Week in Review: May 22 - 26

With this week's review it is straight to the highlights, fluff is nice but just the info this week. Here we go...the week was another busy one with lots of checks on the learner-to-do list. 

Curriculum wise this week...

In Math this week we wrapped up our unit on Measurement and have now transitioned nicely into Data Analysis.  With this unit we will be  collecting, organizing, and presenting data using a variety of graphs.  Come next week the class will be collecting data and creating their own tally charts; then transferring this data to pictographs and finally into vertical bar graphs. We'll continue to work on transferring data between graphs this coming week including plotting data within line graphs. 

In Language Arts this week we continued to develop reading strategies that can aid with comprehension.  Rereading text, chunking words into syllables, phonetically breaking down words, looking for familiar words that might offer context, or even using the book's illustrations are all strategies that can aid comprehension and ultimately fluency.  We continued to work through our second Roald Dahl novel study and have very nearly wrapped up our reading of Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Working with the novel we have been able to learn about character comparisons, types of characters, and how to summarize information.

In Science we began our investigation of Plant Life Cycles and discovered that the needs of plants are very similar to those of people.  Much like people, plants need water, nutrients, shelter and they tend to grow better when given some TLC.  This coming week we get to explore seeds and the bits and pieces inside them. 

In Social Studies we continued to examine early settlers and their impact on Alberta past and present and are now beginning our transition into the study of traditions and celebrations. With the study of how Alberta had changed culturally and socially over time students will gain a better understanding and appreciation of how much Alberta has changed over time.

Health - With next week we have our human sexuality classes on Monday and Thursday.  With the classes there has been a lot of nervousness among the class about what we are doing.  We the class sessions they are are gender separate - with myself instructing the boys and Mrs. Lavoie working with the girls.  With both classes we will be working through a series of activities all relating to puberty and the changes that can occur during this period of life.  It is NOT a "birds and bees" type lesson!

Permission forms and Field Trip fees
Over the next week or so it will seem like a lot of field trip and activity paperwork coming home.  As we near the end of the year we have several upcoming activities that require the submitting of permission forms and/or activities fees via PowerSchool.

In terms of current and upcoming fees/permission forms, please check to see if you have remembered to submit the needed fees/forms; here's what is currently on PowerSchool:

May 30 - Fathers day Projects - $10.00 fee (available on Powerschool now)  Deadline: May29

June 5 - Peter Puffin field trip @ MacLab theatre - $2.00 fee/permission form (available on PowerSchool now)  Deadline: June 4

June 6 - District Track meet @ Devon - $8.00 fee/permission form (available on PowerSchool now for participating students)  Deadline: May 29

** Not yet posted online will be the year end field trip to Fort Edmonton Park on June 28th.  Form and fee should be available online next week.

Please submit fees and permission forms online prior to the listed deadlines; unfortunately verbal consent is not enough.  With the trips and activities if either fees and/or permission forms are not received by the stated deadlines your child will unfortunately not be able to participate.

Classroom Calendar 
Monday, May 29 - Human Sexuality class 1
Monday, May 29 - Deadline for track and field fees ($8.00)
Monday, May 29 - Deadline to submit Fathers Day project fees ($10.00)
Thursday, June 1 - Human Sexuality class 2
Friday, June 2 - Library: Book Exchange
Sunday, June 4 - Deadline to submit permission form/fee ($2.00) for Peter Puffin field trip
Monday, June 5 - Peter Puffin field trip @ MacLab Theater, Leduc
Tuesday, June 6 - Elementary District Track and Field Meet @ Riverview Middle School, Devon
Wednesday, June 7 - Early dismissal @ 2:30pm
Friday, June 9 - Library: Book Exchange
Thursday, June 15 - Agriculture Alberta Presentation (in class)

Week in Review: May 1 - 5

Welcome to the month of May, wow April was a blur - most have been all the fantastic weather?!  It is hard to believe that there are only eight weeks of school left in the year! Luckily for us, this May there is more than enough time to pack in a novel study, a few unit tests, a family dance, some bake sales, and of course some Mothers Day fun.  

The last few weeks are busy and will certainly fly by so it's important that everyone is here and on time so that they do not miss out on any of the fun!

In terms of curriculum this week...

In Math we've kicked off our study of measuring liquids and using millilitres, litres, and kilolitres and shifted away from the measuring of distance.    With the lessons the kids will be learning about accurately measuring and converting units of liquid measurement.  Watch for a practice booklet on linear and capacity measurement to come home next week.

In Language Arts this week we continue to develop our reading comprehension skills and the ability to locate and identify features of good stories.  Our current novel study, Fantastic Mr. Fox is moving along nicely and the students are consistently generating chapter summaries and completing chapter assignments which always them to synthesize their information and highlight the main features that they deem to be most important to understanding the individual chapters.  

With our novel study we are hoping to wrap up this novel before the May long weekend and celebrate our reading with a text-movie comparison using the stop-motion movie version of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Congratulations goes out to Kaleb on winning the free entry passes as the Laser City Home Reading winner for the month of April.  Keep going with the home reading, for every page completed in your reading log you get an entry into the draw.  Remember the goal is to try and read at least 15 minutes each night.

In Science this week we continued our study of light and shadows, and worked through a couple more experiments.  We are hoping to have our final unit test just before the May long weekend, after which we will begin our study of Plant Life Cycles.  As an initial unit activity we will work through several activities designed to help us identify what our current knowledge of plants is and also identify some of the things we are hoping to gain an understanding of. 

Health & Human Sexuality
With our health classes next week everyone will be receiving individual consent forms for their child's participation in the grade four health classes focusing on personal health and human sexuality scheduled for later in May.  These scheduled classes will be gender separate and focus specifically on the physical, emotional and social changes that occur during puberty; e.g., menstruation, secondary sexual characteristics, changing identity and moods (Alberta Education, Health and Life Skills curriculum, 2002).  Participation in these classes is at the discretion of parents and consent forms need to be returned in a timely fashion prior to the class dates as noted on the form.

This last week was Mental Health Awareness Week and to say the school was a hub of activity would be an understatement.  Between the theme days, bake sales, and student activities everyone was up and active and focused on raising awareness of mental health and wellness.  This topic will continue to be a topic of discussion for the remainder of the year.  

Social Studies
This last week in Social Studies we were able to take a closer look at some of the natural resources available in Alberta and see first hand their personal benefits and how they are produced in our province.  Everyone had a fabulous time at the Amazing Agriculture event that was hosted at the Expo Centre in Edmonton.  With the event our group was able to visit 12 different "booths' with each booth offering different insight in a specific part of Alberta's agriculture.  Some highlights included our own hand-made hummus, milking a mechanical cow, planting our own sunflowers, reading to a horse, petting a variety of animals, discovering purple french fries, and experiencing the excitement and confusion of a "farm auction"!

Here are a few pictures from the day...

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Wednesday, May 10 - Library Book Exchange

Friday, May 12 - WHPS "Rockin Retro" Family Dance

Monday, May 15 - Science Unit Exam - Light and Shadows

Wednesday, May 17 - Bake Sale: 50 cents per item

Friday, May 19 - PD Day: No School

Monday, May 22 - Victoria Day: No School

Week in Review: April 24 - 28

A quick update on the latest and greatest classroom events.  The pace of learning continues to roll along and there was plenty of fantastic learning happening in class.  This last week I put the class on notice that over the remaining few weeks the completion of homework assignments and/or at-home projects will be closely monitored.  Building greater self responsibility in terms of completing school work outside the classroom helps set the stage for next year's move into grade five. This homework change may undoubtedly be a bigger challenge for some than others and thus create a new source of anxiety or stress; as parents you can definitely assist your child.  With West Haven we do provide after school learning labs Monday through Thursday which allow students the opportunity to work on incomplete assignments after school with teacher supervision on any of their incomplete assignments.

In working with kids and homework there are undoubtedly challenges, however having a plan of attack can alleviate a lot of "hair pulling" and stress, and instead create set routines that can allow children to thrive.  There are many ways of creating structures at home that support children's learning.  Specific decisions about structuring depend in part on your child's learning needs and on your (parent's) ideas about specific involvement that will "fit" both your child and your family context, for example, what the home is like and what other demands require your time - ie. siblings, work etc..

As parents, establishing homework routines (e.g., students decide the order in which the work will be done, while parents track time and remind students of remaining tasks) and offering suggestions for organizing homework space (e.g., clear off the table or desk before starting homework) are important to ensuring learning success and the completion of tasks. It is important to create a comfortable, quiet environment and maintain consistent rules for homework completion (e.g., who can work together; when it's okay to ask for help).

Some strategies that students can use to avoid becoming distracted during homework include telling themselves not to get up until a specific part is finished, or doing easier parts of the assignment first. It is also a good idea to remove or limit external distractions (TV, electronics, phone) be turned off until homework is done.  Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, offer positive reinforcement (e.g., free time, small rewards) to motivate efficient completion of homework.  In all, it is very important that parents let students know that they value and expect effort and learning in the homework process.

Curriculum wise here is what we have been doing in class...

In Math we have continued to work through our measurement unit and did plenty of work converting units and determining appropriate units for measuring various objects.  Next week we will be moving on from the calculation of area and perimeter and it the measuring of liquids involving millilitres, litres, and kilolitres.

In Language Arts we continue to work on reading fluency and comprehension.  We have been working with comprehension strategies that help to reinforce understanding of literature.  In being able to retell story events, generate predictions, infer character emotions and ultimately locate specific story information to support their inferences, students are able to better integrate their learning and make personal connections to story information which allows for detailed recall.

In Science we continued our study of light and shadows and began investigating the principle of light ray refraction.  Refraction is the bending of light (it also happens with sound, water and other waves) as it passes from one transparent substance into another.

This bending by refraction makes it possible for us to have lenses, magnifying glasses, prisms and rainbows. Even our eyes depend upon this bending of light. Without refraction, we wouldn’t be able to focus light onto our retina.

Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off next week on Monday, May 1st, and will most definitely be an exciting time for everyone involved.  The staff and students of West Haven public will definitely be showing their support through participation in a multitude of different events!

Here is a summary of the activities planned to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week at WHPS.  Parents and families are welcome to attend any or all of the events:

Monday (1) 
- Motivational messages
- Joke of the Day
- Classroom door decorating contest begins

Tuesday (2)
- Motivational messages
- Joke of the day
- Mental Health Activity Day - parent volunteers welcome to come and participate with their children.  Ten different activities to attend throughout the day including yoga, physical literacy, nutrition, cooperative games, mindful colouring, an escape room, floor hockey, frisbee golf, music exploration, and finally a poetry writing station.

Wednesday (3)
- Motivational messages
- Joke of the day
- School spirit day: "National Hats on for Mental Health" Day - everyone wears their favourite hat, ie. cowboy hat, sombrero, baseball cap, hard hat etc.

Thursday (4)
- Motivational messages
- Joke of the day
- SWAT team Bake Sale in support of the Canadian Mental Health Foundation.  All items are 50 cents and all funds raised will be donated to the CMHF.

Friday (5)
- Motivational messages
- Joke of the day
- Classroom door decorating judging
- Student "Art Gallery" in small auxiliary gym.  All classes will have artwork related to mental health on display for everyone to come and check out.
- Family movie night in support of the Canadian Mental Health Foundation.  Families are invited to come and watch a movie, Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire,  in the large gym beginning at 6:30pm.  Entry to the event is by donation, with all donations being given to the Canadian Mental Health Foundation.  

Lastly CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Kaleb, Kylan, Nate, Sarah, Jenna, Savanna, and Mackenzie on their hard work and effort at this weekend's St. Benedict's Bears Floor Hockey tournament.  It was a great showing for both our school's teams as our boys finished in fourth while our 3/4 girls team managed to win West Haven's first ever floor hockey medal as they captured the silver at the tournament, just narrowly missing the great comeback in the gold final.  Super proud of everyone's attitude, effort and team work during this year's season!

Upcoming Calendar of Events
Monday, May 1- Friday, May 5 - Mental Health Awareness Events (see above)
Tuesday, May 2 - Mental Health Activity Day - dress for the weather as students will be inside and outside throughout the day
Wednesday, May 3 - "Hats on for Mental Health" spirit day - wear your favourite hat in support of mental health initiatives
Wednesday, May 3 - 6H Bake Sale. All items are 50 cents.
Wednesday, May 3 - Early dismissal at 2:30pm
Wednesday, May 3 - Library Book Exchange
Thursday, May 4 - Amazing Agriculture field trip to Edmonton Expo Centre - remember to pack a lunch and arrive at school on time.  We will be leaving by 8:40 and unfortunately won't be able to wait for stragglers due to our tight arrival schedule.
Friday, May 5 - Student Art Gallery.  All parents are welcome to come and visit the West Haven Museum between 8:45AM and 7:00PM.
Friday, May 5 - Family Movie Night "Mrs. Doubtfire".  Entry by donation to the Canadian Mental Health Foundation.  Popcorn concession available.

Week in Review: April 10 - 13

This week, although only four days, was another good one with plenty of learning going on. Throughout the week the class continued becoming poetry masters, worked with metric measurement conversions, continued their study of Piet Mondrian, and experimented with a variety of different materials and light rays. Throw in the fun of "Oilers Team Spirit" day, our Easter party, and of course the excitement of the Easter break and the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning and it was a great week all around.

In terms of curriculum this week...

In Math we continued our study of linear measurement and began comparing units of measurement.  Working with the metric system we examined, for example, how many units you would get when converting say five meters into millimeters, or 30000cm into kilometers.  We also looked at being able to recognize appropriate units of measurement for tasks, such as using millimeters to measure short distances/objects versus larger/longer distances perhaps using decimeters or kilometers.  After the Easter break we will begin looking at weight and capacity.

This week we also kicked off our participation in the Canada 150 event using the Mathletics online Math program.  Using the program students are able to practice their Math skills both in class as well as home.  An information sheet was sent home containing information about the program as well as a small card containing everyone's usernames and passwords. Everyone is really excited about using the program so it's a great opportunity for everyone to take advantage of that excitement and get some extra practice in at home!

In Language Arts this week we continued working with reading comprehension and getting everyone using with their word attack strategies to decipher unknown words, so as to improve fluency and understanding.  This week's work looked at determining whether writing samples were fact or opinion, and better able to recognize features that would allow them to tell the difference.  In writing, we continued our poetry unit and this week focused on composing "cinquain poems".  With the poems they have a set structure with a relatively easy form to follow, which allowed the style to be quickly understood.  This lead to the publishing of some very creative, and funny poems with a wide variety of topics.

In Science the study of light and shadows continued with everyone experimenting with the creation of shadows in class using a variety of different materials.  The assorted materials we used were a mix with transparent, translucent and opaque characteristics.  This allowed everyone the opportunity to see first hand how these materials interacted with the light rays from their flashlights - some allowed the rays to pass through entirely, some blocked the rays completely, while others allowed the rays to pass through but altered them in some way - dimmer, colour change, direction of the beams etc.

In Art this week we began our artist study of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.  Piet Mondrian was originally a well known landscape painter but eventually became more famous for his abstract geometric paintings.  This type of artwork was what we focused on this week in class and  used as our inspiration in class.  This week everyone took a shot at recreating one of Piet Mondrian's more famous pieces called "Composition II in red, blue, and yellow".  This artwork was the inspiration for several clothing lines, and even an entire museum!




Bake Sale - Wednesday, April 19

Just a quick reminder about next week's classroom bake sale on Wednesday, April 19th.  Please be sure to send your 3 dozen individually wrapped baked goods to school first thing in the morning.  If the baked good you are sending contains nuts please marked this on the wrapper as they will be set up and sold on a separate table.  All money collected from the sale goes directly to the classroom.

Go Oilers Go

Here's a great shot of the school showing their team spirit during Wednesday's  Oilers Team Spirit Day...

Upcoming Calendar of Events
Friday, April 14 - No School
Saturday, April 15 - Deadline to order hot lunch for May
Monday, April 17 - No School
Tuesday, April 18 - PD Day: No School
Wednesday, April 19 - Library Book Exchange - please return library books
Wednesday, April 19 - 4H Bake Sale (please send 3 dozen items first thing in the morning)
Thursday, April 20 - East Elementary Invitational Girls Floor Hockey Tournament

Week in Review: April 3 - 7

Welcome back everyone to the school year's home stretch! Time has most certainly flown by and there are a mere three months of grade four remaining.

With this week occasionally the first week back after a longer break such as Spring Break can sometimes be a challenge, as the daily routines and classroom expectations have taken a break and "normal" at-home schedules (ie. bed times) are being re-instituted.  With this year's crew that wasn't the case as we once again had a very productive week and didn't really experience any lull in energy.  New units were kicked off in Math and Science, another two forms of poetry were studied in Language Arts, we met the Voyageurs in Social Studies, and we got to test some amazing crane projects in Science!

In terms of curriculum this week...

In Math we began our study of linear measurement and completed numerous activities getting the students use to using their rulers for something other than drumsticks.  Working primarily with centimeters this week, we will be expanding our learning by beginning to make conversions to larger and smaller units beginning next week, before moving into the calculating of perimeter towards the end of the week.

In Language Arts we continued to work with our weekly spelling words, and were using them to identify part of speech, improve phonic skills, and obviously increase sight word vocabulary and spelling fluency.  With our writing assignments this week, we continued our study pf poetry and worked to compose examples of both picture poetry and couplet poetry.

In Science this week we introduced our new unit, Light and Shadows.  With our activities this week we worked with identifying natural and man-made sources of light, and then examined the qualities of materials in relation to light rays.  We learned about how opaque, transparent , and translucent materials all interact differently with light rays and consequently all create different forms of shadows, if at all.

Lastly a big thank you goes out to everyone for assisting your children with their box crane projects.  It was great seeing the various creative designs having the kids being able to describe how their cranes worked and explain why they used the designs which they did.


In Social Studies, our study of Alberta's fur trade and the immigration of new people into the province continued.  We began looking at the influx of French traders and the role of the Voyageurs within the fur trade.  In examining the Voyageurs this week we had the opportunity to listen to some Voyageur folk songs and learned how these songs and the stories of these men helped to shape the existing culture of some cities and towns with a French heritage within Alberta such as Lac La Biche, Lacombe, and Beaumont.

Upcoming Calendar of Events

Tuesday, April 11 - Class Photos today
Thursday, April 13 - Spelling Test #28
Friday, April 14 - Good Friday: No School
Monday, April 17 - Easter Monday: No School
Tuesday, April 18 - PD Day: No School
Wednesday, April 19 - 4H BAKE SALE - PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR BAKING FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AS PER THE EMAIL/NOTE SENT HOME LAST WEEK.

Week in Review: March 20 - 24

This last week was definitely one of ups and downs.  Obviously the excitement of the upcoming Spring Break filled the room and that energy trickled into everything we did this week.  Everyone worked hard and we continued to complete a few more items on our units of study checklist.  

This last week featured unit tests in both Math (long division) and Science (Building Movable Devices), and surprisingly the success of the results was mixed.  On one end of the scale we had students who excelled and displayed great understanding - congratulations Kaleb on your TWO 100% tests - and then there were those students who, despite working well in class, stumbled and experienced a dip in their test scores.  This dip obviously raised some eyebrows - What is going on?  Is my child not listening?  Goofing around?  As I noted with one parent, both the units in Science and Math featured concepts this last round that were difficult and more abstract to comprehend - the works gets more challenging as you progress along in the year.  There was a definite increase in the need to apply previous learning to develop and display understanding, and consequently dips in performance can sometimes occur because the activities are no longer simply recall based activities.  These are those types of activities which are very familiar, such as addition and subtraction, which the students have had around in some fashion for four years and subsequently have a base of knowledge to draw from.  So with that said how does one combat this dip?  With the Math continue to practice the recall of multiplication facts and division equations - the extra practice is essential as it will help build that new base of knowledge, which the kids can then draw from in the future.


In terms of curriculum this past week...

With Math this week it was all about the long division and a lot of activities aimed at developing student's working level of comprehension with how the skill works.  As with last week the class was broken into smaller groups based on student's levels of comfort and expertise with the concept.  The use of the groups allowed me to not only offer more individual attention to some students, but also challenge other groups with more difficult activities.  

As of this week we wrapped up our division unit and will be taking a break from number operations for a few weeks as we will be kicking off our measurement unit upon are arrival back at school after the break.  The measurement unit will look at the linear measurement, area, perimeter, weight, temperature, and time.

In Language Arts we continued our work with developing reading strategies and building comprehension skills.  In our reading work this week we focused on identifying phonemic sounds within words, chunking words into syllables, sounding out words,  and using context clues within the surrounding text.  

Additionally this last week we received a package from the Edmonton Oilers in support of our home-reading program.  Using this as a teachable moment we discussed the importance of reading at home, and how much like any skill whether it's skating, running, or shooting a basketball, you need to practice in order to get better at it.  The extra reading at home allows students the opportunity to practice things like reading with expression (ie. no robot voices), improving their fluency (ie. trying to avoid reading word-by-word), building their sight word vocabulary, and ultimately gaining confidence in reading unknown words (ie. applying reading strategies).  

At present we have only five students who regularly return their home reading folder daily, and who are consistently tracking their home reading.  Thank you to those students and parents.  These five students were the first to receive their reading prizes from the Oil Kings and Oilers.  In closing, I mentioned to the kids that it would be great if that number could increase so that everyone could get a prize, and that it only required a minimum of fifteen minutes each night.

In Science we wrapped up our Building Movable Devices unit and sent everyone off with a final at-home construction project to complete over this last week and Spring Break.  The next project involves the construction of a 30cm tall "crane" that is capable of lifting approximately 250g of weight.  The design for the crane was left up to the students to decide, although we did do some rough planning in class to get everyone's ideas going.  The crane project is to be returned to the class no later than Tuesday, April 4th, as that is when we will be testing them in class.


Upon our return from Spring Break we will be tackling a new unit, Light and Shadows.  With this unit students will learn about light by studying the effects of light on things within their environment.  They will learn about light sources, about materials that light can pass through and about what happens when a material blocks or changes the path of light.  By observing shadows and their motions relative to a light source, students will discover that light and shadows fall along a predictable path.  The students will experiment with mirrors, prisms and a variety of other materials to see that these things can affect light's path by reflecting and refracting light and by splitting light into colours.

In Social Studies this week, student activities worked to help students recognize how the stories of people and events can provide multiple perspectives on the past, and how these stories are a valid source of knowledge about the land, culture and history of the province. 

We continued to discuss the influence of the diverse Aboriginal peoples within  Alberta, and how Alberta's culture was now changing with the arrival of the European fur trade, specifically The North West Trading Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. 

Upcoming Calendar of Events

March 24 - April 2 - Spring Break: No School
Monday, April 3 - First day back to school
Wednesday, April 5 - School Spirit Day: BEACH DAY - wear your beach-themed outift
Wednesday, April 5 - Early dismissal @ 2:30pm
Wednesday, April 5 - Bake Sale (50 cents per item)
Friday, April 7 - Library: book exchange
Friday, April 7 - Saturday, April 8 - Caledonia Viking Cup Boys Floor Hockey tourney

Week in Review: March 13 - 17

Twas an excellent week in grade four as the excitement of St. Patrick's Day filled the class. This week we completed numerous "St. Paddy's" related activities including some reading comprehension, composing limericks, some leprechaun math, as well some art activities and of course our class celebration that included a viewing of James and the Giant Peach as a wrap up activity to our novel study unit.  In conclusion, thank you to those parents who were able to come out for our student-led conferences last Tuesday, the kids were excited to have to you visit and also for the opportunity to show you many of the wonderful things they have done.

In terms of curriculum this past week...

In Math the students are continuing to build confidence in their understanding of long division.  This past week saw many of the students make the needed connections and begin working through the in-class problems independently or with little guidance.  As their confidence continues to grow so will their independence.  Next week we will having a quick division review quiz just to assess every one's comprehension of the division concept. The quiz will be assessing that the students know the needed steps and can apply them accurately when needed without assistance. 

In Language Arts we tackled the fun and creativity of limerick poetry!  Through the use of their words we were able to explore the fun of Irish poetry and iambic pentameter. In addition we wrapped up our study of James and the Giant Peach.  As you are sitting around the supper table ask your son or daughter about the novel and what happened in the story - retelling story events is a great way to increase story comprehension; not to mention the fact it allows your child the opportunity to share a little about their day at school.

In Science we have nearly concluded our study involving the Building of Movable Devices. Our activities this week looked at the use of wind power as a means of generating energy to produce movement.  Throughout the week the students had a chance to construct a vehicle, test it, and then take it home to retool and redesign for a second test.  With the tests the vehicles had to travel a distance of two meters solely powered by wind in order to receive the full five point score.  The scores from the various construction project tests all serve to generate an overall unit project grade.  Check with your daughter or son to see how their car scored in the testing.  

As a concluding activity for our constructing movable devices unit we had the folks from Learn and Create come into the school to work with the kids on creating a couple of different moving Lego projects - a dune buggy and a swinging boat amusement ride.  It was great seeing the teamwork and cooperation among the various groups.  Everyone successfully built their projects, and as was pointed out "Everyone had such a good time playing we didn't even know we were learning something".  Here are a few pics from the day's fun...

Next week everyone will be busy constructing our final project, a box crane capable of lifting a small load.  Look for information coming home in everyone's agendas.  The crane project will allow us to integrate our knowledge of pulleys, levers, and mechanical advantage.  Our concluding unit exam will be held next week.

In Social Studies we continued to look at the early settlers in Alberta, initially the native Cree people who first settled the region and then the European settlers who established trading posts like the Hudson Bay Company within the province.  By studying these groups we are drawing connections between past and present life in Alberta.

Thank you
Thank you to those families that provided snacks for the class St. Patrick's Day party. Everything was delicious, as evident from the vacuumed cleaned platters and smiling faces.

St. Patrick's Day Fun
We had some fun playing around with this activity on Friday...have some fun and find out your "official" Leprechaun Name.

Upcoming Calendar of Events

Tuesday, March 21 - Math Unit Quiz: Long Division
Wednesday, March 22 - Science Unit Exam: Building Movable Devices
Friday, March 24 - PD Day: No School
Monday, March 27 - Sunday, April 2 - Spring Break: No School
Monday, April 3 - 1st day back after Spring Break
Wednesday, April 5 - Early Dismissal @ 2:30