October 28, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Just a few updates today:

The Fun Lunch order deadline has been extended to next Monday, November 2nd.  Please remember to print of the payment remittance form and send that in along with the payment.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Grade 1-4 Students can choose to dress up for Thursday, October 29th, in the afternoon.  Kindergarten students will come to school in their costumes.  To minimize disruptions, Grade 1-4 students will need to come to school with costumes in their backpacks and dress themselves up.  For safety, no masks or play weapons and costumes need to be age appropriate.

Tomorrow evening is the Halloween Howler.  Remember to bring your tickets!
 

There is no school this Friday, October 30th. 

Scholastic Book orders for Mr. Soulliere are due back next Friday, November 6th.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,

Mr. Soulliere

October 27, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we continued working on our Daily 5 skills of Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing.  The students have also been working with the teachers during this time on guided reading.  In math we continued our math rotations.  Ask your child what they learned today.  We will be continuing these tomorrow, but not at our normal time.  Instead, we will be having our special guest teacher come in to talk with us about what it was like when Cranston School first opened.  This is part of our work looking at the past and present of our family, school, and community.  In the afternoon we broke into our word work groups, and finished our day working on our Autumn tree art project.

Calgary Flames and CBE have partnered up again to offer 'Press Level' seating to families at a discounted price. $36 for a ticket, and $10 from each ticket purchased goes right back to Cranston School. Go to www.calgary.flames/studentnight for more information. Remember to choose Cranston from the drop down menu. Tickets sell out fast, so please order soon!

Cranston Peace Ambassadors will be starting a drive for Jacket Racket beginning Monday, October 26th and running to Friday, November 6th. This is a wonderful opportunity for all students to help other children here in our city, by donating warm outerwear that they no longer need. It is a valuable experience for our students and reinforces Cranston School’s commitment to peace and citizenship education. Please take some time with your children to go through their winter items. It is that time of year when we all realize that hats, mittens, boots, snow pants and coats have been outgrown! Please give them a wash and put them in a plastic bag to be brought to school. If you could list the items and sizes on the outside of the bag, it would help the students with the sorting process! We also accept adult sizes, as many older students need help to stay warm in the winter as well!

Tomorrow is the last day for November and December Fun Lunch orders.  Please send in the payment remittance form along with the payment.

We will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, October 29th.  We will be doing some small activities with our grade 3/4 buddies in the afternoon.  Students are invited to wear their Halloween costumes in the afternoon only.  Costumes must be age-appropriate, and students must be able to put them on without adult assistance.  Please keep masks, weapons, or other accessories such as wands and brooms at home.  Thank you in advance for not sending any treats etc. that day.

Have a great evening!

October 26, 2015

Hello families and friends,

We had two guest teachers in our class today!  To start off our day we showed them our best Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing.  Then we worked on our math rotations.  Ask your child what they learned today.  In the afternoon we did our words of the week.  They are "on", "in", "said", and "weekend" for the grade ones and "where", "your", "all", and "because" for the grade twos.  Grade two students were not expected to use the grade one words for the activity this week, but they will still be expected to know the grade one words and use them correctly in their own writing.  Then we had a fire drill!  The students did an excellent job of getting out of the school in a quick and organized fashion.  We finished our day working on a fall tree scene.  Ask your child about this.

Cranston Peace Ambassadors will be starting a drive for Jacket Racket beginning Monday, October 26th and running to Friday, November 6th. This is a wonderful opportunity for all students to help other children here in our city, by donating warm outerwear that they no longer need. It is a valuable experience for our students and reinforces Cranston School’s commitment to peace and citizenship education. Please take some time with your children to go through their winter items. It is that time of year when we all realize that hats, mittens, boots, snow pants and coats have been outgrown! Please give them a wash and put them in a plastic bag to be brought to school. If you could list the items and sizes on the outside of the bag, it would help the students with the sorting process! We also accept adult sizes, as many older students need help to stay warm in the winter as well!

This Wednesday, October 28th, picture order forms and Fun Lunch orders for November and December are due.  Please send them into your child's teacher by then.  

Scholastic book orders for Mr. Soulliere are due back by next Friday, November 6th.

We will be celebrating Halloween on Thursday, October 29th.  We will be doing some small activities with our grade 3/4 buddies in the afternoon.  Students are invited to wear their Halloween costumes in the afternoon only.  Costumes must be age-appropriate, and students must be able to put them on without adult assistance.  Please keep masks, weapons, or other accessories such as wands and brooms at home.  Thank you in advance for not sending any treats etc. that day.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email your child's teacher or one of the others in the room.  For Mr. Soulliere <gasoulliere@cbe.ab.ca>; for Ms. McEvoy <jlmcevoy@cbe.ab.ca>; for Ms. Klein <jmklein@cbe.ab.ca>.

Have a great evening,

Mr. Soulliere

October 23, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Yesterday, we had a visit from author Marty Chan.  Marty Chan is an author of 11 books from Edmonton who visited our school today. He told us many funny stories about how he gets ideas for his books, including stories about his two cats Max and Buddy that turned into his picture book called "True Story". He also gave us some important advice. "When you write, don't be afraid of the blank page!" Visit his web site to learn more about him.

We have been continuing to work on our literacy skills in the morning, practicing reading to self and to someone, and working on our writing.  Yesterday we also practiced some reading with our grade 3/4 buddies, and made a video recording our reading to put into IRIS.  You can see this at home by logging into IRIS using the same login and password that your child uses to get onto the computers at school.  We also started a Autumn tree art project, which we will be continuing next week in collaboration with a fundraiser that we will be doing.  Information about this will be sent home next week.  Today, we also started working on an art project with Ms. Ellison around the work that we have been doing in social studies about comparing the past and present.  We will be continuing our work in this over the next few weeks.

Thank you to all the families who supported our students by attending the Student-Led Learning Walk.  It is a very meaningful experience for students to not only share their own work with you, but also the work of the other students at our school.   Parents then can truly see the scope of learning that your child will experience during their time at Cranston School.  Thank you again - it was great to see you all!!

A note from Mr. Southworth and Mr. McDougall
This week is the start of our annual, extended Digital Citizenship week at Cranston School.  Starting this week and continuing over the next 4 weeks, Mr. McDougall and Mr. Southworth will be doing lessons with each of the classes around Internet safety, including how to protect your identity on the web, and spotting advertising, as students interact with the digital world.  Time will also be spent on using student devices at school.

On our Digital Citizenship webpage you will find our 'Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) letter, school-wide Digital Citizenship plan and classroom Twitter guidelines.  As well, you will find activities and games for kids to play and work through at home.  This is an excellent way for parents to spend quality time with their children while helping to guide them through the digital world.

You will find a link to the Digital Citizenship page at the top of our Cranston School website.  Alternatively, you can also follow this direct link:
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b408/VLC/digital-citizenship.html

Cranston Peace Ambassadors will be starting a drive for Jacket Racket beginning Monday, October 26th and running to Friday, November 6th. This is a wonderful opportunity for all students to help other children here in our city, by donating warm outerwear that they no longer need. It is a valuable experience for our students and reinforces Cranston School’s commitment to peace and citizenship education. Please take some time with your children to go through their winter items. It is that time of year when we all realize that hats, mittens, boots, snow pants and coats have been outgrown! Please give them a wash and put them in a plastic bag to be brought to school. If you could list the items and sizes on the outside of the bag, it would help the students with the sorting process! We also accept adult sizes, as many older students need help to stay warm in the winter as well!

Calgary Flames and CBE have partnered up again to offer 'Press Level' seating to families at a discounted price. $36 for a ticket, and $10 from each ticket purchased goes right back to Cranston School. Go to www.calgary.flames/studentnight for more information. Remember to choose Cranston from the drop down menu. Tickets sell out fast, so please order soon!

October 20, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we continued our math rotations with a new lesson which we will be continuing tomorrow and Thursday with each of the teachers.  Mr. Soulliere is continuing to teach the students number concept, Ms. McEvoy is working with them on measurement, and Ms. Klein is working with shapes.

In the afternoon we had our second day of our new word work groups.  Ask your child what they learned about.  Then in social studies we continued our look at communities by looking at and comparing some pictures from Calgary's past and present and started a visual journal page showing some of the differences.  Tomorrow, we will finish our discussion on Cranston School's past with our guest speaker!

Tomorrow, the students will have an opportunity to view the work that we have all done in the school around writing and communication.  This is in preparation for Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Student Led Learning Walks offer you and your child(ren) an opportunity to glimpse a snapshot of what “writing to communicate and represent” looks like at every grade level across Cranston School with your child as the guide.

 

Families whose last names begin with A – L  attend on Wed. Oct. 21/15

Families whose last names begin with M – Z attend on  Thu. Oct. 22/15

*While there will be teachers from every grade level present both evenings, not every teacher will be present both evenings. All student work will be on display both evenings.

 

**If there are families who are getting family photos done on Thursday whose last name begins with A-L, you can choose to come whichever night works best JJ

Tomorrow is also Fun Lunch!  Fun lunch orders for November and December are available online through the Cranston School website.  These are due back to your child's teacher by next Wednesday, October 28th.

If you would like to order Halloween Howler tickets there are still some available.  Bring the order forms in as soon as possible, as there are only a limited number available.

Picture order forms have gone home.  These are also due back by next Wednesday, October 28th.

Have a good evening!

October 19, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today was a bit of a crazy day!  There were people coming in and out of the school all day for the election, and the gym was being used by this, so our transitions throughout the school were a bit of a challenge.  The students did a great job being responsible in their transitions though and we all made it to and from our door quickly and quietly.  As usual, we started our day with some Daily 5 work.  The students are doing a great job building their independence!  In math, we finished up our rotations from last week in preparation for starting a new activity tomorrow.

In the afternoon we started with our words of the week.  For this week they are "at", "be", "do", "of", and "was".  This is the last group of the most common words that the students use, and going forward we will start adding different words for the grade ones and twos.  We finished off our day with our last look at Cranston school's past.  We came up with a list of questions to ask our guest teacher on Wednesday.  This is a teacher that was at our school when it first opened, and she will be able to provide us with some more information about what it was like and hopefully answer most of our questions!  Who do you think our guest teacher/speaker will be?  Post your answer in the comments below.

Picture order forms went home today.  If you would like to order pictures please have the forms filled out and returned to your child's teacher by next Wednesday, October 28th.

Also due back by next Wednesday are Fun Lunch order forms.

Our school's Raz-Kids subscription rolls over to the new year on the same day that it was first activated, which is not until a little later in October.  Because of this, only teachers that have taught previously at the school have an account at this point.  Ms. McEvoy's and Mr. Soulliere's groups have been set up now, but Ms. Klein's group will not be available until late in the month.  A notice will be put on the blog when this happens.

A reminder that the class website is up and ready.  A calendar for the month, contact info, and links to important websites can be found there.

Attention All Cranston Families:

We are in need of 5 more babies, ages 6 months and younger, to participate in our Roots of Empathy program.  If you have family members, friends or neighbours who would be willing to volunteer 45 minutes/month with their babies to the school we would love to talk to them!  Please contact Mrs. Susanne Jones at the office 403-777-6267 ext. '0' for further information or if you would like the school to contact them directly.  Thanks so much!  Roots of Empathy begins in classrooms over the next two weeks and we would love to go forward with a full complement of 14 baby teachers!

Thank you!

Mrs. Kinsman (Principal)

Have a great evening!

October 16, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Yesterday we had a practice lockdown!  We talked about our lockdown procedures, and the purpose of lockdowns and practicing them.  The students did an excellent job staying quiet during the experience and staying safe.  We also had an assembly, put on by the Cranston School Bound & Safe Committee along with Constable Matice.  They taught us all about road safety and where it is okay to park.  How far from a crosswalk do you need to be parked?

Yesterday we also had our first activity with our grade 3/4 buddies.  They have been working on creating biographies, so they asked us some questions and we learned how to create videos and post them on IRIS using the tablets.  We will be continuing to do more activities with our buddies going forward.

In math, we worked on some word and number problems.  Ask your child about what they worked on.  We also continued our look at Cranston school and how it is changed and grown over the 5 years that it has been open.  Next week we will be having a special guest speaker come to talk with us about what the school was like when it first opened, and we will be able to ask them some of the questions that we have made up.

Fun Lunch orders are available online for November and December.

Next week is the Student Led Learning Walk.  The students will have an opportunity to look at, and talk about, all the displays that the classes have made.  Then on Wednesday and Thursday nights, the school will be open for parents to come in with their child(ren) to look at how the progression of skills and abilities through from kindergarten to grade 4.  More detail about this will be posted in the blog next week.

The home reading program has started.  This will continue throughout the year, and is a way for the students to practice reading books at home that are a "good fit" for them and that they should be able to read independently.  It is encouraged that the students keep the books for at least a couple days so that they can practice reading through it a few times.  Once they are finished with a book they can bring it back to the school to switch out for a new book.  Please note that due to the limited quantity of books that we have in the school, books that are lost or damaged will cost $5 to replace.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the sun (while it's still here)!

October 14, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Our words of the week for this week are "are", "is", "my", "good", and "friend".

The students have continued to work on their literacy skills in the mornings.  Each class has started allowing the students some freedom in their choice of work from Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing.  This is also time that teachers can work with small groups.  The students are showing some great independent work skills!  In math, we have continued doing our rotations.  Mr. Soulliere has been teaching the students number concept, Ms. McEvoy has been teaching about measurement, and Ms. Klein has been teaching about shapes.  Ask your child what they have done so far this week.

In the afternoon today we started our new word work groups.  The class has been split up into three groups, and each group will work with one of the teachers on building their knowledge of letter sounds, word families, and common spelling rules.  Then in dance we started learning some swing dance!  After that we began some writing about peace.  This will be part of our display for the Student Led Learning Walk next Wednesday and Thursday.  We ended our day with Mr. Southworth and a special visit from Ms. Fournier.  Ask your child about what they did.

Fun Lunch orders for November and December are available online now.  These are due in by Wednesday, October 28th.

Please see below for a message for Running Club Members:

Running Club members were given an order form for Running Club T-Shirts. Orders and money must be returned to their homeroom teachers by Thursday, October 15th to ensure that we receive the t-shirts prior to our last running club day.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

October 7, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we continued work on building our literacy skills.  The classes have begun to rotate between practicing Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing.  The teachers have also been doing small group work with the students during this time.  During our snack time, the classes started being called down to the gym for the individual student photos.  This took up a good chunk of our morning, so we only had a short session for our math rotations today.  Ask your child what they have worked on the last couple days.

In the afternoon we continued working on our personal family piece for our Canada Flag art.  This is tied in with the singing of Oh Canada that we will be doing on Friday.  If you have not returned the orange form that was sent home at the end of last week/earlier this week, please do so tomorrow!  They are necessary for scheduling purposes, as students that do not have consent for filming need to be done all together.  Thank you for your assistance in this.  We finished off our day with Mrs. Kinsman and Mr. Southworth.  Ask your child what they learned.

The class website is up and running.  On it can be found a monthly calendar, with important dates on it.  Please check here for upcoming dates and events, links to websites used in class (such as Raz-Kids, Mathletics, Tumblebooks, etc.), and photos of events happening in the room.  Also, if you have not returned the consent to post and publish forms that went home earlier this year please do so as soon as possible if you would like your child's picture/work to be posted on the site!

Next Tuesday we will begin our Home Reading program.

EDIT:  On Friday, students are asked to wear their red and white for the recording of Oh Canada!  Also this Friday, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., the Harmony wing classes will be performing our One World Drumming work with the Hope wing.  Hope to see you then!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

October 5, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we continued our literacy work, doing reading and writing.  The students have been doing a great job of keeping on their task and being able to switch between tasks quickly and efficiently.  Way to go room 3/4!  In math, we worked on a new skill for solving word problems.  Ask your child about this.

This afternoon we added our new words of the week.  This week we focused on pronouns.  They are "he", "it", "she", "they", "we", and "you".  In the comments below, write a sentence that uses one or more of the words of the week.  We finished off our day taking a look at some of the information that students brought in about their families.  Tomorrow we will be continuing our work with this.

Each day this week, the students will begin the afternoon with a singing of Oh Canada.  This is in preparation for the recordings that we will be doing on Friday.  Consent forms have been sent home for this recording, please have these returned to your teacher by this Thursday, October 8th.

This Wednesday, October 7th, is picture day!

Scholastic book orders for Mr. Soulliere and Ms. McEcoy are due back by this Friday, October 9th.

This Friday is also our One World Drumming celebration concert.  The classes in the Harmony wing will be performing from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Now that the classes have settled into our routines and we have gotten into more of our work, we are open to having volunteers come in and help out around the room.  If you are interested in volunteering, please email your child's teacher.

Have a great evening!

October 1, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today Ms. McEvoy's and Ms. Klein's groups went to One World Drumming.  The whole class has had an opportunity to participate in this now.  We continued working on building our independence and stamina for Daily 5 work with Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing.  We finished off our morning with our last rotation in our math groups.  Ask your child what they did today.

In the afternoon we talked about heroes in leading up to our Terry Fox run.  The students then did some writing about what they can do to be a hero.  What makes someone a hero?  Post your answer in the comments below.  We also continued working on finishing up some of the other work that we have begun including the Cranston brochures and Cranston School map.

Tomorrow is the Terry Fox run!  Please help your child to make sure that they are dressed appropriately for the weather and wearing shoes that are suitable for running.  Mrs. Bowles has also asked that all pledge forms be returned by next Monday, October 5th.

Have a great evening, and get your rest for tomorrow's run!