Monday, October 31, 2022

PICTURE RETAKES

 School photos retakes were originally scheduled to happen on October 17 & 18 have been rescheduled to November 2 & 3.  If you would like your child to have photo retakes, please email your child's teacher to let them know. 

Class Photos will also happen on the November 2 for all classes with the exception of the Tuesday/Thursday Kindergarten group whose class photo will be taken on November 3.

Friday, October 28, 2022

Hola Parents and Guardians,


Our week was filled with more exciting learning. In Science we are talking about the roles of all living creatures in an ecosystem (producer, consumer, decomposer), as we build our knowledge of waste and how waste is created and dealt with on our planet (both animal and human waste). 

In Social Studies students required some extra time to complete our knowledge check-in for natural resources, but we will be swiftly moving forward into the natural regions of Alberta next week.  This exploration allows students to better connect with and reflect upon the land they live on, and its richness and beauty. 

In Math we continue to explore number patterns. This topic leads to the some pre-algebra explorations, and sets the foundation for addition and subtraction. Students should work on their basic mental math strategies for addition and subtraction (e.g., how do we quickly and mentally add number that would require carry-over such as 7 + 6, addition with 9, etc.) as well as working to memorize basic multiplication tables up to 10x10 at home, to prepare for upcoming math work which are also relevant to our current unit. 

In English, we continue to grapple with building a summary. We have added some short texts onto Google Classroom that you can use to support your child in their practice of summarizing at home. Formulating a beginning sentence, retelling the story/information in our own words, and picking out the most important information are processes and concepts students continue to need support with. 

In Spanish, we are practicing being interviewed about ourselves and interviewing others about themselves, leading up to an assignment which will have students record a video of their interview. We continue to do guided reading in Spanish every Thursday, and we ask that students DO NOT complete any RazKids book assignments at home, as these are assigned for reading during class. 

In Health we have been tackling the Seven Sacred Teachings. These teachings (respect, love, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth) come from the Anishinaabe people, but have been adopted by many other indigenous groups and indigenous organizations of Turtle Island. This week we concluded our conversation on love, and how we show love to ourselves (self-talk, reflecting and recognizing our strengths, etc.) and love (kindness) to others (our family, our friends, and people we do not know), as well as how we show love and care for nature. 

IMPORTANT UPDATES:

A reminder that Friday, October 28 is a non-instruction day with no school for all students.

With Halloween coming up, students are invited to wear costumes to school on Monday, October 31.  The costumes must be worn the whole day and must be appropriate for school environment meaning no violent or inappropriate content or messaging. Accessories such as swords, guns, knives, weapons etc. should not be brought to school.  As costumes should not impede learning, we ask that no mask even if it’s a half face mask be worn to school.  Those wanting to wear COVID masks are welcome to. Due to dietary restrictions and preferences, no food should be brought to school for sharing purposes.  While well intended, other non-food treats should also be not brought to school (goodie/loot bags).

School photos retakes were originally scheduled to happen on October 17 & 18 have been rescheduled to November 2 & 3.  If you would like your child to have photo retakes, please email your child's teacher to let them know. Class Photos will also happen on the November 2 for all classes with the exception of the Tuesday/Thursday Kindergarten group whose class photo will be taken on November 3.

Dalhousie students will have the opportunity to participate in a 6-day dance residency at school. Sound Kreations will be coming to dance with the students on November 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22. Our students will be participating in a program called CubaNYC where a Spanish speaking instructor will focus on teaching the students hip hop and Latin street dance moves. The cost of this residency will be $7.26 per student which can be paid through your MYCBE account.  This fee is in the process of being posted and you should see it in the next couple of weeks. We are excited to get our groove on, ask your child to see the moves they learned at school.


Thursday, October 27, 2022

Tuesday October 25 and Book Fair!

Hola Parents and Guardians!


In math, we are working on increasing and decreasing number patterns. Students have to identify the way that the pattern is changing and then explain the rule that the follows; including the number that is starts with and the amount that it changes by. Students have to use addition and subtraction to complete this task. 

In science, we have started Waste in our World and we have been having some very engaging conversations around what waste is, our role with what we waste,  and looking specifically at waste in nature.

In Spanish, students were introduced to an interview assignment that they will complete with a partner. They will continue to practice their description of themselves including their physical appearance their personality, as well as hobbies and other likes and dislikes. 

In English, students have been working on completing their book work with chapter one of Fatty Legs. They have to focus on how they organize their work while responding to questions about that novel that includes summarizing, making predictions about future chapters, and working with the vocabulary. They read chapter two today. 

In social, they continue to work on natural resources in Alberta. 

In art we have been working on blending colours. 


BOOK FAIR INFO:

We will be hosting a Scholastic book fair in November, with a virtual and in-person option.  The virtual fair will be active from November 18th  – November 28th 2022 inclusive 

 

https://virtualbookfairs.scholastic.ca/pages/5184055

Students will also be able to purchase books and other items (posters/stationary etc.) in school. Like last year, we will be doing a preview for each class and then the following week students will be allowed to purchase items using CASH

THE GRADE 4 DATES: we will preview on Thursday the 17th of Nov and purchase the following Thursday, the 24th, first thing in the morning. 


DANCE RESIDENCY COMING TO DALHOUSIE!

Sound Kreations Dance

Dalhousie students will have the opportunity to participate in a 6-day dance residency at school. Sound Kreations will be coming to dance with the students on November 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22. Our students will be participating in a program called CubaNYC where a Spanish speaking instructor will focus on teaching the students hip hop and Latin street dance moves. The cost of this residency will be $7.26 per student which can be paid through your MYCBE account. We are excited to get our groove on, ask your child to see the moves they learned at school.

Monday, October 24, 2022

Parent Teacher Conferences Survey

 

During the pandemic, many pieces shifted online, including Parent Teacher Conferences.  Some families indicated that they preferred them online as it allowed flexibility in timing and attendance.  We have formal opportunities for connections with families throughout the year.  Thank you for providing feedback for the format and method delivery of our conferences.  Please note that due to logistical parameters that are not in our control, we may not be able to implement all feedback.  Thank you for providing your input.  The survey will close October 28, 2022 at 4pm.

Friday, October 21, 2022

Hola Parents and guardians.  


In math, we continue to work on patterns, we have been working with a variety of different number patterns. 

In social studies, we are talking about the natural resources of Alberta and we looked at a specific case study of Fort McMurray.

In English, we have started our first novel study! We are reading the book Fatty Legs. We will be completing a chapter a week, if all goes to plan. Students will be tasked with completing specific book work after each chapter which includes summarizing, making inferences, predictions and working with the vocabulary. 

In Spanish, we are completing our descriptions of a famous character for our classmates to guess who is speaking and yesterday we completed our day with the guided reading in Spanish. 

In science, we have wrapped up our first experiment and will be moving on to our first full unit, Waste in our World.

In Art, we are working on Colour Theory. We tried building our own colour wheel using paint, from only the primary colours (learning to mix secondary and tertiary colours). It would seem we are still working on our fine-motor control, and so this activity has moved very slowly. Today we began learning about colour  blending, using colour pencils. We will continue with this work, to learn how to choose and use colours, so make colour combinations which attract the eye. 

Please do not forget to check out our other post about Raz-Kids and other school news!

Raz Kids and School Information Update

Hola Parents and Guardians!


RazKids is back! Login information can be found on our Google Classroom. We encourage all students to use this wonderful platform to read at home in both English and Spanish. They can listen to a book be read to them, or read it independently, or both!

In class, we will be using RazKids to read books on the topics we are exploring at times, we will ask students to record themselves reading in English and Spanish, and we are also using RazKids as part of our Spanish guided reading groups.

Students have been split up into 4 groups of 7 students each, and they will work on a different station, of our 4 stations in Spanish guided reading each week. The stations are: Read to self, Read to someone, Read with the teacher, and record yourself reading an assigned book (and do the comprehension quiz that follows) on Raz Kids. As we are working hard on growing our reading comprehension. students will also have some follow-up written work to do, such as short summaries which identify the most important information in the story they read (main characters, problem, solution, etc.)


IMPORTANT UPDATES:

A reminder that Friday, October 28 is a non-instruction day with no school for all students.

Dalhousie Parent Society News

We are having a playground party on Friday, Oct 21st from 1:30-3:30 pm to explore our current playground and check out some ideas for the new playground we are hoping to build! Join us with your kiddos and ask any questions that you might have! Bring your loonies and toonies to buy a snack while you hang out!

We have launched our holiday fundraisers so you can get a jump on shopping for some goodies!

Check out our Growing Smiles Link to order gorgeous holiday floral arrangements.  Order deadline is Nov 15 and pick up is Nov 29.  Click for holiday magic!

Purdy’s Chocolates!! Need we say more? Grab some delicious treats for that special someone! Order deadline is Nov 26th and pickup is Dec 13th.  Click for yummy chocolate!  Enter customer number 61732 when you shop. 

We’ve started a 50/50 draw for the playground! All cash, winner takes half. Please consider buying some tickets to support our new playground build!! We really need your help!

Fun Lunch Contest Time

CONTEST TIME!!

Win a free fun lunch!!! Nov 15 and Dec 13, bring a reusable straw and show your fun lunch delivery person when you get your Booster Juice to be entered into the draw for a free Subway lunch on Dec 21! Good luck! CONGRATULATIONS to Pari in Room 8 who won the reusable straw contest on October 18! Thank you to everyone who participated!

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Tuesday October 18

 Hola parents and Guardians!


In math, we have moved on from creating a patterned quilt (on paper) to working with number patterns. This includes the following three types of patterns, repeating, increasing and decreasing. Students will be practicing these skills today, before we continue on with the lessons. 

In Spanish, students will be working weekly in reading groups. They have all been reintroduced to RazKids and will also rotate through reading to themselves, with a partner and with the teacher. We continue to work on describing ourselves with the verb ser and using vocab about personality traits and physical characteristics. Students have been tasked with creating a description of a famous character, written in the first person. They will have to share their clues, and we will see if we can guess who they wrote about!

In science, we are very close to wrapping up our experiment with paper airplanes. Students will finish gathering their evidence today and write a conclusion. We will be moving on to our next unit, Waste in our World, shortly.  

In social, we are continuing our work on natural resources. 

In gym, we continue to work on a variety of soccer drills. 

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Friday October 14

 Hola Parents and guardians!

Another week done! 


Fridays go by very quickly... Today we were able to go outside and work on sit spots. Students were tasked with writing a short descriptive sentence in their art sketch book about three things they saw and then also sketch it. They also did the same with two things they feel and one thing that they hear. They were able to find a quite seat in nature and and do some good independent work. 

We had time for a very brief gym class and then we came back inside for a work on work session.  After lunch we were able to work on our colour wheel for art, practicing blending colours and learning about warm and cool colours.

Please Check Google CLassroom for login information for RazKids. Students can read at home on Raz Kids in both English and Spanish, and we will be using RazKids in class as well.

We have also made Epic Books available to students, as well as Prodigy, a game for practicing Math and English concepts. Students are encouraged to use these resources with parents permission and guidance at home. 

Please see below post for general school updates. 

Happy weekend! 


School photos retakes were originally scheduled to happen on October 17 & 18 have been rescheduled to November 2 & 3.  If you would like your child to have photo retakes, please email your child's teacher to let them know. Class Photos will also happen on the same days.

Starting on Monday, October 17, 2022 we will be collecting food/non-perishable items for the Veteran’s Food Drive. There will be boxes set up at the front and back door for food drop off. At Dalhousie School, we want to support Calgarians who are less fortunate than us, and one way we are doing this is through the Veteran’s Food Drive. This drive will run until after Remembrance Day. Items that the food bank is urgent need of are the following:

  • Kleenex – tissue boxes
  • Napkins
  • Paper towel
  • 1 litre juice cartons
  • Juice boxes for lunches
  • Cereal
  • Coffee and coffee pods
  • Pancake mix
  • Laundry soap
  • Granola bars
  • Ziploc bags (medium and large)
  • Fabric softener
  • Rice packages
  • Cookies
  • Canned chili / stew
  • Mayonnaise
  • $25.00 grocery gift cards

Thank you for your support of this worthy cause.

Halloween

With Halloween coming up, students are invited to wear costumes to school on Monday, October 31.  The costumes must be worn the whole day and must be appropriate for school environment meaning no violent or inappropriate content or messaging. Accessories such as swords, guns, knives, weapons etc. should not be brought to school.  As costumes should not impede learning, we ask that no mask even if it’s a half face mask be worn to school.  Those wanting to wear COVID masks are welcome to. Due to dietary restrictions and preferences, no food should be brought to school for sharing purposes.  While well intended, other non-food treats should also be not brought to school (goodie/loot bags). 

Dalhousie Parent Society News

www.dalhousieparentsociety.com – check out our website for all this info and more!

Playground Party 

We are having a playground party on Friday, Oct 21 from 1:30pm-3:3 pm to explore our current playground and check out some ideas for the new playground we are hoping to build! Join us with your kiddos and ask any questions that you might have!

Did you know?? Our playground has already had portions removed due to safety issues. We hope to have all of those taken care of with a new playground!!

If you ordered any produce from the Indeygo Harvest Fundraiser, pickup is next week October 18 from 3-5pm

We have launched our holiday fundraisers so you can get a jump on shopping for some goodies!

Check out our Growing Smiles Link to order gorgeous holiday floral arrangements.  Order deadline is Nov 15 and pick up is Nov 29.  Click for holiday magic!

Purdy’s Chocolates!! Need we say more? Grab some delicious treats for that special someone! Order deadline is Nov 26th and pickup is Dec 13th.  Click for yummy chocolate!

Fun Lunch Contest Time

Win a free fun lunch!!! On Oct 18, Nov 15, and Dec 13, bring a reusable straw and show your fun lunch delivery person when you get your Booster Juice to be entered into the draw for a free Subway lunch on Dec 21! Good luck!

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 Hola Parents and Guardians,


Welcome Back from a short break!

In math we are working on telling the time with a 24 hour clock. We are getting close to wrapping up our work on telling time. Students are working on a final knowledge check in. There will be more time in their futures... Students should be able to tell the time on a digital and analog clock and should also be able to understand and convert to a 24 hour clock. Students are encouraged to continue to practice telling the time at home and in the car, etc! But for now, in class we will be moving to our patterns unit. 

In Spanish we worked on describing ourselves and sharing a bit about what we have in our lives, family, pets, etc. We had a review of how to use the verb gustar (to like). Today we practiced speaking about our likes. We are working towards writing a description about ourselves... coming soon!

Last Thursday, in English, teams of three were set off into the learning commons to complete a scavenger hunt about summaries. Only one team was able to find the right answer. Today we went through the answers together. After this, students were then tasked with reading a short story and writing a summary of their own. Summarizing is a big focus in grade 4 and we will be working on a lot of it. Students can be practicing this at home by sharing what they are reading and or watching.

Last week, in health we started talking about the Seven Sacred Teaching. The first teaching is about Respect and aligns with buffalo. 

In social we completed our first knowledge check-in about landforms, and we will be moving onto natural resources soon. 


Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Tuesday, October 4th, 2022

 

Today students completed the Our School Survey with questions about how they feel at school, their access to books and technology at school and a couple specific written questions about their learning and Spanish. 

In math we started looking at the 24 hour clock. Feel free to test your students at home!

In English, we continued our conversation around Truth and Reconciliation, including intergenerational trauma and the lasting impacts of residential schools. Students finished by creating a small art project. They had to trace their hands and write a promise about what they could do to help create a positive change for indigenous people and truth telling. 

In gym, we are working toward learning soccer skills and drills.

Our home reading club started yesterday. Students who are reading at grade level, or below grade level received their reading package today. The expectation is that students will read for a minimum of 15 mins per day. The duotang should be brought in every two weeks for a teacher check-in. 

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Important Updates

 

Dalhousie School News

Dalhousie students and families participated in the annual Terry Fox run this week. Donations can be made online to the Terry Fox Foundation under Dalhousie School until Monday, October 3.   Cash will also be accepted until then.  Thank you for your generosity in making this initiative such a success! 

School photos retakes will take place on take place on October 17 & 18, 2022.

There is no school on Friday, October 7 due to a non-instruction day and Monday, October 10 due to Thanksgiving.

Dalhousie Parent Society Updates

Thank you to everyone who purchased for our Apple Fundraiser! Apples will be delivered October 11 from 3pm-5pm at the school. We will need a few volunteers to help with the deliveries. 

Fun Lunch

Oct 4 – Boston Pizza (orders due Sept 29)

Oct 12 – Subway (orders due Oct 7)

Oct 18 – Opa & Booster Juice (deadline Oct 13)

Oct 26 – Fat Burger (deadline Oct 21)

Nov 1 – The Saucy Bread Company (deadline Oct 27)

If your child is going to be absent and you have ordered them a lunch, please email dalhousieschoolparentsociety@gmail.com before 11am the morning of fun lunch and let us know if you would

1.          like it sent home with a sibling

2.          You would like to pick it up

3.          Donate it to the amazing staff

*KINDER PARENTS*

Please make sure you are only ordering for the day your child is attending.

If you would like to volunteer for fun lunch, check out available spots.  

If you aren’t sure if you have clearance for volunteering, please email us and we will be able to help you out dalhousieschoolparentsociety@gmail.com

 Please look on our website www.dalhousieparentsociety.com for all info and more! 

Friday, June 16th

 A reminder to students who participated in the home reading club, all books need to be returned to the school ASAP! I will follow up with e...