All About Me

My name is Nicole Samuel and I am one of the Grade 4 teachers for this upcoming school year. I have been a teacher at SJA since January 2018 and this will be my third-year teaching Grade 4.

I am a graduate of Central Michigan University Elementary Education Program and an Alum of the CMU Women’s Soccer Team.

When I am not teaching, I enjoy being physically active (soccer is my favourite sport, go Manchester United!), watching movies, working on "do it yourself" crafts, and spending time with my family. I can hardly wait to get to know all of you!

Monday, 20 January 2020

Welcome Back! - Day 80

Good Afternoon Families!

Please read all the information below to get the latest scoop on our day! 


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 Here are a few updates:

Aftercare invoices were sent out at the beginning of the month. All invoices were to be paid by Jan. 15th. 

February Lunches - The lunch site is now open. It will close Wednesday, January 22nd at 3:00 pm. Special of the month: Chicken Stir Fry is available every Friday. All payments are to be made through quickbooks by February 6th. 



Dear SJA Families,

Just a reminder that the SJA re-registration process is underway. To reserve your child's 2020-2021 place at St. Jude's Academy, complete and return your child's re-registration forms and payment to reception by Tuesday, February 18th, 2020 at 4:00 pm. 

After this date and time, any available grade-level spaces will be open to new families on the wait list. 

In addition, the deadline for our priority enrolment into our JK Program is Friday, January 17th, 2020. If you have any questions regarding the forms or next steps, please contact our Admissions Team. 



The SJA Admissions Team
Ann Harvey and Melissa Filion
T: (905) 814-0277







Dear SJA Community,

We look forward to seeing you at the SJA Town Hall/Social on January 24 from 7 to 9 pm.  All parent/guardians of JK to Grade 12 students are invited to hear about our exciting school year, survey result and future direction. To help us plan for this event, RSVP by January 17 to reception@stjudesacademy.com . We look forward to seeing you there!



Ann Harvey, BA (Hons), MA
Director, Admissions and Strategic Marketing & Communications


Mr. Foster’s Farmers Market and Ms. Gandy’s Groceries

As part of their summative assessment the grade one classes have decided to open a market to complement their organization unit. The market will include fruits, vegetables, drinks and other healthy snacks. It will be held in rooms 12 and 18. The market will take place all day Thursday, January 23rd and Friday, January 24th. All profits made will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House.

Quote of the Day - Bringing a little inspiration to your day! 

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Take a look at what we accomplished today!

Inquiry into Math:
Today the grade 4s began their next unit, Unit 4: Decimals. Today they focused on tenths and hundredths. We started the lesson by identifying where we see and use decimals in our every day lives. Some of the examples given were: percentages, measurements, money, longitude & latitude. 

After that we broke down a decimal into recognizable parts:



Then we worked on turning decimals into fractions. Once we did that, we realized that decimals and fractions are the same and show all the same information, they are just represented in different ways. Both show whole numbers and parts of a whole. We used the following steps to help us to create fractions:




We also discovered that you can create decimals from fractions too. 

Once the grade 4s had a better understanding of fractions and decimals, they worked in groups and used base 10 blocks to continue working on their understanding of fractions and decimals.






This evening, your child's score and percentage will be written in their agenda for their Unit 5 - Data Management Assignment. The full assignment will be sent home after they have been graphed for you to review with your child. 

Inquiry into Language:
Spelling Lesson 17 - 


Grade 4: Words ending with y: adding er and est
Grade 5: prefixes sub, mid,bi, and tri
Tip: adjectives ending in er compare two things, adjectives ending in est compare three or more things

To add er or est to an adjective that ends in y, change the y to I first

Ex. Happy + er = happiest
Happy + est = happiest
Tip: sub – usually means under, below, or not quite
Mid – means in the middle or part
Bi – usually means two
Tri – usually mean three

Ex. Subside, midday, bisect, tripod


The grade 4s have been using their language period to continue writing their speech. It is important for your child to come to school everyday with their own device, books, etc. to ensure that they have a source of information to write their informative speech. We are hoping to be complete the first draft by the end of this week so that they can begin memorizing their speech and completing their good copy for next week. 










The Annual Oral Competition for grades 4 - 8 will be held on Friday, February 7th. All speeches need to be memorized and should be within 3 - 5 minutes. 

Tips to remember:

- proper punctuation, sentence structure, and grammar
- voice and style - develop a distinct tone the sets your writing/speech apart from others
- defining unknown terms - help your audience develop their vocabulary 
- descriptive language - don't give all the details away, build up to it, make it exciting/interesting
- formatting - in order to meet the time requirement (3-5 mins) consider the length of each paragraph 

The grade 4s are encouraged to visit their local library to collect books, videos, etc. that will help them to continue to develop their speech. Please ensure that your child brings any research materials in order to continue working on their speech. 

Unit of Inquiry:
Today the grade 4s began studying Islam. Today we read over an information sheet explaining who the founder of Islam is, the place of worship, which is a mosque, and the practices that happen within the mosque. 


Here are a couple of the completed Mandalas:

















French - Please check Mme. Stella's blog under specialist links. 

Physical Education - Please check Mr. Orr's blog under specialist links.

Music - Please check Mr. Oliver's blog under specialist links.


Ask your child how the rest of their day went! 


Homework

Language – Read 30 mins 
- Spelling Lesson 17 activities due Wednesday +  test Friday
- Oral Speech - Visit your local library for information

Math - MMS Workbook pg. 46 + 47

Unit of Inquiry – 

Extra - Bring in a device for the rest of the week - research purposes 

Important dates/items:
January 24 - Town Hall 7 - 9 pm
January 28 & 29 - Bake Sale 
January 30 - Casual Day 
February 6 - Oral Competition: Jk - 3
February 7 - Oral Competition: Grade 4 - 8
February 8 - Open House 10 am - 2 pm
February 10 - Year Ahead Day 
February 13 - 100th Day of School + Spirit Day: Valentine's Day dress up 
February 14 - PD Day (No school)
February 17 - Family Day (No School)
February 21 - Picture Day - Siblings & Graduation (Grade 6, 10, & 12)
February 25 - Pancake Tuesday + Casual Day 
February 26 - Pink Shirt Day 
February 27 - Oral Competition: SJA vs, TMA


Have a good evening, Ms. Samuel 

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