Thursday Band

Because the school-wide skating has been cancelled, Band will go ahead as scheduled.  DO NOT FORGET YOUR INSTRUMENTS!

Memo: Thursday Oval Skating

Dear Parents

 

It is our regret to inform you that skating for Thursday, January 31st has been cancelled due to an extreme cold front in Saskatoon. We are on the cancellation list to rebook with the City of Saskatoon but at this time there are no spots available this season. Thursday will be a normal school day at St. Dominic School.

Thank you to all the volunteers for organizing the event for Thursday.

 

St. Dominic School

 

Duane Johnson

Principal St. Dominic School

659-7291

Letter from Mr. Johnson

Dear Grade Six/Seven Parents

Mr. Gallays and I have taken the opportunity to discuss some of the concerns facing the classroom over the past few days. The number of cellphones and IPODS at school has increased after Christmas. Misuse of the communication devices has involved sending pictures and text messages to recipients without the owner’s knowledge. We continue to ask students bringing these devices to school to power them off at school and leave them in their backpacks which will help us reach our privacy rights of all families. We have asked students to lock their cellphone with a password as well. We ask if possible for students to leave their communication devices at home. We have school line that Mrs. Rodych answers and takes messages so all communication will reach your child if needed. Aside, we suggest that parents continue to be friends of their children on social media sites they are using.

A second issue that is occurring is students eating some of other students’ lunches. We have discussed that this is not appropriate for various reasons with all the students in the classroom.

Mr. Gallays will continue with Second Step program at school discussing social constructs, developing friendships and respect of others in the classroom. I will invite Const. Weber to focus on social media and being proactive members of our community again this year. We ask that as a family please discuss these concerns brought to us by students, parents and our staff with your child.

Please feel free to call Mr. Gallays or Mr. Johnson if you have any other questions.

January Update

Just a note to keep you up to date with what is going on in grade 7…

Math:

            We are wrapping up Unit 4: Circles and area.  Our test on the unit will be Tuesday, January 29 when we have completed review and a practice test.   Additional review materials can be found through the Math Makes Sense link at the bottom of this blog.

Our next unit is “Operations with Fractions”.

Language Arts:

We are currently working on a unit called “Step Up”.  We are taking a look at how people “step up” to speak out and take action for things they believe in.  The unit will wrap up in early February with a persuasive writing piece.

Our next unit, which focuses on technology, will include video production.

Social Studies:

            We are continuing with the “Resources” unit.

Health:

            We are now working with the Second STEP program. Students are learning about positive, respectful conflict resolution through role play and class discussion.  Fully Alive will begin within the next few weeks.  (See related post for more details and links.)

Religion:

Unit 3 “We believe in God… the Creator of heaven and earth” is our current unit.  We are exploring the themes

-         Is what I do good enough?

-         That’s not my job! Is it?

-         Why do I need you?

We are also preparing the liturgy for Ash Wednesday.

            Art:

Our unit about “Cubism” is in done, but assignments are still trickling in.  Silhouettes are our most recent project.

            Career Guidance:

In “The Real Game” we are going through the “Reality Check” portion of the program.  This is where students need to reconcile their dreams with the reality or their paychecks.

Phys. Ed. Reminder

As a Physical Education classes are a core subject, participation is expected - no matter what the activity - just as it is in Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.

From time to time, due to the physical nature of the program, participation will not be possible - particularly in case of injury.  In cases where students are unable to participate, a note excusing them from that day's class is required.

Obviously, there will be some exceptions made.  (Cases in which the injury happens at school, obvious injuries such as casts...)

This helps me out so that I do not have to play medical detective when a number of students do not wish to participate during a particular activity.

On a related note, field trips of a Phys. Ed. nature fit in here too.  As curriculum supported field trips, participation is expected unless I receive a note excusing the student.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and understanding.

Band reminder

Band is on MONDAYS and THURSDAYS.  Many students have been forgetting their instruments at home.  While I'm sure that this is because of the evening practice sessions, it is important to student progress that instruments are at school for instructional times.

Career Guidance

In order to move forward with our Career Guidance activities, all students need to be up to date with the "Real Game" activities by Tuesday, January 15.  These activities can be found online here.  Students must have completed up to (and including) the "After Work" section.  The program does not allow students to proceed if they have not completed (or, in some cases, read) all lead up activities.

Fully Alive info

We will be starting the Fully Alive program shortly.  (The resources will be arriving before the end of January.)  There are a few things that, as parents, you might be interested in.

Letters are to be sent home in anticipation of each unit.  I won’t be wasting the paper, but the letters can be found here.

With the recently renewed program, there are no longer Family Edition books.  All resources are available online.  If this is a problem, please let me know.  It is available in its entirety here.