We started our time with the artist in residency. Take a look at some highlights of our first session. 

Both classes are starting their art residency today (afternoon). We are focusing on our solar system. We don't want to give too much away as our classroom presentation will be a secret until conferences at the end of March. 

If you still have materials to bring in to support this build, please feel free to bring them in with your child.

 A few highlights from the first day of Kindness Week.

 Buddy Reading with Grade 2 students in support of Kindness Week! 

Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day!

This week is Kindness Week. Today we had our kick-off assembly. Throughout the week, all students will be participating in various activities connected to kindness. 

This morning students worked on  Boogle task to search for words connected to kindness. We then took those words and incorporated them into a proper paragraph. 

A few words that were discussed:

-respect

-care

-friend

-kind

-deer

-nicer

-fine

-tar

-screen

Wednesday is Pink Shirt Day

There is also No School on Friday for students.

This morning we welcomed the Science FUNdamentals guest speakers to discuss the concept of Magnetism. Here are few highlights from the presentation:

-reviewing the scientific method process (what are the 5 steps in this process?

-what is magnetism? (magnets pull or push away magnetic materials)

-magnets have been around for a very long time (Greek history)

-magnetic fields are shields is a protective field around the Earth

-magnetic lines of force (opposites attract)

-how are magnets connected to The Earth

-magnetic field on Earth is the opposite of the Earth's geographical field!!!!

-we did a homemade compass with materials found around the house

-Japan and Germany use magnetic levitation trains to reduce friction by using magnetic republic to suspend the train 1 to 10 cm above the track. This allows the train to ride on a cushion of air.

-what is electromagnetism? 

-what is homopolar magnet and Lenz's Law?

-what is the difference between a conductor and an insulator? 

There is an event on March 15th at the University of Calgary for students and families to explore. There will be booths set-up for experiments, lab tours, and discussions about dinosaurs. 

Hope all families had a wonderful long weekend. We were excited to hear all the stories of the events that took place over the 5 days away from the school.

Students have begun their 3 part Trading Post project. The first task is creating a map of Alberta in order to determine where best to place their own trading post. 

We have also started our review on how to properly write a paragraph. 

We will also be having our third Science FUNdamentals presentation tomorrow morning. 

 Just a reminder that there is no school Thursday, February 13th, 14th and 17th. Students will come back on Tuesday, February 18th.

Students have been learning about the phases of the moon. Ask your child if they can tell you about the phases and the scientific vocabulary connected to each phase. We are also connecting our moon phases to the First Nations culture. The Indigenous called the moon phases based on what was happening at their location. Therefore, each culture had different names for the moon phases. 

In Math, we reviewed the concept of transformation. Ask your child to show you an example of the translation, reflection, and rotation. Students will be asked to incorporate these examples into their upcoming Math/Art contest submission.