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Creating and Collaborating on Tuesday

The iPad provides students to create digital artwork to represent their learning.  Have a look at our digital painting   prototypes with the powerful app called 53 Paper.  

Gooseberry

Prickly Pear cactus 

Buffalo Bean 

Here everybody is in action with the iPads and 53 Paper

Upcoming Learning about Alberta's Native Plants

We are going to be doing some research on Alberta's Native Plants over the next few weeks.  Students will be using the following website http://galileo.org/kainai/plant-index/ to choose a plant to represent.
They will be learning how to use a new app called 53 Paper to create a realistic artistic drawing and painting of the plant of their choice.  Here is a link to discover more about this powerful iPad app https://www.fiftythree.com/

The big questions that we are considering are:  How does this plant adapt to the regions within Alberta?  What uses did the First Nations people find for these plants?  Have you seen these plants in the neighbourhood?  Why are these plants so important?  How are plants and light and shadow connected?  How do plants get their names?

A special request to bring cardboard in for Rube Goldberg Machines.

Supplies for the machines:  We are hoping to collect some more cardboard for our simple machines.  If you have any boxes (small or large)  around home, we would appreciate them in class.  Also, paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls are also appreciated.

Thank you again.

Thinking Thursday -- the heart and mind

Dear Parents:

Mindful actions are what we strive for at KTS, we attempt to live the HEART values each day.  Responsibility is important for grade four, because we are role models for other students.  Mindfulness and paying attention on purpose is something we believe and practice at KTS daily.  Here is a web where everyone gave their thoughts on what mindfulness means to them.

Did you know that when your heart is beating,  your brain is happy?   Today we had a special visit from the school Occupational Therapist Mr. V.  We talked about the importance of the brain and heart connections for getting ready to learn and to sharpen our focus.  We learned 4 new brain blast body movement exercises.  Ask your child to share one with you.  You'll be amazed at how quickly your heart rate goes up.  Here  a short video of the students in action.

In Science we continued today to design and test our simple machines by joining pieces together in our Rube Goldberg circuits.  The room was buzzing with creativity, critical thinking and collaboration.  

Popcorn Day Sales Wed and Thursday

Bring your toonies for Popcorn sales on Wednesday and Thursday

Wed. January 16 @ 11:05 a.m.
Thursday January 17 @ 11:05 a.m. 

Learning Highlights from our first week in 2018

Dear parents:

January 8-12 Learning Highlights:

As you know we began learning about simple machines before the break.  

Here are some photos of us prototyping simple machines using kinex as a material:

  So... This month we are continuing our inquiry into simple machines how important they are in our everyday lives. In fact, if you stop and look they are absolutely everywhere in the world.  Without simple machines we would not have complex machines.  Here is a website for you to read with your child at home to learn more about simple machines:  http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-simple-machines/.  This is an opportunity to practice reading digital text, to find information using non-fiction text clues such as headings, diagrams, the bold type that is hyperlinked to build deeper understanding.

This week we reviewed the fact that simple machines make work easier.  The formula for Work = Force X Distance or (W=F X D).

Science Learner Expectations:  

Construct a mechanical device for a designated purpose. Explore and evaluate variations to the design of a mechanical device.
To test out our background knowledge and understanding of how simple machines work, next Tuesday we are going to attempt to build a Rube Goldberg machine with Ms. Willis's class.  This is a circuit of simple machines that are placed together to complete a job of some sort (e.g. open an umbrella, turn on the lights, make some toast).    Here are a couple of links to videos for you have a look at.  Small rubegoldberg machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=863z_eHGIJw
Feed Your Dog rubegoldberg machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHwDf8njVfo&t=2s

Supplies for the machines:  We've asked students to bring in any items from home that they would like to include such as hot wheel tracks, golf balls, dominoes, toy cars, train tracks, empty paper towel rolls, ping pong balls, etc.  These items will be returned after the machines are deconstructed.  Thank you. 

Another big highlight this week has been learning skipping techniques in Physical  Education.  It was inspiring to see how practice made progress many students were able to build their skill set.  Here are some photos of students in action. 

Please book for Student Led Conferences

Hello Parents / Guardians:

 

Please note that our booking system has now opened for the upcoming Student LED Conferences being held on Jan 25^th & Jan 26^th .  

You are able to register for these using your MYCBE account.  https://webapps.cbe.ab.ca/MyAccount/Account/LogOn