May 15

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our Pancake breakfast on Friday.  It was a big hit with the school. Thank you also to all the parents who volunteered and helped organize this wonderful morning. I think it will be one that we remember for a long time.

 

 

We have been busy in science learning about buoyancy and stability with boats.  We looked at ways that we can keep boats stable such as a wide bottom and using a keel.  Next we will be looking at a catamaran and how that helps keep a boat stable. As we have been going through these ideas, we keep coming back to the Titanic and talking about how these concepts apply to it.

We have had so many wonderings as we go through this study.  One question was "How big was the Titanic?'.  Finding the answer on Google was easy enough: 269 metres.  BUT... that didn't really help us.  We couldn't understand how big that was.  Today we set out to gain some perspective on just how big the Titanic was.  We brought our metre sticks outside and we measured from one end of the field (the sidewalk at the drop and go at the front of the school) and went west.  We found out that the Titanic is close to that length.  Our field is 292 metres.  When we stopped at 269 metres and looked back, we were shocked at just how big a ship the Titanic was.  Many of the students were impressed by the fact that a boat that big could float!

Today we also welcomed a new student, Christian, to our classroom!He fits right in and the students are so excited to make a new friend. Welcome to Christian and his family :)

We have an exciting event coming up. Check this message out about the Great Book Exchange:

Have you ever wondered what to do with those books that you have finished reading and they are just sitting there in your house and room? We have a solution for you (with parent permission)! The Student Leadership Group is collecting gently used picture books and novels for students K-6 that you may wish to donate for the Great Book Exchange! On June 8, 2017 students at Ken Taylor will have a chance to purchase these books for 25 cents each.

What an opportunity to pick up some books for summer reading. Books will be collected between May 18^th -June 5^th, 2017. Please bring your donation of gently used books to Mrs. Fraser’s classroom.

 From: Student Leadership

Coming up:

• Tuesday and Wednesday - $2 Treat Day - Popcorn
• Wednesday - Mismatch Day - Wear Mismatched Crazy clothes!!
• Thursday May 18 - Assembly 1:00 pm
• Friday May 19, 22 - No School
• May 23 - Special In School Presentation: Hoja
• May 29 - ALC Field Trip. Please send back Field trips ASAP!  Volunteers needed!!

May 9

Today we started our first 30x30 nature activity.  We  kept it very low key by doing a mindfulness activity and eating our snack while listening to a story.  We paid attention to our senses outside - what we saw, felt, heard, smelled etc.  I hope that by getting outside each day, students will grow an appreciation for nature, being outside, and the community in which they live. The students were so engaged and had so many wonderings, especially about the buds and leaves on the trees.

 In writing, we are learning about how to make our writing more descriptive.  Today we learned about adjectives and how they can enhance our writing.  We started to learn about adjectives by describing how a secret object felt.  We came up with words such as soft, fuzzy, warm, and smooth after they had touched a scarf. When they touched our breathing ball they came up with spiky, plastic, hard, and pointy.  We learned about how these words give us a clearer image in our minds when we are reading about an object, person or place.  Tomorrow students are welcome to bring their own secret object in a bag for their classmates to feel and describe.  We will be using these for our writing and then learning about adverbs.

We have started our new science unit on Boats and Buoyancy.   We have started by reading a few books about the Titanic - the unsinkable ship.  We have been learning about why they thought it was unsinkable, about why it did sink, and about the people who were on the ship.  We are hoping that through a variety of science challenges and experiments, we might be able to learn more about what makes boats buoyant and how to fix the problem that the Titanic had.  Our challenge will be to create  a boat that will survive an iceberg crash! Tomorrow we will be altering an object that floats to make it float and talking about what a boat needs that allows it to float.

Don't forget that this Friday is our first Stampede Pancake Breakfast!  We hope to see you here with your family!

Coming Up:

• Pancake breakfast Friday
• Aboriginal Learning Centre Field Trip forms due May 22 (Please send in as soon as possible)
• May 17 - Popcorn Day
• May 18 - Assembly