Hats On! For Mental Health day - tomorrow!

On Wednesday May 1st, plan to wear your favorite hat to school for the "Can We Talk?" Hats On! For Mental Health day. 

On this day, Albertans are invited to wear a hat to raise awareness of the importance of good mental health. Participating schools will relax their hat rules and encourage students and teachers to build understanding by wearing hats to school. 

Spring Changes around CJP

Students in Rooms 6 and 13 spent some time this week exploring the Discovery Garden. We noticed many new buds growing on the trees, green grass poking through on the ground, and fuzzy pollen on the branches! We are such excited about being able to spend more time outside now that it is warming up!

This weekend, we encourage you to take some time exploring nature - can you find any other signs of new life around your home?

  

Music Monday - May 6

Dear Families,

Please join us on Monday, May 6^th at 10:00am to celebrate Music Monday! 

For those who may not know, Music Monday was created by the Coalition for Music Education as a way to raise awareness for the importance of music education. Together, schools and other musical organizations across Canada sing the Music Monday anthem on the first Monday each May. This year, the Music Monday anthem is Hymn to Freedom by Oscar Peterson. Students have learned about the history of this song, its meaning and the people it impacted. Please ask your child for more information! 

At CJP, it is tradition to have an outdoor concert on Music Monday. This year, our concert will be on Monday, May 6^th at 10:00am on the CJP field. Families and community members are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blankets to watch comfortably from the field. If you have any questions, please contact Miss Nair at canair@cbe.ab.ca.  

Boat building supplies needed TOMORROW!

From the Learning Commons...

Please remember to gather and bring your boat building supplies for tomorrow (Wednesday)!

Thank you!

Ms. Hoogers

Sound Kreations performance - Costume Request

Please be reminded of your opportunity to join us this Wednesday, April 24 to see students perform the dances they have been working hard on for the last few weeks.

Room 6 will perform between 5:15-6:00

Room 13 will perform between 6:30-7:15

If possible, students are asked to wear the following costume: blue jeans, white t-shirt and black jacket, cardigan, zip up sweatshirt, etc. If your child doesn't have a black outer layer, a black t-shirt will also be great! 

We hope to see many of you there!!

Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs

This week students started learning about their next Canadian community: The Prairie community of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan! They were taught that a large number of Ukrainian people moved in and around Saskatoon in the early 1900's, and that many Ukrainians still live there today! Easter is of particular importance to this group of people, and one of the things they do to celebrate is dye Pysanky eggs.

Students used pastels and paint to create their own Pysanky eggs. They also spent time writing about their eggs, identifying the symbolism of the colours they used and reflecting on different aspects of their work. Look for these amazing pieces of art coming home today!

 . 

Tomatosphere seeds update

Students in Rooms 6 and 13 have been observing the growth of our tomato plants carefully.
We have been recording how many seeds have germinated and have been caring for our seeds daily.
At the end of two weeks, we will be comparing our results between the classrooms and making conclusions. There have been some interesting theories about whether space seeds or earth seeds will grow faster!

What do you think?  Are the "space" seeds the L or the M group?
And why?



In addition, Room 13 has been experimenting with "window seeds" - this was started when a student pulled a seed out of an orange he had for snack and wondered if it would grow. We started collecting seeds from the food we ate and tried to get them to grow in plastic bags in our window.  Some of our results were very surprising.

Sounds Kreations Presentation

You are invited to join us on Wednesday, April 24 to see our students perform their Sound Kreations dances! Please note there is not an opportunity to leave the gym until after all classes in a given time slot have performed.

Room 6: 5:15 - 6:00
Room 13: 6:30 - 7:15

Here is a preview of what you may see next week:

 

We hope to see you all there! 

Boats and Buoyancy

Dear Grade 1/2 Parents and Guardians:

The grade 1/2 classes have been learning about boats and buoyancy in the Learning Commons! We have classified and ordered materials based on their buoyancy, tested floating materials and sinking materials and introduced the term, “density.”

Our students are now ready to apply their understanding of buoyancy, waterproofing, and parts of a watercraft to design their very own. In the Learning Commons over the next few weeks, students will be given an opportunity to design and build a watercraft and modify it to increase stability and carry a load.

Your child will be building their boat at school but they have been asked to gather materials at home. Please support your child in finding recyclable/household supplies that they can bring to school on Wednesday. Possible material ideas include: craft supplies, household items (tools, kitchen items, etc.) tin foil, wax paper, wood pieces, styrofoam trays. When selecting materials, you will want to consider:

1. Is it waterproof?
2. Is it stiff enough to hold a load (marbles)?
3. How buoyant is it?
   

Thank you for your support with this project!

Ms. Hoogers

This Week in Rooms 6 and 13

Hello Parents and Guardians!

This week at school in rooms 6 and 13 we had an awesome time! We learned a lot of cool things:

We learned how to carve soap into polar bears! Everybody thought it was fun. We learned this because we are learning about the Arctic and soapstone carving is an Inuit tradition and job! Did you know they made soapstone toys for children?

We had fluency tests in Math. It was subtraction and addition. Each quiz had 12 questions.

We were learning in Social Studies about natural resources and jobs in the Arctic. Some of the natural resources unique to the Arctic are diamonds, fish, caribou and seals, and soapstone. These create jobs including diamond mining, fishing, hunting, and carving.

All of us worked on a hip-hop dance with Zam from Sound Kreations. We are excited to show you this dance at the Celebration of Learning later this month.

We played a class soccer game outside and it was epic! There were lots of kids but we were all kind and respectful!

In the Learning Commons, we used materials to make a rock float on water. We did an egg experiment. In tap water, the egg sunk and in salt water the egg floated!

In Music, we are learning our Music Monday songs.

Thank you for reading our blog!

From,
Rooms 6 and 13

Student-led Conferences tomorrow!

Student-led conferences are tomorrow! Please be reminded that this is an opportunity for students to take the lead and share what we have been doing in class. If you would like to meet privately with you child's teacher, please send her an email. Students in Rooms 6 and 13 have so many exciting things to share with you - we are looking forward to having you join us!

Just a reminder that we will all be meeting in Room 6.

See you tomorrow!

Mrs. Harvey & Ms. Betty

Room 6 OT Visit

Today Room 6 had Erin Jones, Occupational Therapist, come in to teach us a lesson about how to be organized at school. She taught us the "Get Ready - Do - Done" strategy that we can use to plan ahead and complete our work at school with greater independence. Miss Erin did a "Bug Detective" activity with our students to practice this strategy. This activity will be in your child's folder today.

Some parents find this strategy very useful for children to use at home as well. Please see the information below if you would like more information about a strategy you can use to support your child in being more independent at home.

Cat's Cradle with our Buddies

Today students in Rooms 6 & 13 started learning how to play Cat's Cradle with their buddy classes. This was very challenging, and very fun, for most of us!

Next week at student-led conferences there will be an opportunity for you and your child to play this fun Inuit game. If you'd like to practice at home, it's easy - all you need is a piece of string tied in a circle.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Mrs Harvey & Ms. Betty

Northern Birthday Box Project

Students have brainstormed a list of items for our Birthday Box project.
They have decided on specific items based on information we know about each child.
Here is the list they came up with:



Here is a link to an article that has more information about the Northern Birthday Box project:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/facebook-groups-helps-southern-sponsors-spread-birthday-cheer-to-northern-families-1.4252895

Over the weekend, please consider signing up for an item for our Birthday Child matches.
Their birthdays are coming up soon so look for the email that is coming out tonight with the on-line sign up link. 

We are hoping to fill the boxes by Thursday, so please feel free to bring in items anytime next week.

Thanks for your support.

Mrs. Harvey & Ms. Betty

Student-Led Conferences

Next Thursday starting at 1:30 we will be having another round of student-led conferences. The sign-up opened this morning. Thank you to those who have already signed up to come!

Please be reminded that this is not a formal time to sit down with teacher(s) and have an in-depth meeting. If you would like to have an opportunity to chat privately about your child's progress, please email Mrs. Harvey and/or Ms. Betty.

As these conferences are entire student-directed, please ensure you have booked a time that works for both you and your child to be in attendance!



We look forward to seeing you all there.

- Mrs. Harvey & Ms. Betty

Living costs in Iqaluit and a preview to an exciting upcoming opportunity!

Today students in Rooms 6 and 13 got together to plan out a birthday party. We shared our favourite things about birthday parties: having cake, decorating with balloons, playing games, and drinking pop. Then, we set out to plan a birthday party using flyers from Calgary Co-op and Iqaluit Northmart.

Did you know a 24 pack of pop in Iqaluit is $34??! We could not believe it! Students discovered that for 5 fairly basic birthday party items - 1 bag of chips, 1 pack of pop, a 4 pack of muffins, 10 candy bars, and 1 pack of strawberries - families in Iqaluit would need to pay over $80!!!

The price above does not even include the "extras" of a party like balloons, candles, party hats, or decorations. These things are not easy to come by and are also extremely expensive in Arctic communities. Many families simply cannot afford to have a fun party for their children each year. 

Teachers have learned of a group, The Northern Birthday Box Project, that match sponsors throughout Canada with children in the Arctic who have a birthday coming up. We have decided to sponsor two children from Iqaluit and send them a birthday party in a box! Much of what we will send are items that can easily be purchased for $1-$2. Students in our classes were very excited to hear that we can do something to help children in Iqaluit who may not otherwise have a birthday party this year!

This week we will brainstorm items that we would like to collect and send to our two sponsor children. Stay tuned for more information about this exciting project! 

MAPSS Casino Nights

A message from MAPSS:
We are still looking for volunteers for the following positions for next week's casino nights:

  Wednesday April 3rd     6:45 pm to 3:30 am

                                         2 chip runner positions

                                         2 cashier positions

Please see your email for information regarding how to sign up. Thank you!

Reminder: Dismissal Change

The email below was sent before Spring Break. Please be reminded of the changes in our dismissal. Students in Rooms 6 and 13 all were part of a discussion today about how to be safe after school if a parent/sibling is not there at dismissal. Many students shared that they did not discuss this at home with parents. Please take some time to discuss an end-of-day plan should you be late picking your child up. 

Dear Families,

Hand to hand dismissal is typically part of Kindergarten dismissal protocol.  We have extended this courtesy to all of our grade 1 and 2 families for a majority of this school year. After Spring Break grade 1 and 2 students will be dismissed at the end of the day from their classrooms by the teacher. Teachers will not be standing at the door to ensure you are there waiting for your child. This is a great next step for many students to build their sense of independence and responsibility.

We know that you always strive to be on time but it is important to help your child consider what to do if you are not there at the end of the day. Some topics you may want to discuss with your child:

·      What will they do if you are late?

·      Will they go with an arranged adult or to a spot?

·      How long should they wait before they go to the front of the school to get help from the office?

·      Where should they play while they wait?

We will continue to support our students with their independence and their sense of safety by:

·      Classroom discussions about safety

·      Coaching students about where to go if they find themselves outside the school building without their class, a staff member, or a parent

·      Identifying safe adults in the building and on the playground identified with CBE and CJP badges

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your child’s teacher.

Thank you,

The Grade 1/2 team

Math Game: Addition Battle

Below is an addition game that students in both grade 1 and 2 have learned in class. For an extra challenge, try subtracting instead of adding. Students have not yet tried this, so this would be a fun new game for you to try at home!

Blue & Purple Day - Thursday, April 4

Thursday, April 4th is Wear Purple or Blue Day at CJP. Like Orange Shirt Day and Pink Shirt Day that are held to bring awareness to First Nation reconciliation and Anti-bullying, Purple & Blue Day is to bring awareness to Epilepsy (purple) and Autism (blue).

Families are encouraged to have a conversation with their child about epilepsy and/or autism, as both impact not only members of our CJP community but people around the world. Traditionally, Purple and Blue days occur separately, but this year they will be honoured jointly as Purple Day occurred while students were on Spring Break.

Please consider joining us in raising awareness by wearing purple, blue, or both this Thursday.