This Week in School (Mar 2-6)

Math: All classes are wrapping our official unit on Fractions and Decimals.  In Grade 4, students are expected to know how to relate fractions and decimals, and add and subtract decimals to hundredths.  Grade 5 students are expected to know the same skills to thousandths.  On Friday students posted an assessment to Iris showing their understanding.  Please check out their post! That assessment will come home this week.

Science: Students are also wrapping up their study of Chemistry this week and should be reviewing those concepts on their title page, which is a cumulative summary of the main concepts in this unit.  Ask your child how their title page is progressing.

Language Arts: In addition to our daily literacy groups, students are also actively engaged in a teacher read aloud of the book Zorgamazoo and in an independent novel study.  Most students are finishing their book and beginning to work on a online brochure summarizing their novel.

Upcoming: Students will be participating in a week long basketball residency as part of our Physical Education program with Dave Singleton.  Dave is a former Marquette NCAA Division 1 player. He has also played pro ball overseas and now trains here in Calgary.

Science In Schools

Our class was very fortunate to participate in "Chemistry in the Classroom" with the Science in Schools program on Wednesday, Feb. 26th.  The students spent the morning exploring science concepts in an engaging, hands-on format.  Thank you to both our volunteers (we couldn't have done it without you) and Parent Council for supporting this learning opportunity!

T.W.A.S. Feb 10-21

T.W.A.S. (x2)

Today at school we had a Sharing Assembly.  We enjoyed seeing what the Grade 3's were learning about in building and are excited to see their display in the learning commons.  We also enjoyed Mrs. Boulanger's singing of "Boom Chicka Boom."  We tried out the new school cheer that was created by Mrs. Schwarz!

Book Clubs have changed! Everyone has a novel and are reading either as a group or independently. 

In Science, we are learning chemistry.  We did an experiment to test how to separate materials, which included using a sieve, a filter, decanting, floatation, and magnetism. We completed a quiz about the states of matter.  Ask me how I did.

All math groups are working on fractions and decimals.
Mr. Barker's group: we finished looking at decimals and are now focused on fractions.
Mrs. Gartner's group: we finished comparing fractions and now are focused on decimals.
Ms. Rutland's group: we made fraction posters with a math problem and including ordering them on a number line.
Mr. Pierce's group: we are also finishing fractions and are looking at decimals.

Next week is Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday, Feb. 26th. 

T.W.A.S. Feb 3-7

This was a great week at school - the highlight being our field trip to the Glenbow Museum! Whether it was the student's first trip (which for many it was) or they frequently go, it is an amazing destination with learning experiences that are second to none!  And each time students go with more background knowledge, they get more out of the experience.  Thanks to our awesome volunteers - we couldn't have gone without you!!

We also had our Family Night this week, which was extremely well attended!  Thanks to all for coming out!

Students are all working on fractions and decimals in math - ask your child to share with you what they've learned so far.

Reminder: next week is Teachers Convention (Feb 13-14), followed by Family Day Feb. 17.  There is no school for students these days.

At the Trading Post!

T.W.A.S. January 20-24

This was a great week at school - the highlight for all was undoubtably Inline Skating!  I was amazed at how they took to it!  Even after they'd take a big fall they'd still get up smiling!  Each and every student made incredible progress throughout the week, whether they were brand new to the sport or they challenged themselves to learn new tricks and skills.  Thank you so much to our Marlborough Parent Council for providing this opportunity to our students!

We also were very excited to learn the name of our England pen pals and to write our introductory letter to them!  Almost all students typed their letter on Google Drive and their homework this weekend was to share their work with you and do any final edits.  We will be putting these in the mail this week!

All math groups are now finished with multiplication and division and will be moving into fractions and decimals next week.  Keep practicing those basic multiplication and division facts at home! Ask me if you'd like any games sent home to work on these!  Grade 4's need to know up to 7x7 automatically and Grade 5's need to know up to 9x9.

We also spent some time learning to play Chess with Ms. Aubrey.  If your child wants to be in Chess Club, the forms are due Monday.

             

Upcoming Family Night

Family Night will be on Thursday, February 6th from 5:30-7pm. All families are invited to the school to experience a snapshot of what our monthly Family Fridays look like. Ask your child if they are part of the Turtle, Rabbit, Owl, Moose or Butterfly family. Each family group will be meeting in a different area to start the Family Night.

Turtles- Gym

Rabbits- Kindergarten Room

Owls- Music Room

Moose-Learning Commons

Butterflies- Area 4 Conference Room

Please be on time as our activities will start promptly at 5:30pm! We look forward to seeing you!

Important Mail Coming!

Parents – you will receive a survey in the mail from Alberta Education.  This survey provides valuable information to the school about what we are doing well and how we can improve.  We would encourage parents to watch for this survey in the mail, complete the survey and then send it back in the mail with the self-addressed stamped envelope that is provided.  Thank you for attention with this matter.  The survey should be arriving within the next week or two.

Jody Simpson

Assistant Principal, Marlborough School 

T.W.A.S. Jan 13-17

This was our first full week back and winter definitely arrived for the week as well.  We are looking forward to a much warmer week next week.  Next week we are also looking forward to Inline Skating! Remember to wear socks each day and if you have your own equipment you can bring it in. 

In Language Arts, we have been learning different Figures of Speech.  Using books and videos, we explored and wrote examples of similes, metaphors, hyperboles, onomatopoeia, and alliteration.  We also started Book Clubs this week.  In a group, we will be reading and writing about a novel.  Ask me what book I am reading.

In Mr. Pierce's Math group, we are solving math problems using puzzles and games.  We also used Seesaw to solve problems.
In Mr. Barker's Math group, we are learning long division using 3-digit and 2-digit numbers.
In Mrs. Gartner's Math group, we are learning division also.
In Ms. Rutland's Math group, we are working on multiplication and division fact families.  Please keep practicing these at home!

We have spent a lot of time on Social Studies this week.  Grade 4's are almost finished their 3D Maps  of the Regions of Alberta and Grade 5's will be presenting their GoogleSlide Presentation about the regions of Canada next week.

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a happy winter break and are ready for the real arrival of winter next week!  Please remember to dress warmly! 
After our short 2-day week, just a couple notes for everyone. Students all completed writing about their break and any goals for 2020.  They were asked to take home unfinished writing so you might see that in their bag.  Any time students take home unfinished work, it is very important that they return it the next day.  Often we are continuing projects or writing and it is very challenging if they've left their work at home.

For January 13th, the Grade 4's will be making 3-D Maps of Alberta, and we require boxes.  If you have any larger sized boxes, please send them in with your child.  If any parents are available to volunteer from 10:15-11:15 any day next week, please send me an email at mlrutland@cbe.ab.ca

Thanks!  Stay warm everyone!

Winter Art

This past week, students put the finishing touches on their Jen Aranyi inspired artwork!  In this piece, students explored showing perspective with the foreground, mid ground, and background; used shading to show shadows and depth on their mountain range; and then used a wet-on-wet watercolour wash to blend the sky with either warm or cool colours.  Their results are stunning!  Students then created an "Artist Statement" where they titled their work and reflected on the process.  We invite you to take a gallery walk the next time you're in the building!

Science Art Link

Click on the link below to check out our class compilation of shadow art!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uRqp5Vh4XxcfUZiNVlDTPOh3FnQFC79JBVa0WfTdefs/edit#slide=id.p

T.W.A.S. Nov 25-29th

Here are the highlights of the last week in school!

Today was the dance performance following our 2-week experience with SoundKreations.  We worked hard learning a hip hop and Caribbean dance.  While many kids were nervous about sharing them in front of the school and parents, they did a great job!  Thank you to all of the parents who made it out on a very cold day to support the kids!

We've been working on Literacy Centers the last 2 weeks.  The students rotate through different centers all focused on Literacy.  Ms. Rutland has really enjoyed working with all the groups in guided reading - and lots of neat comics and words games are being explored.

Mrs. Gartner did a cool light and shadow visual art piece with our class this week.  The images will be available via GoogleDrive link as soon as possible!

In Social Studies, students are divided into groups to learn about the regions of Alberta (Grade 4) and the regions of Canada (Grade 5).  The Grade 4's had to first design a new Alberta flag based on what they saw as the most important land and resources in the provinces.  Check out their video on Iris explaining the flag design.  The Grade 5's are beginning to research a region of Canada to create a Google Slide presentation.

Math groups are continuing - with all groups either beginning or continuing with multiplication and division next week.  Grade 4's need to have automatic recall of multiplication and division facts up to 7x7 and Grade 5's up to 9x9 - so keep practicing at home!

We are looking forward to finishing our Jen Aranyi inspired landscape art next week.  Check back for the finished results next week!

                          

T.W.A.S. Nov. 12-15th

This was a short week, with lots going on!

We started the week outdoors at Fish Creek Park for a field trip where we learned about orienteering, which is like a scavenger hunt with a map.  We thought it was fun and exciting.  We were surprised by seeing deer, chickadees, and squirrels. Reading the map was a little hard.  While we were walking through the park we also did a nature scavenger hunt where we looked for different kinds of trees and footprints (both animals and people)!  Inside the fenced area was a place where  snakes hibernate through the winter.  Another cool thing we found were lego plants - which are actually called horsetails.

Wednesday was PJ Day and we played a PJ game in Gym.

This week we finally presented our learning from the Save Our Wetlands Project.

In math, all groups are working on addition, and subtraction, or multiplication and division. Keep practicing adding basic facts at home!

Some groups have been finishing up our "dangerous ways to get to school" descriptive writing.

Kernels Fundraiser

Marlborough School Parent Council will be conducting a Kernels fundraiser from 

November 15th-November 29th. We expect to hand the orders out on December 9^th. The proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to reduce the cost of school hoodies/t-shirts that will be available for purchase by all families at a later date. Snack size bags of popcorn are $2 each. The top selling classroom will win a pizza party!!!

Please help your child with our campaign.  Please sell to friends, family, neighbors, and people at work. 

T.W.A.S. Nov. 4-8

It has been a long time since we've done an update - my apologies!
Here are the highlights from the week:

In Science, we finished wetlands and have moved on to learning about Light and Shadow from Mrs. Gartner.  We started off looking at what we know, wonder, and learned. So far we have learned that light can do 3 things: it can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed. We also learned that things can emit light.

For Language Arts we are working on a bunch of different writing and reading activities, such as word games, writing comics, raz kids, and word searches.  The Green Literacy group has been working on Free Verse poems with the theme of "Remembrance." Some of the poems will be shared in our Remembrance Day Assembly Imovie.  The Red and Blue groups have been working creating a descriptive writing piece on the topic of dangerous ways to get to school using a picture prompt.

All Math groups are exploring Number concepts, which involves addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Ask your child what they are working on at the moment! 

For Social Studies, students are considering the personal, economic and environmental effects of natural resources - and recognizing that these effects can be positive or negative. 

This week we had our Remembrance Day Assembly on Friday.  It was a beautiful, reflective assembly and the students demonstrated great respect throughout.  Prior to the assembly, our class read a book called, "The Enemy," where the main character shows us that hate comes from a lack of understanding and empathy towards other people.

Upcoming:
- No School Monday, Nov. 11
- Field Trip Tuesday, Nov 12th.  PLEASE dress to be outside all day, including boots, a winter coat, hat, and mitts.
- Wednesday - Pajama Day
- Friday - Fun Lunch orders are due

T.W.A.S. Oct. 7-10th

It was a short week but it was busy! Here are the highlights:

K: We wrote a paragraph about the story "Stone Soup."  The themes of the story are community, being thankful, giving, and gratitude. 
L: A new character was introduced in The One and Only Ivan named Ruby, a baby elephant.
L: In math groups we are working on place value and addition.  Today we made a place value puzzle matching 4-6 digit numbers with their expanded form. 
T: In Literacy groups we started working on persuasive writing.  Some of the topics were: should students have extra recess; should students chew gum in school; should students have as many books as they want from the library; and should students have homework? Ask me which issue I chose.
A: In Science we are working on a presentation about saving the wetlands.  We have to research information and then we are making either a GoogleSlide Presentation, a poster, or an iMovie.

Have a great fall break - see you on October 21st!