Friday

Happy Halloween! The children worked very hard today so that they would not have any homework on Halloween weekend. They should only have homework this weekend if they were behind on getting an assignment completed. The Book Fair takes place next week in the library so our library day has been switched to Monday for our book exchange. Wednesday we will still go down but it will be to look at the book fair. Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Thursday

We had a busy day today! We spent some time with our buddies and helped them with some Halloween activities. We learned prepositions in French. Please ask your child to sing the Preposition Song to you so that they can practice! We also made some beautiful charcoal and painted tree art. I know that tomorrow is Halloween but it will be a regular day in the classroom. We may have some time in the afternoon for some games (I will provide these) but I ask that we have no costumes please. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling (dictation tomorrow) - math if not complete - salmon art if not complete Have a good night.

Wednesday

We have had a few problems in the classroom lately at lunch time. It seems as though any time I am not in the classroom to supervise the children there is fooling around. Please reinforce with your child the expectation at lunch time to sit and eat quietly and to leave the goofing around and playing for outside time. Tomorrow we will be working with charcoal in fine arts so please make sure that your child is not wearing their best clothes and avoiding white would probably be a good idea. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - math 4p. 44 #1-7, 5p. 45 #1-17 - reading response if not complete - spelling sheet if not complete - pizza day for those who ordered tomorrow Have a good night.

Tuesday

We had a busy work block day in the classroom today. We did a bit of writing in the morning where I gave the children the start of a story (Pumpkin Surprise) and they had to write the ending. We also talked about ice core drilling in extreme environments and tried (some worked better than others) to simulate this in class using layered sand. A reminder that individual pictures are tomorrow. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - math 6p. 52 #1-11 Have a great night!

Monday

Today we reviewed using a subject and predicate in a sentence. We also participated in a school wide DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Day today. It was the best silent reading this group has had to date. We started using the program today What To Do When You Worry Too Much. We will be working through this book writing about our worries and what we can do to help tame them. Today we talked about how worries can grow quickly when we tend to them, just like if we were tending to a tomato plant. It may start as something as small as a seed but can grow to something much bigger if given attention. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - reading response if not complete - L'halloween if not complete - subject predicate sheet if not complete - something that you have helped to grow if not complete A reminder that Wednesday is photo day and Thursday is pizza day for those who ordered it. Have a good night.

Thursday

Just a reminder that tomorrow is a pro d day so there is no school. Today we read the 5th Great Lesson - the story of numbers. We had some fun writing with Roman Numerals. In DPA today we did some dancing. Homework this weekend: - home reading - math 4p. 39 #1-12, 5p. 41 #1-10, 6p.52 #1-11 - Needs of Man sheet if not complete - French haunted house directed drawing due Monday - Hieroglyphics if not complete Have a great weekend!

Wednesday

Just a reminder that tomorrow is also a half day. The children will be dismissed at 12:30 for parent teacher interviews. Friday is a ProD day so there is no school for the children. We had a work block day in the classroom today and the children got a lot of work completed. Homework tonight: - home reading - spelling dictation tomorrow - spelling sheet if not complete - math if not complete 4p. 36 #1-16, 5p. 38 #1-7, 6p. 48 #1-15 - PAC newsletter coming home - gym strip for tomorrow Have a good night.

Monday

Today we reviewed that sentences need to have two parts a naming part and an action part. Many of the children have been writing sentence fragments lately and hopefully this will help them to stop that. We also talked about the history of writing and then they got to create their own hieroglyphics. All grades have a math test tomorrow. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - study math - sentence activity if not complete - pizza order due Wednesday morning Have a good night!

Friday

We had a great presentation in the gym this morning. The Earth Rangers came with 4 different animals and talked to the children about the importance of saving animals and their habitat. Information on school pictures is coming home today as well. Homework this weekend: - home reading (one night aloud) - reading response if not complete - pizza orders - math quiz Tuesday for all grades Have a great weekend!

Thursday

Today we wrote our school wide write. Our topic this time is What I'd Like You To Know About Me. We also had fine arts again this afternoon and carried on working on our seasonal salmon pictures. Homework tonight: - home reading - spelling dictation tomorrow - spelling sheet if not complete - math 5p. 30 #1-10 - all grades have a math quiz Tuesday - pizza form - Scholastic due tomorrow - Extremophile due tomorrow Have a good night.

Wednesday

Today we started brainstorming for our school wide write that is taking place this week. Over the next two days the children will work on writing and editing their work. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling (sheet due tomorrow) - WITW/Canadian Reader if not complete - math 4p. 28 #1-8, 6p. 38 #1-5 - Scholastic orders due Friday - sign up for interviews next week Have a good night.

Monday

We had a good day today. The children worked very hard and got a lot accomplished. We reviewed the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative) today. Mr. Michel also came in and talked to the children about his experience working to help with the clean up after the Mount Polley Mine disaster this summer. Some of the students had been making connections and asking questions after they had to read an article this month about the pros and cons of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - math 5p. 27 #1-10, 6p. 35 #1-5 - WITW and Canadian Reader articles due tomorrow Have a good night!

Friday

What an amazing day of work we had in the classroom today! The children all worked really hard to make sure that they didn't have any homework for the long weekend. The grade 5/6 students helped to weed the school garden today to get it all ready for winter. They did such a great job it looks wonderful! The year 4's started to get their time capsule cylinder ready. We were also recognized today as the class with the highest percentage of children who walked to school this week. Congratulations! Homework this weekend: - home reading - salmon journal - thankful journal if not done - reading response if not done Have a wonderful weekend and a reminder that there is no school on Monday. See you Tuesday!

Thursday

We went to the library for the first time today. Each of the children will be coming home with this years home reading list. Please initial the bottom of the page so that I know you have seen the list. Tomorrow we will be doing some work in the school garden so I ask that children do not wear their best clothes. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - math 4p. 27 #1-3, 5p. 24 #1-9, 6p. 31 #1-5 - signed home reading form - reading response if not complete - salmon activity book if not complete Have a good night.

Tuesday

We went to the computer lab for the first time today. The grade fours learned how to sign in and how to access World Book Online. This is the site I would like them using when researching. They have a password written in the front of their agendas so they can use it at home as well. Salmon run is tomorrow. This is an all day field trip. Please make sure that your child is dressed for the weather, layers are a good idea. They also tend to get really hungry so please make sure that they have enough to eat and a water bottle for the day. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - salmon run tomorrow - math 4p. 24 #1-7, 5p. 22 #1-7, 6p. 26 #1-10 Have a good night!

Monday

We had a good day today. We have done more French review and today looked at colours, days of the week and months of the year. We started looking at our science unit Extreme Environments today and the children are each creating an Extremophile (a living thing that exists in extreme environments). Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling - math 4p. 20 #1-9, 5p. 19 #1-2, 6p. 22 #1-6 - reading response if not complete - I Walk to School Week. If you don't live close please try to drop your child a block or so away from the school so that they can walk. - gym tomorrow Have a good night.

Friday

It was a fun busy day today! We had our first spelling dictation and it went well with each group respecting the quiet needed for the other groups. We had our second fire drill today and did well with that. We also did our first practical life activity, making apple bread muffins. It is an apple bread recipe and we cooked them in muffin tins. The children really liked them. The recipe is posted in a separate blog post. Homework this weekend: - home reading (one night aloud) - salmon run form due Monday - math if not complete 4p. 16 #1-4, 5p. 15 #1-8, 6 p. 17 #1 - reading response if not complete Next week is I Walk to School Week. We are encouraging all children to walk next week. If you are not in the neighborhood I would encourage you to drop your child off a block or so away so that they can walk part of the way.

Apple Bread (we put in muffin cups)

1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 beaten egg 1 cup sugar 1 cup finely shredded apple 1/4 cup cooking oil Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of a 8x4x2 loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside. In another medium bowl combine egg, sugar, apple and oil. Add apple mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Thursday

We had our first French lesson today. We reviewed letters and numbers today. Please ask your child (if they are in grades five and six) to count to ten or spell their name using the French letter sounds. Please make sure that your child has returned their permission slip for the salmon run next week. We will be cooking tomorrow so if your child has long hair they will need to have it pulled back tomorrow. Homework tonight: - home reading - study spelling (dictation tomorrow) - French number sheet if not complete - math if not complete - 4 p. 12 #1-4, 5p. 11 #1-6, 6p. 14 #1-6 Have a great night!

Wednesday

Today we had our first fire drill. We were in buddies at the time and the students did a wonderful job of helping their little buddy exit the school quietly and safely. We also did a start of the year reading assessment this morning. This will help me to decide where to start lessons in reading and comprehension. I read with all of the 5/6's today (4's will read with me tomorrow) and one thing I have noticed is that most would benefit from some reading aloud at home. Homework tonight: - home reading (reading aloud) - study spelling (sheet due tomorrow) - reading response - notice, fundraiser and permission slip coming home tonight Have a good evening.