Glory to God in the Highest!

Christmas break is upon us! During Advent, our students were able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus. 

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Advent: Preparing our Hearts for the Birth of Christ

This past Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. 

We have been learning about the liturgical calendar. Can your child point out the season of Advent?

Advent is a time of hope and anticipation. We are awaiting the birth of Christ!

As the liturgical seasons change, so does our prayer cloth and prayer table. We changed our prayer table cloth from green (Ordinary Time) to purple (Advent). Can you see our wreath? We light one candle for each of the four Sundays in Advent. This week we lit the first candle. As we light more candles each week, our world becomes brighter, symbolizing our growing anticipation of Jesus, who is the light of our world. 

Each morning, we have a daily Advent celebration, either at our weekly Monday
assembly or at our classroom Connection Time. 

Has your child mentioned our Shepherd? Each day during Advent, we hunt for the Shepherd. He is hidden around our school, and when we find him, his scripture message helps is draw closer to Jesus. 

As a school, we are rooting ourselves in Christ through the tradition of the Jesse Tree. We are decorating the Jesse Tree with an ornament or two each day that symbolizes key people and events from the Old Testament, leading us to the Birth of Christ. It is a beautiful way to hear about God's love for us through biblical events. We even created our own Jesse Trees and enjoy adding the daily symbol(s)!

As we journey towards Christmas, may we prepare our hearts with kindness as we joyfully wait for the coming of Jesus!

Our Journey Towards the Manger

Christmas break is upon us! During Advent, our students were able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus. 

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Christmas blessings and lots of love, 

Mrs. Beliveau

Advent - Waiting for the Coming of Christ

 This past Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. 

We have been learning about the liturgical calendar. Can your child point out Advent?

Advent is a time of hope and anticipation. We are waiting for the birth of Christ!

We changed our prayer table cloth from green, when it was Ordinary Time, to purple for Advent. Can you see our wreath? We light one candle for each of the four Sundays in Advent. This week we lit the first candle. As we light more candles each week, our world becomes brighter, symbolizing our growing anticipation of Jesus, who is the light of our world. 

Each week, we celebrate with a school-wide assembly. At our daily Connection Time, we begin each day with a cozy little Advent celebration. 

Our Shepherd, who has been visiting us every day throughout Advent, is helping us search for Jesus! Look at his visits so far ...

As we journey towards Christmas, may we prepare our hearts with kindness as we joyfully wait for the coming of Jesus!

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Christmas break is upon us! During Advent, our students were able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus. 

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Christmas blessings and lots of love, 

Mrs. Beliveau

O Come, Let Us Adore Him

Christmas break is upon us! During Advent, our students were able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus. 

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Christmas blessings and lots of love, 

Mrs. Beliveau

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

Christmas break is upon us! Despite the unexpected move to online learning, our students were still able to deepen their faith and prepare their hearts with kindness for the coming of Jesus!

Have a look at our journey through Advent!

May your families be blessed with peace, joy and health throughout this Christmas season!

Christmas blessings and lots of love, 

Mrs. Beliveau

The Week Before Christmas: JV Style!

Twas the week before Christmas,
And all through the halls,
The students (and their teacher),
Were bouncing off the walls!

To keep the kids focused,
To keep them engaged,
Loads of fun things were planned,
For the last 5 days!

As our week began, 
The third candle was lit,
The pink candle of JOY,
Oh, what a perfect fit!

We did an art project,
Built a stable of wood,
Added our Holy Family,
Beneath a star they stood.

We rehearsed for the concert,
Sang of the holy night,
We practiced and practiced,
No sign of stage fright!

As a treat for the audience
We coloured programs bright
Focusing on the true meaning
Of that wondrous night!

While the gym was very busy, 
We moved by stacking cups!
Dexterity and patterning
Made our cup stacks go up!

Each day we kept reading,
For math we had time,
These kids do love writing,
A favourite pastime!

We heard Axios mens choir
And a bandura was played
They sang Ukrainian carols
We wished they could stay!

Grandma Theresa shared games
She played as a child
Then we played our own games
And things got really wild!

We each had a friend's name
And wrapped socks for their feet
We unwrapped our surprise
To find our own cozy treat!

Cozy in jammies
We gathered to see
The movie The Star
Told by a special donkey!

The week reached it's end,
And the holiday drew near,
Merry Christmas to all!
See you in the New Year!

Love and Christmas blessings, 

Mrs. Beliveau

'Twas The Week Before Christmas: JV Edition!

'Twas the week before Christmas,
And all through the halls,
The students (and their teacher),
Were bouncing off the walls!

To keep the kids focused, 
To keep them engaged, 
Loads of fun things were planned,
For the last 5 days!

As our week began, 
The third candle was lit,
The pink candle of JOY,
Oh, what a perfect fit!

We did an art project,
Built a stable of wood,
Added our Holy Family,
Beneath a star they stood.

We rehearsed for the concert,
Sang of the holy night,
We practiced and practiced,
No sign of stage fright!

While the gym was so busy, 
We moved by stacking cups!
Dexterity and patterning
Made our cup stacks go up!

We made words and were reading,
For math we had time,
These kids do love writing,
A favourite pastime!

We worked in small teams,
Made a zipline to save
Poor Elmer the Elf,
We're creative and brave!

Cozy in jammies
We gathered to see
The movie The Star
Told by a special donkey!

The week reached it's end,
And the holiday drew near,
Merry Christmas to all!
See you in the New Year!

Love and blessings, 

Mrs. Beliveau

'Twas the week before Christmas...

'Twas the week before Christmas,
And all through the halls,
The students (and their teacher),
Were bouncing off the walls!

To keep the kids focused, 
To keep them engaged, 
Loads of fun things were planned,
For the last 5 days!

Each day of the week,
Many staff came to read,
From Mrs. Barnes to Mr. Marshall,
What more could we need?

We did several art projects,
First we painted our clay,
Then we used our hand print,
As a manger with hay!

We still did our reading,
For math we had time,
These kids really do love writing,
A favourite pastime!

Cozy in pajamas,
We shopped the Bring & Buy Sale,
What could be in these bags?
We're not telling that tale!

Who knew The Grinch
Was first written as a book?
We did a creative writing task,
Then gave the movie a look!

Then meteorologist Jesse Beyer,
Came from Global TV,
We learned about seasonal changes,
Now we're camera ready!

Then we buckled our helmets,
And laced up our skates,
We zoomed 'round the rink,
Up went our heart rates!

The week reached it's end,
And the holiday drew near,
Merry Christmas to all!
See you in the New Year!


Love, 
Mrs. Beliveau

Share the Good News! The Christ Child is born!

This year's theme across our school division is Sharing the Good News with Joyful Hearts! What greater news to share than the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ!  

Today, the wondrous story of the birth of our King was re-told using beautiful prayers from the book "The Twelve Prayers of Christmas" by Candy Chand. Prayer and song was interwoven as the story of Jesus' birth was shared. 

The boys and girls in our class played the parts of the animals in the stable; the sheep, donkeys, cows and doves who were present that special night. We sang a peaceful song about the animals in the stable when Jesus was born. 

Jesus, our brother, kind and good,

Was humbly born in a stable rude, 

And the friendly beasts around Him stood,

Jesus, our brother, kind and good.

Our little "friendly beasts" were amazing. Absolutely radiant. From initial rehearsals beginning last month, to full costumed run-throughs yesterday and today, their consistent effort and energy was remarkable. 

Here are some special memories from concert week:

Many thanks to the patient mom who ensured our costumes were "up to snuff", and to the boys and girls in Grade 1, who captured the essence of the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ! This week marks the second week of Advent. Throughout Advent, we have been discussing how we are preparing our hearts for the arrival of Jesus. Students are encouraged to take time to pray and find ways to share kindness with others.  May your families be blessed with peace and joy this Christmas season!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The boys and girls in our class were in celebration mode all day today, and with good reason. We were celebrating Jesus' birthday today! Yes, it is a few days early, but we all agreed that an early birthday party was a fantastic idea. Dressed in pajamas, we sang an enthusiastic Happy Birthday to Jesus, blew out the candles, and enjoyed a delicious birthday cake together (thank you Mrs. M)!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The Friendly Beasts

This past week we prepared for the birth of Christ by rehearsing and performing our Christmas Concert! The focus was A Traditional Christmas, and the students learned timeless carols, including Silent Night and Joy to the World, which were woven in between the Nativity Play. What a wonderful experience it was to focus on the true meaning of Christmas!

We performed The Friendly Beasts, a peaceful song about the animals present in the stable the night Jesus was born. The children sang about what each animal did to welcome Jesus into the world. The donkey carried Mary, His mother, to Bethlehem. The cow gave his manger for a bed and the sheep shared his wool for warmth. The doves cooed from the rafters, soothing Jesus to sleep. The children's performance was beautiful.

Here are some special moments from the concert:



Thank you to the parents who sought out supplies and created such precious costumes for the children to wear. Thank you to Mrs. Montgomery for taking the photos of our class performing during the concert, used in the video above.

This week marks the third week of Advent. Throughout Advent, we have been discussing how we are preparing our hearts for the arrival of Jesus, and students are encouraged to take time to pray and find ways to share kindness with others.

May your families be blessed with peace and joy throughout this Christmas season!

Dream Snow

Our playground and field are covered in snow, so it was fitting this week to read Eric Carle's book Dream Snow.

In the story, a farmer falls asleep and dreams that snow covers his farm animals. This book is very clever! Clear plastic sheets, with "snow" on them, can be lifted to reveal the animal underneath! The students loved this!

Inspired by a similar project on Mrs. Bainbridge's blog, we began creating our own version of Mr. Carle's book, but with a twist! Students were each going to write several clues about an animal of their choosing. An illustration of the animal would accompany the clues. Just like in Mr. Carle's book, a clear page with painted "snow" would cover the animal, so it would be lifted up to reveal the animal hidden under the snowbank!

Here is the criteria the students followed for the project:

Children got right to work writing clues for an animal of their choosing. They were very secretive about their animal, and worked nearly silently on their clues.

Students were challenged to write four clues, each beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period. As well, students were required to spell Word Wall Words correctly (weekly spelling words posted on the wall).

Once we completed our clues, we moved on to our illustrations. Students drew their animal, as secretly as possible, on a snowy landscape.

The very best part of the project was adding "snow" to a transparency placed over each student's illustration.

We all had a laugh when it wasn't just our animals getting covered in snow!

Because of their fantastic work, the hallway near our classroom is packed with curious students, reading the clues and peeking under the snowbanks! Well done, Grade One!

Now that the projects are complete, the students will self-assess their projects based upon the initial criteria provided. This is the time when they celebrate their work and find a way to improve as they grow as writers and illustrators.

We enjoyed some time on Friday afternoon making Christmas wreaths with our buddies! The students made so many wreaths that we will not only hang them here at school, but hope to have some hung at the Ardrossan Rec Complex! Be sure to visit there soon to see our artwork!

Our wreaths were inspired by this project,
shared on Small-Town Life.