This morning was our second last day to finish our Acadian centers. Quite a few of us were able to finish and we are ready to make our Acadian displays tomorrow. After centers we worked on our story writing. We have our first finished story! Isla has completed her whole story and has started typing. Ask me how my story is coming along.

After recess the grade 1's finished their spelling test and then we did treasure math. In treasure math Ms. Boyer is noticing that quite a few of the students who have finished said that the 4th challenge was the hardest. This was the challenge where we had to complete lots of different counting patterns. Although these counting patterns were challenging they are an important building block for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing so Ms. Boyer said they were worth a bit of extra work.

This afternoon we started by rehearsing the songs for our assembly and then we started working on our Nova Scotia dioramas. We started by painting the background. We wanted to make sure we had a good background of water, land, and sky. Tomorrow we will start building the layers to make our dioramas look really realistic.  Then we had library. If you forgot to bring back your books you can bring them back tomorrow and Mrs. Kidd will be happy to check them in for you. Starting in June Mrs. Kidd will be doing an inventory of our school library. In order to help her with this huge job it will be important for us to be bringing our books back on time for the rest of the year so that she can be prepared to start her inventory in June.

After library we had gym. We were really great listeners in gym today and had time to play three different games! Sometimes we only have time for 1 so today we were very proud of ourselves and Ms. Boyer was really happy too!

Our helper tomorrow is: Sarah

Diorama Planning

This morning we had a chance to start our last set of the Acadian centers. We are excited to have them all ready to show you at conferences! Then we moved on to story writing. A lot of us have finished planning and are now writing our stories. We are finding the story string very helpful and lots of us are following it closely to make sure we have all the important pieces in our stories.

After recess the grade 2's went with Ms. Stephure to continue their word work and the grade 1's stayed with Ms. Boyer to start our April spelling test. We will be finishing the test tomorrow. So far it is going very well!  Then it was time for Treasure Math. We have so many Jr. Generals now that we decided to give a few of them the day off. If you were a general who got the day off today you were invited to go play Mathletics on the computer.

This afternoon we finished planning for our dioramas. We will be starting to paint the backgrounds tomorrow. We still have several students without shoeboxes. If you happen to have any extra shoeboxes at home we would love a few donations!

Today we are bringing home a special song book to help us begin practicing our songs for the Room 1 and 2 assembly. We only have a few weeks to get ready for the show so a little extra practice would be very helpful. These songs are also on YouTube if you want to watch the videos or practice by singing along.

Our helper tomorrow is: Evelyn

Yellow Fish Road

This morning we started the day with our journals. We started by working on our pictures while Ms. Boyer worked with a few students to finish their self-assessments from Fresh Air Friday.

Then we had a presentation from Yellow Fish Road. We learned about how people can cause pollution to get into our rivers when they aren't careful about the things that go down the storm drains. We learned that things like soap, herbicides, pesticides, and car oil all ends up in our rivers because they end up in the rain when the rain falls on our lawns and roads. This water goes straight from the storm drains, through pipes into the river. We learned that we can stop this problem by washing our cars at the car wash instead of in our driveways, pulling weeds instead of using herbicides, and taking our cars in to get fixed right away if there is a problem.

After the presentation we went back to our journals. Before we went back to work we reviewed our journal target. Now that we are close to the end of the year we are all trying to hit the center of the target each time we write in our journals.

This afternoon we did a bit of painting to get ready for our parent teacher conferences. We worked on painting a background for our displays of Acadian artifacts that we will be showing you at conferences on Thursday and Friday. We each got to choose our own colour and when they are dry we will be gluing our acadian work onto the background.

Then we had gym. Today we played The Coconut Game and then we played a new game that we called Poison Dots. In Poison Dots we are allowed to skip around when the music is on. When the music stops you have to find a dot to stand on but you can't stand on the dot colour that Ms. Boyer says is "poison". If you can't find a safe dot you are out until the next round.

We will be starting our Nova Scotia dioramas tomorrow. If you have not already brought a shoebox to school please try to have one tomorrow. If you don't have one please email Ms. Boyer so she can try to find one for you. 

Tomorrow the grade 1's will be having a spelling test of all our words so far. If you have some extra time tonight a quick review of the words would be a great idea. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Reid

Where does the rain go?

This morning we started with a little bit of center time because our big buddies were going to Nose Hill and couldn't meet for our buddy time. After that we came back to our work about human impacts in Whispering Woods and our human impacts posters.  We had originally planned to hang the posters up around the school but we noticed that students don't always seem to pay attention to posters so we decided that we need to do some presentations. We worked with our groups to make a script and then we practiced our presentations. Next week we will practice a bit more and then go to different classrooms to present.

After we were finished our scripts we moved on to our outdoor investigation for today. Our investigation question today was: "Where does the rain go?". We went outside with maps of the area outside the school and looked for signs of water and looked to see where the rain is going.


Here are the things we noticed:



This investigation is the beginning of some new work we will be doing as environmental scientists to explore our water and the ways that humans impact the water cycle and the water in our city. Next week we will have a chance to meet with people from Yellow Fish Road to continue this work and to start learning about ways that we can help protect our waterways.

Please remember that we will be starting our Nova Scotia dioramas next week. If you have not already brought a shoebox please be sure to have one by Tuesday. 

Our helper on Monday is: Morgan

This morning we continued working on our centers. Some of us were able finish yesterday so we worked as helpers for friends who were having trouble with some of the tricky parts of these centers. After centers we went back to our story writing. We read a very old story called "The Happy Lion" and looked for all the parts of our story string in this story. We could see that even very old stories have all same story elements. Before we started our writing we also made a class chart to show how we were doing with our story writing. The chart has 3 columns. I'm Writing, I'm Planning, and I'm Stuck. This is a way for us to show Ms. Boyer where we are at and to let her know if we need help.  Ask me where I'm at on the chart.

In math we were excited to see that many of us have moved up two stations since the start of the week and we have many more jr. generals! We will be continuing this work for one more week.

After math we had our fun lunch. Thank you to the parents who volunteered today!

In the afternoon Ms. Boyer was at a system meeting so Mrs. Wilkens worked with us. We started to learn more about our diorama project. Mrs. Hamby showed us an example of a diorama that she has started and then we used our Nova Scotia research list to begin planning the pieces we want to include in our own diorama.  After this we had gym and then went to music. We are working on the songs that we will be singing in our assembly.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday! We are planning to go on a neighborhood walk about about 10:30 (rain or shine!). If you are available to come join us please email. Ms. Boyer. 

This morning we started with centers. It was our first day of our new round of centers. Ask me which centre I am at this week!  After centers we worked on our story writing. Everyone is now working on their story plans or has started writing their rough copy of their story.

After word work we did Treasure Math. Mr. O was here for math time because Ms. Boyer was doing reading assessments with the grade 1's. Mr. O was really silly! He started a secret message (like Ms. Boyer does) but his secret message was "Catch a fluffy, pass it on!". How crazy!!

This afternoon we did Acadian research. Today we didn't bring our tools, we just brought our finished papers. Our smartboard is broken so we went to the Kindergarten room and used theirs. We all shared our ideas to make a class research list. Because 24 heads are better than 1! Now we will each get a copy of the class list to use when we make our dioramas starting next week. Please remember that each student will need a shoebox next week for our diorama project. If you can not find a shoe box please email Ms. Boyer so she can find one for you.

Then we had library and gym. We went outside and ran two laps. Then we played a new tag game with the hula hoops. At the end we had a few minutes of free time at the playground.

Tomorrow is Fun Lunch! 
Tomorrow our helper is: Bilal

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to those families that celebrated this weekend.

Today we started with journals. Many of us had exciting weekends with our families and had great things to write about. The grade 1's are working to incorporate our "No Excuses" spelling words into our writing more consistently while the grade 2's are continuing to work on their paragraphs.

After recess we had word work. The grade 1's are working on some new sight words: When, said, your, plus words in the -op family. The grade 2's continued their study of contractions.  After word work we moved on to our Treasure Math. We started by doing a survey to see which stations were still being used and to see how many people are still at each station. We have discovered that station 4 seems to be the most challenging because it is the longest centre and involves lots of different counting patterns.

This afternoon we started by practicing some of the songs we will be singing for our assembly in May. Then we had a bit of time to finish our research about Nova Scotia and the Acadians. Next week we will begin making dioramas to show our learning. Each student will need to bring a shoebox from home. If you cannot find a shoe box please send Ms. Boyer an email so she can find one for you.  After our research time we had a little bit more time to work on our journals and then we went to gym. In gym we did a movement game to music and then we played a game called The Coconut Tree. Then it was time for music. We worked on one of our assembly songs with Ms. Stephure. Our songs have quite a lot of words so we are going to be working very hard to learn them!

Please remember that tomorrow is our library day. All books should be returned or brought back for renewal if you need to borrow them for another week. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Isla

Glass Art!

This morning we started our new centers! The centers are sewing Acadian flag, colouring Acadian maps, and building lobster traps. Some of us got our flags and lobster traps finished but we will be keeping them at school to display before bringing them home.

After recess and word work we did treasure math. We had a few new people who became vice-generals today and are going to start being helpers during our math. We found out that once everyone is finished the treasure will be revealed!!!

This afternoon we worked with a teacher from Clay for Kids to make our glass art project. We got to use small pieces of cut glass to make a picture glued onto a clear piece of glass. Now the teacher will put them in a kiln and the coloured glass will melt onto the clear glass. When they are finished we will be decorating the chain link fence outside the school.

Tomorrow afternoon the Grade 3-4's will be having their celebration of learning. During this celebration they will be selling some items to raise money for new terracycle bins for our school. These are special recycling bins that allow us to recycle snack wrappers. 
Here are the items that will be for sale:
- baked treats: 25 cents
- recipe books: $2.00
- reusable snack wrappers: $1.50

We will be visiting the celebration at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Shawn

More research!

This morning we didn't have guided reading or centers because Ms. Boyer and Mrs. Hamby wanted to show us the new centers we will be starting tomorrow. The new centers are all about the Acadians. We are sewing Acadian flags, building model lobster traps, and making maps of Acadia. These centers will take us a few weeks to complete and then we will get to bring our creations home.

After we learned about the new centers we had to get ready for our Clay for Kids glass art project that we will be doing tomorrow afternoon. We needed to decide what design we want to make and draw it on a small piece of paper so that we will be ready to make it out of glass tomorrow. Since our glass pieces will be going on the fence outside by the Whispering Woods our theme is nature. Some of us chose to make plants, some of us chose animals, and some of us chose other things from nature like rainbows, raindrops, and sunshines.

After recess we did word work and then our Treasure Math. Some of us are completely finished and have been promoted to the position of Vice-General! This means that we are able to give clues and helpful hints to people who are still working but we can't give them the answers and we can't certify their work.

After lunch we worked with Mrs. Hamby on our Nova Scotia research while Room 1 went with Ms. Boyer to watch the Acadian video. We are using books to find out facts about life in Nova Scotia. We have learned that some of the jobs in Nova Scotia are: fishing, logging, building, artistry, mining, and music.  We have also learned that lots of people live in small towns and villages that are next to the ocean. Tomorrow we will have a little bit of time to finish our research and then we will be starting a project to show what we have learned.  Stay tuned!

In gym we played games. First we played Squirrels in the Trees, and then we played Ups and Downs. Then we went to music. In music we did centers.

Tomorrow our helper is: Tessa

More Research!

This morning we did journals. The grade 1's had to write one or more paragraphs. The grade 2's had to write 2 or more paragraphs. Today we had lots of time (a total of 1.5 hours throughout the day) to get our journals finished because we are going to be doing some special centers this week so there won't be time to finish up journals during center time. If we didn't have our journals finished in time they have come home for homework.

After recess it was word work time for grade 1's and solo book time for grade 2's. Then we had math. We did treasure math. We had a few friends who finished all the levels!!!

This afternoon we stayed with Mrs. Hamby to do more research about Nova Scotia using books and Room 1 went to watch the Acadian movie with Ms. Boyer. Then we went to gym. We played two games. The first game was called Squirrels in the Trees and the second game was called Frogs Across the Pond. After gym we did journal finish up and journal sharing.

Tomorrow is treat day. Please remember to bring 25 cents. Also, Mr. P will be starting games club tomorrow at lunch for students in grades 1 and 2. If you want to participate please bring a game from home that you could play with a few friends. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Jasper

Human Impacts on Nose Hill

Today was Fresh Air Friday. We hiked all the way to the top of Nose Hill! We were investigating the human impacts on Nose Hill. We wanted to see if the impacts are the same on Nose Hill as they are in the Whispering Woods.  We noticed many of the same problems and also some new ones. We noticed pathways, litter, trampled grasses, and broken branches just like in Whispering Woods. But we also noticed old car parts, teepees, and broken signs.


Our main focus today was on human impacts and on our investigation skills. We used a rubric to self-assess our work and to decide what we want to improve next time. Most of us were happy with our work today because we did a good job following the plan and using our tools correctly (we got to use the binoculars today!). Next time, quite a few of us want to add more detail to our recording and make more connections between our investigations and the other work we have already done. Here is the rubric:

Have a great weekend!

Bonjour!

This morning we had guided reading and centers. During centers some of us worked to finish up our plasticine boat reflections from earlier in the week. If we were finished we were allowed to choose any of our three centers. After guided reading was finished we talked about another strategy to help us with story writing. It is called a story string. Ms. Boyer drew a picture of a story string but sometimes people make real story strings with beads to help them remember the parts of their story. The story string helps us to remember all of the different pieces that need to be included in a story. Ask me to explain the story string to you!

After recess we had word work. The grade 1's did some more practice with our words for the week and the grade 2's continued their study of contractions. Then, we did treasure math. Today we learned about level 10. In level 10 someone on board the ship tries to start a mutiny. We have to find the rope with exactly 91 beads so that we can tie them up below deck so the don't cause any more trouble.

After lunch we continued watching the video about the Acadian Peninsula. We took notes about jobs that Acadians would have done (farmers, fishers, blacksmiths, bakers, seamstresses), the landscape (trees, Atlantic ocean, peat bogs), animals (cod, lobster, starfish, seals, clams, scallops), houses (simple homes mostly made from wood), and we also learned some interesting facts. Did you know that the Acadians speak french? Did you know that they were expelled at one point?

Since the Acadians speak french we learned a little bit of french today. We learned to say:

"Bonjour, je m'appelle _________" That means "Hello, my name is_________"

"Comment ca va?" That means "How's it going?"

"Ca va bien." That means "It's going fine."

After that it was time to go for gym. We played catch and chase. We were going to play a new game too, but we were a bit too chatty and we ran out of time. Hopefully we will remember to stay a bit more focused next time so we can have more time.  When gym was finished we went to music. In music we are watching Peter and the Wolf. We had a matching activity that we had to do while we were watching.

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be going to Nosehill (as long as it isn't pouring rain!). Please make sure you are wearing your best hiking shoes and that you are dressed in layers that keep you prepared for changing temperatures and possible rain. Sometimes the temperature can change a lot as we walk up the hill and the forecast is calling for potential rain. Please also be sure to pack a snack and a small waterbottle. If possible, please leave extra things like books and toys at home so that your backpack isn't too heavy. We will be taking them with us and each student will be responsible for carrying their own supplies. 

Our helper on Monday is:

Learning about the Acadian

This morning we did story writing. We learned about the next step for getting ready to write our stories. This step is to record the pieces of our story in frames sort of like a comic strip.  Having the pieces of our story recorded like a comic will help us to remember all the pieces when we are writing out our stories.

Before recess some of our class had a meeting to solve some problems that have been happening during soccer at recess. There have been some arguments and upset students coming in so we thought it was important to make sure everyone understood the rules and knew how to play fairly. The group came up with some rules for the soccer game so that hopefully things will go more smoothly.

Here are the rules: 
1. If someone gets tripped to pushed the game stops and that student gets to have the ball. Everyone else takes ten steps back and the game re-starts
2.  If there is an argument about a goal or a tripping call there is a "hands-up" vote using the honor system. Once a decision has been made by the group there is no more discussion and the game re-starts. 
3.  If someone gets tripped or pushed when they are shooting at the net, that person gets a free kick. 

After recess we did our treasure math. We got to look at level 9 today. It is about the Ogre's pesky pets. Quite a few people are still working on the counting patterns in level 4, but they are getting close to being finished and will then be moving on to level 5: Locked Lagoon.

This afternoon we started learning about Acadia. Acadia is a place in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where people speak french. We watched a video about the Acadians and took notes on an organizer. We tried to find information about the landscape, animals, jobs, houses, and transportation used by the Acadians long ago. We will finish the video tomorrow and then we will do some mroe research using books. Then we went to library. Many of us didn't bring back our books. Please return them as soon as possible. After library we had gym. We did some relay races. We had to do running and different movements.

We are still looking for 2 volunteers to join us at Nosehill this Friday. Please email Ms. Boyer if you can join us. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Levi

Clay for Kids

Today was an exciting, mixed up day. We started out normally with guided reading and centers but then, instead of story writing we worked on our science reflections from yesterday. Before we got to work Evelyn shared some boat research she did at home. She was wondering about the reasons why huge ships like cruise ships can float. She found out that they can float because they displace a lot of water so even though they are very heavy, they water they displace is even heavier! Evelyn also introduced us to the word buoyancy. Ask me to tell you what it means!

After recess things were even more mixed up. We did gym and music! In gym we played two new games. The first game was called catch and chase. The second game was called Ups and Downs. In music we practiced our patterns and smartboard game called poison patterns.

This afternoon we had Clay for Kids! We each got to make a piece of art that showed symbols of Canada. Some of us showed canadian geese, maple leafs, Rocky Mountains, hockey sticks, canoes, pine trees, inukshuks, beavers, and moose. It will take about three weeks for the clay to be fired and glazed.

Our helper tomorrow is: Isabel.
Remember our new category is favourite animal. When it is your turn please try to bring a picture, drawing, or stuffy of your animal and some facts about the animal.

We are hoping to go to Nosehill on Friday. We will need 2 volunteers in order to be able to go. If you are able to volunteer please contact Ms. Boyer. 

Welcome Back!

Welcome back! This morning we worked on our journals. The grade 1's were working to have at least 1 hamburger paragraph and some grade 1's were pushing themselves to write two. The grade 2's were working to write 2 hamburger paragraphs and some grade 2's were pushing themselves to write 3 or 4!

After recess we did word work and solo book time. The grade 2's worked on reading by themselves and the grade 1's started practicing some new words. Our words this week are: by, words, but, not, sick, kick, brick, stick. Then we did treasure math.  Everyone is finished level 1, 2, and 3. Lots of people are on level 4 and 5. A few people are on level 6, and 7.

This afternoon we worked on a reflection about out plasticine boats. We looked at the results we found in our experiment before the break and then drew a picture of our best boat. Then we tried to answer the questions what did you do? and what did you learn?

In gym we did some fitness pyramids and played relay games. We did pyramids up to 5 for burpees and sit ups. Then we did running relays in pairs and as a whole class. We will be playing relay games for the next two weeks.

Tomorrow we will be having our clay for kids session from 1:00-3:00. If you are able to volunteer please let Ms. Boyer or Marie know. 

We have a new sharing category. It is favourite animal. For sharing please bring a picture or stuffy of your favourite animal plus a few facts. Also be ready to tell us why it is your favourite animal. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Dhvani