Thank you to everyone whom I spoke with during conferences. It was a pleasure to share your child's learning successes with you.

Much of what we covered this week was shared with you during our meetings. 

Please take time to share a family tradition with your child as outlined in the pink note I gave you. We will start sharing these traditions next week and will continue the following week. Please have your child practice what they will say with you prior to having them share with the class.

Now that we are into the snowy and cold weather, please have your child practice zipping up their jacket, putting on their boots, and securing their gloves and mitts independently. I appreciate your support with this as I cannot help all 22 children with these tasks.

Please have your child return their yellow folder on Monday as well as their library book.

Please set aside Thursday, December 11th at 1:30 for our Grade 1 Christmas/Winter Celebration. It will be a short and sweet sharing of holiday and winter songs - probably a half hour or so.

Here are some updates from the office:

Upcoming Dates

December 8                             Picture Retakes

December 11                           Grade 1 Winter Concert - 1:30pm

December 17                           Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

December 22 - January 2        Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

The Magic of Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, The Magic of Christmas loads up Calgary Transit buses that are magically transformed into “reindeer buses”, with hundreds of gifts and volunteers dressed as Santa and his elves.  Then they deliver Christmas spirit into the homes and hearts of those who need it most. 

From now to December 18, students and staff can bring in a new, unwrapped donation items (not food) and place them in the boxes located in the front foyer.  

Please see the attached wish list for ideas of items to donate. 

For more information or to make a monetary donation, please visit:  www.themagicofchristmas.org/donate 

Thank you for your support!

 Our focus sight words this week were: to, me, in, is.

The photo below is an example of how we use these words daily during Shared Reading. We read each sentence together first. Then the students have to determine which word belongs in which sentence. Afterwards, we do a word hunt where I ask the students if they can find specific words in the sentences. We have been talking a lot about looking for beginning and end sounds and thinking about whether a word is short or long.

Today, we worked with a decodable text. This is a passage that the children can read by sounding out words and applying their knowledge of sight words such as, in and the. The students were excited to use a highlighter for the first time! :) This page, along with a Roll and Read activity, were sent home in a yellow pocket folder along with a note. I hope you will have time to play the game in the next few days. Please send back the empty folder on Monday.

This week is Metis Week. We learned about the beautiful beadwork done by Metis people and did a dot-paint piece inspired by this art form. We also learned about the Grandfather Teaching of Respect. The buffalo represents Respect. Our dot art was done on a buffalo template. You will be able to see your child's art at Parent-Teacher Conferences next week.

In Math, we did a lot of work with number lines this week. We learned how to use a number line to help us solve addition problems. 

From the office: Parent/Teacher Conferences If your student is in Mrs. Thomson's class, please log into your CBE Account now to book your Parent Teacher Conference for either tonight or tomorrow evening. All other conference bookings will open this Saturday November 22. There are no kindergarten classes on either Thursday the 27 or Friday the 28. There is no school for students in grades 1-4 on Friday, November 28 due to conferences.  Instructions: In order to book a conference please use your MyCBE account https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public/home.html. Here are instructions for how to register for a conference https://support.cbe.ab.ca/mycbe-powerschool-school-conferences.  Please contact the office if you require support.   These conferences are an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and to provide teachers with information about your child that is important. Teachers will inform you on how your child is adapting to and settling into the new school year as well as with an academic update based on the information they have gathered since September. In addition, you will be able to review and sign IPP's and Behaviour Support Plans if applicable. Please note that due to labour action, the assessment data gathered is not as robust as usual at this time of year.  However, please be assured that your child’s teacher knows them well and has significant insights into their academic, personal and social needs.  All teachers are looking forward to meeting with you at the conferences. Grade One Winter Concert- Save the Date This year our Music teacher, Mrs. Darr, has had a minimal amount of time to work with and prepare students for a winter concert due to labour action during the 3 weeks in October. Therefore, this year we will be offering only a grade one winter concert performance on Wednesday, December 11 at 1:30 in the West side of the school, in the open area. Please note that the concert will not take place in the gym. All grade one classes will be performing. The concert will be approximately one half hour in length. Families are invited to attend. After the concert, should parents choose to do so, they may pick up their students in their classroom for home time. Students who are not picked up will be dismissed at the usual time of 2:30, following normal dismissal protocols at that time ( busing, day care, or arranged meeting spots outside with caregivers or parents) We are planning for a spring concert for our grades 2/3 classes as well as our traditional Kindergarten and grade 4 farewell assemblies in June. Book Fair McKenzie Towne School is excited to announce that we will be hosting an Owl’s Nest Book Fair during the week of November 24th! Students will have the opportunity to browse and purchase books during school hours throughout the week. Families are also invited to join us for our Family Shopping Events: Thursday, November 27th — 3:30 PM to 7:30 PM Friday, November 28th — 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McLean at tlmclean@cbe.ab.ca. We can’t wait to share the joy of reading with our McKenzie Towne community! Lost and Found With the colder temperatures, please make sure to send hats and gloves with your student each day. Just a reminder to please label all of your child's outdoor clothing to ensure it is returned to them. Fun Lunch The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday November 26. Fun Lunch is only for grades 1-4 and our EES students.  Go to healthyhunger.ca Log into you existing account or create a new one. Add your child’s information in the “add child” box – name, province, city, school, grade and class. All Fun Lunches will then populate – select the order now button! Please make sure to send a morning snack with your child on Fun Lunch Days. Orders must be placed by the Friday before the day. ** Mrs. Thomson and Mrs. Pynn's classes have been cancelled due to a field trip on November 26. Upcoming Dates Tomorrow                                Heritage Park Field Trip - Coleman & Olson's Classes November 25                          Confluence Historic Site Field Trip - Penford, Janisse & Massy's Classes November 26                          Confluence Historic Site Field Trip - Thomson & Pynn's Classes November 26                          Fun Lunch - Subway November 27                          Heritage Park Field Trip - Kruger & Wickenheiser's Classes November 27                          NO SCHOOL for KINDERGARTEN due to Parent/Teacher Conferences November 27 & 28                  Parent/Teacher Conferences November 28                          NO SCHOOL December 3                             Heritage Park Field Trip - Bossenberry's Class December 8                             Picture Retakes December 11                           Grade 1 Winter Concert - 1:30pm December 17                           Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks December 22 - January 2        Winter Break - NO SCHOOL Please make sure to visit your teacher's blog for classroom updates. Simply click on their name to access the blog. For more information, please visit our website.

This week, we focused on the following four sight words during our morning Shared Reading lessons: like, can, on, and the. Each week, I will be introducing four new words that we will identify and practice when reading simple sentences such as: " I can see a blue bird in the tree".

We also continue to work with consonant, vowel, consonant words (CVC words). We are listening for and identifying the short vowel sounds in words such as: cat, hen, pig, nut, and top.

Our focus letters for printing and Word Work this week were B, H, and R.

On Thursday, we had a short whole-school assembly to commemorate Remembrance Day. As a class, we read The Peace Book by Todd Parr and shared what makes us feel peaceful. The students drew a picture of their chosen activity and wrote a short sentence (with help) to go with it. I will put the pages together to make a class book for the students to look at during our daily quiet reading time.

In Math, we continue to practice representing numbers using dice, dominoes, tally marks, pictures, ten frames, and addition sentences (equations). We have also started to learn how to write a simple addition equation to solve an oral problem, such as: "I have 4 jellybeans and my sister has 5 jellybeans. How many jellybeans do we have altogether?".

We continue to learn about seasonal changes. The students are documenting their learning in their Fall booklet.  Next week, we will be learning about migration, hibernation, and adaptation. We have started to observe flocks of geese getting ready to migrate. Many large Vs of geese are flying overhead while we are out at recess times.

I hope you all enjoy the Fall Break. I look forward to seeing everyone back at school next Thursday, November 13th.

From the office:

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place in person at the school on Thursday, November 27 from 3:30pm - 7:30pm and Friday, November 28 from 8:00am to 12:00pm.

Parents will book conference times through their CBE account. Conference bookings will open on Saturday, November 22 at 8:00am and closes on Thursday, November 27 at 2:00pm. 

If parents require support with bookings, they can call the office.  

Kindergarten Conferences will be held at the times above as well as Thursday, November 27 from 8am-12pm. There are no kindergarten classes on either Thursday the 27 or Friday the 28. There is no school for students in grades 1-4 on Friday, November 28 due to conferences. 

This will give families an opportunity to sign IPP's and Behaviour Support Plans.

These conferences are the opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and to provide teachers with information about your child that is important. Teachers will inform you on how your child is adapting to and settling into the new school year but, due to the minimal amount of time spent in school thus far, will not provide information on student learning or achievement. 

Fun Lunch

The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday November 26.

Fun Lunch is only for grades 1-4 and our EES students. 

• Go to healthyhunger.ca
• Log into you existing account or create a new one.
• Add your child’s information in the “add child” box – name, province, city, school, grade and class.
• All Fun Lunches will then populate – select the order now button!

Please make sure to send a morning snack with your child on Fun Lunch Days. Orders must be placed by the Friday before the day.

** Mrs. Thomson and Mrs. Pynn's classes have been cancelled due to a field trip on November 26.

Upcoming Dates

November 10-12                     Fall Break - NO SCHOOL

November 20                          Heritage Park Field Trip - Coleman & Olson's Classes

November 25                          Confluence Historic Site Field Trip - Penford, Janisse & Massy's Classes

November 26                          Confluence Historic Site Field Trip - Thomson & Pynn's Classes

November 26                          Fun Lunch - Subway

November 27                          Heritage Park Field Trip - Kruger & Wickenheiser's Classes

November 27                          NO SCHOOL for KINDERGARTEN due to Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 27 & 28                  Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 28                          NO SCHOOL

December 3                             Heritage Park Field Trip - Bossenberry's Class

December 8                             Picture Retakes

December 17                           Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

December 22 - January 2        Winter Break - NO SCHOOL