Jan. 11

What an exciting day we had at the Glenbow Museum today! For many of us this was our first visit to the museum.  We could feel the energy when we arrived as there was so much to see and do.

We split into two groups today.  We each did the same programs, although at different times.

We did the museum tour. This was a chance look at the different galleries, sketch some interesting artifacts, and ask some questions to learn more.  We saw everything from samurai armour to rocks and crystals.  We quickly learned the importance of keeping our hands, bodies, and pencils off the artifacts in order to best preserve them.  It was interesting to see how different students were attracted to different artifacts and galleries.

The other part of the day was spent learning about the historical figures of Calgary such as James Mcleod and John Ware and how they helped shape our city into what it is today. We had the chance to wear special gloves and touch a variety of old artifacts.  We had to use our prior knowledge to guess what the artifacts were used for in the past.

For lunch we had some time to chat with our friends about the excitement of the morning and then we had some free time to explore the different exhibits.  We saw the tipi of the Blackfoot people and even had the chance to go inside.  Some of us also went through a railcar, learned about sending telegrams, or went into a small shack used by Japanese beet farmers.

We came back to school with so many questions, which will be our basis for our inquiry into Alberta and Calgary's past.  With such an exciting day, I am sure many of us (parent volunteers and me included) will sleep well tonight!

Coming up

• Storytelling presentation tomorrow
• Mrs. Jordan away Friday
• Early Dismissal Next Friday
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Jan 10

Our field trip tomorrow!! Despite the predicted cold weather continuing, this field trip will only be cancelled if there are complications with the busses or if we are missing any volunteers. At this point we have exactly enough. If you were unable to volunteer on this trip but are interested in doing so in the future I would suggest you apply for your police clearance now (if you don't already have it). Apparently this process can take up to 6-8 weeks but it is good for 5 years so it would be all ready to go if you are able to help out in the future. We have 2 more planned field trips in the next few months as well as swimming lessons in the late spring. 

For this trip, students will need to bring a lunch with them in a smaller bag. We are leaving our backpacks at the school due to limited space for storage at the museum so they will just bring their lunchbags with them. Also please ensure that students do not bring money or other personal items like toys with them. Photos are not permitted so please leave personal electronic devices at home so that we don't have to worry about losing items. I'm hoping we'll have an awesome trip!

Coming up:

• Field Trip tomorrow
• Debbie Miller Storytelling Thursday
• Mrs. Jordan away Friday
• Early Dismissal January 20th

Jan. 9

Happy Monday everyone!

Today in class we reviewed different ways to show a number.  Many of us can show a number in a variety of ways including blocks, ten frames, pictures and expanded form.  Today we challenged ourselves by using blocks to represent numbers in different ways.  For example, we could show 54 like this:

Or like this:

We practiced dissecting numbers in different ways and then did some fun math riddles to help us connect these ideas.  You could easily do some of these at home.  Tomorrow we will have students write their own riddles and exchange them with a peer.  Here are a couple that we did as a group today:

Coming up:

• field trip Wednesday. Please be sure to be on time and have a packed lunch!
• Debbie Miller in Thursday for Storytelling (ooops... not tomorrow as previously stated)
• Mrs. Jordan away Friday at Galileo Learning Leader Meeting

Jan. 6

In Math, we have been working on understanding our numbers to 100 and over the last two days, we have learned how to spell and write numbers up to 20.  We have been doing this through stories,  student created word searches and technology.

Look at the excietment on their faces using IXL

We are really excited as we now have an IXL membership for each student.  IXL is an interactive math site that allows students to practice skills we are doing in class and provides immediate feedback if they get an answer wrong.  We started using this in class today to practice number concepts, but you are welcome to use this at home too.   This allows students to have more practice and you to see what we are working on.  Please check your child's backpack for their sign in information for this site.

Coming up:

• Denise Miller: Indigenous story telling on Tuesday
• Glenbow Field Trip Wednesday
• Mrs. Jordan away Friday

Jan. 5

In Reading, we are focussing on understanding what we are reading through a variety of strategies. One of those strategies is by retelling.  We have read many stories and looked at what most stories have in common: a beginning where we meet our critical characters and setting, a middle where we are introduced to the problem, and the end where the problem is solved.

We have been retelling with more and more detail and eventually this will lead to us using these elements for our own storytelling.  Over the last two days, we have been dissecting the story: The Mitten by Jan Brett.  We practiced retelling the story using ordinal numbers (first the mole went into the mitten, second...).  Today we practiced retelling the story by acting it out.  This was a great way for students to practice retelling the story with the help of their peers to ensure they got all the key parts.

Coming up:
Field trip forms and report card envelopes tomorrow
Denise Miller: Swansong Storytelling - Tuesday
Glenbow Field Trip - Wednesday

Jan 4

Thank you to everyone who already sent back report card envelopes and field trip forms! We got over 1/3 of them back already today!

Over the last couple of days, we have been doing a lot of review of important classroom routines and talking about why we do what we do each day. For example, today we had an excellent classroom discussion about why it is important to read. Many of us realized that we need to read in order to understand text messages, we read for enjoyment, and we read to learn new things.  We also talked about how we become better readers and we once again revisited this amazing diagram that shows that the best way to to become a better reader is to READ!

During reading, many of us had the chance to set some new reading goals.  We reviewed our previous reading goals and discussed what some new goals would be.  Some of our new goals include: using our knowledge of word sounds and applying them to new words, using a dictionary to learn the meaning of new words, and using punctuation to help us add expression to our reading.  Over the next few days, each of us will get to read with me, confer about reading and set some new goals. Please chat with your child about what these goals are and don't hesitate to contact me if you want more information about how to help with these goals at home!

Coming Up

• Field trip forms and report card envelopes due Friday (you can keep the report card)
• Glenbow Museum Field Trip - Jan. 11

Jan. 3

Happy New Year!!  I  am excited for what 2017 will bring to our classroom and our learning!  We had an excellent start to this new year today.  The students came to school excited and smiling and eager to learn.  It was nice to see all of the students and hear all about their winter break.  I know the students were so happy to see each other too!

Today you should have received field trip information and consent forms for our field trip to the Glenbow Museum next week.  We will spend all day on January 11 at the museum doing two different programs that connect directly to our social studies curriculum. This is a great opportunity for both students and volunteers as most of the class has not been to the museum before!

Please read through all the information carefully, sign the forms and send back by Friday.  If you are able to volunteer, please email me or send back the purple forms ASAP.  We will need two volunteers from our class in order to go.  Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about driving there or your police clearance.

Coming up:

• Glenbow Field trip - January 11
• Mrs. Jordan away Friday January 13 at Learning Leader Meeting