My apologies for not posting a blog last week. I was sick in bed from Friday until this past Thursday and the blog simply did not happen. :(

This week, the students worked with two different substitute teachers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, following the same daily routines and schedules as always.

In Literacy, the students used the picture prompt below to write sentences describing what they saw in the photo. They were also prompted to use their imagination to think of a name for the cat, the type of pizza he/she was making, and who was coming to dinner! 

We continued to work with Bossy/Magic E this week - practicing how to read and spell words whose vowel sounds get lengthened by the e at the end. For example: cap + e = cape

Every week, we read a poem and do some word work with it. I will have the students use their highlighters to find specific words in the poem, looking for blends that we have been focusing on such as sh, th, ar, or, ing, as well as some sight words we have been learning. I will also ask them to look for opposites or synonyms of words I give them. We read this poem as a group two or three times and then they put it in their duotang. This duotang now contains many poems that the students can practice reading during our daily reading time.

In Math, we have started to solve open-ended questions. Here is the one the students were challenged with this week:

I have 3 bowls of fruit. Each bowl has the same number of fruit in it. How many fruit could each bowl have? How many fruit would I have altogether?

Show as many different answers as you can. Draw pictures and write an equation to go with each.

For example: 

2+2+2=6

In Science, the students started to work on an "Over and Under the Snow" art piece to show which animals hibernate, migrate, and adapt. We will finish this work next week.

I sent a pink note home with the students yesterday regarding Valentine's Day cards. If for some reason, your child did not bring one home, please see the note below.

A friendly reminder to return library books by Tuesday each week. Thank you. :)

Notices from the office:

Moving and Planning for 2026-27

If you have moved or are planning to move over the summer months, please notify the school as soon as possible with your new address.

For students attending a new CBE school for the fall please ensure the school knows and Transfer Forms have been completed.

Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media Use in Schools

Just a reminder, K-9 Students are not permitted to use personal mobile devices during the school day. Student devices brought to school must be out of sight and either powered off or set to silent. They should be left in backpacks, lockers or areas designated by teachers or better yet - simply left at home.

If your student is feeling ill, they are to speak with their teacher or office to make arrangements for a pick up.

For more information, please visit the CBE Website on Personal Mobile Devices at School.

Jump Rope for Heart

MTS will hold a special event assembly on Tuesday, February 24, 8:30 am, with special guests Max and Mike Pozzo in attendance as well as representatives from the Heart and Stroke Organization.

In 2018, when Max was a student at MTS he participated in the Jump Rope for Heart program at our school, where he learned about the signs to look for if someone is having a stroke.

Not many 8-year-olds can say they saved a parent's life. Unless your name is Max Pozzo, who knew exactly what to do when his dad Mike suffered a stroke! Max attended a Jump Rope for Heart assembly in 2018 at McKenzie Towne School where he learned the FAST approach to detect whether someone is having a stroke. Five days later, he saved his dad's life by calling 911 because he recognized that his dad was having a stroke.

It will be wonderful to have Max and his Dad visit the school again for this special Jump Rope for Heart event – now 8 years later!

Help us reach our fundraising goal by donating or register to create your own fundraising page to share with family and friends.

Visit our school’s fundraising page to get started. MTS JUMP ROPE FOR HEART

Fun Lunch

The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday February 25.

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.

Food Support

Did you know that the Breakfast Club of Canada has shared research demonstrating that 40% of Alberta’s children experience food insecurity?  This means that 4 out of 10 children do not have access to food when they are hungry. 

If your family is experiencing challenges with providing food for your children you can find help at Brown Bagging Calgary. 

Complete this form for support and they can deliver lunches to McKenzie Towne School for your children. https://go.bb4ck.org/l/858913/2024-01-15/38fdbw You can also find out more information on their website https://bb4ck.org/

Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids

Upcoming Dates

February 11                              Wear Red and Hearts for Valentine's Day

February 12 & 13                     Teacher Convention - NO SCHOOL

February 16                              Family Day - NO SCHOOL

February 24                              Grade 4 Field Trip - Be Brave Hitmen Game

February 24                              Jump Rope for Heart Assembly - 8:30am

February 25                              Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks Pizza

February 25                              PINK Shirt Day

February 27                              Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

March 3                                    Sam Centre Field Trip - Penford/Janisse/Massey

March 4                                    Sam Centre Field Trip - Pynn/Thomson

March 17                                  Wear Green for St. Patrick's Day

March 18                                  Fun Lunch - Subway

March 19 & 20                          Parent/Teacher Conferences

March 19                                  NO SCHOOL for Kindergarten

March 20                                  Parent/Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL

March 23-27                            Spring 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.

MTS Traditional Calendar 2025-26.pdf 

Just a reminder, this Friday is a Morning Kindergarten Day.

 This week, our focus words for Shared Reading were: our, new, blue, two.

The students completed two writing activities this week where they were asked to write multiple sentences. We have been practicing how to develop interesting sentences that use some descriptive words, such as colour and size. The students are getting very good at identifying the short vowel sounds and are beginning to incorporate the digraphs ch, sh, th, and ck into their spelling.

In Math, we focused on Making Ten - learning about the different combinations of numbers that add up to this sum. This skill comes in handy when solving more difficult addition equations.

We have also been doing a lot of Shared Reading together of decodeable texts. Your child should have brought home a sheet with a passage about Ed the Dog this week, as well as a Roll and Write game that they can practice reading to you.

In Science, the students enjoyed drawing the toy they'd brought from home and writing two sentences to describe it. We used the following poster as a reference for our descriptive words. 

We worked on our Art Card this week. They look great! This is a fundraiser organized by our school's Parent Council. These cards will be available for purchase in a few weeks. I will keep you posted. Here's a sneak peek at the idea we used for the cards.

Yesterday, we met with our Grade 4 Buddies. Mrs. Miller taught the students how to work with modelling clay to make a penguin. We are waiting for these to dry, then we will paint/colour them.

A friendly reminder that there is NO SCHOOL next Friday. It is a Professionsl Development Day for teachers.

I hope you all enjoy a snowy weekend!

We continued to practice identifying the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, and ck and reading and spelling words that contained these blends. Your child should have brought home a decodable passage that we worked on in class that they can practice reading with you.

We have also been working a lot with word families. We are learning that if you know how to spell a word like cat, you can easily spell many other words that rhyme - sat, hat, mat, chat...

In Math, we continued to practice our doubles facts on a daily basis and played two games to reinforce this skill. We are also beginning our unit on Shapes. At this point, it is mainly a review of 2D shapes but we will be venturing into 3D shapes shortly. On Friday, we did an art activity with shapes with our Grade 4 Buddies.

In Social Studies, we talked about Constructed Landmarks/Features and discussed what makes them different from Natural Landmarks/Features which we learned about last week. Next week, I may take the students on a community walk (weather dependent) to find natural and constructed features in our community.

In Science, we have started to learn about the Properties of Matter. We are learning vocabulary to describe objects, such as colour words, size words, texture words, and weight words. Your child should have brought home a pink note explaining a learning task we will do next Monday (January 19) to further practice using this vocabulary. If the note did not make it home, your child needs to bring in a toy no larger than the size of an adult hand that they will have to draw and describe in their journal. I would suggest putting the toy in a bag and labelling it with your child's name. Then toy will be sent home at the end of the day.

A friendly reminder to please send library books back by Tuesday morning each week as we have our book exchange that day.

 Happy New Year Everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday. :)

This week our four focus words were: saw, too, said, one.

We worked a lot with the digraphs "ch", "sh", and "th" this week. The students completed an activity where they had to sort words based on these letter blends. We also did an activity where the students had to find 20 pictures that were put up around the room of things that contained these digraphs.  On their recording sheet, they had to sound out and spell the word, listening for the correct digraph.

We have also been doing some more work with sentence writing. The students are beginning to include some of the high-frequency words we've been learning into their writing and are becoming more adept at identifying the letter sounds they need to spell some words.

In Social Studies, we started to learn about Natural Features. These are things such as mountains, lakes, and rivers. We began to learn about areas in Alberta where these features can be found and why people enjoy spending time in these places. Next week, we will continue this focus and will also learn about man-made features. 

In Math, we are practicing our Doubles Facts to 20 (2+2=4, 5+5=10, etc.). We practice these every day when we are lining up or have a few minutes before lunch/snack/dismissal, etc. The students played a Doubles Bingo game with a partner this week to practice these facts. Any chance you have to practice these facts with your child at home, in the car, in a grocery store line-up, etc. will benefit them by improving their ability to solve other equations.

Today, our Grade 4 buddies came to our classroom and the students made Q-tip snowflakes. First, we learned about a man named Willie Bentley. He photographed magnified snowflakes to share their beauty and uniqueness with others. We talked a bit about how snowflakes are formed and that there are no two snowflakes that are alike. Here are some of Willie Bentley's photographs:

Fun Lunch

The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday, January 28.

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.

Food Support

Did you know that the Breakfast Club of Canada has shared research demonstrating that 40% of Alberta’s children experience food insecurity?  This means that 4 out of 10 children do not have access to food when they are hungry. 

If your family is experiencing challenges with providing food for your children you can find help at Brown Bagging Calgary. 

Complete this form for support and they can deliver lunches to McKenzie Towne School for your children. https://go.bb4ck.org/l/858913/2024-01-15/38fdbw You can also find out more information on their website https://bb4ck.org/

Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids

Upcoming Dates

January 12                               Kindergarten Registration for 2026-27 Starts Today!!!

January 28                               Fun Lunch - Subway

January 28                               Heritage Park Field Trip- Kruger/Siarkiewicz

January 29                               NO SCHOOL for Kindergarten - Kindergarten Assessments

January 30                               Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

Yesterday, we made a delicious vegetable soup and tasty bannock to mark the upcoming Winter Solstice. Thank you to everyone for sending in a vegetable or more to this community feast. It was great to see what a fantastic meal could be made from all of our contributions.

We enjoyed carolling as a school twice this week, as well as a Christmas story read by Dr. Slater this morning. A big thank you to our school's Parent Council for providing a mandarin and a candy cane for each student to enjoy today.

Happy Holidays to all of you! I hope you and your family enjoy relaxing days and good times together.

I look forward to seeing the students again on Monday, January 5.

Take good care. Merry Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who attended our Grade One concert on Thursday. The children loved performing for you! What a great way to get into the holiday spirit. :)

The students have started writing independent sentences in their notebooks. We are learning sentence conventions such as the correct use of uppercase letters, spaces between words, and punctuation.

We also worked with compound words this week. We are learning how to identify these special words and are beginning to break them into their two separate words.

In Math, we focused on patterns this week. We made patterns with shapes, colours, actions, and sounds. We are learning to identify missing parts of patterns and how to extend existing patterns. Next week, we will continue working with patterns. We'll also work with measurement.

The students have enjoyed sharing their family traditions with one another. If your child has not yet had a chance to share, please email a photo or two (if you have any) or have them bring in something that represents the tradition. Please take some time to talk with your child about your tradition. 

Please return all library books this week. We will not be signing out books again until the new year.

Yellow folders did not go home this week. We will resume this in the new year as well.

*Please return the Soup Day permission form on Monday. Please have your child bring in their vegetable for Thursday. Thank you for your support. :)

Upcoming Dates

December 16 - Carolling 9am

December 17 - Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

December 18 - Carolling 1pm

December 19 - Pajama Day! (New Date)

December 22 - January 2   Winter Break - NO SCHOOL

January 5 - School resumes

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!

Fun Lunch

The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday December 17.

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.

Food Support

Did you know that the Breakfast Club of Canada has shared research demonstrating that 40% of Alberta’s children experience food insecurity?  This means that 4 out of 10 children do not have access to food when they are hungry. 

If your family is experiencing challenges with providing food for your children you can find help at Brown Bagging Calgary. 

Complete this form for support and they can deliver lunches to McKenzie Towne School for your children. https://go.bb4ck.org/l/858913/2024-01-15/38fdbw You can also find out more information on their website https://bb4ck.org/

Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids

In Literacy this week, we focused on the four new sight words: do, has, my, you. When reading with your child at home, you may want to ask them to look for and point out these words in the book. The students have been excitedly pointing out many of the sight words we've been learning when we do our shared reading every morning, as well as when they read on their own for a few minutes after lunch.

We have now completed our printing practice of all 26 letters and will turn our focus to sentence writing. This week, the students practiced their ability to sound out words when completing "I see..." sentences in their notebooks to go along with a winter-themed picture. We have been doing a lot of work with listening for the beginning, middle, end and vowel sounds in words. I never expect them to be able to correctly identify all of the letter sounds. The hope is that they can begin writing words that the reader can understand. Often, we call this "inventive" or "kid" writing. It looks like this: For the word skateboard, you might see "sktbord". Please encourage your child to practice this type of writing when labelling a picture they've drawn or perhaps when creating a holiday wish list... :)

In Math, we were applying our knowledge of number lines to help us solve addition equations. We have also started to talk about even and odd numbers, and have been counting by 2s to 20, by 5s to 50, and by 10s to 100.

We met with our Grade 4 Buddies this week to do some Winter tree art. Your child will bring this home on Monday, as we needed the work to dry. Mrs. Miller taught them how to use a horizon line and to show depth in their art.

Please take time to share a family tradition with your child, as outlined in the pink note I gave you at conferences. Some children shared their family tradition this week. We will continue to share them next week. Please have your child practice what they will say with you prior to having them share with the class. You can email me a photo of your tradition at jllarmer@cbe.ab.ca, if you wish.

Now that we are into 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 every Monday, as well as their library book.

*Next week will be our last time to take out a library book before the holidays. All books need to be returned by Tuesday, December 16th.

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

Festive events happening at school:

Dec 11 - Wear Red & Green

Dec 16 - Carolling

Dec 18 - Carolling

Dec 18 - PJ Day

Dec 19 - Story with Dr. Slater / Oranges from Parent Council

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. :)