My apologies for this late blog post.

This week we continued to focus on letter blends. The words we worked with daily during Shared Reading were: clap, glad, black, and slip.

We read the Ukrainian folktale, The Mitten adapted by Jan Brett, this week. In the story, many animals find a cozy place to find refuge from the winter weather in a boy's lost mitten. The children were asked to pay careful attention to the sequencing of events so they could complete a retelling activity afterwards. We are beginning to focus on story structure and will continue to practice identifying beginning, middle, and end as well as characters and setting in future stories. This is all in preparation to write our own stories! 

In Math, we were learning about fact families. Fact Families can be a bit of a tricky concept for some students to grasp so we will continue to work with them using visuals and moving pieces next week. Here is an example of a fact family:

We have started to learn about communities in Social Studies. We brainstormed different communities we belong to such as, family, school, classroom, sports teams, and neighbourhood. We also started to learn about urban, suburban, and rural communities. We will delve deeper into this topic next week.

In Science, we continue to learn about the properties of matter and are learning many descriptive words to use to identify and explain objects both man-made and found in nature. Next week, we will be doing many hands-on activities to learn about length, area, and weight.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Chinese New Year with stories, art, and learning some facts about this holiday from one of our classmates. 

A note about Valentines Day 

Although, we are still two weeks away from Valentines Day, I know many parents are purchasing cards for their child to give to friends at this time. As Teacher's Convention is on Feb.13 and 14th, we will pass out cards on Wednesday, Feb. 12th.

If your child would like to bring Valentines cards for their classmates, please have them sign the cards with their name only so that they can be handed out in an efficient manner. Please have your child bring a card for all their classmates as we do not want anyone to feel left out. We have 21 students (including your child) in the classroom. Please do not include any sweet treats to the cards. This is a CBE policy. Thank you for your cooperation. :)

Upcoming dates:

February 12                         Red Day - To Celebrate Valentine's Day

February 13 & 14                Teacher Convention - NO SCHOOL

February 17                         Family Day - NO SCHOOL

 

 

This week, we continued to focus on consonant blends with r. Our words were: crib, bring, friend, and drum.

We also worked with compound words. We learned that a compound word is made up of two words that have been glued together to form a new word. The students practiced identifying compound words and their root words and wrote sentences using these words.

As we continued to learn about the Grandfather Teaching of Honesty, we learned about the being that represents this Indigenous teaching. He is named Sabe (pronounced Saw-bay). Sabe is a giant (Bigfoot) because when one lives with integrity, is true to themselves, and honest with others, they walk tall.

The students coloured a Sabe designed by a Gitxsan artist from northern British Columbia named Michelle Stoney. We looked at some of her art for inspiration when choosing which colours to use. The students' Sabes are all beautiful and unique. I will post some for you to see next week but here is the design we worked with:

In Math, we continue to review and practice using the strategies of counting back, using a number line, using a drawing, and/or using fingers to solve subtraction problems. Next week, we will begin to learn about and practice using Fact Families such as 3+2=5 / 5-2=3.

In Science, we started to learn about the properties of matter and used these properties to describe toys. The properties include: colour, size, texture, weight. We will continue this work next week and will begin to incorporate this vocabulary into our writing as well.

At the end of each day, I have started to read a chapter book to the students. We are just finishing up the first book in the Magic Treehouse book series by Mary Pope Osborne titled Dinosaurs Before Dark. If you haven't heard of these books before, they are favourites with elementary school-aged children. They weave fiction with non-fiction and are always filled with exciting adventures! :)

Today, we joined our Grade 4 buddies and learned about the use of lines in art. Mrs. Miller introduced the students to many different line designs and the students created a new hairstyle for themselves using a variety of line designs. If your child did not bring their artwork home, you will see it on Monday as a few of them left their work at school! Here is an example:

Our Grade 1 Curriculum Newsletter:

As it does not come through clearly, please email me if you would like a printed copy - jllarmer@cbe.ab.ca

Please see the message below regarding our school's yearbook:

​​​​​​​McKenzie Towne School 2024/25 Yearbook ordering is now live!

To order go to: https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca/
Use Yearbook ID code: 10614125
Early Bird Pricing: $29 (Now until Feb 28, 2025)
Regular Pricing: $34 (March 1 - May 24, 2025)

Last day to order:  May 24, 2025

We would like to invite parents to submit photos of their child for the yearbook by emailing them to yearbook@mtsparents.com. Submissions can include pictures from the first day of school, Terry Fox Run, Halloween Dance, Tropical Beach Day etc.

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Our focus words this week all began with the "gr" blend - grab, grin, green, and grey. We will continue to focus on other letter blends with r next week - cr, fr, br, etc.

The students continued to develop their writing skills this week by writing a variety of sentences using a picture prompt and a word bank. The examples I am sharing below show both a well-developed entry and one that relies more on patterned sentences. Just as with reading, these skills will develop at different times for different students.

In Science, we continue to work at completing our Winter booklet. This week, we completed a page about activities people do in Winter and another one about the clothing we wear throughout the season.

The students also listened to a reading of the book, Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner and completed an art piece depicting the animals that hibernate or adapt during the winter months.

In Math, we have been developing our subtraction skills with numbers up to 20. The students have been practicing using simple drawings and number lines to solve equations as well as oral word problems.

I introduced a third Grandfather Teaching this week. It was the teaching of Honesty. We listened to a story called, Betty Bunny Didn't Do It by Michael Kaplan. We followed this up by sharing about a time when we hadn't been honest. We talked about how it felt not to tell the truth and the consequences of being dishonest.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and the return of Winter! Stay warm. :)

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays. 

Our focus words this week all began with "qu". They were: quiet, question, queen, and quick.

We began working on a Winter booklet this week in Science. We have started to learn more about animals and living things such as reptiles and insects that hibernate. We have been checking on the two Grizzly bears at the Hibernation Station on Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. Here is the link for the web cam should you be interested in taking a look. https://www.grousemountain.com/web-cams/bear-den-cam

A writing task this week was for the students to write two New Year's Resolutions - one for something they want to learn this year and the other for something they want to get better at doing. Please ask your child to share what they chose to write. This work was based on a book we listened to called Squirrel's New Year's Resolutions by Pat Miller.

We did an oil pastel art piece of fireworks to accompany this writing. This work is on display in the hallway outside our classroom.

In Math, the students are being challenged to reach target numbers from 5-15 by creating addition equations. Some students have also been using subtraction to reach the target numbers. For example, if the target number is 11 the students might write 5+6, 2+2+7, etc. or 12-1, 13-2, etc. 

We have also been learning about balanced sums. The students are given two addition equations to solve and then must determine whether they are equal or not equal. We will begin to focus on subtraction next week.

Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the very best for a happy and healthy New Year!

I look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday, January 6th. 

Take care,

Jennifer Larmer

What a fantastic concert the kids put on last night! It was great to see all of you there enjoying the festive spirit. :)

This week we did some holiday-themed writing and word work. We continue to work at developing our sentences using description and details and are beginning to use a variety of sentence starters to share our ideas.

Many students shared their family's holiday traditions this week. We enjoyed learning about traditions from Serbia, Hong Kong, India, and Ukraine.  If your child has not yet shared your family's tradition, please send me a photo or two of what your family enjoys doing during the holidays as well as a short explanation. It's been interesting to see all the different traditions! Please email me your photo (if you have one) and short explanation to jllarmer@cbe.ab.ca.

If you have not yet returned the signed permission form for your child to eat our "Stone Soup" next Tuesday, please do so on Monday. If I do not receive the signed form, your child will not be able to enjoy the soup, bannock, and butter we will be making as a class to celebrate the Winter Solstice. This is due to concerns around food allergies. If your child's form did not make it home this past week, please email me and I will send home a second copy.

Mrs. McLean, our librarian is requesting that all library books be returned by Thursday as she will be doing inventory. The students will not be taking out a book this week. 

FESTIVE WEEK at MTS

During the last week of December (16-20), students and staff are encouraged to wear their favorite holiday sweaters, outfits, and accessories each day to celebrate the upcoming holidays.

On Thursday, December 19, wear your favorite pair of pajamas to school for the day. Dr. Slater will be reading her favorite book in the morning and Parent Council will be providing each student with a snack.

Upcoming Dates

December 16-20                   Festive Week - Wear festive clothing ALL week! :)

December 16                        Caroling 9:30-10:00

December 18.                       Caroling 1:15-1:45

December 19                       Pajama Day

December 23-January 3     Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

January 6                             Classes resume after Winter Break

Our focus sight words during Shared Reading this week were: with, was, like, that. These are words that your child should now be familiar with and be able to identify in any reading you do with them at home. After we focus on specific words each week, the words are put on our Sight Word board and the students refer to them when they are completing independent writing tasks. Next week, I will send home a list of all the sight words we have worked with so far this year. Any practice/review you can do of these words with your child will benefit their development of reading and spelling skills.

The students have been practicing a lot for their upcoming Christmas concert and they sound great! We are very excited to have you come and see this festive and fun celebration next Thursday at 5:30 pm. The show will be short and sweet - approximately 25 minutes. if you are unable to attend at 5:30, you are welcome to attend the dress rehearsal on Thursday morning at 10 am. ** Please note that there was an error in the time stated for the evening performance in last week's blog.

Here are all the details about the MTS Christmas Concert on Thursday December 12. Grade 1​ Doors Open @ 5:15pm - ​ parents send children to classrooms and go to the gym (no parents in classrooms) Show Starts @ 5:30pm (approximately 25 minutes long) ​ ​ Grade 2 & ¾ Choir ​ Doors Open @ 6:45​pm – parents send children to classrooms and go to the gym (no parents in classrooms) Show Starts @ 7:00pm (approximately 35 minutes long) ​ ​ Dress Rehearsals  ​(families can attend) Grade 1 Dress Rehearsal 10:00 am (Kindergarten and Gr. 3 to watch)​ Grade 2 & ¾ Choir Dress Rehearsal 1:30 (Kindergarten and Gr. 4 to watch)

** Recommended student attire for the clothing is festive clothing in festive colours, if possible. The clothing can be fancy or more casual. Children can wear Santa or elf hats, holiday hairbands, etc. but please no Rudolph noses or anything that covers their face.

This week, we created Reindeer art to go along with one of our songs. Please look for it in the hallway outside the Gym at next week's celebration. Here's a sneak peek:

We learned a fun, new Math game this week. It is a Roll to 100 game that includes blizzard obstacles and snowmen quick passes. I will be sending home a copy with your child to play with family and/or friends next week.

In Science, we continued our focus on Investigations and learned about making predictions. We did an experiment to learn about floating and sinking. The students made predictions prior to us doing the experiment and compared these "smart guesses" to the results. We learned that it does not matter if your prediction is different than the actual result. What matters is the learning that took place from doing the experiment.

Today, we listened with our Buddies to a story called, The Pinata that the Farm Maiden Hung by Samantha Vamos. We have a few students in both classes who are of Latin American descent. The students learned that pinatas are part of many celebrations including Christmas. We then made our own beautiful pinatas. The students are encouraged to fill their pinata with a few small gifts and/or kind notes and to give it to a friend or family member as a gift. 

Today, we also listened to a story called Chez Bob read in Ukrainian. One of our classmates is from Ukraine and it was interesting for us to hear a story being read in his language. We now fully appreciate how challenging it is for him to follow along when listening to English stories. Fortunately for us, we could pause after each page was read and read it in English. Here is a link to the story on Youtube, if you are interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZuPVDL4Osw

I sent home a fun homework page with everyone this weekend. Your child's task is to disguise their Gingerbread boy/girl and bring it back to share on Monday. 

There was also a letter sent home regarding sharing a family tradition. We will begin to share our winter holiday traditions beginning on Monday.

Light Up Someone’s Life

This holiday season, McKenzie Towne students and staff are encouraged to support 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, please bring in 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