Halloween Fun

We had a wonderful day today! For our Montessori Work Period students were given some special choices. In the afternoon we had our parade and a dance party with our buddies. We also played a new math game called BUMP.

Fall Family Dance Fundrasier

THIS FRIDAY, NOV 3, 6:30-8:30 pm (in the school gym) $10 per family (or $4 for individuals) Hosted by CJP Parent Association Last Call for Fall Family Dance Fundraiser Volunteers! We still have a large number of spots to fill. Please sign up here: http://signup.com/go/XdrdGDF Our bake sale is always popular. Can you donate some baked goods?  Sweet or Savory (appetizers) and nut-free/coconut-free!  Donation Opportunities ·      Cheek Painting $3 ·      Tattoos $1 (for one or two depending on tattoo) ·      Bake sale $1 or $2 (NUT FREE!) ·      Light Bracelet $3 each ·      Photo Booth $3 per picture ·      50/50 Raffle: Extra Christmas Cash! Parents only. 1 ticket for $1, 4 tickets for $3 or 10 tickets for $5. Things to note: *Just show up and pay at the door! There is no advance payment. *$10 per family (or $4 for individuals) *The dance is held in CJP school gym. *Bring your cash! Loonies, Twoonies, $5 and $10s. We only take cash!  *Please bring a water bottle or use the fountains (no beverages are sold at the dance) *We always aim to make our Family Dances low waste! *Coats can be hung in the coatroom down the “Quiet Area” hall. Outdoor shoes/boots can be left here as well. Purses and valuables should be kept with you. * Remember this is a Family Dance. This is not a “drop off” event. All children who attend must be connected to a responsible adult. You are responsible for your children at the dance. SEE YOU FRIDAY! Kristie Magnusson kristie.magnusson@icloud.com Cell 403.399.4683

Pumpkin Carving!

Today we carved pumpkins! Thank you to our parent volunteers for helping us with this awesome event! We did some drawing and writing about our experiences.



Tomorrow we will be celebrating Halloween by dressing up and participating in some Halloween Themed Activities. Everyone is welcome to dress up in their costumes (all day!) and we'll parade through the gym from 1:05 - 1:30. Parents, you're welcome to come watch the parade of costumes at this time!
Tomorrow we will also be exploring our sense of taste by tasting roasted pumpkin seeds that we carved out today.

The many faces of Room 4/5

Today we worked on self portraits, focusing on how to use guiding lines to place our features in proportion. Students were very surprised to discover that our eyes are located in the middle of our faces. We used blocks to help guide the size and spacing of our eyes and learned that the space in between our eyes is the same width as one of our eyes.  We learned how important it is to draw our lines lightly when we sketch so that we can erase and modify our work and remove our guiding lines.

Exploring Our Timelines!

We had an exciting afternoon examining our timeline pictures.  Students ordered their pictures by looking at their photos and using critical thinking skills.  Children thought about landmark events (ex. starting school) and started sorting before and after that landmark event. We then checked their work by looked at the numbers on the back of their pictures.  Different groups of students then had the opportunity to do a "museum walk", and view others' photos and ask questions about their pictures. It is amazing to see all the different experiences students have had in their lives so far!  We will begin writing about our pictures next week.

Our classes continued to examine our class pumpkins during work period.  The students in Mrs. Holman's class had a variety of estimates for the number of seeds inside this pumpkin.  If you are carving a pumpkin at home, you may want to estimate the number of seeds and then count them to find out the difference.  We are excited to carve our pumpkins on Monday!

Requests

Mirrors

We are doing some drawing of our selves over the next few days. It would be very helpful if we could have some small mirrors so we can look at our selves as we draw. If you have a small mirror that you are able to lend us for a few days please mark it with your child's name and send it in tomorrow. 

This is a locker mirror that I purchased from the dollar store.

Today's Assembly

Terry Fox Fundraising Results

Our school raised over $2000 for the Terry Fox Foundation. To celebrate 2 teachers got a whip cream pie in the face. Mrs. Lavoie (our resource teacher) and Ms. Sharpe (our Assistant Principal) each got pied by Dr. Bettesworth (our Principal).

Ms. Sharpe

Thanks to all the parent donations we're now working through some exploration and discovery activities with the pumpkins!

Volleyball

HITT Volleyball

HITT Volleyball came to our school this week to work with each class for 45 minutes. Today we worked with Diane to learn some basics of volleyball. She taught us how to do an underhand pass (bump), an overhand pass/setting the ball (volley), and how to spike the ball. We will continue to practice our volleyball skills over the next few weeks. 

Diane our instructor

School Updates

Crazy Hair Day

Thursday October 24th is our October Spirit Day. Students and staff are encouraged to come to school sporting a CRAZY hair-style. Feel free to be as creative as your child desires provided that they are still able to participate in regular classroom activities. We look forward to seeing everyone’s crazy hair at our assembly that day.

We Scare Hunger

Our school is collecting food items for our We Scare Hunger campaign.  Students are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items to the school. All items will be donated to the Calgary Food Bank. The Calgary Food Bank also excepts donations of books.

The Third Great Lesson: Humans Come To Earth

Besides our Montessori Work Period, an important part of the Montessori Program is listening to The Great Stories. Today the students explored the Third Great Lesson: Humans Come To Earth, and learned about how humans met their needs long ago. Students also watched a short video about cave paintings, and represented their understanding through their own "cave paintings" made with charcoal. The children enjoyed practising smudging techniques with the charcoal.  It was a little messy, but a lot of fun! 

The students also explored sorting in math today. Have a look at home how things are sorted and organized in your home. 

Montessori Work Period

Students use a variety of materials during the Montessori Work Period. Each morning they complete Word Work, Language material, Math choice, writing, home reading exchange, and Learning Journal work. On Wednesdays students also go to the library to exchange their books.

Above is an extension activity using the Montessori 100 Board completed by two Grade 2 students.

Timeline Picutres

Today Mrs. Halsall shared pictures for her timeline. Don't forget to send in your 6 pictures so we can start creating our timeline next week!

Applesauce

We had a great time making the applesauce. Students really liked using the machine that peels, cores, and slices apples as they turn the hand crank.

Applesauce

Ingredients:

·      Apples (10)

·      Boiling water (1/2 cup)

·      Cinnamon (to taste)

·      Brown sugar or honey (to taste)

Directions:

1.     Boil water and place in crockpot

2.    Peel and core the apples

3.    Slice apples in thin pieces

4.    Put apples in pot

5.    Put cinnamon and sugar in with apples

6.    Cook until apples are soft

7.    Mash apples with a potato masher

8.    Eat the applesauce

Using Our Sense of Touch

Yesterday we used our sense of touch to make observations.  Students explored  textures by making rubbings with different objects, looked at braille books and touched and matched objects without using our sight.  This student is sketching a mystery object in a "Feel and Draw" bag. 

Scoops and Balls

In gym we have been working with scoops and balls. We have practiced three different ways to scoop and ball. Today we practiced tossing a ball to a partner using the scoops.

Please send in a small apple, a container, and a spoon on Friday for our applesauce cooking.

Sense of Smell!

Today students used their sense of smell to identify unknown smells. They made predictions and then recorded their observations after the smells were revealed!

Sense of Sight

 

We explored our sense of sight. We used iPads to take close up pictures of everyday objects. We then showed our buddies the picture and they had to use their sense of sight to guess what the image was.

A very important notice went home, outlining our Personal Timeline project. It's very important that you read the information and send in 6 pictures so students can create a timeline in class. If you have questions about this, please talk to your child's teacher!

Exploring Our Sense of Sound

After listening to a couple a books about sound, the students used their sense of hearing to predict what types of objects were hidden in our "mystery eggs".  Thinking like scientists, students made predictions and recorded their observations.  We needed to show cooperation with our table partners, hold our eggs in a way that wouldn't muffle the sounds and use lots of concentration listening! 

Children made great observations like:

"I hear soft things."

"I think there are many things in this one."

"I think the objects in this one are small and hard."

"This one is similar to the one with rocks."

Turkey Finger Puppets

 

Students created turkey finger puppets this afternoon. All of the turkeys were unique. Many students did not complete their puppets so they will finish them on Thursday during the work period and take them home tomorrow.

Repeating Patterns

 

This Afternoon in Math we reviewed our anchor chart on repeating patterns. We then used a variety of materials to create and extend patterns.
Ask your child about the following terms:

• Pattern Core (the part of the pattern that repeats)
• Attributes (part of the pattern that can change
• Size
• Shape
• Direction
• Colour
• Extending a pattern (adding to it)

Writing Rubric

Today we looked at our writing and how we can make it better. Students were placed in 2 groups to create writing rubrics for 1*, 2*, 3*, and 4* work. Students will use this rubric to see how they can improve their interview writing skill. In November, students will help create the rubric that we will use for report cards.