Adventures With Mrs. Craig

 This has been a very different year of teaching, but with this group it has been one of my favourites! Thank you so much to my kids for being so happy and positive everyday! I am so lucky to have each of you to spend my days with.  Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts! We had a ton of fun today on the last day of classes for 2020!  I hope you have a wonderful break and make some beautiful memories with your families. 

https://youtu.be/EaKsxZemVz8

 This is our last week before winter break. Friday is a P.D day so our last day with students is on Thursday.  We will have no spelling words this week.  This morning we did some writing around "Frosty the Snowman." What they noticed and would change about the story and how the detail in the movie was very different (1969)! I showed them an image of hundreds of boxes. They had to write down what they: think, wonder and notice. We then did our sharing circle with our thoughts and guesses. They also told the class was zone they were in today.  In the afternoon they went on Mathletics and then finished up their 6 region's mini posters.  I am away tomorrow and have a substitute teacher. 

 We had a wonderful Friday together. They completed a survey online about how they feel about reading. Afterwards, they went on Mathletics or typing.com Yesterday they had a pop Math quiz on everything we have learned up to this point.  We have been working on creating 6 different fact mini posters of Alberta's 6 regions. Ask your child what this looks like and what the regions are.  We continued working on our secret project today!  Please look over your child's spelling test.  I can't believe next week is our last week before winter break! Thank you to those parents who got back to me (email). Please let me know, as we are close to the 4 days of online learning.  Have a wonderful weekend! 

 We learned about a Science word today - "Classifying." Ask your child what it means and how Scientists use it to organize information and data. They read an article in pairs called "Life Science Stories" and answered multiplication questions on the back.  They have been excited every morning to see where Elfie John is. This has been a great way to get them excited about journaling. The weird thing is, Elfie didn't move for 2 days!  We did a guided drawing of a reindeer the other day. We used water colour to complete them. Afterwards, they created stories called "The Little Book of a Reindeer named ________." Ask your child what their book is about.  I sent out a school messenger today regarding online schooling for the 4 days in January. Please reply back to me so I know how to organize those days. I will be sending home cards again with all of their login information. I will do this next week.  We worked on secret projects today that included clay! T...

 We had an important conversation today about the email sent out last night. Please continue this important conversation at home: mask safety, social distancing and staying with their cohort. I am so proud of how our school has been following these guidelines so far.  In the afternoon we had our first 'sharing circle.' We sat in a circle and each went around and explained how they are overall feeling. I was so impressed with how well they were able to express themselves, especially in front of their peers. Ask your child what they said.  In Math we were given 2D and 3D shapes 'cheat sheet.' We examined these and tried to memorize them.  In Science, most of them have completed their animal research project. They had to choose from an amphibian, bird, fish, insect, reptile or mammal. Ask your child what animal they decided on and what they learned.  Today we talked, in depth, about what a mammal is. We then created a classroom poster together.  Spelling words...

 This morning we made posters and learned and relearned the "Zones of Regulation.' They worked in small groups to add detail to each poster about how they react and self regulate for each of the zones. We feel lucky to have such a calm group of students to spend our days with! We also realize that we are all human, and sometimes we get into the red zone. Ask your child how they self regulate when this happens.  In Math we learned about 2-D and 3-D shapes. We counted sides, vertices and edges and logged these in our Math books.  They helped me alphabetize our word wall word. They asked for this dictionary posted to help them with high frequency words.  Your child is coming home with a recipe card. Please help them print a holiday joke on the card. We will be reading these every day of December.  In the afternoon we watched 'Inside Out' to go along with the 'Zones of Regulation.' In the afternoon we also had a fire drill practice.  We had a great day! See you...

 This morning we found an elf hanging from the ceiling! We will be journaling about where he came from, how he got there, what is plan is..etc...daily! We did a class vote and decided his name will be Elfie John.  We are doing a count down for the holidays! They made trees with neatly printing the numbers 1-25. We can't believe there are only 12 more school days until the break!  A month ago your child came home with a green card that had all of his information for online learning. Please make sure you have this. Ask your child to login to his Google Classroom for you, as well as Raz Kids and Mathletics. If you have any issues, please let me know and I will send you the information. In math we practiced skip counting for multiplication. They had to go through mazes in order to do so.  In Social Studies we learned about the Canadian Shield Region. To learn this information we talked about the benefits of Non-Fiction text. I showed them the index and glossary. They wer...

 This afternoon we painted winter trees! We can't wait to replace the Fall trees with these.  We have been working hard on showing kindness in our classroom. This year we spend much more time together as a class and sometimes/all the time it will take patience and understanding. Today we created a kindness door in our classroom. Each student decorated an envelope. At the end of each day we will give a compliment to one student and place it in their envelope. They will take these home so ask to see them! Tomorrow we will finally do our contraction spelling words test! 

 In Science we are starting a new unit, Animal Life Cycles. Yesterday we talked about the different 'super powers' animals have to protect themselves. They then completed a journal entry titled "If I were An Animal..." Ask your child what animal they wrote about and why.  They completed a 3 part flap book based off of a fairytale. It included: first, next, last. There were clear characters, setting and a problem. We also talked about how readers need visuals from either pictures of descriptive words. We listened and read together the poem "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" for a great example of visualization in text.  We continue to learn Multiplication through drawing arrays. Today they completed a booklet that had cutting and pasting different arrays in categories of multiplying.  Our Pillars of Care this month was Respect. We went over the meaning of Respect. We made a poster together of what respect is and what it is not.  In Social Studies we talked about what ...

 This week we will continue with the same contraction spelling words as last week.  In Social Studies we read about "Alberta's Fossil Heritage." They learned that fossils are remains of the past. They give us hints about what Alberta was like millions of years ago.  In Language Arts we started our 3 part stories. Ask your child what their story is about and what problem they decided on. They are making flip books with their ideas.  We are continuing with multiplication strategies in Math. Today they worked on showing a diagram, addition sentence, grouping and the multiplication sentence.  I really enjoyed speaking to all of the parents. If you were unable to connect with me, please send me an email and we can find a time that works. 

 Today they created hot air balloons out of paper! They turned out great and we are excited to hang them in our classroom. They are excited to show you this craft at home. We will be doing writing around these creations tomorrow.  Today we started a new unit in Math: Multiplication! This is my favourite one to teach. We started with understanding that Multiplication means EQUAL groupings. Our first strategy we learned was repeated addition and drawing pictures of equal groups.  For example: 2+2+2 is the same thing as 3 cookies with 2 chocolate chips in them each (2x3=6). We learned to use skip counting as a strategy: 2,4,6. We also learned a song to help us.  Have a great evening and stay warm! 

In the morning we worked in pairs and read a Fairy Tale story, each taking turns and listening to one another. After reading the story, they completed a 6 part chart. They drew pictures and wrote sentences about the different elements the story had. They worked very hard through this. Ask your child what story they read. Mrs. Craig read a South African story called "The Three Little Rhinos" and we also listened to "The True Story of The Big Bad Wolf." They are getting ready to recreate a famous tale in their own words.  In Social Studies they learned about the Rocky Mountain Region of Alberta.  Ask them:  Why do people visit this region? What animals are in this region? What are some key landforms? We looked at some majestic photographs of The Rocky Mountain Region.  In Math today, they worked with a number puzzle to solve clues. Ask them for more details and to maybe give you one to solve!  Thursday evening and Friday are parent teacher interviews (online). I l...

What are the most important "Elements of a Story'? This is what our morning discussion was based on. From this, we each created a poster as a 'cheat sheet' for the back of our journals.  It included: characters, problem, theme, setting, solution and plot. This began our discussion around Fairytales. I read them "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." We could easily find the different elements in this story.  On computers they practiced their spelling words through using 'word document.'  In the afternoon they collected data with using a dice. With this data, they created bar graphs.  What is noise pollution and how does it affect living things? We each made a K.W.L chart in our Science book. Ask your child what they learned.  We started compliments last week. Each student gives another child a compliment. They really seem to enjoy this, as they practice giving and receiving kind comments.  Spelling words- Working with contractions: Red: she's, I'm...

 In Math today we worked on skip counting and number patterns. We created mazes for different characters to work through skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's. Grade 3's worked on number formation, as I am seeing quite a few numbers not facing the right direction.  To start our morning we had 'free writing' time with quiet music playing. They were all very focused and some wrote as many as 6 pages!  To end the day, we did a guided sketch of a bearded dragon (on our birthday kid's request!)  We will be having our spelling test tomorrow. Please remember to study your words tonight!  Thank you to those people who have been sending me pictures of interesting things at home or activities. We will be sharing these photos every Friday. 

 Please go on our school website and click on 'watch video' on the right hand side. Room 13 show cased their art and read a poem. It might be a nice idea to watch this tomorrow at 1035 (in order to get the moment of silence at 11am)  https://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/BeddingtonHeights/Pages/default.aspx BHS is participating the Mayor's Annual Christmas Food Drive!  It will be beginning Nov 24th and run till Dec 11th.  We will have a donations box setup too.  Please try to help those in need by bringing in any nonperishable food items or a monetary donation.   Thank you for instilling the value of caring for others with your children and families during this holiday season.  See you Thursday!

 Today in Math we had a pop quiz! This quiz was on rounding numbers. They practiced rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. They also had to list numbers that had digits less 5 and more than 5 (in the tens place). They also worked on less than, more than and equal to with comparing hundred blocks, rods and cubes.  As a class we created a K.W.L chart (know, want to know, learned) on Remembrance Day. Ask your child what they added to our poster.  Tomorrow we will be having an in-class assembly. If possible, please wear a poppy.  Wednesday is a day off for Remembrance Day.  If your child is away, please remember to access our Google Classroom.  Spelling words:  Red: day, play, say, may, clay Blue: remember, research, text, fiction, study Green: Remembrance, mindfulness, hydration, communication, respectfulness Remember! If your child has a picture they want to share to the class, to just email it to me! Thanks Adrian, we loved seeing a picture of your new pup...

 Please have a look at your child's poem and writing assignment they completed today. Copying this poem took a lot of focus and hard work!  We did complete our spelling test today! I will hand them back on Monday.  I hope you have a great weekend! Remember Wednesday, next week, is no school for Remembrance day! 

 To start off our morning we used a writing prompt from the board "In your journal, tell me about the time you lost your first tooth." This is always fun to read and writing about, because we all seem to remember that big day! Ask your child if they could remember their story from beginning, middle to end.  In Math we worked on double digit addition and subtraction with borrowing and carrying. Subtraction with borrowing is quite tricky - ask them to show you their strategy at home.  In the afternoon we created 2 goals: a math goal and a literacy goal. For each we came up with 2 strategies to get to that goal. Afterwards, we added these to IRIS. These will be shared with you during online parent-teacher interviews.  To end the day we went on typing.com and practiced our typing skills.  See you tomorrow! How is it Friday already?!

 This morning after silent reading we went on IPADS and worked on RazKids and Mathletics. If possible, try to use these apps at home too! We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a "Walk Like a Scientist" walk. Walking like a Scientist is growing your brain by asking questions/gathering information. We listed things that were good for the environment and things that were not. We had a great class discussion about this afterwards. We noticed that a lot of things human use (such as masks) are important for our health but in the end, not very good for the environment. Ask your child what they thought about during this activity. We also talked about how humans have evolved over time and how we live affects the world (housing, electricity etc).  We learned about compounds words today. They each chose one word and made a flap book with it. Ask your child what word they decided on.  In Science we played a Jeopardy/Cross word game together. Joy was the winner! We r...

 Room 13 worked hard on their flip books, 'Me in my World.' Everyone was able to complete them and they are showcased in our classroom. I think their favourite part is the picture of them standing on Earth!  In Math today we worked on expanding numbers in thousands and comparing numbers using less than, greater than or equal to. We were given 2 step equations to solve. For example: 98+98 __ 102+3 We started a new class novel today, "My Life in a Book."  To end the day, they played a word building game in groups of 2. 

 In P.E today we started a new unit, basketball! We started with passing and remembering to look at our partner when guiding the ball towards them.  Following our new unit we played a class game for Math. In pairs, they practiced double digit addition and subtraction with borrowing and carrying. If they got their answers correct they collected a paper basketball in their hoop. Ask your child for more details.  In Language Arts they wrote about their weekend and shared with a partner. They are doing a great job with adding detail and describing events through the use of strong adjectives. Reminder, we are using the same spelling words as last week.  In Social Studies today we learned about the different continents, oceans and hemispheres. Mrs. Craig drew a diagram showing the equator.  Ask your child: Why do we get 4 seasons? Why is it opposite weather in other parts of the world (northern vs. southern hemisphere)? We started a flip book 'Me in the World.' Ask yo...

 I loved seeing everyones costumes today. We will continue with the same spelling words next week.  Please go over your child's pop math quiz with them.  Have a safe weekend! 

 Every morning we start off calmly with quiet reading. I love seeing students cozy up with a good chapter book, or read the pictures through a great story book. We are understanding that this time in the morning is silent and calm. We are doing a great job. Ask your child what book(s) they are into right now.  Today we learned that an adjective describes a noun. We relearned what a noun is. We made a poster about this together to help remember what a great sentence looks like. In our journal we drew pictures of ourselves and then a small paragraph with all of the describing words (adjectives) about themselves. Ask your child what adjectives they used to describe themselves.  Afterwards we did a guided drawing of a haunted house. Some students chose to do a garden house. Others did their own drawing free hand. Students then copied sentence starters off the board of the senses they used to express their house, or they created a short story. We used our knowledge of great ad...

 Please make sure your child takes out the green paper from their backpack. This has their gmail email and password, Raz kids and Mathletics login. All of these tools are great for sharing and continuing learning at home.  In Social Studies today we wrote down interesting facts from our Alberta text book. Afterwards, Mrs. Craig read the chapter and went over the most important points. We learned about Alberta's Natural regions: Canadian Shield, Boreal Forest, Foothills, Rocky Mountain, Parkland and Grassland. We had an interesting class conversation, "Should city grasslands be protected?" Ask your child what they were thinking.  In Math we worked on double digit addition questions with carrying. We went over different strategies and learned how to use rounding as a skill for adding.  In groups of 2 they shared their "Friendship" writing piece with one another. Many of them had great ideas on how to be a great friend or make a new one.  We learned about the meani...

 Today we logged onto laps tops! We had to have a lot of patience as we logged on and changed our passwords. We learned how to log in to our new Google classroom (grade 3/4 Beddington Heights). From now on, if your child is away, you can use their email (ask them their passwords) and go into their google classroom for class work. We will be adding new things every week. If you need help with remembering your child's email (and if they forget their passwords) please email me: lmparsons@cbe.ab.ca Yesterday in Social Studies yesterday we learned about different landforms/landscapes. They really enjoyed learning about the Blackfoot story and Big Rock.  We continue to practice rounding numbers in Math. Some students are working on looking at place value and rounding according to the question.  We logged onto Mathletics and Razkids. I will send home their user names and passwords next week.  We wrote letters to our penpals! Our penpals are a different grade 3/4 class. We w...

 Today we learned about rounding numbers to the nearest 10's. We made a rounding roller coaster together and they copied it in their math book. "4 or less, let is rest. 5 or more raise the score." Ask your child what this means. Some students worked on rounding to the nearest 100's place.  We finished up our good copies of Chanie Wenjack writing. They sketched a picture of a railroad to go along with their writing. We are really liking how they look in our hallway. Everyday we have been walking in memory of him. We are graphing our steps as we go.  In Science today we wrote down important definitions and vocabulary to remember. Such as: reuse, recycle, compost, waste, reduce and rethink.  In Social Studies we learned about Alberta in the past and how stories of people live on. We wondered what people would talk about with our generation, and what our legacy would be.  Please remember to study your spelling words for Friday. Also, document your reading at home. W...

 Ask your child who Chanie Wenjack is. We learned all about his story today and wrote about him in detail. We explained what happened to him and how it made us feel. We learned that this week is 'Secret Path Week." Secret Path Week is a national movement which occurs annually from Oct 17-22. The week was inspired by Chanie Wenjack, a victim of the residential school system.  Schools have an opportunity to become Legacy Schools and facilitate learning during this week and over the school year through stories of resilience and participating in the 'Walk for Wenjack', which raise awareness of the legacy of residential schools.  ​ For P.E this week we are walking everyday to raise awareness and count our steps. Our bulletin boards outside are classroom will be filled with our work around this, as well as some art and writing.  In Math today. We used to dice to build numbers in the ten thousands. We then pulled them apart for place value and used expanded form. ...

 Yesterday we made an important list with the guided question of "why do we read?" Each student wrote on a sticky their own reason of why they think it is important. Ask your child what they added.  We have been practicing our basic facts in math: subtraction, addition, division and multiplication. They have been working on creating their own Math problems.  It is mental health awareness week. We talked about what that meant and why it is important. In their journals they each wrote sentences/paragraphs. Their starter sentence was "When I feel happy I.....The way I show this is....." They did this with the emotions of annoyed, angry, sad and excited. After we completed our spelling test and went outside for some races (in P.E), they created beautiful Owl art pieces. I can't wait to put these up in the class!  Please go over your child's spelling test. Make sure your child is recording on their home reading sheet, all of the reading they do at home. We are ma...

 We learned about 'descriptive writing' today. They then drew a picture of a monster, and wrote, with great description, the details of their monster. In partners, they drew one another's monster based off of the writing piece. When done, they showed a picture of their actual monster. Ask your child if it matched, or did they learn they needed to add more detail? Your child has a folder with a letter from me in their backpacks today. Please go over it and start logging reading minutes every night!  In Math we worked on pictures that came with numbers. For example: pumpkin=7 Cat=9 House=12 pumpkin+pumpkin-cat= They then worked on creating their own math problems with these prompts: The answer is 12. What is the question? Tomorrow is picture day. 

 This morning we were able to choose a new library book. Ask your child what book they decided on this week.  We did some quiet writing this morning. They wrote, in the most detail possible, what they did on the long weekend. Many people ate too much turkey and spent time with family. Others, enjoyed being home and watched some movies. We shared our writing with a partner.  In Math, they worked on subtraction and word problems. They then solved addition and subtraction questions together. For example: 20+10+50-5= In Social Studies we gathered and wrote about many important facts about our province. The first question was "What are the top 3 largest cities in Alberta?" Many students named a different province or a different country. This leads me to more work on geography! We will start that tomorrow. Other facts we learned:  Top 3 Most Interesting Landmarks Three Interesting Provincial Parks Tallest Mountain Deepest Lake Longest River To end our lesson they drew the ...

 This morning we started off with making words using only the letters from 'Halloween.' We thought of almost 20 different words.  They wrote perfect sentences with their spelling test. As a class we discussed 'family words' that went along with some of the spelling words. We started with words that ended in ght. We then looked at our spelling words and spelt words that ended in _e and _at. We did a challenge: who could write a sentence using the most family words. In Math we did a pop quiz! Ask your child what they found challenging.  We worked on telling time today! Many students really understood this and can't wait to show off their new or relearned skill tonight.  We completed a bar graph together today: Room 13's Favourite Colours. Ask your child why people use this method to collect data. How did we find the answer quickly when looking at our bar graph? To end the day we watched a video about Alberta. Afterwards, we coloured a map of Alberta.  Tomorrow is ...

 Wow, did you see that rainbow this morning!? Ask your child about it and let them tell you the science behind how a rainbow is formed. We did a K (know) W (want to know) and L (learned) chart together as we learned about rainbows.  They continued working on their colour by number. Many of them finished them up and they are ready to go home (probably tomorrow).  In Math we worked on greater than and less than numbers. Some students finished early and worked on word problems such as: Mrs. Craig has 37 coloured pencil crayons. 9 of them are yellow, 8 purple and 16 blue. The rest of them are red, how many red ones does she have?  In Science we learned about landfills. We learned about the words: decompose, biodegradable and composting meant.  Ask your child:  Where does the garbage go after we put it in the bin? What does a landfill look like? What are the layers of a landfill and how does it work? In Social Studies we began to read and talk about Alberta. We ...

 We started off our morning with word work. They came up with 12 different words from the word 'spider'. They were able to cut out the letters in order to move them around.  I read them a story called "I'm New Here." Ask them how that story made them think about others and how they might feel moving to a new country.  We played a great game of soccer outside. They started off with 4 teams, ending with 2 as a final game.  They were very busy today working on their Fall poems. This is a project that they would like to keep a surprise!  In the afternoon they worked on spelling of numbers with doing cross word puzzles. They used their math books to look up different spelling.  Ask them what they are doing in music class lately.  Spelling words:  red: add, be, cat, dog, see,  Blue: ghost, school, adding, October, scared Green: honestly, organizing, Halloween, scarecrow, Thanksgiving, hibernation Friday is a PD day and Monday is a holiday for Thank...

 We had a great Friday. For P.E we went for a walk around the block and enjoyed using our senses to see the season changing. To connect with this experience, room 13 worked on a special project (which included poetry) that they will be taking home. I know they would like to keep this a surprise.  They continued to work on their 'colour by number.' These are starting to look so interesting as they worked with 'just right numbers' for themselves.  I am excited to announce that we have the option to dress up for school this year (for Halloween). We will be doing this on October 29th! I can't wait to see everyones costumes.  Please go over your child's spelling test.  Have a great weekend! 

 I am back! I sure missed my students, and I am very grateful that they all had excellent behaviour for my substitute.  We had a very busy, awesome day today! This morning we ran outside for our Terry Fox run. We each were given a sticker to print who we were running for. Ask your child who they decided to run for!  Our Math question today was "How many laps did Room 13 run altogether?" This was very tricky as we all ran a double digit number! Talia had the correct number with 398 laps! Great job!  In Science we learned about "why we recycle". Please ask your child why! We came up with a lengthy list together and wrote them down in our Science journals.  Colour by number: In Math we started a fun project! They are creating their own colour by number. Each of them had to come up with 10 math equations of their own. Tomorrow they will be working on their drawing and matching each piece with 10 different colours.  We have our spelling test tomorrow! Please stu...

 Mr. Beechey was in our class yesterday and today they had a new teacher to the school, Mrs. Holt. I will be back as soon as I can and am missing all my kid-os! Yesterday they started to talk about 'community' is Social Studies. They listed everything that makes up a community: houses, schools, grocery stores etc. They then began to construct their own community with using paper, glue and markers for labeling. They continued this project today with Mrs. Holt.  In Math, they continued to go over representing numbers in different ways. They each got a math sheet that was at their own level of learning. They worked with expanding numbers and representing their number using place value charts. For students who were done early, they were given basic fact questions to complete in their Math books.  Yesterday, they did some basic fact review of adding and subtracting double digit numbers. Mr. Beechey went over a couple of different strategies, as well as asked students what they...

 I am so sorry that we can not meet in person this year, to talk about your child's goals. I am available through email and phone, so please do not hesitate to use those alternatives (lmparsons@cbe.ab.ca).   Our grade team has made a slide show that goes over our curriculum and to what to expect for this year. Please review it on our grade team website at : https://sites.google.com/educbe.ca/grade-3and4-at-bhs-2020/home   Reminder: There is NO SCHOOL TOMORROW for students.  Daily update: Today in Math we completed 'Number Detectives.' We represented a number of our choice in many different ways.  We went on a Fall walk this morning and collected leaves that were interesting to us. We then created 2 sponge art pieces: one for home and one for school. I will send these home on Monday.  Please go over your child's spelling test with them.  Have a great weekend! 

 Often during free writing time, students have a hard time coming up with ideas to write about. As a class, we made a web of ideas that included; animals, feelings, friends, family, video games, memories, stories, celebrations...and many more. They all copied this web into their journals. This will help them look for ideas when they are unsure. They then had 30 minutes of free writing time. Please ask your child what they wrote about.  In Math today we worked on basic facts. Many grade 4 students remember division and multiplication from last year. I have some grade 3 students that also understand these concepts. Grade 3 is when we focus and teach multiplication and division as a unit. Please look over their basic fact quiz with them (in their backpacks).  Please remember that most grade 3 students have not yet learning multiplication and division, so that area is not marked. In the afternoon they worked with place value and base ten blocks to represent numbers.  We ...

This year marks the 40 th  Anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope and we are excited to share that Beddington Heights will be proudly supporting this cause.    While this year’s event might look a little different, the result remains the same; to raise funds for cancer research. Let’s all use Terry’s message of hope and strength to inspire us during these challenging times.    Each class will take part in the Terry Fox Run on Thursday, October 1st, 2020 during our scheduled Phys. Ed class.     It is our priority to maintain the safety of students and staff while supporting this wonderful cause. To help support safety measures in all schools, the Terry Fox Foundation has created an online fundraising page for our school as well as provide classroom/individual “Terry” activities. Here are some of the ways you can support your child for this year’s Terry Fox event:    1 )Donate online at:    http://www.terryfox.ca/BeddingtonH...

 In Math today we folded a piece of paper in half 3 times. We ended up with 8 squares. Within those squares they represented a 2, 3 or 4 digit number 8 different ways. They were able to decide on the number they were going to work with, after showing the teacher. Some of them need to finish their Math work tonight (and if not, please bring it back tomorrow morning to complete).  In the boxes they need to show their number in the following ways:  odd or even words base ten expanded form one less and one more 5 ways to add to your number 5 ways to subtract to your number tally mark or skip count to your number I sent this home for homework because many students needed reminders to stay on task for this.  In Science today, we watched the Bill Nye video "Garbage" while completing 12 questions that we followed along with. Ask  your child what they learned from this video.   At the end of the day we were given a work booklet on Canada. We completed the cover...

 In Math we worked on skip counting backwards and forwards. We completed ones that are familiar to as such as; skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's. We then completed challenging patters such as; 10, 13, 10, 16, 10, 19. Another challenging pattern was, "skip count backwards starting at 99 until you get to a single digit number." At home for an extra challenge, make a pattern that someone else has to finish - try to make it really tricky.  In Science we started a new unit "Waste in Our World." In their Science booklet we created our first title page with words and sentenced such as: recycling, compost, wasting water and food, plastic in the ocean, garbage...ask your child what they added to the class discussion.  I read a story today called "Owen and Mzee." This story is online for those students who are away. What does this story teach us about friendship? Spelling words Red: you, go, us, can, is Blue: much, who, with, take, Autumn Green: would, ...

 We studied the art of Ted Harrison today. We noticed that he focused on colour contrast and clear shapes. They then created beautiful sunset pictures using pastels (with warm and cool colours). In Math today they each made their own place value chart in their Math books. They then chose numbers that were just the right amount of challenging for them, and represented the digits in different ways; word form, base ten and expanded form. Expanded form was new for some, so those students worked with me in a small group.  Please go over your child's spelling test.  Have a wonderful weekend. 

I read a story called "Why the World Stopped." They then completed journal entries about how their lives have changed since the pandemic, what they have learned, and what they have found difficult. This is an important conversation that they all felt they could participate in. In Math, they completed an assessment that helps me understand where they are at and what goals to start and continue with. This took time but they are persevered.  We listened to an awesome story  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6lAAyVEyRk  - The World Needs More Purple People. What do purple people do? Ask your child! 1.) Ask questions 2.) Laugh a lot 3.) Use your voice 4) Work hard 5.) Be yourself  In Science they made posters labeled 'What is Science.' We then shared our posters with the class, adding on to our ideas. Some ideas were: labs, explosions, exploring, asking big questions, doctors, Scientists, weather...ask your child what they added.  Enjoy the warm weather! 

 This month we are unable to go to the library. Instead, we are getting a large bin of new books in our classroom. Ask your child what book they chose this time.  I read a book about Terry Fox to them. They all seemed to really enjoy it. Afterwards we went for a walk around the school and thought about how courageous Terry was.  In Math, we practiced our basic facts. Grade 4's relearned how to multiply and divide while grade 3's practiced double digit addition and subtraction.  Please have a look at their world map they made today. They all worked very hard on this puzzle.  We practiced our spelling words by writing 'perfect' sentences with them. Please remember to study. We will have our first quiz on Friday. 

 This morning we finished off our 'Pillars of Care' writing. We then created a poster together of what 'wellness' means to us. We added many different things, a few examples are: laughing, talking, eating healthy, talking about our feelings, being kind to ourselves, trying our best.  I read the book "Carson's Trip Across Canada." They then pretended to pack their bags for their own road trip around Canada. Ask your child what they decided to bring to stay healthy, warm and safe! Each student came up with a word or a sentence describing what 'Canada' means to them. Some examples are: freedom, love, acceptance, diversity. At the end of the day we learned about Canada's national animal and did a guided drawing of it. Please ask your child to show you.  In Math we worked on printing numbers in word form. We made a list together of numbers and then turned them into word form.  It was a busy day and I saw many yawns at the end of it!  Have a relaxing...

 This is the start of our first full week. Today we learned about spelling this year. In their bags they have written letters to their parents about this, please go over the letter with your child and ask them what their spelling words are. Some ways to study for their spelling test each week could be: going over the words as you're in the car, make recipe cards with them, cut up the words by letters and have them make the words. Almost every Monday they will get new words and then have a quiz on Friday.  Red: me, she, to, at he Blue: bring, wash, cut, see, down Green: together, Canadian, myself, wellness, belonging Please have a chat with your child today about the importance of keeping our masks on and sanitizing our hands. We need all the reminders we can get, as we all get used to the new ways of staying safe and healthy at school.  In Math we are learning about representing numbers in different ways. Today we went over odd and even numbers. We completed questions aft...

 We had a great Friday today. We created Math puzzles together and solved them as a class. They seemed very engaged for this - ask them to show you!  They had a spelling test today. It was quite tricky for many and that's ok! This was just for me to see where we are at and I will be putting them into groups to differentiate spelling and reading levels.  We finished up our side self portraits today. They turned out so beautiful and I will be putting them up in our class.  We listened to a story read by Oprah Winfrey today! The story is called "Hulla Hooping Queen." I also read them an 'Amelia Bedelia' story and they thought it was hilarious.  They finished their 'writing about me' in their journals. They added things about their families, favourite things and some fun facts about themselves.  To end the day they handed in 3 questions they have for Mrs. Craig! 'I mustache you a question!' I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

 This morning they started off with 20 minutes of quiet reading. We are getting used to the routine of 3 books every couple of days.  I read the story "The Dot" to them. We also found a fun online story read and listened to 2 other people tell the story in a different way. We then completed a writing map of how we felt today and what colour that feeling would represent. We talked about drawing and writing and how we need to try even when they turn don't out the way we hope. Practice builds those skills! What is Math? They created title pages for their math books. We listed many different things: baking, cooking, chemistry, patterns...the list goes on! Ask your child what they added.  The Pillars of Care this month is "Wellness." Talk to your child about what that means to you.  They had their first physed class today with Mr. Sadowsky!  Have a great evening. 

 We started off our morning with a class word search. We had to search for our names within the word search, it was really tricky!  We then created a poster together, while having a group conversation, about how to become a 'Super Class.' Some of the things the students came up with were: following directions, be kind and respectful, thinking before we act, be safe - social distance, wash hands, sanitize and wear your mask, eat healthy and exercise and putting in your best effort.  We had our first music class today. Ask your child about it! They created summer comic writing pieces. They had to decide on 4 of their best summer memories and do some writing and drawing on each of them.  In Math we worked with a 100 chart to colour in different numbers that are important to us.  We are working on being calm and quiet during silent reading time. 

 This morning we introduced ourselves and told the class our favourite colours. I am really pleased to see confidence in each child as they use clear voices to speak to the whole group. This morning they were given time to finish up their self portraits. I read them a story called "Moose Goes to School." We found it funny and interesting - it was published in 1970!  We did our first Science experiment already! "If I follow a bubble solution recipe and create a bubble wand then I can blow bubbles." We mixed 12 cups of water, 1 cup of dish soap and 1 cup of corn starch together. They were then given 3 pipe cleaners and a popsicle stick. We had so many different shapes as they decided on their own what would work best.  In PE we played shadow tag. At the end of the day I read a story outside, as we enjoyed the sunshine on our faces.  See you back on Tuesday! 

 We had a great first couple of days back! The staggered days worked really well for the kids and myself. We were able to take our time and ask questions as we all understand how school will look right now. I am so proud of all of the students and how well the have been with their masks and social distancing. Great job to the parents for obviously having some meaningful discussions of these changes.  Some activities that you can ask them about are: self portraits, first day jitters, 3 truths and 1 fib, racing Mrs. Craig!, and hopefully making a new friend or 2.  Tomorrow all of our friends will be coming! Our school will be 8-11:55am.  A little bit about me! I have been teaching grade 1-4 for almost 10 years. I have a little girl in grade 1 (Kaija) and a 3 year old boy (Luca). I enjoy camping, riding my bike, netflix and sipping hot beverages!  Thank you. 

Greetings Students and Parents. Welcome back to the 2020-2021 school year. My name is Lisa Craig, and I am pleased to inform you that your child will be in my class this year. Please note that due to Covid modifications this placement may be temporary as classes may need to be adjusted again once classes resume. There have been several measures taken at school to ensure the safety of students. One measure has been to create multi-aged classrooms throughout the school in order to better distribute students, creating smaller cohorts. This means that your child will be in a combined Grade 3/4 class this year. Our class will be meeting in the field along Bermuda Way, in the area closest to the compound (NE corner). Our class will enter the school at 8:00am, and will be dismissed at 2:30 in the afternoon, in order to limit the number of students using doors and stairways at the same time. When you arrive to drop your child off, or pick them up, we ask that you remain outside of the schoolya...

On Friday between 12 and 1pm all of the teachers of Beddington will be on the compound. We will be standing behind the fence, keeping a safe distance. We would love to see all of you for a 'see ya later!' If you are unable to make it, I hope you have an amazing summer!

This is just a reminder that if you need any extra support with online learning to please reach to me! I look forward to seeing everyone at 130pm today. I will be reading a story about punctation. I hope you have been able to get outside and enjoy this warm weather! Your tasks for this week are uploaded to our Google classroom. Take care!

Technical Assistance Now Available for Ongoing Learning The CBE can now assist parents and students with technical issues that arise while continuing ongoing learning. Parents of kindergarten to Grade 9 students or students in Grades 10-12 can call or email requests for assistance with CBE supported technology. Visit  Technical Support for Students & Parents  and choose “Support for G Suite" or “Support for Brightspace" for more information. This service is a temporary service available during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hours of operation will be Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (excluding statutory holidays). Please have the following information accessible when you call: Student ID number Student Email address Student Password (we will not ask you for your password, but you must be able to enter it) Contact information: Phone:  403-817-7996 Email:  ParentTechnicalSupport@cbe.ab.ca