Final Blog of the Year!

Hello Parents,

Can you believe we are in the final week!  Wow!  It has been an amazing year, and I would like to say a big 

T H A N K    Y O U !

for making it such a wonderful year.  We have shared some great memories in the classroom with your children.  They all are an amazing group of children!  Thank you for all the welcome backs after my trip last week.  I wish I had a picture or two to show, but unfortunately my memory card is reading "error" and I may have lost them all :-S 

Some important dates this week to note:

Wednesday, June 25 - Sports Day! (Please see note below for information)

Wednesday, June 25 - Last day for PM Class.  Report Cards to come home 

Thursday, June 26 - Last day for AM Class.  Report cards to come home

Friday, June 27 - Appeals day. 

Tuesday, September 2 - First Day back for Grade One!




Sports Day 
Sports day is held in the afternoon, around 1:00.  This year is a western theme, so come dressed in your best stampede outfit, or show your Beluga Pride in a school shirt.  Teachers have prepared a variety of fun games and centres to show our western skills and have some fun.  It is held outside, so apply any sunscreen or bug spray before school.  Morning children are welcome to attend, if accompanied by an adult guardian (as Mrs. Hassam and myself will be supervising the afternoon class).  

In case you haven't heard, this is my last year at Beddington Heights as a Beluga.  I have accepted a position for next year at C. N. Gunn as a full day Kindergarten teacher.  I will miss my Beluga Family.  I hope everyone has a wonderful summer full of memories and family!
Mr. Trechka

June

Hello parents,

This week we are working on finding letters that begin with the sound /y/.  "Yy" can sometimes be a tricky letter to remember the corresponding phoneme (sound) because of its name sounding like it has a /w/.  But we have discovered many different words.  Many of the children were unsure of the yolk of an egg.  After seeing a picture they could recognize it, but not all could remember the taste of it, and if they liked it or not.  We had a discussion about "runny yolks vs hard yolks."  Which camp do you sit in?  We also found a video of a young girl do some amazing yodeling.   We all agreed that that is a very different way of singing than we are used to!

This week you will be receiving the Clay For Kids projects for our Father's Day gifts.  We have worked carefully to build them, then sent them away with the potters to dry and fire in the kiln.  We finally got them back and were very excited to paint them and give them to our Dad's this weekend!

A reminder that the Volunteer Tea is this Friday afternoon.  We want to thank all of our volunteers that have been able to spend some time in the classroom and school helping out our students.  If you have not RSVP'ed, please do so ASAP so that we can be prepared for your visit.

Next week, I will not be in the classroom.  In fact, I will not even be in the country!  My dance group, Suzirya, is performing in Calella, Spain as part of an international dance festival.  Please welcome in Mr. Fisher who will be the guest teacher for the week.  The children have already met Mr. Fisher when he subbed for Mrs. Hassam a few weeks ago.  If there are any questions or concerns next week, Mrs. Hassam or the office will be able to help you out.  I will be back in time for the last week of school to get all of our work packed up and ready to be sent home for the summer!

Have a great week,
Mr T.

June!!

Wow! What a week!

This week we have been focusing on the letter "Xx."  It is a tricky letter as xylophone  actually makes a /z/ sound when at the beginning of the word.  We are looking more at the /ks/ sound that it makes in the middle and end of words such as fox and box.

This week we had a visit from Constable Tyler, our S4 representative. We talked a lot about how police officers are community helpers that we see in our neighborhood. Here are some highlights from his visit:

• ·      Who can help keep our community safe? Police, fire fighters, ambulance drivers, all of us, too!
• ·      “If we are nice to each other, it helps us feel good, and we can make good decisions”
• ·      Police Uniform – Giant red stripe and a patch (Calgary police Services)
• ·      Other adults that wear uniforms that we can trust – Firemen (yellow stripe or special suits), Ambulance drivers (white stripe with some blue), teachers (blue ID badge)
• ·      Tools that he uses on his tool belt all of the time:

o   What tool does he use the most?

§  Pen! Taking notes about everything they talk about with people

o   A special pouch for Keys

o   Flashlight

o   Walky-Talky – we talk in special codes with numbers.  There are over 100!

• ·      Tools that I only use sometimes: (“All of the things on my belt have rules”)

o   Pepper Spray

o   Handcuffs – “Like a time-out for adults to calm down”

o   Baton – for searching, or prying or knocking

o   Gun – in a special holster

o   Magazines – to carry extra ammo

o   Our Senses – Eyes, ears, mouth and nose

o   Strengths – honesty, bravery, courage, commitment

• ·      Police as community helpers  - S4

o   We can see different hats

o   Police officers come from all over the world working in Calgary

o   Police cars

o   Helping in the community with all sorts of events

o   Police officers helping in schools

o   Police cadets – learning to become a police officer

• ·      When to call 911?

o   In an emergency and we need help and the adult can’t call, then we as children can call

o   To get help from police, ambulance, firefighters,

o   They are going to ask, what is happening, what you see, what you smell, what your name is, and what is your address.

o   Can your child say their address in the case of an emergency

• ·      Police cars – New cars to look for!
• ·      Motorcycles, bicycles, helicopters,
• ·      Always look for the patch to tell CPS.  Even with different uniforms, they always have the patch and a red stripe
• ·      Police dogs even have their own badge!
• ·      Police horses even wear a patch.  We horses that can go different places that cars and bikes can’t.

We are also lucky this week to have a visit Thursday afternoon by two olympians at 12:45.  Dylan Moscovitch and Dominique Maltais will be sharing about their journey to the Sochi games.

May 29

Hello Parents,

Wow! Can you believe that June is just around the corner??

This week we are focusing on the letter "Ww" and words that start with the sound /w/.  Mrs. Hassam and I have started calling it "wubble u, double u" as we differentiate between the sound of the letter "Yy" which often gets mixed up.  We have also been talking about our question words (what, where, when, why, who) and the importance of a question mark in writing.  Can you find any question marks in the books you are reading together at home? Here is a link to our friends the storybots for some silly "Ww" fun!

Also, TONIGHT is the Parent Council's Carnival.  Bring your family from 6-8 for some fun games in the gym.  Maverick's are raising money for the Children's Make A Wish Foundation during this event.

Tuesday May 20, 2014

Dear Parents,

Our school will be holding a Grade 1 Orientation for Kindergarten students starting Grade 1 in September 2014.  It will be held this Thursday, May 22nd at 6:00 p.m.  All Grade 1 teachers will be at this Orientation highlighting important information for a smooth transition to Grade 1.  We hope all of you can attend.

Beth Fisher our school community nurse came to visit us today.  She talked about our Pillar of Care for Self by giving us some great information on nutrition and helmet safety.  

Nutrition:

- Ask your child how big a serving size really is! (Believe it or not, it's only the size of your fist!).  

- We learned the 4 different food groups.  How many does your child remember?  

- We need 5 servings of fruits and vegetables (the most important), 4 servings of grains, 2 servings of dairy products and only 1 serving of meats/alternatives in a day.  

- There should always be "lots of colours on your plate."

- Ask your child what is the best drink to have (I'll give you a hint, our body is made up of approximately 70% of it...)

- We wear our helmet on "anything that makes you go faster than our feet."

- Ask your child why we need to wear a helmet.  Did you our skull is the thickness of  3 pennies!

- What does our skull protect?  We talked about how our brain is like our body's computer.  It helps us to breath and makes our heart beat without even thinking about it.

- A proper fit should (1) be snug on our head, (2) sit 2 fingers above our eyebrows, (3) fit 1 finger in the strap under our chin, and (4) make a "V" around our ears.  We use the saying "2-V-1"

- And did you know that helmets have an expiry date?  Check your helmets at home to see if they are still good!

Check out the Helmet Checklist and Canadian Food Guide that your child is bringing home this week.

This week we are focusing on the letter "Uu."  Vowels are fun with the two sounds, such as long letter 'u' in the word unicorn (it says its name) or short letter 'u' in the word umbrella.  Check out the crazy antics of the Storybots for more unbelievable "Uu" words!

May 12

Hello Parents,

There is lots to say this week, so hold on to your hats! First off, I hope everyone has had a wonderful Mother's Day this past weekend!  This week we are focusing on the letter 'Tt' and the sound /t/.  The children discovered that the word Thursday also starts with the letter 'Tt' but makes a different sound /th/.  We had a wonderful discussion about the 'Hh' working to change this sound.  Can you find more /t/ and /th/ sounds?



Last week we had 2 wonderful visitors come into the class.  On Wednesday, was Margery from World Health who brought herrip sticks  to share with us.  She had picked out some awesome music that we recognized and loved.  We got to do some amazing drumming with the stick for a pound workout.  We could feel our muscles after!  Ask your child which pillar of care we are focused on, when brought her



On Friday, Clay for Kids came to teach us about clay.  Did you know it comes from the earth?! "It feels cold and muddy." (Tina) and "The air makes it hard." (Evey).  It was really amazing to see her use the potter's wheel to make a bowl. Our jaws were dropped wide open.





I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who was able to donate books for the Calgary Reads
Book Drive.  Our school has filled an entire van full of books! And the best news, our class brought in the most books!  As a reward, we got to pick a book to take home!  Please be careful not to mix them up with our library books (which need to come back next week).  We had a conversation with our class about the barcodes that help identify our library books.





As the weather warms up, I am noticing more flip flops in our coatroom.  If you are wearing sandals, please send an extra pair of socks in your child's back back for their inside shoes.  It just helps with rubbing and blisters as we work in our runners in the school. Thanks. 

Special Guest In Our Classroom

Hello Parents,

This week we are looking at the letter 'Ss' and all of the special words that start with the sound /s/.  Remember, as we come across soft 'c' words, such as circus and cent, I will be accepting them as a /s/ word, as I draw attention to the phonemes (sounds) of words.  I will point out that with "adult writing" it is made with a 'Cc', but accept their words.

To help build excitement around the letter 'Ss' we are also welcoming Zeus, my corn snake into the classroom for the week.  Rest assured that there are rules and expectations around this creature in our classroom.  Everything is safe, and the children are in not touching or interacting directy with Zeus, he is only handled by myself.  We are looking at his habitat, making observations, and collecting data and "I wonders..." about snakes.  This is beginning an inquiry into living and non-living things. Please take a moment to have a discussion about some "I wonders..." with your child and comment with them in the comment box below. 

Some I wonders from the classroom include:

• I wonder where he would live in the wild.
• I wonder what he eats.
• I wonder if he swims.
• I wonder why he has a swimming pool.
• I wonder how far his tongue stretches out.

We will also have some special presentations this week as WorldHealth comes in to do a special "pound"  fitness routine with us on Wednesday, and Clay for Kids comes in on Friday to work on a clay project!

April 28

Hello Parents,

This week we are focusing on the letter "Rr."  We are compiling a rather large list at school.  Can you find any more /r/ words around your house? Check out the Letter R Song for some more ideas.

Our school has been part of the Reading... Give It A Shot! program.  In the past, it was usually used to motive grade 4-6 to increase their daily reading minutes through partnering with the Calgary Flames.  THis year, it was extended to include K-3.  Reading can encompass a lot of different things at the Kindergarten level, including reading simple sight words and sentences, reading pictures for details of a story, letter hunts, reading our own kid writing, and more!  We read all throughout or Kindergarten day at school.  How much reading do you do at home?  To celebrate all of our reading, as part of the program, we received a set of Harvey the Hound cards to take home and enjoy!

A new Scholastic Book Order was also sent home today, a chance to enjoy some more great literature.

Just another reminder about our Math Showcase this Thursday evening.  Please visit the school website to register on pick-a-time.  All of the teacher look forwards to seeing all of our families that night.

Mr. T

Math Showcase

You’re invited to our Math Showcase

Your child will demonstrate to you various strategies of working through math problems.  Students will also share with you work they have documented using our new cameras.  This will be done as a family, at various stations throughout the school, linked to the different math streams of the curriculum.

Who: All families are invited (students must stay with their parents)

Where: Beddington Heights School

            (7 stations will be set up within the school with 7 activities)

When: Thursday, May 1^st – There are 2 different times available:

            4:30 – 5:30pm OR 5:30 – 6:30pm

To help manage crowd size, we are asking families to register for their chosen time.  Please register by Wednesday April 30^th.

How to register:

11)   Go to our school website (www.cbe.ab.ca/b372)

22)   Click on the Pick-a-time link and login (just like conferences)

33)   Book one of the two time slots

We look forward to seeing everyone.

A safe line up

Hello Parents,

This is an example of a good line!

This is an example of what not to do!

Mrs. Hassam and I have noticed some unsafe behavior in and around the line-ups before school.  We are really working to set the children up for success through the Pillars of Care, and unfortunately there are some children that have gotten hurt on the bench out front.  We talked with the classes and the children all agree that it is not a playground, and that we will try at making a nice, safe line.  That way, we can start our learning day on the right foot!






This week we are working on the letter "Qq" and words that start with the /kw/ sound.  We will be having a discussion about the relationship that Q has with U in written words.  How creative can you be in finding /kw/ words to share in the classroom?


Have  a wonderful week!
Mr. T

Math Stories (Word Problems)

After reading The Napping House by Audrey Wood, I posed the question: How many feet are in the cozy bed.  We worked in groups to draw out the pictures and count up all the feet.  Group work is hard; taking turns and making sure we all get a chance to share our ideas. I was super impressed how every group worked together!  We didn’t all get the right answer on our first try because it was hard to draw and count and keep track of all those feet on our fingers.

The next day we talked about different strategies we can use to answer math problems.  We decided we liked:

1.     Using our fingers

2.     Counting with numbers

3.     Drawing a picture

4.     Using learning tools

We discussed different ways to use learning tools to represent things in our problems, such as two quidget blocks pretending to be Granny’s feet.  We then practiced using manipulatives to find solutions to other math stories.

When Rosie woke up this morning, she had to get her snow boots out of the closet to walk to school.  Shayan and Jason also wore their boots.  How many snow boots were in the coatroom?

Spider had to get out her boots because of the snow.  Worm and Flea also wore their boots to school.  How many boots are in the coatroom?

(And the afternoon class was having so much fun, they wanted an extra question.)

Beddington Heights School is breaking the rules and having a snowball fight.  Mr. Hebert said that everybody had to wear mitts.  Tina and her bunny need to borrow mittens.  Nando and his octopus also need some.  Landon and his snake need mitts as well.  How many mittens do they need?

April 15, 2014

Hello Parents,

Wow! Look at all those wonderful Lego creations!  It is wonderful to see all the creativity and hard work displayed in the Learning Commons today.

Due to the Lego Competition today, the Library was closed and we weren't able to get new books.  But we were promised we could come in tomorrow to get new books, so look for new books coming home tomorrow!




This week we are focusing on the letter "Pp".  We pondered about Peter Piper and the peck of pickled peppers that he picked.  We have discovered a plethora of words with the sound /p/!  Can you find any favorite characters in books or movies?






And here is a message from Mr. Hebert's blog about our upcoming Math Showcase:

An evening devoted to your child’s math learning will be held at Beddington Heights School on May 1st from 4:30 to 6:30 .  We are asking you to “mark the date,” so that you will be able come and experience the way students are applying their math skills to challenges they are working on in the classroom.  Your child will lead you through a number of stations that are based upon the provincial Program of Studies for Math education. An over-riding expectation is that students will be able to use what they have learned in Math and apply it with their parents present.  In addition, you will also see some of your child’s best learning captured on technology.  You will hear or see your child reflecting on, or discussing their learning on saved excerpts on computer.

Families will receive a passport that will provide the locations of the centers where students will share their understanding with you. Your passport will also contain a link to the school website that will give you the opportunity to practice math skill development at home.  Teachers will also be preparing some take home activities that will be available to families that attend.  We hope to see you all come out for this important learning event!  More information regarding the event will be available shortly.Mr. Hebert

Save the date for an exciting evening of mathematical fun!
Mr. Trechka

Conferences

Hello Parents,

This wee we are working on the letter 'Nn' and words that begin with the /n/ sound.  Check out the ABC Mouse video for some of our favourite words.


This week there is no school for Kindergarten on Thursday, April 10 and the afternoon of Friday, April 11.  Please note that there is still class for morning Kindergarten on Friday.  This is all due to the Student Involved conferences being held in the school.  If you have not had a chance to schedule a time, please click on the Pick-a-time link to book a time slot.  If you are not available these days, please contact me directly to arrange another time that is convenient.

Bring your Kindergarten Student with you, and please arrange for other child care for other siblings as your child will have a chance to show you some of their work and have the opportunity to demonstrate some of the work process we have been working through.  In this time, you will:

1. Meet with me to discuss your child's current progress
2. Witness the writing process as your child writes an entry in their journal
3. See how numbers can be broken apart, and put back together (math subitizing)

The first two activities will be in the classroom with me during your 20 minute time slot, and the third activity will be located in the hallway to do before or after your time (no more than 10 minutes needs to be spent on this activity).

I look forward to seeing everybody this week!

Magic Number 9

Today we were showing different ways to make the number 9.  

We used:

• Counters
• number lines
• pencils
• paper

We started by arranging the counters into different groups.  Then we drew a picture to represent how we arranged the counters.

Next we labeled our work with the numbers of how many counters were in each group.  When we had all 9, we put a circle around our idea. When checked for accuracy by Mr. Trechka, the children got a green dot on their circle.

The goal was to show at least 9 different ways.  This is something that we have been practicing a lot this past semester.  Some of the children were not able to finish today.  Anyone who didn't finish was told that it is "homework" to work with their families at home. (I was surprised by how many children were excited to get homework, they made me laugh a bit when they cheered!)  Take a chance to look over your child's work at home and discuss their number ideas.  The children have shown some really creative ways to arrange numbers.  If you have a chance, take a moment to work with your child to come up with some more ideas and record them.  There is no need to send the "homework" back to school, just enjoy the time spent together. :-)

Here is an example we worked together as a class to create.

April 2

Hello Parents,

We made it through April Fool's Day incident free! Did anyone get any good pranks at home?

This week we are working on the letter 'Kk' and words that start with the /k/ sound.  We have been noticing that 'Cc' shares the same sound and is hard to tell them apart! We were able to find some good words though such as koala, kangaroo, kiwi, king, keys, Kindergarten and kids!

Parent Teacher Interviews

Interviews are coming up next week on Thursday April 11 and Friday April 12.  The Pick-a-time link will be available on the school website later this week (Friday, I believe).  I will also try to link it later.  We will be available throughout the day and evening on Thursday, and Friday afternoon this year.  If you are unavailable at these times, please contact me directly and we can arrange a time for you.

This time around, please bring your child.  They will be sharing some highlights of their work with you, as well as demonstrating some of our work process (in writing and math).  More details to follow.

Math Night

May 1st is Beddington's first ever Math Night.  Mark it in your calendars, more details to come this month!

Spring Break

Hello Parents,

Sorry for the late blog post this week, there has been a lot of excitement and chaos this last week before our break.  This week we have been celebrating all things green with St. Patrick's Day.  We have learned a lot about leprechauns and their pot of gold.  The idea of trying to catch a leprechaun has created quite the buzz.  After discussing where they hide their gold, we have formulated a plan to get it:

“What if we got a helicopter then the people could slide down the rainbow and push over the pot of gold.  Then the people could get it” (Jason)

“We could get a hook then hook it on the pot of gold, to get it.” (Gregory)

We have been working on the letter 'Jj' this week and all words that start with the sound /j/.  Because of soft 'g', I have been excited for any /j/ words from juggle and jump to giant and gym.  I am really focusing on the sounds that we hear and encouraging talking and listening to sounds.  We will learn all the other rules that go along with writing the English language when we are ready.

Today is the last day of classes before Spring Break as we have some PD days for our staff.  Classes resume Tuesday, April 1st!  Have a wonderful and safe Spring Break.  Hopefully Mother Nature will get the memo and help us with the weather soon.