October Precept

This weekend for homework, students shall be writing a paragraph or journal entry in their Weekend journal based on a Wonder precept. Students are explaining what they think the precept means. Below is the precept.

“Your deeds are your monuments.”—Inscription on an Egyptian tomb 

In order to brain storm ideas ask yourself these questions:
1. What is a monument? Why are they important?
2. What does the word deed mean? Are there other words similar to it?
3. How are your deeds a monument? What would you want to be remembered for?

New Math Game and Spirit Day this Friday February 9

To celebrate the start of the Winter Olympics Games this Friday, we will be having a Olympics/Sports Fan Day. Students are encouraged to dress in one of the following 3 ways: 

1. Dress like an athlete

2. Wear Team Canada gear

3. Dress in Red and White

New Math Game
Students have been taught a new math game called Nine Plus. They will be bringing a sheet home with instructions on how to play. Below is an image of the math game itself. By solidifying our understanding of addition we are able to add harder digits!

Me to We Club Fair Day

The Me to We Club students are organizing a “CJP Fair” on Tuesday, February 13th. The objective of this fair is to raise money for the pillar we are supporting this year: Education in Sierra Leone. Please visit the following website to find out more information: http://www.freethechildren.com/international-programming/our-model/

The Me to We Club students have organized some very fun games and activities, including a target shooting game, Nerf shooter game, relay races, pin the penguin, a hockey shooting game, and a beanbag toss challenge. Please help us meet our goal by giving your child some change (not pennies) to bring to school on February 13 so they can participate in the fun and games. Games will cost between 25 cents to 1 dollar. We do not currently have change on hand as we recently made a donation to the bank. NO BILLS PLEASE.

Thank you,

Me to We Club

February 2

Important Information and Dates:
- February 5: Guest speaker, Mr. Gray will be coming in to talk to our class about his cool profession that's related to Rocks and Minerals.
- Class Photos on February 6th


Literacy
Students analyzed a story and completed a story mountain independently. Now they are using their favourite fairytale and make an adaptation to make their own twisted fairytale.

- No weekend journal this week.


Math
- Students are encouraged to play UNO 99 at home this weekend. They have been playing other Math games in class such as Muggins, War, and Salute.
- They worked on their multiplication skills by coming up with mental strategies to help them remember multiplication facts
-Students have also been practicing their multiplication skills by completing a fun activity called Ninja Bed Bugs. Below is a link to the activity and sheets you can do at home!

http://mathpickle.com/project/ninja-bed-bugs/

Science
-We have been wrapping up our unit of Light and Shadow by compiling our very own photo albums. Pictures that students took in order to show their understanding of Light and Shadow concepts have been put into a miniature photo album. Inside, students pasted their pictures and wrote a small blurb about how they took the photo, what concept the photo shows and what that concept means.
-Our next unit in Science we will be covering will be Rocks and Minerals! Stayed tuned for more exciting posts

UNO 99

Here is a math game you can play at home to review addition and subtraction.

Uno 99

Materials:

A deck of Cards

Players:

2-4 players

Rules:

Each player has 5 cards.  Each time they play a card they pick up a new one from the pile.

One at a time the players play one card and add it to the pile saying the total out loud.  For example, if the first player plays a 5 and the next player plays an 8 the second player will say 13.  If the next card that is played is a 2 they will add the 2 to the total number (13) and say 15.

Once the total has gotten to 99 the players cannot add anymore.  They will have to use the special cards below.  These special cards can also be used before the total is 99.

K – Hold

Q – Reverse direction

J – 99

10 – Minus 10

The first player to not be able to play a card without the total going above 99 is out.  The remaining players will play until there is one player left. 

January 24, 2017

Important Information and Dates:

- No school on January 25 and 26th

- Parent-teacher conference on January 25th.

- Students are encouraged to write in their weekend journal. Minimum 2 entries. To support your child with writing organization, please go to "Resources for Parents" tab on the right hand side and click "Narrative Writing Template" to help them with their weekend journal writing. 

- "Plenty of Patterns" Spirit Days on January 31st. 

Literacy:

Students continue to learn story writing through analyzing different fairytales to learn about character traits.

As for read aloud, we are now on page 35. Here are some of the questions you can ask your child:
- How do you think Auggie felt throughout the entire tour of Beecher Prep? How do you know?
- Explain why Auggie felt a little happy and a little sad at the same time when he got home.
- How have Auggie’s feelings towards school changed? How do you know?

Math

- Students continue to practice multiplication facts in class through art exploration (Mondrian Art), Montessori materials (Stamp Game, Multiplication Board, and games), and analyzing the multiplication chart to recognize the patterns. 

- Students are encouraged to practice multiplication facts at home by using playing cards or dice to learn multiplication facts to play Multiplication War.



Science
Students worked hard this month learning about Light and Shadow. Today is the last day of completing their Photography project. Here's a snapshot of photographers in action.

Using reflection to create artistic photos. 

She extended her learning about Light and Shadow into making a projector for portable device. 

Club information

Leadership Club meets on Tuesdays

Calgary Young Writer's Conference

We have the opportunity to send a grade 4 student to the Calgary Young Writers' Conference.  The Conference will take place on Saturday, April 21 at Robert Thirsk High School.  It runs from approximately 8:00am - 3:00pm, though more exact times will be given closer to the conference date.  Students participate in a keynote address from a children's/teen author, and then two workshops.  One of the workshops must be a writing workshop, and the second can be either writing or art-related, such as illustrating comics.

We have a limited number of spots for the conference, and as such, most classes can send one or two students in grade 4. This is a conference with hundreds of students from around the city, so the kids need to be responsible, independent, and able to follow directions. They are in the workshops on their own. The cost for students to attend is $50.00, and parents need to drop off and pick up their children at Robert Thirsk High School.If your child is interested, please send Ms. Yong or Mrs. Ma an email by Friday and we will place it in a draw. Thank you!

January 19, 2018

Upcoming Dates and Information
- January 25th: Parent-teacher conference. You can book the conference in our school website.
- January 26th: PD Day. No school

Literacy
This week students analyzed various fairytales to learn about character and character traits. They worked with a partner and in small groups to discuss the similarities and differences in stories.



Science
Scientists in School came to our class this week and did some cool activities on light and shadow. Please ask your child what they learned this week. Some of the terms to review are: angle of incidence and angle of reflection, rays, reflection, refraction, fibre optic, transparent, translucent, and opaque.


Students will continue to work on their photography project all next week in relations to light and shadow. They are encouraged to bring their object to school to document their learning. We are looking for flashlights that we can borrow next week for this project if possible.


Math
Students continued to explore multiplication this week by examining multiplication chart for patterns, Lego activities, Montessori Multiplication board, Pythagoras board, Muggins, and Mondrian Art. Students are encouraged to review and practice their multiplication facts. As an extension, they can challenge themselves to learn how division is related to multiplication.



Health
We have been reading "Wonder" and we are on Page 30 this week. Here are some guiding questions to discuss with your child:
- Why does August need to go to school and take the tour?
- How do August's mom and dad view him?
- August says, "The only reason I'm not ordinary is because no one else sees me the same way." Why?
- Why was Auggie upset when he first visited the school?


Leadership Club
Meeting on Tuesday at lunch in the Learning Commons

Me to WE Club

ME to WE is leading another campaign which will take place on Wednesday, January 31. 

This time it is WE are Silent and all students are encouraged to participate. Take a vow of silence to turn up the volume on the struggles of young people fighting for their basic human rights, such as access to clean water and education. Everyone deserves the chance to live the life they choose - not one chosen for them by poverty, illiteracy and happenstance. 

                         Their voices matter. Your voice matters. How will you use it?

Pick up your pledge form during lunch next week and let your silence make an impact. 

Our younger students (K, Gr. 1/2) may want to take the pledge of silence for a single 45 minute block. Perhaps the Gr. 3/4 will take the pledge for the entire  morning. Maybe our Gr. 5/6's will strive to be silent for the entire school day. Listen for announcements beginning next week and plan to be part of this meaningful campaign.