2013

     I've always found it odd how time works, the way it is the year 2012 one minute and the next it is a whole other year! I had a wonderful holiday (thank you Tristen for asking) filled with family, friends, food, and SLEEP. Oh how I loved my naps with Brennan and I certainly could have used one today. We were quite busy even on our first day back. The class did really well as they came in to a new layout...our TRIBES groups. Throughout the month of January we will be working on getting to know our Tribe members better so that we can begin more focused group learning in February.

     With all the Christmas festivities we didn't end up finishing Number the Stars so we will be doing that within the next week. We have two shorter units coming up in Math in Data Management and Measurement. In Social Studies we are going to look at the government and the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in Canada. We had fun painting tessellations in Art today as we looked at the effect of mixing white or black to a primary or secondary colour. Next week we will be finger painting with our new skills to recreate art by Eric Carle. I will be busy working on report cards throughout January as they go home on February 7th.

     A lot of stuff came home today, I hope it all got to you:
               - a thank you card for the incredibly generous and thoughtful cards and gifts I was showered with on the last day of school. Thank you for thinking of me.
               - milk order form
               - January homework book calendar (it is now posted on the class website)
               - January In the News calendar (I didn't send them home on the 20th as I had initially planned so that they weren't lost over the holiday. I informed students that if they were to present tomorrow or Wednesday that they could do so on Thursday or Friday if it wasn't convenient)
              - some students had a bit of homework as they were adjusting to having to manage their time being back at school
           
     Upcoming events are posted on the class website. Our next assembly is this Friday when Mike Strange is coming in to speak with the school about his Box Run across Canada!!

     I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday. My school New Years Resolution is to get back to being more regular with the blog posts and to improve on posting work and pictures starting in February. What's yours?

. . . . . . . . . . .

In the spirit of kindness and giving, Amy came in today with extra recorders for those students who didn't have one for Music class.

Tristen came up to me part way through the day and said, "I didn't notice anyone asking you and I felt bad. How was your Christmas?"

What wonderful people we have our classroom. Thank you for making my day.

And Merry Christmas to Nathan who was celebrating his Serbian Christmas with his family this evening.

My Christmas was awesome so far. My grandparents came over to open gifts with me, I got alot of gifts I wanted, and in about 20 minutes I'm going to my Aunt's Christmas dinner/party. I AM SO EXCITED! What did you do on Christmas? This Christmas is one of the first ones I have ever had without being sick, me and the rest of my family are happy about that too. Hopefully nobody in our class was really sick for this Christmas. One of the things I am excited about is staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve so I can count down from ten, and then the New Year begins. I have always wondered if alot of people do that count down to midnight thing? Do you? Well, my mom said that we have to leave early, so I have to go. Have a great Christmas and New Year. BYE!

Christina 

Delicious!

     Today was absolutely fantastic! I would go so far as saying epic, except I still don't like that word. The food was delicious - thank you very much to everyone for contributing. I was overwhelmed by the support (and by the number of buns!). We have food left over so we will eat again tomorrow. I told the kids to bring a lunch but that there are leftovers for those who would like to have some. Don't worry Josh, Erika, and Owen...our wonderful parent volunteers made each of you a plate so you wouldn't miss out. They also helped clear out the dishes and serve the yummy dessert. We are a lucky class!

     I would like to extend a special thank you to Mrs. Singer and Mrs. Snyder who came in an hour early to help set up, make the gravy, and heat up/serve the food. Our dinner would not have been possible without you. And to the parents that came and delivered hot food at 1, even when your child was absent...thank you!

     Christina and Dan were extraordinary on the piano (I personally can't even play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and Kylee who doesn't like to speak in front of crowds sang in front of the whole class plus 10 parents. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I was quite proud of all 3 of you.

     Mrs. Hamill said that her grandfather had a wonderful time and he was impressed with our questions. Everyone enjoyed the festive decor created by the class and several parents commented on how polite and well behaved our class was, which makes me extra proud. Well done Grade 4/5. Well done.

. . . . . . . . . .

     On the announcements today we learned that there are going to be 3 spirit days this week:

              Wednesday - red and green day (remember the Concert is at 2pm)
              Thursday - holiday hat day (remember it's our Secret Santa gift exchange day)
              Friday - my favourite day of the whole entire year...pj day!!

. . . . . . . . . . .
     
     This week we will continue reading Number the Stars, work on multiplication through arrays, practice our song for the concert, and we will have fun fun fun celebrating the upcoming holidays together. A special present will be coming home for parents on Thursday. No peeking!!
   
. . . . . . . . . . . (I'm doing a ton of my . . . . . . s for Colby)

     I would like to point out the best part of my day: Makenna saying thank you on her way out the door. I am happy that you enjoyed yourself and I appreciate that you took the time to say thank you to me. Expressing gratitude is often forgotten, especially at your age, and you saying thank you made cooking 3 turkeys worth it ;-)

The Big Dinner

Alot of friends I know are excited for Christmas break. I am because I am looking forward to visiting my family on Christmas day. What are some things you are looking forward to doing on Christmas? In class we just finished our fosnot kit on the Big Dinner, and on Monday December 17th we are celebrating it with Mr.Jhon Hamil that was in World war 2. I am exited for having turkey and mashed potatos and all that yummy stuff, but I am most excited that I am probably performing piano and singing with Kylee in front of the class. The thing is, that me and Kylee need a bit more time to practice the song. Well, that's really all I have to say for now. BYE!

By: Christina

Music to My Ears

     We started reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry today. It is one of my absolute favourite novels to read with kids - I haven't met a student who hasn't liked it. I could ramble on and on about it, but that would spoil what is to come so I will let your child tell you about it as we go.

     So Sebastian and I had a little chat today and he let me know that Math was boring to him. Others chanted homework. Can you believe it?! I felt special. He made it up to me though by asking if we were going to read Number the Stars tomorrow. I responded, "Yes. Did you like the first chapter?" And when his face lit up, "Yeah!", I instantly forgave him for insulting my math program :-)  The homework haters aren't off the hook yet...

     I have been reading and providing feedback on student book reviews and Great Canadian Mail Race letters. I really am enjoying reading them and am proud of the growth in student writing that I have seen in just 3 short months. When I am finished, students will be bringing them home for you to look over and sign. We will be doing one more thing with our letters and I will publish the book reviews in the next edition of the 4/5 Star. I do have to post the Halloween edition...and the SmartPen conversation. One day...at least I haven't forgotten! In the News presentations have been interesting and the class has created such an accepting environment that everyone feels comfortable presenting, which makes me proud. I should draw a number for that.

   Our courage award winners were given their certificates today. Congratulations to Maxx, Cannon, Hailey, Dawson, Amy, and Josh. I was proud of the class for clapping after each recipient was announced. I should draw a number for that too.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     Robin and Cannon will be writing a letter in the next couple of days to inform you of upcoming Christmas events we are planning for December. Owen has been updating the blog frequently to avoid the cold and Christina has an idea brewing for the blog.

     Tomorrow we will be having a bullying/cyber-bullying presentation by Amy's uncle, who is an RCMP officer. I am looking forward to hearing what the kids think about what he has to say.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     I would like to say how impressed I was with Ethan (who just got back from Florida) when he took it upon himself to get caught up on his work the first day back to school AND presented his In the News presentation on the accidental really early date I gave him. What a great example of initiative and responsibility.

     Thank you to Dalton who had an outstanding day today - you should be proud.

    5 Caught 'Ya tickets to whoever can tell me what I did differently in this post.

Dream Box

The kids are excited to play our new Math game called Dream Box. It is a licensed program that Mrs. Baggs purchased for each student from grades 1-6. A note went home last week with your child's username and password as well as the link. We had some problems with the provided, but it should work now. You can connect through the blog and also through our class website on the Curriculum Corner page. Students are encouraged to play the game at home as well as at school (we have 1 period a week dedicated to playing). It is quite unique, as the program automatically sets up questions at your child's level and it allows parents and teachers to view their time online and their progress. Happy playing!

• https://play.dreambox.com/login/42cv/cherrywooda

A Message From Our Hero

I hope you heard about our letter back from Grandpa Hamill. Mrs. Hamill wrote his answers out for us and brought us special keepsakes with his picture. The kids were happy to have heard back from him. We are going to try to get him to be our guest of honour at our "Big Dinner" later this month. Here is his letter:

Dear Miss Hall and her grade 4/5 class,

I would like to thank you for your wonderful postcards and all of your kind words. When I joined the army at 18, I never knew what I would face the years that I was overseas.

I joined the Perth Regiment, Baker Company looking for excitement and to travel the world. My father fought in WW1 and my brother was in the Air Force. We all helped our Country in different ways. While I was overseas, I met so many nice people and I was very fortunate to see so many beautiful places. I was sent to Italy, Holland, Belgium, France, England and Germany.

I missed my family and friends terribly, but I needed to be there to help my country. I was scared a lot of the time never knowing what was going to happen from minute to minute.

When I first joined the army, I didn’t know anyone. My platoon had 30 men in it and we all became fast friends. We were divided up into 3 groups and took turns going out on patrol. When I wasn’t on patrol, I was a motorcycle dispatch rider taking messages to the other soldiers at night.

We ate meat and potatoes, nothing to fancy. We definitely didn’t have any pizza or ice cream. (the first thing I had when I came home after the war was an ice cream cone!)

I never got to see Flanders Fields or any real poppies, I wasn’t stationed there. When I was in Italy, I got to see the Leaning Tower of Piza and the Vatican though.

Unfortunately 2 weeks before the war ended, I was wounded in the arm when a farmhouse my platoon was in was ambushed. One of my friends helped save me. He called for a medic and I was transported to a field hospital in Brussels. From there I was flown back to England where I stayed for 2 ½ months before I was well enough to come home to Canada.

The medals I wear are called “Tour Ribbons” of all the countries I fought in. I also have a medal from helping liberate Holland that I wear proudly! I don’t think of myself as a “Hero”, the real “Heroes” were not lucky enough to come home.

If I had any advice to give to today’s youth it would be, to stay in school and get a good education. I wish I could tell you that there is a way to ensure peace, but I’m not sure that there is. Be kind to one another, help your fellow man and be prepared to defend your country should the time come.

Yours truly,

Private Gavin John Hamill

Perth Regiment

B57650