Sing! Sing! Sing!

Mrs. McBride has asked that we post the link to her blog.  She is starting to panic that the kids are mumbling through a lot of the words.  Please take the time with your child to do some singing at home to prepare them for their Christmas concert.

www.cranstonmusic.weebly.com

You can find the lyrics under the lyric tab.

Thanks so much!

SNOW PANTS STILL MISSING

Parents,

One of our students has lost their snow pants.  They are black, no straps, Columbia brand, size 7, and possibly labelled "Caleb" (his cousins name).  He lost them last week on Wednesday.  He came home with the wrong pair of black snow pants, so I suspect he has switched pairs with another child in the triad.  Austin brought the incorrect snow pants back to the school on Thursday, and now has no snow pants at all.

PLEASE check at your home to see if you might have these snow pants.

Thank you,

Ms. Klein

November 30, 2015

Hello families and friends,

In the morning we continued working on our literacy and numeracy skills.  Ask your child what they have been working on.  In the afternoon we introduced our words of the week.  They are "not", "try", "sit", and "up" for grade ones, and "happy", "pretty", "funny", and "very" for grade twos.  Write a sentence that uses all of your grade's words of the week.  In gym we continued work on "pillow polo" and floor hockey.  Then we looked at a few different liquids and raced them to see which were fastest and which were slowest.  What is the word that describes how quickly or slowly a liquid flows?

Please continue bringing in your Family Movie Night order forms.  Tickets are only available while supplies last.

The Christmas concert for the 1/2s in the Hope and Harmony wing is next Wednesday!  Head to Mrs. McBride's blog for lyrics to the songs that they will be singing so you can practice at home.

This morning the students in Mr. Soulliere's class practiced our songs that we will be singing for the seniors at the retirement home next Monday, December 7th.  They are Peace in my Fingers, Nothing More, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  Thank you to those parents that have volunteered to help us out on the afternoon!

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

November 27, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we did a really exciting experiment; in the spirit of the museo-kit that we had from the Glenbow Museum a couple weeks ago, the students made their own butter!  Ask your child the directions for how this was done.  After that, Ms. McEvoy led the students in writing the directions into their visual journals.  They practiced taking their time to do their best printing and making it neat.  We also took a look at the results of the experiment that we started yesterday; the students had looked at how water is absorbed and then they got three cups, two with water and one without, lined up in a row.  Then the students placed the ends of twisted up paper towel into each of the two water cups, with the other end of each dipped into the empty cup.  Then we added different coloured food colouring into the water, made predictions about what we thought would happen, and left them over night.  Ask your child what they observed today and if their prediction was right.

Forms for the Family Christmas Movie Night are going home.  The evening for this is Monday, December 14th.  Please return the forms as soon as possible if you are interested, tickets are available while supplies last.

On Wednesday, December 9th, the grade 1/2s in the Hope and Harmony wing will be putting on a presentation of Christmas at the OK Corral.  This will be at 6 p.m.  Information about tickets will be coming soon.

Booking for Parent Teacher Interviews is available through the Cranston School website.  They are running from 4:00 - 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, and from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. on Friday morning.  Time slots are 15 minutes long.  Please sign up for this if you have not done so yet.  We look forward to seeing you all!

On the afternoon of Monday, December 7th, the students in Mr. Soulliere's class will be going on a field trip to the Auburn Heights Retirement Residence to test run a new Multi-Generational buddying program.  We will be leaving the school at 12:30 and will be returning at 2:30.  If you are interested in helping us out that day please email me at <gasoulliere@cbe.ab.ca>.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Missing Snow Pants

Parents,

One of our students has lost their snow pants.  They are black, no straps, Columbia brand, size 7, and possibly labelled "Caleb" (his cousins name).  He lost them last week on Wednesday.  He came home with the wrong pair of black snow pants, so I suspect he has switched pairs with another child in the triad.  Austin brought the incorrect snow pants back to the school on Thursday, and now has no snow pants at all.

Would you please check at your home to see if you might have these snow pants.

Thank you,

Ms. Klein

November 24, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we continued working on our literacy and numeracy skills.  The students are working on their adding and subtracting strategies.  Ask your child which strategy they were practicing today.  Then in the afternoon, we broke into our word work groups.  In gym, we continued practicing our hockey skills with Mr. McDougall.  After that we continued our look at our responsibilities and some responsibilities that students would have had in the past.  At the end of the day we looked at the cups of water that we left out last week to see how they had changed, and made some predictions for our next experiment with water.  Ask your child about this.  How long do you think it would take for a cup of water left out on the counter to completely evaporate?  Post your answer in the comments below.

Stay warm this evening!
Mr. Soulliere

November 23, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we continued our morning literacy work with Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Work on Writing. Ask your child what they have been working on. Then in math all of the groups we continued work on our addition/subtraction strategies. The students have practiced one more and one less, two more and two less, fact families, doubles, and doubles plus one. Over the next little while we will also be looking at: doubles minus one and doubles plus/minus two; making ten; counting on; counting back; and thinking addition for subtraction.

Our words of the week for this week are "as", "by", "go", and "so" for grade ones, and "read", "what", "laugh", and "buy" for grade twos. Write a sentence in the comments below that uses at least 3 of the words of the week. In gym, the students continued playing two different types of floor hockey. At the end of the day we talked about responsibilities we have and what they would have had in the past. Ask your child what they came up with. What is the difference between a right and a responsibility?

This Wednesday morning we will be having a Little Spirit Bear presentation.

Thank you to those of you who are continuing to post their donations for Families Helping Families onto the blog. A reminder that all wrapped donations are due in to your child's teacher by next Thursday, December 3rd.

Next Thursday evening and Friday are parent teacher interviews. Booking is open online and can be accessed through the Cranston School website. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Have a great evening!

Fun Teams Roots of Empathy First Baby Visit

Friends & Family of the Fun Team:

McKenzie is our Roots of Empathy baby.  She came to visit us, with her mom, on Thursday, Nov. 12th for the first time.  Some of the questions asked by the students were:

"Does she have friends? playdates? go to the zoo?"
"Can the baby walk?"
"Does she crawl?"

We talked about what she eats and how she eats. We also measured her and discovered that she is 26 inches or 11 blocks long (66.04 cm).  We sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" to her.  She seemed to really enjoy this.  We discussed how babies communicate and the different types of cries that babies can have and why.

Fun Team . . . what do you remember about McKenzie's visit?

McKenzie will be visiting us again on Thursday, Dec. 3 in the morning.  Fun Team, what are some other things about McKenzie, that you are curious about?

Ms. Klein (Next time, I will get a close-up photo of our Baby McKenzie)

November 17, 2015

Hello families and friends,

In the morning we have been continuing work on our literacy skills in our individual class groups.  Ask your child what they have been working on.  We have continued with our math rotations as well.  Mr. Soulliere is continuing to work on number sense and equations, Ms. McEvoy and Ms. Terri are working on measurement, and Ms. Klein is working on shape.  Ask your child what they have worked on the last couple days.

In the afternoon we continued work in our word work groups.  Ask your child for some words that use the skill they practiced today and see if you can guess what it was!  We have also been continuing our work investigating liquids.  Yesterday we experimented with our materials that we used last week to patch up our styrofoam cups to see if they would hold water.  Today we looked at how water moves and drew some pictures to go along with it.  Why do you think we saw the water sticking together like it did on top of the pennies?  Post your prediction in the comments below.

Tomorrow is Fun Lunch.  Fill Your Freezer fundraiser forms are due back by Thursday, November 19th.  Landmark Cinema order forms are also due back by Thursday, November 19th.

Watch in the weekly parent message for when booking becomes available for Parent Teacher Interviews; these are coming up in only two weeks!

Thank you again to those of you that have been posting in the blog what you will be bringing in for Families Helping Families.  The posts with information can be found here for Soulliere, McEvoy, and Klein.

Have a great evening,

Mr. Soulliere

Word Work Word Wall Word

The last word I couldn't remember on the list of new word wall words for this week was question.

Ms. Klein

Megan & the Great Horned Owl

I guess my little blurb did not accompany the last page I posted so here it is again...

With permission from the family, I am sharing Megan's story of her fantastic experience with helping to save the life of this owl.

Ms. Klein

Megan & the Great Horned Owl

H

Ms. Klein's Fun Team

WHO LOST A TOOTH?

Ms. Klein's Fun Team will be graphing teeth lost over the course of the year.  Please confirm that your child has lost a tooth when it happens so they can colour in a tooth on our graph and pick a prize from Ms. Klein's prize box.  We will go back to Sept. to record lost teeth, so please also let me know if your child has lost any teeth over these past 2 months.

Thanks!

Ms. Klein

Monday - Nov. 16 Classroom News

Happy Monday Parents,

During science investigation, at the end of last week and concluding today, students made predictions on which cups would hold water and which ones would not.  The materials used by students, including a lot of tape, to make their "holey" cups hold liquid were plastic wrap, blue material, tin foil, coffee filters, other cloth material and building block cubes.  Students were filled with "aha" moments this afternoon, as their predictions about which materials would hold liquids were tested. Ask them what they discovered.

Some of you were asking about last weeks and this weeks word wall words.  We did not have new words last week due to the shortened school week.  This weeks words, which were for both grade 1 and 2s, are:

why
liquid
predict
water
______ (I can't remember the last one.  I'll let you know tomorrow.)

Sorry for the late notice on this - "Fill Your Freezer" orders are due Tuesday, Oct. 17.  Please send them in by Wednesday, if you have not done so already.  Thank you.

Have a great week!

Ms. Klein

November 12, 2015

Hello families and friends,

We had a very busy day today in room 3/4!  Each of our three classes had a visit from our Roots of Empathy baby.  Ask your child about their class' baby.  Because these were all at different times throughout the day, each class had their own times for working on literacy skills.  In the afternoon, the students got to watch the movie "Inside Out".  Ask your child what they learned from this movie.  During this, the teachers attended a very insightful webinar on Autism and Trauma in children.  At the end of the day, we continued our work investigating liquids.

Thank you to those of you that have already posted on the blog posts what you are willing to contribute to our classes for Families Helping Families.  The posts for Klein, McEvoy, and Soulliere can be found here.  Contributions are due in by Wednesday, December 2nd.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

November 9, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we continued our morning routine of working on our literacy and math skills.  Mr. Soulliere is continuing to work on number sense, Ms. McEvoy is working on measurement, and Ms. Klein is working on shape.  In the afternoon we started looking at liquids.  We watched a video about one of the most important liquids in the world!  Then the students made webs of what they know about liquids, and wrote down some of their wonders.  We will keep investigating liquids, their importance, and properties over the next few weeks.  At the end of the day we looked at some artifacts from the Glenbow Museum.  We will have these for the rest of the week to observe and investigate.

Tomorrow is our Remembrance Day Assembly.  There is no school on Wednesday.

Cranston families, if you are interested in helping…

IMPORTANT à  Please send your child’s teacher a comment through these BLOG posts (McEvoy, Soulliere, and Klein) titled ‘FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES AT CHRISTMAS’. State what item you are willing to contribute or donate based off of the needs the family has indicated so that all other families in your child’s class can see what has been contributed and what still is in need.

Please remember that our families would love to not have to worry about the purchase of food items and more than one gift card to their chosen grocery store would be welcomed!

**We welcome donations of gently used items for our families as well.

All gifts/donations will need to be wrapped and labeled for whom they are intended for. Wrapped contributions will be due by:

Wednesday December 2nd, 2015

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, all staff at Cranston school would like to thank families in advance for their thoughts and contributions! Thank you for making a families Christmas a little brighter!!

To Families of Cranston Students:


Part of our work at Cranston School is to provide our students with opportunities to grow in their character development and to learn how to best respond in particular social situations.


We know from brain research that how we react to others, and in particular situations, can often be changed through the power of story. This Thursday, November 12, we are going to share in a story-event as a whole student body when we come together to view the video "Inside Out". This Pixar film tells the story of a character who lives inside a child's brain and tries to keep core memories of positive personal stories strong in the face of challenges associated with moving to a new city and school. As the students encounter the story of the main character, Riley, they will begin to share understanding of how they can control and manage their responses to new events based on their past experiences, and that their responses can be changed.


A shared experience of story like this provides all students with opportunities to develop common language and understanding that will support our daily work at Cranston School to build peaceful communities of strong, connected, responsible and positive young citizens.


The film is 102 minutes long and we will be showing it in the gym right after lunch. Please discuss the film with your children to reinforce the positive messages the video contains.


Thank you.


Mrs. Kinsman, Principal

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES AT CHRISTMAS Soulliere

Hello families and friends,

State in the comments below what item you are willing to contribute or donate based off of the needs the family has indicated so that all other families in your child’s class can see what has been contributed and what still is in need.

Please remember that our families would love to not have to worry about the purchase of food items and more than one gift card to their chosen grocery store would be welcomed!

**We welcome donations of gently used items for our families as well.

All gifts/donations will need to be wrapped and labeled for whom they are intended for. Wrapped contributions will be due by:

Wednesday December 2nd, 2015

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, all staff at Cranston school would like to thank families in advance for their thoughts and contributions! Thank you for making a family's Christmas a little brighter!!

FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES AT CHRISTMAS McEvoy

Hello families and friends,

State in the comments below what item you are willing to contribute or donate based off of the needs the family has indicated so that all other families in your child’s class can see what has been contributed and what still is in need.

Please remember that our families would love to not have to worry about the purchase of food items and more than one gift card to their chosen grocery store would be welcomed!

**We welcome donations of gently used items for our families as well.

All gifts/donations will need to be wrapped and labeled for whom they are intended for. Wrapped contributions will be due by:

Wednesday December 2nd, 2015

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, all staff at Cranston school would like to thank families in advance for their thoughts and contributions! Thank you for making a family's Christmas a little brighter!!

FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES AT CHRISTMAS Klein

Hello families and friends,

State in the comments below what item you are willing to contribute or donate based off of the needs the family has indicated so that all other families in your child’s class can see what has been contributed and what still is in need.

Please remember that our families would love to not have to worry about the purchase of food items and more than one gift card to their chosen grocery store would be welcomed!

**We welcome donations of gently used items for our families as well.

All gifts/donations will need to be wrapped and labeled for whom they are intended for. Wrapped contributions will be due by:

Wednesday December 2nd, 2015

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, all staff at Cranston school would like to thank families in advance for their thoughts and contributions! Thank you for making a family's Christmas a little brighter!!

School Fundraising Cheque Writing Campaign & Fill Your Freezer Forms

After the students left at the end of the day I found a form on the floor for the "School Fundraising Cheque Writing Campaign" that one parent is likely missing.  Also, there was a "Simple Simon Pies - Fill Your Freezer" package that is missing the red and white order form and the prize level fundraising flyer.  If you are missing this/these please let me know so I can send them home.

Thank you.

Missing Home Reading Books

Parents, please take a look at home for any of these books that are missing from our Home Reading cart.

"Let's Play" - Level B
"Hot Sunny Days" - Level F

These 1st two books were originally signed out by Bianca, but it is possible that they were returned and then not signed out properly by another student.  The other two books were signed out by Harveer, but the same thing could have happened with these books.

"The Shopping Mall" - Level A
"Animal Communication" - Level K

Thank you for taking the time to look for these.

Scholastic Book Orders

I received the latest shipment of Scholastic books.  However, I have 3 orders that list titles but there is no name on the order forms.

The first form is for a the book, "Deadly Dinosaurs" for $4.99.

The second form is for a Berenstain Bears book for $6.99.

The third form is for 2 books - "I'm Not Sleepy" &  a "Write . . . 123 ABC" book for a total of $11.98, although the form filled in for the total price says $1.99.

Please let me know if this is your order.

ALSO, Friday, November 13 will be the due date for any orders from the latest Scholastic catalogues for Ms. Klein's Fun Group.

My E-mail Address

For parents wishing to contact me, my e-mail with the CBE is: jmklein@cbe.ab.ca.

November 5, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day continuing work on our literacy skills.  We also spent some time with our buddies getting some more videos of our reading put onto IRIS and playing some math games.  Ask your child to teach you one of the games that they played today.  In the afternoon we continued on our word work groups.  Ask your child what they did today.  Then we had our first Roots of Empathy lesson with Ms. Fernandez.  We will be having our first baby visits coming up soon!  The day ended with us working some more on the art we started with Ms. Ellison and our family trees.

Please continue to send in fundraiser forms as soon as you can.

Scholastic Book orders for Mr. Soulliere are due back tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the last day to bring in items for the Jacket Racket!  Please send in any unwanted winter clothing in a plastic bag for those that may be in need.  Thanks so much!

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

November 3, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we had a special guest presentation!  The author Tyler Enfield, author of "Wrush", came and talked with the school this afternoon about his books, reading, and the writing process.  He also played the didgeridoo for us!  It was very exciting.  We also continued our work in our word work and math groups, and continued work on our family trees.

A reminder that the Freezer fundraiser is due back November 20th.  The cheque writing campaign money is due on November 13th.  Also, if you are ordering for the artwork fundraiser please make sure that the forms along with the art are returned tomorrow.

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

Thanks and have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

November 2, 2015

Hello families and friends,

We have been continuing work on our literacy skills in Daily 5 in the morning.  After that we broke into our small math groups to continue our work on number sense with Mr. Soulliere, shape with Ms. Klein, and measurement with Ms. McEvoy.  In the afternoon we introduced our words of the week.  They are "if", "no", "yes", and "or" for grade ones and "myself", "his", "her", and "there" for grade twos.  At the end of the day we started making a family tree.  Ask your child who they are putting on theirs.  This would be a great opportunity to also talk with and share with them about the different members of their family, and also some of those things that we talked about when we were making our Canada flag art.

Two forms went home today: the Cranston School Cheque Writing Campaign, which will continue until Friday, November 13th; and the Fill the Freezer fundraiser, which will continue until Tuesday, November 10th.  The fundraiser for the art that we did with the students last week is also due back this Wednesday, November 4th.  Please make sure that you send in the art work with a "T" on the back of the art to designate the top of the page.

Please return all forms for groups (intramurals and book and movie club) as soon as possible.  Book and Movie Club will be starting this Wednesday, and Intramurals will be starting next week.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere