Today a notice was sent home with the students regarding an internal practice lockdown tomorrow (Tuesday).

Also, parent teacher conferences are this Thursday evening, and Friday morning!  Please make sure you schedule a conference time to discuss your child's learning.  You can schedule a conference through the link below:

http://webapps.cbe.ab.ca/myaccount/Account/LogOn


Today we were very lucky to have a presentation from Kananaskis in the Classroom.  We had a wonderful drama and song presentation which taught us all about the jobs of red and carpenter ants in the ecosystem. The students learned about the various stages of an ants life, their jobs and purposes, and the symbiosis (working relationship) between ants and other insect species.  It was very informative!

 

The Fairy Ant Mother, and Pupa, describing the Ant Life Cycle 

Learning how Ants defend from predators like wasps....we
even had help from a couple of teachers! 

Defending against the wasp!

Learning about Symbiosis - the working relationship between ants
and other insects such as aphids or caterpillars 

The Queen Ant and male ants

Holidays and Celebrations Around the World

Reminder:  Please make sure you fill out the form on your child's ancestry/origin and return by Monday, November 30th! 

This morning, we broke into groups to learn about different celebrations and holidays around the World.  I asked that students pick a holiday that they themselves do not celebrate, so that they could learn about something new! The students read through their books, became experts about their holiday, and then prepared a small presentation on their celebration/festival.  Each group got to present theirs to the class, and answer questions.  Everyone did an excellent job on this!

At home, ask your child to tell you about "their" holiday/celebration!

These are the holidays and celebrations we learned about:

-Cinco de Mayo 
-Chinese New Year
-Kwanzaa
-Diwali
-Hanukkah
-Christmas
-Ramadan and Id-ul-Fitr

Learning about Chinese New Years

             

Learning about Diwali

Learning about Christmas

Learning about Hanukkah

Learning about Kwanzaa

Learning about Ramadan and Id-ul-Fitr

Art in Room 1!

On our field trip to Fort Calgary, we learned about using shapes to draw and capture action and movement. For this art project, we had various classmates pose in action, and then drew them using the shapes you see in the middle of their artwork. Then we drew small lines around our shape using different colours, until we filled up the page. This makes our movement stand out! 

Communities in the World

The students are learning about Communities in the World for Social Studies.  We have created a map wall in the classroom, and are charting our family backgrounds to discover where in the world our class comes from.

The students have been asked to find out about their family backgrounds, and were sent home with a paper to fill out.  Please take a moment to discuss this with your child, and send the paper back so we chart it on our map!  If you are unsure where to start, try researching your last name to find out a potential country in your child's ancestry.

I would love to have every child's ancestry charted out on our map wall by Friday! The class is very excited about this project! Today we got started mapping out those who returned their forms, take a look at what we have so far!

HAT DAY!

Wednesday November 25 is Hat Day at school! Students can choose to wear a hat during school.  If the hats have writing on them, please ensure it is appropriate for school.

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

Today was our field trip to the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's program "Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and Friends"!

The students had a wonderful time, and really enjoyed listening to and watching all the different musical instruments. Ask them what their favourite instrument was!

Constable Scott visits the classroom!

Sorry for the missed blog post yesterday!

This week, Constable Scott came into our class to talk to the students about the S4 Program - "Start Smart, Stay Safe".

He taught the students about being safe, and talked about how he keeps himself and others safe on the job.  His two most important tools to keep himself and others safe were his heart, and his brain. He read them a story that said it was ok to feel, but not ok to do - its ok to be angry, but not ok to act on it.

Constable Scott told the children about the emotional scale, starting at 1 - calm, and going up to 5 - out of control. He helped the students strategize different ways to stop and calm themselves back down to a level 1, before they get to a level 4 or 5.
The class enjoyed listening to Constable Scott, and creating their own emotional scale at the end of the presentation.

                                                 Creating our own Emotional Scales!

Field Trip to Fort Calgary

The Grade 2/3 class had a great time on our field trip to Fort Calgary on Monday!

In the morning, we learned various sketching techniques, and practiced our newly learned techniques, drawing items around the museum.

In the afternoon, they worked with a 3-D topographical map to learn about Fort Calgary's history!  They even got to dress up in costumes from Fort Calgary times!

Trying out some old-fashioned toys!

 

Just a reminder, if you haven't done so already, please make sure you return you child's permission form for Thursday's field trip to the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra!

Parents, Call the office and say the word," gentle" and give your child's name! (403) 777-6000

Please click here to visit the November Newsletter: 

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b239/publications/newsletters/2015-2016/November%20Newsletter.pdf

This is where we share some of the learning from each classroom. This is also where we share key information about changes in the school. Please take a moment and reach the full newsletter if you haven't done so already.

Important Notice coming home: Mrs. Rohrbacher will be teaching in Room 1 until further notice. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Traquair at sjtraquair@cbe.ab.ca or call her at 403-777-6000.

Mrs. Rohrbacher will be updating the blog in the upcoming week. Until then, feel free to visit the other classroom blogs by visiting www.vistaheightsschool.blogspot.ca

Thank you for your patience :)

 Our Remembrance Day assembly will be

 tomorrow, November 10th, at 10:30

Donations for poppies will be accepted tomorrow 

Everyone is welcome

Students who are Beavers or Brownies may wear their uniforms

Please note that students do not attend school on November 11th

 Today, your child will bring home the Consent and Acknowledgement of Risk forms 

for an opportunity to attend a program by the 

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

next week on November 19th

Please read the accompanying information about this trip, 

and promptly complete and return the forms

If you are interested in purchasing your child's set of photos, 

please place your order in the next few days

Thank you