Rocks and Rings!

The Rock Solid Productions “Rocks and Rings” program will be at Lake Bonavista School teaching indoor floor curling to our students from March 5^th to 8^th.

Thank you to our School Council for graciously paying for our students to participate in this Active Living experience.

The “Acknowledgement of Risk” form needs to be returned by Monday, March 5^th, 2018.

Friday, February 23rd, 2018

Hi Families,

We are having a wonderful time with our Artist, Jennifer Stables. Students have been developing masks based on a Canadian animal of choice with the intention of creating a character for their own folktale.

On Monday, we will continue our work with Mrs. Stables by creating a variety of textured papers fr our folktale background.

Here are some pictures of the process so far:

Shaping each animals face using plasticine, straws and cardboard cutouts.

Adding small squares of plaster on top of the plasticine and mask mold. 

Masks drying.

Using paint to add colour and details.

Lake Bonavista Green Team Needs Your Help!

The LBS Green Team is almost ready to kick off our Composting program. In order to start, we need some large ice-cream buckets for classrooms to contain and collect composting waste.

If you have any extra large ice-cream buckets with lids that you are willing to donate, that would be greatly appreciated. These donations will be collected by Ms. Arnold in Room 3.

Thank you very much for your support in helping keep our school clean and green!

Thank you,

Lake Bonavista School Green Team

LBS Family Dance Rescheduled

Hello families, 

Thank you for your patience and understanding with our need to re-schedule the family dance due to poor weather conditions.

Our dance will now be held on March 1st 6:30-8:30. All purchased tickets will carry over automatically. If you didn't have a chance to get your tickets please note tickets can be purchased at the doors the night of the dance.

If you purchased tickets and can no longer join us please email: Diana Ayre -lbstreasurer1@gmail.com

Once again, we'll require volunteers and cakes (baked goods) for this evening to move forward. An email has been sent with details for cake donations and the opportunity to sign up for volunteering spots.

Spring Break at the Leighton Art Centre

Hi Families,

If you're looking for something to do with the family this Spring Break, Leighton Art Centre is hosting some wool felting workshops!

The Leighton Art Centre is one of my favourite places to visit and take classes!
http://www.leightoncentre.org/programs-events/program/create-together-flat-felted-images-419

Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

Hi Families,

Happy Valentines Day! Hope you're able to spend today with family, friends and loved ones!

Thank you to all the families who brought in delicious Valentines treats for us to share!

We had a short, but busy week!

A reminder that tomorrow (Thursday, February 15th) and Friday, February 16th, there is no school for students because of Teacher's Convention. Monday, February 19th, there is no school because of the Family Day holiday. Enjoy your long weekend! Fingers crossed the weather stays beautiful!

Grade 2s started the week by doing their first ever Buddy Testing! We ran out of time at the end of last week with the early dismissal and Olympic Sports Day, but students still carried their understanding forward to this week. Students did not choose 5 new words this week because of the short week. We will resume our regular Independent Spelling Program schedule on Tuesday. Please look for new words coming home with your child then.

As we work towards developing our skills in accurately spelling high frequency words, I am not only looking at their weekly Buddy Tests, but also looking to ensure the correct spelling of those words is being transferred to their everyday writing.

In math, students continue to explore number sense and mental math strategies with daily warm-ups (we're calling them "energizers"!) and number activities. With the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, it is also the perfect opportunity to explore data management!

Students have been exploring different ways of recording data through numbers, symbols and pictures. Using the current medal count for the top 5 countries, students transferred the data into a new table and used an alternate representation to record the information.

After learning about the Olympic mascots, students conducted a survey that asked, "Which Olympic mascot do you like best?" We found out that most students in our classroom like Soohorang the best.

We have also been examining existing graphs, and answering, "What question do you think the survey asked?" and "What information does the survey give us?"

Soohorang (the white tiger) and Bandabi (the Asiatic black bear)

In preparation for our upcoming Artist in Residence, Jennifer Stables, students chose a Canadian animal for an ongoing inquiry which includes mask making. We look forward to creating these masks and incorporating them into folktales and performances to share with you at March conferences.

We started exploring the art mannequin as a simplified approach to figure drawing using basic 3D cylinder shapes.

Students worked on capturing a variety of different poses. 

With the beautiful sun and warmer temperatures, we have spent a lot of time outside this week! First, we spent Tuesday afternoon outside snowshoeing with our buddies. This was many students first time snowshoeing, and they all thoroughly enjoyed it. If you would like to explore snowshoeing as a family, there are so many family friendly opportunities in and around Calgary: https://www.calgaryschild.com/family-fun/1229-snowshoeing-family-friendly-affordable-and-easy

Our buddies helping us get our snowshoes on.

Off we go!

Winter Walk Day was still warm, but maybe not as lovely as snowshoeing. We still had mild temperatures and enjoyed being outside for a break. Participating in Winter Walk Day supports students exploring ways to lead a healthy, active life, even in our wintery climate.

Winter weather for our Winter Walk Day!

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone! See you on Tuesday, February 20th!

Ms. Thomas

Family Dance - Reschedule

Hello families, thank you for your patience and understanding with our need to re-schedule the family dance due to poor weather conditions.

Our dance will now be held on March 1st 6:30-8:30. All purchased tickets will carry over automatically. If you didn't have a chance to get your tickets please note tickets can be purchased at the doors the night of the dance.

If you purchased tickets and can no longer join us please email: 

Diana Ayre -lbstreasurer1@gmail.com

Once again, we'll require volunteers and cakes (baked goods) for this evening to move forward. An email will follow with details for cake donations and the opportunity to sign up for volunteering spots.

Thank you to everyone who brought in baked goods last week - hope you all enjoy a fantastic Family Day weekend!

Hope to see you all there!

Kind regards,

LBS Council

Friday, February 9th, 2018

Hi Families,

Earlier this week, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy was launched, and students were able to watch the Live Launch in the classroom: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-1.4520242

It was amazing to see the wonder and excitement in the students' faces as the rocket gained speed and altitude, we caught glimpses of the earth from space, and then the double booster landing.

Grade 2 students had daily lessons on ways to practice their spelling words, as part of their Independent Spelling Program. Each of these can be done at home to support your child's learning:

1. Alphabetical Order
2. Sentence Writing
3. Build-a-Word (playdough, beads, stamps, wikisticks)
4. Rainbow Words
5. Sailboat Words
6. Shape Words

We have been doing "Math Energizers" in our Opening Circle to practice our ability to subitize dot patterns, and develop our automaticity of mental math strategies such as 1 more, 1 less, 2 more, 2 less, 10 more, 10 less, doubles, doubles plus 1, doubles less 1 and how many will make ___?

In the Work Period, students have been working on developing their communication skills as they subitize irregular dot patterns, answering "How many?" and "How do you know?" Many students are able to communicate using vocabulary including "skip counting" or "groups of" and "counting on".

We spent some time developing our conflict resolution skills by watching two short wordless films, stopping them at key points, and identifying the problems, how the characters would be feeling, and what choices they had for a solution. They are a great resource from the National Film Board of Canada, and I know your child would enjoy viewing them again with you at home:

Dinner for Two: https://www.nfb.ca/film/dinner_for_two/

When the Dust Settles: https://www.nfb.ca/film/when_the_dust_settles/

Using our collection of masks in the classroom, students chose a mask of interest and thought about words that described the character of the mask. This was tricky work, as students wanted to list physical characteristics of the mask, when the intention was to describe the aspects of the "mask's" behaviour and attitudes that make up its personality, using descriptive adjectives. In the end, students were all able to create a list of 5 words to describe their mask's character such as sneaky, loud, quiet, powerful, shy, giggly, etc.

Today, we enjoyed an assembly hosted by Room 10 and 11 that acted as our Opening Ceremonies to today's Winter Olympic Sports Day. We learned about the origins of the Winter Games, as well as the different events. Students then floated around to different activities representative of those events. Thanks to the Active Living Committee for organizing such a wonderful day!

On Monday, we hope to do snowshoeing in the afternoon with our Big Buddies. Please ensure your child is dressed for the weather, including snowpants.

February Scholastic book order due Wednesday, February 14th.

A reminder that at the end of next week is Teacher's Convention. No school Thursday or Friday for students.

Also, Monday is Family Day holiday. No school.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas

Family Dance - Canceled

Good Morning Everyone, 

With the snow blanketing the city today, the Family Dance tonight has been canceled. We want everyone to get home safely tonight and stay at home with your family. 

Stay tuned for a new date and time to be announced! 

Yarn Donations

Mrs. Loewen and Ms. Thomas are looking for donations of wool/yarn for upcoming knitting activities with students. 

If you have any unwanted balls at home, please send them in the with your child. All fibers, colours and textures welcome! 

Canadian Author and Sports Personality Event - This Weekend

This is my favourite little bookstore to visit! If you're wanting to head out to the mountains this week, why not pop in to this special event?

Winter Olympics at LBS

We are hosting a Lake Bonavista School 2018 Winter Olympic Games!!

Date: February 9, 2018

Assembly Time: 8:45am - 9:15am, hosted by Room 10 and 11

Event Time: 9:40am - 11:15am

Volunteers Needed: If you are available to volunteer for this event please let your classroom

teacher know!

Students and guests are encouraged to wear jerseys or shirts on Feb. 9th to support the country they cheer for in the Winter Olympic Games!

Family Dance Volunteers

The pyjama themed Family Dance is coming up quickly and we’re still in need of volunteers! Each volunteer opportunity is half an hour, so you can slip away and have fun with other parents at various stations! The current need is as follows:

Set-Up  4 - 6pm                5 Volunteers

6:30 - 7pm                           4 Volunteers

7-7:30                                    All full!

7:30 - 8                                  8 Volunteers

8-8:30                                    5 Volunteers

Clean-Up             8:30        2 Volunteers

Not able to volunteer? We have another way you can contribute. We’re looking for bakers (or purchasers) to provide cakes as prizes for our very popular Cake Walk event running at the dance. The cakes can be dropped off at the front entrance of the school on Thursday morning or afternoon. 

*Thank you for bringing a cake or baked item! Please be aware that the dish your cake is sent to us on will not be returned to you. Please ensure all baked items are either nut free or labeled as containing nuts or as Gluten Free, etc. 

Thank you for your support everyone and see you on Thursday night! 

Monday, February 5th, 2018

Hi Families,

My apologies for the delay in this weekly update.

Students (and adults!) had a fantastic time on our very first field-trip of the year. Our programming at Fort Calgary focused on four groups of people: the First Nations, Missionaries, Settlers and Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP) and how their arrival brought change to Calgary. Students dressed up as a character from one of the groups, created a map of Calgary that changed over time, examined artifacts from each group, learned about the challenges settlers faced when they arrived, and worked together to build a log cabin.

Thank you too all our volunteers who were able to join us for the day, and enrich the programming for the students. Your time is greatly appreciated!

As follow-up activities, students have been completing procedural (how-to) writing describing the process of building a log cabin, as well as reflecting on the character they dressed up as. Later this week, they will identify important features in the map they created as a whole group.

As a group, we have continued with the second Great Lesson, and have just been introduced to the dinosaurs! Students were excited to finally have these creatures come to life on earth, as many originally thought they were the first life on earth!

Students have been (re)introduced to the idea of subitizing. Subitizing is the ablity to "see" a small amount of objects and know how many they are without counting. Commonly arranged patterns help us with our subitizing super power and students were able to identify dice, cards, the bead bars and dominoes as materials in the classroom where we use subtizing. Using the 10 frames (or dot frames) as a tool, we started exploring strategies for subitizing (if we know one row is 5, then one row and one more is 6) as well as how 10 frames help us with our Making 10 facts, and even applying our Making 10 facts!

January Letters are coming home today. Please take some time to read your child's letter and write a positive note back to them. They are always so excited to share their growth in learning with you.

Report Cards went home on Wednesday. Please review your child's report card and then sign and return the envelope ONLY at your earliest convenience. We will use the envelope again for June report cards.

Please note: there are no official conferences until March. Please do not wait until this time if you have any questions or concerns about your child's report card or learning. I would be happy to meet with you at any point, please email me to schedule a time.

Grade 2 students started their Independent Spelling Program today. After being pre-assessed on several high frequency spelling words, students were given a bank of words they can choose from for weekly study. Each week, students will choose 5 words for study, and bring home a list to share with you. Home practice is encouraged, but optional. Students will be taught a variety of ways to practice their words during the Work Period. On Friday, they will be tested on their 5 words using Buddy Testing.

February Scholastic book orders are due back Wednesday, February 14th if you would like to order. Cheques or online payment only please.

This Thursday, February 8th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is the Family Dance! Purchase tickets online: lakebonavista.yapsody.com

A reminder that this Friday, February 9th is an early dismissal at 11:38 a.m.

Have wonderful evening everyone!
Ms. Thomas