Wednesday 13 May 2015

Resources for Extra Help & Support

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Several of you have asked for extra resources to help support your child in their learning.  Kids Love 2 Learn.ca is an excellent resource that is directly linked to Alberta Curriculum.

Please visit http://www.2learn.ca/kids/ and click on the tabs at the top of the page to find drop down menus for grades 3-6 (for example: click science, then grade 5).

Happy Learning!


Monday 2 March 2015

The last week of February

The last week of February involved quite a few new and different experiences for the Grade 5 and 5/6 classes.  



The classes went to Calgary Olympic Park for downhill skiing and snowboarding lessons.  The weather was beautiful, the instructors were great, and the students learned many new skills.   Thank you to parent council for funding these lessons for us.   


We had two guest speakers visit the classrooms from Inside Education.  The students were invited to volunteer for different activities that were based on electricity and energy.  We learned about natural resources in our environment and the process of converting these resources into the electricity we use in our classroom.  We also learned about the different resources used by each province.    

There was a student vs. staff floor hockey game, to wrap up the floor hockey season.  The extra-curricular teams have been playing games all month, and finally met each other in a play-off season.  The winner of the play-offs played the staff in a lunchtime game.  
It was a great game!   
Way to go to all the floor hockey teams this season!  
And way to go to all those who cheered-on the teams! 

Reminder:  This week our classes are going to visit the Saddledome, to watch the Tim Horton's Brier Curling Championship.  We will be going on Tuesday, March 3.  Since the bus will be leaving the school at 8am, all students attending the field trip must be at school at 7:45 am.  

Our class will be participating in swimming lessons, beginning next week.  If your child has not yet returned their permissions forms and money for the trips, please ensure they do so in the next few days.  

Thursday 19 February 2015

James and the Giant Peach, SJAM, and Hawk the Dog

This week we had a visit from two police officers with the Calgary Police Service.  We had a chance to speak with the police officers about their careers, and they answered many of our questions.  They also had with them a dog named Hawk, and his handler.  We learned about Hawk, and about his job working as a canine member of the police service.  Here is a description of Hawk:

"I joined the Calgary Police Service as a Canine Member in 2013 after completing my training at Pacific Assistance Dog Society for three years.  

I work at the Victim Assistance Unit to provide comfort and emotional support to victims of crime and tragedy.  I'm a good listener and my strengths are empathy and a loving heart.  

I love playing tug, getting LOTS of pats and belly rubs.  I also like to wag my tail while greeting new friends and giving them kisses."



Yesterday the school launched a reading program based on the book James and the Giant Peach by Raold Dahl.  Clues have been posted around the school leading up to this event, and now each class in the school will be reading the book.  Trivia questions have already been on the announcements and will continue throughout the next month, as we read the book.  



Today was a special day for the Grade 6s, who attended an orientation event at Sir John A. Macdonald School.   They had a chance to tour the school, see some of the classrooms and hear about elective classes that they may choose to take in Grade 7.   



Reminder:  the Grade 5 and 5/6 classes are going to be skiing this coming Monday, February 23.  A reminder note will be written in agendas, but please make sure students come to school ready for skiing or snowboarding.  





Friday 30 January 2015

Our Class Newspaper Project

We have recently been working on a language arts project, studying newspapers and articles, and writing our own newspaper articles.  The class has also been working collaboratively to create their own newspaper pages.  Many of the articles are about our experience at Outdoor School, and other activities in which students were participating during the fall and winter.    

While at Camp Chief Hector, the students were divided into groups for their activities: The Bear Clan, Deer Clan, Raven Clan and Coyote Clan.  As such, each group is working on designing their own page of a newspaper.  Team-building games, the challenge course, forest forensics, the ECOnomy game, the Predator/Prey game, hiking, drama and songs at campfire time were all highlights of our time at Outdoor School.  These themes are highlighted in the student articles being published to these newspaper pages.  The final pages will be showcased at the Sharing Assembly this upcoming week, as well as at Student-Led Conferences the following week.  

All are welcome to join us at the Sharing Assembly:

Grade 5 & 5/6 Sharing Assembly
Thursday, February 5, 2015
10:45 am
C.N.Gunn gymnasium