Good evening!
Here is a recap of what happened in room 18 over the past two days!
Science: Students learned about the wind cycle and created a diagram describing the process of how wind is formed.
Math: Continuing with our work on representing number, students were given a package of questions to complete to inform our next steps in math. It should have been completed in class over the past two days, but if not completed, students were asked to take it home for homework this weekend and to hand it in on Monday.
Language Arts: Students continued to work with parts of speech using Terry Fox as their writing topic. Using what they had learned about Terry, they wrote a paragraph answering the 5Ws and included a variety of descriptive language.
Today we had the pleasure of presenting our Pillar of Care awards to our class winners during the assembly, followed by a fabulous Terry Fox run. What a beautiful day it was for a run! We also got to meet up with our buddies today to partner read and build school community.
Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!
Friday, September 29, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
September 27, 2017
Good afternoon families of room 18,
Just so you know, I will be away tomorrow for board meetings. Ms. Lacey will be in to cover for me.
Today in social studies we reviewed the regions of Canada and discussed how regions affect ways of life and culture. We discussed what each region is typically known for and if our predictions of what we know about the regions were correct.
In math, we continued looking at representing number using a variety of questions with math language. Looking at questions with challenging math language can often be enough to derail a student who would otherwise be able to complete a task. We will continue on this track for a little while longer so students feel comfortable working with larger numbers in grade 4 and 5.
We spent a large portion of the afternoon trying to get logged into our GoogleDrives. This is typically a time consuming process, which is why we try to do it early on in the year. Many students were having difficulty and still cannot get logged in, but we will continue to work through the technical problems. GoogleDrive is a really helpful tool for sharing work with me and for students to have access to their work at home. We will hopefully be using it frequently throughout the year.
Yesterday we had our first Souperstars session with Ms. Lucy and learned all about germs. It was quite interesting to know that germs can live on a hard surface for up to 2 days, while they can only live up to 5 minutes on fabric. So, remember to sneeze in your sleeve! If you have not returned your permission form for this program, you still can!
Please also consider sending in a twoonie for Terry. These twoonies go toward cancer research and will be counted for a school total very soon. So far we only have one twoonie.
Please also remember to send in your vaccination forms if your child is in grade 5.
Pillars of Care assembly will be on Friday at 8:15 am, followed immediately by our Terry Fox run. Please join us if you are free!
Have a great night!
Just so you know, I will be away tomorrow for board meetings. Ms. Lacey will be in to cover for me.
Today in social studies we reviewed the regions of Canada and discussed how regions affect ways of life and culture. We discussed what each region is typically known for and if our predictions of what we know about the regions were correct.
In math, we continued looking at representing number using a variety of questions with math language. Looking at questions with challenging math language can often be enough to derail a student who would otherwise be able to complete a task. We will continue on this track for a little while longer so students feel comfortable working with larger numbers in grade 4 and 5.
We spent a large portion of the afternoon trying to get logged into our GoogleDrives. This is typically a time consuming process, which is why we try to do it early on in the year. Many students were having difficulty and still cannot get logged in, but we will continue to work through the technical problems. GoogleDrive is a really helpful tool for sharing work with me and for students to have access to their work at home. We will hopefully be using it frequently throughout the year.
Yesterday we had our first Souperstars session with Ms. Lucy and learned all about germs. It was quite interesting to know that germs can live on a hard surface for up to 2 days, while they can only live up to 5 minutes on fabric. So, remember to sneeze in your sleeve! If you have not returned your permission form for this program, you still can!
Please also consider sending in a twoonie for Terry. These twoonies go toward cancer research and will be counted for a school total very soon. So far we only have one twoonie.
Please also remember to send in your vaccination forms if your child is in grade 5.
Pillars of Care assembly will be on Friday at 8:15 am, followed immediately by our Terry Fox run. Please join us if you are free!
Have a great night!
Monday, September 25, 2017
September 25, 2017
Good evening families of room 18!
Today was a busy day and here is a recap of what we were up to!
We started the day by nominating students for our Pillars of Care assembly, which will be this Friday at 8:15. The winners of the awards are:
Care for place: Shalin
Care for self: Abby
Care for others: Vanessa
Care for learning: Goner
Congratulations to our winners for the month of September!
After Music we continued with looking at place value and representing number in a variety of ways. Students are experiencing difficulty with reading larger numbers and are practicing this as part of our work. Once we were finished with math we moved on to Social studies and beginning our talk around landforms. Students tried identifying some of the more commonly known landforms around Canada and what some of the provinces are known for as their main industry to see if the two are connected.
During the afternoon, students worked on beginning their first narrative writing sample of the year, which will help to guide instruction and act as a benchmark for their writing throughout the year. We will continue with that tomorrow as some students would like some more time to do their stories justice.
Also: Students brought home their Souperstars permission form if it was not signed at the Meet the Teacher evening on Thursday. Please return these ASAP as our program begins tomorrow and we would like to give all students a chance to participate and enjoy the healthy snacks the program provides.
Reminders:
-Twoonies for Terry are now being collected for the Terry Fox Run
-Souperstars forms are due back tomorrow
-Grade 5 vaccination forms are due back ASAP
-Library book exchange tomorrow morning
-Pillars of Care assembly Friday, September 29th @ 8:15
-Terry Fox Run directly after Pillars of Care assembly (around 8:50)
Have a great night!
Today was a busy day and here is a recap of what we were up to!
We started the day by nominating students for our Pillars of Care assembly, which will be this Friday at 8:15. The winners of the awards are:
Care for place: Shalin
Care for self: Abby
Care for others: Vanessa
Care for learning: Goner
Congratulations to our winners for the month of September!
After Music we continued with looking at place value and representing number in a variety of ways. Students are experiencing difficulty with reading larger numbers and are practicing this as part of our work. Once we were finished with math we moved on to Social studies and beginning our talk around landforms. Students tried identifying some of the more commonly known landforms around Canada and what some of the provinces are known for as their main industry to see if the two are connected.
During the afternoon, students worked on beginning their first narrative writing sample of the year, which will help to guide instruction and act as a benchmark for their writing throughout the year. We will continue with that tomorrow as some students would like some more time to do their stories justice.
Also: Students brought home their Souperstars permission form if it was not signed at the Meet the Teacher evening on Thursday. Please return these ASAP as our program begins tomorrow and we would like to give all students a chance to participate and enjoy the healthy snacks the program provides.
Reminders:
-Twoonies for Terry are now being collected for the Terry Fox Run
-Souperstars forms are due back tomorrow
-Grade 5 vaccination forms are due back ASAP
-Library book exchange tomorrow morning
-Pillars of Care assembly Friday, September 29th @ 8:15
-Terry Fox Run directly after Pillars of Care assembly (around 8:50)
Have a great night!
Thursday, September 21, 2017
September 21, 2017
Hi Families!
Today has been a busy day! We started the day bright and early with a drumming session in Mr. Wiens' music room.
Then we moved into math where we reviewed place value and practiced building and ordering numbers from greatest to least and least to greatest based on chance. We found out that we are forgetting how place value and naming numbers works as the get into the thousands and so we will be reviewing and extending this skill on Monday.
After Math we went to gym where Ms. Laird and Ms. Locke had us working hard with fitness relays. Students did amazingly in the time they were given and never stopped giving 100%. It was really impressive to see.
After recess we watched a quick NASA video about weather and learned the difference between climate and weather. We started to scratch the surface of what air pressure is and how it affects changes in weather, as well as what tools weather forecasters use to predict weather.
After lunch we talked about today being the United Nations National day of Peace and discussed Peace in terms of the five senses. Some students were really pushing themselves to be creative in their descriptions of what peace is to their senses. We will finish this writing assignment on Monday.
Lastly, we did a community art activity based off the book The Spot. Each student was given a piece of paper and chose up to 4 pastels. We then rotated around the classroom adding one dot or circle to each student's piece of paper. The end result was a piece of art that was created by each member of our community! It was a lot of fun.
We hope you will join us tonight for the Meet the Teacher event with sessions starting at 6:30 and 7:30!
Please enjoy your long weekend!
Today has been a busy day! We started the day bright and early with a drumming session in Mr. Wiens' music room.
Then we moved into math where we reviewed place value and practiced building and ordering numbers from greatest to least and least to greatest based on chance. We found out that we are forgetting how place value and naming numbers works as the get into the thousands and so we will be reviewing and extending this skill on Monday.
After Math we went to gym where Ms. Laird and Ms. Locke had us working hard with fitness relays. Students did amazingly in the time they were given and never stopped giving 100%. It was really impressive to see.
After recess we watched a quick NASA video about weather and learned the difference between climate and weather. We started to scratch the surface of what air pressure is and how it affects changes in weather, as well as what tools weather forecasters use to predict weather.
After lunch we talked about today being the United Nations National day of Peace and discussed Peace in terms of the five senses. Some students were really pushing themselves to be creative in their descriptions of what peace is to their senses. We will finish this writing assignment on Monday.
Lastly, we did a community art activity based off the book The Spot. Each student was given a piece of paper and chose up to 4 pastels. We then rotated around the classroom adding one dot or circle to each student's piece of paper. The end result was a piece of art that was created by each member of our community! It was a lot of fun.
We hope you will join us tonight for the Meet the Teacher event with sessions starting at 6:30 and 7:30!
Please enjoy your long weekend!
Reminders:
- Book orders are due to Ms. Laird no later than Monday
- Please remember to bring your digital citizenship forms back to school!
- Please remember to send your vaccination forms back to school if your child is in grade 5.
- Parent Council Fundraiser tonight at 6pm: Pizza Night! Pizza is $3/slice
- NO SCHOOL FRIDAY - Professional Development Day
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
September 20, 2017
Happy Wednesday!
Here is a recap of the last two days from the students of room 18:
Here is a recap of the last two days from the students of room 18:
- Social Studies: We made a map of Canada (as a pre-assessment) for our first unit which is Physical Geography of Canada. We will be learning about the physical regions of Canada.
- We've been working on completing our math assessment and have been finding out our strengths and areas for growth. Most students are having trouble with division and multiplication.
- We are finishing our comic strips so that they will be on display for Meet the Teacher night.
- Today we got to watch the video we made. It is still being edited, but we will try to have it ready for tomorrow evening. We would like to share it with you digitally but need all release forms signed and returned as student faces are visible in the video.
- We tried to go on computers today and managed to log in, but we have not logged into our GoogleDrive yet because we need our e-mail usernames. Ms. Laird is on the hunt! And, will provide us with those very, very soon.
- Today we were working on nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs. Ask me to tell you what a pronoun is tonight!
- Starting this week, we will be able to read with a special guest from time to time! We are very excited to have our guest visiting us!
- In music, we're learning to do bucket drum!
- On Tuesday, the grade 5/6 students had their patroller training. They will begin patrolling very soon!
Reminders:
- Book orders are due to Ms. Laird no later than Monday
- Please remember to bring your digital citizenship forms back to school!
- Please remember to send your vaccination forms back to school if your child is in grade 5.
- Don't forget tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 21) is Meet the teacher, with group sessions beginning at 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Please meet the grade 4/5 team in room 16/17.
- Parent Council Fundraiser tomorrow at 6pm: Pizza Night! Pizza is $3/slice
- NO SCHOOL FRIDAY - Professional Development Day
Monday, September 18, 2017
September 18, 2017
Good afternoon!
Today was a successful Monday. We started our day with music this morning and then moved into starting a math assessment which we will be completing in chunks over the next few days. It was frustrating for some students to look at math that was learned last year, but it will help Ms. Laird to understand where the biggest areas of need are for both the grade 4 and 5 students. We stopped to look at two questions in particular and discuss strategy as well as the language of the questions and what was actually being asked.
After recess we moved into science where students had the opportunity to share their existing knowledge of weather. I am incredibly impressed at how much students have already retained from our discussions about hurricanes and tornadoes and am excited for students to start thinking about weather in broader terms, taking into consideration the role that oceans and wind currents play in our daily and seasonal weather.
After lunch students had their last finish up time for their pillars of care writing, as well as some time to work on their comic strip. Any students who did not complete their pillars of care writing were asked to take it home for completion.
We also took some time this afternoon to do a temperature reading and see how students are doing with solving interpersonal problems. We had some great feedback on how students are dealing with problems that are occurring outside on recess or in the gym and how we can support each other to make good choices in different ways. We are a community in room 18 and we have a multitude of options for helping each other! So why not tap into each other as a resource?
Lastly, we will have our first period on computers tomorrow morning and students will need their digital citizenship forms returned to school before they can participate. We will be learning/reminding ourselves of how to navigate GoogleDrive as it will be an integral part of programming this year.
Have a lovely evening!
Today was a successful Monday. We started our day with music this morning and then moved into starting a math assessment which we will be completing in chunks over the next few days. It was frustrating for some students to look at math that was learned last year, but it will help Ms. Laird to understand where the biggest areas of need are for both the grade 4 and 5 students. We stopped to look at two questions in particular and discuss strategy as well as the language of the questions and what was actually being asked.
After recess we moved into science where students had the opportunity to share their existing knowledge of weather. I am incredibly impressed at how much students have already retained from our discussions about hurricanes and tornadoes and am excited for students to start thinking about weather in broader terms, taking into consideration the role that oceans and wind currents play in our daily and seasonal weather.
After lunch students had their last finish up time for their pillars of care writing, as well as some time to work on their comic strip. Any students who did not complete their pillars of care writing were asked to take it home for completion.
We also took some time this afternoon to do a temperature reading and see how students are doing with solving interpersonal problems. We had some great feedback on how students are dealing with problems that are occurring outside on recess or in the gym and how we can support each other to make good choices in different ways. We are a community in room 18 and we have a multitude of options for helping each other! So why not tap into each other as a resource?
Lastly, we will have our first period on computers tomorrow morning and students will need their digital citizenship forms returned to school before they can participate. We will be learning/reminding ourselves of how to navigate GoogleDrive as it will be an integral part of programming this year.
Have a lovely evening!
Friday, September 15, 2017
September 15, 2017
September 15, 2017
Good afternoon!
Here is a quick recap of things we did yesterday and today in class as shared by students in room 18:
Good afternoon!
Here is a quick recap of things we did yesterday and today in class as shared by students in room 18:
- We will be starting weather watch in science next week. Today, we watched Dangerous Tornadoes and learned some interesting facts about tornadoes. Did you know:
- Usually tornadoes last about 2 minutes, but we learned that more extreme tornadoes are now lasting 10 minutes or longer.
- We learned that multiple wind currents with high speeds traveling in different directions meet to start forming a hook echo. This is the beginning of a tornado.
- Tornadoes usually work better on flat land, if it's on hillier land, it has trouble gaining speed and forming properly.
- Students noticed the sky changes colour (sometimes green)
- Hurricanes (like Irma) can be predicted and take longer to form, tornadoes form within minutes and people get on average 13 minutes of warning before it touches down
- ASK ME MORE!!!!
- We finished filming our kindness video!!! Mr. Sadowsky and Ms. Laird will be editing it over the following days and hope to have it finished by meet the teacher night
- We were still working on writing our pillars of care today, if students did not finish today, it will be sent home for homework on Monday.
- Some students started their good copy of their comic strip and some are close to being finished their good copy
- Library exchange will begin on Tuesday
Reminders:
Patroller forms are due back on Monday at the latest!
Patroller training - Sept 19th, 2017
Meet the teacher night - Sept 21st, 2017 @ 6:30 - 8:30
PD Day (NO SCHOOL) - Sept 22nd, 2017
Have a great weekend!
If you would like to see our inspiration for the soon to be released Pillars of Care video, please click below!
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
September 13, 2017
Good afternoon!
Today in room 18 was one crazy day! This morning, students finally got to meet Mr. Wiens for music! Hoorah! We have been waiting for music so patiently. We also had gym with Mr. Sadowsky in which we played a new version of fireball dodgeball where we had to set up a fort to defend a pile of gold. It was a lot of fun.
This morning we continued work on our pillars of care writing and planning our kindness video. Tomorrow we will be doing a run through in the gym before we film on Friday. We are really excited about the final product and hope we will be able to find a way to share it with you.
We started the afternoon with D.E.A.R while Ms. Laird began reading assessments and then we worked on creating a comic strip that demonstrates our ability to include a beginning, middle, and end to a story. Most students were still working on their plan at the end of the day and will begin creating their good copy tomorrow.
Please remember to send in the last remaining back to school packages, digital citizenship and parent feedback forms.
Have a great evening!
Today in room 18 was one crazy day! This morning, students finally got to meet Mr. Wiens for music! Hoorah! We have been waiting for music so patiently. We also had gym with Mr. Sadowsky in which we played a new version of fireball dodgeball where we had to set up a fort to defend a pile of gold. It was a lot of fun.
This morning we continued work on our pillars of care writing and planning our kindness video. Tomorrow we will be doing a run through in the gym before we film on Friday. We are really excited about the final product and hope we will be able to find a way to share it with you.
We started the afternoon with D.E.A.R while Ms. Laird began reading assessments and then we worked on creating a comic strip that demonstrates our ability to include a beginning, middle, and end to a story. Most students were still working on their plan at the end of the day and will begin creating their good copy tomorrow.
Please remember to send in the last remaining back to school packages, digital citizenship and parent feedback forms.
Have a great evening!
Monday, September 11, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
Good afternoon!
Today in class we had the opportunity to work on a number of activities related to writing and math. We began the morning by creating a jobs list to ensure that we show care for place and ownership of our space over the next 10 months. We then moved on to a read aloud that began our focus on the pillars of care this week. Today, students focused on care for others and attempted to dig deeper into what care for others really means and how it grows into acts of kindness everywhere. We also discussed the significance of Sept. 11th in relation to showing the pillars of care.
Later, we were given the opportunity to get to know one another a little better by surveying our classmates on various topics in order to show what we can do with graphing information. Students will continue the process of making their graphs tomorrow.
We also had our first phys. ed class today and are so happy that Mr. Sadowsky will be leading the majority of our gym classes again this year.
A big project that Mr. Sadowsky and I have taken on with our two rooms is the making of a kindness video. We are hoping that it will be finished this Friday, and will be largely written and put together by the students. It is our intention to show it at one of the pillars of care assemblies at some point this year, as we will likely be unable to post it to our blogs to show to parents due to privacy issues.
Enjoy your evening!
Today in class we had the opportunity to work on a number of activities related to writing and math. We began the morning by creating a jobs list to ensure that we show care for place and ownership of our space over the next 10 months. We then moved on to a read aloud that began our focus on the pillars of care this week. Today, students focused on care for others and attempted to dig deeper into what care for others really means and how it grows into acts of kindness everywhere. We also discussed the significance of Sept. 11th in relation to showing the pillars of care.
Later, we were given the opportunity to get to know one another a little better by surveying our classmates on various topics in order to show what we can do with graphing information. Students will continue the process of making their graphs tomorrow.
We also had our first phys. ed class today and are so happy that Mr. Sadowsky will be leading the majority of our gym classes again this year.
A big project that Mr. Sadowsky and I have taken on with our two rooms is the making of a kindness video. We are hoping that it will be finished this Friday, and will be largely written and put together by the students. It is our intention to show it at one of the pillars of care assemblies at some point this year, as we will likely be unable to post it to our blogs to show to parents due to privacy issues.
Enjoy your evening!
Friday, September 8, 2017
Friday, September 8, 2017
September 8, 2017
Looking back at the week with the students of room 18:
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Looking back at the week with the students of room 18:
- Today we had a challenge day. Our challenge was we had to stack cups without using our hands. We were practicing working as a team and to test how we work through frustration, and we got to work with Mr. Sadowsky's students from next door.
- We met our buddies for the first time. We will be buddies with Mr. Fisher's grade 1/2 class this year.
- We built boats yesterday after we talked about leadership and what it means. They are our Leader-SHIPS.
Next week we will begin music, library and phys. ed on a regular schedule. Please see the pancake breakfast notices that were supposed to come home yesterday.
Homework: Students who did not finish their 'Figure Me Out' math pages will be bringing them home for homework and will need to hand them to Ms. Laird on Monday morning.
Thank you and have a great weekend!Thursday, September 7, 2017
Reminders! (Sept. 7, 2017)
Hi room 18 families!
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow will be our first early dismissal Friday and that students will be done at 12:00.
Also, a notice from parent council was misplaced during my classroom this afternoon and so it didn't make it home today. I will send it home with students tomorrow, but just in case, I have included a photo of the notice below.
Enjoy your evening!
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow will be our first early dismissal Friday and that students will be done at 12:00.
Also, a notice from parent council was misplaced during my classroom this afternoon and so it didn't make it home today. I will send it home with students tomorrow, but just in case, I have included a photo of the notice below.
Enjoy your evening!
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Wednesday, September 6th, 2017
Our first two days:
Students in room 18 have been getting to know each other and have begun to build community while completing tasks that help me get to know their learning needs and personalities.
So far, we have completed writing tasks such as a letter to Ms. Laird, we have created a classroom charter, outlined our learning needs in order to be successful using the toilet paper game, and created a page of mathematical equations that help others learn more about us. It's been a busy couple of days! We will continue with goal setting and identifying areas we would like to be better at in preparation for our upcoming learning plans.
Today, the students requested we play a name game so that they could learn the names of the students of the opposite grade. We had a great time "Going on a Picnic" and some students decided to bring some strange things to our picnic. Ask your child what they decided to bring and how the game worked.
I'm really looking forward to our next couple of days as we have two STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) challenges planned in order to activate student thinking around these areas of knowledge and skill, as well as work on team building. I am also hoping to support students develop their perseverance and problem solving through these challenges, while also focusing on teamwork.
Students in room 18 have been getting to know each other and have begun to build community while completing tasks that help me get to know their learning needs and personalities.
So far, we have completed writing tasks such as a letter to Ms. Laird, we have created a classroom charter, outlined our learning needs in order to be successful using the toilet paper game, and created a page of mathematical equations that help others learn more about us. It's been a busy couple of days! We will continue with goal setting and identifying areas we would like to be better at in preparation for our upcoming learning plans.
Today, the students requested we play a name game so that they could learn the names of the students of the opposite grade. We had a great time "Going on a Picnic" and some students decided to bring some strange things to our picnic. Ask your child what they decided to bring and how the game worked.
I'm really looking forward to our next couple of days as we have two STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) challenges planned in order to activate student thinking around these areas of knowledge and skill, as well as work on team building. I am also hoping to support students develop their perseverance and problem solving through these challenges, while also focusing on teamwork.
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Welcome to room 18!
Welcome back to a new school year at Beddington Heights and grade 4/5 in room 18!
This is an exciting time of year and I always look forward to September for a fresh start with new faces! Having said that, I'm very glad to see that I know many of my grade 4 students from teaching them in music last year and am thrilled to continue working with them in the classroom. I look forward to getting to know each of my students over the coming weeks and learning about their interests and curiosities. Before we know it, it will be June and I will be signing off for another school year.
This year will be full of fun, learning, and adventures, and I can't wait to see what the year has in store for us. Parents and students, please remember to read this blog for updates on classroom and school happenings, important information from the office, and information about homework or supplementary learning opportunities for students. This is the primary means for communicating news for our class and will be updated 3 times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday (unless I am ill/away from school).
Please subscribe to the blog by e-mail using the 'Follow by e-mail' box on the right hand side of the page so that any updates are sent directly to you by e-mail. Also, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns! The best way of doing so is to send me an e-mail at crlaird@cbe.ab.ca and I will get back to you as soon as I can as classrooms can get very busy!
Again, I am very excited to see you all on September 5th! School will begin at 8:00, and I will be standing outside with a sign to meet you starting at 7:45. Please remember to send your child with indoor shoes, snacks, and a lunch if they are staying at school for lunch.
Enjoy your long weekend!
Ms. Laird
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