Friday 23 December 2016

Dear Families,

It is with a warm and open heart that I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and soon to be a Happy New Year!  I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday with all your family and friends.  We all lead such busy lives, but I believe the holidays are a time to stop, listen and think about all the ones we love, cherish and respect.  I am very blessed to have such caring, loving, and amazing family, friends, and students in my life.  Speaking of students, I will certainly miss seeing your child’s enthusiastic, warm, and beautiful smile over the holidays and I am delighted we’ll all be reunited and get back into our daily routine of fun and learning in January!  See you January 9th with a smile :)

Thank You:
I would like to take this moment to extend my thank you to all my families and their children who took the time, energy, and love to give me such heart-soaring gifts for Christmas.  I will cherish them ALL.  It means the absolute world to me knowing that I have your unconditional love and support.  Also, knowing that you believe in me as your child’s teacher is something that I cherish deeply.  My students are my greatest gift! It has been a tremendous year thus far, and I look forward to creating many more beautiful memories in 2017!  I'm SO HAPPY to be part of the Nighthawk family!! Again, parents thank you so much for your generous gifts!!


Donations to the Food Drive:
A huge thank you to all the families in our class who contributed to our school's food drive!  We used Thank you, thank you!!  Together we all made a significant difference in the lives of those in need. The Spirit of the holidays is about giving, caring, and being there for our loved ones, but also to those less fortunate than us.  It is a proud moment to be a Nottawa Nighthawk!

C.C.I. Band Visit:
On Wed., we had the  pleasure of having the CCI band visit our school to perform some songs for us. Students were up moving and a grooving to the holiday cheer!  It was a memorable experience :)  

Artist Visit:
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thank you to all parents who supported our artist visit, it was a remarkable experience!  We had the pleasure of having Mr. Sean Dawson visit our classroom today.  It was clear to all of us, Sean’s passion, dedication, and love for art radiated from the moment he stepped into our classroom until the final stroke of his paint brush.  He had the students explore various water colour techniques and produce a landscape painting that illustrated foreground, middle ground and background, creating the illusion of depth.  It was truly amazing to see all my students thoroughly engaged, having fun, and producing some brilliant paintings!  


“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”  -- Pablo Picasso  

 Thank you Sean for reinforcing this powerful quote - it is so very true!!  We thoroughly enjoyed having you join our learning community, you are an inspiration!


If you would like more detailed information about our artist, please visit his website:
Below are some pictures of our time with Sean J












Empathy Assembly:
What a powerful performance today by my students!!  I am sooo proud of everyone for their dedication, hard work, and efforts in preparation for this assembly.  Amazing work boys and girls! If you were able to attend, thank you so much for your love and support.  I know it meant the world to the class.  I am sure you're beaming with pride just as much as I am :)  A memorable moment which we'll seal deeply in our hearts forever!

I would also like to personally thank three special people in my life for attending today's performance as well. Thank you to Mr. Roth, Mrs. Roth, and Grandpa (all the way from Victoria BC) who came to support us!  Your continued love and support in ALL my teaching endeavours is appreciated, always!!  I love you!!  Xo.

Congratulations to Tate and  Hannah W. for receiving the Empathy award!  You truly demonstrate this trait in your thoughts, words, and actions!  Thank you for BEING YOU!

My Friends' House Donations:
Santa's visit to our school was a huge success because of all the wonderful students and families who donated to My Friends' House.  Mrs. McEachern and I delivered all the donations after school today and we had 2 car fulls!!  WOW, thank you!!  I know Santa's heart was filled with joy, too!!  He is so proud of each and every one of you for sharing your gift of giving to others who need it.  Thank you so much for your generous contributions :)  Here at Nottawa Elementary we know the true spirit of Christmas! Maybe next year, Santa will be back to visit us again!!








Happy Birthday, Tate!!
Growth Mindset:
“We may not be able to do great things. But we can all do little things with GREAT LOVE.”

Namaste,
Miss Gill

Friday 16 December 2016

Dear Families,

Winter is officially here!  With the colder temperatures, I am pleased to see that most of my students are dressed cozily and warmly with winter attire (E.g., toque, gloves/mitts, coat, snow pants, neck warmer, etc…).  I am encouraging families to please have your child put in their backpacks an extra pair of socks and mitts/gloves just in case because I have had a few students come in from fitness breaks feeling wet and damp from playing in the snow.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter!


Bus Cancellations:

We have already had our first and second snow days this week, wowza!  I have had a few parents ask me this so I would like to clarify on here, too.  Please know that if we experience bus cancellations on a particular field trip day or in class visitor that the field trip/visitor will also be cancelled.  I will always do my best to reschedule the trip for another day if I am able to.  Thank you :)

Artist Visit:
Due to the snow day on Monday, we had to postpone our artist visit.  It will now take place on Monday.  I know a lot of students were disappointed, but we will make up for it next week!

Holiday Concert:
Thank you to all the staff, students, and families for attending and sharing your smiles during our heartfelt performances (day and evening show).  It was a true joy seeing Kindergarten to Grade 4 students perform with such enthusiasm, poise, and spirit!  A special thank you to Mr. Morin our music teacher for organizing and teaching my students Jingle Bells on the recorder and singing "When Christmas Comes to Town."  My class is certainly surrounded with beautiful musicians and singers!!






Empathy Assembly:
Next Friday, we will be celebrating this month's character trait - Empathy!  A reminder that our class will be performing a song and slideshow for this assembly.  You are welcome to attend and show your support.  It will take place during Period 1: 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.  It is also a spirit day, so students are reminded to wear their comfy, cozy PJ's!  

Speeches:
In your child's agenda bag this evening, you will find a speech package in there.  Many students are eager and excited to get a start on this writing form.  I wanted to send this along well in advance too so students have the opportunity to work on their speeches over the holidays.  They will be due mid January.  This is not solely a home project, I will be providing some class time on this as well.  I am encouraging students to use their writer's notebook for their brainstorming, rough drafts, and then use their google docs for the published (good copy) piece.  Students should begin thinking about generating a speech topic and do some research to get information.  Have fun with this boys and girls!
Speech Package
Donations:
Thank you to all the Nottawa families who have donated items for our food drive thus far.  Keep those donations coming!  Together, we can make a significant difference in the lives of others.  A huge thank you to Jack's family for donating 3 bags of food items.  This is a true example of Empathy, thinking about the feelings of others.

Spirit Squad Fundraiser:
Our spirit squad has set up a fundraiser for students to have the opportunity to show an act of kindness by giving a pencil-gram to someone they care about.  Students who wish to participate in this may do so on Monday and Tuesday as the gifts will be delivered on Wednesday. These pencil grams will be fifty cents each!  Thank you for supporting our school's spirit squad!


Supporting My Friends' House:

Santa leads the Way to Empathy

Who better than Santa to understand the feelings and needs of others? This month the character trait is Empathy. To help reinforce this trait, we are asking the children to think about others, especially the people who may be visiting My Friends' House (Womens’ Shelter) this holiday season.

Santa will be visiting our school on Fri. Dec. 23rd during the first fitness and nutrition break (10:40 – 11:20am).

We are asking students to bring in one donation for My Friends’ House from the wish list below.  All items must be new and unused. Children who support “My Friends’ House” will get the opportunity to give their donation to Santa.  

The following is a Wish List from My Friend’s House:

Paper Products:
* Toilet paper
* Paper towels
* J-cloths
* Scrubbies
* Garbage bags – big green & small white

Children Program Needs:
* Art and craft supplies – tissue paper, construction paper, white paper, paints, stickers, glue sticks, pencil crayons, markers, notebooks, journals

Household Needs:
* Laundry detergent (unscented)


Thank you for encouraging your children to be kind, caring, and empathetic students who are making a difference during this holiday season. Happy Holidays!!

Growth Mindset:
"No better you than the you that YOU ARE!"
Namaste,
Miss Gill


Friday 9 December 2016

Dear Families,

It's been a snowy blustery day out!  I hope you're keeping warm and cozy; hot chocolate by a fire would be ideal!  Mmm, toasty!  I'm happy all students arrived safely to school this morning as the roads were icy.  Have a beautiful weekend with your loved ones!

Artist Visit:

Your child may have informed you already last evening, but we had to postpone our artist visit today because Sean unfortunately has an ear infection and is spending the day resting.  He will be here on Monday though from 12:10-3:15 pm.  Students are looking forward to it as am I!
IMPORTANT Holiday Concert News:

REMINDER:  The Concert will be taking place next week on Wed. Dec. 14th.  Parents are welcome to attend our day or evening performance.  Students are asked to dress in their favourite holiday outfit on this day emphasizing the colours red, white, and green.

Morning Show:  @ 11:20 am
Evening Show:  @ 6:30pm (students are asked to be here by 6:15 pm in my portable)

Our class been working hard in class to prepare for this performance!  Please remind your child to practice singing the song “When Christmas Comes to Town,” the Polar Express version.  It is very important that they are familiar with the lyrics as they will be singing this with Mr. Morin on the 14th.  Check us out below during rehearsals!

Here’s the link for the song we're doing:    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyaXLnL_Xwk








Empathy Assembly Fri. Dec. 23rd @ 9:15am:

It's an exciting month of performances!  Perhaps your child has already shared with you that our class is leading the Character Education Assembly for Empathy which will be held at 9:00 am on Dec, 23rd. ALL parents are encouraged and welcome to attend!  Mark it down in your calendars. We have been diligently rehearsing in class, but I would appreciate also if students took initiative to practice at home as well so they are familiar with these lyrics and their parts for the drumming. Thank you in advance for your support.

Here's the link to the song we're doing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWASeaYuHZo

Gym:

In Thursday's gym class, we had the pleasure of inviting Tom from Mr. Plater's class to join us to teach the rules of cricket.  Many students are fond of Tom as he has a kind, caring, and supportive nature. He did an excellent job of teaching and organizing a mini game for us.  We will miss him when he goes back to Australia in January.  His time here in Nottawa has been wonderful.  Thank you Tom for your leadership and expertise in cricket!



A Message from Monsieur Smith (Gr. 4's):

Dear Parents and Guardians,
Bonjour!  My name is Mr. Smith and I am your child’s French teacher.  Since I arrived in October, it has been a very positive start and the students have all demonstrated a keen interest in learning the language.  We have been learning some basic vocabulary and useful expressions in French including: how to introduce oneself, the days of the week, numbers to 10, how to describe the weather and express how we are feeling.  We have also recently been looking at how to describe some of our interests.  In the next few weeks we will be focusing mainly on vocabulary for the coming holiday season and how to describe colours and clothing.   I am happy to be working with you and your child and look forward to a positive and successful year ahead!  Should you have any questions or concerns at any time please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Kind regards,
Mr. Smith


Growth Mindset:
"You are PERFECT the way YOU are!"  - Jakob
Namaste,
Miss Gill 

Friday 2 December 2016

Dear Families,

Happy December!  It sure doesn't look or feel like it just yet, but we're in the midst of the 'most wonderful time of the year!'  Students are happily buzzing about their Santa letters, lists, elf on their shelf, parades, and our upcoming holiday concert!

Welcome Mr. Perry:
I would like to take this time to warmly welcome our new principal Mr. Perry to our school.  He has been very visible, present, and engaged with all staff, students, and families.  We have had the pleasure of having him join our class this week during our Brain Gym exercises.  He said, "Miss Gill, it helps me get into a more focused, alert, and calm mindset."  Students have been excited to share and show him how to perform each pose.  He needed some guidance with the 'hook-up,' and Hannah N. modeled this for him.  He's got it now! Thank you Mr. Perry for joining us, you are always welcome to, and we are happy you're part of our class and school family!!

Patterning & Algebra:
This week, I sent home a math note about our new learning goal.  I hope you had the opportunity to go over it with your child.  If not, maybe this weekend :)  We are learning to identify, extend, and explain growing, shrinking, and repeating patterns.  This will be a focus over the next while, and students are enjoying demonstrating what they already know and are taking a keen interest in learning more as the expectations in Grade 3 and 4 focuses more heavily on number patterns.  Ask your child what a pattern rule means and how to show a number pattern in a t-chart.


Intermediate Girls Basketball:
Congratulations to our intermediate girls basketball team for winning the area championship this past Tuesday!  The girls demonstrated excellent character, sportsmanship, and skill throughout the tournament.  Each athlete represented the Nighthawk family with pride and dignity!  I am so proud of their efforts.  We are off to the County Finals in Midland this Tuesday!  Basketball was my favourite sport as a child, and now it is my favourite sport to coach!  It has been a joy to be able to pursue both my passions - teaching and coaching sports!  I'm very blessed.  Maybe when your child is in Grade 7/8, I may be able to coach them too!  I hope so :)



Artist Visit:
We will have the pleasure of having artist Sean Dawson visit our classroom on the 9th to teach, inspire, and share his passion for the arts.  Students will get to learn and grow in their artistic skills.  I have had Sean visit my other classrooms when I taught in New Lowell and Alliston.  He is fantastic and I know the kids will enjoy having him here!  Please sign and return the permission form and payment by Dec. 7th.
Artist Visit Permission Form
Mia:
Today was Mia's last day with us as she is moving to a new school.  We will miss her bright smile and willingness to help others.  Although you won't be here physically, we will always keep you in our minds and hearts.  Thank you for being a kind, caring, and compassionate student and friend!  All the best in your future endeavours.  WE HONOUR YOU!

Growth Mindset:
"Be YOU!  Let YOUR light SHINE."   
Thank you Tate for this inspiring quote!

Namaste,
Miss Gill