The Wellesworth Wonders January - March, 2019 

Dear Readers, This is our newsletter that is covering most of Wellesworth’s news and events from January to March. Since this was created in a short time period, we may not include all of the news. Students and teachers from many classes have been interviewed. With a little bit of support from Mr. Rishi and Ms. Ainslie, it has been created by grade 5 students. Thank you to Erin, Paige, and Francesca. Without you, this would not be possible. We hope you enjoy it!

Wellesworth Newsletter Editors, Laura and Penny

OUR SCHOOL EVENTS

Girls’ Volleyball: Grade 4 and 5 girls practiced volleyball after school every Monday and Wednesday in January and most of February. On February 20th, they had their tournament at Runnymede Collegiate Institute. They played three games and worked very well together as a team. At the end of the tournament, they mixed players from different schools to make new teams, and they played games against each other just for fun. Thanks to Mr. Catanus and Ms. Kostro for coaching! Boys’ Basketball: The boys basketball team practiced every Tuesday and Thursday after school. They started practicing in January with Mr. Rishi, Mr. Catanus, and Ms. Trinchi. The boys’ basketball team had a friendly game on February 5th against Briarcrest, and on February 19th they had their tournament at John English. Connor M from Ms. Connor’s class said that on the tournament day they won one game. “At first I was nervous and on our first game in the tournament, we won against the Eagles,” said Connor M. His favorite part was winning a game and getting to miss school. He said he had lots of fun. GREAT JOB WELLESWORTH SPORTS TEAMS! The ROM: On February 11th, the grade 4’s and 5’s went to the ROM. The grade 4’s had a workshop on rocks and minerals. The grade 5’s had a workshop on First Nations. Afterwards, they got to go to different galleries. They even got to see real dinosaur fossils! In the ancient Egyptian exhibit, there were 3 real mummies that we could see and a replica part of a tomb in Egypt.

Marlies Game: On February 9th, some of the families from Wellesworth went to a Marlies Hockey game together. Before the game, we got to skate on the same rink that the Marlies play on. It was so cool! We even got to stand in the nets! After skating, we watched the Marlies play a game. It was Star Wars night, so there were people dressed as Star Wars characters walking around and a room full of Star Wars and hockey stuff. The best part: THE MARLIES WON!!!

Parkland Glen Retirement home: On the February 22nd, some residents from Parkland Glen Retirement Home came to our school for a special Houses meeting. We got into our Houses and a guest came to each house. They talked about what is was like as a kid and their careers when they were adults. One of the residents used to be a principal at Wellesworth! Also, each house had a snack with their guest. It was very interesting to hear the residents’ stories. Loblaws Community Breakfast for Kindergarten Families: On January 17th, there was a breakfast served for the kindergarten families by Loblaws. The kindergarten students and their parents were served eggs, yogurt, muffins, oranges, toast, and juice. YUM!

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO): On February 26th, Ms. Kostro’s, Ms. Connor’s class and Mr. Rishi’s class went to Roy Thomson Hall to listen to the TSO perform. There was a theme on improvisation. Zane enjoyed the people that did improvising between songs. His favourite musical instrument was the piano. If there was one word he could say to describe this field trip, it would be “Fun”. The sharks presentation: On January 21st, Wellesworth had a researcher visit us who talked about sharks with our grade 1’s to 5’s. We learned about different kinds of sharks, where they live, and some interesting facts. Did you know that shark’s skeletons are made out of cartilage, the same material as your nose?

Special Snack: Every month, our school snack program serves us a snack from a different culture. We would like to thank the parents who have helped make food from their culture and Ms. Hill for organising our fancy snacks. So far, in our school year we have had food from Somalia, Ecuador, the Tamil culture and First Nations. For Somalian food we had an assortment of treats such as samosas. We also had bolon de verde from Ecuador. For First Nations’ food we had corn, rice, and blueberry salad. We had some fried food from the Tamil culture. One good part is that we get to learn a bit from the students who tell us about these countries and cultures. Soon we will have some Greek food as well as some other amazing and yummy foods from all around the world! Skating: Ms. Connor and Ms. Kostro’s class skated every Tuesday from January 15th to February 5th. Mr. Rishi and Ms. Lamey’s class skated every Thursday from January 17th to February 14th. Ibrahim, from Ms. Lamey’s class mentioned, “I kept on falling but I kept on trying again and again. I persevered.'' He also said, “It was fun and I loved the hot chocolate that we got when we came back from skating,” and of course, he told us, “I can’t do it YET.” Thanks to Ms. Dawn and Ms. Christine for making this happen!

Walk to school: Our first walk to school day was February 13th. Many students walked to school. This was good for the air and for ourselves because walking is healthier for you than driving and cars cause pollution. After we walked to school, we got hot chocolate which was very delicious! There have been a few surprise hot chocolate mornings and we hope that Walk To School Day becomes what students do every day instead of just once in awhile.

SOME OF OUR ACADEMIC LEARNING Recognition assembly: On February 21st, our school had a recognition assembly to recognize students for their hard work in the first term. Paige and Victoria, in Mr. Rishi’s class were the MC’s. The students who got almost all A’s in the academic section of their report card got the Scholarship Award, the students who got all “Excellent’s” and “Good’s” in their learning skills got the Wolf Pack award, and the students who improved the most got the Most Improved Award. GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!!! GOOD LUCK WELLESWORTH!!! Ms. Ainslie challenges the entire school to be on the stage in term 2.

Reading Day: January 25th was pyjama and reading day. Many students wore their pyjamas, brought their favourite book and brought their favourite stuffed animal. After lunch, everyone in the school read their books. On January 30th, we made braided bookmarks in our houses to celebrate literacy. Keep reading, everyone!

Cuban and Braziallian Drumming: In January, rooms 2, 16, 17, 15, 14, and 13 all got to learn some Cuban and Braziallian drumming in the gym. They learned to play different instruments and got to play a song. It was very fun!

Art club: Art club happened from January 2019 to February 2019. It was run by Ms. Lamey and Ms. Kostro. Paige, Victoria, Erin, and Francesca helped out. Art club was for students from grades 2-3. In art club, they have made lots of cool and amazing things such as monster bookmarks and paper airplanes. In the 3rd session of art club they made these really cute minion notebooks.

Ms. Nadia’s helpers and clubs: Thanks to the pizza helpers and student ambassadors. You have helped pizza days and special events run smoothly. Also, thank you to Ms. Nadia for offering these opportunities and running lunchtime clubs. Math Challenge Club: A small group of grade 5s go every Wednesday morning at 8:15 a.m. to room 8 to extend their knowledge on mathematics. Francesca, Paige, Penny, Erin, Laura and Yaqub are the people in Math Challenge group. “Math Challenge group has been really challenging lately,'' Francesca said. “It was easy after a lot of practice but at first it was really hard. We preserved but it is still hard sometimes.'' Here, try a tricky but easy question from Mr Rishi: Together, Chloe and Noah spent $51 on a gift. If Chloe contributed twice as much money as Noah, how much did Noah spend? Homework Club: Every Wednesday morning, our school has a homework club. It is a great place to get help with homework. Older kids can help younger kids, teachers help students. Anothony said that sometimes there are snacks. These snacks help give them energy to work. Homework club is a great place to be on Wednesday mornings!

SOME OF OUR CLASSROOM STORIES Ms. Alviani’s & Ms. Kumari’s Kindergarten Class: Our Kindergartens explored measurement ideas. They made predictions about who was the tallest. Then, they used yarn to measure everyone.

Ms. Dias’s & Ms. Varga’s Kindergarten class: This class was one of the many classes that celebrated 100’s day on February 11th. They had been counting each day starting in September. They had a cake in the shape of the number 100. There were different boxes and they had to guess which box had 100 objects in it. Everyone in the class brought in 100 small items. There were lots of different centres that were related to the number 100. It was lots of fun!

Ms. Lamey’s grade 1 and 2 class: Isabel said her class is learning about addition and subtraction. Some strategies she learned were using her fingers to add and subtract, using doubles (eg.6+6=12, so 6+7=13), and also counting with counters. Margaret told us that her class was also working on letter writing and that all letters have a greeting, a date, a body, a signature, and a closing. Ms. Kostro’s grade 2/3 class: Shafi, Adham, Kaj, and Nolan all wrote poems and submitted them to Voices United. This a book that is published every year by the Toronto District School Board. It is filled with poems that students have written. Shafi wrote about Halloween night, Adham wrote about soccer tournaments, Kaj wrote about skiing, and Nolan’s poem was called Owl. There are many different kinds of poems. Adham and Kai wrote cinquains, Nolan wrote a haiku, and Shafi wrote a poem that rhymes. Great work! Maybe you will be future authors or poets one day. Ms. Connor’s grade 3/4 class: In early February, Ms. Connor’s class made empanadas. Empanadas are pockets of dough filled with cheese and sometimes beef. After they are made, they are fried in a frying pan. Ms. Connor’s class ate the empanadas, and then they did procedural writing about how they had made them. Empanadas are from Chile, which is in South America, and where Joshua’s family is from! They were very tasty! Mr. Rishi’s Grade 4/5 class: Grade 5 students in room 7 built structures using recycled materials. First, they created presentations on how a natural disaster can affect structures. Then, they made a plan for a structure that could survive a natural disaster. Next, they built models of their structures. Lastly, they presented their presentations and models. The models were really impressive. The grade 4’s in Mr. Rishi’s class made presentations on gears. They were great presentations!

Ms. Forshee’s & Ms. Panwar’s class: Ms. Forshee’s and Ms. Panwar’s class has been working on slogans for products or for companies. First they wrote their slogans. Then, they drew a logo for the company their slogan was for. Finally, they did a recount about what they had done. Their slogans look amazing! You can see the slogans hanging outside room 6. Ms. Ayienga’s, Ms. Untinen’s & Ms. Wolochatiuk ’s class: Room 13 is learning about winter. They have made pictures of penguins and polar bears and they have been talking about winter animals. They also learned how to use toboggans and shovels. This class seems to be enjoying the winter weather. Ms. Laderman’s, Ms. Izzi’s, Ms. Jankowski’s class: Room 15 also learned about winter animals. They did paintings of polar bears and penguins and learned what some animals do in the winter. It was very cool. Let it snow! Ms. Craig’s, Ms. Evans-Fester’s & Ms. Stetsyk’s class: Guess what… room 14 is also learning about winter! They painted pictures of trees covered in snow. They also learned about winter clothing. Their paintings look amazing! Forest of Reading: The Forest of Reading program has started. It is divided into groups. These groups are Blue Spruce (for Kindergarten to grade 2) and Silver Birch. (grade 3 to grade 5). Each group has a collection of 10 books to read, which are written by Canadian authors. In Silver Birch, when you have read 5 books, you can vote on your favourite book. In Blue Spruce, Ms. Trinchi will read you all the books during library and you can vote on your favourite books too. Voting will take place in April. Happy Reading! French class: In French class, the grade 4s and 5s are learning about “ER” verbs. In the future, the grade 5s will be studying “Le Metéo” and the grade 4s will be researching and writing about animals. Madame also informed us that we may start working on another french café. We hope all grade 4 and 5 students' parents will come! Eco team: The Eco team meets once a month to try to make our school more Eco friendly. Have you seen the plants near the main door of the school? The Eco team waters them! Have you been to one of our school’s Big Crunches? The Eco team runs that too, and our next one is right after the March Break! You can help them by putting your wrappers and containers in the right place after lunch. Thank you to Ms. Alviani, Ms. Dias & Ms. Kostro for running the Eco team meetings.

DO THESE FUN ACTIVITIES OVER MARCH BREAK!

Have a great March Break everyone. Remember to collect unwanted clothing

for our school. We get money for old unwanted clothing and shoes and more!

PICTURES, PICTURES AND … MORE PICTURES!

In addition to the reporting articles we’ve provided for you, we have some additional pictures

for you to enjoy. Two questions…

Can you name the people in the pictures? Can you name the event or time at which the pictures were taken?