A message from Mr. Sadowsky

Monday is Orange Shirt day - check out the website for more information orangeshirtday.org

n 1997, Walk our Children to School Day was launched in Chicago by the Partnership for a Walkable America. Canada held its first national Walk a Child to School Day in 1998 with participants from five provinces. In 2000 the first International Walk to School day officially began and today schools from all thirteen provinces and territories join millions of students all over the world as they walk to school.

Participating countries include Canada, United States, Mexico, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Italy, India, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.

To learn more about the international event please visit www.iwalktoschool.org.

Join the movement and millions of walkers around the world as we walk to school during t.his week! 

As a school we will keep track each day that week how many students walked or rode their bikes to school. I will post our results on this blog. Lets see how active Beddington Heights can be!

The dates are October 1st - 5th 

Greg Sadowsky

Odd vs. Even

We have been working to create a rule for numbers that are odd and numbers that are even.  We have come to the conclusion that when everyone has a partner the number is even when someone is left out then we have an odd man out.  An odd number.  We have been using spinners and dice to create numbers and then sorting them onto our odd and even mats.  Such fun.  Especially since it involved mODDsters!

Practise, practise, practise.
We have been using the SLA website to practice for the BIG test next week.  We even read the book.  Headphones are required on Monday

Pillars of Care assembly tomorrow at 8:15

5 Finger Rule

Last week we talked about the 5 Finger Rule for finding 'just right' books and then we practiced.  We read, "Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians" where Goldie Socks used the five finger rule to see if her book was too hard.  She started with a closed fist.  When she came to a word she couldn't read, she put up one finger.  All five fingers went up while reading the first page of the book, so she knew that book was too hard for her.  She tried another book and did not have any fingers up so she knew that it was too easy.  Then she found a book that was just right. She had three fingers up for words she did not know. We are looking for books to read that are just right for us.  Please help your child to use the five finger rule at home when they are reading.  Remember that we are reading for 20 minutes by ourselves every night and 10 minutes to someone else.

We went to the Learning Commons today to get ourselves new reading material and practice the five finger rule.  Your child should have new books to read with you tonight.  Wednesday's will always be our book exchange day.

Headphones required Monday for SLA testing

Who was Terry Fox?

Due to the weather forecast for this  week we have changed our annual Terry Fox Run to Tuesday September 25th. We will start with a quick assembly in the gym at 1:30pm.  Everyone is welcome.  We are collecting Toonies for Terry from Monday September 24th to Friday September 28th.  You can also go to:  http://www.terryfox.ca/BeddingtonHeights  to donate online.  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather and wearing appropriate shoes to run (running shoes).  Thank you for your support.

"Who was Terry Fox?"
I asked this question this morning and got some pretty interesting answers.  We created a chart together where we could brainstorm all the things we knew about Terry Fox and then students made their own in their reading journal.  We had a look at a few short videos that highlighted his struggle with cancer and his dream to raise money so other children would have hope when faced with cancer.  He was a remarkable Canadian and we will celebrate his life and legacy tomorrow with our school run.  Please consider donating a toonie for Terry.

We started practicing for the SLA test this afternoon.  We practiced the reading comprehension together talking about how to choose the best answer and how to help ourselves when stuck.  You can practice at home at SLA Government of Alberta - https://public.education.alberta.ca/assessment/

ALL students will need headphones at school ASAP.

Terry Fox run tomorrow @ 1:30 pm

Pillars of Care Assembly Friday @ 8:15 am

See you all tonight!

See you all tonight.  Remember there will be pizza available for purchase in the gym so you don't have to make dinner😀

Reminders

Couple of reminders for housekeeping details:

• Student Information package should have been returned
• Digital Citizen form has been returned
• Meet the Teacher appointment has been made for Thursday September 20 online following the instructions in you student's backpack 
• Pizza will be sold in the gym during Meet the Teacher
• September Scholastic book order has been returned
• Friday September 21 is a Professional Development Day and teachers will be taking First Aid

Number Detectives

We start each day in our classroom with Number Detectives.  We are practicing our number sense and learning to think flexibly about numbers.  The questions remain the same from day to day, just the number changes, so that everyone is able to become a master.  Currently these 10 questions are taking us 20 to 30 minutes to complete.  Time Christmas rolls around we will be down to 10 minutes.  I will start sending Number Detectives home if your child is unable to finish in the allotted time frame.  If you find this happening on a regular basis you need to ask your student what they are doing during the work time.
We had a great writing time this morning!  Everyone was an author and wrote their own poem in the style of Jessica Crum.  Ask your student about their writing!

Meet the Teacher Thursday Sept. 20 please book online following the instructions sent home with your student.

Scholastic Book orders due tomorrow.

No school Friday September 21 teachers are compelling First Aid training.

Small Saul

We are currently working on our hallway display for you to see on Thursday evening when you come for 'Meet The Teacher'.  We have been tasked with creating a display around the Beddington Heights Pillars of Care.  We have been reading books about people who make a difference in the lives of others.  Today we read 'Small Saul' by Ashley Spires.  Saul is a little pirate who isn't like most pirates and tries to make the pirate ship a better place to be a pirate.  We are all thinking about the question 'How can you make a difference?'  Check out our hallway Thursday night when you come for Meet The Teacher.

We used the poem 'Friends' to answer the question "When do we use capital letters in writing?"  We brainstormed together and came up with; at the start of a sentence, using I, proper nouns, and titles of books.  All of which are grade expectations so we used these rules to create an anchor chart for future reference.   Everyone has a copy of the poem 'Friends' and we looked at it for patterns and capital letters.

Meet the Teacher Thursday September 20 - please sign up on the school website.  Instructions to complete this were sent home today.

Book orders due Wednesday  September 19

No school Friday September 21 teachers will be completing First Aid certification.

Raising Readers

Raising readers with the help of Scholastic book orders.
Scholastic book orders went home today for the first time. We oohed and awed over the books being offered this month.  We talked about what we wanted and we talked about why we read books😍  Scholastic is a great way to put books into the hands of children.  To become better readers we must read.  When you purchase books from Scholastic for your child they provide books for our classroom.  A literate classroom needs to have over 1000 titles in it so your help is appreciated.  Book orders are due Wednesday September 19 and can be paid for in cash, cheque and on-line at Scholastic Canada.

Read 20/10
Meet the Teacher Thursday September 20 - please sign up online.

September

For me, September is all about building relationships, establishing trust, creating a working environment and getting to know your children as readers and learners.  September is for teaching children what it is that good readers do, setting tone and establishing expectations, procedures and engaging and motivating children to want to learn to read.  Learning to read is our business!  With well-written stories that have interesting plots, playing with words and exploring a variety of fiction, non-fiction and poetry and rhymes.  I will be helping your child to access what they already know and make connections to something new.
We have been working on why people read and what this classroom looks like and sounds like when we are reading.  We wrote it all up in a nice T chart and then practiced.  For our first couple tries went really well.

Ask your child what Read 20/10 means to them and why it is important.

Meet the Teacher Night September 20

Welcome Back to School

Welcome back to school!

My name is Laurie Anderson and I have been teaching at Beddington Heights for many years.  I am looking forward to getting to know your child this year.   We will spend a great deal of our time creating our classroom culture.  We started with getting to know each other through stories and activities.  I am trying to build a culture of community where children hold each other accountable for behaviors, learning, respect and kindness.  Many team challenges have occurred that lead to conversations about being a leader not a boss.  We are all excited about the benefits of team work. 

Student information paper went home for updating and should be back at school.  It is important that you and your child have had a look at our student handbook posted on the school website. Please follow the steps from the Culture and Environment tab before signing the Student Handbook page.

Please ensure that your child's name is on everything that comes to school.  Lunch kits, shoes, water bottles and hoodies accumulate in the coatroom and appear to never belong to anyone.  
Feel free to contact me at anytime.  Email is best (and can be found on the school website) but a phone call works too!  I am looking forward to meeting you September 20 at the open house.