June 3-7

We had a great trip to the Calgary Zoo this week! Thank you to the parent volunteers- we couldn't have done it without you!
Our bug program was informative and a highlight was seeing Lolita the tarantula.
Next week, we will return to our normal weekly schedule, with Spelling, Math, Library, etc. It will be students' last chance to check out books from our library. Please ensure all books are returned to our library as soon as possible.

Thank you, parents!

May 27-31

Hello Parents!
We are busy learning about insects and arachnids over the next few days as we prepare for our field trip to the Zoo with Ms. Perkins' class. Ask your child if they can remember the 3 body parts of an insect. Thank you for having your child's forms and $25 payment in for our trip.
Students are enjoying our work on 3D solids in Math, and have been constructing a variety of solids using paper nets. Many students have accepted the challenge to create larger structures out of these nets by decorating them first, then assembling a variety of them together to make buildings and towers.
We are finishing up our year-end reading assessments and is it great to see the progress students have made since last time! Thank you for your support with home reading!
That's all until next week!

April 23-26

Hello Parents!
Just another reminder that our swimming lessons commence next Monday!
Please have your child's swimsuit and towel packed in a bag. We will be going each Monday and Wednesday.
The volunteers I have listed for Monday are Kathryn, Allison, and Sanja.
For Wednesday I have Sanja, Kathy, and Serena.
If I've made a mistake, please let me know asap. Thanks so much to Silvia Pires for all the help with organizing and the Sign-up Genius!
There are "Consent" forms for volunteers that you'll need to fill out that morning.
Thank you, parents!

April 1-18

We have had a very busy few weeks! We are wrapping up our Science unit on "Boats and Bouyancy". Students designed and tested boats made out of plasticine last week, and used tin foil this week. Some of the tin foil boats were able to hold nearly 300g of weights!
In Math, we continue our work on double digit addition and subtraction, timed exercises on basic facts, and problem solving. Our problems are growing increasingly difficult as we prepare for next year's Grade Three curriculum.
In Writing, we are focusing on parts of speech, with an emphasis on using more verbs in our journal writing. We will begin writing short stories that contain stock characters this month.
Thank you for handing in your child's Swimming Level forms. I will send home the "Acknowledgement Of Risk" forms this coming week.
Thank you, parents!
I.G.

Thank you, parents, for attending our Student-Led Conferences! It is always great to see our families enjoying our learning and getting a hands-on look at some of the work we do.
We have been wrapping up quite a few things this week, such as Jump Rope For Heart, Temperatures,(we enjoyed the warmth to dry off some socks yesterday ;-)), and Iqaluit.
Enjoy your Spring Break!

Thank you for all your support with our learning! Happy Spring!

March 11-15

Hellooo Parents!
Students have been working hard on their Readers' Theatre scripts, and this week we performed the 4 fairy tales for the Grade Ones. Some of the students were able to memorize a good deal of their lines, which was really quite remarkable. Each group painted a backdrop that we displayed on the SmartBoard.
We are wrapping up our Science unit on Hot And Cold Temperatures, and I hope to administer a test that you will be able to look at during our Student-Led Conferences next week. Conferences are Thursday afternoon and Friday. We will have 4 families at a time in the room. Please sign up for a block of time. I will send a notice home tomorrow.
Thank you and see you at conferences!

FEB 4-8

Brrrrrrrr! We had a chilly week and students began getting a little stir crazy, so we had lots of indoor movement breaks this week. We have begun practicing reading our Reader's Theatre scripts out loud. Students have chosen a fairy tale to share to the Grade 1s soon. Next week, we will begin choosing roles and work on memorizing some of the lines. We had a very interesting presentation in the library on Tuesday for Chinese New Year- ask your child about the instruments, music, and story.
Next week is a short one- students only attend Monday to Wednesday, then it is Teachers' Convention Thursday and Friday, and Family Day the following Monday.
We will be celebrating both 100 Day and Valentines Day on Wednesday, February the 13th.
If possible, please have your child choose 100 small items to bring to school that day for a project. Please do not go to any extra expense. Suggestions for items are:

-Cheerios or other cereal
-plastic beads
-straws
-paper clips
-macaroni noodles
-pennies

These could be brought in a ziplock bag for use on their 100th Day of School project.
I sent home a list of names last Friday so that your child could fill out Valentine Cards to everyone. I will bring some extras to school that day just in case.
Thank you parents!

Jan 28 - Feb 1

Welcome back to Winter! The temperature is expected to continue dropping over the weekend- please check Monday and have your child prepared with mitts, toques, etc. It looks like we will have indoor recess breaks.
Students brought home their first term's report card yesterday. I had a mini conference with them all about their progress so far. We will discuss the setting of personal learning goals early next week.
We had a fun "Hawaii" spirit day on Wednesday! Our next special day will be Wednesday, February 13. We will have a small Valentine's celebration and card exchange on that day, as there is no school for students on the 14th and 15th due to Teachers' Convention.
Thank you and stay warm!

Jan 14 - 18

Thank you to all who were able to attend the K-4 Artist In Residence dance performance this Thursday!
We have been doing a lot of "catch up" work this week, as students are being evaluated for this year's first report card, which will be sent home on the 31st.
Thank you to parents who have returned the "plans for next year" forms!
We had a chat in class about internet safety this week and will continue discussing strategies your child should follow in the event that they stumble across any type of inappropriate websites. We do have firewalls that block inappropriate materials at school and there are parental controls that can be set at home as well. I mention this because I have recommended that most students would benefit from using the "Raz Kids" program at home. It would be wise to monitor your child while they use the internet, and perhaps have the Raz Kids site bookmarked for easy access. If your child does not have access to a computer, it is not a problem, as we will use the program in class once or twice per week. We will also continue with our keyboarding lessons.
Thank you parents, and please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Ian

Happy New Year

Hello again parents, and Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed a happy holiday!
It was great welcoming students back on Tuesday-we shared stories about our holiday and wrote an extended journal about our activities. We began our Artist In Residence work with Sound Kreations. Students are having fun learning some Hip-Hop dance moves. There will be a performance night for parents this coming Thursday, at 6:00. More details to follow ASAP.
We are beginning a new Science unit on "Hot And Cold Temperatures". Expect one or two homework assignments during this unit. So far, students have learned how to read a thermometer and to describe objects as being "hotter than" and "colder than".
In Social Studies, we learned about the early days of the Inuit people of Iqaluit and examined their strategy for making igloos.
Hope we see you for the dance performance this Thursday!

Winter Break

Thank you for your support with your child's learning so far, parents! A huge thanks for all the gifts and generosity this week. I am truly humbled.
We have had a really good start and first term to our Grade 2 year and will be moving on with new units once school resumes on Tuesday, January 8.
Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone!
Ian

November 19-23

Thank you for attending our November conferences, parents and guardians of Room 5 students! It was great seeing you again or meeting for the first time to discuss your child's progress so far and
how to help with their development.
We have had a productive but short week- trying to finish up our unit on addition and subtraction strategies for Math, and our "Exploring Liquids" unit in Science. We will continue working on addition and subtraction all year, but increase the difficulty level to include numbers up to 100.
We are wrapping up our Social Studies unit on Saskatoon over the next couple of weeks. Ask your child what they can remember about Saskatoon and the Ukrainian community there!
Thanks again, parents, and I look forward to seeing you at our Winter Concert on Thursday, December 6!
Ian

Oct 29-Nov 2

Halloween week! One of the writing tasks students completed this week was a journal entry about our trip to Heritage Park. These are now entered into students' Visual Journals. All students did well on their Spelling homework and tests that we did today. We had a fun Halloween party on Wednesday, and students wrote a journal entry about their night the following morning. These are also in their Visual Journals, and we will share them with you during our conferences later this month.In Math, we continued working on addition and subtraction strategies, and learned how to complete a basic Sudoku puzzle. In Science, students learned that a drop of water can be manipulated in a variety of ways once it is placed on a non-absorbant surface. (We used wax paper).
We also had a wonderful assembly from the Earth Rangers on Thursday. And finally, our class won 2nd prize in the Elementary Pumpkin Decorating Contest!
Check it out!

Oct 15-19

Hello Parents,
In Room 5 this week, students learned how to write sentences in order to describe a process. They wrote a short paragraph about their leaf art, beginning their sentences with "First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth", and "Finally". They are up on our bulletin board if you'd like to see. We also created some Halloween scenes by cutting coloured paper and tearing blue paper for clouds.
In Science, students used eye droppers to stack drops of water onto a penny. They were surprised to discover they they could add close to 20 drops before it overflowed!
In Social Studies, we worked on the flags of Saskatchewan and Nunavut. We

also continued our work on one of Calgary's pioneers, Sam Livingston, in preparation for next week's trip to Heritage Park. It looks like we are going to enjoy pleasant weather for our trip!
Thanks for reading!

October 9 - 12

Hello Parents!
 In Language Arts this week, students wrote sentences about their long weekend. They were asked to use some describing words about something they smelled or tasted.  We also did some work on nouns. Students separated pictures into the categories of "people", "places", "things" and "animals". We did some keyboarding practice using laptops. Students should now know what "Home Row" is on the keyboard.
In Math, we have continued working on mastering our doubles facts for addition.
Bon Weekend,
Ian

October 1-5

Hello Parents!
Thanks to everyone for helping your child settle into a homework routine with our Spelling lessons, and for signing your child's Home Reading pages! We are continuing with reading assessments and have finished with nearly half the class. We did some writing on "Being Thankful" this week, and your child should be bringing this home today. In Math, we focused on addition strategies and played "Base 10 Bingo" to help with students' number sense. We had a fun outside PE session where we made a large game area in the deep snow to play "Fox and Hares"- ask your child about it!
In Art, we did a few painting sessions. The leaf stamping was particularly successful and we hope to have the opportunity to collect freshly fallen leaves again next week to try again.
I hope your family enjoys a nice long Thanksgiving weekend! School resumes on Tuesday, October 9. We will not do Spelling homework next seek since it will be a 4-day week.

Sept 24-28

Thank you for coming to our Intake Conferences last week!
In Room 5 this week, students have written Acrostic poems with a Fall theme. These have gone into their Visual Journals. We have done some writing about Manners and something that was difficult to do but we persevered through (using Terry Fox as an example). The Terry Fox Run was Thursday afternoon.
In Math, we have been working on basic facts- noticing patterns, drawing numbers with Base Ten blocks, and arranging them in our Visual Journals.
We also began our Science unit on Liquids and managed to stay mostly dry!

Welcome to Room 5's Blog!

Hello Parents of Room 5 students!
This will be our weekly blog where I will let you know about some of the week's activities, upcoming events, and field trips, etc.
We have settled in to most of our routines this week. It's great to see a large group of students treating each other with respect and care.
We watched the construction outside our window for a while on Thursday, since we had to remain indoors during recess. We should be able to enjoy outdoor recess breaks again next week.
Intake Conferences are happening this coming Thursday and Friday! Please sign up for a time that works for you. Your child is welcome to attend as well. These conferences are a chance for you to share any information about your child with me that you feel would benefit their progress this year. I look forward to meeting you and hearing your thoughts.
We do have a field trip to Heritage Park coming up in late October as part of our "Early Calgary" unit in Social Studies. We will need a few parent volunteers to accompany us, so let me know if you have your CBE clearance and would like to help out on Oct. 24. Lots more info coming home soon!
Thank you,
Ian