Posted in French

Bonjour!bonjour!bonjour!

Posted on by emouchou

Hello OJCS parents and welcome to grade 1!

 

Can you believe another school year is upon us?If you don’t already know me, my name is Madame Efi Mouchou.This is my 2nd year at OJCS and I look forward to forming relationships and teaching your kiddos. It has been a pleasure working with your children and I have seen so much growth and learning already in the short amount of time we have had together. Last week we spent time getting to know each other and establishing the classroom rules.We played games revising the letters of the alphabet and practicing the calendar,we did some writing activities and we read  lots of books.This week”s focus was on the french greetings and saying our name in french.I look forward to meeting you all at back-to-school night on the 19th when you will have the chance to see your kids’recordings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me through email or a phone call.

 

 

 

Posted in General Studies, Science, Social Studies

Building, Mapping and Collaborating in 1A

Posted on by jbennett31

Collaboration is a learning skill that all grade one students work on throughout the year. Working and communicating with different partners and small groups takes lots of patience.

Teachers help students navigate any problems or conflicts as they arise. They arrange for students to work with different classmates throughout the year to practice communicating and collaborating.

In Social Studies, students started creating maps with a partner. Each group created a community map and presented it to the class.

The class had so much fun creating their communities that we decided to work all together to create one community. Each student chose a specific community helper to research. They also needed to make the community building each helper worked at. The ER doctor built a hospital, while the principal and teacher made a school and playground together.

 

Student Zev Delilah Rachel Levi Ilay Aliyah & Maia Miles Nate Emma
Community Helper Vet Vet Postmaster Farmer Chef & Restaurant Owner Teacher & Principal Policeman Firefighter ER Doctor
Community Building Animal Hospital Animal Shelter Post Office Barn&Farm Restaurant School & Playground Police Station Fire Station Hospital

The students researched and wrote about their community helper’s role and responsibilities. They presented their findings to the class. They designed and created community buildings. Together they decided on symbols for the map key and worked on mapping the 3D community.

 

The collaboration I have seen over the last few weeks has been terrific. The children have been so supportive and encouraging with each other. Best of all, the children had so much fun.

 

Posted in French

Summer blog

Posted on by emouchou

Salut les amis,

Here is the blog with many fun activities and games for the students  to do over the summer.I highly encourage them to spend some time when they feel like it because they can revise everything they have learnt this year.Have fun!

Posted in General Studies

OJCS Summer Reading Challenge

Posted on by jbennett31
OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay

 

Brigitte, our librarian, has launched the first-ever school-wide summer reading challenge. Check your child’s note tote for all the information. The students are excited to take part in the challenge. I explained the challenge to the class today, and the children talked about visiting their local libraries to borrow books.

Here are some of her recommendations for  K-1 and 2-3

 

Posted in French

Ithaca

Posted on by emouchou

A journey to Ithaca never ends………..

 

My dear parents and students,

 

Our educational journey is almost coming to a close for this school year, with lots of positive moments and maybe a few challenging ones, at times. Speaking for myself, one of the greatest moments was when I joined the OJCS school, meeting such beautiful people and appreciating the Jews values and heritage that are celebrated. Being a diplomat’s wife, I am certainly used to developing an appreciation for different cultures and traditions and making lifelong friendships, but teaching in a school with a trilingual curriculum is unique. Shifting from “Good morning” to “Bonjour” and “Shalom” daily, opens a door to a whole new world not only for our kiddos but for us, the teachers as well. I don’t want to start listing the advantages of such education because; I am sure you all know them very well, and you can see the results everyday. However, I would like to stress  that as we all try to achieve our goals, it is important not to lose sight of the journey. Ithaca, in Homer’s Odyssey, symbolizes this idea of a destination as a long and winding journey, where the supreme aim is to find fulfillment, such as changing careers, getting a new job, passing an exam, coping with a serious health problem, moving to another country, or school, going through the loss of a parent, and so forth. Constantine Cavafy (one of the most renowned Greek poets) wrote the poem “Ithaca” in 1911, inspired by Odysseus’ journey home after the end of the Trojan War. Cavafy describes Odysseus seeing amazing things, without caring for the destination as he is, advised: “Do not hurry your trip in any way.” That’s what we should all pray for dear friends and students, a long trip full of adventures, difficulties that grow us, and numerous learning opportunities so that when we reach our destination, we will be rich in maturity, knowledge, and wisdom. No matter the hardships, never give up!

Now I would like you all to listen to the poem recited by the amazing Sean Connery and set to the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou. 

 

Sean Connery reads ITHAKA | Powerful Life Poem by C.P.Cavafy

 

Posted in 1A, Jewish Studies, Ruach

Parashat hashavua – Lech Lecha

Posted on by sbaram

Last weeks we learned about parashat lech-lecha (לך לך).

This parasha tells the story of the 12 spies sent into the land of Canaan in search of milk and honey. We thoroughly disscussed the idea of viewing one self in comparison to others, just as the Israelites viewed themselves as crickets compared to the giant inhabitants of Canaan.

Then we proceeded to camouflage a pair of binoculars and toured the school looking for the land flowing with milk and honey, the kids even found giant grapevines and tied them to a stick to bring back to Moses and Joshua as proof of the abundance of the land of Israel.

 

Have a great week!

Saar.

 

 

 

Posted in 1A, General Studies

The Three Little Pigs

Posted on by jbennett31

 

1A had fun reading The Three Little Pigs recently. After reading the story, I challenged the class to build three solid houses that the big bad wolf couldn’t blow down. The requirements were that each group needed to make a straw house, a stick house, and a brick house. The students got excited and started to build. The Big Bad Wolf/Mrs. Bennett came calling.

                                                               

I huffed and puffed, used a hair dryer, and made wind with a plastic top. As much as I huffed and puffed, I could not blow the houses down. All the structures were stable and standing: the children were so happy.     

The class wanted to write a new version of the Three Little Pigs. Listen to the children read their story of The Three Little Pigs.

Listen to the stories we wrote and recorded. We hope you enjoy them.

Posted in French

A school where fun never ends!

Posted on by emouchou

The school is buzzing right now! There has been so much activity lately at the school, and students are shining. Kids enjoyed spending a morning with their grandparents doing fun activities in all three languages, and they proudly showed them their work. For Mother’s Day, they made beautiful cards with wishes in French, and we read how people celebrate this special day in other countries. They keep practicing their reading and writing skills through reading buddies and playing games so that they can review all the new vocabulary, such as spring, the parts of the body, and animals. We are currently learning about animal habitats like the sea, the jungle, the farm, and the type of food they eat, and of course, as the weather steadily improves, we spend some time outdoors. As the end of the school year is getting closer, I insist on reading with the children daily so they can finish Grade 1 positively and successfully.

 

 

 

Posted in General Studies, Jewish Studies

A special Day in 1A

Posted on by jbennett31

There was a special surprise in the library today.  Melanie came to enthrall us with her performance of Opera Mouse.

You can see more info about the show here: https://www.melaniegall.com/opera-mouse“
This afternoon there was a wonderful Shavuot Assembly on the front lawn of our school. It was beautiful to sing and gather together in the sunshine. The students donated lots of food to the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank.
We finished off the day with a frozen Menchies treat. Yum!