Happy Wednesday!

Another busy day in Grade 4 we were working on:

- Plant projects
- adding and subtracting decimals
- finishing up novels with our guided reading groups
- starting a new novel, The City of Ember
- frisbee skills
- boom whackers in music

*** We are still seeking donations of large cardboard pieces for our year end celebrations

What a gorgeous day for out door PE! Today we started working with frisbees, ask us how to use the "check" to help us hold it properly.

Today we worked with adding and subtracting decimals. Most of us were able to do this with ease, and a few needed reminders about borrowing and lining up decimal numbers (i.e.. 12.06 + 342.9).

We are well into creating our Plant Research projects. Thank you to families who have sent in materials! These will be on display during our Celebration of Learning on June 21st.

Reminders:
- We will be outside for PE everyday if the weather permits. Please send appropriate footwear, a hat and water bottle.

We have been reading Little House on the Prairie and today we wrote about some similarities and differences between their lives and our own. Which life do you think would be more fulfilling??

In math we are working with money. Today some of us practiced adding up restaurant orders. This is a great thing to practice when you are out with your family :) 

The sun was shining so it was a great day for outdoor PE! Please remember that we do take every opportunity to enjoy nice weather so send appropriate outdoor shoes and clothing for PE activities. 

Welcome back!

It sounded like everyone had a great long weekend and there was lots of energy in the air to start off our week! 

Today we started talking about money as a part of our focus on decimals. Taking time at home to count their piggy banks, make change at a store or maybe do some "dream" shopping, are all ways you could support this learning at home. We will be working on adding and subtracting money/decimals this week so extra time reinforcing the values of tenths and hundredths would be beneficial.

We are continuing our investigations into Plant Growth and Changes. Today we started some Art of the plats we are growing and a "zoomed-in" focus on one part. Looking good!

Reminders:

- Grade 4 year end celebration is on June 21

- Grade 4 intramural tomorrow

- Outstanding fees must be paid ASAP

- Library books will need to be returned in early June

Happy Thursday!

FYI - Parents we talked about doing some "shopping" to be prepared for the changes that happen to girls during puberty. Our girls were interested in planning ahead for what might happen when at school so please support them with this through conversations and tucking a little something in their backpacks, if not this year then for Grade 5.

No school tomorrow or Monday - Have a fabulous weekend.

Budding Artists!

Today we began work on a watercolor representation of the lifecycle of the plants we have been researching. Students have gotten off to a great start! Parents if you are curious about what your child has found so far ask them to show you their work in google docs.

Reminders:

- No school Friday or Monday

- Fun Lunch next week

- large plastic containers (yogurt, sour cream, etc) are needed for transplanting our plants

Health update:

We have begun our learning around Puberty as a part of our Health curriculum. At this time it is very important for parents to check-in with their children and see if they have any questions, or things that they would like to talk with you about.  

Today in Math we started learning about decimals. We discussed what tenths and hundredths are and the significance of a decimal. We are going to be working with decimals and fractions for the rest of the week and then move into adding and subtracting decimals after the long weekend.

This week we have been working on writing stories inspired by the book Diary of a Worm. Writing from the perspective of the plant they are researching, students are demonstrating lots of creativity! Parents you can look forward to reading these at our June 21st Celebration of Learning!

Reminders:
- Popcorn snack & Intramurals tomorrow
- Don't forget to order A&W Fun lunch for next Thursday 
- No school Friday or Monday
- May 24 we will be hosting our annual Volunteer Tea 

Happy Friday!

Hopefully the forecast is correct and we are in for a sunny weekend - with NO snow!!

Students have worked hard this week and today they dressed for success in our future careers. We had several sports stars (basketball, baseball, ringette, soccer, etc.), a TV personality, mom, pianist, motocross racer and a bee keeper with us today. What a bright future they have ahead of them!

Checking in on our beans planted last week it was amazing to see the changes! Why do you think some grew and some did not? What is impacting their growth?

We also checked in on our Space Tomatoes! Not much of a difference between the seeds that went to space and those that stayed here on Earth yet. Stay tuned!

Reminders:
- Next Friday is a PD day with the following Monday as a holiday
- Large cardboard boxes are needed for our year end celebration

Outside the Box Thursday!

Today we had a chance to show off our creativity with an OTBT picture. Check out our unique uses of one simple shape. We used our pictures to inspire our writing today and there were stories about Donkey Kong, baking, airplanes, diving pools and more!

When we talk about fractions in our world it doesn't just have to be cutting pizza or sharing cake, sometimes fractions are in the way we look at things. Today we touched on sorting by attributes and characteristics of shapes in our work with fractions. All of our the students in our class were able to identify at least four different fractions which could be described using this set of shapes - great work everyone!

In Science today we talked about the edible parts of the plant (flower, stem, root, leaves, bulb, seeds, and fruit) and looked at some Seed Catalogues to find examples. Some of us were surprised to learn what part of the plant we are finding on our plates. Over the next few days consider what parts of the plant you are eating. Would you be able to make a meal that used plants from all parts of different parts of the plant?

Our Class would like to express a special Thank you to Mrs.Stevenson, a beloved guest teacher at New Brighton, who is also an interpreter at the Heritage Park. Yesterday she shared her expertise with us to teach us about the Famous Five and we learned so much! THANK YOU!!

Reminders:
- Dress for your future Career Day on Friday
- Fun Lunch tomorrow
- Health forms were sent home. they ONLY need to be sent back if you opt OUT

Pizza! Our fraction pizzas are almost ready for delivery. We have worked on carefully representing 5 different fractions with our toppings and really enjoyed coming up with creative names for our Pizza Shops.

In Social Studies today we talked about the lives of settler children compared to our lives. We actually have a lot in common with them, though our lives are different too!

Important dates:
Book orders and Intramurals on Wednesday
Pizza Fun Lunch Thursday
Dress for your Future Career Day is Friday

Happy Friday!

We have noticed some changes with the seeds we have grown. Some of them have needed to be transplanted into larger containers as their roots extended and many of our bean and pea plants are needing extra support as they grow taller!

Today we discussed the Needs of a Plant and set up some experiments to see what would happen if a plant was missing either water, air, soil, space, or light.

DONATIONS WANTED:
Large plastic containers for planting, or other pots :)
Soil
Large cardboard boxes/pieces

Fractions in PE?!

Yes it is true! Today Ms. Nanavaty made a math connection when teaching us how to do a bounce pass. She showed us how to properly hold the ball, raise our elbows and aim for a spot 3/4 of the way to our partner. It worked! The ball went directly to our partner every time!

Where else do you use fractions? Keep looking!

Reminders:
- Important dates were listed yesterday. Check it out below!
- Book orders due Wednesday. Don't forget to return your $6.00 pick to Mrs.Cose

Important Dates:

May

• Monday, May 1 - Hats on for Mental Health
• Thursday, May 9 - Little Caesars Fun Lunch
• Friday May, 10 - Career Day - dress-up!
• Sunday, May 12 - Mother's Day
• Wednesday, May 15 - Popcorn Snack Day
• Friday, May 17 - PD Day - No School
• Monday, May 20 - Victoria Day - No School
• Thursday, May 23 - A&W Fun Lunch
• Friday, May 24 - Volunteer Tea

June

• Wednesday, June 12 - Popcorn Snack Day
• Thursday, June 20 - Little Caesars Fun Lunch
• Friday, June 21 - Grade Four Farewell
• Monday, June 24 - Sports Day
• Thursday, June 27 - Last Day of School 

Today New Brighton School was filled with staff and students wearing hats, in support of Hats On! For Mental Health.  Mental Health is an important topic and worthy of sharing resources that may be beneficial for individuals or families.  Below are some resources that include information related to Mental Heath and can be used to help navigate where and how to access needed supports:

• Canwetalk.ca
• Access Mental Health Calgary website has information and resources: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/services/page11443.aspx
• You can also call Access Mental Health Calgary, and they will help you identify resources and supports that are available.  Sometimes a referral from a doctor is required, but some services and programs are free of charge.
• Community Education Series also has free parenting courses offered at community centers around the city addressing various issues parents might be facing.
  http://community.hmhc.ca/sessions/?p=in-person