Thursday, January 31st, 2019

Hi Families,

Since the new year, we have been exploring r-controlled vowels in our Sound Study. R-controlled vowels, which are also referred to as bossy R, are vowels that are modified in sound by the R that follows them. Our poems have been accompanied by Sound Study worksheets targeting r-controlled vowel words, giving students to not only practice decoding skills, but also the strategy "Does it make sense?" with the fill in the blank style worksheet. Ask your child to show you the actions and sounds from our Sound Study (hint: there's only 3, as -er, -ir and -ur make the same sound...)

We started our week by participating in the visiting art program, Clay for Kids. Students created two different art pieces: a clay bowl on the pottery wheel, and a glass suncatcher using cut mosaic pieces. Thank you to our volunteers who joined us for the afternoon and helped make the experience so successful! Your time and patience is greatly appreciated! 

Making a plan. 

Adding mosaic pieces. 

Colour buffet!

Gluing our pieces in place.  

Taking turns on the pottery wheel.

A mystery line appeared in our hallways on Monday, and students made predictions about its use and intention. As the week progressed, we noticed that images were added to the line, and it became apparent that it was a Number Line, and each image was a representation of a numbers. We talked about the different representations, and figured out some of their values. We look forward to this ongoing, collaborative, whole school Number Line exploration! Thanks to our Learning Leaders for creating this learning provocation for us! 

Miss Herman introduced us to the Seven Grandfather Teaching this week. The Seven Grandfather Teachings are a set of teachings on human conduct towards others, originating from traditional Anishinaabe teachings from elders. Each teaching is focused on a virtue, and paired with an animal representation. This week, we began exploring the teaching of Love (Eagle), Respect (Bison) and Courage/Bravery (Bear).

Miss Herman has added the teaching of sign language to her lessons, giving students non-verbal representation of communicating love, respect, and bravery to each other. Ask your child to show you at home. 

We continued our exploration of Japan and Japanese culture, by documenting our mochi experience in our scrapbooks, as well as learning how to use chopsticks. We also learned about the art form of origami, and created paper carps. The koi carp is thought to be a symbol of luck, prosperity and good fortune. 

Report cards were sent home today. The report cards are for your records, you may keep them at home. Please sign the envelope indicating you have received the report card document, and return JUST the envelope to school by the end of next week. 

A reminder that there is no school tomorrow, February 1st. 

Please see the additional blog notes on the upcoming School Dance.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms Thomas

School Spirit Dance

🎶💃SCHOOL SPIRIT DANCE!!🕺🎶


On February 13th, LBS school council invites you to join us in your LBS school shirts or school colors (royal blue) for the School Spirit Dance!

Hurry and get your tickets between Jan.27th-Feb.12th at: 
https://lakebonavista.yapsody.com/…/3…/lbs-family-dance-2019

Friday, January 25th, 2019

Hi Families,

Our weeks since winter break have been chock full of exciting learning! Thank you for your patience with resuming regular blog postings.

Since the first day back, we have had the pleasure of hosting Miss Herman, a pre-service teacher from Ambrose University. We are so blessed with all the talents she brings to our classroom. She will be with us until February 8th, when she resumes her studies at the university. Miss Herman has been designing tasks to complement our BFG read aloud that incorporate art and creative writing, as well as taking us on virtual field trips to Tokyo, Japan to learn more about the home of our new penpals.

Today, we had the wonderful opportunity to learn more about mochi, a Japanese glutinous rice cake. Izumi and Manabu, parents from our classroom community, are originally from Japan, and showed us videos of making mochi using traditional tools, as well as cooked some for us to sample. We sampled toasted mochi, and had the option of wrapping it in nori, and dipping it in soy sauce. We all really enjoyed it! See if your child can identify some of the key ideas of mochi making using this art piece by Utagawa Kunisada:

Thank you to all the families who have extended this own connections to our learning of Japan - we love seeing pictures and videos, and hearing your stories.

In mathematics, we have been working on developing our number fluency through a variety of activities that have multiple entry points (i.e students at a variety of readiness levels can apply strategies they know or are working on). As report cards are coming home later this week, it may be helpful to understand what fact fluency is by referencing a document created by the CBE: http://school.cbe.ab.ca/School/Repository/SBAttachments/e28ab042-4bf6-44d8-9f6c-b7a15cf40045_Number-Fluency-Parent-Communication.pdf

We visited Nickle School this week and were read the published copies of personalized story books, using our names for characters, and our interests in plot lines. While at Nickle, our big buddies took us to mini workshops in the Maker Room, Gym or Music Room. We look forward to seeing them again soon!

Our gymnastic unit continues until February 8th. Today after school, teachers put out the Climber for use starting Monday. This is a highlight of the year for many students! Please continue to ensure your child is "Head to Toe, Ready to Go" each and every day!

Some reminders about classroom routines:

Phys. Ed. is daily.

Library exchange is on Wednesdays.

Healthy Hunger Fun Lunches are on Thursdays. Students still require a snack for the morning.

Home Reading can be exchanged at your convenience, but I highly recommend exchanging books once a week to keep reading material fresh. If you have not done so since winter break, please send in your child's Home Reading this upcoming week.

Poetry Folders are sent home at the end of each week.

Upcoming Important Dates:

Monday, January 28th - Clay for Kids glass fusing session
Thursday, January 31st - Report Cards go home
Friday, February 1st - No school

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms Thomas

Gymnastics Starts Monday

We will begin gymnastics in our regularly scheduled gym classes on Monday, January 14th.  The gymnastics unit will last approximately four weeks.  Safety routines, cooperation and good sportsmanship are taught and reviewed in each class.  

This physical activity opportunity will help students acquire individual skills through a variety of developmentally appropriate movement activities.

It is important for students to come to school prepared for being actively engaged. The following guidelines are very helpful…

HEAD TO TOE - READY TO GO!!! 

Head ....................... long hair pulled back

Ears/Throat/Wrist ............... jewelry off

Shirt.................................. one layer shirt

Waist ................................................tucked in

Pants.........................sporty pants or shorts, no belts or zippers

Ankles..........................pants rolled up if ankles are covered

Toes...............running shoes, gymnastic slippers or bare feet (no footed tights)

“Playing & moving safely is everyone’s responsibility”

Fun Lunch

Fun Lunches resume next week.

If you care to order, please visit the Healthy Hunger website.