February 1st - 3rd

Upcoming Events:

Family Movie Night February 12th

The votes are in, and the movie we’ll be showing is…….

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2

On February 12, we will be kicking off Family Day weekend with a family movie night in the Robina Baker School gymnasium.

Tickets will be available for purchase on Feb. 8-12 between 8:15 – 8:30 am as well as lunchtime.

Tickets will also be available at the door.

Cost is $5.00 per family.

Concession (cash only) for snacks and drinks will be available at the movie.

Doors open at 6:00 pm and movie starts at 6:30 pm

Come on out and spend the evening with us!

Jump Rope For Heart

We will once again be participating in the Heart and Stroke’s Jump Rope For Heart Fundraiser.

Classes will be skipping on Friday, February 12 as a part of their Valentine’s Day activities. The SWAT Team has suggested a “loonie for love” for a suggested donation. If you would like to give more, you can online here:

https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?teamID=643429&langPref=en-CA&Referrer=%26Referrer%3dhttp%253a%252f%252fjumpropeforheart.ca%252fjumpmap_2016%253fpath%253ddonsearch

Weekly Curriculum Update

Language Arts

This week I started reading the the Miss Smith's Adventure Series to the students.  Using Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook as a mentor text, I modelled how to increase comprehension by identifying literary elements such as character, setting, problem and solution.  We use these elements to help us infer what will happen next.  As readers, we store information to help us remember and comprehend what the story is about.  We learn literacy elements separately, but we combine them when reading to give us a better understanding of a story. 

After reading the story, the students demonstrated their comprehension by filling in story maps. A story map is a strategy that uses a graphic organizer to help students learn the elements of a book or story. By identifying story characters, plot, setting, problem and solution, students read carefully to learn the details. 

Math

In math this week we focused on problem solving using the following vocabulary:

• Subtraction as take away and comparison (how much more than, how much shorter than)
• Addition as how much altogether, in total and in all

Science

The students were so excited to complete their first Survivor challenge.

Challenge 1:  We have landed safely near shore and made our way to the closest beach. Ahead of us is a dense jungle and we see a huge storm heading our way, so we decide to seek shelter. As we reach the edge of the forest, we notice a large crack in the Earth. Quinnten takes a step forward to take a closer look. It is very deep and looks like it may have been caused by an earthquake. He tells us that he can not even see the bottom. There is also hot lava spewing from the crack. The crack is not too wide, but we definitely can not jump over it. We will need to build something in order to cross onto the other side. We have decided to make a foot bridge out of bamboo we see nearby. We need to figure out if bending the bamboo to make a square frame or bending it into an arch will be stronger. We should remember that this structure needs to hold each classmate and teacher one by one as we step over the crack.

The students engaged in an activity that compares an arch shape to a square shape in order to see similarities and differences in the strengths and weaknesses of the design.  They discovered

 that arch shaped designs are very strong and support more mass than square shapes do.  The students concluded that they should bend the bamboo into an arch shape in order for their foot bridge to be strong enough to cross.

Social Studies

We continued to work on our lapbooks this week during social studies.  The students learned that Tunisia is located on the continent of Africa.  We also discussed the elements and coloured the Tunisian flag.

The Tunisia flag has a bright red background with a white disk in the center which holds a crescent and a star. The red color is symbolic of Islam. 

The crescent and the star in the flag of Tunisia is a popular motif of the Islamic world. This motif is considered to be a symbol of good luck.

The crescent and star is also symbolic of the connection between Tunisia and the Ottoman Empire

Early Bloomer

On Tuesday the students enjoyed the production entitled "Early Bloomer" by playwright and comedienne Jana O’Connor.

Winter Walk

What a great day for a winter walk.  The weather was beautiful and the students loved the walk.  Thank you so much to the Town of Devon and Tim Hortons for supplying hot chocolate and Tim Bits for our walk. Also thank you to our parent and staff volunteers who helped with passing out hot chocolate and participation in the walk with the students. Great job Mrs. Angell and Mrs. Kaluza for planning such a great event!