Spelling List A (May 1 - 6)
Spelling List B (May 1 - 6)
Spelling List C (May 1 - 6)
Friday, April 29, 2022
Friday, April 29
Hi parents,
We had another good day today. In the morning, the students had Music, and then continued working on their pizza recipe writing tasks from yesterday.
We got to watch a virtual assembly, hosted by the Grade 4/5 students, about waste in our world and ways that we can help the planet.
We did the Spelling Quiz and corrections, and that was pretty much the day!
Have a nice weekend,
Zac
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Wednesday, April 27
Hi parents,
We had another good day today. The students worked with sections from a rhyming dictionary, and identified food-themed rhymes they would like to use for an upcoming poetry task.
They also continued to work on their pizza fractions math project. I noticed the groupwork skills were quite a bit better than yesterday, and often overheard groups voting on toppings.
In Gymnastics, the mats and benches were out, so the class got to practice new movements and balances in a more routine-based way.
We had a lot of work period time throughout the day, and ended things off with Music.
Have a nice night,
Zac
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Tuesday, April 26
Hi parents,
We had a good day today!
In the morning, we continued our exploration of poetry, this time focusing on the concept and role of 'rhyme'. It's really interesting to see the different levels of understanding - I feel like in general, rhyming has become a bit less common in children's books, and so a lot of kids are relatively new to the concept, whereas when I was in school, Berenstein Bears and Dr. Seuss books were all the rage.
Mrs. Fernandez is working with the class on a secret poetry activity in which they have to brainstorm things they like, and then come up with rhyming words. They will then use these words to write fun poems. The class had a bit of trouble with this, so tomorrow, we'll be looking at Children's Rhyming Dictionaries for inspiration.
We also started working on our 'Pizza Project', which will be the big wrap-up for our Fractions unit. Unfortunately, due to school health rules, we are not able to actually make, divide, and share pizzas as I had originally hoped, but we will still be doing all the other steps. Students are working in groups to decide on toppings for their now-fictional pizzas (which has opened up some interesting possibilities), and figure out how to divide them into equal portions. We will also be looking at recipe writing, so this could still be a fun project to do at home!
In the afternoon, the Grade 3 students completed their math assessments while the grade 2s worked on journal writing. We ended our day with gymnastics and Daily LA.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Monday, April 25, 2022
Monday, April 25
Hi parents,
We had a good day today but a pretty simple one. In the morning, the students wrote in their journals as usual, we spent a bit of time outside, practiced spelling, and went to the library to exchange books. I'm not sure if I wrote this earlier, but we're back to the 'individual sign-out' system, which means students are able to bring their books home! This also means that they are responsible for taking care of their own books and bringing them back to school every Monday, which is when we visit the library. Students are welcome to bring them back earlier too if they choose.
In Gym, we had our first day of Gymnastics. Today was mostly spent on simple stuff - safety, expectations, and some balances, but as the week goes on we'll be learning more and more fun things. Next week we'll even get to use the Climber!
In the afternoon, the Grade 3s got to work on their journals some more, while the Grade 2s did math assessments. I haven't fully marked them yet but so far it's looking like we've made a ton of progress!
We ended our day with Music.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Friday, April 22, 2022
Spelling Words! (Week of April 24)
Spelling List A (April 24 – 29)
Spelling List B (April 24 - 29)
Spelling List C (April 24 - 29)
Good luck!
Friday, April 22
Hi parents,
Happy Earth Day!
We had a great day today, one of our best in a while! And we were able to celebrate Earth Day in the best way possible - by going outside and building snow structures. The students worked together to make snow forts, snow people, and giant snowballs. They had a blast, all while using only natural materials. Afterwards, we talked about how great our planet is, and how nature is pretty underrated.
The students have almost all completed their haiku poetry, and Mrs. Fernandez has created a beautiful display to showcase their hard work! Check it out!
Today's Spelling Quiz was pretty good. The students had a lot less corrections to make in general, in spite of having had less time to practice, so I think that suggests they are getting better at choosing lists that are the right difficulty level for them, and are also getting better at practicing more effectively.
We did some writing about the ways in which we can help the earth, at home, at school, and outside. The class showed real perseverance and I feel like our numerous talks about 'trying your best' may have finally paid off.
We will be starting Gymnastics on Monday, so please help your child to dress appropriately! Please see the previous post for more information. Stay tuned for next week's spelling words, and have a nice weekend!
Zac
Gymnastics Starting April 25!
Gymnastics
We will begin gymnastics in our regularly scheduled gym classes on Monday, April 25th. The gymnastics unit will last two weeks. Safety routines, cooperation and sportsmanship are taught and reviewed in each class.
This physical activity opportunity will help students acquire individual skills through a variety of developmentally appropriate movement activities.
It is important for students to come to school prepared for being actively engaged. The following guidelines are very helpful…
HEAD TO TOE - READY TO GO!!!
Head ....................... long hair pulled back
Ears/Throat/Wrist ............... jewellery off
Shirt.................................. one layer shirt
Waist ................................................tucked in
Pants.........................sporty pants or shorts, no belts or zippers
Ankles..........................pants rolled up if ankles are covered
Toes...............running shoes, gymnastic slippers or bare feet (no footed tights)
“Playing & moving safely is everyone’s responsibility”
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Thursday, April 21
Hi parents,
We had a nice and quiet day today! I think everyone was still tired from the zoo trip.
In the morning, students worked on their zoo booklets, and finished their 'herbivore, carnivore, omnivore' research from earlier in the week. We also played a rhyming words charades game, in which the students had to a guess a Mystery Word after finding out some of the words that rhymed with it. We'll be studying rhyming poetry a lot over the next couple weeks.
We learned about comparing fractions in math, using the < , > , and = signs. We are just about finished our unit on fractions, and we are going to be wrapping it up with what is arguably the most fun activity we've done since before Covid - making pizza! I will send home some forms about that early next week.
In the afternoon we did Gym and Daily LA, and practiced spelling.
Tomorrow is our spelling quiz, and I really recommend practicing a little bit at home tonight, if possible. We've only had a four day week, and one of those days was spent at the zoo, so the students haven't had many opportunities to learn this week's words.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Wednesday, April 20
Hi parents,
We had a great day today at the Zoo! The weather was surprisingly nice and just about all of the animals were out. We saw the tigers, the snow leopards, gibbons, komodo dragons, hippos, giraffes, and more. We visited the Exploring Asia, African Savanah, Canadian Wilds, and Conservatory Gardens exhibits. We even got to use the big playground for a little while. The students worked hard on their Zoo Journals throughout the day, and we'll have an opportunity to finish those up in class tomorrow. Sadly, the Rainforest was closed today.
The students are probably exhausted from all the walking we did, but I hope they feel like it was worth it!
Have a nice night,
Zac
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Tuesday, April 19
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good day today! It was one of those Tuesdays that felt more like a Monday.
We practiced spelling words and did some journal writing. We are still working on 'persistence' with writing and unfortunately a lot of students are still deciding to be 'done' their work as soon as it meets the minimum requirements. In a Montessori classroom this is a tricky problem to address as we're trying to build independence and intrinsic motivation, and to encourage students to take pride in their work, rather than just telling them write more.
We learned about animal diets, and the differences between carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. The students worked in partners to research animals on Raz-Kids and sort them based on their diets. They did an awesome job with this activity and I'm sure the work they do tomorrow at the zoo will be even better!
On that note - tomorrow is our zoo field trip, and I am so happy to report that I have received forms from everyone! Thank you for getting those back so quickly! The weather looks a little chilly and maybe snowy, so please ensure your child is dressed warmly, and with layers, as certain parts of the zoo are actually quite hot.
If you have any questions please email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Spelling Words! (Week of April 17)
Spelling List A
Spelling List B
Spelling List C
Good luck and Happy Easter!
Thursday, April 14
Hi parents,
We had an awesome Easter-themed day today!
In the morning, the students did their usual morning work, and then we went on a fun Easter scavenger hunt as a class! We went to the playground, the main office, the gym, the library, and more, finding and solving riddles at each location that led us to the next clue. When we finally got back to the classroom, there were easter eggs waiting for us, which contained cute erasers, stickers, and pencils. Thanks Mrs. Fernandez / the Easter Bunny, great teamwork!
We had our Spelling Quiz, listened to two wonderful Guest Readers, and did Spelling Corrections.
In the afternoon, the students made fractions and patterns using pattern blocks.
We ended the day with Music and Gym.
Please return your Zoo Field Trip Forms by Tuesday, April 19!!! If you need another copy of the form, send me an email at zalink@cbe.ab.ca
Have a wonderful long weekend!
Zac
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Wednesday, April 13
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good day today! In fact, it was good enough to earn two pieces of our 'persistence pie' which means we have earned a fun Easter-themed celebration in class tomorrow. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned the Persistence Pie on the Blog before, and if I haven't, I apologize because that sentence probably made no sense.
In the morning, the students practiced two important skills they'll need for our upcoming zoo field trip: writing jot notes, and realistic sketching. They worked in partners to use Raz-Kids to research an animal, and then wrote notes about that animal, sketched it, and labelled their sketches.
In the afternoon, the students read the book "What's Next, Nina?", and Mrs. Fernandez led them through a fun fractions lesson in which they put together necklaces, and then wrote fractions to represent the number of each colour of bead relative to the whole necklace.
We ended the day with Daily LA.
Today the Top 10 submissions for our School's Yearbook Cover Contest were revealed! I am so proud of the students in room four for all their hard work - any one of their creations would have made a wonderful yearbook cover. Although these covers were not ultimately selected to move forward, I hope you will all appreciate the great thought and care that went into each of them. The messages truly capture the spirit of our school.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Tuesday, April 12
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good day today!
In the morning, the students showed a lot of persistence and resilience as they worked on their fictional 'day at the zoo' schedules. For this activity, the students wrote out a tentative day plan, that laid out which exhibits the students would want to visit, how long they would spend at each one, and what other things they may need to make time for (lunch, breaks, etc.)
We also had a long morning work period, as many students were unable to finish their work from our busy day yesterday.
Mrs. Fernandez read the class the book, "The Lion's Share", which was about a bunch of animals at a birthday party that had to figure out how to divide a cake up evenly. The class worked at various Fraction Centres after that, using Montessori materials, and playing fraction-themed versions of popular games like Uno, Bingo, and Roll and Cover (which is only a 'popular game' by school standards, where the bar is notably lower).
In the afternoon, Mrs. Fernandez helped the students to edit their haiku poetry from last week. Then, the kids made water colour paintings to accompany their poetry. We'll finish this up tomorrow and then I'll post some on the blog!
The Zoo Field Trip Forms were sent home TODAY!
Please sign and return them as soon as you can, as the field trip is just a week away!
Please email me if your child did not bring home a form today - I found one on the floor after school so I know at least one person dropped theirs. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to join us at the zoo as well. We have hit our volunteer quota now, but please still contact the office if you'd like to get your volunteer clearance for next time.
Have a nice night,
Zac
Monday, April 11, 2022
Monday, April 11
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good Monday today - between Library, Gym, and Music, there wasn't a whole lot of time to work, but the class did learn more about fractions. Today we used the Montessori materials, and lego, to represent different fractions.
The students also worked on journal writing and spelling. The sentence 'It was fun.' has been temporarily banned from journal writing, as we're focusing on how we can use engaging descriptions to show readers how a weekend felt, rather than just telling them.
Our Zoo Field Trip forms have been approved by the CBE head office so I will be sending them home tomorrow!
Have a nice night,
Zac
Friday, April 8, 2022
Order Your Yearbook!
Lake Bonavista School
ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK TODAY DON’T MISS OUT!
Did you know that the yearbook is created by parent volunteers for your children to enjoy? It also features portrait pages of all grades and images from events throughout the year.
Help us keep our yearbook going as we have only sold 85 out of our contracted amount of 126 yearbooks. If you have already ordered please disregard.
Pricing is $20 until April 15th; after that date it will go up to $25 per yearbook.
PAY ONLINE: Go to: ybpay.lifetouch.ca Enter school code: 11352722
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