Weekly Update - September 11

Second week down and we are so excited for the rest of the school year! We were able to go on a few community walks and get outside despite the rain. 

Highlights of the Week:

• ELAL –  
• We learned about the different types of sentences and parts of speech this week. Students also worked on writing paragraphs about “What kind of person am I?” in relation to our novel Restart where the main character questions who he is after suffering amnesia. They also started a character sketch for Chase which we will add to throughout our novel. We spent time brainstorming good questions to interview people to get to know them. Students were then paired with a classmate and had to interview them and practice taking down answers. They will write this into a paragraph next week.  
• Math – We continued our work with MathUp and worked with protractors and coordinate grids. Students also learned and played more math games – Multiplication Squares and Farkle. 
• Science – We started science this week by learning about the ABCDE’s of scientific drawings through an experiment. Students observed a banana over the course of the week to practice making observations and including details in their work.  
• Journalling – we've been exploring a variety of journalling techniques to start our year (Zoom In / Zoom Out, Curiosity Chains, Mindfulness Maps). Students were able to journal elements of nature, including areas of the school yard and down by the river. 

How you can support at home: 

• Homework – we will start homework in the coming weeks. 
• Math – work on place value including decimals.  
• ELAL – encourage your child to read at home for enjoyment.  

Important Dates:  

• Corn Roast / Open House – Sept 17 
• Terry Fox Run – Sept 17 
• Apple Deliveries – Sept 22 
• School Council – Sept 24 
• Open Minds Stampede School – Sept 28-Oct 2 & Oct 21 
• TRS Orange Shirt Day – Sept 29 
• National Truth and Reconciliation Day (No School) – Sept 30 
• Open Minds Stampede School – Oct 5-9 

Reminders: 

• Open House/ Corn Roast – Thursday 4:00-5:30 Open House/5:30-7:30 Corn Roast 
• School Swag – the school apparel store is now open online. Orders due by September 27th. Use the following link.  
• Patrols – training will start next week. The schedule for the next two weeks was sent home today. If your child’s availability forms were not sent back, please send them back as soon as possible so we can add them into the schedule.  
• School Forms – please make sure you fill out all forms sent out by the office. If you need help with printing, please let us know so we can send paper copies home. 
• Stampede School – please look for forms early next week! If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up at the following link - volunteersignup.org/3B8FD  
• Indoor/Outdoor shoes – please remind your child to bring their indoor and outdoor shoes. It helps keep our school clean. We also ask that your child wear appropriate shoes to participate in physical education safely.  

Learning Intention of the Week – Cardboard Self-Portraits 

Students spent the last two weeks working on self-portraits. They have worked through multiple steps to create their final product. We started by taking photos of each student and printing them so students could practice outlining or tracing the major components of their face. From there, students cut each major element out and used scrap paper to layer the different elements of their face using multiple colours. Once they finished their paper version, students used layers of cardboard to recreate their final portrait. 

Weekly Update - September 4

What a wonderful week back at TRS! It’s been so lovely getting to know our new students and settle into the classroom. We’ve had a full week of activities and learning to support building community and learning routines.  

Highlights of the Week: 

• ELAL – We did various warm-up writing activities this week to get our brains back in school mode. Students wrote a letter to their future selves that they will open in June. We read a couple books to support writing around outrageous reasons for being late to school and teachers having secret lives. Students were able to come up with their own fun and interesting ideas about both these topics. We also started our read aloud; Restart and students were able to brainstorm and come up with some ideas around what “restart” really means. Students also filled out a questionnaire about “what they wish their teacher knew” to help familiarize us to each new face in our classrooms. 
• Math – We’ve been loosening up our brain muscles this week by following different activities from MathUp’s “First 20 Days of School”. Students have been exposed to manipulatives, open-ended thinking, and a variety of math skills in approachable ways. These activities are low stakes and engaging. We also learned how to play Oh No, 99! 
• Art – students have done many tasks with art components this week. They created desk name tags, emoji dominoes, and started a self-portrait. 

How you can support at home: 

• Homework – we will start homework in the coming weeks. 
• Math – work on basic facts with your child. Play simple math games using cards and dice that involve adding, subtracting, and multiplication. 
• ELAL – encourage your child to read at home for enjoyment.  

Important Dates:  

• Labour Day (No School) – Sept 7  
• Apple Orders Due – Sept 9 
• Corn Roast / Open House – Sept 17 
• Terry Fox Run – Sept 17 
• Apple Deliveries – Sept 22 
• School Council – Sept 24
• TRS Orange Shirt Day – Sept 29 
• National Truth and Reconciliation Day (No School) – Sept 30 
• Open Minds Stampede School – Oct 5-9 

Reminders: 

• Patrol Forms – please send your child’s permission slip and availability form back as soon as possible so we can start creating the schedule for training! 
• School Forms – please make sure you fill out all forms sent out by the office today. If you need help with printing, please let us know so we can send paper copies home. 
• Volunteers – if you are interested in volunteering this year, please review the new requirements sent out earlier this week through messenger. We will be looking for volunteers for various field trips and events throughout the year.  
• We will need volunteers for our upcoming field trip to Stampede School.
• Indoor/Outdoor shoes – please remind your child to bring their indoor and outdoor shoes. It helps keep our school clean. We also ask that your child wear appropriate shoes to participate in physical education safely.  

Learning Intention of the Week – Emoji Dominoes 

Students have done many get to know you activities this week, including creating their own dominoes. They were asked to pick 10 emojis that represent themselves, including things to do with their personality, likes, family and friends, hobbies, sports, etc. and turn them into dominoes. Each student created 5 dominoes to contribute to a class set. Once compete, they will be able to make connections through the game of dominoes as a class.