Happy Halloween!

Today was a spooktacular day! Even with all of the excitement of costumes and many of us having fun plans for tonight we worked really hard for our special teacher "Fudge".

We worked on cursive writing and had 2 rotations of literacy today. Some groups have started to work on novel studies this week and that has been very exciting. We played some new place value games and had some time to finish up our descriptive landscape writing.

This afternoon we read some more of our novel, Fudge-a-mania, and dug into some pumpkins. We predicted how many seeds would be inside and were surprised to find that all of our estimates were too low! Our day ended with PE and then Music.

Requests:
- We are seeking donations of flyers for a project.
- Please be thoughtful about the amount of candy sent to school with your child. They are here to learn and our brains are better fuelled by healthy food. 
- Also be aware of any nut products as we try to be as nut free as possible

Terrific Tuesday!

Today in math we worked on comparing and ordering numbers. We played Last Number Standing, and then ordered the numbers we had used from least to greatest. We stated our numbers aloud and compared which one of us had the bigger number using the jar of chance sticks. By the end of this week students should be able to meet these curricular outcomes:

- Represent and describe whole numbers to 10 000, pictorially and symbolically.

- Compare and order numbers to 10 000.

Next week we will be moving into addition and subtraction of numbers to 10 000 by:

- using personal strategies for adding and subtracting

-estimating sums and differences 

- solving problems involving addition and subtraction.

Reminders: 

- Halloween costume or PJ day tomorrow (We will have music and PE, and plan to get messy!!)

- Time change this weekend. Remember to FALL BACK

Today we looked at some photo examples of products that were over packaged. We were very upset to see all of the waste and enraged that people were not being considerate of the environment. We debated who was responsible for this problem - the consumers or the manufacturers and brainstormed more arguments about why they were responsible and brainstormed some ideas that they could do to fix the problem. Some of our thoughts were:

- they use too much plastic for one little thing
- when you put so much cardboard and plastic you are using materials that are hard to biodegrade
- instead of putting all of the packaging use less or package more things together
- we buy things that are packaged with styrofoam even though we know it is not biodegradable
- people like how nicely things are packaged and presented
- people don't think before they buy and the impact of their choices
- manufacturers use too much foam for small things
- instead of just buying one banana, buy a bunch
- lots of people use too much styrofoam that wont biodegrade
- instead of packaging one or two pieces of bread for $2-3 you could buy a whole loaf
- it is the people who sell the products because they made it and chose to package it that way
- I think they should stop over packaging and using so much plastic
- people should not buy oranges that are already peeled
- oranges that are peeled and put in a plastic container is probably the worst because the peel is a natural package that can be composted
- we are not realizing that the packaging is not biodegradable

Tonight look around your home and look at how some things are packaged. Think about what those manufacturers did when preparing those products for sale. What could they have done better?

Seeking Donations:
We are looking for donations of newspaper and grocery flyers for a project this week. If you have any please send them in!

FYI
- choir students are bringing Spruce Meadows forms and one parent ticket home today. 
- visit Healthy Hunger to order Fun Lunches
- Halloween costumes or pajamas  may be worn on Wednesday

Whew!

We've had a busy few days. Thank you to the families who are checking our Blog and have already sent in pumpkins for us to work with next week. We would still like to have a few more so if you missed our first request, please send a pumpkin in next week!

Our literacy focus this week has been on descriptive landscape writing inspired by the beautiful scenery at Ralph Klein Park. We have impressed Mrs.Cose with some of our interesting descriptions and use of similes. Many of us were able to go back and edit our writing to add more interesting words and to change the beginning of our sentences so that there was more variety.

In math we have been working on comparing and ordering numbers to 10 000. Today we worked on identifying 10 more/less, 100 more/less, and 1000 more/less. For example, ____ is 100 more than 3451. For most of us this was a fairly simple task unless there was a change in two place values (ie. 302 is 10 more than _____.) Next week we will continue working on this and will be starting addition and subtraction of numbers to 10 000 soon. A review of basic addition and subtraction facts would be beneficial for all students.

Reminders:
No School tomorrow.
Choir on Tuesday and Thursday
Grade 4 Intramurals on Wednesday
Pyjamas/Halloween costumes may be worn on Wednesday

Notes from the Office:

• Head lice has been reported at our school. Please check your children immediately and frequently to prevent the spread.

Request:

- We would like to study pumpkins next week. If you are able to donate a pumpkin to our class we would very much appreciate it!

What a terrific Tuesday!

This morning we worked on a descriptive writing piece inspired by the views from Ralph Klein Park. We were challenged to write 3 paragraphs using interesting words and varied sentence starters.

We had extra time with Ms. Lysak today when we not only got to have our Music class, but had a chance to work on some art related to Remembrance Day. Families will be invited to the Remembrance Day assembly so watch the blog and for emails from the school for details.

Mrs. Goodall has loaned us her turtles for a while. It has been interesting to see how they spend their days and it was especially exciting watching them eat lunch today!

This afternoon we looked at our school and the ways it compared to Ralph Klein Park as a LEEDS building. RKP has been awarded a Platinum LEEDS certification and our school was build to be a meet minimum qualifications of Silver.

Reminders:
- Veteran's Food Drive Donations are being collected
- Fun Lunch this Thursday
- Choir Tuesdays and Thursdays at Lunch

Happy Friday!

It was nice to have some time to reflect on our week at Ralph Klein Park this morning. Reviewing all of the things we did it is hard to believe we were only there for 4 days!

NOTICE: Head lice has been reported at our school. Please check your children immediately and frequently to prevent the spread.

Day 4

Today was our fourth and last day at Ralph Klein Park and we had a fantastic time!

In the morning we did a bunch of activities that related to pollution, recycling and the time it takes for things to decompose. After a quick snack break we headed out to explore the park and did a photography scavenger hunt. Some interesting things we saw were: an owl pellet on the ground, coyote pelt, animal teeth in the grass, and apples decomposing in the orchard.

This afternoon we learned about animal tracks and how different animals move. We had a chance to  use stamps that showed different animal tracks and document them in our nature journals. Did you know that in jackrabbit tracks the back foot is in front of the front foot. The "perfect walker" animal tracks, like deer and coyote, walk in the tracks they already made. Owls, even though they fly make tracks when they hunt, this is called taking a  "plunge".  Their tracks are made by their feathers in the snow on the sides and their feet make an X in the snow when they grab prey like mice. Around the X tracks you can see marks from the thick layer of feathers that keep their legs warm.

We ended our amazing time at RKP with a group photo on the climbing structure in the newly opened playground.

Day 3 at Ralph Klein Park

Today we learned about Green construction and some of the features that make Ralph Klein Park a Platinum LEED building. We learned about the glulam beams that are stronger than steel, the position of the building to avoid solar heating but allow for lots of natural light and learned about the two types of solar panels that are used to provide services at RKP.

We worked with Mrs. Goodall and learned about Wetlands and how they work. Do you know how cattails help in a wetland?

This afternoon we did some sketching outside and had a chance to visit the Art Hill. We were surprised to discover how tall the Sentinels are.

Reminders:
- tomorrow is our final dat at Ralph Klein Park
- please send extra snacks as all of the fresh air is making us hungry!

Day 2 at Ralph Klein Park was spectacular!

We began our day reading the story "Flight of the Hummingbird"(click here for a video) and creating our own environmental tales. We used props and our fantastic acting skills to create stories with morals/messages such as, "Do not pollute the water" and "It is not ok to litter."

Our new friend Rachelle, took us on a walk around the Shepherd Wetland. It was amazing to see evidence of badgers, Canadian geese, and coyotes! We saw some scat, animal tracks, animal dens and some of the remains of a meal. There were some coots swimming across one area and we saw them bobbing their heads back and forth (that is why they are often referred to as a combination of a duck and a chicken). We learned that the dark rock mark on the walls of RKP show the 100 year flood line.

This afternoon we were inspired by famous naturalist artist Robert Bateman to create our own animal art. We used basic shapes to find the form of our animals and blended pastels to make the right shades we needed to make them look realistic.

Reminder that TOMORROW is PICTURE DAY. Our photos will be taken before we leave for our day at RKP.

FYI-all movie night tickets are sold.

What an amazing day we had at Ralph Klein Park today!

When we arrived we saw that the building was built over water – whoa! 

We learned about the watershed and the Bow river. There was a plastic model that we used to demonstrate how pollutants get into the rivers and we learned what we can do to help keep the water clean. 

We took a walk around the building and area close by and saw a Badger Den and the holes the badger's had dug when hunting to find ground squirrels to eat. We couldn't help but notice there were some swallow nests under the edge of the building. Did you know cliff swallows build their nests by spitting mud? We saw different plants and smelled some wild sage. There was a manmade waterfall, but it was turned off for the winter.  There were lots of ducks, geese and coots – Do you even know what that kind of bird is? We do!

In the washroom there was a composting toilet that composts human waste. We heard frog and duck sounds in the bathroom too. The sounds are to remind us that we are sharing the water with animals in the wetland. 

This afternoon we sketched Biofacts of a porcupine, great-horned owl, coyote, red-tailed hawk and a white tailed jackrabbit. These are all animals that can be found in a wetland.

Reminders: 

- Ralph Klein Park trip continues tomorrow. Dress for the weather & bring a water bottle.

- Veteran's food drive donations are being collected.

We are looking forward to all of the amazing learning experiences planned next week when we are at Ralph Klein Park! Families please help your child have the best experience possible by sending them prepared for their day. We will be spending time outside every day no matter what the weather, so dress in layers with hats and gloves. It is almost always windy there so even if the forecast calls for warm weather prepare for the worst.  We will be taking our indoor shoes from school with us, but please send appropriate foot wear for walking on the wetland trails (they can be muddy!) 

We will be eating lunch in our RKP classroom. Please send snacks, lunch and a refillable water bottle. 

School information update:

The muddy condition of our field has been making our school really dirty. Please let your children know that they are not to wear outdoor shoes while walking inside the school from now on. All outdoor shoes must be taken off at the mat and carried to the classroom, and when leaving the building outdoor footwear is to be carried from the classroom to the carpet before being put on. 

FYI-

We will be collecting for the Veteran's Food Drive from now until November 11th.

Today we shared our Waste in our World slideshows some of the things we learned were:

- if we do not recycle the Earth will turn into a giant landfill
- there is a landfill the size of Texas
- latex balloons are compostable
- you can make wasteless lunches by using reusable containers
- toxic and hazardous waste can be found in labs, gas stations and you house
- there are lots of symbols for types of waste, both toxic and for recycling
- you can reduce electricity by turning off the lights when you are not home

**Next week we would like to try doing WASTELESS LUNCHES - Can you help?

We read our novel and Fudge got a new pet who was very mouthy! 

Reminders:
- Field Trip next week
- Picture day is Wednesday  

We had quite an exciting morning when we realized a few of our new "pets" had escaped. This inspired some creative writing and I'm sure some interesting conversations at home tonight! Rest assured all of our "pets" were recovered and have a new, more secure home.

In Math today we played Last Number Standing and worked on representing numbers up to 9999 using base ten blocks. Check out the photos to see some of our work!

Our adventures with Fudge and Peter continued today as we read chapter 6 in the book Superfudge. It was Fudge's first day of kindergarten and it did not go well - thankfully all of our kindergarten friends at New Brighton started school better than Fudgie!

Reminders:
- Ralph Klein Trip next week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
- Fun Lunch tomorrow (please send a snack too!)
- Picture day is Wednesday, October 17