May 29, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day with an assembly.  This was put on by the students in rooms 3, 4, 70, 71, 72, 73, and 75.  Ask your child what they learned from this.  Then we had our daily read aloud and went to gym with our friends.  After that we did one round of Daily 5, then continued work on our envelope books.  We ended the day with a small performance by some of our students.

The Learning Commons Staff is offering a small prize to the first class that gets ALL of their library books returned.  Please help your child to remember to bring theirs back.  The library books, along with all home reading books, need to be returned by next Friday, June 5th.

Swimming permission and volunteer forms need to be brought back to Mr. Soulliere as soon as possible.

SANDWICH MAKING

For those families who were at Cranston last year, you will remember our Sandwich Making Community Project (donations went to the Mustard Seed) that we were involved in and what a HUGE success it was!  For those new to us, throughout the year, we have been working very hard with our students to recognize the importance of giving back to their community.  We would like to participate in this project again this year.  If we could have each student bring in $2 for this project, it will be used to purchase the sandwich items (bread, ham, mustard, butter, cheese slices, Ziploc bags).  Thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated.

May 28, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we had buddies and we shared our envelope books with them.  After buddies we did dance with Ms. Janelle.  Ask your child about what they learned.  After that the grade ones did two rounds of Daily 5.  The grade twos worked with Mr. Southworth on the computers to do some reading and answering questions.  This was a practice trial run for the SLAs that the students will be doing at the beginning of grade 3.

The whole school has new entry and exit doors.  The fencing has been added in around door 3 for construction to begin on the new portable that is being added.  Our class will now be entering and exiting from the gym doors close to door 2.

After lunch we continued working on our envelope books.  After the envelope books we started working on math.  Ask your child what we did.

Swim permission forms and volunteer forms need to be returned as soon as possible.  Mr. Soulliere got his days mixed up; we are not going swimming next week.  We go swimming the week of June 8th to June 11th.

Library and home reading books need to be returned by next Friday, June 5th.

In the comments below, guess who are going to be the next 3 daily helpers.

Have a great afternoon,
Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

May 27, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day by planning out some persuasive writing about the three cities that we have looked at with our friends.  After that the students learned how to play the game "4 corners"  from Mrs. Richardson.  We finished our morning with two rounds of Daily 5.

In the afternoon we started with our mental math, and then began working on some data collection, using yes or no questions to find out information about the students in the class.  We finished our day continuing work on our envelope books.  These are very close to being finished and they are looking very good!

Volunteer forms went home with children of those parents that had indicated the days that they will be available to volunteer to come swimming with us.  If you are available for some days and did not indicate it on the forms that were sent home earlier this month, please email me at <gasoulliere@cbe.ab.ca> and let me know when you can come.  Please have all permission and volunteer forms returned to Mr. Soulliere by this Friday to ensure that they are in and not accidentally forgotten on Monday.

Next week, we are swimming from Monday to Thursday.  Please make sure that your child has an extra bag (e.g. a grocery bag) to put their wet swimsuit and towel in after swimming so that their wet things are not sitting right in their backpacks.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Mr. Soulliere

May 26, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day with music.  We have been working on the song Alberta Bound which we will be performing during the Celebration of Learning in June.  After that we did some free writing.  Ask your child what they wrote about.  We finished off our morning with one round of Daily 5.

In the afternoon we started with our daily mental math.  Then we continued work on our envelope books.  We have been adding in all the work that we have done on plants and leaves.  At the end of the day we worked with our friends on our last round of social studies looking at the city of Calgary.

Swimming forms need to be returned as soon as possible.  There are still a few people that I do not have permission forms from.  Volunteer forms will be sent home tomorrow for those who had indicated that they are available.

All library and home reading books are due back by next Friday, June 5th, so that inventory of them can be done.  Please help your child to make sure that they are all returned!

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

May 20, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day with two rounds of Daily 5.  Then we went to gym and continued working on our dribbling skills with a new basketball game.  Ask your child about this.  Then we worked on some writing and reflected on some ways that we show our responsibility and are working towards our goals.  We then finished our morning, and started our afternoon, by working on the next portions of our envelope books.  Ask your child what they are writing about.  Then we had a short presentation from the Calgary Public Library, where we learned about some exciting summer reading programs.  We finished off our day by working with our friends on our look at Calgary.

Please have swimming permission forms in to me by the end of the week.  I will be sending home volunteer forms next week.

Scholastic Book Order Forms are due back next Monday, May 25th.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,
Mr. Soulliere

May 19, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day with music.  Ask your child what they worked on.  Then we had our last day of Roots of Empathy with baby Loyal.  In the comments below, post your favourite moment from Roots of Empathy this year.  Then we played a new game in gym using our dribbling skills.  After that we did our words of the week.  They are "under", "try", and "sit" for grade ones, "more", "much", and "always" for grade twos, and "photosynthesis" for both grades.

In the afternoon we did two rounds of Daily 5.  Then we joined our friends for our second round of looking at our prairie community of Calgary.

Fun Lunch is tomorrow.

Swim permission forms are due back to Mr. Soulliere by the end of the week.

Scholastic Book Order forms are going home today.  Please have them returned by Monday, May 25th.

Have a great evening,
Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere

May 18, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Just a reminder that tomorrow is class picture day!

Dear Cranston Families,

You are cordially invited to our 2015 Fish Release!

Where:  Grotto Mountain Pond, Bow Valley Provincial Park (Map Follows)

When:  Friday May 22^nd , 2015 at 1:30PM

The day for our Trout release is fast approaching and we finally have the details for the release.   

The actual release will take only about an hour, but all families are invited.  Feel free to bring your fishing rods and a picnic lunch.  The release will go ahead as scheduled rain or shine, so if you choose to come, please dress for all kinds of mountain weather.  

People over 16 will require a fishing license if they are going to fish, however children do not.  

Staff from the Bow Habitat Station will be on site to answer any questions you may have.  They will also be bringing a few additional fish so that as many children as possible will have a fish to release.  We would like to request that Cranston Students ONLY have the opportunity to release fish first as they have been watching them grow for months; and should there be any left over, younger siblings are welcome to release one as well.

Please note that this is NOT a school or CBE sanctioned event, so parents will be fully responsible for their own children.

We hope to see you there,

Ms. Low & Mr. Southworth

Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend,

Mr. Soulliere

May 14, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started with two rounds of Daily 5.  Then in dance we continued working on our dance from Mary Poppins.  After dance we had a friendly competition using our measurement skills.  Ask your child about this.

In the afternoon we worked on finishing up our first group for our Prairie Alphabet book about Calgary.  We finished off our day working on our envelope books.  Ask your child about what they are doing.

Tomorrow there is no school for students.  Monday there is also no school.

Fun Lunch is Wednesday, May 20th.

Mr. Soulliere is still missing a few swimming forms.  If you have not sent yours in please do that ASAP.  Also, permission forms and medical forms for swimming are going home today.  Those need to be returned as soon as possible as well.

Tonight is the Spring Dance!

In the comments below, write an alliteration sentence using the letter that you are working on for our Prairie Alphabet book.

Have a great long weekend,
Room 74 and Mr. Soulliere.

May 11, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day talking about our "buckets", and ways that we can help to keep them full and to fill others'.  Ask your child what they came up with.  Then in gym we started working on our basketball dribbling skills.  They even tried crossovers and under the leg!  After that the students went to music.  Ask them what they have been working on.  We finished off our morning with two rounds of Daily 5.

In the afternoon, we started with our mental math warm up.  Then we finished filling in our tables with the information that we had gathered up to this point on our branches, and went outside to observe them and do our measurements again.  We also started doing a guided drawing of a tree.  We finished off our day with our last look at Iqaluit, Nunavut.

What is something that you learned about Iqaluit, Nunavut in your groups?  Post your answer in the comments below.

There are still a few swim forms that I am waiting on.  These need to be in as soon as possible, as the office will be collecting them shortly.

With the weather beginning to warm up, the class will be starting to spend more time outside.  Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately for any weather that may happen each day and that they have footwear that is suitable for a lot of moving around and running, as we will likely start having outdoor phys. ed. again soon.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

May 8, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day out by reading the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" and talked about ways that we can help to fill somebody's bucket today.  After that we did one round of Daily 5.  Then some of our students presented the readers' theatre "Rumpelstiltskin".  They had been working on this for a couple weeks now and all their hard work definitely paid off!  Then we went outside to record some more data on our branches and made observations on the changes that we have seen.  Ask your child what changes they have seen on their branch.  The children had gym after this, then we spent some time working on our writing.  We finished off our day with some mental math and then started creating a table that we are going to use to keep track of all the information that we are recording about our branches.

Swimming forms are due back on Monday, May 11th.  Please ensure that you send them back with your child when we return after this weekend.  A few other forms have gone out throughout this week.

Class picture day will be Tuesday, May 19th.

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend,
Mr. Soulliere

May 7, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day working with our buddies on getting some things put into IRIS.  Ask your child what they added.  Then in dance we watched some musical dance and started learning some dancing from Mary Poppins.  After that, we did two rounds of Daily 5 with laptops for students to work on Raz-Kids and Mathletics.

In the afternoon we started working on some writing for Mother's Day.  Then we continued working on our look at Iqaluit, Nunavut, with our friends in room 51.

A reminder that swimming forms are due back on Monday.  Anyone that is available to volunteer to come for any of the days should include that information on the sheets provided.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

May 5, 2015

Hello families and friends,

This morning we started our day with music.  Ask your child what they were learning about.  After that we went outside for gym and played bocce ball.  This was a game that the students had learned back in the fall, so it was a good refresher for them.  Some groups came up with some very interesting rules for how they had to throw the ball!  After that we had two rounds of Daily 5.

In the afternoon we started with our mental math, then we did our weather graph for April.  After that we began working on creating tables that we are going to use to record the information that we have gathered on our branches that the students have chosen to observe.  Then we met up with our friends to continue our look at Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Tomorrow is Hats On! for Mental Health.  Students are encouraged to wear their hats.

Swimming forms went home last week.  Thank you to those of you who have already returned them.  These are due back to me by next Monday, May 11th.

Have a great evening,
Mr. Soulliere

May 1, 2015

Hello families and friends,

Today we started our day with our monthly cleanup, getting our reading and work bins organized and cleaned up.  Then we had two rounds of Daily 5.  After that we went to choir, and practiced the Music Monday songs.  We finished off the day by working on a math problem.

We have been spending a lot of time outside recently observing the changes that are occurring on the trees out in the field and around the school.  Each student picked a branch (on their own or with a partner) and we recorded some data about the branch, it's leaves, and the other parts of it.  Over the next few weeks we will continue observing the changes that are happening.  The students have also been encouraged to keep an eye on the different plants that may be around their homes to see the changes that are happening with them as well.  The changes that we see will be included in our envelope books.

Enjoy the beautiful weather and have a great weekend,
Mr. Soulliere