time means that the Carp fair is just around the corner. Stonecrest staff and students enjoy supporting our community by |

|participating in arts and crafts. |

| |

|Grade 2 students will be producing the following items for the Carp fair: |

|A bookmark showing our past |

|A drawing of ourselves |

|“My best printing” |

| |

|We will be working on these items at school only, as only entries done at school can be submitted to the fair. |

| |

|Merci! |

|Important Class Information |

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|Library ⋄ We will go to the library every Day 4. Please refer to our class calendar. The children will be able to check out an English and a |

|French book for the week. Please help your child to remember to put the books back in his or her knapsack on Library Day, as he or she will |

|not be permitted to check out another book until the previous book is returned. |

| |

|Gym ⋄ There is no need for the children to wear special clothes, however please ensure that your child has running shoes to be left at school |

|as indoor shoes. On days when we do not have a scheduled gym period, students will be participating in another organized physical activity |

|during the day. |

| |

|Snacks ⋄ Just a reminder that in an effort to keep our yard clean and safe for our students, snacks are not permitted outside on the yard. |

|Children will be provided with time to eat their snack before going outside to play. Children who bring sweets and candy will be asked to save|

|these items for the afternoon snack time. |

| |

|Water Bottles ⋄ Please provide your child with a water bottle to be used at school. Water bottles can be left either in lunch bags or on the |

|counter near the sink in the classroom. |

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|Hand Sanitizer ⋄ I would be grateful for donations of unscented hand sanitizer to be used in class. I find that children do use it regularly |

|if it is offered. We are also washing our hands regularly. |

| |

|Lunch ⋄ Children will be given two lunch breaks during the day. Please send healthy and nutritious lunches that can be enjoyed without |

|reheating. |

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|School Pick-Ups ⋄ Please remember to send a note to school if your child is to be picked up early for an appointment, or at the end of the |

|school day. |

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|Scholastic Orders ⋄ Scholastic is a great way to provide French reading materials for your child, normally at very reasonable prices. Please |

|remember to make cheques payable to “Scholastic Canada”. |

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|Birthday Treats ( Birthdays are an important event at school. As we have students with life-threatening allergies, special diets and food |

|intolerances, this year the Primary Team is asking that you not send in food (cupcakes, cookies, etc.) as a way of celebrating birthdays. |

|Instead, should you wish to send in something special for students to share in class, please consider special pencils, stickers or erasers for |

|the students in the class. Another option could be sending in a French book that can be shared with the class on your child's birthday and |

|then remain as part of the classroom library. Thank you for your help and support! |

| |

|Boomerang Lunches ⋄ Stonecrest is thrilled to be continuing with “Boomerang Lunches” this year!  A boomerang is a curved piece of wood that |

|returns to the thrower and with a boomerang lunch, everything goes home at the end of the day.  Boomerang lunches encourage the use of reusable|

|containers, instead of disposable containers and it allows for more recycling – with blue, black and green bins at home.  Garbage or compost |

|can be put in a ziploc bag or reusable container to keep the lunch bag clean. Thanks for helping our students learn to be "green"! |

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|Classroom Donations ⋄ I would be grateful for any donations of Kleenex, plastic spoons, or hand sanitizer, as well as any extra yarn, felt, |

|craft supplies that you find at home and would like to get out of the house. Thanks! |

|Primary Road Runners! |

|A running club will begin later in September for primary students and run for three weeks. Children will learn proper running technique and |

|develop endurance over the course of the session. Everyone is welcome to give it a try! More information on the start date to follow! |

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