December 16th - 20th

We had a very busy, but fun last week of school before Christmas holidays!

A highlight this week was having Kym Simon come to the school to sing Christmas carols with the kids. They LOVED it! Thank you Keaton for sharing your talented mom with us!

PJ and Stuffie Day

Christmas Breakfast

WHAT A FEAST!! Thank you so much to the parents who sent food and juice for our Christmas breakfast. Everything was so delicious and greatly appreciated!

Christmas Party

In the afternoon the students chose to attend one of the three Christmas activities.

In Mrs. Tewitz’ room the students made the cutest snowman ornaments out of birch trees.

In Mrs. Rothfos’ room the students watched “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.”

In Mrs. Spreen’s room the students played board games.

As part of our behaviour program in the classroom, the students earn tickets if they receive a one on the chart. They have been collecting tickets since September. On Friday, the students were served hot chocolate in the mugs brought from home. They were given the opportunity to purchase toppings for their hot chocolate using the tickets earned. There were some pretty yummy looking drinks!

The students were so excited to receive their letters from Santa. These letters were sent home with your child on Friday.

In the afternoon, all of the RBES students watched the Polar Express in the gym.

Curriculum Update

AUTHOR STUDY

This week we continued our author study of Chris Van Allsburg. The students partnered up again with 4A to explore the theme of the books chosen from the week previous. They pulled four examples from each book to support their theme.

We also read one of Chris Van Allsburg’s award winning books, Jumanji. We discussed that during an author study, it is important for the reader to focus in on the style of writing used in order to really get to know that author. After reading Jumanji we talked about how Chris Van Allsburg used descriptive language to make his stories come alive to the reader. The students were asked to identify 5 strong, descriptive verbs used to help the reader visualize the story.

Another focus this week was on the critical events of a story. The students were introduced to a “Story Mountain” graphic organizer. After reading Zathura, we identified the major parts of the story mountain. 

The major parts of a story include:

Background knowledge - we meet the characters and learn about the setting

Building action - we read about the main events that lead up to the main problem of the story

Climax - we find out the main problem of the story

Falling action - the problem begins to get solved

Solution - the story wraps up and the problem is solved

We also used a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Jumanji and Zathura. The students found many similarities and differences between the two books.

To reinforce this skill, the students were also asked to identify the major parts of the book “The Sweetest Fig.” After reading the story, the students filled in the story mountain graphic organizer.

This week we completed the cursive letters Oo and Hh.

Congratulations to our December Laser Tag winner!

MATH

In math this week we focused on subtraction.The students started by subtracting 2- and 3- digit numbers without regrouping. Then we moved to subtraction with regrouping using base ten blocks and standard algorithm. When deciding whether or not to regroup the students were reminded to think about the following poem:

SOCIAL STUDIES

In social studies we looked at agriculture, forestry and water in Alberta. Agriculture refers to the growing of crops and the raising of animals for food and other products. Alberta is actually the 2nd highest agricultural producer in all of Canada! We watched the following video and then the students were asked to identify 2 facts they learned about Farming in Alberta.

Farming in Alberta

We also discussed forestry and the boreal forest region has the greatest amount of logging (cutting down trees) in Alberta. Forests are a renewable resource: it is always possible to grow new trees. The students watched the following video on Forestry in Alberta and then were asked to identify a few concerns in regards to forestry.

Forestry in Alberta

Finally we talked about water being an important natural resource in Alberta. Water sources in Alberta include glaciers near the Canadian Rocky Mountains, groundwater stored under the earth’s surface, rivers, and more. 

We watched the following video about some of the ways we use water every day.

After watching the video the students were asked to write down at least two ways that they use water in their own life that were not mentioned in the video.

Uses of Water

PE

This week the focus in PE was Christmas themed movement and cooperative games. The students enjoyed playing Abominable Snowball and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!

December 9th - 13th

Only one more week left of school before Christmas vacation. 

The students have been working hard in class, but they are definitely looking forward to the break.

The students were very festive looking in their Christmas spirit wear on Friday.

Work Out Wednesday

This was our first week participating in Work Out Wednesday. On Wednesdays, one or two SWAT members come to our class during Healthy Hearts time to run a movement break (5-10 min). We have four friends from 4B who lead these movement breaks in other classes. This a great opportunity for the students to be role models for the rest of the school.

Curriculum Update

Our Kidblog writing schedule this week included:

WeSearch Wednesday - Reindeer

3-2-1 Week in Review

Writing Workshop

The students wrote their letters to Santa this week. We mailed them to the North Pole and are anxiously awaiting Santa's response.

Chris Van Allsburg Author Study

This week we read Chris Van Allsburg's "The Polar Express.”

We continued to focus on theme and reiterate that it is important to have events from the story that support your theme. Most of the students were familiar with The Polar Express. They were encouraged to think deeper this time when we read it, to think about the core theme of the book. Then, the students were asked to find evidence to support their theme and record it in their author study booklets.

The students also partnered up with 4A in small groups to explore a variety of Chris Allsburg books. Each group chose a different book to read on their own. The students were asked to find four examples of fantasy in their book and record it on a graphic organizer. The students really enjoyed this activity.

Math

In Math we continued to work through our Addition and Subtraction. The students completed an assessment to cover the following outcomes:

- adding 3- and 4-digit numbers with and without regrouping

- problem solving with addition

The students continue to use Xtra Math and Mathletics programs to reinforce their math skills.

Congratulations to our Xtra Math Star!

Social

In Social Studies this week we learned about Alternative Energy. We discussed that fossil fuels are not the only natural resources used as forms of energy in Alberta. The two alternate forms of energy that we talked about were Solar Energy and Wind Energy. We had a good discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of both forms.

PE

This week we focused on Movement and Dance in PE. The students enjoyed spending time in the gym discovering different pathways to move to music. Later in the week, the gym was unavailable due to paint night set up, so we improvised and had a Grade 4 Dance Party in our wing. It was so much fun!

ART

The students enjoyed having free time on Art Hub this week to do some Christmas drawings.

Congratulations to our Student of the Week!