Our Day in Our Words...

Just like most days, we began our day with Ignite where we played with Kapla blocks, worked with math manipulatives, drew pictures, etc. The grade 3s practiced logging into their computer accounts during this time. Then we worked on our Remembrance Day projects and some of us worked on our tableaus. Then we did Daily 5 and we wrote a response to our novel study; Hatchet. The 3rd Graders started their SLAs and the Grade 4 students played a sweet video game about digital citizenship. We practiced our song, "Imagine", with Ms. Blankhorn. In Phys. Ed., we played indoor baseball!

Reminders....

• Tomorrow is Halloween. Remember that we ask you not to wear any masks, weapons, or blood. Enjoy trick-or-treating in the evening! 

Grade 3 Student Learning Assessment (SLA) Quick Facts for Parents/Guardians
Over the next 2 few weeks, grade 3 students within the Hope Pod will be writing the Student Learning Assessments (SLAs).

What are SLAs? 

SLAs are a digitally based provincial assessment that provides a beginning of the year “check in”.
This enables parents/guardians and teachers to learn about and identify student strengths and areas for growth at the start of the school year. The Grade 3 SLA is based on outcomes related to literacy and numeracy in language arts and mathematics in Alberta’s current Grade 2 provincial programs of study. Some sets of questions are created using topics that may be familiar to students from other subject areas such as arts education, health, science, and social studies.

What are the purposes of the SLAs?

The purposes of the SLAs are to:

• • improve student learning (primary purpose); 
  • enhance instruction for students.
  Provincial assessment programs, including SLAs, are meant to complement, not replace, day-to-day teacher observations and classroom assessment.
  
  
  What is the structure of the Grade 3 SLA?
  This literacy and numeracy assessment consists of digital interactive questions (marked by Alberta Education) and performance tasks (marked locally):
  • digital interactive literacy questions;
  • digital interactive numeracy questions; 
  
  
  Who will participate in the SLA?
  The SLA is primarily intended for students beginning Grade 3. It can also be administered to students who are ending Grade 2. The decision as to who will participate is at the teacher’s discretion.
  
  
  Will my child need to study for the Grade 3 SLA?
  Your child does not need to study to do this assessment. However, students should be familiar with using a computer or similar technology. (This will be done within class over the next few days).
  
  
  Are there any practice questions my child can do before the Grade 3 SLA?
  Yes. Students can try out the practice questions and released questions that are located at https://public.education.alberta.ca/assessment/. However, we will be practicing these as a group within class.
  
  
  Results will be shared with parents during our November conference dates.

Ask Me About...

• What did we learn from the digital citizenship game? (Gr. 4)
• How did the SLAs go? (Gr. 3)

Monday, October 29th

Our Day In Our Words...

First, during Ignite we made the terrarium for our new class pet, Edgar. He is a tiger salamander and Mr. Kai has had him since 2012. Then we went to P.E. and did multiple activities involving catching and throwing balls. After that, we did two rounds of Daily 5. During our snack, Mrs. Danchuk reads us a book about world conflicts. This was to help prepare us for our Remembrance Day ceremony. Our belly full and satisfied, we diverted our attention to Math! We're learning about estimation. Some of us estimated how many breaths we breathe in an hour. Then it was lunch time.
In our CCT block, some of us read "A Boy Called Bat" and we made storyboards for the story. During Inquiry, we worked on our Remembrance Day ceremony work. We finished our similes and we began brainstorming visuals for our Remembrance Day song.

Reminders...

• Halloween is this Wednesday. You can dress up, but please refrain from bringing weapons or masks. Don't eat all your candy at once! 
• Grade 3 Student Learning Assessment (SLA) Quick Facts for Parents/Guardians
  
  
  Over the next 2 few weeks, grade 3 students within the Hope Pod will be writing the Student Learning Assessments (SLAs).
  
  
  What are SLAs? 
  SLAs are a digitally based provincial assessment that provides a beginning of the year “check in”.
  This enables parents/guardians and teachers to learn about and identify student strengths and areas for growth at the start of the school year. The Grade 3 SLA is based on outcomes related to literacy and numeracy in language arts and mathematics in Alberta’s current Grade 2 provincial programs of study. Some sets of questions are created using topics that may be familiar to students from other subject areas such as arts education, health, science, and social studies.
  
  
  What are the purposes of the SLAs?
  The purposes of the SLAs are to:
  • improve student learning (primary purpose); 
  • enhance instruction for students.
  Provincial assessment programs, including SLAs, are meant to complement, not replace, day-to-day teacher observations and classroom assessment.
  
  
  What is the structure of the Grade 3 SLA?
  This literacy and numeracy assessment consists of digital interactive questions (marked by Alberta Education) and performance tasks (marked locally):
  • digital interactive literacy questions;
  • digital interactive numeracy questions; 
  
  
  Who will participate in the SLA?
  The SLA is primarily intended for students beginning Grade 3. It can also be administered to students who are ending Grade 2. The decision as to who will participate is at the teacher’s discretion.
  
  
  Will my child need to study for the Grade 3 SLA?
  Your child does not need to study to do this assessment. However, students should be familiar with using a computer or similar technology. (This will be done within class over the next few days).
  
  
  Are there any practice questions my child can do before the Grade 3 SLA?
  Yes. Students can try out the practice questions and released questions that are located at https://public.education.alberta.ca/assessment/. However, we will be practicing these as a group within class.
  
  
  Results will be shared with parents during our November conference dates.

October 25

Our day in our words...

• Today for math, Mrs. Danchuk's group estimated with how many kernels are on 1 ear of corn.  My group's estimation was 500 and the real answer was 704.  
• We had fun lunch.  It was pizza and it was delicious!
• We started our thoughtful logs today.  In this book we will cover powerful words, reading strategies, what author's do to make their writing extra special and our thoughts about what we read and think.

Reminders...

• Tomorrow is as PD Day for teachers.  There is no school for students.  Have a wonderful long weekend!

• Halloween Spooktacular tonight!

• Jacket Racket Project 2018

The Grade 4 Peace Ambassadors are running the annual Jacket Racket Project this year. They will run the collection of clothing items from Thursday October 25 to Friday November 5.

We are looking for 1-2 parent volunteers to come in fist thing in the morning for during that time to assist the students with sorting and bagging the collected items. One group of students will collect the items from classrooms and the other group will help sort the items with the parent volunteer. There will be sorting bins, bags and labels set up in the hub and parent volunteers can expect to be there from about 8:30 to 9 AM.  If you can help us out, please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d44afab28abf94-jacket

Volunteers must have completed their police security checks and have their security clearance.

Thank you for volunteering your time!

Ask me about...

Today we continued our work on estimation.  Let tell you about our tasks.  

October 24, 2018

Our day in our words...

• Today we went Glenbow Ranch and it was awesome! I got to sprint up a hill.
• We went inside a teepee and read a story.  The story was called The Nature that Built the Prairie.
• We got to play on tires and the tires were really big and really heavy.  I think they were tractor tires because there were small and big ones.
• In my group, we went to the broken car.  Me and my friend tried to find out what kind of car it was.  We tried to find lots of the pieces but it was really hard.  
• We saw a train today!  It had 3 engines and some of us counted how many cars it was pulling.  I counted 120!  At the end of the day we watched a slideshow of our pictures from Glenbow Ranch.

Reminders...

Jacket Racket Project 2018

The Grade 4 Peace Ambassadors are running the annual Jacket Racket Project this year. They will run the collection of clothing items from Thursday October 25 to Friday November 2.

We are looking for 1-2 parent volunteers to come in fist thing in the morning for during that time to assist the students with sorting and bagging the collected items. One group of students will collect the items from classrooms and the other group will help sort the items with the parent volunteer. There will be sorting bins, bags and labels set up in the hub and parent volunteers can expect to be there from about 8:30 to 9 AM.  If you can help us out, please sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d44afab28abf94-jacket1

Volunteers must have completed their police security checks and have their security clearance.

Thank you for volunteering your time!

Ask me about...

My favorite part of the Glenbow Ranch trip.

October 23, 2018

Our Day in Our Words...

• We reworded the Flander's Field poem in our own words to show that we know what our parts of the poem mean.  This will be part of our Remembrance Day ceremony.
• In Daily 5 we either started with writing or reading, and then in our second round we switched.  I wrote about my cruise and I wrote about when I first walked in I saw a 'tornado of LED lights'.
• In gym we played baseball and it was really fun.  I got a homerun!
• In literacy we were working on our writing, by writing words for spelling.  This spelling information will help our teachers know our next best steps in word work.
• Today in math we talked about actual numbers and estimates.  We had a picture with a lot of sheep and we had to guess how many there were.  I counted by 10s.

Reminders....

Tomorrow is our Glenbow Ranch field trip.  Some students still need to bring their field trip forms.  Please bring them tomorrow - we want everyone to come!!

Although a nice weather day tomorrow, it will be chilly in the morning!  Please dress in layers with good walking shoes.  Hats and mittens would be great!  Please bring a filled water bottle, snack and lunch (maybe a bit extra as we will get hungry)!  

Spooktacular tickets were handed out today for Thursday night's event.

Ask me about...

Let's chat about when we could use estimates and when we use actual numbers.  I have a few ideas from when we brainstormed in class today.

October 22nd, 2018

Our day in our words.......

- In PE we played Octopus tag.  It was really fun.
- We had a fire drill first thing in the morning.   It was cold but it went well.
- In Inquiry we wrote on Peace Simile's and poetry thoughts for Flanders Fields.
- We had literacy today.  We did two rounds of Daily 5.
- In math we did a sheep problem involving estimation.
- In the afternoon we had CCT.  We drew and wrote facts about Skunks.  The other group continued reading Harry Potter.



Reminders.............

- Our field trip to Glenbow Ranch is this Wednesday, October 24th. Dress for the weather and bring a lunch and snacks.
- The Spooktacular is the evening of October 25th.   Some tickets were sent home today.
- Jacket Racket is starting.  Please bring in your used Jackets.   Wash them first please.


Note of the day:   Make sure to love all Llama's:)

Our Day in Our Words

This morning we started with Daily 5 where we wrote about chickens and eggs, letters to Japan, the Loch Ness monster and our cats.

Then we had a presentation by Sarah from Glenbow Ranch. She told us how to keep Glenbow Ranch clean. She also taught us that the Ranch was once a town. Sarah taught us about the Post Office and General Store. She also reminded us to "Have Fun!!!!!!".

We then had a fantastic outside break in the beautiful weather. Some kids played soccer, some were on the playground and others played lava tag.

Next we had math. Mr. Neily's group worked on finishing word problems and number lines. Ms. Danchuk's group continued there work on skip counting and number patterns. Mr. Kai and Mr. Campbell's group reviewed number lines and skip counting using our class number line in the hallway outside the gym.

Lastly we worked on our assembly service. Half the pod made sentences with similes and the other half continued to dissect the poem, "In Flanders Field".




Reminders:
-Please return all Glenbow Ranch forms (purple) ASAP

-We still need Glenbow Ranch Volunteers

-Halloween Spooktacular forms need to be back


Math Games for Home:

-Under the Sea - Learn Alberta: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3usa/flash/index.html?goLesson=4

Math playground - Place Value Game:  https://www.mathplayground.com/pop_penguin_and_the_place_value_race/index.html 

Skip Counting – Balloon Pop:  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/BalloonPopSkip.htm 

Students could also ‘teach’ parents some of the math games from Ignite and that we have been using in class.

Race to 100 or 1000 - using regrouping in a place value chart

Our Day in Our Words........

During IGNITE some students were writing stories. Others were doing some quiet reading. Some students exchanged library books. Some of us finished up work from yesterday. It was "bring a friend day" in SPARK where the kids Just Danced!!!

During Literacy half the pod dissected the poem "In Flanders Fields" in their visual journals. While the other half created and wrote phrases using similes.

We had indoor snack and read "The Hatchet" as a class. 

After snack we "read to self" or did "work on writing".

In the afternoon we reviewed skip counting, and explored word problems and problem solving strategies. Some students created and worked with patterning.

The who;e pod had a big outdoor break in the beautiful weather.

Hope Pod had their first music class with Ms. Blankhorn.

We finished the day trying to complete our coulee posters.

Reminders:

-The Student Lead Learning Walk/ dance performances are tonight (our dance performance is at 7:30 so be here at 7:10 please)
-Give your jacket to your parents then go to the music room

-Please return all Glenbow Ranch forms (purple) ASAP

-We still need Glenbow Ranch Volunteers

-Halloween Spooktacular forms need to be back


Math Games for Home:

-Under the Sea - Learn Alberta: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3usa/flash/index.html?goLesson=4

Math playground - Place Value Game:  https://www.mathplayground.com/pop_penguin_and_the_place_value_race/index.html 

Skip Counting – Balloon Pop:  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/BalloonPopSkip.htm 

Students could also ‘teach’ parents some of the math games from Ignite and that we have been using in class.

Race to 100 or 1000 - using regrouping in a place value chart

Our Day in Our Words.......

During IGNITE we built houses with blocks and some of us played math games. Some of us drew canines and some drew bunnies and unicorns. The SPARK kids did a Hurricane Boot Camp Circuit. Clara and friends tried to play a card game but there weren't enough cards...//!! Whah whahh whahh. (Sorry parents; the kids made me write that)

Half the pod created "I notice" and "I wonder" charts for the poem, In Flanders Fields. The other group listened to a song and noticed things about the lyrics and how they made us feel. They will eventually be creating a water color animation! We also looked at an old photograph and used our detective skills to solve what was happening in the photo. 

The whole pod had CCT after lunch. Two groups drew a skunk; in particular, the skunk from the book, "A Boy Called Bat". Ms. Kinsman's group read a variety of books and had a discussion about them. They also drew a reading response to the book about Bat.

For Literacy we finished our Hatchet Reading Responses. We were predicting what might happen to Brian who was stuck on a plane with a dead pilot. What should he do????

We had our second last practice with Ty from Sound Kreations. Remember, our performance is tomorrow night!!!

Reminders:

-The Student Lead Learning Walk/ dance performances are Thursday night (ours is at 7:30 so come early)

-Please return all Glenbow Ranch forms (purple) ASAP

-We still need Glenbow Ranch Volunteers

-Halloween Spooktacular forms need to be back


Math Games for Home:

-Under the Sea - Learn Alberta: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3usa/flash/index.html?goLesson=4

Math playground - Place Value Game:  https://www.mathplayground.com/pop_penguin_and_the_place_value_race/index.html 

Skip Counting – Balloon Pop:  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/BalloonPopSkip.htm 

Students could also ‘teach’ parents some of the math games from Ignite and that we have been using in class.

Race to 100 or 1000 - using regrouping in a place value chart

Our Day in Our Words......

-Some of us drew during IGNITE, others played with blocks and played math games.
-During Literacy we read a book about the origins of the poem, "In Flanders Fields".
*We are getting ready for our Remembrance Day assembly which we are presenting as a pod.*
-Ms. Danchuk's group worked outside with hundreds charts and chalk drawings.
-Mr. Kai's group learned to skip count by jumping along a number line.
-We worked on our hip-hop dance routine with Ty from Sound Kreations
-After lunch we had CCT time with the ADMIN team:
Some of us read Harry Potter, some of us read a "Boy Called Bat".
-We had a quick outside break and then came back inside to work on our Coulee posters.


Reminders:

-The student lead learning walk/ dance performances are Thursday night

-Halloween Spooktacular forms need to be back

-We still need Glenbow Ranch Volunteers

Math Games for Home:

-Under the Sea - Learn Alberta: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3usa/flash/index.html?goLesson=4

Math playground - Place Value Game:  https://www.mathplayground.com/pop_penguin_and_the_place_value_race/index.html 

Skip Counting – Balloon Pop:  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/BalloonPopSkip.htm 

Students could also ‘teach’ parents some of the math games from Ignite and that we have been using in class.

Race to 100 or 1000 - using regrouping in a place value chart

October 12th, 2018

Our day in our words........

- We had a Peace Assembly put on by the Kindness Pod.
- Today we worked on our posters in our groups.
- We had our gratitude circle at the end of the day.
- During literacy we worked on our Japan letters and some of us were researching facts about Canada.
- We started our day off with Ignite.

Reminders....

We need volunteers for the Glenbow Ranch Field Trip on October 24th.   See the link below to sign up.   Your help is appreciated:)

October 24^th – AM Kindergarten, Kindness Pod, and Hope Pod

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D44AFAB28ABF94-glenbow2

Have a great weekend!!

October 11th, 2018

Our day in our words........

- During Sound Kreations some of became really good at doing the coffee grinder.
- Today we reviewed our Magic Words and finished up our sentences during Daily 5.
- Today we did our inquiry posters.  It was our good copies.
- We had math this afternoon.
- This morning we had literacy.  We worked on our Japan Letters.   They are almost finished.
- During Read-aloud we continued reading Hatchet.


Reminders.......

-  Tomorrow is Friday.   Dismissal at 12:05pm.

- Today was day three of our Sound Kreations dance residency.  Students have started learning their dance routines.  The great thing about hip hop is that it encourages individuality.  Students are given basic moves and then are able to personalize their dance.  

Each pod is divided into two separate groups.  Each group is doing their own dance. 

The EHS Physical Education blog has daily updates of what is happening in Phys. Ed. class.  These include dance updates.  Check it out.

https://ehsphysicaleducation.blogspot.com/

Keep checking the pod blogs for more information. 

October 10th, 2018

Our day in our words.......

- We did Sounds Kreations in PE.  We did some breakdancing.  Especially the coffee grinder.
- We worked on our Japan letters.   Some of us are working on our good copy.
- We had a read aloud.  We started the book "Hatchet".
- In CET we read Harry Potter and A Boy Called Bat.
- We had Ignite first thing in the morning.  Song of us chose to do music which is a new choice this week.
- We continued to work on math in our groups.

Reminders...

We are needing volunteers for our Glenbow Ranch field trip.  Click the link below to sign up.

October 24th – AM Kindergarten, Kindness Pod, and Hope Pod
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D44AFAB28ABF94-glenbow2

Today was day two of our Sound Kreations dance residency.  This seven class residency (October 9,10,11,15,16,17,18) will culminate with an evening performance and learning walk on October 18.  The performance times are: Kindergarten, 5:30; Kindness Pod, 6:00; Joy Pod, 6:30; Peace Pod, 7:00; and Hope Pod 7:30. 

Pods will also have other examples of evidence of learning for Physical Literacy during the evening. 

Keep checking the blogs for more information. 

Beat Street (K-12)

We’ve combined Hip‐Hop, Stomp and Dub‐Step (Animation) dance styles to create an Urban dance experience that will have your whole school buzzing.

We explore the groove of Hip‐Hop, the sounds of Stomp and the electronic influences of Dub‐ Step!

Students will learn to balance the flow of robotic dance moves with the powerful precision of steppin’, while also building upon foundational hip-hop styles.

We’ll look at the influences London, LA and West Africa have had on these modern dance styles and learn to integrate the original steps of dance with the new expressions we’ve all come to love!

This voyage of kinesthetic expression is highly interactive, entirely approachable, and fun, fun, FUN!

October 9th, 2018

Our day in our words..........

- In gym we had Sound Kreations lead the class.  We learned some of the elements of hip-hop dance.
- At the end of the day we had inquiry.   We continued to work on Slogans and posters.
- This morning we did literacy and continued our Japan letters.
- In daily 5 we worked on our writing stamina.   We used "magic words".  
- Ignite was first thing this morning.   One choice was music.
- In math we worked in our groups.


Reminders......

- Dress for the weather.

 -  We need volunteers for our Glenbow  Ranch field trip.   Below is a link to sign up.
October 24th – AM Kindergarten, Kindness Pod, and Hope Pod
 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D44AFAB28ABF94-glenbow2

- We began our Sound Kreations dance residency today.  This seven class residency (October 9,10,11,15,16,17,18) will culminate with an evening performance on October 18.  The performance times are: Kindergarten, 5:30; Kindness Pod, 6:00; Joy Pod, 6:30; Peace Pod, 7:00; and
Hope Pod 7:30. 

Pods will also have other examples of evidence of learning as it relates to Physical Literacy during the evening.

Keep checking the blogs for more information.

Beat Street (K-12)
We’ve combined Hip‐Hop, Stomp and Dub‐Step (Animation) dance styles to create an Urban dance experience that will have your whole school buzzing.
We explore the groove of Hip‐Hop, the sounds of Stomp and the electronic influences of Dub‐ Step!
Students will learn to balance the flow of robotic dance moves with the powerful precision of steppin’, while also building upon foundational hip-hop styles.
We’ll look at the influences London, LA and West Africa have had on these modern dance styles and learn to integrate the original steps of dance with the new expressions we’ve all come to love!
This voyage of kinesthetic expression is highly interactive, entirely approachable, and fun, fun, FUN!

October 5, 2018

Our Day in Our Words..

• Today, we began our day with our Ignite activities. 
• After Ignite, we had Math class where we continued work in our groups.
• We had a Read Aloud where we heard a story about an alien. 
• After the story, we continued work on our letters to Japan. Some of us are very close to being done! Hopefully we will be able to send them out by the end of next week. 
• Finally, we played to team-building games and had our Sharing Circle. 

Reminders....

• Picture orders are due October 15th
• No school on Monday! 

Have a great Thanksgiving Weekend! 

October 4, 2018

Our Day in Our Words....

• At the end of the day, we did Inquiry. We began work on our official posters! 
• We did Daily 5 and we got to choose between read to someone, read to self, or work on writing.
• In Phys. Ed. we played Full-Body Rock, Paper, Scissors Conga Line.
• We worked on our Japan Letters. We're doing our rough copies. 
• We read a story about Ghandi during our Snack.
• We went into our math groups during Math. Some of us are working on expanded form. 

Reminders.....

• The long weekend is just one day away! No school on Monday!
• School pictures are coming home! Deadline to order pictures is October 15th.

Ask Me About....

• What did we do in our Math Groups?

Our Day in Our Words.....

• In Phys. Ed. we did a Flip Flop Relay. 
• We brainstormed some more for our Japan Letters. Some of us have started on our rough copies! 
• In our CCT Time, Ms. Kinsman's group read Harry Potter, Mr. Simmons group read The Boy Called Bat and wrote about it, and in Mr. Kelly's group we worked on a play of Where The Wild Things Are. 
• In Math, we played Role to 100 and Role to 1000 and some other math games. 
• We talked about and debated the importance of the coulee.
• In Daily 5, we wrote for 5 minutes. 

Reminders....

• Try to remember that it's supposed to be fall right now. But sadly, it is not. So dress warmly.

Ask Me About...

• Ask me about my opinion as to whether or not we need the coulee. 

Our Day in Our Words.....
- We did Daily 5 and we continued our work on our Brain Pockets
- We did Dodgeball in Physical. Ed. and practiced our throwing
- In Ignite, some people went to the gym where we did Just Dance. Some people made origami. Other people did many other activities!
- We had tons of fun in the snow!!!!!
- In Math, some of as played a math game!
- We started brainstorming ideas for our Japan Letters!
- In Inquiry, we worked on our poster designs and slogans.

Reminders....
- Dress for the weather and remember to take off your wet outdoor shoes when you come in!
- Thanksgiving weekend is just three days away!
- Students are coming home with Field Trip  notices
- Grade Four students have are coming home with Peace Ambassadors permission slips

Ask Me About....
What's a Brain Pocket?

October 1, 2018

Our Day in Words...

- We're working on making persuasive posters. We studied how to do the visuals and we learned about negative space.
- We went to physical. ed. where we worked on our throwing.
- Mr. Kai read to us during snack.
- We also started our day with Ignite Time.
- We had an assembly all about Orange Shirt Day
- And finally, we had CCT with Ms. Kinsman, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Kelly.

Reminders...

- It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Please dress for the weather.
- Next weekend is Thanksgiving weekend!

Ask Me About...

What's the meaning of Orange Shirt Day?