Friday, September 21st, 2018

Hi Families,

It was wonderful to see many of you at the Open House yesterday - I hope you enjoyed seeing our classroom space and having your child tour you around their learning from the last 3 weeks. Formal conferences are not until November 22nd and 23rd - please do not wait until then if you have questions or concerns about your child, their learning, and the "goings-on" of school. I am happy to chat anytime :)

Happy International Peace Day! I hope you enjoyed the collaborative Buddy art we created to remind ourselves of the power we all have to do beautiful acts and deeds, make change, and be positive influences to those around us.

Our Loose Parts Collaborative Colour Wheel is beginning to take shape, and the students are so excited to contribute. There is always room for more, so if you child would like to bring in additional loose parts. In particular, our yellow, green and purple sections could use some boosting!

In the next couple of weeks, I hope to engage in some additional design activities, and hope I might be able to collect some building materials to support this learning. In particular, I am looking for:

Cardboard - both corrugated and cereal box types
Duct tape
Painters tape
Transparent tape
Wood craft sticks
Plastic drinking straws
Paper plates
Foam board
Rubber bands
Fishing line
Bamboo skewers
Hot glue sticks - regular and mini
Plasticine
PVC pipe
Zip ties
Fabric scraps
Empty milk cartons - plastic and cardboard
Odds and sods - wire scraps, screws, bolts, washers, buttons, etc.
Wood scraps - cut into smaller pieces/scraps
And anything else you can think of!

Thank you everyone! Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Thomas

Terry Fox Run 2018

Lake Bonavista School will be having our Annual Terry Fox Run on Tuesday, September 25th at 1:45 pm. Teachers will be discussing with students the life of Terry Fox and the contributions he has made to cancer research. 

We would like to extend the invitation to all parents and families to join us for the Terry Fox Run.

Students can dedicate their run to someone who they know that has been affected by cancer. Please speak to your child prior to our run and if they choose to, they can write who they are running for on a sticker that they will wear during the run. These will be available in the classroom on Tuesday.

Should you wish to make a donation online, please use the following link to donate through the Terry Fox website: 

http://www.terryfox.ca/lakebonavistaschool

or

Feel free to send in cash donations with your child which will be collected by the teachers.  (Donations will be accepted until next Thursday, September 28th.)

Let’s keep Terry’s dream to find a cure for cancer alive.

Thank you!

Lake Bonavista School

Reminders...

Hi Families,

Just a couple of reminders...

Student Information Packages were due back on Monday. If you have not already done so, please complete the required forms and return them to the school.

Scholastic Book Orders are due tomorrow (Thursday). Cheques or online payment only please.

ADmazing Savings Fundraiser continues! If you wish to take advantage of the discounts offered in the coupon books, please complete the order form printed on the back of the ADmazing envelope, enclose the correct amount of money - $25 per book ordered - and return to the classroom by Friday, October 12th, 2018.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is our Open House and Back to School Family BBQ! See the additional blog note for more details.

Friday is a Professional Development Day for teachers. No school for students!

Thank you everyone!
Ms. Thomas

Save the Date!

The grade 1 and 2 classes at LBS are going on our first field trip of the year to Fort Calgary! 

We are looking for parent/family volunteers to join us!

When: Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Time: we will be departing the school at 9:00am and returning to the school around 2:20pm.

What you need: a valid police clearance, a lunch and a water bottle

If you are available to join us that would be greatly appreciated! 

We will be needing about 4 or 5 parents to accompany us! 

All field trip package forms will be sent at a later date. 

Let me know by email if you can come! Thank you!

LBS Open House and School Council Welcome Back BBQ

Welcome back! It is exciting to start a new school year. 

On Thursday September 20, 2018, we'd like to invite you to: 

OPEN HOUSE 3:15 – 4:15 PM

We are inviting you to come in to the school to explore your children’s classrooms. Come to see where they spend their time learning and exploring. You will meet their teachers and see the materials and spaces they use every day.

SCHOOL COUNCIL WELCOME BACK BBQ 

The Welcome Back BBQ is a great way to meet up with old friends and make new ones. The BBQ will be held after the open house on September 20^th from 4:00 to 6:30pm. Tickets are available at: https://lakebonavista.yapsody.com/event/index/303966/welcome-back-bbq

Tickets are $3. and include a hot dog, chips, choice of a juice box or water bottle and ice cream.

Looking forward to seeing you there!!

Subsitute Teacher

Hi Families,

On Monday and Tuesday there will be a substitute teacher in our classroom.

Students have already been introduced to Mrs. Jemmott, who will be here both days to continue the learning.

If you need to pass along any messages to Mrs. Jemmott (absences, lates, pick-up changes, etc.) please contact the office so they can be delivered in a timely matter to her: 403-777-6871

Thank you!
Ms. Thomas

Friday, September 14th, 2018

Hi Families,

Students have some "homework" this weekend!

As part of our exploration of colour, we have been sorting colours into a variety of categories:

- primary vs. secondary colours
- warm vs. cool vs. neutral colours
- tints vs. shades

Colour will be embedded throughout our year, across the curriculum, and we would like to have something that we can refer to whenever the topic comes up. So, we've decided to construct a "Loose Parts Collaborative Colour Wheel"!

Students are asked to collect small items that can be sorted and glued onto a large colour wheel for display in our classroom. Objects will be glued on and not returned. An example of such a colour wheel is below. Today, students brainstormed some small items that could be glued on:

- scraps of ribbon, string, wrapping paper or cloth
- paperclips, stray penlids, too-small crayons
- buttons, pompoms, beads, paint chips
- feathers, foam pieces, lego pieces
- bottle caps, bag clips, bingo chips
- etc, etc, etc...

Please have your child bring their items to school in a small baggie. No need to sort different colours into different bags, that's part of the fun for us to have here!

Today, we concluded the week by celebrating Dot Day! http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/get-started

If you are unfamiliar with the story "The Dot", you can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5mGeR4AQdM

We uncovered that the book is not only an art book, but also a book about growth mindset. Once the idea of a growth mindset was discussed , students were all able to identify something that they've had to practice to improve on, or that they were practicing/learning, and came up with an easy way to encourage their own growth mindset everyday, by using one of two statement:

"I can't do that yet."
"I'm still learning how to..."

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Growth Mindset, and the work of Carol Dweck, I encourage you to see what it's all about: https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/

Each student created a dot based on pre-established criteria to contribute to a grade 1/2 collaborative art project celebrating Dot Day. We hope to have it on display for you to view when you come to our Open House before the Family BBQ next week!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Ms. Thomas