Assembly day

*Reminder:  Please return your Swimming forms and Heritage Park field trip form tomorrow.


We had our big assembly and learning celebration today...

It went really well.  We were very excited to share our learning with everyone.  It was a lot of work but it was all worth it.

Here is what we are the most proud of...

Our great singing voices 

We sang the melody of the songs.

Clear speaking and remembering our lines.

We overcame our nervousness.

We remembered our actions for the songs.

We remembered all our dance steps.

We tried our best.

We became confident actors.

The show was really great!

It was fun performing today.

Thank you for coming to our show and celebration today.  It meant so much to us.


Our new category in sharing is to share a talent.  This can be done through a video, a demonstration or by bringing something to show.
Our first helper in this category is Loti.

Assembly Performance

Reminders*

The assembly will be tomorrow after recess.  Please arrive prior to 11:00.  After the performance you will be invited to come and see your child's diorama and Did you Know facts about their research animal back in the classroom.

We will have a small celebration tomorrow afternoon.  The kids were told that they can bring a game from home if they have one that they would like to play with a few friends at school.

Kids:  Remember to try a dress in the color of your animal tomorrow.  If you don't have that color wear a neutral color and khakis or jeans.

A swimming notice and a Heritage Park field trip notice went home today.  Please sign and return as soon as possible. Thank you.

Practicing and Sketching

This morning we had our rehearsal before recess.  After recess we worked on making animal ear headbands for the assembly costume.  We each had t make the ears of our research animal.    Tomorrow the kindergarten class will come to watch our rehearsal since they have a field trip on Thursday and won't be able to come and see.  It will be great for us too since we will have an actual audience.

In the afternoon we had library, music and our last session with Ryder, our sketch artist.

Today she showed us how to add shading and light to our tree shape.  She also demonstrated how you would create clusters of leaves and then blend them with the blender.  Then we went outside and practiced what she had demonstrated, adding to our drawing from last week.

Our helper tomorrow is Yafet.

Practice, Practice, Practice

We started off the morning by working on our dioramas and our Did You Know facts about our animals so that they will be ready to share these with you on Thursday after the assembly.

After recess we practiced our songs and also our dance for the assembly.  Some of the props that we need for the dance are construction helmets and also straw or cowboy hats.  If your child has one at home and they would like to wear it for the dance please send it tomorrow labeled with their name on it.

We spent the afternoon in a dress, set and prop rehearsal.  After working so hard on our play we had some time outside with out friends.


Costumes
If your child has clothing in the color of the animal they researched we are asking that they wear it for the assembly on Thursday.  If they only have a shirt or pants in that color that would be fine and if you have to mix colors, one on top and one on the bottom, such as brown and white, gray, black, orange or red that would be fine as well.

Our helper tomorrow is Leo.

Our morning at the Medicine Wheel

Today we went to the Medicine Wheel on Nose Hill.  Sa'kokoto told us that it is very important to them.The Medicine Wheel s divided into four sections.  Each section represents the four groups of the Blackfoot Nation.  The triangle in each section represents man. Each triangle has a heart represented by one stone. There are also four shapes in each section that represent the hooves of the buffalo.  Extended from the Medicine Wheel are lines that represent the North, South, East and West.

Sa"kokomo also told us stories in a story circle.

We sketched the buffalo beans and also the city landscape view.  After sketching we got to use the bug jars to collect bugs.  We collected beetles, grasshoppers,ants, dragon flies, lady bugs.  We also saw what looked like a grasshopper with bright red wings. We also saw butterflies.  It was very hot but we had lots of fun.


Enjoy some photos from our morning.

First Assembly Practice

This morning before recess we worked on our dioramas and Did You Know facts so that they are ready for sharing at the assembly and celebration next Thursday.  We also practiced our songs for the assembly.

After recess we all went to the gym and we had our first assembly run through and practice.  It went really well for our first practice all together.

In the afternoon we had music.  In music today we practiced our songs and we had to focus on the melody of each song.  Some of the spots can be a little tricky to sing.  We are doing our best.

After music we worked on our Dr. Coffin Timeline.  We had to finish our new school picture and get it glued in our books with the date and caption.

In gym we started working on some skills using the lacrosse sticks.  We practiced throwing the ball against the wall and catching it in the basket.  We also practiced picking up the ball, throwing the ball in the air and letting it bounce for a catch.  We also practiced cradling the ball in the basket. The First Nations people were the first to invent the game of lacrosse.  They made their own sticks and balls.  See if you can find out what they used to make them.
We ended our day with some sharing.

Tomorrow is the day that we go to Nose Hill.  The bus will be leaving promptly after attendance is taken.  Please send your child dressed for the weather tomorrow as we will be on the hill for most of the morning.  Please send a light snack and water bottle as well as a hat and sunscreen, sun glasses etc.  Running shoes or a hiker boot would be appropriate but not sandals or flip flops please.  Please make sure that your child's back pack only has what is needed for the trip and not any extras.

Sketch Artist Work

Today when we worked with the sketch artist she started by having us do a blind contour drawing.  That's where you look at something to draw it but you can't lift your pencil and you an't look down at the paper.  First we had to draw scissors and then we had to do a picture of the person across from us.

After that we went outside to draw the beautiful blossoming tree in front of the school.  Our job today was to look at the shape of the trunk and branches and just to draw that.  Next week we will add the flowers and leaves.

Our helper tomorrow is Gavin.
If you haven't returned your green field trip form for Friday please send it in tomorrow.

Assembly Preparation

Today was an exciting day!  We began our preparation for our assembly learning celebration On May 31st.

In the morning we also had our school wide outdoor photo.  When we came back from the photo we worked in our journals.  After recess we all got together to practice the assembly songs.  We are also practicing them in music.  Mrs. Hamby, Mrs. Boyer and Mrs. Armour have been working really hard on the script and then they shared it with us by reading through it.

We decided on parts for the assembly and the afternoon was all about creating the props for the show.
We have sent a notice home which needs to be returned by Thursday for our fresh air Friday trip to Nose Hill with Saa'kokoto to the medicine wheel.  We will be taking the bus to a closer location on the hill as it is too far of a distance for us to walk from the school.

Below you can click on the links to practice the three songs at home.

Sketch Artist

Today when we worked with the sketch artist we practiced shading and light and how we would show that on an object that we have drawn.  We also did some practice with how you could show different perspectives in a drawing

Have a great long weekend everyone!
Our helper Tuesday is Satvik.

Enjoy some of our sketching photos...

.

This morning we added our Dr. Coffin school fire pictures and date to our timeline in our paper bag books.
 In math today Mrs. Boyer's group worked on exposing numbers.  Mrs. Hamby's group worked on a subtilizing card game with a partner.  Once the card was turned over, one person was in charge of the addition sentence for the card and the other person was in charge of the subtraction sentence.  We each had to write both in our math journal and draw the card to show the colored squares.  we were working on number families.  Mrs. Armour's group worked on showing numbers in different ways.
In word work the grade ones had to so some finish up and the grade twos worked on a review of adding "ing" to words and then also adding "ed".

This afternoon we worked on our dioramas.  Some of us are beginning to finish.  Those that are finished began typing up some Did You Knows, for our learning celebration.  We had to choose one fact from each category for our Did You Knows.

 In our finishing up time we had to work on completing our fire picture and putting it into the book to get free choice.

Today we went to the playground for gym.  A water bottle, hat and sunscreen would be helpful to have at school since we are often going outside for field games.  Next week we will begin some lacrosse skills outside.

The helper tomorrow is Nicholas.

Sketch Artist

We were very excited t get our very own set of sketching tools today in preparation for our work with the sketch artist in the afternoon.  We learned that we get to keep them as our own.   We  have four different types of pencils, charcoal sticks, pastel sticks, sandpaper, an eraser and a pencil sharpener as well as some blending sticks.

Our sketching tools

Ryder the artist taught us about the tools and she gave us some time to try them out.  We also worked on doing a contour drawing of a natural object.  Next time we will be going to Whispering Woods for our sketching session.  This will be on Thursday.

Our helper tomorrow is Solomon.

This morning we worked on our journals.  Many of us wrote about what we did for Mother's Day.

Today in math we were divided into three groups.  One group went with Mrs. Armour, one with Mrs. Hamby and the other group with Ms Boyer.  Today Mrs. Armour's group practice making numbers in various combinations, like how many ways can you show 12. Ms. Boyer's  group worked on an adding and subtracting page and Mrs. Hamby's group worked on an addition activity.

We worked on our dioramas this afternoon.  We are hoping to finish them so that we can share them at the end of the month.

In gym today we played  "Flying Dutchman" outside.  It is a circle game where you have to run around the circle and tap two hands that are joined.  They have to try and beat you back to your spot.

Tomorrow the helper is Mika.
It is also treat day tomorrow hosted by room 7.

Bird Watching

Today we went to three different locations to do our birdwatching.  We went to Barrett Park to do  stationary birdwatch, Whispering Woods to do a stationary watch and then done the green belt to do a traveling bird watch.  We tallied birds that we saw in our citizen scientist books.  We saw the most birds in the green belt and in Whispering Woods.  We were looking for robins, black capped chickadees, magpies, crows, downy wood peckers, house sparrow, house wren and Franklin's gull.  We saw all the birds on our trips.  The birds that we saw the most of were the robins, house sparrows and the house wrens.  We had our bird identification cards with us to help us see them.  We saw the most downy woodpeckers in Barrett Park.  We saw 8 there.  What a exciting morning!  Next week we will enter our counts into the e-bird account.  Have a great weekend!

Today we had music after guided reading.  We had to use the portable for music today because the music room was being used for the PAT exams.  After recess we had word work and then math.  In math today we played a subitizing game.  Each card has ten squares in two rows of five.  Mrs. Hamby would show us the card for only a couple seconds.  We had to look at the cards to quickly see the grouping of shares colored in.  Some of us saw the cards in different ways, for example:
If the card had 4 squares colored in and six squares white some of us saw;
-six white squares and then the four blue.
- two + two blue squares and Five+1 white squares.
- four plus six equals 10
-!0-6 = 4 blue

We all had different ways of seeing it and we shared the various ways.  We also had to give the addition number sentence and the subtraction number sentence to go with the card.
We played the game with a partner. to help us practice seeing the groupings in different ways.

After much we worked on our dioramas and then we had parachute games in gym.

Tomorrow is fresh air Friday.  We will be doing a stationary bird watching as well as a traveling birdwatching time.  We will be tallying and logging the bird that we see in our citizen scientist books and on our e-bird accounts.

The helper on Monday is Loti.

We practiced a fire drill this morning during our guided reading time.


Stay tuned for a big surprise coming home that we worked on all day today...

In gym today we played parachute games.  We did the mushroom game and also the shark and lifeguard game.

Our helper tomorrow is Muhammed.

The FIre of 1974

This morning we learned about the fire at Dr. E.W. Coffin School in 1974.   The fire started at 2:20 a.m. in the cold morning of January 13th, 1974.  It was a Sunday morning.  Some of the neighbors were worried that their homes may start on fire too.  Because it was so cold -50 windchill, each fire fighter could only have a 20 minute shift and then they had to switch off with another fire fighter.  They battled the fire till just after 7:00 in the morning.  By that time most of the school was destroyed.  After the fire they noticed that Mickey the Bird was standing among the ashes in the courtyard.  It had survived the fire!  The detectives discovered blow torches at the scene of the fire so they think that the fire was started on purpose.   They never did find out who started the fire.    

Today we also had a lockdown practice.  We had to sit quietly for a about 20 minutes while we waited for the police officer to come and unlock our door again.  He said we did a great job but we had to remember that we are not supposed to talk or even whisper.

Our helper tomorrow is Ahmad.

Our Morning With CPAWS

These were the birds that we were most likely to see this morning when we went bird watching.  For half the morning we went bird watching and then for the other half of the morning we went to the Whispering Woods and played games.  The games focused on bird habitats, survival, and needs.  We learned that the burrowing owl and peregrine falcons are birds that are at risk.  Most birds that become at risk are so because of habitat loss.  We learned that the burrowing owl is at risk in Alberta grasslands because of all the farms and their habitat is being dug up by all the machines that till the fields.  When we went for our bird walk we saw many birds along the green belt by the school.  When we got back to school we entered them into ebird.  We saw Franklin's Gull, Downy woodpeckers, chickadees, ravens, nuthatch, white crown finch, robins, house finch to name just a few.  It surprised us how many birds we actually saw when we stopped to notice and to listen.

Tomorrow is a bi day for setting a bird watching record around the world.  It is called Global Big Day.  If we enter some of our birds sighted into our ebird accounts tomorrow we can be part of setting a record for bird sightings. Last year over 7000 entries were made around the world on that day.
On Monday your child will bring home a notice so that you will have the account information at home so that you can begin to bird watch together.