New literacy groups

Today all of the Grade 1 students started new literacy groups. Students will be working with different teachers 2 days a week, learning a variety of literacy skills. They will then have the opportunity to share what they have been learning with their classmates.

This afternoon, the students continued working on their stop motion projects. They are coming along incredibly well! We are excited to share the finished products with you at conferences in March.

Reminder:
No school for students on Friday, March 1st

Pink Shirt Day

Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day. The pink shirt reminds us of the importance of kindness and empathy toward others. If your child has any item of pink clothing (doesn't have to be a shirt), they are encouraged to wear it.

Friday- PD Day. No school for students.

Today students made a storyboard for their stop motion projects. They created an animal character out of clay and a background. Next step is building their invention and use stop motion to show how it helps their animal.

When we were at Bow Habitat last week, the students saw a beaver lodge and had some questions about beavers. Today we watched a video explaining what a dam is and how it can change the environment. We also learned some interesting facts about Beavers. Ask your child what stood out to them from the video.

Stop Motion

Room 15 and 16 started off this chilly Monday by becoming familiar with the Stop Motion program on the iPads. They created a clay character and had to show it performing an action like walking or kicking a ball. Students are working on keeping the iPad still and only moving their character a little bit for each frame.

Last week we read a story called 'Make Way For Ducklings' and discussed how the ducks caused problems for the people by causing traffic jams and how people caused problems for the ducks by feeding them and nearly running them over with bikes and scooters. Today we discussed animals that we coexist with in Calgary. We talked about problems that people and animals encounter when sharing a space and students brainstormed inventions to help an animal. Some ideas include putting sensors on the side of roads so when animals step on them lights and sirens warn people they are crossing, using a robot squirrel to assist other squirrels to cross the road safely, bridges, tunnels and sensors on cars. Students will build their invention and create a stop motion movie, showing how an animal can use it.

Room 16 brought home field trip forms for the Glenbow trip on March 6. Please complete and return them. Thank you to the 4 volunteers able to come with us.

Today was a blue day and it looks like a cold week but we may be outside so make sure your child comes prepared.

Bow Habitat

We had a busy week with offsite activities.

During our trip to Bow Habitat Station we:
-learned about fish senses including some scientific words including lateral line, otolith and nares
-created a habitat for a fish (ask your child the 4 things this included)
-used our sense of touch to figure out the mystery objects in the boxes
-saw some prehistoric fish (sturgeon)
-did a smell scavenger hunt to see if we could find our way home like salmon do to lay eggs
-explored the museum and saw other animal habitats including a beaver lodge and marsh

Most of our writing this week was based on our trips to Fort Calgary and Bow Habitat as students reflected and connected their ideas and experiences back to our focus of community, past and present and citizenship.

Students have been doing some measurement and sorting during building activities and we continue to practice basic facts and number sense using cards and games like 'guess my number.'

Here are a couple examples of mystery number games you could play at home to help develop number sense. Finding a hundreds chart to use as a visual will be helpful to have and kids can eliminate numbers as they get more clues.

1. My number is between 0 and 100
2. It is a 2 digit number
3. It is odd
4. The 2 digits add up to 9.
5. What could the possible answers be?

Another option is have your child ask questions that you can answer 'yes' or 'no'
Eg. Is it greater that .....
Is it even....
Is it less than....

Reminder: PD day Friday March 1. No school for students.

Calgary buildings - Past and Present

Today the students were presented with a challenge....can you use Lego to create a model of a Calgary building? First we looked through pictures of Calgary buildings, both past and present. Then, we sorted lego from the iLab to make it easier to find the pieces we needed. 

Finally, students began creating models of Calgary buildings. 

We will be using these structures with our artist-in-residence in a couple of weeks. She will be teaching us about sketching and looking closely. 

Winter clothing reminder: 

With the weather being a little bit warmer this week, students have started going outside again for recess and lunch break. We have noticed many students coming to school without mittens and hats. Although it has warmed up a little bit, it is still quite chilly when students are outside for extended periods of time. Please make sure that your child is coming to school each day with snow pants, boots, hats, mittens and a warm coat. 

Fort Calgary

We had a great first day back with a trip to Fort Calgary! Students participated in a program that explored the timeline of Calgary. They learned about the Blackfoot, Settlers and North West Mounted Police. Students also performed a skit that was a true story of a man escaping from police while being transported on a train. Ask your child what role they played today.  Students did a scavenger hunt through the museum and saw what hospitals, the Calgary Herald, homes and pharmacies were like a long time ago. Ask your child about the artifacts they handled today.

Room 15 and 16 go to Bow Habitat on Thursday.

volunteers please!

Hello Families,

Room 16 is still in need of at least 2 volunteers to be able to go on our trip to Fort Calgary on Tuesday February 19. Please email kjpittman@cbe.ab.ca if you could help out. Much appreciated!!

Field trip forms for room 15 and 16 for Fort Calgary and Bow Habitat are due tomorrow.

Thanks

Valentine's Day Note, Reminders and Pictures from our Week

Valentine's Day Note
Today your child came home with a note about Valentine's Day with the names of the students in their class. We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on February 13th. If you would like your child to participate, please ensure that they bring Valentines for all students in their class. Due to severe allergies, we would prefer treats stay at home.    

Field Trip Forms
Two field trip forms came home yesterday, one for Fort Calgary and one for Bow Habitat. Both of these trips will be happen the week of February 19-22. Please return these forms to school no later than Tuesday, February 12th

Field Trip Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers for 4 upcoming field trips. A school messenger email was sent out today. If you are available to join us for any of the trips, please email your child's teacher by Monday, February 11th.

Week in Review
This week students were busy creating buildings for our community. They have completed the planning stages and have started building. Students came up with some unique ideas for important buildings in our community. We are excited to see where this project takes us next!

We have also been talking about the difference between snowflakes and snow crystals. Today students spent time looking closely at pictures, drawing what they saw and then using a special kind of tissue paper and some spray bottles to create beautiful art work! We are excited to see the finished products on Monday morning!

Field trip forms

Your child should have 2 field trip forms in their backpack today. Please fill out and return by next Tuesday at the latest. If you are able to volunteer, please email your child's teacher.

Valentine lists will be coming home tomorrow if your child is interested in making Valentines for their classmates. We will give students time to exchange Valentines on Wednesday February 13 as there is no school for students on Feb. 14 or 15.  We will not be sharing any treats due to allergies.

Have a good evening!

swimming

Today we:
-had our first day of swimming
-wrote about winter
-learned about snowflakes and ice crystals
- created our own sketches of snowflakes using only letters of the alphabet then taught a friend how to draw it
-did partner reading remembering our reading strategies

Check your child's backpack for our Field Trip and Fee list. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the listed trips, please email your child's teacher.

It looks like we will have another "Blue" day tomorrow. Although we take a bus to swimming, students will still need warm outdoor clothing. They were very prepared today! Don't forget your swimming stuff!