Friday, January 31, 2020

Weekly News


Hello Families

Hope your children managed to get outside on this lovely sunny day while home from school for our professional learning day. This coming week is a full school week ahead of Teacher's Convention and the Family Day long weekend.
This week we were able to participate in some hands-on learning using the Glenbow Museum's 'Museum on Loan' kits. It is a wonderful opportunity to develop indigenous ways of knowing through hands-on experiences. We will be building on this work when Elder Shirley Hill visits with  us over the next two weeks, to engage the students in aboriginal cultural learning through stories and artifacts. This will link directly with the focus of Grade 4 students in their social studies investigations. Grade 3 continued focusing on Tunisia in social studies, designing holiday posters extolling the virtues of holidaying in this beautiful country. Next week they will begin their research on a country of their choice, completing a digital presentation over the next few weeks to present to their peers.
In gym, Mr Bennett joined us to teach us the fundamentals of ringette. The children enjoyed this immensely. We will be continuing developing our skills this week.
Art found us continuing our focus on Ted Harrison, which will continue next week with us using water colours to imitate his style of painting.
In science, grade 3 students identified different animals in the 5 vertebrate groups. Next week we begin our inquiry into invertebrate animals. Grade 4 focused on electricity.
In literacy the students completed their writing on the Amazon Rainforest, and started writing about themselves and healthy eating habits. In math we have been extending our learning about fractions.
Grade 4 & 5 students will be completing the Alberta Education Accountability Pillar Survey next week.
Enjoy your weekend, and if you have any questions or concerns, please connect with me.

Libby Coldbeck
Learning Leader

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Weekly News


Hello Families,

Last week was such a pleasant week for all of us, weather-wise, as the children were able to get outside for some fresh air and exercise. It was also the inaugural week of our Passion Project Fridays, details of which I am sure your children shared with you. All teachers chose an activity to run, then all students from Kindergarten to Grade 5 were able to choose what they wanted to do.It was wonderfully successful for the whole school community, as these mixed groups interacted together so well. It also allowed teachers to meet students they didn't know, and for students to get to know other teachers. What a wonderful morning! As there is no school for students this Friday, January 31st,  the second Passion Project Session will take place on Friday February 7th, so please make sure your child is in school to take part.
In literacy, we have focused on writing paragraphs about world geography and events and have had such rich conversations.  We discussed the forest fires in Australia, the Taal Volcano eruption in the Philippines, and the Amazon Rainforest. I am fortunate to have such curious students. We continue to learn about fractions in math and how we use them in everyday life.
In science, Grade 3 discussed and researched different animal groups and understand the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates. In social studies, we did some inquiry about Tunisia and why it is a popular place for holiday. Our next step is to design a holiday poster, highlighting the wonderful attractions.  Grade 4 are focused on electricity and its uses in science; in social studies they continue to learn about Canada and will be starting to make landforms this week. We will be learning how to play ringette this week in gym, with Mr Bennett's help.
Library days are on Tuesday and Thursday, so please ensure books are in backpacks. While we will be enjoying some plus temperatures this week, the mornings are still chilly and the snow will be melting, so please send in snow boots, snow-pants and gloves.
Thank you and please connect with me if you have any questions or concerns.

Libby Coldbeck
Learning Leader
Grade 3-4

Friday, January 17, 2020

Weekly News

Hello Families,

Weather: Hopefully the cold snap is going to be gone by Monday and we can get back to some sort of normal. As we are likely to be outside, please make sure that your children still have appropriate clothes for playing outside in the snow.
Absences: If your child is going to be absent, please call the school and leave a message on the answer phone.
Library:  We now have the option to take books on Tuesday & Thursday. Please make sure that books are in you child's backpack on these dates.
Recycling: We would appreciate you sending in kitchen rolls, newspapers, materials and other types of re-cycling for our class projects.
Non-teaching day. There will be no school on January 31st for students.

Student Learning: 
Science - Grade 3 will be learning about animal lifecycles; grade 4 are learning about electricity and creating devices that utilize electricity
Social Studies - Grade 3 are studying Tunisia in the context of global citizenship; grade 4 are learning about Alberta.
In Literacy we are learning how to write paragraphs by discussing current events, and in Math we are working on fractions. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Thank you

Libby Coldbeck
Learning Leader

Wednesday, January 8, 2020


Weekly News

Hello Families, 

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you and the children are as excited to be back at school tomorrow, January 9th, as I am. It is nice to have a short week to get back into the swing of school, catching up on what has been happening over the last couple of weeks.

Sadly the weather forecast is not looking to warm over the next while, so please make sure your child comes to school with the necessary warm clothing, labelled with their name.

We will be having Library tomorrow, so if you could please dig out any school books and return them tomorrow, that would be wonderful. 

Just a reminder that some children will no doubt try to bring in new toys they might have received over the holidays. Unfortunately, personal items have a tendency to get lost or broken, so please check that they have not made their way into backpacks!

Thank you, and as always please connect with me if you have any questions or concerns.

Libby Coldbeck

Learning Leader