November 16, 2018

Today the students worked on their art piece from Cattail Pond.  Students are currently working on recording their reading and uploading it to IRIS so they can share their reading with you during conferences.  Reminder that booking begins Saturday morning.  Today the students finished sorting their Words Their Way cards and glued them into their journals.  Once the students have completed their activities with their words they will do a quick assessment and either receive new words or work with those same words for one more week.

When you place poinsettia orders and send in cheques, please make them payable to Eric Harvie School - this was missed on the original order form so we are attaching an updated order form (this is the only change). Thank you!

Hello. We are students from the Joy Pod. We are working on helping the Mustard Seed by collecting some items that they need. The Mustard Seed helps people who don’t have a home. The Mustard Seed gives them a home and food. 

The Mustard Seed is collecting:

• Nail clippers
• Travel-size shampoo
• Travel-size conditioner
• Travel-size lotion
• Disposable razors
• Transit tickets
• Deodorant
• Men’s and Women’s briefs (NEW)
• Toothbrushes
• Q-tips
• Travel-size body wash
• Travel-size shaving gel
• Towels
• Socks
• Earplugs
• Lip balm
• Combs and brushes
• Travel-size tissue
• Blankets/sleeping bags

Could you please work with us and help us by bringing some necessities?

We will come on Wednesday, November 21 and Friday, November 30 to collect the items. Thank you.

-JOY POD-

November 15, 2018

Today the Kindness Pod began Words Their Way.  This is a hands-on, developmentally driven approach to word study which has students discover spelling patterns, teaches phonics, vocabulary and spelling skills.  Today the students received their words that are developmentally appropriate for them and sorted the words by certain attributes such as first letter sound, vowel sound, blends, etc.  The students will do activities and games with their words before being assessed and receiving a new set of words.

The students have a Christmas wreath/poinsettia fundraising form that went home.  Please inform your teacher if your child did not get one.

November 14, 2018

Today the students started working through math groups.  Each group teaches a new way to represent numbers.  Grade 1 students are representing numbers up to 20, and beyond if they are ready (this is not an expectation for Grade 1).  Grade 2 students represent numbers to 100, and beyond if they are ready (this is not an expectation for grade 2)

The Kindness Pod was looking at the sorting/classifying of the sticky notes they created regarding "Who/What is in the coulee" . Many questions arose from our conversations and activities.  The students are wondering, "are humans animals?".  What do you think?  Discuss and share your conversations tomorrow.  The second question we are asking you to consider is, "Do you and your family use the Twelve Mile Coulee?  How often and what do you do there?"

Today during our literacy time, many students started learning some very specific reading comprehension strategies.  We started looking at "Lips the Fish" and "Eagle Eye".  Lips the Fish is where students look at the first letter of the word and have their lips form that sound.  Eagle  Eye is where they use the pictures from the book they are reading to help them figure out possibilities for that word and think of what would make sense.

November 12, 2018

Tomorrow the plebiscite will be held at our school.  As it will be difficult to move around and the gym will be used, we will be going for a walk to the storm water pond near the school.  Please ensure students are dressed for the weather.

Today the students used a photo from our coulee walk last week to explore measurement.  How many Justin's tall is the tree?  They estimated and then worked to find an answer to the questions.  Some students chose non-standard units such as blocks and hair pins, and others wanted to use standard units such as centimeters. 

The students were asked, "Who or What is in the Coulee?"  They then sorted all of their pictures/words into categories.  They chose, "Water", "Plants", "Animals", and "other". 

November 9, 2018

Thank you to the Hope Pod, for the beautifully done Remembrance Day Assembly.  We have been reflecting on why we acknowledge Remembrance Day each year and the importance of our veterans in helping us achieve a peaceful society.

If you have food donations for the Veteran's Food Drive, please send it in by Monday.

Snowy Owl and Whispering Willows had a visit from Hope.

They also found efficient ways to count the food donations.  

November 8, 2018

Tomorrow is our Remembrance Day assembly.  Only the families of the Hope Pod, who are hosting the assembly have been invited to attend.
If you are a member of Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, etc., you are invited to wear your uniform.



Why Visit the Coulee...a Kindness Kid's perspective

We need exercise. 

We need to breath fresh air. 

To enjoy the plants and nature. 

We saw things that didn’t belong. 

To do mindfulness in nature

We sat in our "no one but me" spot.  We were practicing mindfulness and listening for the drum. 

To explore new things. 

The small creek 

To smell the plants, sage.  It’s still on my fingers. 

I sat on a log above the creek and I felt calm.

We saw a giant tree and asked questions about it.  How tall it is?  How many branches it has.  How many "yous" tall it is. 

We saw a couple of nests.  I think it was a magpie nest. 

We did a no one but you spot and found math. 

We saw wild rose hips. 

I learned that if there is a lot of snow somewhere beside it or near it is really muddy. 

I learned that if there is a lot of bridges it is safe. 

Sticks and trees are safe to hold and grab. 

I learned that there are so many branches on the trees.

We had a hard time estimating how many branches it might be.

I learned that there is wood stairs in the forest. 

It is teaching me to respect nature and we shouldn’t break it or smash anything together. 

Reminder that tomorrow morning we will be in the coulee.  Please make sure you dress warm!  

Today the students practiced 360 degree journaling where they looked in all directions to write about what they noticed.  We will use this journaling/writing strategy after visiting the coulee tomorrow. 

The students have been working on finding the most "efficient" counting strategies when counting large quantities.  This includes grouping and finding patterns in counting. 

We would like to welcome our student teachers to the Kindness Pod.  We have 3 student teachers from the University of Calgary who have recently joined us:

Miss Christine Troskie

Miss Christina Leask

Mr. Jared Hunt