December 20, 2017- Elf-tastic earnings!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, finish work for the movie tomorrow
• It's Polar Express Day tomorrow- wear comfy/ Christmas pajamas.  Make sure they are clean and that you keep your stuffy friends at home!
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school tomorrow afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Learned and Did Today:

• In gym, room 4 & 5 played snowball fight.  We used gym mats as forts which we tried to knock down while playing a revenge dodgeball type game.
• In music, we watched a video.  The video was about a song and we had to do the beat box noises the guy was doing.  Then we had to figure out the parts that the other group members in the video played.  We lastly played a Stella-Ella-Ola game.
• We finished the Great Elf Game today.  We were allowed to buy elves to help us collect trees and we had two opportunities to win the lottery.  We had to use mental math to figure out how much you made in a day and we used calculators to solve the sum of how much we made in the month of December.

December 19, 2017- Brought to you by The Polar Express...

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring settings page in if it is still at home
• Dress Like an Elf Day tomorrow- wear red, green, and white.  Or something shiny!
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school Thursday afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Learned and Did Today:

• Today we had our first day of Christmas Caroling!  We sang: We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Six White Boomers, I Want a Hippopotamus and Jingle Bells.
• In music, we watched a cartoon called a Garfield Christmas.  While we watched the movie, we had to journal about our favorite instrument and what the instrument we would invent.
• At the end of the day in Daily 5, we learned about what a simile and a metaphor is.  A simile compares two things using "like" or "as", while a metaphor tends to use the word "is".  Ask me about a simile or metaphor from the book The Polar Express.  We will need to write one of our own for our Polar Express re-write.

December 18, 2017- Happy Christmas Cards

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, finish settings pictures for tomorrow
• Christmas Hat Day tomorrow- wear a hat related for Christmas
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school Thursday afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Did Today:

• Today we helped our buddies make Christmas cards.  We guided them as they made thumbprint snowmen, we helped them with their writing inside their card and we helped them draw hats and arms.
• During computer lab, we had to nominate students who we think should be recognized at the next Coffin Cares assembly.
• In math, we played the Great Elf Game.  We had 12 elves we had to send to the nearby woods and the far away forest.  Depending on the weather, the elves brought the trees home.  This was determined by the roll of the dice.

December 15, 2017- A House Sparrow in a Wooden Hedge

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week: on Tuesday wear your Christmas Hats
• Christmas caroling Tues-Thurs morning from 9:00-9:30am.  You are most welcome to join us!

What We Did Today On Fresh Air Friday 

• Today we were citizen scientists and we went to Barrett Park and the green space by the school listening and looking for birds that are in the area.  We were able to observe three magpies, six black capped chickadees, two crows and one house sparrow.  We then recorded these on our e-bird accounts, which helps scientists know how many birds are living in the area and if their habitat is healthy or endangered.
• We also had a lesson on friendship, where we thought about what we need in a friend and how we could make that friend.  Some important qualities we are looking for are: respecting my space while I am working, someone that I can trust and someone who will help me when I need it.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We need to get our best elf selves ready for the Great Elf Game next week!

December 14, 2017- Guiding the little ones on the Polar Express

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• Fresh Air Friday tomorrow- please dress to be outside
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting until tomorrow
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• During Daily 5, we read The Polar Express again, this time listening for unfamiliar and juicy words.  After we got a sheet with some of those words and we had to find out the definitions for each one.
• We had buddies today, and we got to go the computer lab and guide them into logging into Mathletics.
• In math, we did our number of the day and then we solved some addition and subtraction problems to show Ms. Jones how well our skills have improved.  We also solved a couple of word problems.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We have to finish our word problems and Christmas Lights before the holidays!

December 13, 2017- Three important parts of music.

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• Library tomorrow- bring your books back
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In music, Mr. O'Reilly introduced three important parts all music should have.  They are pitch, melody and rhythm.  We had to make up songs that had all three parts to them and perform them to the class.
• After music, we had time to finish up our Grinch centers.  We learned what new words mean by looking at the clues around them.  These words included sneer, ramshackled and slunk.
• In gym, we started playing mini-games in hockey.  We had to pass and shoot the puck into our opponents nets.  The team names were: the Santas, The Green Trees, the Blue Elves and the Shooting Stars.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We have to learn more about pitch, melody and rhythm so we can be more fascinated and understand a variety of music.

December 12, 2017- Welcome to the Polar Express

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, math (group a-pg. 70-71; group b-pg. 118)
• Treat day tomorrow- bring 25¢
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In the afternoon, Ms. Jones read us the story The Polar Express.  We discussed what everyone would ask for if they were to receive the first gift of Christmas.
• Today in math, once we finished our subtraction work we got to work on an activity where we had to round numbers in Christmas lights to the nearest tens and hundreds.
• In science, we got to work on our light and shadow stations.  We learned that if you put something straight in water, it looks like it is bent because of refraction.  Refraction is what happens when light bends or turns.  When you point a laser at a mirror, it reflects in another direction.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

In science, we need to finish all our centers so we can finish our science unit.

December 11, 2017- Light and Shadow

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, math (group a-pg. 67; group b-pg. 112)
• Treat day tomorrow- bring 25¢
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In gym, we started stations where we did different activities to practice our dribbling skills around objects, passing, face off and shooting skills.
• This afternoon in science, Ms. Cowdy introduced centers which we will be doing to complete our light and shadow centers before the break.  There are six centers: shadow puppets, learning about refraction, concave and convex lens, re-directing the path of light, breaking light through a prism and testing items to see if they reflect.
• In math, we learned how to subtract with 0's and how to borrow.  Ms. Jones showed us a way to subtract a number like 200 by subtracting one away from both numbers.  We also learned a new card game for subtraction called Take It Away.

December 7, 2017- It's SHOWTIME!!!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Festive Evening tonight 6-8pm; make sure you are wearing brown if you are a caribou or moose, brown/ black/ grey if you are a squirrel, Flames jerseys if you are a hockey player and black/white if you are a puffin.
• PD day Friday- no school
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We had buddy time with our kindergarten friends today.  We helped them log into Mathletics.
• We watched the cartoon movie of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  We learned that the movie is not the same as the book.  Some differences we noticed were: the string to tie the antler on Max's head was black in the movie but red in the book, in the book the Grinch was going to dump the sleigh over the mountain top, and in the movie they meantion the Grinch's strength "grew 10 grinches plus two."
• In math, we worked on our subtraction skills and had to remember our borrowing skills plus what to do if the number beside was a zero.

December 6, 2017- How The Grinch Despised the Porcupine in a Pine Tree.

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test, practice song
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance, that includes: stuffies for cubs, squirrels need to bring headbands, puffins need recorders, Flames need jerseys
• Spelling test tomorrow
• Festive Evening tomorrow night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school
• Lunch Lady forms

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We had time to practice our math fact or reading skills on either Mathletics or Raz-Kids during our computer lab time.
• During Daily 5, we listened to the story How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  After that, Ms. Jones explained the centers we will be doing with the book.  We then organized our journals so that we can start them tomorrow.  One center is matching the verb tense with a certain word.  The word knows is a present tense verb.
• In gym, we played a game called Recycle where we had to dribble ball hockey balls away from our team's hoop.  We had to learn to work as a team to achieve the main goal.  The other we played was Hockey Hoopla, where we wanted to get as many of the ball hockey balls for points.

What do we need to do next?

We need to start our centers about the Grinch to develop our learning about verbs, rhyming words, and how to use context clues when reading unfamiliar words.

December 5, 2017- Loco for Coconuts!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test, practice song
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance
• Spelling test Thursday
• Festive Evening Thursday night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school
• Lunch Lady forms

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We practiced our song for the Festive Evening and we also made props for our characters.  We learned that we still need to practice!
• In science, we stared into a classmate's eyes and saw how their pupils changed in the light and dark.  The iris will get bigger in the dark to let more light in to see, and it will get smaller when enough light is in the room.
• In gym, we played a game called Keep Away, where we had to practice having control of the puck/ floor hockey ball.  If we didn't, it would get knocked away.

December 4, 2017- Deck the halls with sounds of hockey sticks, fa la la la la!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance
• Spelling test Thursday
• Festive Evening Thursday night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• Today in gym, we started our floor hockey unit.  We practiced ball handling skills and dribbling.  We also played a game at the end where we followed a leader.  If Ms. Jones yelled freeze and the follower could touch the leader's puck, they got a point.
• At the end of the day in art, we started Christmas Light piece using chalk pastels.  We smudged the colour to make the lights "glow".
• We brainstormed costume ideas for our performance Thursday.  We learned we can make animal masks using foam paper.

What do we need to do next?

We have to make our props for the Festive Evening celebration and practice our song.  In art, we are going to put our artwork up in time for Thursday night!

December 1, 2017- Partly Cloudy With a Good Chance of Chickadees

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring green spelling duo tang to school, please check with your parents to see if you are going to Festive Evening. 
• Festive Evening forms due Monday

What We Learned Today On Fresh Air Friday

• We went outside for a walk around the Whispering Woods and the school looking and listening for birds. We saw house sparrows, chickadees and magpies.  We also saw a flicker and a finch.
• Ms. Jones read us the book The Elf on the Shelf.  After that the Smartboard stopped working.
• We watched a five minute movie called Partly Cloudy.  It was to start a lesson about how to make friends.  We then went back to our desks and wrote about what we need in a friend.

What do we need to do next?

We have to talk about how I can make a good friend plus we have to enter our bird tallies into our e-bird accounts.

November 30, 2017- Coffin Cares

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring green spelling duo tang to school, please check with your parents to see if you are going to Festive Evening. 
• Fresh Air Friday tomorrow- we will be outside looking for birds.  Please dress appropriately, wearing a jacket, mitts and toque.
• Festive Evening forms due Monday

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In math, we started estimating differences for given subtraction questions.  One method we used was to round the number to the nearest ten/hundred.
• This afternoon in science, most of us finished our focus bird facts.  We also had to journal about what we learned from the games we played last Friday.  We learned that pine martins have to be sneaky to steal bird eggs.
• We had our first Coffin Cares assembly.  We learned that we will be recognized at these assemblies if we show respect for ourselves, each other and the environment.  We also learned that we should be putting one use snack wrappers in the proper containers.
• Extra: Mrs. Kidd had a draw for the Scholastic Book Fair posters.

What do we need to do next?

We need to work on our subtraction skills, especially with borrowing and regrouping.

November 29, 2017- Can you dodge a ball from Ms. Jones?

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring green spelling duo tang to school
• We will be having our first Coffin Cares assembly tomorrow morning at 10.  Please wear your Dr. Coffin t-shirt or a green t-shirt if you have one.
• Please check your school messenger for an upcoming notice about yesterday's Tunisia in house field trip program
• Festive Evening form due Monday
• DC letter sent home.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• Today in gym, we played a game called continuous dodgeball.  We learned that Mrs. Smith and Ms. Jones are really good at dodging.
• During Daily 5, we worked on our word study making new words.  The mystery word for Group C was responsibility while Group J worked on words with "oa" in them.
• In social studies, we finished our journals about Monday's presentation about Tunisia.  We wrote about how their chess sets are made of olive wood, their dominoes can be made out of bone, and that camels can go without food and water for an entire week!

What do we need to do next?

We need to finish sorting, transfering and write 3-4 sentences about the new words we make.

November 28, 2017- A Porcupine in a Pine Tree

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, math textbook work
• There are extra treats - bring 25¢ tomorrow
• We will be having our first Coffin Cares assembly Thursday morning at 10.  Please wear your Dr. Coffin t-shirt if you have one.
• Please check your school messenger for an upcoming notice about yesterday's Tunisia in house field trip program
• Festive Evening form being sent home today- please save the date of Thursday December 7 from 6:00-8:00pm! 

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In music we watched the CBC music contest video.  We journaled about what we liked and what we could have done better.
• In gym, we played two dodgeball games.  One was called Wonka and the other was called Doctor Dodgeball.  We learned that we have to work together as a team to protect the doctor and to get the dodgeballs to those sitting on the floor.
• This afternoon, we worked on finishing our snowman chalk pastel art.  We had to make sure the picture had a snowman, a moon (which is a natural reflective light source) and shadows.  It also needed a background setting.
• We will be singing A porcupine in a Pine Tree at the Festive Evening next week!  We started to learn our song and have given our top three picks for characters.

What do we need to do next?

We will be using the skills we have learned with the snowmen art to create a Christmas light art piece- just in time for Festive Evening!

November 27, 2017- All About Tunisia

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min
Treat Day tomorrow- bring 25¢
We will be having our first Coffin Cares assembly Thursday morning at 10.
Please check your school messenger for an upcoming notice about today's Tunisia in house field trip program

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• We had a very special visitor today! Sheryl from Teacher's Pet came to our class this morning to show us artifacts and to teach us about life in Tunisia.  We learned that the kids there have similar interests, such as playing with toys and games, but have different resources and materials that they toys are made from.
• We learned that the olive tree is important to Tunisia as it provides food, cooking oil and wood to make their exports from.  The camel is special to them as they use them as a source for wool, milk, food and transportation.  We played a trivia board game where our pieces were camels.
• We made mosiacs and we also got to buy imports and exports using 20 dinar bills.  Buying fuel was the most expensive purchase!
• We also had a visit from Saakokoto this afternoon.  It was a great day to learn from experts!

What do we need to do next?

We will need to finish our journals about what we learned today about Tunisia.  Ask me about some of the things I learned.

November 23, 2017- Lights! Camera! ACTION!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min
Fresh Air Friday- please be dressed for the weather as we will be outside for most of the day with our special guests from CPAWS

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In science, we completed our bird sketches and began researching information about our focus birds.  We had to find what they eat, their range and their size, including their wingspan.
• We filmed our video for the CBC music contest.  It took 2 hours to take 4 takes and we found out how hard and how long it takes to make a music video.
• After lunch we had math.  Ms. Jones regrouped us and we practiced our adding and estimating strategies with 3 and 4 digit numbers.

What do we need to do next?

We will be walking around Brentwood tomorrow to see and hear if our focus birds are nearby.  Ask me what birds we might find.

Movember 22, 2017- Moustache Mania!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words
Spelling test tomorrow
Library tomorrow
Fun lunch tomorrow
Fresh Air Friday- please be dressed for the weather as we will be outside for most of the day with our special guests from CPAWS

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• We had a rehearsal with the grade 5/6 classes and room 5.  The singers are going to have to sing really loud over the instruments!
• In gym, we had our last day of basketball games.  It gave us the opportunity to practice dribbling, passing and shooting.
• In science, we chose an Alberta bird to focus our research on.  We had to sketch the birds and make sure that we were drawing their wings, leg length and beak correct or it can be identified as a different bird.  One fact we learned is some birds have a wingspan taller than Ms. Jones!

What do we need to do next?

We need to finish our research as we will be looking for them on Friday.

November 21, 2017- Second to last practice.

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words
Spelling test Thursday
Moustache Day tomorrow
Library Thursday
Fun lunch Thursday

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In music, it was one of our last practices to perform Fool for the CBC music challenge.  We will be having a rehearsal tomorrow.
• In social studies, we saw what the Tunisia Coat of Arms looks like and we learned if we travelled to Tunisia we would have to drink bottled water.
• In math, we practiced adding numbers which had missing sums and addends.  An addend is a number in an adding sentence.

November 20, 2017- Snowmen alive in the night!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words, math adding and subtracting
Spelling test Friday
Moustache Day Wednesday
Library Thursday

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In art, we practiced using chalk pastels and creating shadows by blending.  We will be making a snowman scene as the final project.
• We played a game in math today called Tic-Tac-Toe.  The board had word problems that we had to solve.  If we solved it correctly, we got top put an x or an o on it.
• During computer lab, Ms. Cowdy showed us how to set up an e-bird account.  We will be needing these accounts for our birdwatching walk this Friday.

November 16, 2017- Conference Day and Night.

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, bell ringer 
Face to face conferences tonight and Friday
No school tomorrow
Please bring green spelling duo tang to school Monday

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In gym, first we played the 3 catch keep away like yesterday.  Then we made the court bigger, and we played 6 on 6 basketball that included 3 passes and a shot at the hoop.
• We had buddies today!  We got to choose our little buddies and then we showed them how to log in and how to get onto Starfall to learn the letters c & k.
• As we were cleaning up for conferences, we did a self reflection of how we think we are doing in language arts and math.  We will be sharing these with you during our conferences.

November 15, 2017- Questions About Tunisia

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, bell ringer 
Face to face conferences tomorrow night and Friday
We are still missing some Fresh Air Friday mugs that were taken home.  If it was taken home, please return it to school.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• During the read aloud, Ms. Jones read the chapter called Let Us Open The Casket.  The Nazi soldiers had come to the house because they noticed a gathering.  The Johansen's told them it was was because they were mourning great-aunt Birte.
• At the end of the day in social studies, we brainstormed a bunch of questions about Tunisia.  Then we were given one to answer with a buddy.  Did you know the Tunisia dollar is called a dinar and it is worth 51¢ Canadian.
• In gym, we did different passing drills.  They were the chest pass, the bounce pass and the overhead pass.

What do we have to do next?

In social, we need to finish researching our question to share with the class.

November 14, 2017- Pack Up Your Suitcase!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, bell ringer 
Face to face conferences this Thursday and Friday
Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until tomorrow and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In social studies, we went onto Google Earth and located Tunisia, which is by the Sahara Desert in Africa.  We also got a "suitcase" to pack items we will need to travel there.  It will be raining but warm.
• This afternoon in music, Mr. O'Reilly we practiced in small groups our parts for the CBC music classroom contest.  The production crew recorded us on the ipads.  For more information, please read the music room blog.
• During computer lab, we recorded the books we are reading on Raz-Kids.  We need to put in the book name, the date and the level.

What do we have to do next?

We need to finish packing our suitcases and label the map of Tunisia so that we know where we are going.

November 13, 2017- Natural Medicine and stories with Saakokoto

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, bell ringer 
Face to face conferences this Thursday and Friday
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until Wednesday and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In science, we talked about transparent, translucent and opaque objects.  We wrote down their definitions and looked for objects in the class that were those three.
• We had another visit from Randy Bottle, a Blackfoot Elder.  He told us about plants that can help with pain, sore throats and sunburns.  He told a story about a kid who freed an eagle and how it taught him to hunt.  Randy told us stories are important because they teach you things and how to be.
• In gym, we started to practice our shooting skills.  We started stations to help us practice our form (L- I- goodbye) and with targeting.

What do we have to do next?

Randy will be visiting us again and has promised to bring his drum next time.

November 10, 2017- Do you remember?

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min
Face to face conferences next week on Thursday and Friday
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens tomorrow November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until Wednesday and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

What did we do and learn about today?

• We practiced our part for the Remembrance Day before performing it for the school and parents.  We should be thankful to the Canadian veterans for fighting for us and for giving us what we have today.
• Ms. Jones read us two chapters of Number the Stars today. We started another historical fiction story map for Chapters 6 and 7.  The book is very good with lots of cliffhangers.

What do we have to do next?

We need to finish our story maps and we need to support our veterans!

November 9, 2017- Pivot Away!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words 
Spelling test tomorrow
Photo retakes tomorrow
Remembrance Day assembly tomorrow at 10:45am. We need to be wearing white and black.  If you are a guide, cubs, scout or beaver wear your uniform.
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until next Wednesday and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In math, we started to work with equations that had missing numbers.  Using counters, we had to figure out the missing numbers.
• In gym, we practiced a skill called pivoting.  We practiced this through a game called shadows and dribble keep away.
• In Daily 5, we continued our historical fiction story map for Chapter 4 of the book Number the Stars.  We had identify the characters, the problem, three events and the solution/ conclusion.

What do we have to do next?

Next week, we will start to complete a historical fiction story map on one of the books we choose from the library today.

November 8, 2017- We measured our shadows (again)

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words, math: p. 88 #1,2,3,4,5,6 for grade 3 and pg. 53 #1,2,3,4,6,7,9 for grade 4.
Spelling test Friday
Photo retakes Friday
Remembrance Day assembly Fri- we need to be wearing white and black.  If you are a guide, cubs, scout or beaver wear your uniform.
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until next Wednesday and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In art, we finished our art work for the assembly.  Please check out our work in front of the office by the music room.
• In the afternoon, we went outside and measured our shadows again.  This time, our shadows at 2:00pm were bigger than our 12:00pm shadows.  This is because of the movement of the sun.
• In music, we had to cut out poppies which we are attaching to the cross that the Wendy's aftercare program has made for our assembly.

What do we have to do next?

We need to do one more measurement to check if the shadows will continue to grow longer.

November 7, 2017- Number the Stars

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words
Spelling test Friday
Photo retakes Friday
Remembrance Day assembly Fri 
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).
We are collecting donations for the Veteran's Food Bank until next Wednesday and we are also collecting 25¢ for a poppy donation.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In music, we worked on our Remembrance Day performance and practiced the order we will be in.
• After art, Ms. Jones continued to read the book Number the Stars.  We learned that the Germans closed down stores owned by Jewish people during WWII.
• In gym, we started basketball.  We tried out a number of dribbling and ball handling skills.  We played a game called SHARK where we had to stay on the red lines.

What do we have to do next?

We need to finish our crafts for the assembly Friday.

November 6, 2017- Fancy fonts

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min
Photo orders sent home- due tomorrow or you can order online at www.mylifetouch.ca.
Photo retakes Friday
Remembrance Day assembly Fri 
Online booking for Face-to-Face Conferences opens on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 6 am.  Use your My CBE Account to book your appointment with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• At the end of the day in art, we got to finish our Georgia O'Keefe poppy art and we started two more inchies.  One is based on the work of Irish painter John Nolan.
• In Daily Five, Ms. Jones read us a book called A Bear In War, which is a historical fiction story.  The book was about a girl's dad who went to war to help his country.
• In gym, we had gym with room 5 and we played bench ball.  We had a lock down drill this morning, so they missed their gym time.

What do we have to do next?

We need to finish our two inchies tomorrow so that our art work will be ready for Friday.  Look for them by the gym at our assembly.

November 2, 2017- Paint a Poppy

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, research the word that means that two words are spelled the same but mean different things

Special guests coming tomorrow to work with us, media release sent home

5 CPAWS/Green Calgary Media release form - please send back indicating whether you agree or not so that I can make a list. Students who do not bring one back will not be photographed. We will be participating in the YYC Young Citizen Science Program, learning about bird watching and bird identification on Friday Nov 3 and Nov 24. Both days we will be outside for the majority of the morning, so please make sure that you have appropriate clothing and extra layers. 

Book orders due tomorrow
Photo orders sent home- due November 7

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• At the end of the day in art, we got to paint a picture of a poppy on an inchie, which is an inch of paper.  We used masking tape, oil pastels to outline and water colour paints.  This art is based on artwork by Georgia O'Keefe.
• In math, we played a game called Guess What.  We had to make an estimate of what the sum would be, before flipping the cards over.  The person with the closest estimate won.
• In gym, we played benchball.  We practiced our throwing, dodging and catching skills.

What do we have to do next?

In art, we need to finish our inchie poppy by adding black for the middle.  We will also be making 3 other types of poppy art for Remembrance Day.

November 1, 2017- Words, words, words!

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 min, research the word that means that two words are spelled the same but mean different things
Library tomorrow
Special guests coming this Friday to work with us, media release sent home

5 CPAWS/Green Calgary Media release form - please send back indicating whether you agree or not so that I can make a list. Students who do not bring one back will not be photographed. We will be participating in the YYC Young Citizen Science Program, learning about bird watching and bird identification on Friday Nov 3 and Nov 24. Both days we will be outside for the majority of the morning, so please make sure that you have appropriate clothing and extra layers. 

Book orders due Friday
Photo orders sent home- due November 7

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• We did word work and the the mystery word was undependable.  We also made the words: lead, need, unneeded, needle and dependable.
• In music, we started to practice the poem we will be performing at our Remembrance Day assembly next Friday.
• In gym, instead of doing skipping centers, we practiced long rope skipping in groups of three.

What do we have to do next?

We need to keep practicing the poem and the actions for our performance.

October 31, 2017- Learn or treat!

Agenda:

Homework: 
Library Thursday
Special guests coming this Friday to work with us, media release sent home
Book orders due Friday
Photo orders sent home

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• We had the Halloween parade this afternoon.  We finished our halloween ads and got to work on a halloween math game if we finished all our work.
• In gym, we played two games called Pumpkin Patch and Ghostbusters.  Both of them were dodgeball-type games.  
• We got to catch up on work we were behind on.  

What do we have to do next?

We will be starting new tasks in Daily 5 and math tomorrow.

October 30, 2017- Do you have the proper measurements?

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 minutes, bell ringer
Halloween Parade tomorrow afternoon
Library Thursday
Special guests coming this Friday to work with us
Book orders due Friday

*The Halloween parade will take place tomorrow. Please be respectful of the costumes you are choosing – violent type or extremely scary costumes are discouraged.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In the afternoon, we went outside to measure our shadows but the clouds covered the sun and it was very difficult for us to even see them.  Therefore we learned that you need light to have shadows.
• In gym, we played a game called Witches Cauldron.  There were five hoops or cauldrons on the floor.  We practiced controlling our bodies so that we didn't bump into anybody or trip over the hoops/ cauldrons.
• We also got time to finish our haunted house ads and to double check our observations for the shadow measurements.  Check the board outside our classroom to see and read our spooky work.

What do we have to do next?

We have to take two measurements of our shadows in the afternoon, make a scientific observation and write down what we have learned.

October 26, 2017- Can you learn in your pajamas?

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 minutes, bell ringer, study spelling words, 
gr.3 math- p 66-67 #1,2,3,4 and 6, estimation worksheets due Monday
Spelling quiz tomorrow- please bring your spelling duo tang to school tomorrow

*The Halloween parade will take place next Tuesday afternoon. Please be respectful of the costumes you are choosing – violent type or extremely scary costumes are discouraged.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• At the end of the day in science, sorted tv screens, stars, neon signs, and fireflies as natural or reflected light and if they are a hot or cool source.
• In math, we learned how to estimate objects using referents and we worked on an activity to practice our new skill.
• In computer lab, we finished writing and used COPS to make sure our work was correct.  We use a purple highlighter to highlight juicy words and we use yellow to look for capitals.

What do we have to do next?

For math, we are going to use our estimation skills to guess the number of Skittles™ in a jar.

October 25, 2017- Artificial vs Natural Light

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 minutes, bell ringer, study spelling words, gr.3- p 66-67 #1,2,3,4 and 6
Spelling quiz Friday
Spirit day tomorrow-pajama and stuffie day
Library tomorrow

*bringing toys to school are discouraged and should not be brought, unless for a sharing time(Grade 1/2 and K classes for the most part). We are running into issues where the items are causing distractions in classes and taking additional time to try and track down missing items.

*The Halloween parade will take place next Tuesday afternoon. Please be respectful of the costumes you are choosing – violent type or extremely scary costumes are discouraged.

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• At the end of the day in science, we watched the start of an experiment where we are going to see if the colours from one glass move to another and if the colours mix.  We also learned about artificial and natural light.
• In music, we got our spots ready for our production of the song "Fool."  We have our set up decided.
• In Daily 5, we learned about how to use more juicy words and to edit for them using a purple highlighter.  We also discussed good starter sentences so that people will read our ads.

What do we have to do next?

We need to type our haunted house ads up to put with our artwork.

October 24, 2017- White light makes a rainbow....and vice versa.

Agenda:

Homework: Read 20 minutes, bell ringer, study spelling words
Spelling quiz Friday
Spirit day Thursday-pajama and stuffie day
School Council letter sent home
Library Thursday

Top Three Things We Learned Today

• In math, the grade 4's practiced their sorting skills using Carroll Diagrams using a deck of cards.  The grade 3's finished their skip counting activity where they were counting by 3's and 4's.
• At the end of the day, we watched a Bill Nye video to introduce our unit of light and shadow.  We learned that if you shine a light through a prism, a rainbow comes out the other side.  If you have a white cloth in the sun, it will reflect light while a black cloth will absorb it.
• In music, we started singing the song "Fool."  We also had to sing different chords.

What do we have to do next?

In science, we need to finish brainstorming what we know about light and what sources make light.

Monday, October 23, 2017 - Do The Hula Hoops and Maps at the end of the Day

Today Mrs. Polski did our blog with us. Ms. Jones had to leave early to go to a workshop and Mrs. Polski came into our classroom for her.

Agenda
1. Read 20 minutes
2. Homework if you didn't finish your bell ringer
3. Number of the day homework also if you didn't finish
4. Tomorrow is Treat day. Please remember to bring a quarter if you want to purchase a treat.

Top Three things we learned today:
1.Today we worked on our mapping of the community spots from our community walk on FAF.
2. Today in gym we had to do 5 centers that Ms. Jones had set out for us. They also had skip-its and hula hoops.
3. Today in computer lab the grade 3s worked on their SLAs. When we finished we did Mathletics.

We are looking forward to finishing up our Haunted House pages in Language Arts.