Fantastic Fours

September 30th is a day for Truth and Reconciliation, where we can learn and reflect upon the history of residential schools in our country. This important day is strongly connected to our social studies curriculum. This week we focused on the learning outcome; recognize how stories of people and events provide multiple perspectives on past events. We used a variety of picture books as a springboard for rich conversations about Alberta's Indigenous people and their experiences. In recognition of the day, we gathered outside as a school and created a whole school art piece.

This week we began our work with our school book, Finding Muchness. It is a wonderful book that encourages us to live bravely, care deeply and share freely. We used the book as a springboard for writing. The students were encouraged to write about their goals and dreams for this year and beyond. This work will be connected to an art project. The outcomes we focused on this week were: Share personal responses to explore and develop understanding of print texts and connect the thoughts and actions of characters to personal and classroom experiences.

This week, we began our work in Social Studies by introducing Alberta's fossil heritage. The students worked together to make observations and inferences about a variety of fossils. This activity was our starting point for the outcomes; students will appreciate how Alberta's fossil heritage contributes to the provinces unique character and how did archeologists and paleontologists discover the presence of dinosaurs in Alberta?

We have had a fantastic first couple weeks of learning in our grade four classrooms. Our focus has been on getting to know one another and building a positive classroom community. This connects to the our new Wellness Curriculum. Our guiding question has been: How can we develop healthy relationships that are mutually supportive? Please explore the pictures below and invite your child to share a little about the activities and their learning.