Tuesday, October 15

 Hi parents,

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. We had a good day back at school today, and once again, it was a busy one. In the morning, we learned about how Glaciers have shaped, and continue to shape the land. Fish Creek Park is a great example of this! We'll talk more about that tomorrow.

In math, we worked through some incredibly difficult subtraction problems, using both the Stamp Game and the written algorithm. I've had a chance to check in one-on-one with just about every student in the class to make sure they've got it, and they do - sometimes they're still making minor mistakes, but for the most part things are looking great. We'll have a quiz on addition and subtraction on October 23. I'm confident everyone will be ready for it.

We spent the whole afternoon doing Art, and then had Music at the end of the day.

Fish Creek Field Trip Tomorrow!!

It looks like we'll be lucky enough to get some decent weather tomorrow, but it's still going to be pretty chilly in the morning, so please make sure to send your child with a sweater, jacket, gloves, a hat,  and some warm shoes / boots. Fish Creek is always a little colder.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of October 13)

 Spelling List A (Oct. 11 – 27)

over	were	germs	her	verb
other	never	ever	after	under

 

Spelling List B (Oct. 11 – 27)

paper	different	person	every	offer
anger	sternly	better	camera	center

 

Spelling List C (Oct. 11 – 27)

wonder	members	desert	either	Germany
Mercury	lawyer	answer	superb	modern

The theme this week is -er! Since next week is only four days, and one of those days is our Field trip, we'll continue working on these words the following week as well. This is a great opportunity for everyone to ace this quiz!

Good luck!

Friday, October 11

 Hi parents,

Today we started our Community Building project (the one we've been gathering boxes for). Students learned that their fictional community will be built on the Grasslands Region of Alberta. We looked at some photos and talked about the plant and animal life that a community like this will impact. Then, the students each filled out a proposal for the building or structure they were planning to add. They had to consider the placement of each structure, relative to other services, as well as the impact it would have on the land.

Next week we'll meet as a class to decide which proposals to accept and which ones to change. 

There were three KFC proposals. I'm not sure if a town of 22 people needs that many.

We started working on our Art Card artwork. It's kind of abstract-city themed. We also did our spelling quiz, and ended the day with Music.

Have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, October 10

 Hi parents,

Today we wrapped up our Safe and Actives Routes to School residency. The students worked in groups and came up with some 'action plans' for our school to take that would get kids walking, biking, or scootering (at least part of the way) to school. The plans were actually really awesome and fairly viable! They ranged from things like 'Fall Scavenger Hunt Walks' to 'Explore your Neighborhood Day' to setting up a safe drop-off spot 1-2 blocks from the school.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, October 9

 Hi parents,

Here are a couple more pictures from our Active and Safe Routes to School Residency.

Today the students worked collaboratively to map out the area around our school. We discussed directions, scale, and most importantly, how to work together as a team. The students made sure to include crosswalks and sidewalks, as well as some of the signs we saw on our walk yesterday.

In math, we're still working on Subtraction with regrouping. This will probably be my 'math update' every day for the next couple of weeks. This is one of those things that takes a lot of practice. I'm planning to have a math quiz on October 23, which is when I anticipate being ready to move on to different topics in math. If we need more time, that's okay too.

Please send back your field trip forms!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, October 8

 Hi parents,

Thanks to everyone who has already sent back their signed field trip forms. :)

We had another cool day today as our Safe and Active Routes to School residency continued on. Today our focus was on Lake Bonavista School, and the potential factors impacting students' abilities to get to school in a more active way. We walked around the school and found that we have quite a few bike racks, but no places to store scooters. We also don't have a designated 'passenger unloading' zone. These are things we may look to change in the future!

We practiced spelling and continued to work on subtraction, with regrouping, using the stamp game. Its a slow process but we're off to a strong start, and I actually do predict we'll wrap this unit up faster than usual.

We read quite a bit of Trapped in Transylvania today. The whole class ended up being in "Listening Club" due to exceptionally poor following of instructions throughout the day, mostly during our residency time and clean-up time. This is pretty typical for this time of year so I am not concerned!

Please send a cardboard box or two if you have some lying around!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, October 7

 Hi parents,

We had a great, busy day today. 

In the morning, we had our first day of our "Safe and Active Routes to School" residency. We talked about the many benefits of walking to school, and even just of walking part of the way to school. We also talked about the potential obstacles that prevent students from walking to school, such as living far away, not having enough time, and of course bad weather. We did a bunch of activities as well.

It was also picture day today. :)

In the afternoon, we went over this week's spelling words, did a quick round of Daily LA, and then read Trapped in Transylvania. The day ended with Music.

Field Trip Forms were sent home today for our Fish Creek Field Trip on October 16. Please sign and return those as soon as you can, and if you're interested in being a volunteer, let me know, we still have 1-2 spots open.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words and Picture Day Reminder

 Spelling List A (Oct. 4 – Oct. 11)

that	this	the	they	then
them	than	with	both	path

 

Spelling List B (Oct. 4 – Oct. 11)

there	these	think	those	other
things	month	teeth	thanks	youth

 

Spelling List C (Oct. 4 – Oct. 11)

they’re	within	though	father	breath
mother	threat	apathy	worth	thumbs

This week's words are focused on the -th- blend. Before choosing a list, I recommend every student try to spell the words on List A. Those words are essential for effective written communication and I think everyone should make sure they have them mastered before moving on to another list!

Also, remember that it is Picture Day on Monday, October 7.

Good Luck!

Field Trip - October 16 - Volunteers Wanted!

We are going to Fish Creek Park on October 16 and are looking for a few parent volunteers to join us! We will be spending the day there, mostly outdoors, and doing activities in small groups or as a whole class, led by myself and Ms. G.

Please email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca if you are interested in volunteering (volunteers must have up-to-date clearance).

Thank you!

Zac

Thursday, October 3

 Hi parents,

I'm going to be away tomorrow so this Blog will be extra detailed. 

We had yet another good day today. We continued addressing the topic of communities, transportation, and connectedness. The students were given clip-art versions of the building we brainstormed yesterday, and challenged to cut and glue them into their sketchbooks to create a community. We talked about the reasons for wanting certain services to be closer together or further apart, and we even got into the 'traffic safety' side of things, as students started adding speed limits, crosswalks, and sidewalks to their towns!

I am incredibly happy with how this all turned out. It really exceeded my expectations. I am certain that the class will get a lot out of our residency on Safe Routes to School next week.

In math, we once again turned our attention to the Stamp Game, this time using it to teach the process of regrouping in subtraction problems. Subtraction with regrouping is probably the hardest thing we will cover in math until Grade 4 long division. The Montessori Materials do an amazing job of helping students see why the algorithm works. Honestly I didn't even understand how it worked until I started teaching. Building this understanding will take time, and any practice you'd like to do at home will surely be helpful.

In the afternoon we revisited our Lego town from yesterday, and the students took their buildings off. We then worked together to design the community in a more logical way. This time we really only needed two big roads, instead of 20 small ones.

. 

Before / After

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz! Best of luck, and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Wednesday, October 2

Hi parents,

We had a busy day today. In the morning, the students wrote sentences for each of their spelling words. I'm thinking of making this a weekly writing task, because it helps them practice their spelling words while also building a better understanding of what makes a 'complete sentence', which has been something the class has struggled with in their writing.

Next week, our class is lucky to have the opportunity to participate in a residency program centred around the theme of "Safe and Active Routes to School". Basically the idea is to help kids at our school explore different ways of getting to and from school - things like walking, biking, etc. The program will also focus on how to get around safely as a pedestrian in general, whether you're going to school or just exploring your community. 

Anyway, in preparation for that, we started a project about Community. 

First we brainstormed examples of important aspects of a community. Then the students used Lego to build models of structures found in communities (schools, houses, hospitals, etc.) They put the models on the whiteboard table, and we connected them with 'roads' using markers. It quickly became apparent that our road network was chaotic and inefficient. That's where we left off. Tomorrow we'll use the same buildings to rebuild the community more thoughtfully.

CARDBOARD BOXES WANTED!

For the final portion of this project, which we will likely start working on next week, the students will be creating a bigger model of a community with a safe and efficient network of roads and walking paths. They will be constructing buildings using cardboard. Please set aside 1-2 small-medium sized boxes for your child if you can, in preparation for this.

We did some Expanded Form problems in math, and in the afternoon, we did Daily LA, read Trapped in Transylvania, and had Music.

Have a nice night,

Zac