4C Weekly Update January 31st

Highlights:

• We have been working on learning long division. This is a difficult concept for many students as there are multiple steps. All grade four students have brought home a homework page that is to be completed for Monday. We have added long division videos below that explain the steps. 
• We have started a project on Alberta Peoples’ History. Students are working in groups to research information about various groups who lived in Alberta 100 years ago. They will be doing oral presentations, teaching their classmates about their topics. 
• We will be focusing on kindness in the month of February. We are reading the novel Wonder, which has created lots of great discussions around what it means to be kind as well as accepting others. 

Reminders:

• Please be working on your science project. Remember that your car is due on Friday, February 7th
• Continue to practice your basic facts in multiplication and division. We are working on the standard algorithm for long division in class.
• Videos to help with the LONG DIVISION homework:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGMf314LUc0
• https://youtu.be/0uZiqk_ZdcA
• Teacher’s Convention is on Thursday Feb 13th and Friday Feb 14th - No school for students
• Family Day is on Monday Feb 17th, school closed

The next Parent Council meeting is next week on Thursday, February 6th at 7 pm in our DLC.  We are holding the meeting a week early to accommodate the Teachers' Convention break.
 It’s our Grade 2 teaching teams' turn to present what your kids have been working on in their classrooms. There will also be the usual updates from our Admin team and other committees.
Babysitting will be available.

In case you missed this on our school website, you can review our January meeting minutes here:  http://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/simonsvalley/get-involved/school-council/pages/default.aspx

4C Weekly Update January 24th

Highlights:

• Mrs. Neumillers and Mr. Dewalds classes moved into the DLC today. The space has been transformed into a great looking classroom. 
• We had our first CAD today! Please ask your child what CAD they are in and what they did today.
• Mission Impossible has been set up in the gym for the last 2 weeks. Please ask your student what the best obstacle was, the hardest obstacle and the easiest obstacle.

Reminders:

• Please be working on your science project. Remember that your car is due on Friday February 7th
• Continue to practice your basic facts in multiplication and division. We will be learning the standard algorithm.
• Jan 31st in a PD day - No school for students
• Teacher’s Convention is on Thursday Feb 13th and Friday Feb 14th - No school for students
• Family Day is on Monday Feb 17th, school closed

A message from our Community Association:

Sandstone MacEwan Community Association has been collecting used skates for kids in the community who cannot afford to skate. If you are a family who would like to receive or who would like to donate skates, please contact info@sandstomemacewan.com.  As well, if you are interested, there is a family willing to do some sharpening and some intro lessons! What a great opportunity!

4C Weekly Update January 17th

Highlights:

• This week we had a great time experimenting with balloon rockets and pin wheels exploring various ways to power cars.
• In Social Studies, students have been learning about the fur trade and how Alberta was settled. Please ask your students what kind of activities they did this week.
• In Math we continue to work on division concepts.

Reminders:

• All students have received a homework assignment to build a car that is self propelled. Please look at the assignment and let us know if your family needs any supplies. The homemade vehicle is due Friday February 7th.
• Friday January 31st is a PD Day - No School for students
• Please continue to practice your basic multiplication and division facts

4C Weekly Update January 10th

Highlights:

• Welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful and restful break!
• We started our week off by choosing our ‘Word of the Year.’ We spent time discussing goals and resolutions and we all came up with a word (patience, organization, resiliency, ect.) we want to focus on going into the new year. 
• We are working through division topics in math. Please practice basic division and multiplication facts at home.
• Next week we will be sending a Science project to be completed at home. Using what they learned about simple machines, students will be designing a vehicle using recycled materials. You do not need to make a special shopping trip to the store to purchase materials. Look for the package being sent home next week. 

Reminders:

• An extreme cold warning is predicted for all of next week. Students need to ensure they are dressed appropriately for the weather. Please do not hesitate to personally reach out to your teachers if you require help in providing any of these warm items.
• Please send report card envelopes back to school so they can be reused for our June report cards.
• January 31st - Non-instructional day - No school

We are excited to bring back two programs, Simons Valley Reads and Simons Valley Mathletes. Both programs were a HUGE success because of volunteers such as you! We are hoping to run an 8 week program of both SVS Reads and Mathletes starting January 28th for 1 hour a week.

Here is a brief description of the two programs (little different from last year) but just as impactful!

SVS Reads
To support our Grade One/ Two/ Three students, we are looking for parent volunteers who would be able to come once a week for an hour and work with two students. Volunteers would work with a student for 20 minutes each practicing high frequency words, sentence work and of course, reading a short story. All of the materials will be provided for you!

SVS Mathletes
The second program, Simons Valley Mathletes is a program designed to help our grade 3 to 6 students develop proficiency in mathematics. The focus this year will be to strengthen basic math facts. With this program, as SVS Reads, we are looking for parent volunteers who would be able to come once a week for an hour and work with two students. Volunteers would work with each student for 20 minutes making numbers, practicing basic math facts and then playing a math game. All of the materials will be provided for you.

If you are interested in volunteering with either program, please contact us at ggdavidoff@cbe.ab.ca or bghordern@cbe.ab.ca before January 14th.