Reminder: HOMEWORK due Monday: Bring a photo of myself on the land

Reminder: You have homework due Monday. 

Check our previous blog post for more information (click here). 

Ticket to Curlew Novel Study

This week, we started a class read aloud called Ticket to Curlew by Celia Barker Lottridge. It is a story about a boy named Sam who's eleven years old who comes to Curlew, Alberta with his family in 1915. This story describes the European settler experience of arriving on "empty" land and starting to build a homestead. 

This novel study relates to both Language Arts and Social Studies. Students each have their own copy of the book. We practice reading aloud for the class, one paragraph each, paraphrasing in our own words, adding expression to our voices, examining traits of fiction books such as quotation marks, "time passed" symbols, etc. We are also keeping track of Social Studies vocabulary words and their meanings, like "satchel," "compass," and "horizon." After each chapter, we discuss the story, ask questions, make predictions, summarize information, and answer a few short comprehension questions. We will also be discussing connections between the book and our previous learning of the land and history of Alberta.

You can support your child at home by asking them what's happening so far in the story. The ability to summarize and retell is an important quality of a good reader. Prompt them to see if they have any questions or predictions.

Minecraft Challenge Sharing

Collaborating in Minecraft

This week, we finished up our Minecraft projects for the City of Calgary Level Up Challenge! Students worked alone or with a partner to build something that honours the Indigenous history and importance of the land where Fort Calgary stands. To see more details about the purpose of this activity, click here. 

Shots of our planning sheets and explanations

Here are some pictures of us building in Minecraft:

Helping out our teammates

One partner building and one script-writing

Students presented their designs to the class and we voted on our favourite. The top four teams were submitted to the Minecraft Committee (Ms Elder, Mr Turner, Ms Lacour). The Committee chose the winner using the rubric the city provided. The winning team from our class was M and V! Congrats!!! Here is a picture of their design: 

We also visited Fort Calgary on Thursday on a Community Walk. We took part in the IndigiTrail, which is a series of trivia questions to show what we know about the Indigenous history of this area, and help us learn more. Students really enjoyed this interactive tool and touring the grounds in small groups. We had a debriefing after the trivia where we shared the answers we knew (like, Why is Fort Calgary located in this area? and What are the four Nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy? and How do you say 'hello' in the Treaty 7 languages? and What do the Blackfoot people call Calgary?). We also shared new learning. 

The Treaty 7 trivia trail is available through the IndigiTrail app. I'd highly recommend visiting the Fort and doing it as a family. For details, click here. 

While there, we saw a new installation next to the statue of MacLeod, which honours the Indigenous history of this place. Click here to read the article we read in class. We had a very powerful conversation about why these new signs are important. Try talking with your child about this. 

Visiting the Col MacLeod statue

HOMEWORK: Prepare for Division Test

Hi Students,

This is a friendly remind that you have a Division Quiz on: Tuesday, April 25. 

On the quiz, you may be asked to: 

• Represent a division equation using a picture/array/Base Ten blocks
• Write a division equation to match a given picture/array/Base Ten blocks
• Solve division equations up to 2-digit by 1-digit using strategies, such as "Grouping Based On What You Know", or the "Expanded Algorithm" 
• Solve a Division word problem in pictures, numbers, and words (a sentence answer)

If you would like to practice, you are encouraged to go on to Mathletics and complete the following assignments: 

• Division Strategies (by 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s)
• Multiply & Divide (Related Facts 2, Fact Families)

If you have any question, please ask Ms Lacour.

From, 

Ms Elder and Ms Lacour

The "Grouping Using What You Know" strategy

Since this strategy is unfamiliar to many parents, I am going to describe it here using the language we used in class: 

1. Think about the problem. An example of what 48 / 4 means is that you have 48 of something, and you are sharing that out equally between 4 people.
2. Draw circles or stick people to represent the number of the divisor (4).
3. Use a number you can skip count by easily (like, 10, 5, 2...). Share out the same amount to each person/group. For example, in the picture, the student started by giving each person 3. 
4. Calculate how many you just gave out in total (3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12).
5. Subtract 12 from your dividend to see how much you have left to give (48-12 = 36).
6. Do steps 3 & 4 again until you have shared out all that you have. 
7. Count up how many you have in one of the groups. This is your quotient (answer). 

HOMEWORK: Prepare for Science Test

Hi Students,

This is a friendly reminder that you will have a Science Test on Light and Shadows on Monday, April 24.

You may be asked to: 

• Give ways that you can protect your eyes from the sun
• Identify sources of light
• Identify objects that are transparent, translucent, and opaque
• Explain how shadows change when the light source moves
• Identify reflected materials and explain what reflection means
• Identify reflected materials and explain what refraction means
• Explain how we see colours

If you feel that you need extra practice at home, you are encouraged to check the Google Classroom and read through the Light and Shadows lessons and/or watch the videos. There is a video posted in each Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese with some of the concepts. 

If you have any questions, please ask Ms Lacour. 

From, 

Ms Elder and Ms Lacour

HOMEWORK: Bring in a photograph for Art by May 1

Students, this is a friendly reminder that you need to find a photograph of yourself at a place in nature that is special to you. 

The place must be outside, in nature and it must be in Alberta. 

You need to be in the photo but it's ok if we can't see your face (like a picture of your back). It is ok if there are other people in the photo. 

Photographs need to be brought in to the school by Monday, May 1.

Here are some examples: