Calgary Public Library Ultimate Summer Challenge!

Join the Challenge!

Blast off to free summer fun with the Ultimate Summer Challenge at Calgary Public Library! Kids ages 0-12 can explore a galaxy of reading challenge, activities and exciting free programs. Those ages 13-17 can join the Teen Takeover. All ages could win prizes that are out of this world!

2021 Ultimate Summer Goes to Space - YouTube is a 30 second trailer for the program. 

Beanstack How To - YouTube is 2 minutes long and shows how to register for the program using Beanstack or the Beanstack Tracker app and enter the draw for the grand prizes. 

Kids are also able to participate using the challenge map (available at the Library or online at https://calgarylibrary.ca/events-and-programs/ultimate-summer-challenge/) but they won't be eligible for the prize draws unless they register with Beanstack. 

Online Learning Starts Tomorrow!

Hi Families, 

Tomorrow is our first day of Online Learning, Spring 2021 Edition!

Please watch for a School Messenger email coming this evening with details. 

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Walking Field Trip - Thursday, April 22nd

On the morning of Thursday, April 22^nd, Ms.Nodwell and I will be taking our class on a community walk to explore a local greenspace, and have an immersive experience in nature as we read the book, “Lessons from Mother Earth”, reflect on and share our gratitude for the land, in preparation for contributing to the whole school provocation:

The duration of our walk will be weather dependant, as it may impact the students sitting comfortably on the ground.  

Our route will be: 

Thank you families! As always, if you have any questions, please let me know. 
Ms. Thomas

 

 

Friday, April 16th, 2021

Hi Families, 

This week, we applied our understanding of non-standard measurement by planning and creating a hopscotch game. Ask your child about the different steps, any problems they encountered, and the end result. 

Writing:

Reviewing the 5Ws and applying our understanding to
"stretch" a sentence through shared writing opportunities.

Scaffolded opportunities to practice in small groups. 

Making connections to our novel study: Marvin and James.

Activating prior knowledge about insects.

Revising our ideas so they are connected, and make sense.

Sound Study:

Students worked in their table group with objects from the Montessori Pink and Green boxes.
First: Sort objects into short and long vowel groups. 
Next: Use the Montessori moveable alphabet to practice the spelling patterns.

Working with the Montessori moveable alphabet increases students' risk-taking with spelling, 
as the letters are easily separated, flipped, added or exchanged when errors are identified.
Different colours for vowels and consonants helps identify the relationship between the two in words. 

Short and long vowel Bingo! 

Our poem connecting to the Silent E spelling pattern can be found in Google Classroom --> Literacy --> Poetry Study. 

In addition, I introduced the students to a song from the Electric Company

to complement our understanding of how silent "e" changes the vowel sound. 

Social Studies:

Which bird is the symbol of Nunavut? Alberta? Nova Scotia?
Give an important detail about the bird that connects to its territory/province. 

Which flower is the symbol of Nunavut? Alberta? Nova Scotia?
Can you remember some of the uses by the indigenous group of the area?

In connection with our exploration of 3 Canadian communities, students have loved watching some short clips from Canada Crew. They asked that I post the link to share at home: https://www.tvokids.com/preschool/canada-crew-k-2-social-studies 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas 

Yearbook!

Hello Lake Bonavista Families, 

Order your copy of the 2020-2021 school yearbook! Get the early bird price of only $22 before April 15^th. Please log in online to order your yearbook today which this year will feature pictures from our teachers.

 

The site is ybpay.lifetouch.ca

Your yearbook ID code for this year is:  11352721

Friday, April 9th, 2021

Hi Families, 

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone had a lovely Spring Break! 

Our week started with a special Easter Egg Hunt, organized by our grade 1/2 student-teachers from St. Mary's University. We had a great time practicing introductory mapping skills, collaborating with a friend to locate the different eggs and accurately record the patterns. 

Your child will have brought home their Easter Egg Hunt map and
 recording sheet on Monday. Ask them if they can explain where
each of the eggs were, and which one was most challenging to find. 

Ms. Nodwell introduced us to "The Miniature World of Marvin & James" this week. We will be using the book for a whole-class novel study this month, building our knowledge of characters, setting, problems, solutions, as well as higher level comprehension skills: predicting, inferencing and applying our understanding. 

Ask your child what predictions they made using information from the cover, 
as well as connecting to other texts or real-life information. 

In other learning, ask your child about: 

- measurement: eliminating the words "big" and "small" when we talk about measuring
- measurement: comparing objects using "than" to create a statement
- measurement: ordering a set of objects according to length, height and width
- measurement: measuring with non-standard units 

- mapping: understanding different levels of community: country, province/territory and city
- mapping: identifying and labeling 3 Canadian communities on a personal map: Calgary, Halifax and Iqaluit

Working in small groups, students made predictions of which flag belonged to which community,
based on the colours and symbols, and connecting to prior knowledge and experience. 

Students shared their predictions, and offered detailed reasoning.

We then confirmed our predictions, and learned about how the colours and symbols
are connected to the characteristics of each province/territory,
such as land, resources, people and history. 

- sound study: short vowels vs long vowels
- sound study: spelling patterns for long vowels with silent "e"

- health: creating personal reflections on our Mindfulness techniques

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas

Upcoming - Arts Commons Virtual Arts Education Program

On Monday, April 19^th, students in grade 1/2 at Lake Bonavista School will participate in an Arts Commons Virtual Arts Education Program, connecting with artist-in-residence Shirley Hill to learn about Blackfoot language and storytelling: https://artscommons.ca/learn-engage/school-programs/artist-in-residence/ This program enriches student learning within our Language Arts and Social Studies curriculum. 

 

Thank you to our Lake Bonavista School Council for generously providing the funding for this experience.

LBS Spring Flower Fundraiser

Flowers for Mother’s Day - School Council Fundraising 

The Lake Bonavista School Improvement Society would like to invite you to participate in the Mother’s Day Flower Fundraiser.  This season’s fundraiser will combine flowers and herbs for the garden and celebrate Moms.  The fundraiser is open for ordering from April 2, 2021 until April 23, 2021.  The flowers will be available for pick up at LBS in the staff parking lot from noon – 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 7, 2021. Thanks for supporting this fundraiser.

ORDER HERE: https://lakebonavistaschool.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home

Friday, March 26th, 2021

Hi Families, 

This week, we concluded our exploration of 2D shapes and 3D objects by participating in a community walk to look at basic and composite shapes in homes, as well as examining the art of Mary Blair in order to create our own:

Mary Blair was a Disney a concept artist. 
Her art not only connected to our study of shapes, but also to perseverance. 

Our art based on Mary Blair's concept art for It's a Small World. 

Using single shape materials to construct a scene,
based on the book "The Shape of Things". 
Ask your child about theirs. 

We also continued developing our automaticity of basic facts, by exploring visual tools for helping us with our doubles facts. Each fact has a picture clue associated with it to help us remember the sum. Ask you child if they can recall the picture clues for each fact. 

We also learned a new game to help practice our doubles facts called Doubles in a Row. You can find this game in Google Classroom --> Math --> Math Games --> Doubles in a Row. 

Subtraction with doubles is easy, no matter the number. We know that when you have a number, and you take it ALL away, it always equals zero. 

We also did a mini art/science study based on one of our schoolyard residents:

One of our resident Snowshoe Hares that consistently rests under the trees by the parking lot.
March 17 - note the changing fur. 

Our Spring Snowshoe Hare art:
Step by step drawing, finished with washable marker watercolour!

Same tree, hopefully same Snowshoe Hare. 
March 24.

A beautiful picture book making connections between
seasonal changes, adaptations and predators.

To end the week, we dyed eggs using dyes made from a variety of plants with our buddies. Students made connections to our recent examination of contributions from First Nation groups, but also were quick to identify that our plant dyes would not have been created using local plants. 

Many students expressed interest in trying to dye eggs at home using plants. This is the website we used as a jumping off point to create our dyes, however there are many, many other websites out there that can offer advice: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/easter-ideas/how-to/a31737/natural-easter-egg-dyes/

From top left: black bean, avocado, blueberry, tumeric, beets, lemon, cabbage, tea. 

Cabbage is a fun one to try, as it will change colour if you use different mordants (vinegar vs. baking soda).

Have a wonderful Spring Break everyone! I look forward to seeing students back on TUESDAY, April 6th. Please see the additional blog note on our Easter Egg Hunt scheduled for that day. 

Ms. Thomas

Walking Field Trip - Easter Egg Hunt - Tuesday, April 6th, 2021

Hi Families, 

The grade 1/2 team is planning an Easter Egg Hunt on Tuesday, April 6th, the first day we return from Spring Break!

Students will be using a map to find laminated "eggs" that will be located at different locations at the green space located north on the school, as well as on school grounds. The activity makes connections to the social studies curriculum: 

- using familiar landmarks and places in the community to understand a map and locate items of interest
- using critical thinking to solve problems
- using social skills including cooperation, conflict resolution and consensus building
- demonstrate skills of oral, written and visual literacy

We are excited to make connection to the land and our community in this fun event! 

Please make sure your child has appropriate outdoor clothing for the day, as this activity will taken about 1 hour to complete. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Walking Field Trip - Wednesday Afternoon

On Wednesday, March 24^th in the afternoon, Ms. Nodwell and I will be taking our class on a community walk looking at basic and composite 2D shapes and 3D objects. 

Looking at the forecast this week, it may be cooler and drizzly on Wednesday. Please ensure your child is dressed to be comfortable if this is the case. 

Our route would be:

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Flowers for Mother’s Day - School Council Fundraising

Flowers for Mother’s Day - School Council Fundraising 

The Lake Bonavista School Improvement Society is preparing for our upcoming Mother’s Day Flower Fundraiser.  This season’s fundraiser will combine flowers and herbs for the garden and celebrate our Mothers as role models.  The fundraiser will begin on April 2, 2021 and be open for ordering until April 23, 2021.  The flowers will be available for pick up at LBS in the teachers’ parking lot from noon – 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 7, 2021. 

https://lakebonavistaschool.growingsmilesfundraising.com/home 

Are you moving or not returning to LBS in September 2021?

 Are you moving or not returning to LBS in September 2021?   

If your children are in Kindergarten or Grades 1 to 5 and moving to a new school or not returning to LBS, please complete the Google Form as soon as possible.  Our school is nearly filled to capacity and we have students on the waiting list for the Montessori Program.  Also, as we prepare for the next year, we will know how to balance class sizes as accurately as possible. 

https://forms.gle/uwjpHCC3afCUXzfJ9 

Student-Led Conference Supporting Documents

Hi Families, 

Now available in Google Classroom:

- Conference Guide: What you need to know, and what to expect from VIRTUAL Student-Led Conferences
- Guiding Questions: Questions you can ask your child regarding their artifacts of learning

Coming Soon:

- Artifacts of Learning: To be reviewed ahead of time, and referenced during, your Student-Led Conference time

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Friday, March 4th, 2021

Hello Families, 

Please see the additional blog post regarding upcoming Student-Led conferences. 

This week, we've been primarily focused on wrapping up artifacts for our assembly and upcoming conferences, all of which will be available to view early next week in Google Classroom. 

In our Sound Study, we have started looking at r-controlled vowels: -ar and -or. Information about the characters, stories and actions associated with these sounds are found in Google Classroom --> Literacy    --> Animated Literacy. When students are generating word lists for these sounds, it's always interesting to find "non-examples". English is so tricky! 

We continue with our weekly Poetry Study, which can be found in Google Classroom --> Literacy --> Poetry Study, and is a great way to practice familiar texts at home. This week, with all the loose teeth in our classroom, we read the poem "And Then". 

In Math, we are using the 10 frames as a visual for representing 10 facts (addition facts with sums to 10, and their corresponding subtraction facts). Understanding number bonds for 10 support further complex mental math strategies and flexibility of number. 

This month, Ms. Nodwell is leading the students in Dance for Phys.Ed. So far, they have practiced a basic routine that involves 3 basic dance steps, and then allows for them to add a freestyle move at the end, as well as learning the Hokey Pokey and Macarena. In the upcoming week, students will explore some Line Dancing!

Finally, please enjoy this short video from Ms. Nodwell, capturing the watercolour exploration art she did with the students. Ask your child about the different techniques they learned, and which was most surprising.  

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas

Student-Led Conferences: March 11th and 12th

Hi Families, 

A reminder that Student-Led Conferences are coming up this Thursday, March 11th and Friday, March 12th. These conferences are VIRTUAL through Microsoft Teams. 

If you have not already done so, please book a conference through your MyCBE Account. If you are having trouble booking a conference or accessing your account, please contact the office: 403-777-6871.

On Monday, a conference guide will be uploaded to Google Classroom. Please take some time to review it ahead of artifacts of learning being uploaded Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Artifacts of learning specific to these conferences will again be uploaded to our Google Classroom, and found under Students Artifacts of Learning --> Your Child's Name. All relevant files will be labeled with March/Mar to differentiate between the ones from November. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Rubberboots and Socks

With the recent beautiful weather, our school grounds are turning into one giant slush puddle! 

It is officially "rubber boots and an extra pair of dry socks in your backpack (please)" season ! 

Friday, February 19th, 2021

Hi Families, 

This week, we welcome Ms. Nodwell to our classroom! The students are welcoming her with all their heart, and supporting her work towards her final teaching practicum. A little introduction from Ms. Nodwell herself:

Hello everyone!  

My name is Madeleine Nodwell, and I am happy to be joining Ms. Thomas’s class for the next couple of months as a student teacher! I am coming to Lake Bonavista from St. Mary’s University here in Calgary, where I am in my last semester of my Education degree. Some of my favourite things include animals, cooking, and playing bench-ball! I am excited to be working in a classroom full of such eager learners.   

Ms. Nodwell will be a part of classroom until late-April. 

This week, she led students in a liquids explorations, combining art and science. Ask your child about the four different art pieces they created, the different processes, and what they observed. Pictures of the final products coming next week! 

We continued our work on fiction and non-fiction texts, representing our learning through sorting, data collection and list writing. Students increased their understanding of fiction and non-fiction text features. In the upcoming weeks, they will be applying their understanding to create a final task for sharing during Student-Led conferences. 

As we looked back at the last couple of weeks, and the cold temperatures, we used a recent headline as a writing prompt this week:

Students created their own, "How Cold Was It? writing, 

connecting their personal experiences with our record breaking cold.

Upcoming Important Dates:

- Wednesday, February 24th: Pink Shirt Day 
- Thursday, March 11th: Evening Virtual Student-Led Conferences (more information to come)

- Friday, March 12th: Daytime Virtual Student-Led Conferences, no school for students
- Sunday, March 14th: Daylight Savings Time begins

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas

Wednesday, February 10th, 2021

Hi Families, 

This week, we marvelled as we checked the weather daily, and found that Calgary was the coldest community out of the three that we monitor, including Halifax and Iqaluit. To quote one student, "The Arctic has come to Calgary!" We stayed warm and cozy during our indoor lunch and afternoon recesses, and kept our fingers crossed that it warms up and we get outside again next week! 

Thank you to the families that were able to attend the School Council meeting this month, where Ms. Bouchard and I presented our classes' collaborative work on perseverance. All School Council meetings are virtual this year, so you can attend them from the comfort of your own home!

In our Sound Study, we continued exploring digraphs with -ng, and the very silly poem "On the Ning, Nang, Nong" (found in our Google Classroom, Literacy --> Poetry Study). We added each vowel to the -ng digraph and started developing word lists for each combination:

Co-generated word lists.
Students were able to identify examples of increasing complexity,
adding digraphs, 2 and 3 letter blends and common endings.
Our favourite are words that use double "ng" like "bringing"!

Our Perfect Cup of Cocoa art and writing is now hanging proudly outside our classroom! We plan to share the writing with you in more depth soon, but for the meantime, please enjoy a short glimpse of the colourful display! 

We have greatly enjoyed learning about our family histories, and plotting each generation's birth place (approximately) on our maps. Thank you to everyone who contributed information!

To wrap up our week, we had a lovely day celebrating friendship during our Valentine's Day activities:

Thumb-print heart art.
Happy Valentines Day from Room 8!

Our buddy valentines with Room 7. 

Some additional, on-going work:

Identifying key vocabulary in word problems that indicate
whether it can be solved with addition or subtraction.

Comparing fiction and non-fiction books on the same subject. 

Noticing that some books may have both fiction and non-fiction features. 

Some upcoming reminders:

- Thursday, February 11th: Teacher's Convention, no school for students

- Friday, February 12th: Teacher's Convention, no school for students

- Monday. February 15th: Family Day Holiday, school closed

Have a warm and cozy weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas