March 31

This morning we continued working on our props for story writing. Some of us had finished making our objects and started making our animal characters. Ask me about my story idea!

This afternoon we started adding trees, shrubs, and bushes to our dioramas. We were adding evergreen trees, aspen trees, wildrose bushes, dogwood, buckbrush, and willow bushes. We are using paper and tissue paper to create the trees, shrubs, and bushes.

We also had library. Most of us were able to sign out new books but a few people forgot to return their books. Mrs. Kidd says we can return our books tomorrow and visit her first thing in the morning if we still need to sign out a new book.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be staying close to the school but we will be outside for quite a long time. Please dress for the weather. We are bringing home a fun lunch form today!


Our helper on Monday is: Carissa

March 30

This morning was Wednesday but it felt more like a Monday because we worked on our journals. We had a lot to write about after our long spring break. In math we worked on finishing our math assessments.

This afternoon some of us started painting our animal dioramas. Some of us finished up our research and a few of us are still looking for shoeboxes. If you haven't brought a shoebox please bring one ASAP or email Ms. Boyer so she can try to find one for you.

In gym we played with the parachute. We played mushroom, cat and mouse, and shark attack.

In music we played an Easter Egg game and did a listening activity. In the Easter Egg game, 6 people hid the eggs while everyone else sings a song. Then everyone looks for the eggs. The people that found the eggs got to be the ones to hide them next.

Remember tomorrow is our library day. Please be sure to return your books. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Atiksh

We could use some more home reading volunteers if anyone is available. If you do not have access to the google calendar, please contact Marie who is our room parent. Thanks!

March 29

Today we were on a field trip! We went to the Inglewood Bird Santuary. We were learning about animal adaptations. We saw ducks, geese, chickadees, magpies, northern flickers, and a muskrat!
We also saw lots of animal clues. We saw a skull from a bird, magpie nests, porcupine scat, chewed logs, an old beaver dam, scratched-off bark, feathers, and a magpie wing.

Did you know that magpies build roofs on their nests? They do this because they build their nests early in the year and they need to protect themselves from snow. They also have two entrances for their nests because they have long tail feathers and can't really turn around in their nests.

Did you know that birds lay speckled eggs so that they can camouflage? This also helps them to tell their eggs apart and sometimes birds will even put their eggs in a different species nest and hope that the other bird will take care of their eggs!

We noticed that the chickadees would come very close to us. If you put out your hand they might even land on it! Even though that is really exciting it actually means that some people must be feeding the birds. This isn't a good idea at the bird sanctuary because the birds will start to rely on humans for their food and will forget how to find their own food. There are lots of signs at the bird sanctuary that tell you not to feed the birds!

March 16

In math we continued working on our math assessment. In the math assessment some of the activities are completing a hundreds (or two hundreds) chart, grouping and counting by 10's, odd or even numbers, counting by 2's and 5's, and counting patterns.

This afternoon we kept working on our animal research. The people that were finished had a chance to go play some animal games on the computer.

Today in gym we did relay races. The races were hopping, crab walk, and bear crawl.  We were on four teams and each team had to pass a puffball to take turns racing.

Tomorrow please remember to wear green! There is a notice coming about "Lunch Lady". This is a weekly hot lunch program that students can order. It is NOT the same as fun lunch and is provided by a company external to the school. 

Tomorrow our helper is: Dominic

March 15

Today we started working on a math assessment. A math assessment is an activity that we have to try to do all by ourselves to show Ms. Boyer which things we are really good at and which things need more practice. That way Ms. Boyer will know what we should do next.

After lunch we kept working on our animal research. We are getting really close to being finished and ready to move on to our dioramas. If you have a shoe box at home remember to bring it in before the break.

In gym we got to try dodgeball today. We played dodgeball 100. That means that when you are out you have to count to 100 before you get to come back into the game.

If you haven't brought in your field trip form please remember to bring it tomorrow.

Our helper tomorrow is: Emma

March 14

Today in math we measured our life sized animals using the metric system. The metric system means measuring in mm, cm, m, km.
Did you know that a moose is 2m73cm long?
Did you know a western jumping mouse is only 20.5cm long?

This afternoon some of us finished our animal research books. The rest of us are working to try to be finished before our spring break.

After spring break we will be starting a new diorama project. Please check to see if you have a shoebox at home. If you do, please bring it to school with your name on it. If you don't have one, please email Ms. Boyer so we can try to find one for you.

Please return your field trip form by Wednesday if you haven't already. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Aiden

March 10

Today we continued working on our story plans. Some of us chose our setting and our animal characters. Some of us just finished our animal characters.  At animal research time today we buddied up with someone who is studying a different animal to share what we have so far. We helped each other decide if we needed to add more details or if we were ready to move on to the next page.

In gym we played badminton again, but this time we had the real nets set up. It was a little crowded to all play at the same time so we took turns playing. When we were waiting we worked on our fitness by doing step ups, bench dips, and bench push ups.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We have a few important things on the agenda. First we are going to be doing a schoolyard clean up. Last week we noticed a lot of garbage in the field and in the Whispering Woods that needs to be taken care of. We are also going to be sharing our storytelling with our big buddies and having a tour of the forts the big kids have been building! 

Our helper on Monday is: David

March 9

This morning we started working on story writing. We are starting with a story plan. It is a sheet with bubbles on it to help us organize our ideas. Right now we are working on the bubble for our characters. We are writing stories with animals that keep building and building. We were inspired by Jan Brett to write these kind of stories.

This afternoon we went to the Whispering Woods to find out about our surprise. The surprise was a special snack from the Whispering Woods! We found the snack by working in partners to follow a map. We had to follow the path on the map to the snack. The snack was juice boxes and rice crispy squares! After we finished our treats we got to play in the woods.

Today we had library because we needed to switch music times with Room 1 since they have clay for kids tomorrow. Some of us checked out new books but we have promised to return our old books tomorrow.

Tomorrow our helper is: Ellie

March 7

This morning the Whispering Woods finally told us its secret! The secret is that the Whispering Woods love that we come to visit and is so happy we are coming to visit so much more often this year thanks to Fresh Air Fridays. The note told us to come back on Wednesday afternoon for a special surprise! Some of us are predicting that the Whispering Woods might be having a party on Wednesday.

Today we started trying to figure out how big our animals really are. We looked up our animal's length on the computer and then used grid paper to try to make a life-sized drawing of our animal. Because our grid paper has 1 inch squares we learned about using inches to measure even though we know we don't really measure things using inches in Canada. For this project, it just made sense. After we finish drawing our life-sized animals we will measure them to see how many centimeters long they are.

Tomorrow Room 2 gets to do Clay for Kids first thing in the morning! Make sure you are on time for school so you don't miss the instructions from our guest teacher. It would probably be a good idea to wear short sleeves and no party dresses or tuxedos please! 

Our helper tomorrow is: Levi

March 4

Today we continued learning about cartography. That means making and using maps. Today we created maps of Whispering Woods.  Mapping was challenging because it was tricky to orient ourselves and there were so many things to add! It was tough to decide what to draw first.

Cartography is important for zoologists because when they are out looking for animals or animal clues they need to know where they are going. They need to be able to mark the places where they find clues or animals on the map so they can find it again. Maps are a good way for zoologists to share their discoveries with other people.

Our helper on Monday is: Eiman

March 3

This morning at the Whispering Woods we measured the things we found yesterday. Some of the things we measured were sticks and plants. We measured with blocks, rules, and sticks. We discovered that when we measure with different tools we end up with different numbers.

At lunch it was FUN LUNCH!!!!! Thank you to all the parents who volunteered.

This afternoon we went to a learning fair in the gym. The grade 3-4's were in charge of the learning fair. Some students shared things about cooking in different countries, traditions in other countries like henna, math concepts, book reviews, and science concepts like refraction and bridge building. A few stations gave out bookmarks. We really liked that.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. Please dress for the weather. 

March 2

This morning we went out to see what our challenge was in the Whispering Woods. It was a measuring challenge. We needed to find things that are taller than your waist and shorter than your fingertips when you hold your hand in the air. Tomorrow we are going to take tools outside so we can measure the things we found.  We think this might our last challenge.

Some of us started craft club at lunch today. We are making yarn crafts called God's Eyes.

In science we talked about ways that animals survive. We talked about how geese fly in a "v" shape so that the lead goose blocks the wind and then they switch places when the lead goose gets tired. We learned that they keep switching so they can fly a long ways. We learned that some animals hibernate, some adapt, and some migrate to survive the winter.

Today at music we sang a song while playing instruments. It was a new song called Aiken Drum. Mrs. Lim had to change a few parts so that all our instruments could play and she let everyone play for the part about pizza! Then we worked on creating pictures.

Tomorrow our helper is: Hussain

Don't forget tomorrow is fun lunch! There will also be some more treat-day treats for sale at recess. It is also library day so remember to bring your books. 

March 1

We were having such a nice time listening to our classroom friends share their journal entries we lost track of time and forgot about the blog. Whoops!

Here are a few topics to ask about at dinner:
- Whispering woods note and challenge today.
- Our new student!!

Our helper tomorrow is: Aanya