O.R.E.O. Challenge

The students were more than a little surprised when I told them that they were going to be challenged on Wednesday.  They tried to guess what the challenge was and were not able to guess that their day was going to revolve around Oreo cookies.

I registered the class for the cookie stacking challenge being offered by a teacher's website.  This challenge is open to classes around the world and once we were done, we visited, through the means of technology, a classroom in Shanghai, where a class learning to speak English, also stacked cookies.

First, we all made a prediction as to how many cookies we thought we could stack....

..and then, ever so carefully, each student tried twice to make the biggest stack of Oreo cookies they could!  It was both nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time!

Just when a student thought they were doing well, the cookies would take a tumble!

Don't you love the look of concentration?

Even the smile of defeat tells a story!

Don't worry!  The cookies from the challenge were all thrown away.  I had some fresh cookies stashed away, both original and golden, so that the students could use their five senses and decide which one they liked better.  They then wrote their first opinion piece, supporting their stand using three ideas that they had learned through their taste test!  The day was a sweet success!

Thanksgiving Mass this Friday

Please join us at our parish for mass on Friday morning.  The students will be transported by bus where we will join another school to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

Please write a note in your child's agenda indicating the following:

a) has (or has not) received the Sacrament of Baptism

b) has (or has not) received the Sacrament of Reconciliation

c) has (or has not) received the Sacrament of Communion

This information will make it so much easier to prepare the students when they reach the altar, to either receive the Sacrament of Communion or to be blessed as a child of God.  I had asked for this information when we had our Parent Open House a few weeks ago, but as many, many families could not attend, I will need to rely on you to send this information to me by Friday morning.

As well, during our weekly assembly, Mr. Harmata reminded us all that swimming fees and swimming levels for all students must be in by Friday a.m. as the staff at the pool has a big job ahead of them, getting our groups organized for lessons this coming Thursday.  Thanks for ensuring that they will not be hampered by a delay in getting the fees and levels to them on time.

Fire Prevention Week

We take great care in ensuring that the students are safe.  We have fire drills, lock down drills, evacuation drills, policies that ensure safe play with others, we ask parents to sign in before entering the school proper and to wear Visitor tags to assist us in knowing that they belong in the building.  

Please take the time to practise a fire drill in your own home.  Where will your safe meeting place be?  What is your special code word that indicates that the person meeting your child is known to the family?  Does your child always wear proper seat belts when in your vehicle?

The Grade Three students took in the 'Hazard House' a Community Safety Education program offered through our local fire department.  This unique teaching aide provides captivating presentations on home fire hazards, early detection of smoke/fire and proper fire emergency responses.

The kids loved it!

Learning, always learning....

I often hear parents say "It wasn't like this when I went to school", to which I can answer "It wasn't like this when I started teaching!"  I'm so glad that we are creating learners who question, co-operate and think!  The students practised working in groups to complete a series of questions about the four countries that we will be comparing to our own country throughout the year.

They practised looking for answers in text, recognizing that they will have to synthesize in order to answer.  The answer is not right there in the text.  They have to use what they already know  to create an answer that makes sense.

They practised reading the maps that they coloured to also assist in answering specific questions.

They practised talking to others, to arrive at an answer that everyone could agree on!

Later on, the students worked on a collage-type project.  It was multi stepped, beginning with orientating the paper, sketching a bare tree, outlining and colouring in only one direction,

pasting on a cut out photo of themselves, and adding punched out little Autumn leaves.

Each one was so proud of their final product,

and I was so proud of their listening skills, 'stick to it' attitude,

and their pleasure in a job well done!

DID YOU KNOW???

Madonna Catholic School has been adopted by Chapters for this month.  Please consider offering support through sponsorship right at the store.  Here's what I received when I adopted our school:

Help a school in your community by giving the gift of books: every $12 donated gives one book.

Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter or by e-mail and encourage your friends and family to adopt a school! Love of Reading will give a book to your school for every 50 adopts (up to a limit of 500 books in total). With your support, we can give one book to every child at your school, and in schools across Canada.

Thanks for your support,

The Adopt a School Team.
adoptaschool.indigo.ca

Please adopt and get your friends and family to do so too!

A swimming we will go....

Dear Parents,

As part of our belief that we should all live a long and active life, the students at Madonna Catholic School will have the wonderful opportunity to participate in six swimming lessons this year.  We will be swimming from 1:45 to 2:30 Thursday afternoons in October, November, and December specifically on October 17, October 24, November 7, November 21, November 28 and December 5^th.

We would love to invite fathers and/or grandfathers to take on the role of supervisor to ensure that the male students are safe as they change.  As Mr. Harmata reminded all of the teachers, our school district’s policy is to have all volunteers who will be in contact with students on a regular basis to provide a criminal record check, a child intervention check and sign a confidentiality undertaking also with an acceptable use agreement.  All of those forms can be obtained through the school’s front office.  It may seem like a great deal of work, but our children are so very precious to us, that I know you won’t mind taking the time to get these forms filled out.

The fees of $37.00 per student, which cover both the lessons and the bussing, are being collected separately from school fees and should be sent in to me as soon as possible.  I will also need to know what level of swimming your child will be entering for these lessons. 

A gentle reminder that long hair is best braided for the lessons, that combs cannot be shared, that swimming items should be packed in a separate sturdy waterproof bag (not a disposable bag from groceries) in the backpacks in the morning, and that the students will not have time to blow dry their hair so having a warm hat is encouraged.

Many Parts...One Body in Christ

A few weeks ago, I led the weekly Wednesday morning assembly.  I shared the story of The Crayon Box That Talked, where the crayons were not polite and kind to each other.  A child used them in the picture that was being drawn, to show them that they could get along and make wonderful pictures together!

Here's Kristin Andreassen's sweet video that the students watched...and clapped along to!

Each grade level then was given a colour to use to create a picture of themselves.  Grade One used red and orange...

...Grade Two used green...

...Grade Three used blue...

..while Grade Four used purple and pink.

Even the Kindergarten classes got into the spirit and used yellow for their pictures.

It took a while but the rainbow of students that make up our sweet school are now all represented on our long wall towards the gymnasium.

No one picture is more important than the other.  Instead, it is that all of the pictures add to the overall effect of creating the rainbow.  So it is with each of us...we are all parts, but we are ONE BODY IN CHRIST!

Lucky girl lost a tooth at school today!  She's the first one to take home our "TOOTH FAIRY" literacy bag!  Hope the tooth fairy is good to her tonight!