Thursday, January 28, 2016

This week our students participated in many enriching activities. Our grade 1-4 students saw the Shoestring Opera (thanks Mrs. Rankin), our intermediate students visited with author, Caroline Pignat, and our grade 1-8 students participated in a lesson using Google Expeditions (thanks to Mr. Hodgson). 

We also had our Parent Council meeting on Monday night. The council is organizing Springfest and is searching for many volunteers to help. We are hoping people sign up sooner than later to help in the planning. Sometimes we end up "begging" for volunteers at the end, and the whole process becomes quite stressful, so please read the Bulletin and sign up as early as possible. Thanks. 

You probably received an email regarding signing up for parent interviews. You'll need the code in the email to use the on-line booking system. As per the email, at this time of the year, interviews are usually held if there is a concern by the teacher or a parent, so don't hesitate to book an interview. Report cards will be sent home on February 5th. 

Mrs. Stefanowicz, our office administrator, asked me to remind you to call the office if we don't have your email on file. Our automated telephone system send messages using it. 

We are having TDSB personnel come check out our pipes tomorrow. The city has been working on a main at the corner and our water tastes a bit "dirty" sometimes-probably from sediment. Caretaker John continues to flush the pipes. Continue to bring water bottles for your children. We will keep you posted. 

Looking forward to tonight's middle school music night. 


February 2016
1-Aussie X Dance Presentations Begins
2-Ms. Shklar, Mr. Littlejohn and Mrs. Taylor skate at MasterCard; Aussie X Dance; Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Sr Volleyball at John G 
3-Aussie X Dance; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge; Jr/Sr Hockey Game 
4-Aussie X Dance; Sr Bball at Deer Park; Parent On-line booking closes 
5-Report Cards go home; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration; Ms. Sunde, Ms. Souter and Ms. Mandel skate at MasterCard; Scientist in School visit Mrs. Heath and Mrs. Olson 
10-Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge; Scientist in School visit Mrs. Gibson; Sr Bball Tourney at LKS; Mrs. Kimm visits Waste Management Facility 
11-Jr and Sr Hockey Games  
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly; PINK DAY (anti-bullying campaign); Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Chess Club 
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-6 Houseleague

March 2016
4-Grade 6-8 Ski Trip 
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 
29-Junior Assembly
30-Primary Assembly
31-Kindergarten Assembly; Grade 6-8 House Event 

April 2016 

4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night 
8-Pizza Day 
26-Primary Assembly 
27-Junior Assembly 
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Thursday, January 21, 2016

It's been a very busy week at the school and it looks like it will continue to be so over the next few weeks. We had a staff meeting today and took some time to review many staff initiatives. We are truly blessed to have so many enriching activities for our students. The following will give you some indication of those activities:

-the grade 6 and 8 teachers reviewed the Internet presentations their students participated in and offered both teaching and personal strategies to staff; we will be organizing a Parent Night sometime in the Spring 

-the Seeds of Hope Club visited the local retirement home before the holidays and will begin selling hot chocolate in February to support the Daily Food Bank; the club will volunteer at the Bank soon

-Eco-Warriors have had many initiatives including but not limited to: Be Nice to Nature; paper making and the current light bulb and battery collection recycling program 

-Chess began yesterday at lunch and will continue for the next 7 weeks; lots of talented young chess players

-Parent Council will begin collecting for a Syrian Refugee Sponsored family soon 

-about 25 grade 6 students have gone through the Peer Mediation training and will begin working on Monday to help support our little ones when conflicts arise at recess 

-the IT committee has the new mobile labs running (thanks to Parent Council and your support) and we will be ordering the latest Smart Notebook software 

-the grade 6-8 House Program got off to a great start; we will be expanding it to the grade 5 classes next year

-many of our staff will be attending workshops over the next two months including; Inquiry workshops at Rotman and our TDSB Family of Schools; Reading for the Love of It and workshops in math and mental health 

-the grade 4 classes loved the Robotics workshops; please encourage your children to sign up for the summer program; 

-the Mental Health Committee will be providing resources to staff on child anxiety 

-Kindergarten Registration will be on Feb 9 and 10; it should be a great day with lots of student and parent volunteers 

-Aussie X will be coming to teach special dance units and grade 4-6 houseleagues began this week

Have a great weekend everyone!

January 2016

22-PA Day (no school as teachers write report cards) 
25-Fire Safety Presentations begin; Grade 7 and 8 Vaccinations 
26-Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Author Visit: Caroline Pignat; Fire Safety continues: Google Expedition Presentations 
27-Fire Safety Continues; Shoestring Opera; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
28-Grade 6-8 Middle School Concert at 6:30 p.m.; Fire Safety Presentations end; Sr Hockey Game; Grade 4 to Science Center 
29-Kindergarten and Intermediate Sharing Assemblies; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-8 Houseleague 

February 2016
1-Parents On-line Interview Booking Opens: Aussie X Dance Presentations Begin 
2nd-Ms. Shklar, Mr. Littlejohn and Mrs. Taylor skate at MasterCard; Aussie X Dance; Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Sr Volleyball at John G 
3-Aussie X Dance; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
4-Aussie X Dance; Sr Bball at Deer Park 
5-Report Cards go home; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration; Ms. Sunde, Ms. Souter and Ms. Mandel skate at MasterCard; Scientist in School visit Mrs. Heath and Mrs. Olson 
10-Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge; Scientist in School visit Mrs. Gibson; Sr Bball Tourney at LKS; Mrs. Kimm visits Waste Management Facility 
11-Jr and Sr Hockey Games  
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly; PINK DAY (anti-bullying campaign); Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Chess Club 
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-6 Houseleague

March 2016
4-Grade 6-8 Ski Trip 
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 
29-Junior Assembly
30-Primary Assembly
31-Kindergarten Assembly; Grade 6-8 House Event 

April 2016 

4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night 
8-Pizza Day 
26-Primary Assembly 
27-Junior Assembly 
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Friday, January 15, 2016

On Monday, our grade 8 classes listened to Officer Rich, our community liaison officer, on Bullying and Cyberbullying. The presentation focused on how the students should act as leaders when presented with the knowledge of either. By grade 8 the students are very much aware of the types of bullying (phyical, verbal, emotional/social and cyber) and how to take a stand against bullying, but Officer Rich reminded them of the legal consequences that could result from bullying. Monday's presentation was a good follow-up to Ms. Dellandrea's presentation the Friday before which focused on the legal aspects of on-line inappropriate messages and photos. 

On Thursday, our grade 6 classes also particpated in an internet workshop with Mrs. Gordon. Mrs. Gordon has presented at LKS many times in the past. Her workshop focuses on digital footprints and privacy with a clear message that the students are in charge and need to be literate and savvy. 

Grade 4 Robotics Workshop 

The grade four classes had a fantastic hands-on experience during the Robotics workshop. David, the presenter, taught the students how to program robots to move through a maze! The students were highly engaged as they used a variety of problem-solving strategies to complete their final challenges. Don't forget to sign up for Lego Robotics camp; the poster was in last week's Parent Bulletin. 

Ms. Younger's Rubric 

Ms. Norton and I visited many classrooms this week and saw some incredible best practices being implemented by our fabulous staff. Mrs. Younger continues to co-construct  rubrics with her students. Mrs. Younger could just make the rubric and then tell the students that their work will be evaluated using it, but research shows that if the children take part in creating the rubric (co-construct), the rubric will be more authentic and provide more meaningful, descriptive feedback. 

Mr. Kuru's Planning 

Mr. Kuru is very proud of his organizational skills as he has mapped out all of his quizzes for the next two months; even though they may change depending on the students' progress. He told me that he teaches the students not just the math curriculum, but as importantly how to study and write a quiz or exam. He stresses there is a structure to each teacher's tests, quizzes and exams and there is a skill to writing them; an important strategy to learn as they head into secondary school. 



Finally, I'm sending you a photo of a poster outside of Mrs. Zappi's room that she has begun to use with her class outlining the differences between "Tattling and Reporting"-something that can be used at home. 

Tattling vs Reporting 

I hope you all have a great weekend. 

January 2016

18-Primary Sharing Assembly; Grade 8 Special Education Reviews; Jr Hockey Tournament 
19-Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Primary Sharing Assembly; 
20-School Bus Safety Presentation K-3; Chess Club at lunch: Grade 4-6 Houseleague 
21-Junior Sharing Assembly; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
22-PA Day (no school as teachers write report cards) 
25-Fire Safety Presentations begin; Grade 7 and 8 Vaccinations 
26-Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Author Visit: Caroline Pignat; Fire Safety continues: Google Expedition Presentations 
27-Fire Safety Continues; Shoestring Opera; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
28-Grade 6-8 Middle School Concert at 6:30 p.m.; Fire Safety Presentations end; Sr Hockey Game
29-Kindergarten and Intermediate Sharing Assemblies; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-8 Houseleague 

February 2016
1-Parents On-line Interview Booking Opens: Aussie X Dance Presentations Begin 
2nd-Ms. Shklar, Mr. Littlejohn and Mrs. Taylor skate at MasterCard; Aussie X Dance; Grade 4-6 Houseleague
3-Aussie X Dance; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
4-Aussie X Dance
5-Report Cards go home; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration; Ms. Sunde, Ms. Souter and Ms. Mandel skate at MasterCard 
10-Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
11-Jr and Sr Hockey Games  
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly; PINK DAY (anti-bullying campaign); Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Chess Club 
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-6 Houseleague

March 2016
4-Grade 6-8 Ski Trip 
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Happy New Year and Welcome Back! Further best wishes to our community members who are celebrating Ukrainian Christmas today and Chinese New Year shortly.

We've had a great week back. Everyone is settling back into the routine of the school day. The grade three classes spent time reviewing their learning skills and made goals for the remainder of first term. Their artwork is displayed in the halls.

The teachers continue to finish up units with final assessments needed to complete report cards over the next few weeks. Mrs. Norton and I continue to work with staff sharing best practices. As we visit the classrooms we are looking for evidence of differentiated instruction, anchor charts, descriptive feedback, success criteria and how they have co-constructed learning with the students; all effective teaching strategies.

Middle School Houseleague (volleyball) began and will continue over the next week, followed by grade 4-6 Houseleague. Participants will be playing in a European Handball tournament. It should go right until March Break. The Jr Boys' Basketball team continues practice with Mr. Ellerker, as well as the Jr/Sr Girls' Volleyball Teams with Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Sunde, Mr. Kuru and Mr. Ross. Mr. Bracht continues hockey practices in the wee hours on Thursday mornings.

We are welcoming Ms. Dellandrea, an LKS parent, who will be presenting a workshop to our grade 8 classes on social media safety tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

Grade 1 Anchor Chart showing levels  

Middle School Girls' Houseleague 

January 2016
 4-School Begins 
11-Officer Rich visits grade 1 and 8 
18-Primary Sharing Assembly; Grade 8 Special Education Reviews; Jr Hockey Tournament 
19-Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Primary Sharing Assembly; 
20-School Bus Safety Presentation K-3; Chess Club at lunch: Grade 4-6 Houseleague 
21-Junior Sharing Assembly; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
22-PA Day (no school as teachers write report cards) 
25-Fire Safety Presentations begin; Grade 7 and 8 Vaccinations 
26-Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Author Visit: Caroline Pignat; Fire Safety continues: Google Expedition Presentations 
27-Fire Safety Continues; Shoestring Opera; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
28-Grade 6-8 Middle School Concert at 6:30 p.m.; Fire Safety Presentations end; Sr Hockey Game
29-Kindergarten and Intermediate Sharing Assemblies; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-8 Houseleague 

February 2016
1-Parents On-line Interview Booking Opens: Aussie X Dance Presentations Begin 
2nd-Ms. Shklar, Mr. Littlejohn and Mrs. Taylor skate at MasterCard; Aussie X Dance; Grade 4-6 Houseleague
3-Aussie X Dance; Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
4-Aussie X Dance
5-Report Cards go home; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration; Ms. Sunde, Ms. Souter and Ms. Mandel skate at MasterCard 
10-Chess Club; Grade 4-6 Houseleauge 
11-Jr and Sr Hockey Games  
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly; PINK DAY (anti-bullying campaign); Grade 4-6 Houseleague; Chess Club 
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch; Grade 4-6 Houseleague

March 2016
4-Grade 6-8 Ski Trip 
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has a terrific holiday celebrating and relaxing with  family and friends. 

We will see you back on January 4th! 


Holidays 
Dec 21-Jan 1, 2016-School Holidays 

January 2016
 4-School Begins 
7-Fire Safety Presentations; Scientist visit Mrs. Tyndall 
11-Officer Rich visits grade 1 and 8 
13-Fire Safety Presentations 
18-Primary Sharing Assembly
21-Junior/Intermediate Sharing Assembly
22-PA Day
29-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 

February 2016
5-Report Cards go home 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration 
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
18-Special Education Annual Reviews 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch 

March 2016
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Thursday, December 10, 2015

A big thank you to Dr. Grant for organizing and hosting our grade 1-4 concert last night. The music was fabulous and the kids were so enthusiastic. Thanks to Mrs. Snowden for decorating the gym. 

Last week, I reviewed our Literacy goals; this week I will continue with our Math and STEM goals. 

Mathematics and Numeracy 2014-2015

-Staff participated in a workshop offered by our Family of Schools Consultant on the Three Part Math Lesson

-Implicit Teaching of Problem­ Solving Strategies

-Implementation of Mad Minute to review basic computational skills

-Differentiated Instruction as all children learn differently

-Sharing of best practices among staff

-Middle Schools students encouraged to compete in math competitions held at school

-Purchased license for IXL and Khan Academy (mostly at middle school level) for use at home

-Implicit teaching of EQAO strategies across the grades

-Math Word Walls visible in the classrooms

STEM (Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering) 2014-2015 

-implementation of Grade 6­-8 Science Fair

-implementation of Games Club and Robotics

-IT Committee established to care for and purchase hardware/software and provide PD/support to staff

-hands on experiments must be used in the science program, limiting the use of photocopied booklets

-computer labs scheduled for classes across the grades to develop skills according to LKS curriculum guidelines

-began incorporating inquiry-based projects

 2015-2016 Focus

-math strands evaluated using quizzes, unit tests, bell work, homework, problem of the week, mad minute etc. 

-manipulatives must be used when appropriate

-use less paper tasks when evaluating

-computer programs like IXL and Khan augment the teacher’s program

-use the 3 Part Math Lesson when appropriate

-Scientist in School will augment the teacher’s program

-implementation of Jr First Lego League in Ms. Kim’s class

-purchased IPADS for kindergarten and music classes, and netbooks for mobile carts

Have a great weekend everyone.

Decmeber 2015
14-Primary Sharing Assembly; Grade 1 Houseleague
15-Kindergarten and Grade 4 and 5 Sharing Assembly; Grade 2 Houseleague; Grade 6-8 Middle School Dance; Seeds of Hope at Retirement Home; Author Visit: Ellie MacKay 
17th-K-3 School Bus Safety Presentation; Stonegate Delivery; Grade 6-8 Sharing Assembly   
18-Grade 3 Houseleague; Carol Singing at 9:00 a.m.  
Dec 21-Jan 1, 2016-School Holidays 

January 2016
 4-School Begins 
11-Officer Rich visits grade 1 and 8 
18-Primary Sharing Assembly
21-Junior/Intermediate Sharing Assembly
22-PA Day
29-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 

February 2016
5-Report Cards go home 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration 
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
18-Special Education Annual Reviews 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch 

March 2016
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students 

Friday, December 4, 2015

This week, staff reviewed our 2014-2015 School Improvement Plan and looked at areas of focus for 2015-2016. Some of our initiatives were delayed due to the Work to Rule and may continue until the local agreement is ratified with TDSB, but staff will continue to focus on working in teams to plan their programs. Over the next few blogs, I'll share our learning with you. In Literacy:

2014-2015 

-Grade ones in need of more support receive Early Literacy Intervention strategies by our resource teachers and support staff

-Staff uses “Bloom’s Taxonomy” strategies to promote higher level thinking

-Two staff attended a one day workshop at Rotman on Integrative Thinking and presented at the December workshop with the intention that staff could use the strategies in the classrooms; Ms. Kimm and Mrs. Perrin attended a 3 ­day workshop on I­Thinking at Rotman, courtesy of TDSB

-All classes have computers and library scheduled into their timetables

-Teachers have built in planning time to share best practices and plan as a team

-Best Practices such as Differentiated Instruction, Anchor Charts, Descriptive Feedback, Success Criteria and Co-­construction of goals are implemented within each classroom

-Literacy Blocks are scheduled as much as the timetable will allow, especially for the primary teachers, to allow for more literacy time

-Parents encouraged to use on­line reading programs (RAZ) at home (funds for license provided by Parent Council)

-Collection of data (CTBS, EQAO, DRA/CASI, Classroom Assessments/Evaluations, and Report Card etc.) is used to guide our practice 

2015-2016 Literacy Focus

-continue to focus on creating a balanced reading program including but not limited to, the use of reading logs, shared reading, reading responses, reader’s workshop, novel studies, shared reading and read alouds

-continue to use CASI/DRA as assessments 

-continue to teach spelling and grammar

-continue to teach using writer’s workshop, journals and writing assignments for purpose (use First Steps Writing as resource)

-continue to focus on oral presentations like retells, recounts, Special Person, current events, speeches, debates etc.

-continue to provide media literacy using our LKS primary resource developed by staff; create junior media literacy resource 

Throughout the year, we continue to teach the students, particularly the middle school, about Internet safety. I saw this article about a high school student's struggle recently and thought you'd like to look at it. It could help open up a discussion at home. We are sharing it  with our grade 7 and 8 students.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/lynelle-cantwell-ugliest-girl-facebook-1.3347311

Have a great weekend everyone!

December 2015 
7-Grade 1 House League at Lunch
8-Grade 2 House League at Lunch; Grade 8 classes visit ECI  
9-Primary/Grade 4 Concert -6:30 p.m.
10- Grade 1-8 Report Cards Go Home; Grade 6-8 Concert/Grade 5 Drumming -6:30 p.m. (postponed until Jan 28th) 
11-Pizza Lunch; Grade 3 House League 
14-Primary and Jr/Intermediate Sharing Assembly; Grade 1 Houseleague
15-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Grade 2 Houseleague; Grade 6-8 Middle School Dance; Seeds of Hope at Retirement Home; Author Visit: Ellie MacKay 
17th-K-3 School Bus Safety Presentation  
18-Grade 3 Houseleague 
Dec 21-Jan 1, 2016-School Holidays 

January 2016
 4-School Begins 
11-Officer Rich visits grade 1 and 8 
18-Primary Sharing Assembly
21-Junior/Intermediate Sharing Assembly
22-PA Day
29-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 

February 2016
5-Report Cards go home 
9 and 10-Kindergarten Registration 
12-PA Day
15-Family Day 
18-Special Education Annual Reviews 
22-Parent Council 
23-Primary Sharing Assembly
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch 

March 2016
14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 

May 2016
 23-Victoria Day 

June 2016
10-PA Day

29-Last Day for Students