April 22 - 26

 

Our eggs are officially on lockdown!  We anticipate that some of them might begin hatching in the next week.  Here's pic from when we candled them this week - I am not an egg expert but it kind of looks like you can see a foot?  What do you think?

This week we also said "goodbye" to our student teacher, Ms. F.  She had one final class at the university on Friday and then she officially becomes a teacher.  We are planning on welcoming her back later in the year as a substitute teacher (as long as she isn't put into her own classroom right away), so it wasn't a forever goodbye.  

I Can Construct 3D Shapes and 3D Composite Shapes

This week we've been working on naming and making 3D Shapes.  We had a chance to use toothpicks and marshmallows to make a variety of shapes.  Ask your student to tell you the different names.  We also had a chance to make castles with foam blocks.  This gave students a chance to see how shapes can be found in different man-made structures.

I Can Help Take Care of the Earth

After a wonderful Earth Day assembly put on by the grade 3 and 4 students we went outside and helped clean up the community garden green space at the top of the hill.  Students enjoyed finding a picking up trash.  A few students reminded me that "we need nature, nature doesn't need us".

Literacy:

This week we worked with the spelling pattern -tch and -dge.  

Our new HFW are: woman, women, were

Reminders:

Please send back permission slips for our Calgary Zoo Field Trip and our Family History Questionnaire!

Monday, April 29, 2024

• Library Book Exchange
• Hatching?

Thursday, May 16, 2024

• Celebration of Learning (6pm - 7:30pm)

Friday, May 17, 2024

• Non-Instructional Day, NO SCHOOL for Students

Monday, May 20, 2024

• Victoria Day, NO SCHOOL for Students

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 12, 2024

April 15 - 18

 

We have some exciting changes in our eggs!  If you look very closely you can veins starting to form!  It will be really exciting to see how the eggs change over the next week - stay tuned for updates.

I Can Recognize How Communities Might Have Been Different in the Past Than They Are Today:

Ms. F lead us on a historical community walk through Ramsay.  We learned about the history of the Dominion Bridge Building, St. Anne's Church, and the C.C. Snowdon Building.  It was a blustery walk but everyone did amazing and kept their spirits up!

I Can Move Safely Through Space During Gymnastics:

This week we started learning about different balances, jumps, roles, and movements in gymnastics.  Ms. F has been doing a great job helping us learn how to use our space safely.  

Reminders:

Please send back permission slips for our Calgary Zoo Field Trip and our Family History Questionnaire!

Monday, April 22, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

Friday, April 26, 2024

• Ms. F's Last Day

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 12, 2024

April 8 - 12

 

Phew, we sure had a busy week this week.  When students came in on Monday morning they noticed an odd assortment of eggs had shown up in our class. No, this wasn't a case of a late Easter Bunny but a provocation for our next science unit, Living Systems.  

Students were very excited as we set up the incubator on Monday and had a chance to candle the eggs on Thursday.  Stay tuned for exciting weekly updates on their progress.

I Can Use a Variety of Mediums to Create Art

On Monday, we also used the solar eclipse as an opportunity to learn about a new medium in art.  We learned the basics of how to use chalk pastels to create a picture of the solar eclipse.  Chalk pastels sure are messy, but also a lot of fun!

I Can Tell a Story Using Oral Language

On Wednesday, we welcome a special guest, Chris.  He is the Superintendent of the Siksika Board of Education.  We were very fortunate to have him come and share the story of Napi and the Big Rock.  The Big Rock is the rock that is just on the outskirts of Okotoks (an easy drive to go and see in person).  Students learned the Blackfoot story that shares how this rock (originally from the Jasper area) ended up all the way on the prairie.   Afterwards, students had a chance to practice orally retelling the story with a friend and then represent the story using pictographs in their visual journals.

Literacy:

This week we learned about open and closed syllables and compound words.  This means that we are now reading some really big words - it's amazing the growth everyone has made this year.  

Our new HFW words are: friend, because

Reminders:

Monday, April 15, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

• Spring Photo Day

Thursday, April 18, 2024

• Spring Dance,  6pm to 7pm

Friday, April 19, 2024

• Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL for students

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 12, 2024

April 2 to 5

 

We had a great week back after spring break and we were able to quickly settle back into our regular routines.  

Just a reminder to please help ensure your child is set up for comfort throughout the day by making sure they have the appropriate outdoor clothing for weather conditions.  It's no fun spending the day in wet socks or pants after playing outside for recess.  

I Can Make Connections to My Community's Past

This week we welcomed a speaker from the Glenbow Museum who came in and told us about some of the "Mavericks" that helped to establish Calgary as a community.  She shared photographs (only a few of their million) and brought in some artifacts for students to explore.  Students asked very thoughtful questions as they tried to figure out what each artifact is used for and who might have used it.  

Thank you to the Ramsay Parent Association for generously providing the funds for this program.

Literacy:

This week we learned about adding -ed to the ends of words and what that sounds like (sometimes it sounds like /e//d/, /t/, or /d/.  We also learned about adding -ing to the ends of verbs to change their tense.

Our new HFW are: any, many

Music:

In March, our Grade 1 students had a blast in music class! They worked hard on mastering "Peter Rabbit", tackling its tricky rhythms with determination and singing the lyrics with incredible enthusiasm. Additionally, we expounded upon the basics of counting rhythms by identifying whole and half beats in 4/4 time. The highlight of the month for students was working together to play pop and classical music on the boomwhackers, deepening our understanding of different musical genres.

Reminders:

Monday, April 8, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

• Indigenous Story Telling Residency

Thursday, April 4, 2024

• Glenbow Museum Visits

Monday, April 15, 2024

• Spring Photo Day

Thursday, April 18, 2024

• Spring Dance,  6pm to 7pm

Friday, April 19, 2024

• Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL for students

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 12, 2024

March 18 - 22

 

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Spring Break and had a chance to have some rest and relaxation!  Hopefully the weather will start to cooperate and feel more like spring.  

We took some time this week to think like scientists and make careful observations of tulips.  In small groups, students were asked to carefully observe a tulip stem - what did they see, feel, and smell.  Afterwards, students practiced creating observational drawings by looking closely at the tulip and only drawing what they saw.  This was a big change for many as we talked about how scientific drawings are different from illustrating our journals or adding details to artwork.  

Literacy:

This week we learned about -ed and -es at the ends of words.  Having an -ed at the end of a word can change the tense of a verb (example: jump to jumped).  Having -es at the end of a word is a way of making it plural.  We add -es to words that end in -ch, -sh, z, s, and x.

Our new HFW are: two, does, any, many

Reminders:

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

• First day back from Spring Break

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

• Library Book Exchange

Thursday, April 4, 2024

• Glenbow Museum Visits

Friday, April 19, 2024

• Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL for students

Save the Date:

• Field Trip to Calgary Zoo, May 15, 2024
• Field Trip to Reader Rock Garden, June 11 or 12, 2024