Good afternoon everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend! We had a great weekend! Mark and I went out to dinner with some friends on Saturday, hit the slopes again, and enjoyed the first half of the Super Bowl at a friends house.

Please ensure you are sending your child to school with proper outdoor gear! Students will not be kept inside for recess if they do not have the proper outdoor gear.

A note from Ms. Helen, our Admissions Coordinator - As you are aware, the re-registration season is upon us and we have sent home packages with your child(ren). We value your loyalty and commitment to our school community and would love to continue our partnership by offering priority enrollment for our current SJA families. We kindly ask that you take a moment to review your financial statement and complete the information in the package and make any necessary changes to your place of residence, employment, email changes or any medical information that the administration should be aware of. Please be aware that in order to secure your child’s enrolment, it is imperative that you submit your re-enrollment package and fees no later than February 12, 2018 at 4:00 PM. After this date, all available grade-level spaces will be open to our families on waitlists who will then have the opportunity to secure any vacant positions. **If you have a particular teacher in mind, please do not hesitate to make a request and we will do our best to meet it.**

A note on speeches - In Grade 4, students are expected to write and memorize a 3-5 minute informational speech on a topic of their choice. Students should now begin memorizing, as this week will be spent on in-class rehearsals. Any changes that need to be made may be made at home. On Wednesday, February 7, two students from each Grade 4 class will be chosen to compete in our SJA Oral Competition Day, on Friday, February 9. A letter was sent home, along with deadlines.

A note from Ms. Bancud regarding March lunch orders - You are now able to order for March Lunches. The deadline for March lunches is Friday, February 23rd, 2018.  After this date, our system closes and is unable to open for March ordering.  Please make sure your child is under the correct grade. http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja  
All payments are due on Friday, March 9th, 2018.

This month's special is Pancakes with Cinnamon Apples with a side of syrup that will be available every Friday!

Payment Instructions

• There are two options to pay for lunches. Cash and Freshbooks. 

• Shortly after completing your order, a Freshbooks invoice will be sent to your email.
• It may take one or two days to process your order to Freshbooks, so please be check your email diligently for the invoice.  

• We no longer accept cheque as a method of payment. 

If you have any questions concerning the Lunch Ordering site or Freshbooks, feel free to email me at dbancud@stjudesacademy.com

A note about Jump Rope for Heart - St. Jude’s Academy is please to be holding a Heart and Stroke Foundation Jump Rope for Heart event on Tuesday, February 20^th, 2018. All money raised will support the Heart and Stroke Foundation in their mission to promote children’s health and fund vital heart and stroke research.

Jump Rope for Heart encourages kids to get active by skipping rope while they collect pledges for heart disease and stroke research. They also learn the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and giving back to their community. This year marks Jump Rope for Heart’s 36^th Anniversary and the Heart and Stroke Foundation is striving to get 1 million kids jumping in close to 4,000 schools across Canada. Let’s be part of it!

We need your help to reach out School fundraising goal of $1000.00.

Please help support your child’s fundraising efforts by registering them online at JumpRopeForHeart.ca and send out donations request emails to friends, family, and colleagues. Online fundraising is the quickest way to reach all of your contacts and online donors receive and automatic tax receipt.

Please visit JumpRopeForHeart.ca and start fundraising today!

Each student was sent home with pledge envelopes if you prefer to collect donations in-person. Please ensure that their pledge envelope is returned on the day of their school’s Jump Event Day.

Thank you in advance for your support.

A note about March Break Camp - Registration forms were sent home back in October. We have had many students sign up since then and especially over the last few days. If you are interested in registering your chid for our March Break camp, please send in the completed registration form, along with the $20 one-time non-refundable deposit in order to secure your child's spot (this could be paid in cash or through fresh books). This year there are two options to choose from the first being lunch and two snacks provided or the second being send your own packed lunch and a discounted camp rate! We also have daily rates available. Please contact Ms. Smith bsmith@stjudesacademy.com for more details.

**Summer Camp forms have also been sent home!**

Upcoming Dates & Events

Wednesday, February 7 – Final in-class recital where 2 students will be chosen to move forward to the SJA Oral Competition

Friday, February 9 – SJA Oral Competition & February hot lunch money due

Tuesday, February 20 – Jump Rope For Heart event and pledges are due (our SJA goal is $1000.00)

Friday, February 23 – March hot lunch orders due

Friday, March 9 – March hot lunch payments due

MATH:

Today we took up the math review. Our math test will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, February 6. Please use the review to study!

Key points to remember:

 A fraction represents parts of a whole and is written like ½ (one over 2 or one-half). The top number is the numerator and represents the part of number. The bottom number is the denominator and represents the whole number. For example, ¾ (three-fourths) is a square with four whole parts and three parts are shaded in. 1/10 is one-tenth and 1/100 is one-hundredths. We also discussed equivalent fractions. Equivalent means equal. For example, 2/4 = ½, 2/6 = 1/3, and 5/20 = ¼.

Decimals are another way to write a fraction. The decimal separates two different numbers. The numbers on the left side of the decimal represent the whole number and the numbers on the right side of the decimal represents the parts of numbers. For example, 1.32 = 1 whole and 32 parts or 1 and 32 hundredths.

Equivalent decimals are decimals that are written and said differently but equal each other. For example 1.3 = 1.30, even though we say (1 and 3 tenths & 1 and 30 hundredths) and write them differently.

A key point to remember when rounding decimals is .00-.49 we will round down and .50-.99 we will round up. For example, 11.22 will round down to 11 and 56.76 will round up to 57. A whole number does not have a decimal.

The main point is to remember when adding and subtracting decimals is to properly line up your numbers using place value (hundreds, tens, one, decimal, tenths, hundredths). Don’t forget to add your decimal point and remember equivalent decimals!

When we multiply by 10 we move the decimal one spot to the right. For example, 3.6 x 10 = 36 and 2.47 x 10 =  24.7. When multiplying by 100 we move the decimal two spots to the right. For example, 3.6 x 100 = 360 – notice we had to add a zero to the end and 2.47 x 100 = 247.

Homework:

-Unit math test tomorrow

LANGUAGE:

Today we continued reciting our speeches – remember that in order to move on you need to have your speech between 3-5 minutes and completely memorized. We also began spelling lesson #19, on words with vowel pairs ee, ea oa, oe, and ue.

Speech pointers - The introduction must include a greeting, and introduction of yourself and your topic, a hook (a statement/question that grabs the audiences attention), and a sentence that outlines what you will be taking about in your speech (your three body paragraphs).

The first body paragraph is a straightforward paragraph, however students need to support their ideas with information from their research. It should begin with the general topic for this paragraph, have ideas with supporting details, and an ending sentence leading into the next topic/body paragraph!

The second body paragraph is a straightforward paragraph, however students need to support their ideas with information from their research. It should begin with the general topic for this paragraph, have ideas with supporting details, and an ending sentence leading into the next topic/body paragraph!

The third body paragraph is a straightforward paragraph, however students need to support their ideas with information from their research. It should begin with the general topic for this paragraph, have ideas with supporting details, and an ending sentence leading into the next topic/body paragraph!

Our conclusion is when we sum everything up by reminding our audience what we talked about in our speech.

Homework:

-Memorize your speech – it must be 100 % memorized and fall between the 3-5 minute mark in order to move forward

-Finish spelling lesson #19

UNIT OF INQUIRY:

Today we began our fourth UOI unit – Medieval Times. Throughout this unit, we will explore the Feudal System, knights, castles, and daily life in the middle ages. Today we completed the beginning of our KWL chart and began our title pages.

Homework:

-Finish Medieval Times title pages

The beginnings of our KWL chart!

I hope you have a wonderful night!

Mrs. Hocevar J