Gerald McShane School News - English Montreal School Board

Gerald McShane School News
November 2014
Volume 3, Issue 3
Principal’s News
Jack Frost is Nipping at our Heels
The cold weather is quickly
approaching and we would like to
remind parents that children should
be dressed accordingly. Students
must have a pair of shoes in their
lockers once we get our first
snowfall because they will not be
permitted to enter the classroom
with their boots. Students should
also have an extra pair of socks in
their lockers.
Contents
Principal’s News
1
Homework Tips
1
Upcoming Events
1
Spiritual Animator News
2
CLC News
2
Governing Board News
3
PPO/Daycare News
3
Pre K & Kindergarten News
4
Cycle I News
4
Cycle II News
4
Cycle III News
5
Other Important Dates
5
Contact Us
4
Upcoming
Events

Parent/Teacher
Meetings

Book Fair and
Bake Sale

Open House
Lice
This is the time of year where cases
of lice arise. Please verify your
child’s hair regularly. In the event
you do find lice, immediately do a
treatment to prevent the spread.
Contact your local CLSC if you need
more information.
Remembrance Day
There will be a Remembrance Day
assembly for Grades 3 to 6 on
November 7th. Poppies will be sold
for $1.00 during the week of
November 3rd .
Parent/Teacher Meetings
We are reaching the end of Term I and
our first report to parents will take
place
on
Wednesday
evening,
November
19th
and
Thursday,
November 20the day and evening.
Soon you will receive a letter asking
when you are available to meet with
your child(ren)’s teachers. More details
will follow.
Book Fair and Bake Sale
Our annual Book Fair and Bake Sale
for students and parents will take
place on Wednesday, November 19th
for students and Thursday, November
20th
for
parents
during
the
parent/teacher meetings.
Proceeds
will benefit the students of Gerald
McShane.
I would like to thank the PPO parents
for their involvement in coordinating
the bake sale and the book fair and to
all parents for their baked goods and
their contribution in ensuring the
success of both events.
Open House
There will be an Open House for
parents looking to register their
Kindergarten children at McShane for
the 2015-2016 school year. Please
encourage new registrants to visit
our school between 8:30 and 11:30
on November 27th
Fundraising Money
The Governing Board Members have
approved $3000.00 towards the
much needed purchase of levelled
books for our students.
Photo
Retakes
Nov. 17th
At 8:15
Building Good Homework Habits from the Resource Team
Create routines conducive to work:
 Quiet place
 Well-lit
 Necessary supplies (pencils, paper, etc.)
 Daily time for homework
Help support autonomous behaviors:
 Help your child get started (which assignment to start first, make a checklist or a to do list)
 Answer questions when your child gets stuck
 Avoid sitting beside your child the whole time
 Model appropriate learning strategies (referring to a dictionary, reading, etc.)
 Praise effort
 Communicate with teachers if your child is unable to complete their homework
Ms. Colacci (resource teacher)
School Newsletter
School News
Page 2 of 5
School Animator
News
Ms Elizabeth, Spiritual Community
Hello students and families!
The beginning of the school year was a busy one. September and October.
In cooperation with Mrs. Kathy Vella (CLC Development Agent), we ended our garden activities this past
month. In October the classes each took a turn to help take down the garden and put it to rest for the winter
months.
We also hosted our Thanksgiving day Ceremony on October 15! All students in the school shared
something with each other. A Thanksgiving message was also presented during the ceremony. Finally, the winners
of the first Virtue of the Month were presented with a certificate for being the Most Thankful and Appreciative in
their class. Thank you to all parents and staff members who helped make the day a great success!
It was a busy time but it was great fun! I hope you all enjoy the end of the fall season. Take some time to
go outside for a walk and enjoy the beautiful fall colors nature has painted for us!
Upcoming events in November…Remembrance Day and Virtue of the Month (Most Courageous)
Community Learning Center News
October has been very busy month for the Green Team and Recycling Buddies. Eco-Quartier, our community
partner involved with the green team came in and set up a workshop on composting. They got to examine three different
compost mixes and had to identify the matter in it by touch and sight. Emilie who is working with this team will animate
several sessions for all grades in the near future.
Thank you to Calixa-Lavalle one of our new partners for baking us apple pies for our Thanksgiving celebration.
The pastry chefs were delighted to be involved in this project because in turn they were evaluated for their pastry skills
that week.
The Mother Goose Program will begin in the month of November. We will host our little tots Friday morning in
the CLC room. For those interested in knowing more about Mother Goose, please feel free to contact me at the school or
by email at ([email protected]) I will be glad to answer your questions.
The Community Learning Garden has allowed us to make hearty vegetable soup with Miss Elizabeth. The grade 2
and 4 listened to the story of Stone soup and in turn got to make and eat the soup at the end of the day. Grade 6 made
wonderful pasta and Pesto and got to bring home the pesto jar. The basil was amazing!!!
I would like to thank Anitha a parent volunteer, who helped the students with the pesto making and distribution
of the soup with grade 2. Thank you for the collaboration of Eco-quartier and Base garden initiative for taking care of
harvesting and laying our garden to rest for the winter.
The "Reading Buddies" will also begin this November on Mondays and Wednesdays with the CPE Oasis. Mme
Greco has agreed to continue this wonder relationship with eight toddlers from the daycare in our community to begin
this "reading to a buddy". We cannot wait to have the children come to "big" school and read together.
A warm thank-you to all the wonderful parents of GMS for making our first Oktoberfest a success!!! It was
beautiful to see all of you come together on such a fantastic occasion. Mother nature was on our side and I thank her too
for helping me out. Congratulation to our all our winners of the draws!!!! Thank-you for the donations-we raised
1179$.00 which will go towards other community events. YOU ARE GREAT!!!!
Please feel free to call or send me an e-mail if you wish to volunteer for upcoming activities or if you can
contribute to the schools events we are open to all. 514 321-1100 or [email protected]
PPO News
On behalf of the PPO I would like to thank you to the parents and community rep. involved
in organizing the Halloween Festivities
Angie Zampini(Halloween committee chairperson)
Anita Ruso
Lori Pallotta
Andree Chrétien
Flavia Fortugno
Lucia Iavasile
Sabrina Reda
Laura Paparelli
Angie Di Maulo
BASE Daycare
Domenic Iavenditi
Former parent Rene Hardy and two children
Mary Ahwazi
Kathy Smalley
Liliana Zarlenga
Lucie Iavasile, Chairperson of PPO
School Newsletter
School News
Governing Board News
The Governing Board meetings will take place at 7:00
p.m. at the school. The PPO meetings will generally
be held at 7:00 on a different day.
Liliana Zalrlanga, Chairperson of Governing Board
Page
ALWAYS
NEW AND
EXCITING
NEWS
The GB dates are the following:
Sept 18th,Oct 23rd, Dec. 11th ,
Jan. 22nd, Mar 19, Apr. 23rd,
May 21st, June 11th
Daycare News
In the event of a
School Closure due
to inclement weather
or other emergency
conditions,
the
announcement
will
appear on the Twitter
section posted on the
EMSB website at
www.emsb.qc.ca.
School closings will
also be broadcast in
the morning on all
local stations and on
the
EMSB
info
hotline:
(514) 798-5606
We have moved!! Our new daycare area is rewarding for the children. Their art work
and activities are hung in their respective classes. The students are thrilled to have a
space that is theirs. Thank you to Ms Richer for her determination in getting things
done. In September, daycare had their first carnival day filled with prizes, carnival
games, face painting and a movie. This day was a total success. Thanks to the
daycare and B.A.S.E staff for their help in planning the event.
In the month of October, Daycare students had their first outing to La Magie de la
Pomme. The orchard provided the students with an authentic learning experience
while being totally entertained.
In November, we have FOUR ped-days!!!
Grade Level Activities for the month:
In preparation for our HALLOWEEN circus day, the daycare students in all levels are
working hard preparing the clowns and gestures to decorate the halls, for all to see!
Pre-k and K have been busy with Ms Ida, preparing clown faces and turkeys and
autumn foliage. Level 1-2 have worked hard with Ms Candy, preparing the clown
bellies and autumn sceneries. Level 3and 4 with Ms Silvana, have progressed with the
gestures and the thanksgiving stone. Level s 5 & 6 with Ms Mac, students will help
with the Halloween treats and made q-tip skeletons. Come by the daycare and see
our displays!
Loredana Pallotta
Daycare Responsable
Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten News
Pre-k would like to thank all of the parents who volunteered to help tie our skates! We really had a blast! Please
note that the next skating day for pre-k is: Tuesday November 18. We hope you can make it! It was great seeing
all of the Pre-K parents at Oktoberfest!
October has been a wonderful month as we celebrated the changing season. We welcomed Autumn by picking the
colorful fallen leaves. We also enjoyed apple pie for Thanksgiving. We read great stories and learned spooky
songs about pumpkins, witches, ghosts and other monsters! We finished our Halloween preparations by carving
our enormous pumpkin. He's got a scary face and 3 sharp teeth! Our pumpkin had almost 100 seeds! We are
SUPER excited about Halloween and just know that we are going to have a Spook-tacular time!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Ms. Laura
Pendant le mois d‟octobre, les enfants de la maternelle ont pu découvrir les caractéristiques de la saison
d‟automne à l‟aide de plusieurs activités et ont fêté la fin du mois avec la fête d‟Halloween. Quelle journée
amusante pour nous tous!
Le programme de lait a débuté et les enfants reçoivent cette collatiion tous les jours.
Durant le mois de novembre, nous parlerons des parties du corps. Nous allons aussi rencontrer l'infirmière qui
nous donnera des informations concernant les allergies et les microbes. Nous irons patiner le 25 novembre. Les
parents sont les bienvenus à l'aréna (vers 8h10) pour voir les enfants patiner et aider les professeurs à attacher
les patins. C'est un mois de novembre rempli d‟énergie pour les élèves de maternelle!
Madame Patricia et Madame Mimma
School Newsletter
Cycle News
Page 4 of 5
Cycle I News
Newsletter cycle 1Pendant le mois de novembre, les élèves du cycle 1 continuerons à travailler sur la lecture et
l’écriture grâce à la méthode : « Les 5 au quotidien ». Lors de cette activité, les enfants visitent différents
centres dans la classe: la lecture à soi, la lecture 2 par 2 à tour de rôle, l’écoute d’histoires sur CD
accompagnées de livres, des travaux d’écriture et l’étude de mots. Toutes ces activités seront présentées au
cours de l’année scolaire.
De plus, en mathématique, nous enseignerons des stratégies d’additions et de soustractions. La résolution de
problèmes fera aussi partie des leçons.
Nous remercions les parents pour leur aide à l’aréna lors du patinage. Il y a vraiment beaucoup de patins à
attacher!
Sonia Lessard et Paola Naccarello
Cycle II News
Grade 4
Next Hepatitis A & B
, HPV vaccines will
be held on April
15th for Grade 4
students and
vaccination booklets
or photocopy is
required.
Cycle II News
Dear Parents,
November is very much like Fall, the harvesting season. The children edit, revise and
hand in their work. Teachers collect the children's work to see "the fruit of their labor."
It would be very helpful to your child if you checked their agenda, so they complete
homework and study. November is exam month, so please encourage your child to study and
make
sure they get to bed early so they are able to work well during the day.
Skating will start on November 4th and 6th.
Thank you to the parents who came to help out for the HPV and Hepatitis vaccines. The next
dose will be given on April 15th. To a productive November!
Mme Greco, Ms. Silva, Ms. Varano & Ms. Amanda
Cycle III News
Quel plaisir de travailler avec les élèves motivés de la 5 e année! On travaille fort et on aime ça!
Les petites présentations orales sur l’halloween ont été très populaires et un franc succès!
Les projets sur les planètes et le système solaires sont maintenant terminées, les élèves nous
présenteront le fruit de leurs efforts en classe à l’aide de leurs belles affiches.
De plus, nous poursuivons nos efforts dans la conjugaison des verbes de base. Il est très important
d’encourager vos enfants à bien les étudier chaque semaine.
Enfin, nous avons fait notre championnat des Génies en herbe pour le mois de septembre. Les gagnants
sont Samuel De Chiara dans le groupe 5A et Giulia Pandolfo dans le groupe 5B. Félicitations à tous les
participants!
Mme Geneviève
In grade 5, the students will be continuing to learn about cultures, events, and ideas which represent
the grand diversity of the peoples of North America. The various biographies, works of fiction as well as
nonfiction, provide the reading practice for the students. As well, various extension activities will stem
from the aforementioned sources such as: comprehension, vocabulary, and connections to other
disciplines.
For math, the students are currently employing several strategies for problem solving such as: making a
list, drawing a diagram, as well as guessing and checking. They are also currently multiplying 3-digit
numbers by 2-digit numbers, and multiplying multiples of 10, 100, and 1000.
The first term will soon be over and we are looking forward to meeting with you in order to discuss your
child’s progress at Reporting Time.
Please encourage your children to continue reviewing their multiplication tables so that they may
experience greater success, when tackling the concepts of division and multiplication.
Kind regards,
Ms.Varano and Mrs. Mirarchi
School Newsletter
Cycle News
Page 5 of 5
Cycle III News continued
November will be an exciting month!! Grade 6 students will be working with the grade three and
grade four students. They will be reading to them and writing with them. This will help instill the
joy and love of reading as well as learning! They will also be working on their book report projects
which will be due on Monday, November 10. They have been given the criteria for their book
reports. They need to be creative with their book reports! They may create skits and scenes
regarding the novel they choose for their book report. They will also continue to work on the novel
“Holes”. They will continue to pick up more vocabulary words, improve their reading
comprehension skills, as well as their writing skills.
In math, please continue to practice the basic facts (multiplication tables) with your child. The
students will continue to work on Geometry. We will be learning about polygons, triangles, angles,
quadrilaterals, and parallel and perpendicular lines. Before the end of the month, the students
will be practicing the associative property of multiplication, the distributive property of
multiplication, the order of operations, positive and negative numbers, multiples, factors,
divisibility rules, and measurement (mass and capacity) . We will continue to work on problem
solving skills. I understand that there is a lot of material to learn and I need your help to make
sure they learn it. I need to get them prepared for the end of year exam in April/May. It is
important that the students understand that every minute of class time is valuable. There is a lot
of work to be done! Homework is an extension of class work. Homework allows the students to
practice what they have learned. If they do not understand a concept being taught, they need to
ask questions in class before the test. Please remind your child to ask questions in class, be
attentive in class, and do homework on a daily basis.
In Ethics and Religious Culture, we will be analyzing different scenarios in order to determine
proper decision making. We will have class debates about topics in which the students are
interested. Thank you for making sure homework is completed and brought back. Thank you for
checking the agendas. We need to continue to work as a team in order for our children to succeed.
Mrs. Scalia 6A-6B
En sciences nous avons presque terminé l’initiation au microscope. Nous allons bientôt commencer
le thème sur l’électricité: «Piles et ampoules». Nous découvrirons les matériaux conducteurs et
non conducteurs (isolants). Nous construirons des circuits en série et en parallèle pour constater
leurs différences.
Gerald McShane
6111 Maurice Duplessis
Montreal North, Quebec
H1G 1Y6
Phone:
(514) 321-1100
Fax:
(514) 321-1448
E-mail:
[email protected]
En univers social, nous commençons l’étape 2: Les faits marquants de 1905 à 1960. En français,
nous sommes rendus à l’étape 3: «Plein la tête» et nous commençons la lecture d’un nouveau
roman: «Le garçon qui rêvait d’être un héros».
Notre première séance de patinage aura jeudi le 13 novembre. N’oubliez pas de vérifier les patins,
le casque de hockey et les gants.
Je vous remercie pour votre précieuse collaboration!
M. Lemaire 6A/6B
Other Important Dates
Monday, November 3rd
Professional Day(Daycare services available)
Wednesday, November 19th
Book Fair and Bake Sale for students and parents
Parent Teacher interviews 2:30-8:30
Thursday, November 20th
Ped Day( no school for students, daycare open)
(Parent teacher Interviews 1:00-4:00 and 6:00-8:00)
Friday, November 21nd
Ped Day(no school for students, daycare open-daycare
open)
Thursday, November 27th
Open House for New Kindergarten Registrants
Friday, November 28th
No School for students, Daycare open QPAT Teachers
convention
“We are committed to
the development of the
whole child…”
We’re on the Web!
www.geraldmcshane.ca