December 13, 2019

Good Afternoon,

*I can't believe next week is our last week before Winter break! Reminder students don't have school on Friday December 20th.

We will be having themed days each day next week: 

Merry Monday - Dress in festive clothing
Toque Tuesday - wear a toque or hat
Wrap-it Wednesday - Door decorating contest
Thursday - PJ, Stuffy and Movie day!

This week was our student teacher Mrs. Otto's last week. We are sad to see her go but excited to have her back to volunteer for skating a couple times next week!

This week at school:

In French we are learning beginner conversational phrases. We hope to start having conversations next week.

Grade 4 math is finishing up patterns. Right now we are looking at basic algebraic equations and how to solve them (i.e. 3 + O = 10).

Students have now finished their social studies region research and are putting together a Google slideshow in their groups to present next week.

In literacy we have started "Visualizing" where students use their senses, memories, and "picture words" to help them visual what they are reading or hearing in the text. Students have finished their personal narratives and our now moving on to "friendly" letters.

In science students are learning the vocabulary that goes along with their classroom chemistry unit. Next week we will be conducting some interesting and exciting experiments.

We learned how to Code this week! Students loved learning how to create different things using code and I have added the link under coding on my webpage if they want to explore more!

We did another "Gratefulness Journal" entry this week.

In health this week students explored how to recognize when someone is upset, what to do to support others, strategies that work for them when they feel frustrated/angry/upset to help them calm down, and how to show respect for others.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ms. Russell

December 6, 2019

Hello Everyone,

*Reminder to return Skate Shack permission forms next week!

Today we had Connect Hour and we played fun outdoor games with our groups! - Addison

In Science we made "Reindeer Toothpaste" its a mixture of yeast, hot water, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. The percentage of the peroxide determines how big the explosion is! - Stella

Yesterday, we had our Winter Concert. Thanks to everyone who attended! - Hailey

In math the grade 5's did a quiz on multiplication and division. Grade 4's are working increasing and decreasing patterns, skip counting, and we played a math game called "Prime Climb." - Jheanique and Bella

For social studies we are still finishing up our research on our regions of Canada! We hope to be making our presentations starting next week. - Cadence

In language arts we have finished writing our personal narratives!

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Russell and Studentzzzzzzzz

November 29, 2019

Hello Everyone!

*Reminder next week is the Winter Concert on Thursday December 5th so save the date!!

This week we did lots of fun activities! We had connect hour with our connect family groupings and talked about feelings and emotions. We had a fire drill where the firefighters came to watch and we had our first sharing circle!

Our buddies came to our class this week and we read stories with them.

Mrs. Otto had a sharing circle with us where we spoke about where we came from.

In French we reviewed our numbers from 1-20, our colours, days of the week and months of the year. We played French bingo too! Ms. Russell has added some videos to her webpage under French so we can practice at home!

We wrote predictions about our next read aloud, "Little Bigfoot Big City."

In daily 4 we are questioning during our guided reading groups and finishing our personal narratives in writing.

We did some more snowmen art this time using perspective. We read the story, "Snowmen at Christmas" and then painted pictures of 4 snowmen looking down on us. These will be displayed for our Winter concert in the gym.

We also talked more about growth mindset this week, specifically around perseverance. Not giving up when things are hard. We also wrote in our Gratefulness journals.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ms. Russell

November 15, 2019

Happy Friday All!

*Reminder next week is Parent/Teacher conferences! Please sign up!
(Thursday November 21st from 4:30pm-7:30pm and Friday November 22nd from 8am-1pm)

This week we worked on our social studies regions of Canada.

We are doing hand bells in music.

Grade 4's are continuing working on patterns in math. We are looking at patterns we can find in the hundred chart and skip counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's.

In language arts we have started questioning. Ms. Russell read us 2 different stories ("Where the Wild Things Are" and "Infinity and Me") whenever we had questions about the text we wrote them on the white board.

In guided writing we are working on writing a personal narrative. We have chosen to write about an experience that is important to us. Please ask me what I chose to write about.

In gym we are learning how to bump and set in volleyball. We have been practicing hand/eye coordination too! Today we played a game.

This week we did another guided meditation. We are getting really good at listening to our bodies and doing a full body scan.

Today the Grade 2/3's had their celebration of learning. We went to their classrooms and they presented their work on Peru and India to us. It was really neat to share information as we learned about Peru and India last year!

Have a great weekend!!

Ms. Russell

November 8, 2019

Good Afternoon,

*Reminder there is NO SCHOOL Monday.

Today we had our Remembrance Day assembly and it was good. The choir sang and children placed wreaths on the cross. - Addison

We have started our science unit on light and shadow. We are going to make an art project using Canadian animal silhouettes. - Teagan

In social studies we have been researching our regions. We are typing up our information on the computer about our region. In our groups we have a physical geographer, human geographer, and a regional geographer. - Hailey

Today we did physical education outside. - Dakota

Yesterday, we wrote letters to Veterans that Ms. Russell will send to them thanking them for their service. - Gia

We had buddies on Monday and Wednesday and we helped our little buddies pick out books in the library and we read to them. - Selina

We have Daily 4 where we have 4 different stations. One is guided reading with Ms. Russell, then there is a word work station, a listening to reading station on epic books, and a reading response station where we write about the connection we have made to our guided reading books. We do this station with Mrs. Otto our student teacher. - Jheanique

In math we are learning about patterns in t-charts and hundreds charts. Ask me about them and what patterns I have noticed! - Cadence

*Book orders are due next Friday November 15th.

Have a great long weekend,

Ms. Russell and Students

November 1, 2019

Happy Friday!

*Reminder there is a Remembrance Day assembly next Friday November, 8th.

This week we started "Patterns and Relationships" in math. What sorts of patterns can you find in nature?

We are researching our Canadian region in social studies. In our groups we are either the physical geographer, human geographer, or regional geographer. Please ask me what I am and what I am researching specifically.

In language arts we have started our "Daily 4" groups. Students are working on words, using technology to listen to books, working in guided reading groups, and responding to what they have read through in a reader's response. We have been working on connections that we are making to what we are reading.

In gym we have been learning how to play floor hockey. We are working on passing and working as a team.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Russell

October 25, 2019

Happy Friday!

*Reminder book orders are due by next Thursday October 31st. Please send cheques made payable to Scholastic Canada.

We had a busy week this week!

We started our literacy groupings this week and talked all about making connections to text. Students tried a variety of ways to make connections including: to pictures, feelings, characters, the story, their imagination, other texts and the world.

We had buddies with Kindergarten and read books with them.

We started research on our region of Canada to rebuild a colony in Social Studies.

In art we drew a Fall tree and scarecrow using ArtHub.

We finished our read aloud "The Littlest Bigfoot."

Our student teacher Mrs. Otto started on Wednesday! She is with us until December 13th.

We are learning floor hockey in gym.

In math the Grade 4's had a whole numbers test. Grade 5's are working on patterns.

Today we had a lockdown drill.

We also had our Connect Family Groupings today and we made animal masks that we felt represented us. We also read the story, "Sometimes I feel like a Fox."

Hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the Harvest Dance tonight!

Ms. Russell

October 11, 2019

Happy Friday!!

Here is this week's blog that students completed yesterday!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Turkey day!!

This morning we had our first session with the artist in residence. - Selina

We had art with Mrs. Rebecca we are making landscapes of mountains and prairie fields. - Bella


We did word work. We used our spelling words to make silly sentences. – Elle

We did math – rounding and estimating. – Cadence


In socials studies, we studied a zombie outbreak in Canada and we figured out what their weakness and strengths were. We are using this information to then research geographical areas within Canada to rebuild a society. – Jesse


In gym today we played running chaser and four corners. - Addison




Reminders: No school Monday

See you Tuesday!!

Ms. Russell

October 1, 2019

Hello Everyone,

*As the Grade 5's are away for the rest of the week at Kamp Kiwanis, we have decided to do blog today.

Today we had Mrs. Maynes come and talk with us about different emotions and what they look and feel like. She read us a story and we did a short meditation. - Selina

Today we had our writing groups. In mine we did a picture prompt. - Jheanique

Yesterday we got a new student in our class. Her name is Addison. - Molly

Tomorrow the grade 5's are going to Kamp Kiwanis. Ms. Russell is sending home a packing list to make sure you have everything!! Please remember to pack a lunch for tomorrow. - Cadence

in gym today we played four corners as our warm up and mystery museum and junk yard for our big game! - Elle

We had library today. We renewed our books or got new ones. I got the 2 biggest books in the library! - William OP

Have a great rest of the week!

Ms. Russell and Students

September 27, 2019

Hello Everyone,

On Tuesday we had the Terry Fox run and we got to run around the field. - Hailey

The grade 5's and 6's had a Kamp Kiwanis meeting. We talked about what you should bring and what you shouldn't and we made our nature names on wood cookies. - Jheanique

Today we had our first connect hour. We get into groups with 2-3 students from each grade and we get to connect, share, play games and connect for an hour. This let's us get to know everyone in our Haysboro family. - Selina

Yesterday, we had Safety Day and we had the Calgary Police Service and our school Nurse come in to talk about bike safety and mind safety. Our teachers did internet safety with us as well. For bike safety we learned the ABC's: A stands for Air, B stands for Brakes, and C stands for chain and crank, and D stands for drop test. - Stella

On Monday we had picture day. We took individual pictures and a class photo. - Molly

This week we talked about "Orange Shirt Day" and we made posters to put up around the school. On Monday September 30th we wear an orange shirt to remember survivors of residential schools. Every child matters! - Bella

On Wednesday we harvested the garden with our Kindergarten buddies. While half the kids harvested the other half played and then we switched. We harvested beans, green onions, cherry tomatoes, and lettuce. - William

We got cool bags from Safety Day! - Teagan

Ms. Russell read "The Littlest Bigfoot" and Alice met a bigfoot named Millie. She doesn't know though so they have become friends. - Jheanique

We did Fall sketching in the garden this week too!

Have a great weekend!

Stay Warm!

Grade 4/5zzzzzzzzz

P.S Remember to wear an orange shirt Monday!!

September 13, 2019

Happy Friday the 13th!

Just a reminder to register for Parent/Teacher Conferences next week!

If you haven't already done so please return the "Parent View Point" sheets as well as any field trip forms as we go to "Beakerhead" next week!

Thanks to the parents who organized the "Muffin Mixer" this morning it was lovely and a great way to start the day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ms. Russell

September 9, 2019

Welcome to our classroom blog!!

We will be updating this at least once a week!

Today in math we did our MIPI review. This was a math assessment to see what we know and what we need to work on. - Jheanique

In art we finished our visual journal title pages. If people were finished they drew in their sketch books. - Cadence

Today in music we learned how to use the "Makey Makeys" and the teacher showed us a couple of suggestions. - Cole

For writing we wrote about the story of our names! - Hailey

In gym we started with four corners and then we played running chaser. We ended with Fortress dodgeball. - Elle

We read the story "Locomotive" about a train and it talked about how a train works and describes the journey people take to get to new places. - Elle

Today we had our first morning announcements. Molly and I got to announce "Oh Canada" and call down the people who had birthdays to the office. - Stella

We practiced "read to someone" my partner was Jesse. - Gia

Today was a drizzly day. - Selina

Have a great afternoon!

Room 4