Week 17

This week we had a very exciting field trip to the Glenbow Museum. Read about some of our key learnings below.

William Van Horned built the Canadian Pacific Railway from Canada's West coast to the East coast. This was to encourage more newcomers to come and live in Alberta. The railway was built in only 5 years. Many people died while constructing the railway because they were exposed to harsh working conditions. When taking the train to Alberta, the train cart conditions for immigrants and people who did not have a lot of money were not the best. For example, the restrooms did not have running sinks or toilets. People got very uncomfortable. This was not the case for rich people, who stayed in the upper class train carts, which were very luxurious and comfortable. Our Glenbow expert is showing us the overhead compartment where people in the lower class train cart could pay more to sleep in these beds. Typically the only people who could afford them were single working men.

We learned about a Canadian historical figure named Deerfoot who was able to run faster than horses without taking a break for water. He would run from Calgary to Edmonton in order to send messages to different people. The road Deerfoot Trail is named after Deerfoot because of how fast he could run. 

In Social Studies, we have been exploring artifacts. We have been sketching and labelling what we see and making inferences about the artifacts in our reflections. 

In Math, we learned a new strategy called "Breaking it Down". This strategy involves expanding the numbers in our number equation and then adding the numbers by their place value. At the very end we add our totals in order find the solution for original number equation. We have been working on becoming efficient at using this strategy by racing against our classmates.

In Science, we have been learning about our new unit "Lights and Shadows". We watched a Bill Nye video about Lights and Colours and created a Concept Map to learn and understand what the different concepts from the video meant. For example, we learned that in the summer if you are wearing blacking clothing, sunlight is absorbed and heat is produced. If you are wearing white clothing then all of the sunlight will be reflected off of it. 

As a Friday Morning prompt, we have been making predictions about creatures from The 12 Planets. In our morning journals, we have been making predictions about what we think is happening on the planet and describing what we see by using at least three adjectives. Below are links to the videos.

Planet One - Video Link: https://vimeo.com/channels/theplanets/58524531

Planet Two - Video Link: https://vimeo.com/channels/theplanets/60471103


Next week, our next spelling pattern is:

When a short-vowel word ends in a single consonant, the consonant is usually doubled before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. In words with 2 or more syllables, the final consonant is usually doubled if the last syllable has a short vowel followed by a single consonant. 

Ex: begin + ing = beginning
      drop + ed = dropped

Practice Words

beginning 

humming 

dropped 

sitting 

slipping 

joggers 

grabbing 

bobbing 

tripped 

padded 

skimming 

scrubbing 

winners 

outfitted 

wrapped 

clapping 

dragging 

chatting 

quitter 

trimmer

Reminders:

Winter Weather Clothes - Please remember to have children bring snow pants and boots during the colder, wet season. The field can get very wet as snow melts. Extra socks in their backpack would be great as well.

Week 16

This week, we heard a presentation about Lights and Shadows. We learned that light travels in a straight line. When you go in front of a light it doesn't go around you - instead it creates a shadow because light travels in a straight line. (Note: A shadow is not a colour, it is a shade.) Light can travel through objects, such as an aperture which is a hole. Did you know that pupil in our eye acts like an aperture?

We also learned that your brain helps a lot in processing what we see. When we looking at an object it is projected upside down onto the back of your eye. Our brain corrects the image and turns it right side up. 


To finish our Waste in our World unit, we conducted a package analysis looking at different cereal packages. We reflected on which package would be best for a consumer and which would be best for the environment. We also learned about hazardous waste. We looked at different types of household hazardous wastes and hazardous waste symbols.






Here is a link to the City of Calgary website showing us where we can dispose of hazardosue wastes properly: Household hazardous waste drop-off program

In Math, we reviewed regrouping through the game the Biggest Total.

In Health, we have been learning about the brain. We learned that the brain is 3 pounds. We learned about the different parts of the brain and what they do. For example, the cerebellum controls the different parts of our body and our ability to move these different body parts.

Next week, our next spelling pattern is:

When a word ends in silent e, the e is usually dropped before adding an ending or suffix that begins with a vowel.  

trade + ed = traded 

move + er = mover 

surprise + ing = surprising

Practice Words

coming 

loved 

raking 

served 

proved 

sharing 

traded 

mover 

saved 

giving 

rider 

dancer 

promised 

surprising 

bouncing 

writing 

sliced 

reduced 

pictured 

comparing

Reminders:

Field Trip - On January 15th we will be going on our field trip to the Glenbow Museum. The Glenbow Museum has requested that we do not bring our backpacks. Therefore, students will only need a snack, lunch and full water bottle (there are water fountains there) to bring with them.

Winter Weather Clothes - Please remember to have children bring snow pants and boots during the colder, wet season. The field can get very wet as snow melts. Extra socks in their backpack would be great as well.