Tues. January 31st

Dear Parents,

Apologies if you were looking for the blog last night and didn't see it! We posted it (or so we thought) and it went into our "draft" pile. We posted it again this morning. But, just in case here are the details you missed.

In Math today we talked about things that come in "doubles" or pairs in our everyday life. We came up with: feet, arms, ears, shoes, glasses, etc. What other things can you think of? We continued this conversation and wrote down how many people and how many shoes would be in our houses. 4 people and 2 shoes per person = 8 shoes. Wow! We realized that using doubles is like multiplying!

Videos/photos should be completed on IRIS. Please let your teacher know if your child does not have a new video/photo on IRIS (posted in the last week).

Wednesday (tomorrow) February 1st is the Global Day of Play! In honour of this we are inviting the students to bring 1 toy/game to play with. Guidelines:  The Toy/Game must not contain batteries and not be electronic. Please also ensure that the toy can fit inside a backpack. If it is a boardgame, it can be brought in a separate bag. We will be encouraging cooperative and creative play on this day. See the website for further details. http://www.globalschoolplayday.com/

Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:                     
                                                  Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9

Important Dates to remember:
Jan. 24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating
Feb. 3rd - No School 
6th - Class Photo Day
14th - Snack Day
16th - 17th - Teacher's Convention - No School
20th - Family Day - No School
21st - Fun Lunch
22nd - Pink Shirt Day! 

Circle of Courage Spotlight for Thursday Feb. 2nd - Sadie & Dylan - See Friday Jan. 27th blog for further details. 

Hello Parents!

In Math today we talked about things that come in "doubles" or pairs in our everyday life. We came up with: feet, arms, ears, shoes, glasses, etc. What other things can you think of?

Videos/photos should be completed on IRIS. Please let your teacher know if your child does not have a new video/photo on IRIS (posted in the last week).

Wednesday February 1st is the Global Day of Play! In honour of this we are inviting the students to bring 1 toy/game to play with. Guidelines:  The Toy/Game must not contain batteries and not be electronic. Please also ensure that the toy can fit inside a backpack. If it is a boardgame, it can be brought in a separate bag. We will be encouraging cooperative and creative play on this day. See the website for further details. http://www.globalschoolplayday.com/

Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:                       
                                                  Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9

Important Dates to remember:
Jan. 24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating
Feb. 3rd - No School 
6th - Class Photo Day
14th - Snack Day
16th - 17th - Teacher's Convention - No School
20th - Family Day - No School
21st - Fun Lunch
22nd - Pink Shirt Day! 

Circle of Courage Spotlight for Thursday Feb. 2nd - Sadie & Dylan - See Friday Jan. 27th blog for further details. 

Friday, January 27th

Happy Family Literacy Day!! Thank you to those that came out and joined us/volunteered for today's events. We started our morning with a gathering in the gym where we watched "The Paper Bag Princess", read with a friend or family member for 15 min, announced the winners of the door decorating contest, and Ms. Sparks read "Pyjama Day" to us!

We continued our day with reading with our Grade 3 buddies (Mrs. Bennett's class), going to Phys Ed and Music, and listening to our classmates share their Circle of Courage. We even had a guest reader read "More Pies" to us. Calgary Stampeder Spencer Wilson!

Check out our Twitter account for pictures from the week. https://twitter.com/RoyaloakCBE 

Most students should have a story that they have written (based on Red Riding Hood) up on IRIS. Please take a moment to look with your child and have them reflect on their work. What did they do well? What would they like to improve upon? Students can type a reflection underneath their photo or video (Parents, if you scribe, can you please put the student's words in " ". Thank you!). Students who do not have a video or photo will have one by Monday or Tuesday of next week. 

Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:                         
Mon. Jan. 30                             Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9

Important Dates to remember:
Jan. 24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating
Feb. 3rd - No School 
6th - Class Photo Day
14th - Snack Day
16th - 17th - Teacher's Convention - No School
20th - Family Day - No School
21st - Fun Lunch
22nd - Pink Shirt Day! 

Circle of Courage Spotlight for Thursday Feb. 2nd - Sadie & Dylan

Circle of Courage Spotlight 

Congratulations, your child has been chosen to be our Circle of Courage student. Your child will have the opportunity to share more about themselves and how they show the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage to help build a caring classroom. Your child will present on Thursday, February 2nd, - Sadie & Dylan

Once our Circle of Courage student is announced the student will have a week until their presentation date to collect the following items to share with the class. 

Independence  

·         An artifact your child is proud of and demonstrates independence. i.e. piece of art, writing, project, or video of dance  

Mastery 

·         An artifact that demonstrates a skill or activity your child has mastered. i.e. medals, awards, and certificates  

Belonging 

·         Photograph (no more than 3) that shows belonging, i.e.Family photo, playing with others, family vacation, sports team, class photo. 

Generosity 

·         Family Letter: Family members will be responsible for writing a letter to the class telling us how special your child is to you. Send the letter in a sealed envelope to the school with your child on the presentation date your child is sharing. I will read the letter to the class during our circle meetings. The content of the letter is up to you, but you may wish to choose from one of the following ideas: Describe special or funny stories about your child for the class to hear, tell us some interesting facts (no more then 3) we may not know about your child, send silly or special pictures with a letter describing the picture, or write a short story with your child as the main character. You may also send a video for the class to watch if you choose. 

After your child has had the opportunity to share, his or her classmates will recognize your child as our Circle of Courage student of the day by writing about how they see your child demonstrating one of the four quadrants on the Circle of Courage. We appreciate your participation in our Circle of Courage Spotlight and look forward to getting to know your child better and build a caring classroom community!

Thursday, Jan. 26th

Our Literacy Week continued with us visiting two new classes today! Ask me which story I heard and what activity we did to go with the book!

Tomorrow is PJ/Crazy Hair/Bring a stuffy day in order to promote Family Literacy Day! We are excited for the day's activities! We wonder who will win the door decorating contest...

Congratulations to Mishel who won a prize in the "Guess the Munsch Book" contest! She correctly guessed "The Paper Bag Princess".

In honour of Family Literacy Day the Calgary Public Library is having a little contest tomorrow. Please visit https://calgarylibrary.ca/read-for-15/  for details. 

In Math this week we have been focusing on the "Doubles" strategy. We noticed that when pairs of numbers are together, it makes it easy to count by two's and it creates "doubles". Examples are: 1+1 = 2, 2+2 = 4, 3+3 = 6 and so on. Ask me what tool I used to help me count and create these doubles patterns (we call them math racks).

We are getting ready for our next big Inquiry into local animals and they obstacles they face interacting with the human world (or that we face interacting with them). Ask me which animals the teachers presented on and which animal I want to study the most!

Tues. January 24th

G'day! We continued our amazing literacy activities today by enjoying two new Robert Munsch stories. Mrs. Daniels' class listened to "Too Much Snow" and Ms. Barley's class listened to "Too Much Stuff". Ask me about the books and what activity I did to go along with it. 

Today was a Music day! We learned the syllables for So and Mi. Ask me to show you the hand signals and sing you the notes!

Ms. Daniels' class had their first day of In-Line skating! (Mrs. Barley's class starts tomorrow). Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:
Wed. Jan. 25                             Tu. Jan 24 
Mon. Jan. 30                             Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9
If you are able to volunteer and help the kids with their equipment, please contact your class's volunteer coordinator for exact times needed. 

Important Dates to remember:
23rd - 27th - Literacy Week! 
27th - PJ Day! Bring a Stuffy! Special Assembly in the gym!
27th - Snack Day
24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 27th - Katelyn & Yousuf

Monday, Jan. 23rd

Happy Monday! Today was our first day of Literacy Week! We did D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) and Mrs. Sparks read a line from a Robert Munsch book over the intercom and we had to guess which book it was. Congratulations to Gigi who won a prize today! During Literacy, Mrs. Daniels' class visited Mrs. McDonald in grade 2 and read "Stephanie's Ponytail" and Ms. Barley's class visited Ms. Hennick in the gym and read "One More Goal". Ask me what my favourite part of the day was!

Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:
Wed. Jan. 25                             Tu. Jan 24 - *change from Friday's blog
Mon. Jan. 30                             Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9
If you are able to volunteer and help the kids with their equipment, please contact your class's volunteer coordinator for exact times needed. 

Important Dates to remember:
23rd - 27th - Literacy Week! 
27th - PJ Day! Bring a Stuffy! Special Assembly in the gym!
27th - Snack Day
24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 27th - Katelyn & Yousuf

Friday, January 20th

Hello! We hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather and wish you a fantastic weekend! As you were away from the school today, your teachers worked together with Dr. Jo Towers (from the U of C) to learn more about mathematical thinking and different ways to approach teaching Math. This weekend we encourage you to have a conversation: What does Math mean to you? What are some of your earliest memories of Math?

We are looking forward to a very exciting week of Inline Skating (***Submit your blue forms and payment ASAP please!) and Literacy. Our doors are decorated and our Robert Munsch Stories are ready to be read!

Our Alien In-Line Schedule is as follows. Students should wear comfy clothing and can bring their own approved helmet on their skating days.

Barley:                                      Daniels:
Wed. Jan. 25                             Th. Jan 26
Mon. Jan. 30                             Th. Feb. 2
Wed. Feb 1                                Mon. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 8                               Th. Feb. 9

Important Dates to remember:
23rd - 27th - Literacy Week! 
27th - PJ Day! Bring a Stuffy! Special Assembly in the gym!
27th - Snack Day
24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 27th - Katelyn & Yousuf

Circle of Courage Spotlight 

Congratulations, your child has been chosen to be our Circle of Courage student. Your child will have the opportunity to share more about themselves and how they show the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage to help build a caring classroom. Your child will present on Friday, January 27th   - Katelyn & Yousuf

Once our Circle of Courage student is announced the student will have a week until their presentation date to collect the following items to share with the class. 

Independence  

·         An artifact your child is proud of and demonstrates independence. i.e. piece of art, writing, project, or video of dance  

Mastery 

·         An artifact that demonstrates a skill or activity your child has mastered. i.e. medals, awards, and certificates  

Belonging 

·         Photograph (no more than 3) that shows belonging, i.e.Family photo, playing with others, family vacation, sports team, class photo. 

Generosity 

·         Family Letter: Family members will be responsible for writing a letter to the class telling us how special your child is to you. Send the letter in a sealed envelope to the school with your child on the presentation date your child is sharing. I will read the letter to the class during our circle meetings. The content of the letter is up to you, but you may wish to choose from one of the following ideas: Describe special or funny stories about your child for the class to hear, tell us some interesting facts (no more then 3) we may not know about your child, send silly or special pictures with a letter describing the picture, or write a short story with your child as the main character. You may also send a video for the class to watch if you choose. 

After your child has had the opportunity to share, his or her classmates will recognize your child as our Circle of Courage student of the day by writing about how they see your child demonstrating one of the four quadrants on the Circle of Courage. We appreciate your participation in our Circle of Courage Spotlight and look forward to getting to know your child better and build a caring classroom community!

Wednesday, January 18

Howdy Families! We had an exciting day full of math, stories and writing! In Math today we started learning about the "doubles" strategy. We listened to the story "Madeline" and then acted out how the girls in the story lined up by 2's. How many kids would there be if there were 3 kids in 2 lines (3+3=6)? What if there was 10 kids altogether in 2 lines (5+5=10)? Our challenge question was: If there are 18 kids altogether in 2 lines, how many kids would be in each line? We are using pictures, numbers and words to show our work.

We also started talking about Literacy Week and we began planning on how we will decorate our classroom door! Mrs. Daniels' Robert Munsch book of the week will be "I have to go!" and Ms. Barley's is "Deep Snow." Stay tuned for pictures of our doors when they are all done. :) We also can't wait for PJ Day on January 27th!!
***Ms. Barley is looking for any donations of cotton balls or those styrofoam packing pellets (aka styrofoam peanuts) if you have them! Thank you!

Do you ever ask your child, "What did you do today at school?" and they answer, "nothing" or "I dunno". Here are some other questions you can ask to spark a conversation:

1. What games did you play at recess?
2. What was the funniest thing that happened today?
3. Did anyone do anything super nice for you?
4. What was the nicest thing you did for someone else?
5. Who made you smile today?
6. What new fact did you learn today?
7. What challenged you today?
8. What was your favourite thing that you did today?
9. What would you rate your day on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?
10. If one of your classmates could be the teacher for the day who would you want it to be? Why?

Important Dates to remember: 
19th - Fun Lunch - Tomorrow!!
20th - PD Day - No school for students
23rd - 27th - Literacy Week! 
27th - Wear your PJ's! Bring a stuffy! Have crazy hair! Special Assembly Day!
27th - Snack Day
24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 19th - Katelyn & Arrya

Monday, January 16th

Today we had a busy Monday! We are embracing a change in our daily routine! We have a new Music and Phys Ed timetable which also means we are changing our Literacy Block time to the afternoon.
***Parents please note that on Tuesdays our classes will be in PE and Music until 3:30 which means we MAY be a few minutes late getting out the door until we work out our new routine. We will try our absolute best to get ready quick to meet you outside.

We had an amazing visit from the Alberta Opera today! They performed a "fractured" version of Hansel & Gretel which fits perfectly with us learning about Fair Tales! Thank you to Arrya's mom Niki for this photo.

Today we have brought home information and a permission form about Alien In-Line skating. Please read the info and return the permission form as soon as possible.There is also a fee associated with this opportunity. Please pay online at your earliest convenience. 

Important Dates to remember:
19th - Fun Lunch
20th - PD Day - No school for students
23rd - 27th - Literacy Week! Details soon to come!
27th - Snack Day
24th - February 14th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 19th - Katelyn & Arrya

Circle of Courage Spotlight 

Congratulations, your child has been chosen to be our Circle of Courage student. Your child will have the opportunity to share more about themselves and how they show the four quadrants of the Circle of Courage to help build a caring classroom. Your child will present on Thursday, January 19th   - Katelyn & Arrya

Once our Circle of Courage student is announced the student will have a week until their presentation date to collect the following items to share with the class. 

Independence  

·         An artifact your child is proud of and demonstrates independence. i.e. piece of art, writing, project, or video of dance  

Mastery 

·         An artifact that demonstrates a skill or activity your child has mastered. i.e. medals, awards, and certificates  

Belonging 

·         Photograph (no more than 3) that shows belonging, i.e.Family photo, playing with others, family vacation, sports team, class photo. 

Generosity 

·         Family Letter: Family members will be responsible for writing a letter to the class telling us how special your child is to you. Send the letter in a sealed envelope to the school with your child on the presentation date your child is sharing. I will read the letter to the class during our circle meetings. The content of the letter is up to you, but you may wish to choose from one of the following ideas: Describe special or funny stories about your child for the class to hear, tell us some interesting facts (no more then 3) we may not know about your child, send silly or special pictures with a letter describing the picture, or write a short story with your child as the main character. You may also send a video for the class to watch if you choose. 

After your child has had the opportunity to share, his or her classmates will recognize your child as our Circle of Courage student of the day by writing about how they see your child demonstrating one of the four quadrants on the Circle of Courage. We appreciate your participation in our Circle of Courage Spotlight and look forward to getting to know your child better and build a caring classroom community!

Thursday, January 12th

Today we began planning our own version of "Little Red Riding Hood." We used a storyboard and began to draw pictures to show our characters, setting, and who we were going to visit when we run into trouble. Ask me about my story plan!

We continued working on our animal hair art piece (see pictures from yesterday's blog) and today we wrote about it. Here are some examples:

"My animal hair is deer hair. I chose deer hair because my hair helps me float." - Arrya
"I have chameleon hair. Chameleon's change colours so they can hide." - Chace
"I have polar bear hair. I chose cotton balls and feathers because it is fluffy and white." - Joey

On Monday we will have a special performance from Alberta Opera! They will be presenting Hansel & Gretel. The play will begin at 1:30pm. Please come and join us to watch! We will also be having a food drive to gather food for the Calgary Food Bank. Please bring a non-perishable food item!

Important Dates to remember:

12th - Book Orders due (yesterday!)
16th - Hansel & Gretel performance by Alberta Opera - 1:30pm
19th - Fun Lunch
20th - PD Day - No school for students
27th - Snack Day
Jan  30th - February 15th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 13th - Sophie & Valen (See last Friday's blog for details)

Wednesday, January 11th

Today we continued learning about Animal Adaptations and worked on an art piece that shows a self-portrait with animal hair. We will continue working on this tomorrow, but here are some excellent examples of what we were doing.


What kind of animal hair would you choose??

Yesterday, I brought home a note about Fun Lunches and Fun Snacks. Please order if you are interested as it helps to support the school! If you any questions please email ROSfunlunch@gmail.com


Important Dates to remember:

12th - Book Orders due
19th - Fun Lunch
20th - PD Day - No school for students
27th - Snack Day
Jan 30th - February 15th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 13th - Sophie & Valen (See Friday's blog for details)

Monday, January 9th

Happy Monday!

We are in for another chilly week! For movement breaks inside we have been doing some breathing & stretching, dancing, and playing "Builders & Bulldozers". If the temperature gets above -20 we will be going outside, so please dress warmly everyday!

We played another great math game to help us with our "Friends of 10" strategy! Ask me how to play "Go Fish" by making 10s. Maybe we can play this at home!

***Home Reading books will not be exchanged tomorrow. Our lunchroom supervisors will be assisting with Kindergarten Orientation and will not be available. Books will be exchanged on Thursday.

**Parents of students receiving Speech Support: Our Speech Pathologist Tricia has had a family emergency and will not be available at this time. Regular sessions are planning to start on January 25th. We apologize for the inconvenience but wish Tricia and her family all the best during this time. Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

Important Dates to remember:
Jan. 9th - Parent Council Meeting 7pm
12th - Book Orders due
19th - Fun Lunch
20th - PD Day - No school for students
27th - Snack Day
Jan 30th - February 15th - Alien In-line Skating

Circle of Courage Spotlight for January 13th - Sophie & Valen (See Friday's blog for details)