Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Here are a few pictures to show all the holiday fun we had this week:

We got together as a school and sang Christmas carols!

We read 2 version of the story, "The Gingerbread Baby", compared the two stories and the decorated cookies!

We also practiced telling addition stories!  We first had to "tell" how many we started with, "tell" how many came along, and then "ask" how many there are altogether. Our partner then  had to write the matching number sentence!  

Our busy little elves!

Boy, our classroom Elf was busy last night. He made a few videos of some other busy little we know, and sent them to us this morning!  The children really enjoyed them!  If you would like to make your own video with your family, download the free app: 

Christmas: starring you! By the story bots

Here are a few sneak peaks...

Happy Chanukah

The celebration we have been busy learning about this week is Chanukah. We have learned that this holiday celebration is also known as the "festival of lights".  Chanukah is celebrated in December each year and lasts for 8 days. We have discussed many Chanukah traditions, one being the lighting of a menorah. We even made our own menorahs, and wrote a Chanukah wish for the world.

Christmas Problem Solving

The children have been practicing and learning how to solve word problems in math. We have talked about how we always read the problem 3 times: 1) we read to learn what the problem is about, 2) we read it and think: which parts are important, and 3) we read it and think: what is the problem asking me to figure out?  We also have learned there are different strategies we can choose from to solve problems. We have practiced the following: draw a picture, write a number sentence, use an array, and make a table. Here are a few snap shots of us "exercising" our brain. 

A fabulous performance!

Congratulations to the students in room 16 on a fabulous performance Wednesday evening!  The children tried their best, did a wonderful job and made their families proud!

Walking in a winter wonderland

The children have been busy exploring tints, shades, and texture through paint. Come see your child's masterpiece at our Christmas concert tonight!

Mr. Snowball Jingle was busy last night

He is very proud of Room 16's concert song!  They are ready to put on a show stopping performance!

Guess who arrived today....

We have a special visitor in our classroom this month....Mr. Snowball Jingle is Santa's scout elf in room 16. Every night he uses his Christmas music to fly back to Santa and report on who has been naughty or nice. Elves have been reported to be a bit mischievous.  We wonder what adventures Mr. Jingle will bring..... 

Winter Concert

Callie's Backpacks

This winter season we would like to help our friend Callie help the homeless.  Callie is a friend of ours that used to come to this school. When Callie was in grade 5, she learned of how there are many people living on our streets with nothing at all, so she created Callie’s Backpacks.

Callie collects backpacks and many different items that people need to survive and feel comfortable. Once she has collected the items, she distributes them to people in need. So far she has handed out over 200 backpacks, but there is still a need for more.

When you and your family come to the winter concert, please bring some items that will help fill the backpacks. Here are some items that would be helpful.

·     Backpack ·     Blankets ·     Warm socks ·     Mitts ·     Scarves ·     Hats ·     Deodorant

·     Toothpaste ·     Toothbrush ·     Soap ·     Packaged Snacks ·     Lip gloss ·     Travel size hand cream ·     Travel Mugs

We will put boxes outside the office for collection during the week, and at the doors of the gym during the winter concert.

Thank you for your support!

A House is House for Me!

This week we have been talking about the importance of homes. A home is one of our basic needs-shelter. It keeps us safe and protects us from the weather. We read the story, "The Napping House", and thought about what kind of house our own house is...here is a snap shot of what we came up with:

We also read, "A house is a house for me", and listened to Fred Penner's song (based on the book).  We then came up with a few of our own ideas...

Word work has begun!

Students began word work in Daily 5 this week!  They were all very excited to use the different tools available to them to practice their spelling words. 

Manitoba Animals

Last week students were busy creating plasticine animals for their environment box. Each child had to choose a Manitoba animal to research. In learning how to make a 3D sculpture, students learned how to make different shapes for each part of the animal, as well as, how to join two pieces of plasticine.  They also learned how to add details to their animal by using different colours.  The children did a fantastic job and can't wait to show them off at our open house conferences!

Fall tree sculpture

As part of learning about plants in the fall, we created fall tree sculptures. We discussed what a sculpture is, and what happens to plants in the fall. You can check out our trees in the display cabinet in the front hallway. 

Area

As a part of our Pumpkin Math investigation last week, we learned about "area."  Area is the amount of space something takes up, kind of like the objects footprint. We wanted to know how much space our pumpkin took up on our page. We made an estimate (a thinking guess), and then found the actual amount. We discusses if our estimates were more, less or the same as our actual amount. 

Pumpkin Math

On Monday, we began to explore pumpkin math. We started off learning about "estimation".  We learned that an estimate is a thinking guess. When you make an estimate, you use information you have been given, to make a thinking guess. We also learned how an estimate does not need to be correct all the time. 

Today, we had to estimate the number of creases our pumpkin had. Boy, did we have fun!  We even learnt to count by 5's while counting creases!

Fall Trees, Fall Colours

We have been learning about all of seasonal changes that occur during the Fall. One of the important things we see in the Fall is how some trees loose their leaves.  We also know that red, orange and yellow are colours we see all around us in the Fall.  We got to show what we know during our Fall Tree art project. We also learned how to draw curvy lines, cut straight lines and (our favourite) how to use drippy glue!  We are very proud of our very professional art work!  

Learning Through the Arts

We were lucky to have Laura back one last time today, and we learned how to show our feelings through our actions and bring a story to life!

The Integrated Arts

This morning, we were treated to a sneak peak into the world of drama and performing arts with Laura Kolysnik.  The children learned different terminology used in the dramatic arts, and participated in a variety of activities such as mirroring. We are excited to welcome Laura back into our room on Wednesday and Thursday this week. 

Math Stations

So apparently I (Mrs.  Hardy), have tried to post this 3 times - twice last week and now....let's see if third time works....😉

Last week we started off growing our brain at math stations. The stations were made up of all of the math games and activities we have already learned. At each station, our class made an "I can" card, which helps us to remember what to do to exercise our brain at each station, and when we are done, it gives us some ideas on how to grow our brain even more (challenge ourselves). We did an awesome job!

Walk to school day at Stevenson!

Thank you to those families who joined us for Walk to School Day!  Although it was a bit drippy outside, we had a blast!  Some of us talked about our addresses along the way, and we all practiced crossing the road safely. We even had the opportunity to meet some of our community police officers along the way!