Pancake Breakfast (am)

As Lent is quickly approaching, it is time to get our fundraising underway. Our first major event will involve raising funds for Escuala San Jose Las Flores in El Salvador. Our class has set a goal of $50 for this cause. To raise the money, students can purchase a pancake breakfast for $2. We will be making the pancakes in class as part of our procedural writing unit. This fundraiser is slightly different than what the majority of classes in the school are doing, so please be advised that if you have a child in a different class, there is a different fundraiser happening.

I will have the ingredients ready to go but the students will be helping make the pancakes. If anyone has an electric cooker similar to the one in the picture above, and wouldn't mind lending it to us for the morning, it would be greatly appreciated.

Students interested in partaking are asked to bring in their donation ($2 minimum please) by next Monday (February 4).

Cake Raffle - February 1

As a way to raise money for the Gr. 6 St. Brigid’s June trip and leaving ceremony,  the Grade Six class will be holding a Cake & Fun Raffle on Friday, February 1st.

This is a raffle for all students to participate in. Tickets are $0.50 each, 5 for $2.00 or 12 for $5.00 and can be purchased from your child’s teacher. We always need donations, and all families are invited to participate. You can send in homemade or store-bought cakes, new toys and stuffies, or other clearly marked baked items (we ask for baked items to be nut-free). These items can be sent in the day of the raffle with your child and brought directly to the library.

Tickets will be available to purchase beginning on Monday, January 28th through until the morning of Friday’s raffle. There is no limit to the number of tickets a student may purchase, however each student will be eligible to win one prize only.  

All cakes and prizes will go home with the winners on Friday, February 1st. Winners of cakes will be given the opportunity to contact a parent to arrange transportation for their delicious prize. Otherwise, the students will walk or take their cakes home on the school bus.

We are very excited to see all of the yummy cakes, surprises and treats on that day! It is guaranteed to be an exciting start to February.

Thank you very much for your support!
The Grade 6 Class

Snow Day - buses cancelled (am)

Due to the freezing rain, the buses have been cancelled for all schools in Ottawa. The schools will remain open; however, if students are staying home today, here are three things that they could work on.

1) Get their readings completed for their literature circle. Most groups have assigned themselves around 100 pages which are to be read for Thursday's book club meeting. Students could use the day to complete some (or all) of this reading. Once done, they are to start filling out the literature circle package in preparation for their Thursday meeting.

2) Compile data for the Census at School project. See previous post about this.

3) Play Math Reflex. Several students are reaching 100% fluency with this program. Others are not even 50% as of yet. Students are encouraged to continue playing this 3 times per week to ensure math fluency.

Take care on the roads today.

Great Ways to Start the Christmas Season

Are you looking for some great ways to ring in the Christmas season? Here three suggestions to get you singing "Joy to the World" (theoretically)....

1. Volunteer at the Kanata Food Cupboard - an open session for anyone who can help sort and pack the non-perishable items at the Kanata Food Cupboard. A number of Holy Redeemer staff members will also be there with their families. 
2. Ottawa Tree Farm (Fallowfield Road) - Free hot chocolate, horse drawn sleigh rides, bonfires and marshmallow roasting, and a huge selection of both cut-your-own and pre-cut trees (I went with my family on Saturday and had a great time!)
3. Bethel Church "The Gift of Christmas" (Fisher Ave) - Eight shows (two matinees) available to attend. The admission is by donation only and you will not be disappointed. Several excellent musical numbers and the show topped off with a huge "singing" Christmas tree of lights. 

Some Upcoming Events

With the Advent season upon us, there are a ton of events happening at Holy Redeemer. Here is a list of some upcoming news items:

1. December News and Calendar have been posted on the school website (under News & Links)
2. The Advent Food Train begins on Monday, December 3 - please help us fill the train with non-perishable items (have students place the items in their class' box in the front hall)
3. Water Bottle orders are due by Friday, December 7 for those wishing to purchase one
4. The Grade 5/6 (pm) will be performing Alice in Wonderland on Friday, December 7 (Performance #1: 12:20 pm - 1:15 pm; Performance #2: 1:50 pm - 2:45 pm)
5. On December 20, we will be having a bake sale to help support the Grade 6 trip to St. Brigid
6. The School Christmas Concert will be on Friday, December 21 (Grades 1-3 @8:40; Grades 4-6 @10:05)

Water Bottles for Sale

The Earth Care team will be selling metal water bottles for the low cost of $12. The bottles can be ordered in either red or blue. Both colours will also include the "Go Rockets" logo. We are encouraging all students to start using reusable water bottles instead of disposable plastic bottles. Order forms have been sent home today and are due by December 7, 2012.

Advent Food Train

Advent is a time to prepare our hearts and our homes for the birth of our Saviour Jesus.  It is an opportunity for us to look for ways to make “little miracles” happen to celebrate the blessed, real miracles of Jesus’ birth. 

Each year we discuss how fortunate we are as a community.  Most of us have safe, warm homes, enough to eat and warm clothes.  However, we know there are some families in our community who are not as fortunate.  These families can use our prayers and support.

Once again, as part of our school Advent project we are asking each class to donate  non-perishable items to help support families in our neighbourhood.

Starting December 3^rd through until December 20^th students are asked to bring in a needed item. A letter was sent home today which outlines the project. Thanks in advance for your support.

Spirit Week! (Nov 26-30)

All right Rockets! Next week is spirit week and it is time for all to add some wackiness to their lives. Here is the breakdown of the spirit days:

Monday - Pyjama Day

Tuesday - Tacky Tourist Day

Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Thursday - Rocket Spirit Day (red & blue)

Friday - Crazy Hat Day

Bump, Set, Smash - FUN!

The boys of the volleyball team did Holy Redeemer proud today at the board tournament.

After a strong start, the boys came up against some strong teams in their third and fourth games. They ended up finishing the day with a 4 and 2 record. The boys were excellent ambassadors for our school and really perpetuated the Rocket pride! Way to go boys!

Redesigned Website

For those who have not seen the changes to our class blog - check it out! In order to make the website more user friendly and (hopefully) more helpful as a learning tool, the format has been changed. New features include:
1) a calendar which will include assignment due dates, test dates, and school events
2) a gallery which will archive our adventures on field trips and school events
3) a twitter feed which will include smaller daily events that are happening in our school

For those that have subscribed to the blog, you should be receiving email updates around 4-5pm (whenever an update is made). For those that haven't subscribed, you can by filling in your email address in the "Follow by email" section at the bottom of the right side bar.

I would appreciate feedback if there are elements that you like or if there are parts that you find confusing or difficult to access. Please do not hesitate to contact me (see the link in the menu bar at the top) to offer your comments and suggestions on how I can improve the site.

Math Tests - sent home (am)

Today we took up our patterning test and students were asked to make all corrections and fill out the accompanying analysis of their work. Students are encouraged to get their assessment duotang signed as soon as possible. Those students who wrote the test today will bring their tests home on Thursday. Also, a reminder for those who have not returned their interview form, bottom section of the progress report, and the  report envelope to do so. I would like to post available interview slots for those students/parents who were not assigned interviews. Thanks!

November School News and Calendar

The school newsletter and calendar of events for November are now available online. To see what's happening in November, download the newsletter and calendar. All news and calendars will be archived under the News & Links tab on the Holy Redeemer website (red.ocsb.ca). Please remember the environment while viewing and only print if you have to. Thanks!

Mrs. Campbell is on Twitter!

Mrs. Campbell, our school principal, is now on twitter. She will "tweet" school announcements and info about events as well as pictures of school activities. If you have a twitter account, you can follow her tweets. If you don't, you can check out what she is posting at https://twitter.com/OCSB_HolyRed.

Progress Reports and Interviews

Today, all students received their progress report. Along with this report was a yellow paper with information about interviews. The interviews are being held next Thursday (November 8). A schedule has already been drafted which pairs the English and French teacher together for the interview. Please note that some students in the pm class have not been assigned interview times due to lack of space available; however, please contact me for a phone interview if you are so inclined. If you received an interview time and either a) can't make the time or b) choose not to attend the interviews, please indicate this on the form so that I can make your time slot available to others. Thanks very much!

Job Applications - DUE Wednesday

The second round of job contracts are coming up and students are asked to apply for jobs for the period of November and December. The job list and salaries have changed slightly since the beginning of the year. Check out the updated list HERE. Students are asked to fill in their job applications electronically in order to save paper. They are encouraged to type out their response in a word document first and ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors and then paste it into the form. Job applications are due on Wednesday and the new jobs will be posted on Thursday, November 1.
Math Economics Information INFO 2012 UpdatedOnline Job Application

Gourmet Lollipop Fundraiser!

Are you ready for a real treat? Gourmet Lollipops are on their way!

The Grade 6 class will be selling Gourmet Lollipops on Friday, October 26th as one of their fundraisers for the St. Brigid's trip in June.  
The lollipops are nut-free, gluten free, and delicious! 

Students may purchase a gourmet lollipop for $1.00. Money will be collected all week in homeroom.  Thank you very much for your support!

PS: I am aware of the irony of this post and the previous "healthy eating" post being sent on the same day :)

Bloggin' Away

We have started to use an online program called Kid Blogs to post our thoughts about books we are reading, reflections to questions posed in class, and links to favourite videos and practice sites. We will initially be using it to post our thoughts about “The One and Only Ivan” as part of the Global Read Aloud. Students are encouraged to write in complete sentences and to check their posts for spelling and grammar before publishing!

Remember the tips for making a good blog comment (download the complete list HERE):

•  Start with a greeting
• Compliment in a specific way
• Add new facts, make a connection, or ask a question to continue the conversation
• Proofread your comment

We have already starting collaborating with a class in Kansas and will be joining up with other classes soon! Students should be checking their blog regularly to answer any comments they may have received. They are also encouraged to read and comment on the thoughts of other students, both in our class and the classes in Kansas and North Carolina!

Waste-Free lunch week!

In an effort to engage students in small environmental initiatives that can have a big impact, our school is participating in the week-long Waste-Free Lunch Challenge (WFLC) beginning on Thursday, October 18.  

The WFLC is a province-wide initiative sponsored by the Recycling Council of Ontario.  School lunches are a major source of waste in Ontario – the average student’s lunch generates a total of 30 kilograms of waste per school year, or an average of 8500 kilograms of waste per school per year.

Please help your child pack waste-free lunches for our event.  The goal of the week is to:

• Celebrate and learn about Waste Reduction Week by reducing the amount of waste we create from school lunches
• Reduce the cost of waste disposal so the school’s resources can be put to better use.
• Encourage healthy and nutritious lunches (many pre-packaged lunch items contain significant amounts of sodium, preservatives and fat)
• Create awareness around recycling and encourage and promote recycling of containers such as juice boxes, milk cartons, bottles and cans at schools
• Help you as a parent reduce the cost of lunches (a waste-free lunch can cost as little as $2.50 per day, whereas a regular lunch containing pre-packaged items can cost $4.50 or more per day)

Need Pics of your Military Relatives!

In preparation for Remembrance Day, we are asking all families to consider sending in a photo of a family member (Uncle, Parent, Grandparent, Cousin: past or present) who has served in the military. We ask that with the photo you include the name of the student as well as the name and rank or position (i.e: nurse or Corporal) of the family member.

You can either: 

• email a digital or scanned photo to redslideshow@gmail.com OR
• send in an actual photo to school where it will be scanned and returned. 

Deadline for entry is Friday, October 26th. 

Photos will be displayed in a slideshow in our foyer the week leading up to Remembrance Day.

A Spirited Success! (am)

WOW - the grade six class blew me away with their costumes, cheers, and overall spirit at today's walk-a-thon! Our cops and robbers theme was a hit... I loved how everyone came together and did the whole circuit TWO times! Our success was topped off with receiving the spirit award for the junior panel. The students will be enjoying their movie prize a little later in the year. Thanks to everyone for supporting the day both with pledges and helping with costumes. The walk-a-thon is a great day for class and school spirit and I was proud of all the classes!