Calgary Zoo

Science Learning Intentions:

• I understand that animals can be classified as carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores based on what they eat
• I can identify different animals that are carnivores and I understand that they eat only animals
• I can identify different animals that are herbivores and I understand that they eat only plants
• I can identify different animals that are omnivores and I understand that they eat both animals and plants

On Wednesday last week, students in Room 12 had a wonderful field-trip to the Calgary Zoo. Students were challenged to complete a scavenger hunt while there and had to identify different types of herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. In addition to this, students learned about the important role the Calgary Zoo plays in protecting the world’s biodiversity. Did you know that the zoo is home to over 4000 animals and across more than 100 species? Students also had several incredible opportunities to interact with staff at the zoo to learn about the relationships between people and wildlife, and how we can steward the natural world.

Some of our favorite moments included watching the active red pandas run about, seeing an amur tiger receive horse meat as a treat after its training, learning that flamingos have pink feathers because they eat so much shrimp, seeing the komodo dragon, viewing the big, fluffy baby penguin and of course watching the two baby gorillas play, swing and interact with their mother, auntie and grandmother.

Some students in Room 12 are writing letters to the Calgary Zoo that we hope to post in the mail sometime next week. Students are enjoying sharing their knowledge with the zoo staff and even asking them a few more questions we don’t know the answers to yet!

Loose Parts

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” - Confucius

What Are Loose Parts?

Loose parts are objects and materials that children can move, manipulate, control and change while they play. Children can carry, combine, redesign, line up, take apart, and put loose parts back together in almost endless ways. The materials come with no specific set of directions, and they can be used alone or combined with other materials. Children can turn them into whatever they desire: a stone can become a character in a story; an acorn can become an ingredient in an imaginary soup. These objects invite conversations and interactions, and they encourage collaboration and cooperation (expert taken from the book, Loose Parts Inspiring Play in Young Children).

Learning Intentions:

• I understand that oral tradition is listening and speaking to pass information from one person to another.
• I can compose and share a short oral story.
• I know that dialogue is an exchange of ideas, information, or opinions.
• I understand that effective dialogue includes: listening, staying on topic, asking questions and contributing

This week, students in Room 12 used ‘Loose Parts’ to help them share their one most joyful moment from their Fall Break. Students were very engaged in this activity and it was wonderful to see students orally sharing their most joyful moments with one another. Students were prompted to use their loose parts to assist them in expanding and adding details to their stories to help keep their audience interested and engaged. Please read some of the following student responses that are shared below.

My joyful moment was…

Garrett - My joyful was spending time with my friend Beau and going to the Trico swimming pool together and then heading to McDonald’s for dinner. This brought me a lot of joy because I like spending time with my good friend Beau.

Addison - My joyful moment was going to my cabin in Invermere. I wanted to go swimming at the outdoor pool but it was frozen, so instead I went skating on it because the water was frozen. My grandma came skating with me. This was really special because I love spending time with my family and I felt really proud of myself because I kept getting back up on the ice even when I fell down.

Hunter - My favourite moment from the Fall Break was hanging out with my family and going bowling. Bowling was great because I got to see my parents trying to defeat my bowling record. I had the highest score and I was happy about being the bowling champion!

Indy - Having a playdate with Charleigh was my highlight this Fall Break because it was the first we had ever played together outside of school. The best part of our time together was jumping on the king size bed in my basement and eating Halloween candy on it.

Colton - I spent the evenings of my Fall Break watching the movie series,Thor. This brought me joy because I liked staying up late all cuddled up in my sleeping bag while sipping on raspberry tea.

Benjamin - My joyful moment was going to Karsten’s birthday party. This brought me joy because it was so much fun going to a hockey target practice birthday party. It was great being able to shoot some pucks into the nets using a mini stick.

Piper K. - My joyful moment was going swimming at Trico pool with my older sister. This was very special because it was the first time I have ever been swimming with her! We went on a floatie together and then my sister, Dylan, fell off before me.

Max - My joyful moment was going to the Community Center to have a hockey practice. I was the goalie for our hockey team and during the practice I got a shutout. I probably stopped at least 30 pucks from going in the net! This was a pretty epic hockey practice for me.

Brodie - My joyful moment was going to Banff with my cousins. We had a snowball fight (because there was actually snow on the ground) and it was so much fun!

Skye - Over Fall Break, I had a playdate with Harper. We went to the park andplayed. This was really enjoyable because I love to be outside and it is even better when I am outside with my friends. It was so warm outside and I didn't even have to wear my winter jacket!

Lana - My joyful moment was laying on my bed and playing Roblox with my younger sister. I loved this because I am a pro at the game and I like going ahead of her and hiding my character so that she cannot find me.

A few snapshots...

Important Dates

• November 13th and 14th Fall Break – no school for students
• November 15th Students and staff return from fall break
• November 21st Fun Lunch
• November 22nd Grade 3 Field Trip to the Calgary Zoo (more to come)
• November 23rd Grades 1-6 Parent Teacher Conferences (4:00 – 7:00 p.m.)
• November 23rd Scholastic Book Fair
• November 24th K-6 Parent Teacher Conferences (8:00 – 1:00 p.m.)
• November 24th Scholastic Book Fair

Warm Feet, Warm Heart Campaign
Leading up to the holiday season, we welcome you to join us in supporting the Calgary Drop-In Centre’s ‘Warm Feet, Warm Hearts’ program. With Parkland Cares and Bonavista Cares, we want to begin collecting socks, which students will later fill with various toiletries. The filled socks will be delivered to the Calgary Drop-In Centre, where they will be given to their clients, thereby helping to provide them with the little necessities that we all need daily.

From November 15th to 30th, we are looking for help in collecting:

• New pairs of warm socks
• Gloves, mitts, and hats
• Packaged bars of soap
• Lip balm
• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Floss
• Travel-sized shampoo
• Travel-sized conditioner
• Travel-sized body wash
• Travel-sized lotion/hand cream
• Coffee/food vouchers
• Gift cards
• Chocolate/candies

In early December, students will be invited to fill the socks with the collected toiletries. These socks will then be brought to the Calgary Drop-In Centre, where they will be handed out to clients. We believe this is a wonderful way to give back during the holiday season and allow our Andrew Sibbald students the opportunity to highlight their empathy, kindness, and wellness outside of our building.

Remembrance Day
This past week, students were actively engaged in reading, writing, math and art invitations to further construct knowledge about Remembrance Day. Please be sure to ask your child about the beautiful and meaningful Remembrance Day Assembly that they hosted alongside the Grade 6 team.

Learning Opportunities

• Students used ‘Loose Parts’ to build their story of peace. Students then used their MakerSpace reflection exit slips to write and reflect on what their story of peace is and why.
• Students listened to the story, ‘Finding Winnie’ and learned about the connection Canada has to the famous bear known around the world as ‘Winnie the Pooh’. Please ask your child what the connection is between our country and Winnie the Pooh.
• Students constructed gorgeous oil pastel drawings of poppies. We used some of the poppies painted by the famous artist Georgia O’Keeffe for inspiration!
• Students used the book, ‘A Little Peace’ to help them generate ideas about what it might look like to spread a little bit of peace in our school community. Some of our Grade 3 students shared this reflections orally at our assembly.

A Few Snapshots...

What a wonderful week we had in Grade 3 that was filled with learning and of course lots of excitement. Please take a moment to review some important dates in the weeks ahead.

Important Dates:

• November 8th Photo Retake Day
• November 8th Last day of classes for students before fall break
• November 8th Remembrance Day Assembly 10:45 a.m. (Gr. 3 and 6 students will be hosting it & parents are invited to join us)
• November 9th Professional Learning Day for Staff
• November 15th Students and staff return from fall break

Halloween:
Wow! Our costumes were spooktacular! Students enjoyed a school-wide parade and spending time with their Grade 1 buddies white participating in three different STEM challenges. Students were provided with the opportunity to build bone bridges, pumpkins out of Stem and Connector pieces and use clues to get out of a spooky Escape Room! What fun!

Science:

This week, students continued to engage in different learning tasks connected to our unit on Living Systems. During the month of November, students will continue to analyze and describe how plants and animals interact with each other and within environments. Please ask your child about the different experiments we have been conducting in the classroom and what ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ means. Our first Two-Eyed Seeing activity had students looking at cattails from two perspectives.

Learning Outcomes:

Plants and animals use their senses to respond to sensory stimuli, including:

• water
• food
• temperature
• light

This week, students performed an experiment with celery to see how it would respond to water and last week we investigated how sunflowers react to light and how it impacts their growth. Please have a look at some student examples in the pictures posted below.

Learning Intention:

I can explain how plants use senses to respond to water, food and light.