Welcome Back! 2023 - 2024 School Year

 Welcome to the 2023 - 2024 school year!

This blog will help you to keep up-to-date with what's happening in our classroom throughout the school year and will be updated weekly.  

Here is a quick tour of our classroom, room 5.  

Reminders:

Friday, September 1 

- Early Dismissal 12:41pm

Monday, September 4 

- Labour Day - NO SCHOOL 

Wednesday, September 6 

- Ramsay School Council and Parent Association, Taco Potluck

June 26 - 29

What an amazing final week of grade one!  I am so honoured to have been your child's teacher this year!  Thank you for entrusting them with me.  It has amazing to reflect on how much growth each and everyone one of them has made.  I hope all of you have a restful and enjoyable summer!

We had a very busy week this week.  On Monday, we took our sharing circle outside into the sunshine.

Then we spent some time observing the ground squirrels that call the Ramsay hill home.  It was truly amazing to see how quiet, thoughtful, and observant everyone was as they watched and journaled.

On Tuesday we were able to join our grade four buddies for a community walk.

On Thursday, students enjoyed a morning of outdoor activities and a chance to visit the Fitset Ninja course.  Thank you parent council for our delicious lunch - it was appreciated by all students and staff!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer!

June 19 - 23

If your child will not be attending school on our final day (June 29), kindly let me know so I can plan accordingly to have personal items returned.

This week we celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Week.  Here's a look at what we did . . . 

Tuesday -

We attended a virtual exhibit from the Art Gallery of Ontario and learned about artist Christi Belacort and her work of art "The Wisdom of the Universe".

We then worked on creating our own pointillism pictures on rocks using acrylic paint pens.

Wednesday - 

We went on a community walk with Ms. Rowland's class to welcome the summer solstice, stopping to journal our thoughts of what we enjoyed most about being out in nature during the summer.  We also stopped to look at some tipi poles that were laid out for the Stampede.

When we got back to school we listened to Elder Miiksika’am share in a video the significance behind the flags that were gifted to our school by the CBE Indigenous Team.  We spent some time looking at the flags and sketching them in our visual journals.

We spent the afternoon with Ms. Rowland's class and heard the teachings from Elder Saa'kokoto and students from Edgemont School around the celebration of the summer solstice. 

Afterwards we had our bannock making demonstration, and while that was cooking, we worked on creating a medicine wheel out of different seeds.

At the very end of the day, we got to taste the bannock with or without some saskatoon (kinnikinnik) jam.  Sorry, no pictures - but here's the recipe. 

Thursday - 

Another community walk!  This time with Ms. Luesink and the kindergarten class.  We talked about how our communities can feel more inclusive when parks are designed to include those who have mobility challenges and are visually impaired.  This ties into our look belonging and community in Social Studies.

In math, we learned about the historical background of Métis sashes and a little bit about it's practical uses for fur traders.  Then we talked about the colours, shapes, and patterns in the sash designs.  We used what we knew about sashes to follow and create some pattern recipes.  

Friday - 

We met up with the afternoon kindergarten class for a story and a craft.  We heard the story, "We Learn From the Sun" by David Bouchard.  This rhyming book brings attention to the seven sacred teachings from the Ojibwe people (humility, respect, honesty, courage, wisdom, truth, love).  Afterwards, we created our own suns using sharpie and tissue paper.

Reminders:

All library books are now past due, please return as soon as possible.  Thanks!

Tuesday, June 27 - 

• Make-up Community walk with Grade 4 buddies (8:30am - 10:30am)
• Grade 6 Farewell Assembly (PM)

Wednesday, June 28 - 

• Activity Day and Fitset Ninja (please return permission forms)
• Students must wear closed toe athletic shoes (no sandals/boots/crocs)
• Report cards available for viewing on MyCBE 

Thursday, June 29 - 

• Last Day of classes for the school year

Thursday, August 31 - 

• First day of classes for the 2023/24 school year

June 12 - 16

 

If your child will not be attending school on our final day (June 29), kindly let me know so I can plan accordingly to have personal items returned.

This week we enjoyed hosting the morning Kindergarten class for a story and craft.

Reminders:

All library books are now past- due, please return as soon as possible.  Thanks!

Wednesday, June 28 - 

• Activity Day with Fitset Ninja

Thursday, June 29 - 

• Last Day of classes for the school year

 

We had a wonderful experience at the Weaselhead!  Thanks you to our volunteers and Ms. MacLeod who came with us - we appreciate you!  

Our naturalist guide took us through the park and showed us so many amazing things in nature.  We love learning on the land!

We looked closely at trembling aspen and learned how the powder on the bark has been used as a sunscreen in the past.  We also learned that the unique shape of the leaf's stem is what made the leaves tremble in the land.

We watched as the swallows scooped mud from the river bank to build their nests.  We even tried rubbing the mud together to make our own nests - only to find out we were missing a special ingredient (swallow spit).

We looked closely at an ant "ranch" and learned how they take care of aphids to harvest the sugar they create.

We had a chance to look at some of the creatures that call wetland spaces their home.  

I Can Find Lines of Symmetry and Create Symmetrical Designs

This week have been experimenting with the concept of symmetry. 

Literacy:

This week we worked with compound words. 

Reminders:

Friday, June 16 - 

• Due date for all library books

Wednesday, June 28 - 

• Activity Day with Fitset Ninja

Thursday, June 29 - 

• Last Day of classes for the school year

May 30 to June 2

 

Reminder:  Field Trip to Weaselhead Flats on Monday, June 5

Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather (and remember the weather in Calgary can change very quickly, so it's always best to pack more to be prepared!).  If it's a cooler day, layers will help everyone stay comfortable, even if it warms up.  Hats are a must for warmer days!  

The students will be responsible for carrying their own backpack and belongings for the duration of the trip, so it may be a good idea to remove anything from their backpack that they will not need for the field trip.  Please pack a full lunch, including snacks, and larger water bottle.  If you would like, you're welcome to send sunscreen / bug spray, put your child must apply these themselves

I Can Learn on the Land / I Can Observe, Describe, and Compare Living Things

This week we enjoyed a community walk on a cooler Thursday morning.  We spent time our time out learning on the land looking for flowers and making careful observations of them.  During our observations we looked at things that are not always obvious - looking carefully at the back of a flower or finding a plant with thorns and carefully observing it.

We also had an opportunity to see how some local plants were/are used by Indigenous communities of the past.  We looked at a saskatoon bush, wild rose, and wolf willow.  Ask your child what happens if you eat rose hips!

I Can Compose Pictures with 2D shapes

This week we carefully observed the works of Paul Klee and noticed the shapes that are found in most of his work.  We took up the challenge and started working on creating our own Paul Klee inspired paintings, making sure to include a wide variety of 2D shapes.

Literacy:

This week we looked at the differences between open and closed syllables.  We learned that open syllables end in a vowel sound (most often a long vowel sound) and that closed syllables end with a consonant sound.  This will help students to remember how to spell words like go, he, she, also, etc.

Reminders:

Monday, June 5 -  

• Weaselhead Flats Field Trip

Wednesday, June 7 - 

• Last library book exchange day

Thursday, June 8 - 

• Volunteer Tea 9:30am - 10:30am
• Fun Lunch - Orders must be completed by June 3

Friday, June 9 - 

• Non-instructional Day - No School for Students

Friday, June 16 - 

• Due date for all library books

Wednesday, June 28 - 

• Activity Day with Fitset Ninja

Thursday, June 29 - 

• Last Day of classes for the school year