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!