Mrs. Pillon - Grade 1/2: September 2016

Sept. 6, 2016

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome back, everyone, to another school year! I hope that you had an enjoyable and fun-filled summer. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Grade Two! I am looking forward to a fun, exciting, challenging, and rewarding year. I am very excited to begin another year at Holy Name Catholic School and am looking forward to working with you.

I believe that communication between teachers and parents is necessary and very important for the well-being of the students. I will always make myself available for parent conferences and phone calls whenever needed. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to give me a call. I will also let you know about what is going on here at school.

As you know, Holy Name is a “nut and scent” aware school. We do have students that have allergies in our classroom. I ask that you please check your child’s lunch to be sure that there is nothing in it that contains or could contain nuts.

I am sending home an information form so that I can get a bit of background information on your child and your family. The information on this form will be kept confidential. Please return it to me as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Mrs. C. Pillon, OCT

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Important Information for Grade 2P

2016-2017

Congratulations to all of the students for successfully completing their first week of school! Students are doing a great job getting back into their school routines. Thank you for helping them with this transition. Here are some important things for you to know:

Classroom Agreements

I encourage you to ask your child about our classroom agreements. They will be at the centre of our class this year and reflected in everything we do. They are:

1) Attentive Listening

2) Mutual Respect

3) Appreciation/No Put Downs

4) Right to Pass

Agendas

Each student has an agenda and will be copying his/her homework from the homework board every day. Once homework is completed students are expected to show their parents and I ask that parents sign the agenda every night. The agenda is also a great way for us to communicate back and forth.

Homework

Students will be having some homework this year. Part of this homework is reading. Students should be reading every night for at least 15 minutes. This should be in addition to their regular homework and will not be written on the homework board. Generally, homework will consist of work that is for independent practice. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure all work is completed properly and brought back to school on time.

Absent/Sick Students

If a student is absent, it is his/her responsibility to get caught up on the work that was missed. This may be done at recess time or at home. He/she should come to me for assistance if needed. If your child is sick, please do not send him/her to school. Students will not be permitted to stay inside during recess times as there is no supervision.

Lunch, Snacks, and Treats

Most students are eating lunch at school. I ask that if your child normally eats lunch at school, but is going home for lunch on a particular day, please write a note in the agenda. We need this documentation in order to give him/her permission to leave. This helps to make sure students are safe and where their parents expect them to be. There is more information on this in the front part of the agenda in the Student Handbook. Please remember to send a healthy morning snack for your child. I also ask you please not send cake, cupcakes, cookies, or other baked goods to school for birthdays and special occasions. Other treats may be given out provided they do not contain any nut products. If there is something your child should not have please let me know.

Assessment & Evaluation

Please be aware that assessment and evaluation continues to evolve. It surely has changed since when we were in grade school. The goal of assessment is always to improve student learning.

Types of assessment include:

*Assessment for learning – to guide learning and teaching

*Assessment as learning – to engage in peer and self-assessment as they are learning

*Assessment of learning – to confirm what students know and can do and to demonstrate

the extent to which they have achieved the curriculum

expectations

Balanced assessment methods will be used. These include:

*Personal Communication Tasks – assessment activities that require the verbalization of

thinking by students to demonstrate depth of understanding

*Performance Tasks – assessment activities that require a specific student performance to

show what students can do with their knowledge, skills, and values

*Paper/Pencil Tasks – assessment activities that require students to present information

on paper to demonstrate what they know, feel, and can do

As you know, the achievement chart is a standard province-wide guide to be used by teachers which identifies how well students know or are able to do something. The four categories of the achievement chart are: Knowledge & Understanding, Thinking Skills, Communication, and Application.

Some of the many forms of assessment and evaluation strategies that will be used in our classroom are assignments, tests, quizzes, presentations, performances, etc. However, teacher observation will be a critical factor for daily assessments in our classroom. I will be keeping anecdotal assessment information based on daily observations, which will help in the final assessment of your child. Please be advised that a specific “mark” will not always appear on student work. Sometimes the purpose of the assignment might be to offer specific feedback to the child about things they can continue to practise. When a final evaluation is given on a specific task, please note that it will mainly be in the form of a level according to the following criteria:

Level 4 – The student has demonstrated the required knowledge and skills. Achievement exceeds the provincial standard.

Level 3 – The student has demonstrated most of the required knowledge and skills. Achievement meets the provincial standard.

Level 2 – The student has demonstrated some of the required knowledge and skills. Achievement approaches the provincial standard.

Level 1 – The student has demonstrated some of the required knowledge and skills in limited ways. Achievement falls much below the provincial standard.

Curriculum

Literacy – We will be using many different resources to cover all aspects of the literacy program. Each month we will be focusing on a particular reading comprehension strategy and writing trait. We will be using a balanced literacy model which includes read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. For Word Study, we will be working on high frequency words. After the initial high frequency word assessment, students will be given their own word study lists. Weekly word lists will be developed based on words the student has not yet mastered. Word study tests will be on Friday and handed back on Monday. Tests need to be corrected at home, signed by parents and returned the following day.

Math – Our math program is Math Makes Sense, but there is no textbook. There will usually be a test at the end of each unit. If the unit is a long one it will be broken up into sections with a test/quiz after each. I strongly encourage students to bring home their math regularly to review what we have been learning in class. Students should also be continuously practising basic math facts at home to improve speed and accuracy.

Physical Education – All students must participate in physical education class unless the school has been notified of a medical condition preventing him/her from participating. Please write me a note if your child cannot participate in gym on a particular day.

Science – We use Addison Wesley Science & Technology as well as other resources. Topics for Grade 2 include: Growth and Changes in Animals, Movement, Properties of Liquids & Solids, and Air & Water in the Environment.

Social Studies – We will be using Many Gifts: Social Studies for Catholic Schools as well as other resources. Strands and topics for Grade 2 include Heritage and Identity: Changing Family and Community Traditions as well as People and Environments: Global Communities.

Religion/Family Life – Our Religion Curriculum has 6 strands: Believing, Celebrating, Living a Moral Life, Living in Communion, Living in Solidarity, and Praying. Our Family Life program is Fully Alive. We are beginning with Theme One in Fully Alive.

Please do not hesitate to call me at school if you have any questions or concerns. Encourage your child to come to me if he/she is in need of assistance or clarification. If there is anything you think I should be aware of or anything I can do to help your child succeed please let me know. We have a great group of students in our Grade 2 class! I am excited to work with each of them.

Thank you again for your cooperation and support.

Mrs. C. Pillon, OCT

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Scholastic Says: Welcome Back!

Dear Family,

Back to school means the start of another great year – always an exciting time for teachers, families, and students!

This fall, I'm excited to share Scholastic Reading Club with our class! Reading Club offers a huge selection of fantastic books for your child. All of the books are specifically chosen for their quality and kid-appeal, as well as appropriate reading level and content. Each flyer offers a wide range of books that are guaranteed to meet students' varying interests and abilities: beloved classics, new favourites, popular series, bestselling authors, non-fiction, and much more! Scholastic Reading Club also has the best prices available, with titles starting at just $1.99! We are participating in Scholastic SeeSaw and Lucky as well as any special flyers during the month.

Paying for orders is quick and easy with Parent Pay, which lets you pay online with a credit card – no need to send cash or cheques to school!

Visit www.scholastic.ca/parentpay if you would like to learn more.

Plus, every Reading Club order earns our class Bonus Coupons that we can redeem for FREE books and learning materials to enrich our classroom library!

Please look over the attached flyers with your child and indicate your selections on the order form. Please remember to use the column for Ontario pricing. Then, make your cheque payable to Scholastic Canada Ltd. and return it to me or pay online using Parent Pay. I will also accept cash, but please try to have the correct amount as it will be difficult for me to make change. The books will arrive 1-2 weeks after I send the class order to Scholastic.

Owning your own books is something special! I hope that you will encourage your child to order books this year. I know of no better way to encourage reading than to allow children to choose the books they want to read.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. C. Pillon, OCT

Friday, September 30, 2016

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Monday, September 26, 2016

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Monday, September 19, 2016

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Monday, September 12, 2016

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Friday, September 9, 2016

Thursday, September 8, 2016

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