June 13th to June 17th

How is it possible that we are in the second last week of school?! This year has flown by. 

We were fortunate to have two landscape architects with the City of Calgary visit our class. Following a public engagement they hosted at the Rosemont Community Centre about improvements planned for Confederation Park, they decided to get students involved as well. Our students learned about the plans for the park and were given the opportunity to provide input in the creation of a new, natural playground area.  As a large group, we discussed possibilities as we moved magnetic pieces on a map of the park. The students were given a list of criteria to consider such as the inclusion of people with reduced mobility, safety, budget and sustainability. Each student then recieved a map and stickers that represented a variety of items that could be used including logs, sand and flowers. Our work has now been submitted to the City of Calgary for consideration. This was a fantastic link to the discussions about our schools naturalization area and to our math math project where we are designing our own cities. 

You can learn more about the project at http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Documents/Management-Plans/Confederation/Park.pdf

The students have been doing a fantastic job during our Geometrocity math project. The students have been using their understandings of geometry to create a city including a variety given of criteria such as a right triangle, a 360 degree angle, lines of symmetry and areas of a given number of square units. 

In Phys Ed we enjoyed some time outside playing, "Yoshi".  It is a great game that involves both teamwork and strategy. 

We have been very mature at how engaged and mature the students have been during Human Sexuality. It is great to hear that many of you are continuing with the conversation at home.

We had a lot of fun working on our Fathers Day projects. We hope you enjoy them. Thank you to our parent volunteer who helped out with the magnets and wrapping. 

June 6th to June 10th

Our Used Book Sale for Forty McMurray was a great success. Our class worked incredibly hard to promote the sale by making posters and presentations to the other classrooms. The students worked to sort and organize the books and create attractive displays to appeal to our buyers. During the sale, the students worked in sales, as cashiers and baggers. Our school earned $850.90 to donate towards Fort McMurrary. All funds will go to the Red Cross on behalf of Rosemont School. All remaining books will be donated to Calgary Reads. A big thank you to all the families that donated books. Room 4, you should be very proud!

If you have been by the school this week you will have noticed big changes in the naturalization area.  We were happy to have the opportunity to help out with the start of the work to improve the space.  We moved rocks, mixed so and planted shrubs and edible plants. We are excited to be able to enjoy the space when it is complete. 

May 30th to June 3rd

We had a fantastic time on our field trip to Heritage Park.  Some of the students favourite parts were the secret stairs in the Prince House, the one room school house and riding the steam train. We were amazed at just how much the West has changed over the last hundred years. Most students were very happy they do not need to share a room or bed with their siblings like many of Sam Livingstons 14 children!  A big thank you to all our volunteers for making the day such a success. 

Our Used Book Sale to support Fort McMurray will be held next week.  We have sent an e-mail to the school community asking for book donations to be sent in on Monday, June 6th. Our class will sort and organize set up the books in our classroom. All students will be invited to our room for book purchase on June 7th and 8th. Our class did a terrific job of creating posters to advertise the book sale. We are looking forward to a successful fundraiser!

We had a great time at the start of "Mission Impossible" in Phys Ed. 

In Math, we began a geometry based project called Geometrocity.  The students are researching a variety of geometric terms and concepts. They will then apply these concepts as they design and build their own city.  We are current on the "permit" phase of the building process. 

May 24th to May 27th

It was a short, yet busy week!

The students have been engaged in multi-strand centres in math.  The centres cover division, prediction and probability, geometry and prime numbers.  Ask your child which center they have enjoyed the most so far. 

We had a great time observing our caterpillars and we're excited to see them form their chrysalis. Have your child share what the orange pieces are in the bottom of the container. 

We were excited to see what had happened with our crystals over the long weekend.  Some groups are making new predictions that differs from their original hypothesis, due to the changes they have observed so far. Ask your child which type of salt they think was the most successful. 

The students wanted to do something to support the families in Fort McMurray. They came up with a number of ideas and then evaluated the pros and cons of each idea. The students decided to do a used book sale. They selected this idea because the entire school can participate, it has the potential to raise a good amount of money, it will be quick to set up and encourages students to read!

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our Celebration of Appreciation. The students did a fantastic job performing for the event. We have a very talented group of kids!

The Gregg LeRock concert was a great way to end our week.  It was certainly an energetic crowd!

May 16th to May 19th

In Science we are working on creating crystals using three different types of salt and a special secret ingredient.  We identified the different variables including; jar size, type of string, water temperature, type of salt and amount of time spent stirring the salt solution. Next week, we will examine the results and determine which salts created the most interesting crystals. 

We watched a portion of the movie "Inside Out" and discussed the different emotions represented. We are discussing and writing about our memories and feelings associated with each emotion. This week, we wrote about Anger, Sadness and Disgust. 

The students have been fascinated by the changes that are occurring with the caterpillars. Ask your child what is happening with the caterpillars exoskeleton and why they are creating a silk like web within their habitat. 

There is no school tomorrow or Monday so we will see the students back on Tuesday. Next week is busy with the Volunteer Appreciation Thursday afternoon and Greg Le Rock on Fridsy morning. We also have our trip to Heritage Park on Wednesday, June 1st. It is going to be a busy few weeks!

May 9th to May 13th

The students continued working on dividing larger numbers using both long division and pictures. We played division "golf" where the students tried to beat their opponent by having the lowest score. 

We have been having a lot of fun creating gymnastics routines filled with mutiple types of travel and balances. 

We are lucky to have a number of painted lady caterpillars in our classroom. We have enjoyed making observations on the changes from day to day. Some are already beginning to form their chrysalis. 

We had a great time meeting with our grade one buddies. We worked collaboratively to create pictures of ladybugs. You will have a chance to see our work at the Volunteer Appreciation on  Thursday, May 26th. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 

May 2nd to May 6th

In Math, we began working on dividing one digit by two and three digit numbers.  We created a booklet to help with the different steps in long division. 

In Science, the students were challenged to see how quickly they could make a lifesaver dissolve in water. We came up with many variables that helped and others that hindered the challenge. Ask your child what worked for them. 

In Social Studies, we looked at the difference between a relative location which uses proximity to other known locations and absolute location which uses lines of latitude and longitude. The students enjoyed using lines of latitude and longitude to describe the locations of different cities in the Canadian Sheild Region. 

In Physical Education, we began our unit in Gymnastics.  The students are experimenting with one, two and three point balances and travelling at a variety of levels. 

April 26th to April 29th

The students are coming to the end of our Stellaluna inspired story project. The work that the students put into their writing, editing and illustrating has been incredible. Their final books are truly amazing. It has been wonderful to see how proud the students are as they share their work with the class. They are bringing their stories to life with their expression. I think we have done future authors in the group!

In Science, we explored the density of different liquids.  The students were challenged to layer four different liquids from most to least dense in a cylinder. 

In Social Studies, we began looking at the Canadian Sheild Region. We worked cooperatively in groups to complete a reading passage focused on the region. 

In Math, we are linking our knowledge of mutiplication facts to division facts. For example, I know that 4x5=20, 4 groups of 5 dogs is 2O dogs all together. If I have 20 and I put them into 4 groups, there will be 5 dogs in each group.  Having a strong understanding of this is critical before moving onto dividing larger numbers. 

April 18th to April 22nd

Thank you to all the families who came out to our conferences over the last two days. It was wonderful to see how proud and excited the students were to share their learning with you. 

We feel so fortunate to work with such a wonderful group of kids. We look forward to a final few months filled with plenty of learning and fun. 

April 4th to April 8th

We were very excited to see the results of colouring cotton yarn with natural substances. Some of the colours were incredible!  We used the yarn to create weavings to represent a landscape of the Interior Plains. 

We have been having a lot of fun with Classroom Chemistry in Science.  We examined a variety of solids in a mixture and used different techniques to seperate them such as sieves, magnets and air. The students were presented with the challenge of making a mixture reversible. Was it possible to seperate the solids in their mixture?

In Math, the students completed an assessment on their understanding of multiplication. The problem about the number of soccer games was challenging for most. The students enjoyed marking questions and explaining what was done incorrectly.

The students have been doing a fantastic job with their storytelling. They have been working within their small multi-age storytelling groups. We are looking forward to sharing our stories with you during the evening celebration Thursday, April 14th at 6:30. Invitations are coming home today. 

Ms. Reschke will be in all next week so my blog will not be updated. I look forward to seeing everyone at Student Led Conferences the evening of Thursday, April 21st and the morning of Friday, April 22d. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 

March 29th to April 1st.

It was great to be back together after our Spring Break. Thursday was the first day with everyone here in a very long time!  Time is passing by so quickly. How are we already in April?!

We began a new unit in Science, Classroom Chemistry. To begin the unit I challenged my inner storyteller and shared a story about the creation of a potion. The story was told with an overhead and a variety of substances such as food colouring, oil, baking soda and vinegar.  It was a great springboard to a discussion on the differences between substances and mixtures, how different mixtures can be made and how substances can be separated. 

We continued discussing different mixtures such as solids with liquids and two liquids as we explored dying cotton yarn.  We tried to get substances such as berries, spices and avocado pits to dissolve in water by blending, heating the water and stirring. Ask me how adding vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda changed the colour of cabbage. We made predictions on which substances would dye the yarn and what colour it would become. Thank you to everyone who sent items in for testing.  We are very excited to see our results!  

In Math, the students were introduced to the grid method of multiplication. Many students will have a clear preference for either the traditional method or the grid method. We have discussed that neither method is "right", they both arrive at the same product. The students will now select the method that makes the most sense for them.

Our Stellaluna inspired books are coming along wonderfully. We have Ms.Style working with us for the full hour and Ms.Campbell for half an hour. It is incredibly to have so many adults in the space at one time. We are able to work closely with the students on their specific writing goals and needs. It is my favourite hour of the day!