Helping Others at Christmas Time

Thank you to all the parents and students who gave so generously to our adopt-a-family project. We have enabled a family to celebrate Christmas and in return we all feel joy in knowing that we have helped a family in need. Thank you to the teachers who will be delivering the hampers to each family today and tomorrow!

Today, our grade 5 students went to the Christmas Cheerboard to help pack boxes for hampers. They packed 350 boxes. Way to go! In addition, they brought 2 boxes of donated food and all the mittens, scarves and hats from our mitten tree.

At our holiday concerts on Wednesday & Thursday, we will be collecting non-perishable items for the Cheerboard.

These projects provided the staff and students of École Assiniboine the opportunity to participate and feel the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Adopt a Family

Grade 4/5 room 11, grade 4 room 12 and grade 5 room 22 have decided to participate in the Adopt-a-Family program. We will keep an updated list of what we have received. Here is a list of the items we need/have for the family:
Items Needed	How many we need	Items received so far
Bread	4 loaves - DONE
Cake Mix	1 box	1 box - DONE
Candy	1.5 lbs	2 bag - DONE
Cereal	2 large boxes	2 boxes - DONE
Chips	3 bags	4 bags - DONE
Cookies	3 pkgs.	1 pkg.
Cranberry Sauce	3 cans	3 cans - DONE
Eggs	3 doz.	1 doz.
Fruit	4 cans	4 cans - DONE
Jam or Honey	3 jars	3 jars - DONE
Jelly Powder	3 pkgs.	3 pkgs. - DONE
Juice	2L	2 L - DONE
Milk	6L	4 L
Nuts	3 cans
Oatmeal	3 pkgs.	3 pkgs. - DONE
Onions	1 med. bag	1 bags - DONE
Pancake Mix	3 pkgs.	3 pkgs. - DONE
Pancake Syrup	1 reg. bottle	1 bottle - DONE
Pasta	3 pkgs.	5 pkgs. - DONE
Pasta Sauce	3 cans	3 jars - DONE
Peanut Butter	3 jars	3 jars - DONE
Potatoes	10 lb bag	1 bags - DONE
Pudding	3 pkgs.	4 pkgs. -  DONE
Rice	3 pkgs.	2 pkgs. -
Margarine	1 med.	1 pkg. DONE
Gravy	3 cans/pkgs.	3 pkgs. - DONE
Crackers	2 boxes	2 boxes -  DONE
Soup	4 cans	6 cans -  DONE
Sugar	3 kg.	3kg - DONE
Tea or Coffee	3 pkgs.	1 pkg.
Tuna/Salmon	4 cans	5 cans - DONE
Turkey	15-17 lbs.	1 Turkey - DONE
Vegetables	4 cans	6 cans - DONE

We have also received: hamburger helper, granola bars, 3 cans of beans in tomato sauce, box of stuffing, can of ham, 2 boxes of Kraft Dinner, box of oranges,
GIFTS: a stuffed toy, lots of play dough, play dough tools, 2 slap rockets, 1 ball, 2 Rubik's cubes, 1 box of marker/ drawing paper, books, Sweater for each child, Lego X2, doll, Candles & holder for the parents

Upcoming Activities & Events

Tis the season....

Our class will be participating in many activities during the next two weeks. Here is a reminder of some dates and events.

Monday December 10 - French for Life presentation - we will learn why French is important and how we are lucky to learn a second language

Tuesday December 11 - Choir singing at Golden West Centennial Lodge from 10:00 - 11:30 am

Thursday December 13 - Special lunch to thank Patrols & Gérants de Conflits for their hard work

Monday December 17 - Grade 5 students will help pack hampers at the Christmas Cheer Board from 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Wednesday December  19  - Kindergarten and Grade 1 Holiday Concert at 1:00 & 6:30 pm

Thursday December 20 -  Grade 2 & 3 Holiday Concert at 1:00 & 6:30 pm

Friday December 21 - Last day of school  - We will have our mug exchange and hot chocolate party in the morning and go bowling at St. James lanes in the afternoon. Let me know if you would like to join us for one or both of these events!

Mission Assiniboine

November 12-17, was bullying awareness week and this year's theme was "Stand Up! (to bullying). On Thursday, November 15, all students at École Assiniboine participated in an activity day focusing on respect, responsibility, friendship, and bullying. Students and teachers wore pink in honour of our anti-bullying campaign and Mme Hussey handed out "Not in our School" bands for the students.

In the gym, students participated in ten stations that focused on cooperation and getting along with others. Before earning their checkmark, they also answered questions about how to solve problems and act respectfully. In the classrooms, students participated in a variety of activities about bullying, friendship, kindness, feelings, politeness, encouraging others, good behaviour and how to solve a problem. Some stations included: the Smartboard, making a bracelet, drawing, writing, poetry, discussions, drama, creating a song or dance and a puppet show. 

In addition, the older students had the opportunity to act as a leader to a younger partner. They participated in all the activities together. It was a fantastic day and fun was had by all!

Science Design Process

We have been studying Rocks & Minerals during our science classes. We learned that many products and items we use everyday are formed with minerals. Our class used sodium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate along with some flavourings to make our own toothpaste. It was a lot of fun to measure and create the toothpaste in a little dixie cup. Although, we tried our best, it did not taste great! Most students took the toothpaste home to try it for their evening ritual. We also designed and created a new box for our creation. Overall, it seems that Colgate and Crest have a corner on the market.

Upcoming Events

The last two weeks of school will be very busy with lots of exciting events:
June 20th - Aboriginal Day
June 26th - Grade 5 Farewell
June 27th - Bike Trip
June 28th - last day of school

We will also have a party with our grade 2 partners as well as a few other surprises. If parents are free on June 27th, please feel free to join us for lunch at the Children's playground in Assiniboine Park. We will also be outside for the afternoon of June 28th, where we will participate in picnic games and some dancing. Feel free to join us from 2:00 - 3:00!

Track & Field

All the grade 4 & 5 students headed out to the track at John Taylor Collegiate for the St. James Divisional Track & Field. We participated in a variety of activities which included: 50m, 100m, long jump, disc throw, ball throw, shuttle relay, and even golf. The weather was great and all the students had a great time with their friends.

Festival du Voyageur

Hé Ho les amis!

It is that time of the year when all the French Canadians celebrate in the heart of St. Boniface with singing, dancing, and a good old time! I encourage you to visit the Festival du Voyageur over the next 10 days. The Festival begins tonight and continues until February 26th. Festival Park offers snow play structures, a first nations encampment, a fur trade museum, sleigh rides and lots of entertainment. You can also try la tire or a beaver tail - mmm! It is a perfect opportunity to get a little bit of the French Canadian "joie de vivre!" Please visit the official site: http://festivalvoyageur.mb.ca/festival-du-voyageur/ to find more information.

WWF National Sweater Day

On Thursday, February 9th, many Canadians will be joining in WWF’s National Sweater Day and we’d like to encourage you to take part in this celebration of energy conservation.

Our classroom will join schools across Canada by turning down our thermostats, wearing sweaters and bringing out the best conservation efforts in all of us. Students are encouraged to wear a sweater - the more interesting or colourful - the better.

Residential heating is a major contributor to the changing climate. If every Canadian turned down their thermostat by two degrees Celsius each winter, 2.2 mega-tonnes of carbon dioxide could be saved every year – equivalent to taking 350,000 cars off the road.

Join us February 9th by wearing a sweater! For ideas on how you can get involved please visit http://www.sweaterday.ca

I Love to Read

I Love to Read month is in full swing at École Assiniboine. We have had a variety of activities to promote reading and share a love for books!

Last week, Jenna Khan from Breakfast Television visited our class and read a few Robert Munsch stories and answered the many questions the students had about her job, school and favourite author. You can visit the Breakfast Television website to see the clip that was filmed at our school.

This week, Tom Ethans from Take Pride Winnipeg visited and shared his favourite Franklin book "Franklin - Plants a Tree." He even practiced his French with the students.

We also went to the gym to watch magician Ryan Price amaze us with tricks and his love for reading and books.

I have loved reading and all types of books since I was a little girl. Reading is an activity that can take you to a faraway land and help you learn something new.

"We read to know we are not alone." - C.S. Lewis

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday season. We are back at school and will be working on a variety of new things throughout the month of January.

In math, we are going to be working on multiplication strategies which will enable us to multiply 2 digit numbers. I suggest practicing multiplication flash cards at home.

In français, we will be working on writing a 2 minutes speech about a topic of choice. These speeches will be presented as part of the Concours d'art oratoire.

In science we will begin a unit on sound and vibrations. In sciences humaines, we are going to be learning about the Inuit and northern Canada.

January is also "I love to read month" and we have many fun activities planned. Any parents who would like to come in and read a book to the class can contact me via email.