Adventures With Mrs. Craig

 This morning we started with morning math. They worked on double digit by single digit multiplication. I have sent them home with their basic facts quiz. They only have 4 minutes to complete this quiz every month. For some, this can be really difficult to solve them on the spot! I asked them to practice and memorize these facts at home. They can use a timer if they wish. This is the only type of math I do that is timed.  We also worked on shading fractions today.  In the afternoon we finished our movie 'Wall-e'.  To end the day they learned about waste disposal. Some key words they learned were: waste management, waste disposal sites, sanitary landfill, and landfill sites.  Spelling words Red: glad, give, just, job, dig Blue: measuring, season, fraction, safety, picnic Green: librarian, introduction, developed, opponent, athletic 

     We started the movie "Wall-e" today after earning a full rock jar for excellent attitudes. We will continue the movie on Monday. Feel free to bring popcorn if you wish. No stuffies on Monday, since we did that today.         We had a great time creating maps of Alberta, using water colour. We showed our understanding of the different regions by separating each with a different colour. We hope enjoy the pictures.      During the assembly today we showed off our classroom book. "If I have a Dream, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

 We started our day with doing some writing around pink shirt day. We had some great conversations today around bullies and how they are often coming to school with an 'empty bucket.' We realize that we do not have any bullies in our classroom, but to always tell someone you trust when you see hurtful behaviour.  In Math today we started learning about fractions. They completed some math work around this and all did a great job! They learned that a fraction shows a part of a whole. Ask them to show you a fraction with the numerator and denominator expressed.  At the end of the day we gave each other compliments on a pink sheet. These are coming home and hopefully can go up somewhere in the house! This is a reminder of how awesome each of them are. How we treat others is a direct reflection of how we feel about ourselves.

 Today is "two's day!" Tuesday, 02, 22, 2022. Each student created their own posters that represented these numbers. I have sent them home today, and they are excited to have this conversation with their family.  This morning most of them finished their cabin stories. Some students enjoyed reading them to the class. I will be showing these at teacher conferences.  In Science today, we made diagrams in our science notebooks on the ecosystem.  In the afternoon we did a book review. They decided on the book they would use. They looked for text features such as: table of contents, heading, photographs, illustrations, diagrams, labels and glossary.  We made a class poster about our families. I loved learning about all of their siblings and animals too!  Spelling words Red: try, cry, warm, cold, chill Blue: herself, himself, themselves, building, different Green: declarative, narrative, statement, suggestion, permanent  Tomorrow is pink shirt day to raise awareness of anti-bull

 Today we learned about how to write a simple paragraph. We learned that it is just like a hamburger! The top bun is the topic sentence, the lettuce, tomato and burger are the reasons and supporting detail. Lastly, the conclusion sentence in the bottom bun. Everyone was able to write a paragraph with following this plan. Ask your child to write a paragraph for you!  In math, they are all working hard to complete double digit by one digit multiplication equations. They could practice 5 questions at home each day to help gain this skill!  In Science today they learned that soil is alive! There is a whole world of living creatures that live beneath our feet! They also read and answered questions about how soil supports living things.  For Black History month, we learned about Wilma Rudolph! Ask your child who she is and all she accomplished. We also learned about  Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s 1968 US national anthem protest. You can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

We had a fun and busy day! We learned all about why our heart pumps blood and how we can care for this important organ. They made a book following a 'mystery Doug' video. Please check in their backpack and they can explain it to you. They learned how to count their heart beat and how it goes faster when they are doing exercise. We went for a walk to get our hearts going.  They created a heart mosaic. Some students are not quite done but can finish tomorrow.  We do not have spelling words this week.  Thursday and Friday- no school.  Monday the 21st - no school (family day). 

 We had a very busy, productive Wednesday! Here are some picture of what we have been doing in our classroom.  Social Studies - learning about fact versus opinion. We learned about parks in Alberta and decided if sentences were fact or opinion. They also made their example of each (see below).  Math - We have been learning how to find the area and perimeter of shapes that are NOT squares and rectangles..very tricky! Ask your child to show you at home. They played a game today that is similar to battle ship. They had to follow the coordinates on a grid and the calculate the area and perimeter. The person with the highest number wins! Science - Learned about the ecosystem by writing vocabulary and organizing a chart.  Today we learned about the amazing Rosa Parks! Ask your child about her story..or you could listen together.  PREVIEW 10:40 Rosa Parks Story for Kids YouTube  · Bedtime History Jun 8, 2021 

February is Black History month. We have been listening and learning from the stories of brave people in history and today. Today we learned about the incredible story of Ruby Bridges!  "At the tender age of six, Ruby Bridges advanced the cause of civil rights in November 1960 when she became  the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South . ... the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, which ended racial segregation in public schools." The students and I loved hearing about this brave little girl and felt inspired by her story. Ruby Bridges is now 67 years old and continues to make a difference in the world. 

Today in science they learned about producers, consumers and decomposers. Ask your child what the difference is between all of them. They read a science article about them and answered questions in pairs.  We had silent writing time today. They were allowed to write about anything they wanted! Some students wrote 4 pages!  Spelling words: Red: care, share, friend, work, goal Blue: stories, friendships, honesty, object, material Green: consumer, producer, decomposer, appreciate, conquer  No school February 17-21 (teacher's convention).  Classes will resume on February 22.

Parents – just a reminder that our  patrollers  are on duty each morning in rain, snow, and fine weather (We do not patrol on blue days).  Could you please wait until they call, ‘Point, double-check, and proceed,’ before making your way  between  the pylons and safely across the street.       Patroller schedules were sent home today! Please ensure your children are familiar with their day and time. We are only doing morning patrols for now. Please arrive at 7:45 am, get ready, be on the crosswalk with your team at 7:50 am. Shifts end just after 8:00 then students will head to class. Subs should also be on time in case they are needed!     Please also be aware of our parking guidelines.   They are:   -no parking for any length of time in the bus zone!    -no parking within 5 metres of a stop sign or cross walk or corner of 2 streets (Tell them they should be able to take 5 large steps between their vehicle and any of these)    -stay out of the staff parking lot     Thank you as well to

 We had a fun, messy art project today: creating the solar system with acrylic paint using carrots! I will upload our final pieces as we add the rings on Monday. 

Yesterday was ground hog day! We got to solve the mystery together: the missing groundhog of Beddington Heights!    Students worked in small groups to decode clues based on math concepts such as adding, multiplication, rounding, fractions, and division.  We solved the mystery! We also learned about the history of ground hog day. We were surprised to learn that people have been celebrating it since the 1800's! In Science we have been learning about the different types of waste made by humans. We learned about liquid waste, solid waste, recyclable waste and hazardous waste. They are each making booklets based on 'ways to help the environment' during mindfulness. We listened to an indigenous story: The Fisher Story by Isaac Murdoch. Today in math we learned about double digit by 1 digit multiplication. Most of them understood this new concept.  Here are some classroom photos. 

 This morning we started with 'morning math' and worked with the numbers 87 and/or 423. They had to add to the number 5 times, subtract 5 times, skip count and expand the number.  In our morning sharing circle I asked the question, "what would you like to learn about?" They had some awesome ideas! Many of them want to learn more about space.  In Science we learned about the cleanest cities in the world! We were so proud to see Calgary on the list! Afterwards, we wrote about 5 different points that made a city be considered 'clean.' Ask your child what they wrote about.  In Math, they created their own question and bar graph. They collected data by asking their peers the question and making the bar graph.  In Social Studies today they started to present their region to the class. They used their posters and clear, loud voices. We decided that today was the 'practice presentations' and we are going to do them again tomorrow. We gave each group some stars