Starting next week the whole school will be participating in tennis lessons as part of our physical education curriculum.  A notice was sent home earlier this week.  Please only return the notice to school if you are NOT wanting your child to participate in the lessons.  If you have any questions please see Ms. Pasqualetto or Ms. Dente.

The leadership team at Kitchener Elementary is trying to raise funds to purchase a billy goat to send to a Community in a Developing Country.   Leadership students will be coming around to the classrooms this week until February 28th to collect money for this campaign. 

Wednesday February 28th is Pink Shirt day to raise awareness about Kindness and Anti-Bullying.  Students are encouraged to wear pink to support this day and earn points for their House Team. 

The 100th day of school is quickly approaching on Thursday March 1st.  I hope that your children have been busy making/creating or collecting their 100 items to bring to class.   Students are encouraged to dress for the day as if they are 100 years old although they are not required to do so.  If you have any questions please see Ms. Pasqualetto. 

Thank you, 
Ms. Pasqualetto :0)

Wow we had such a great time at Science World.  Thank you so much to all the Parents who volunteered their time to make the field trip run as smoothly as it did and a special thanks to the PAC and to Science World for the bursary which made this trip a possibility.  For many of the students it was their first visit and for others it was another great day spent exploring all the fun things there is to do at Science World.  

The Radical Ramps workshop was a highlight for many of us and it let the students practice their growth mindset of not giving up when something doesn’t work the first time.  Other exhibits that were enjoyed included the Eureka lab (the air cannons and ball launchers were a huge hit) as were the water sprayers in the Our World Exhibit.  The Tallest man and the walk through snake were highlights for many in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Exhibit. 

Ms. Pasqualetto :0) 

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I hope that everyone has been enjoying their Winter Holiday and that you were able to spend some time out in the brief snowfall that we had.  I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures during your vacation when we return to school. 

The last week of school was a very busy one for our class.  We spent lots of time with our Buddies in preparation for the Christmas Concert (which was amazing!) we also saw them while we made graham cracker houses and we joined them in eating pancakes in the gym.  

I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays and have a wonderful start to the New Year.  The school will re-open on Monday January 8th. 

Ms. Pasqualetto :0)

Well at least that is the colour our class needs to be wearing for the Christmas Concert on December 19th.  The concert date is fast approaching and it is the day the kids have all been working so hard towards.  There will be two performances (afternoon and evening) that all students in the school are performing in.  If there is any reason that your child will be absent please let us know ASAP.    For our costumes Mr. Turpin has asked that students wear as much green as they can including green gloves.   

Aside from practicing for the performance our class has been busy ringing in the season.  Ms. Dente led the class through a directed drawing of a reindeer (you can see their work above their coat hooks in the room).  We have also been reading lots of winter books and discussing our favourite activities to do in the Winter.   One of my favourite activities to do is to build gingerbread houses and decorate sugar cookies.  On December 21st we will be making/decorating graham cracker houses with our big buddies.  A short note was sent home on Friday asking for small nut free candies to be sent to class by Dec 18th so that way the kids will have them to decorate their houses with.   We are doing the gingerbread houses in lieu of a class Christmas party however if you are wanting to send something in please reach out to Nancy or myself.   A reminder that we are a peanut aware classroom and we now have 16 students in our class.  

It has been wonderful learning more about each student with their All About Me bags.  The kids are doing a wonderful job telling about the artifacts they are bringing in and why they are special/important to them.  When we return from the Winter Break the students can resume bringing a single item for their special helper day.  The January special helper calendar will be sent home with your child’s report card on December 20th.  

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! 
Ms. Pasqualetto :0)

Wow!  I can hardly believe that there are only 4 days left to November.  Time is going to fly by in December with all the great things that we have planned at school. 

Last week the students were all rock stars while we were watching the Aqua Van presentation in the morning and then during our small presentation in the afternoon.  Even though some students were hesitant at first to touch the sea urchin most really enjoyed seeing it up close as well as the sea star.  The students got to feel an Orca’s jaw and teeth and touch a piece of baleen.  While it wasn’t the same as actually going to see the animals in their natural habitat or visiting the Vancouver Aquarium it was a neat experience to have in our very own gym! 

Reminders:

Ms. Solomon is hosting our Scholastic Book Fair in the Library this week.  If you plan on visiting don’t forget your ballot that was sent home in the small book fair flyer a week or so ago to enter the draw for free books (I will also be sending home the classroom December Scholastic flyers this week if there is anything you would like to order from there.)

This week we are starting to collect for the WE Scare Hunger Food Drive Hamper donations.  Our class is collecting jarred/canned pasta sauce specifically but any non-perishable food donation would be greatly appreciated.  

The Christmas Concert will be on Tuesday December 19th so mark your calendars.  

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Last Tuesday when we visited the Apple Barn we all tasted Jona Gold apples.  They were juicy, crisp and nice and cold.  We learned about where apples grow, how they are made into cider at the farm and about the different things we make using apples. 

The Apple barn gave us a bag of apples to take home and after we did an apple investigation in class we decided to make a batch of apple sauce.  On Thursday morning after discussing safety around using a slow cooker, knife and washing our hands we set out to make applesauce.  To save time Ms. Pasqualetto peeled the apples and all the student helped to slice them using an apple slicer and then helped to dice some of the slices into pieces using a butter knife. 

The apple pieces were set to cook in the slow cooker for 4 hours! hoping to be turned into some delicious apple sauce that we would eat during our centres time in the afternoon.  Unfortunately our applesauce sampling would have to be delayed by a day though due to a three hour power outage in the area.   The class finally had a chance to taste our class made applesauce on Friday and the general consensus was a two thumbs up! 

Well it was a rocky start to our Tuesday but fortunately a few of our classes (including us) were still able to go on our planned field trip to the Pumpkin Patch/Apple Orchard.   The kids were amazing while the teachers were trying to figure out the logistics of being shorted a school bus (due to a breakdown).  Thank you to the parents who were able to join us (and drove all the way out to Abbotsford!) the trip would not have been able to go ahead without your flexibility.  

The students enjoyed what was for many of them their first time on a school bus.  There was lots of singing, chatting, playing eye spy with our seat mates to help pass the time and a few students even fell asleep.  Things that we noticed on the journey, buses make us the same height as big dump trucks, there are lots of police cars on the freeway and the trees are beautiful colours of red, yellow and orange.  

Due to the bus mishap we were a bit late arriving at the patch so our snack was cut short and we promptly went for our hay ride to choose the perfect pumpkin.  All the kids were awesome at making sure they made good decisions and a few even changed their mind a couple of times when they themselves realized their choice was too heavy.  With our pumpkins secured in our bags we boarded the hay ride again to go to visit their country store.  We learned about their resident Queen Bee and her workers who help to pollinate the apple trees and we then watched a video on how they make their apple cider on site and got to sample some of their cider and it was delicious.  Next on our tour was a brief visit with the animals which for some was their favourite part.  After washing our hands we watched a demonstration of how apples are sorted using a sorting machine before sitting down to have our lunch. 

Despite the hiccups the kids report that they had a great time and I think most would have loved to have spent the entire afternoon on the big jumping pillow.    

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