Thursday, April 23, 2026

 Upcoming Dates

April 24                                     Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

April 29                                     Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

May 6                                       Grade 3 and 4 Students visit McKenzie Highlands

May 7                                       Grade 3 Field Trip to Calgary Philharmonic

May 12                                     Class Photo Day

May 14                                     Kindergarten Open House for 2026/27 Students - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

May 15                                     Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

May 18                                     Victoria Day - NO SCHOOL

May 19-21                                Grade 3 and 4 Swimming Lessons at YMCA Seton

May 26-28                                Grade 3 and 4 Swimming lessons at YMCA Seton

May 27                                     Fun Lunch - Subway

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***The recommended areas to focus on with your child at home have been moved to the bottom of the page. 

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Literacy:

- We have continued reading the Wild Robot, and each day we focus on 2 new vocabulary words from the story and complete tasks in our novel study journals. These tasks allow us to identify definitions of the words used in different contexts, and identify synonyms and antonyms of the new vocabulary words.  

- Throughout the week, we have been working on typing our stories onto a word document. If a student finished typing their story before the rest of the class, they practiced summarizing their story using the SWBST (somebody wanted but so then) method. They made a slide deck for their story summarization, and if they finished that, they got to do independent animal research on national geographic kids. The research pages that they made got added to a folder that students can read through during quiet reading time. 

Math:

- We completed our measurement unit on Monday with a unit check in, and then began our geometry unit by learning about polygons. We identified the 3 requirements for a shape to be considered a polygon, and then learned the names of the polygons based on the number of sides that they have. We practiced sorting polygons based on geometric properties (ex. 5 or less sides vs. 5+ sides, odd vs even number of sides, etc.).

- With the dress rehearsals on Thursday, we did something different for our math block, and learned how to solve logic/number puzzles, such as suduko. We started with a 4x4 suduko, some groups made it to the 6x6, and one group made it to the 9x9!

Science/Social:

- We started our Living Systems unit last week by reading the book, Don't Trust Fish. This week we took a closer look at predator vs. prey relationships, and we played a game from the Smithsonian's website that allowed the class to work in pairs on a computer, one player was a bat, the other was a frog. Using the same computer, each student attempted to accomplish their goal before the other. The bat was trying to fly through the jungle, using echolocation to catch bugs while also trying to find the frog and eat it. The frogs job, was to find water, repeatedly use their mating call to find a mate, and they had to do this before the bat could find them and eat them. The class had a lot of fun with this game, and we plan on playing it with Mrs. Coleman's class in the coming weeks. 

- We learned about Alberta's coat of arms, and discussed how each symbols represents something about our province. We then discussed how some families have their own coat of arms or family crest, and I let them know that we will be designing our own family crests next week. Their job over the weekend is to think of 3 animals to represent their family, 4 symbols, 2-3 colours, and a family moto. 

Art:

- We made butterfly reflections! On one side of the paper, they drew a butterfly and coloured it in with pencil crayon. On the other side, they had to recreate their butterfly using cut up pieces of colourful paper. 

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Recommended areas to focus on at home to help your child:

- Reading every night:

• focusing on fluency (can they read without stopping to sound out each word),  
• expression (changing their tone of voice to match the punctuation and dialogue of characters), and 
• comprehension (ask your child questions about the story while they read or after they finish). 
• Have them answer inferencing questions that make them think about how the character feels or how their actions impact others to help them expand their understanding. 

- Math

• addition and subtraction, both with and without regrouping (this could be practiced using worksheets or card games like addition or subtraction war)
• skip counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s (a great activity to practice this is by counting coins)
• Reading time on an analog clock. 
• Place Value: expanded form, written form, standard form, and block form 
• 3 digit Addition and Subtraction with regrouping 
• 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, 100 less: Write down a set of numbers and have your child calculate what the number would be if you were to have 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, or 100 less. 
• Skip counting by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, and 25s
• Counting money (especially coins) is a great way to practice skip counting. 
• Adding and Subtracting decimals
• using money to pay for items, whether in a store or pretending at home is a great way for kids to practice adding and subtracting decimals in a hands on, practical way. 
• Multiplication and Division facts 

- Writing:

• spelling (you could also practice this skill playing games like 'Horse' using a basketball, net, and choosing different words to spell). 
• printing mechanics (are the letters legible, is their a clear size difference with capital and lowercase letters, are their spaces between the words)
• punctuation and capitalization 
• Using nouns, adjectives, and verbs within their writing
• Opinion writing: have your child tell you their opinions on things either in verbal or written form, but have them give at least 3 reasons why they have that opinion, and have them further explain each reason as well. 
• Persuasive writing: have your child write about something they want, and ask them to give at least three reasons why they should get it, and have them add lots of detail to their writing. 
• Writing letters, focusing on formatting and expanding ideas.