Oct 20-24

Another short week is upon us!  Short for students that is.  Teachers will be at school Thursday afternoon and Friday to learn and to work, but students will be let out on Thursday at 11:45.  With that in mind, you will not receive a Friday letter this week.

In the Classroom:

• Math - patterns are finished with for now, but we will come back to them later.  In the meantime, we will be working on adding and subtracting up to 4-digit numbers.
• Splash Math activities to help: Round Numbers (for help with estimation), Addition up to 100 000 and Subtraction up to 100 000 (even though we only go up to 4-digit numbers in grade 4).  Also, Math Facts practice in addition and subtraction up to 9 will be very beneficial.
• Language Arts 
• Writing - we are getting closer to writing our suspense stories.  My goal is that the students have completed their story plans by Thursday.
• Spelling - new words are coming home this week.
• Reading - Thank you for supporting your child's at home reading and helping him or her to log their reading time.
• Science - we will not spend quite as much time on regular science classes this week as we have Scientists in School coming tomorrow.  This program will cover pretty much the whole unit in one afternoon and is a great supplement to what we are teaching.
• Social - today we began learning about the Foothills Region of Alberta.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Clothing exchange - students will be shopping this afternoon, and the gym will be open to the public after school

Tuesday:

• Scientists in School - we have Scientist Anne, a remote sensing scientist, coming to work with us all morning to teach us more about lights and shadows!
• Library books due 
• No Tone It Up Tuesday

Thursday:

• School ends at 11:45 a.m. - teacher learning day in the afternoon

Friday:

• No school for students - teacher learning day

Week of Oct. 13-17, 2014

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful break, enjoyed the beautiful weather and got a chance to spend time with family and/or loved ones.

In the Classroom:

• Language Arts - we will be starting to write suspense stories next week.  Tomorrow we will be having a spelling dictation.
• Math - we are finishing patterns this week. Please ask your child if they have completed their booklet.
• Social Studies - quiz on the Rocky Mountain Region on Friday.
• Science - we only have one period this week but we will be learning about shadows.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Thanksgiving Day

Tuesday:

•  Professional Learning Day for teachers

Wednesday:

• Author visit - ask your child about the author who came to talk to us today!
• No library today

Thursday:

• School job applications due

Friday:

• Hot lunch money due
• Frolicking Friday

Oct 6 - 10

It's hard to believe that we are already into October and fall is upon us.  Please remember to have your child dress for the crazy Southern Alberta weather. 

NOTES:

We were challenged by Mrs. Samayoa's class to a reading competition.  Our class did a fantastic job logging their reading but came up short by about 300 minutes.  The details have not been finalized as to when we will be cleaning their room. 

Did you know that this week is Fire Prevention Week?  This year's theme is "Working fire alarms save lives."  It's a good idea to check your smoke detector twice a year to make sure it's working, so when you have to change your clocks for Daylight Savings, check your smoke detector too!

In the Classsroom:
LA -

• Guided reading starts.  Each child has been placed in a group at his/her reading level and will be in a small group with an adult. 
• Guided spelling starts this week also.  Each child has also been leveled according to their spelling ability.  New spelling new sorts will be given out every other week.  Please practice the sorts at home.  (Refer to the blue newsletter that went home today). 
• Lastly, we are starting a "Suspense" story writing unit. 

Math

• We finished up with graphing last week (bar graphs and pictographs)
• This week, our focus is on PATTERNS!

Science -  continuing on with Lights and Shadows.  We will be talking about refraction, absorption, reflection and transparent, translucent and opaque.

Social - a more guided in depth study of the Rocky Mountain Region.


This week:
Monday:

• Friday letters signed and returned
• Library books due in

Tuesday

• Picture money due
• Library day today
• Tone it up Tuesday - will be INDY 500.  Please remember your water bottle.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

• Frolicking Friday - please dress for the weather.

Sept 29-Oct 3

Thank you for an amazing Trickster week!  The show was fabulous!  The kids were amazing and the memories will last a lifetime.   I will say though that I am glad to be back into a routine this week for our learning.

Notes:

• As the weather gets cooler, please make sure your child is dressed for the weather. We only keep students in for indoor recess when the temperature drops to -19 or is unsafe (e.g. abnormally strong winds or a thunderstorm).

In the Classroom:

• Math - finishing up the graphing unit. Please keep practicing on Splash Math at home.
• LA - we are finishing up our Life Maps and starting a suspense story writing unit. This is our last week of homophones (please practice on spellingcity.com); and our last week for SRA.
• Social - we will resume this subject this week now that Trickster is over and are starting to learn about the Rocky Mountain Region.
• Science - we will be studying how objects are either transparent, translucent or opaque.

This Week's Schedule:
Monday:

• Friday letters were a little different last week.  Make sure your child took the time to write in their own behaviour paragraph.  I enjoy reading the comments and letters you write back to your child. 
• Library books due.

Tuesday:

• Energy Day assembly 12:30 p.m.
• Art Portfolios due - students have had 2 hours of class time and an extra week and a half to complete this project. Please check in with your child to see if they have taken care of this "Big Rock"

Wednesday:

• Life Maps due - this project was started the week before last. The students had all last week to work on it and a little bit of this week. These may come home for homework since so much class time was given. Please check in with your child about this project as well.

Friday:

• Frolicking Friday
• Enrichment starts!

TRICKSTER WEEK - - Sept 22-26

The week we have all been waiting for!!! TRICKSTER IS HERE! And with it, a LOAD of EXCITEMENT!  We had an opening assembly this morning to introduce the students to the high energy program that they will experience all week!  I know I am super excited as are the students!  I know this will be a week they will not forget!

With that being said, the schedule has been a little changed - - all week!  I have asked that the students TRUST me with what will happen this week as we will have to be super flexible with Trickster, learning and practicing. 

I can't wait to see what happens with our Trickster leader Brianna, and I hope you have the discussions tonight with your son or daughter to find out what we did with our session.

Notes:

• We have challenged Mrs. Nelson's class to a reading competition! The class with the most number of reading minutes logged on reading-rewards.com this week is the winner!
• For the Trickster performances, seating is limited so make sure you have sent in your ticket request form. Students will perform at both the Thursday evening and the Friday morning performance. Keep a close eye on the agenda for updated Trickster information.
• If you are able to volunteer at all this week, we would LOVE to have you! The parent command centre will be set up in the staff room to get ready for this amazing event.
• Our school's grand total for the Terry Fox run donations was over $600!! I was very proud of our class; we raised $31 which works out to more than a dollar per student. Way to go!!

In the Classroom:

• Math - this week we will be working on the graphing unit. Please keep practicing place value, comparing and ordering numbers and writing numbers in different ways on splashmath.com.
• Language Arts - we are right into our Life Map project. Students may be coming home asking for details about their lives! I've recommended they look through family photos for ideas.
• Science - we have a couple of loose ends to tie up this week as well as learning about how light travels.
• Social - we are taking a bit of a hiatus in social this week to make room for Trickster.
• French - also going on hiatus.
• Art - we have finished our first project in class which was to create the cover of their art portfolio. Students had the silhouette of their heads traced and then drew their name and things that were important to them inside. No more class time will be given for this project and it is due Sept. 30. This week we will be creating optical illusions.

Monday

• Friday letters returned.
• There will be no library tomorrow (this week) so students can keep their books with them.
• Trickster ticket forms due in.

Tuesday

• Job applications due in
• No Tone it up Tuesday as we will be working with Trickster.

Wednesday

Thursday

• TRICKSTER performance - 6:30 p.m.  (don't forget your tickets!)

Friday

• TRICKSTER performance - 9:30 a.m.  (don't forget your tickets!)

A beautiful sighting...

On our ride in this morning, we were fortunate enough to see a bull moose off in the coulees.  What a great opportunity to take a moment, reflect, and of course, take a picture!  We are so lucky to share this land with the animals and to respect them too. 

Sept 15-22

Welcome back!  One thing I noticed with my personal children this weekend was that they were tired from a full week of routine!  I'm sure you noticed that too.  With another full week, we need to all work together to sharpen the saw and get our daily rest.  (Keeping in mind, next week is TRICKSTER and it is going to be busy and EXCITING!)

Last week we had the opportunity to create our problem for Trickster.  The entire show comes from ideas and thoughts brainstormed from the class.  I can't wait to see what the final outcome will be!!  A couple of things in regard to Trickster

1. They are looking for large pieces of cardboard.  They can be brought into the school and the office will help you out.
2. Parent volunteers...if you are able to spare an hour or two, that would be fabulous!  Again, I sent home a grey sheet if you haven't filled it out already.  Thank you.

What we are learning...

Language Arts

• Spelling - working on no excuse homophones. Spelling City is up and running with an assignment set for students to practice these important words starting on Wednesday. (See the Student Logins tab for details).
• Reading - we are working on the SRA Reading Laboratory which allows students to work independently at their own level. This program will run until the end of September. Students should be reading a minimum of 15 minutes a day at home. Don't forget to log their minutes on reading-rewards.com for prizes!!
• Writing - we are just about to start a Life Map writing project.

Math - we are just finishing up our unit on whole numbers. Splash Math has some really great activities to help kids practice place value, comparing and ordering numbers and writing numbers in different ways. We will be heading into our graphing unit later this week.

Science - our Lights and Shadows unit has just got underway. Hopefully you read about the experiment we did last week in your child's Friday Letter.

Social - last week the students were introduced to the prehistory of Alberta and to Alberta's six regions. Ask your son or daughter about the cool map they made!

Monday

• Friday letters due.  Thank you to the parents who have taken the time to respond to your child's writing. 
• Library books due.

Tuesday

• Tone it up Tuesday.  Bring a water bottle and yoga mat (optional)
• Library day today!

Wednesday

• PICTURE DAY!

Thursday

• Bus evacuation practice

Friday

• Terry Fox assembly and run at 9:00 a.m.  As a school, we are committed to the Terry Fox foundation and again we are collecting donations for cancer research.  Our school goal is for every child to bring in $1, just as it was Terry's goal. 
• Classroom JOB applications will be coming home and need to be returned Tuesday, September 23. 

Saturday:

• Pig and Pumpkin festival at Broxburn Vegetables and Cafe - proceeds go to our school!!