A Final Thank you...

As the final day of the school year draws to a close and the excited noise of the hallway gradually disappears, I sit amidst my classroom's various boxes and bins containing a year's worth of examples, assignments, and assessments; I can not help but smile and think of the fun I have this year working with my fantastic group of kids!  Regardless of what I threw at them in terms of curriculum they would rise to the challenge and give me their best effort - for the most part.  Sure we had a few bumps in the road as is to be expected on any ten month journey, but we travelled as a team and learned a lot from each other along the way and for that I say...

I would also like to say thank you to you, the parents, for all your efforts this year in support of your child.  Be it helping with homework, reminders for library books, chaperoning on field trips, baking goodies, watching the extra-curricular sports, or sending in party treats...your support of our school, our classroom, and especially your child was greatly appreciated by me and most importantly, your child.

Have a safe, and relaxing summer break with your families.  We will see you all again in September.  Below is a link for the upcoming 2017-2018 division school calendar: http://www.blackgold.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/School-Year-2017-18-APPROVED-1.pdf

Week in Review: June 5 - 9

And with that the first week of June is in the books and it was most definitely a flurry of activity - and definitely a lot of fun!  This past week we had a field trip, a spirit day, an activity day, and of course all our classroom activities.  It was a packed week and one in which the pace of work began to increase as we start tying up the final pieces of the grade four curriculum.  We are down to 13 days of grade four and, as Mr. Cable stated at our weekly assembly, we are really focused on making those days count.


Curriculum wise this week...

In Math we worked with the last of the studied graph types and worked on plotting and graphing data using line graphs.  Everyone has been really good at picking up how data analysis works and are showing good confidence in being able to decipher information and answers based off of various types of charts and graphs. With that said everyone will be bringing home some extra practice materials to work with over the weekend in preparation for Monday's Unit Exam.

In Language Arts this week we continued to work with reading fluency and comprehension, and tackled several activities geared towards building everyone's ability to sound out unfamiliar words.  This week we jumped back in time and reviewed some of the spelling words from the beginning of the year - some words which had slipped from everyone's memories definitely allowed us to put our word attack skills to action.  Over the next couple weeks we will be going through all our year end Language Arts assessments in reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension.

Additionally you will have noticed a "Scavenger Hunt" booklet that came home today (for most) as homework.  This booklet as well a previous assignment are aimed at teaching Internet research skills and being able to locate and read websites for information gathering.  Come next year, and obviously in the years to follow, the ability to use the Internet as a school tool versus simply a place to watch YouTube or find gaming sites grows in importance.  With the homework this weekend students are asked to complete up to "E" in their booklets and then bring them back on Monday.

In Science we continued to look at the life cycles of plants.  This week was all about monitoring the growth of our plants and recognizing the changes that were taking place - and why?  Next week it's more plant journal writing and experiments focusing on flowers, roots, and photosynthesis.

In Social Studies we continued to study the growing influx of European settlers into Canada and looked at ways the Canadian Government provided incentives to new immigrants to move west and settle in what is now Alberta.

Year End Field Trip

On June 27th, the West Haven grade 4 students will be visiting Fort Edmonton Park as our final field trip of the year.  This field trip ties directly to our Social Studies curriculum and our study of Alberta: Past, Present, and Future.  With our visit we will be seeing first hand many of the things we have been studying in our Social Studies classes.

The field trip’s online permission form and fee payment information will be available for completion through the PowerSchool parent portal this week.  Please endeavour to complete the permission form and submit payment sooner rather than later, as waiting until the final deadline does little but create extra hassle for parents, teachers, and school secretaries who all must then scramble to get paperwork etc. in place moments before boarding the bus.

In terms of fees, the cost for this field trip was originally budgeted to be $19.50 per student. Fortunately this cost will be subsidized with funds collected during the grade four bake sale days.  These funds have allowed us to reduce the field trip fee to a fantastic $8.00 per student (entry and busing).   This fee can be paid online through PowerSchool or submitted directly to the school no later than MONDAY, JUNE 26th.  Any permission forms or fees submitted after this date will not be accepted and your child will not be allowed to participate in the field trip activities.

With our trip the bus will be leaving the school at 8:45AM, and we are aiming to back to West Haven Public no later than 2:55PM.  If you wish to come along on the field trip as a chaperone please let your child’s homeroom teacher know as soon as possible.  The cost for chaperones will be approximately $20.00 per person, which must be submitted directly to the school as this fee will not appear on your PowerSchool accounts.

Should you have any questions regarding this trip, please feel free to contactcme at the school via phone 780-986-5991 or by email.

Classroom Calendar of Events

Monday, June 12 - Math Unit Exam: Data Analysis
Wednesday, June 14 - Bake Sale 
Thursday, June 15 - In-class Agriculture Presentation (PM)
Friday, June 16 - Final Library class: please return all library books
Friday,, June 16 - WHPS Talent Show 2:00PM - 3:00PM
Tuesday, June 20 - Science Unit Exam: Plant Life Cycles
Wednesday, June 21 - Social Studies Unit Exam: Alberta
Monday, June 26 - Classroom clean up and pack up
Tuesday, June 27 - Fort Edmonton Field Trip (information being sent home on Monday)
Wednesday, June 28 - Class Year End Party/Moving Day
Wednesday, June 28 - Last Day of classes and Year End Report Cards

Week in Review: May 26 - June 2

Wow...and just like that, there goes May! Hard to believe there are only a mere 18 days remaining in the school year - seems like we had only just started out.  

In what was a busy week we continued to tackle new concepts and build understanding with data analysis, plant life cycles, artist studies, Alberta facts, reading strategies, novel studies, and some internet research.


Curriculum wise this week...

In Math it was all about data analysis and the graphs and being able to gather and/or record information.  This week we covered tally charts, bar graphs and pictographs.  Everyone had an opportunity to survey their classmates a couple times this week about topics of their choosing and then construct the associated graphs to visually display their data.  Come next week we will be looking at line graphs, pie charts and school-wide surveys to gather data from a larger group to work with.

In Language Arts it was all about reading strategies and continuing to build fluency and comprehension skills.  With our activities we worked with phonetics and being able to break unknown words into syllables so that they could be sounded out.  Initial sounds, final sounds and blends were all targeted and tied into this week's online activities.  In addition we wrapped up our Fantastic Mr. Fox novel study and worked through the final reading guide questions. Over the course of the novel we have had the opportunity to work on plot development, predictions, character analysis, setting development, vocabulary, and reading for information as well as entertainment.

In Science it was all about plants, specifically their life cycles and how they develop.  This week we began looking at the basic needs of plants and how their basic needs are very similar to those of people.  We began studying the specific parts of plants and identifying their purpose in the life of the plant.  This week we looked at the role of the seed  and had the opportunity to plant our own bean pants.  Over the course of the next few weeks we will be observing our plants and charting their development.

In Art this week we began tackling the topic of "pop art" and looking at some of the style's most influential artists.  This week we began a study of Andy Warhol, an American artist, director and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His artwork explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising that flourished in the 1960s, and spanned a variety of media, including painting, silk-screening, photography, film, and sculpture.  One of his best known works includes the silkscreen painting Campbell's Soup Cans (1962).  As an activity this week we took our shot at recreating some of his famous artwork - I think they turned our great!


Classroom Calendar of Upcoming Events
Monday, June 5 - Peter Puffin Presentation @ MacLab Theatre
Tuesday, June 6 - District Track and Field in Devon
Wednesday, June 7 - Western Day (dress as your best cowboy or cowgirl)
Wednesday, June 7 - Early Dismissal @ 2:30pm
Thursday, June 8 - WHPS Summer Activity Day
Monday, June 12 - Math Unit Exam Data Analysis
Wednesday, June 14 -Bake Sale (50 cents/item)
Tuesday, June 27 - Fort Edmonton Park field trip (more info to follow next week)