January 11-15

Hello families & happy Friday! 

We had a busy week back at school! If you haven't had a chance to read Monday's blog post, please read that one first! 

This week we focused on words from the "-at" family! We brainstormed words together, learned a poem about a fat cat and visualized what we saw when reading, and even talked about real vs. nonsense "at" words. Students brought their poems home to share. Students had a choice today if they wanted to practice their words again, or try out a spelling quiz and several students wanted to challenge themselves with a quiz. 

This week we also reviewed hibernation, migration and adaptation. Students sorted the animals using a chart, and we played a game to review afterwards. We also read a story called "What if you had Animal Hair?" Students then chose one animal from the story and drew themselves with that hair. They then had to write about how the hair would help them to survive the winter. We will do a similar activity next week and students will bring all of their ideas together to turn themselves into an animal that hibernates, migrates or adapts. 


Here are a few! 


In math this week, we continued learning about addition and talked about the "counting-on" strategy. When given two numbers, you start with the largest number, and continue counting from there. 

So, for 4+9 you start with 9 and count on 4 more - 10, 11, 12, 13 instead of counting your set of 9. We discussed how this is just one strategy and isn't the most efficient strategy in every question. Next week we will talk about doubles (ie. 3+3, 4+4) and doubles plus or minus 1. 


Today, students had fun learning about artist Laurel Burch. We learned all about her art and a little bit about her. She is well known for her cat paintings! We did a step-by-step drawing, with lines on the page as a guide, to draw a cat inspired by her style. Next week, students will use pastels to add colour to their artwork. The presentation I created can be found on Google Classroom and below are some of the drawings! 






Upcoming Dates: 
  • Friday, January 29th - PD Day (No School)
  • Early February - Report Cards Available (specific date to come)
  • Thursday, February 11th & Friday, February 12th - Teacher's Convention (No School)
  • Monday, February 15th - Family Day (No School)



New School Initiatives

Grade 3 & 4 Students at Lake Bonavista School are excited to share two action projects for the LBS Community to engage in. These action projects were generated from their studies around Waste and our World. Students want to share the message that everyone can make a difference through environmental stewardship. 

 

Big Mouth Bin

The Big Mouth Bin Initiative helps raise awareness on the importance of recycling and reusing unwanted textiles. We invite the LBS community to collect and drop off unwanted textiles (ripped/old clothing, shoes, purses, belts… anything fabric) in the Big Mouth Bin throughout the school year. A Big Mouth Bin has been placed on the East Compound. Did you know that by putting unwanted textiles in the bin it will give the textiles a second life? You would be surprised at what new product your unwanted textiles could turn into!

 


Gorillas on the Line

Supporting the Calgary Zoo’s “Gorillas on the Line” initiative, we are collecting any broken, used or unwanted handheld electronic device(s) (cellphones, iPods, iPads, tablets, mp3 players, chargers and accessories) to spread awareness on the importance of electronic recycling. All electronics collected will be delivered to the Calgary Zoo. The mining of ores that are used to make new cellphones contributes to habitat loss and the endangerment of gorillas. When we reduce, reuse, then recycle our electronic devices, we lessen the demand for coltan and help protect gorillas in the wild. 





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