March 9, 2018

Dear Parents,

It has been a week of building and more building in Science!  Mrs Kenna's class has been building bridges for the Billy Goats Gruff and towers for Rapunzel.  Ms. Cvach's class has been building houses made of straw and sticks for the Three Pigs.  We hope all our fairy tale friends are happy with the things we have created for them.

In Literacy this week, we have been writing in our journals to share personal experiences and to retell stories.  We made words using the following letters:   e e o g h r t t.  Ask you child to make various 2-5 letter words.  Can you figure out the mystery word?  It uses all the letters!

We worked hard to learn our words of the week for the weekly spelling test, and then we ran out of time on Friday.  Don't worry though, we will have the test first thing on Monday morning.  Here are the words for next week:

• school
• tell
• will
• out 
• for

In Math we used the hundreds chart to look for number patterns that occur when one is skip counting by various numbers.  Count by 3's and circle the numbers on the chart.  Do you see a pattern?  What happens when you count by 5?

We also began to explore more complex patterns, and used what we learned to make some amazing black and white patterned snakes.

We wish you an awesome weekend.  Enjoy the sun and warmer weather.  Time to get out the rubber boots!

Ms. Cvach

Mrs. Kenna

March 2, 2018

Dear Parents,

It was a busy week in Rooms 1 and 2.  Mrs. Kenna's class did a series of lessons where they learned how to build roller coasters to help Jack get down the beanstalk.

In Ms. Cvach's class, the children learned how to build bridges using a variety of materials to help the Billy Goats Gruff get across the bridge.








In Math this week we have been working with our hundreds chart.  Children are learning to figure out which numbers are missing using strategies like looking above, below or beside the number.  We are also looking for various patterns that occur when we draw a straight line through a series of numbers e.g. 11, 22, 33, 44,  55,  66, 77, 88, 99 (we are adding 11 each time) or 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95 (the first digit goes up by one and the second digit is always a 5)

We had a wonderful sunny day for our field trip to Cross Conservation area.  We learned how animals adapt to winter conditions by staying active, hibernating or migrating.  We talked about how animals sometimes hide under the snow to keep warm.  We looked for evidence of different animals visiting the area by observing their tracks and their scat.  We also got to go inside the teepee and listen to an Indigenous story.  Ask your child to tell you about his/her favourite parts of the day!



















We wrote in our journals about the field trip too.  Here are a couple of examples:



Our new words for next week will be:

• then
• some
• animal
• it
• no

Have a good weekend and try not to get lost in the snow!

Ms. Cvach and Mrs. Kenna

February 23, 2018

Dear Parents,

It has been a short but busy week in Rooms 1 and 2.  In Math, we practiced our 3D Shape song every day to get ready for Friday's assembly.  We celebrated the hundredth day of school  and we played various Math games to get ready for Thursday's Math night.  One of the featured games is called Salute.  The other was a game to help children learn to add doubles quickly.








In Science, Ms. Cvach's class has been building roller coasters to help Jack get down off the beanstalk more quickly, and Mrs. Kenna's class has been building towers so that Rapunzel can move into a nicer place!







We have been following the Olympics and are very excited that Canada is winning so many medals!  The children have been practicing Olympic sports in the gym.

It looks like we will finally go to the Cross Conservation Area next week for our field trip!  Please read the email we sent to ensure that you and your child are prepared.  Forms need to be signed and returned on Monday.  Thank you for your patience!

Here are a few more pictures from our week:





Our words of the week next week will be:

• with
• at
• come
• thing
• go

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Cvach
Mrs. Kenna

February 9, 2018

Dear Parents,

This week in literacy we had a new mystery word for our "making words" lesson.  The mystery word was "keyboard" and we were able to make a lot of 2, 3, 4 and 5 letter words!



We practiced making rhyming words with our words of the week.  On Friday we had a spelling test.  Ask your child to show you how he/she did.  We will not have any words next week due to our short week, however the week after Family Day we will be learning the following:

• be
• car
• how
• make
• not

This week we began learning about the Olympics.  We have been playing Olympic sports in Gym and have been reflecting on things we are good at.  Here are a couple of examples:

In Social Studies, we have been learning about a young Blackfoot man named Api-Kai-ees.  He loved to run and gained a reputation for being swift on his feet.  This talent landed him a very important job as a messenger who would run messages between villages.  Foot races were very popular at the time (1800's) and Api-Kai-ees became a runner.  They renamed him Deerfoot because he seemed to run effortlessly without pain or struggle like a deer.  Can you think of some places in Calgary that are named after him?

We have also started learning about our community of Cranston.  We looked at Google Maps and found our school and other places in our community.  We also showed the children where Ms. Cvach and Mrs. Kenna live!

In Math we have been preparing for our Assembly on February 23rd.  We will be singing the 3D Shape Song.  Parents are invited to attend.  Once the time is finalized, we will let you know.

In Math we also learned a new addition strategy.  When adding 2 numbers that have one number in between, you can just double the in between number to find the answer.  For example, when adding 4+6, the number in between is 5, and 5 doubled is 10!  That makes finding the answer a little easier.

In Science, we continue learning about building things.  We have been building strong structures with marshmallows and toothpicks.  Ask your child the trick to making a structure strong.











Here are a few more pictures from this week.



Unfortunately, our field trip to the Cross Conservation Area had to be postponed once again due to inclement weather.  We will re-book the trip for either Feb. 26, 27 or 28.  Once we do, we will let you know and send home a brand new permission form for you to fill out :-)

Have a lovely weekend.  Try not to get lost in the snow!

Ms. Cvach
Mrs. Kenna

Feb 2, 2018

Hello parents! Happy Ground hog Day!

We are really enjoying our "building things" inquiry study. The students have been learning what makes structures strong, what are the requirements of a base, and how 3 D shapes relate to buildings. We have created structures in small groups and today we analyzed what worked well (and perhaps what did not). We will continue with our building knowledge next week. 



 
 





Our words of the week next week are: 
of     nice      that      do   you

Napi and the Big Rock : Last week Mr. Scout came in to share this Blackfoot story. This week students retold how the Big Rock of Okotoks came to be. We then wrote out the story in our own words. This is a great literacy activity because students can embellish with juicy words and it is a way to sequence story ideas without having to make up a story of their own.

We have also begun to examine "Where in the World are you from?" Thank you for having those conversations with your children. It has been fun looking at the world map and learning about our families.


Math problem solving 
We gave the students the following problem: There are 10 people at a building center. Some are boys and some are girls. How many boys and girls are there? Show all possibilities. 

We had many different responses to this problem as students showed their thinking in many ways. At this point, we wanted students to think of a strategy to ensure they found all the ways. ( make a chart, draw a picture, write equations, use blocks etc.) This is an example of how our math facts can be applied to a real world situation.

We continue to represent 2 digit numbers daily with a focus on how many tens and ones make up bigger numbers.  











More information about our field trip will be sent in an email next week! Enjoy your weekend!