Advent Project

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Our class (4/5am and 4pm) is leading the Advent liturgy next week. For our presentation, we would like to include pictures of those we love. You may either put a digital picture on your child's Google Drive or you could email a picture to me Kyla.marchant@ocsb.ca. I can't wait to see family photos, acts of kindness, and love!

Mrs.Marchant

PJ Day!

Hello Grade 4s and 5s!

     You have been working so hard at keeping our classroom extra tidy. It is time to reward you for your efforts. On Wednesday, December 14th, our class will be having a Pajama Day!! Please be sure to wear your coziest jammies :)

You  may want to bring a change of clothes for the other half of the day.

Sincerely,
Miss. Starkey :)

Grade 4 Math Quiz-Wednesday, December 14th

-read, create and understand different graphs (stem and leaf, pictograph, double bar graph)

-label parts of a graph 

-conduct a survey, use a tally to record data and represent the information using a graph

-answer questions regarding data represented in a graph. 

Advent Project-Grade 4 & 5

To help the students to participate in the loving act of sharing and giving during this time of Advent, they are invited to collect items to donate to the Shepherds of Good Hope. At this time of year, there are many items the Shepherds need to assist the people who are staying at the shelter. The Grade 4 students are encouraged to bring in coffee mugs and cutlery; the Grade 5 students are encouraged to donate warm socks. Our class has a target or 22 items (2 per student) and we hope to be able to meet or exceed that goal. We ask that donations be brought in no later than Thursday, December 22nd, at which time the Shepherds will come to pick them up. Thank you for your generosity!

Grade 4 Assignment Alert!

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The students are currently working on a SEQUENCING unit in Language Arts. The writing assignment for this unit will be procedural writing. To tie this activity with Christmas, we will be writing HOW To...instructions for a Christmas themed activity. Examples are:

-put up a Christmas Tree

-set up a Nativity Scene

-make or decorate cookies

-wrap a present

-do a craft

-and many more...

We would like the students to take photographs of themselves doing 5-6 steps in their chosen activity. They should email those photos to themselves, or save them to their Google Drive. At school, we will then create procedural writing slideshows. If they prefer, students are welcome to draw clear, detailed pictures for each step. These photographs or drawings are due at school on Monday, December 5th.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Tomorrow's Trip

Congratulations to the Gr. 4 students who received their Bibles at the Bible Blessing Ceremony on Thursday morning.  It was a pleasure to be part of this special occasion in your child's life.  Thank you to everyone who was able to come!

Congratulations also to our students who received certificates for the Gospel Value of Community at our Faith Assembly on Wednesday!  Hayden and John were recognized for:

• For promoting safety in school and on the schoolyard
• For including others
• For welcoming new students and staff
• For helping others during difficult times

Congratulations to the boys and girls who represented St. Clare at the volleyball tournaments. 

Our first field trip is tomorrow!  A couple of reminders:
-as we are under a snowfall warning according to the Weather Network - if the school buses are not running to school tomorrow (Snow Day), they will also not run for our trip, so the trip will have to be rescheduled.  Please listen to the radio, check http://www.ottawaschoolbus.ca/ or OSTA @OttSchoolBus on Twitter to stay informed of any cancellations.
-if the busses are running, the weather is going to be messy, so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for it.  We will be outside for some time, walking from the bus to the Parliament buildings, from Parliament to the World Exchange Plaza for lunch and back, etc.  Boots, weatherproof coats, hats and mitts are recommended. 
-students will need to bring their lunch and a water bottle as usual.  A small amount of cash to purchase a souvenir or extra beverage is permitted.  NO ELECTRONICS are allowed.  As students will have to leave their bags on the school bus during the tours of Parliament and the Mint, anything of value is best left at home. For security reasons, no bags are permitted in Parliament or the Mint.
-we are really looking forward to this fun and educational trip!  Let's hope the weather cooperates!

Other upcoming events:
*Gr. 4 students will have a presentation by the Public Health Nurse on Tuesday, Nov 22 at 10:30
*Gr. 5 students will have a presentation by the Public Health Nurse on Wed., Nov. 30 at 10:45


Math:  Gr. 4 students will have a quiz on symmetry, types of angles and quadrilaterals on Wednesday to wrap up our brief Geometry unit.  

Language Arts: Gr. 4 students are completing their Cereal Box assignment and writing their commercials, which they will film this week in front of the Green Screen.  

Grade 4 Patterning Test on Wednesday, November 2nd

Students need to be able to demonstrate the following:

-extend a pattern

-identify the nth term (ie. What would the 20th term be after being given the first 3 terms)

-identify if it is shrinking or growing 

-state the pattern rule

-show work using a variety of strategies (ie. T-chart, manipulatives, picture)

We will be preparing for the test this week in class. 

Special Days

Friday, October 28th will be PJ and movie day. Be sure to wear your PJ's and bring in a donation to support the United Way. 

On Monday, October 31st, students are encouraged to wear orange and black rather than wearing costumes for Halloween. We are looking forward to the traditional kindergarten costume parade!

Grade 4 Language-Presentations Monday

Over the past week, the grade 4 class has been working hard on their "All About Me" slide deck. Presentations begin Monday! Please ensure your child is ready to present. The rubric for this assignment can be found in their Language Arts folder or by clicking here.

Board Game Block for United Way

Tomorrow we will be raising money for the United Way. Please bring in a donation and board game to play during 2nd block. Thank you to everyone that has contributed so far!

Reminders!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is picture day! Please come to school wearing your best smile 🤗

IEPs are coming home today, please check your child's backpack if this applies to you. 

Finally, Friday we will be raising money for the United way. Please send in your donation. We will be playing board games for a block. 

Waste Reduction Week in Canada: October 17 – 23, 2016

Waste Reduction Week in Canada is a national environmental campaign that builds awareness around issues of sustainable and responsible consumption, encourages choice for more environmentally responsible products/services, and promotes actions that divert more waste from disposal and conserve natural resources.

St-Clare Catholic School is very happy to be participating in this wonderful campaign. We can make a difference by bringing litterless lunches every day during the week of October 17-23. We will make an effort to recycle our papers, plastics and old markers. We will try to reduce our waste and reuse.  St-Clare is proud to be a green school

Grade 4 Bible Ceremony-November 17th

Please join us

for the Grade 4

Bible Blessing

and Presentation Ceremony

on Monday, November 17, 2016

at 11:30 a.m.

in the gym.

Math Test Wednesday, October 5th-Grade 4

This is a reminder to the grade 4s that we will be having a test on everything we have covered so far in math. He/She should be able to demonstrate their understanding the following skills/concepts:

-place value to 10 000 using whole numbers with regrouping 

-problem-solving using various addition strategies with regrouping 

-problem-solving using various subtraction strategies

-write whole numbers to 10 000 using various forms (standard, expanded, base 10, words)

-identify odd/even numbers

Pizza & Milk Forms

Pizza and milk forms will be sent home tomorrow (Tuesday) and due Monday, October 3rd. If you misplace your form or require another one, they are available on our school website http://cla.ocsb.ca/

Purple and Grey Day Monday!

Monday morning we will have our beginning of the school year liturgy at 9:30. Please remember to wear purple and grey!

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to a new school year at St.Clare!  We hope that your family had a wonderful summer and are returning to school ready to work hard and reach your fullest potential.  We look forward to working with you this upcoming year.  Grade 4 and 5 students in the extended French program will have Mme Joly as their French teacher. The grade 5s will go to Mrs. Moorman's class in the afternoon.  Grade 4 students in the immersion program will go to Mme.Corriveau in the morning and either myself or Mrs.Martinuzzi in the afternoon.  Mrs.Martinuzzi and I are working together closely this year and plan to to integrate technology and New Pedagogies for Deep Learning.

I would like to introduce Ms.Starkey. She is a second-year teacher candidate at the University of Ottawa and will be completing her practicum with the 4/5 extended class in the morning and grade 4 blended class in the afternoon. She will be with us throughout the majority of the year. Ms.Starkey has already demonstrated that she is a strong teacher and we are truly blessed to have her with us at St.Clare.

My name is Kyla Marchant, and I am very excited to be your teacher this year! This is my 13th year of teaching and I have taught grades K-8 in my career.  I believe it is very important to work together to ensure your child's social, emotional, and academic needs are met. My goal is to support your child in reaching his/her fullest potential this year. Please feel free to contact me through the form on my blog, by phone (613) 834-6334, or send a note with your child. I am also more than happy make an appointment with you to discuss any concerns you may have.

Check the blog regularly for upcoming events and important information. Please sign up for the email subscription at the bottom of my blog so that you don't miss any blog updates. I am also active on Twitter, so please follow me if you would like to see what we are up to as our day progresses. You can search under #gr45cla or #gr4cla to see what Ms.Starkey, Mrs.Martinuzzi and I have been Tweeting.

Please remember that the safety and well-being of our students is of the utmost importance.  St. Clare is a nut-free, peanut-free and scent-free school.  Please check the ingredients of lunch and snack foods carefully, and enjoy any containing nuts or peanuts at home only.  As well, parents volunteering at the school are asked to avoid the use of perfumes and other scented products for the comfort and safety of students with environmental sensitivities.  Your cooperation is very important and greatly appreciated.

Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to keep on their desk throughout the day.  Staying well hydrated, together with eating healthy snacks, helps to improve energy, concentration and alertness, and builds better eating habits for a healthy lifestyle.

I look forward to meeting you all during our Curriculum Night, Wednesday September 14th at 6:45 p.m. Our classroom is room #107.  If there are any concerns you would like us to be aware of now, or at any time in the school year, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Your partner in education,

Mrs.Marchant and Ms.Starkey

St.Clare Goes Global with Inspirational Math!

St.Clare has become "Internet Famous!"

Throughout the first few weeks of school, our Grade 4 Extended Math class has been partaking in Youcubed's "Week of Inspirational Math" program. This program, designed by Stanford University and Professor Jo Boaler, pits students against challenging Math questions. The program is designed to assist students in fostering a better relationship with Math. Each day of the week corresponds to a video, which inspires students to try their best when it comes to Math problems. The follow-up to each video is a different Math activity where students collaborate to solve open-ended math problems. Our Grade 4 students have been asked to create and interpret graphs, follow a growing staircase pattern and explore proofs in Collatz Conjecture.

The grade 4 teachers (Mrs. Martinuzzi, Mrs. Marchant, and I) have all been furiously Tweeting student work using the hashtag #gr4cla. We have been tagging Professor Jo Boaler in all Tweets, gaining likes and retweets along the way. Last Wednesday, I (Ms. Starkey) received a personal Twitter message from Jo Boaler, asking to use photos of student work in the upcoming Youcubed newsletter. This newsletter is published worldwide for all Youcubians to see and this site recently reached over 2 million views! Mrs. Marchant and I responded immediately. Sure enough, the Youcubed newsletter was published with St Clare Catholic School student work photos. The students in Grade 4 became overnight "math celebrities." 

The next day, Mrs. Marchant, Mrs. Martinuzzi, and I informed the students of this incredible honour. They were elated! 

Ms.Starkey

Click here to view the newsletter sent out by Jo Boaler.

Welcome to our class blog! I teach grade 4/5 extended (Science, Art, Phys. Ed) in the morning and grade 4 blended (Math, Language Arts, Religion). I look forward to working with you and your child to make this a successful year at St.Clare.

Please sign up at the bottom of the page to receive email updates of my blog. You can also check out the classes on Twitter @MrsMarchantCLA or search #gr45cla (extended) OR #gr4cla (blended)

The staff that work in room #107 from left to right include Ms.Audrey (Educational Assistant), Ms.Starkey (Teacher Candidate), Kyla Marchant (English Teacher), and Mme.Joly (French Extended Teacher)