Thats all Folks

It has been a great year!  We have all learnt new things and taken risks in order to grow.  When I look back on all that your kids have accomplished this year, I am so proud of them!  There has been sweat and yes, there have been tears, but we have all pulled through stronger and ready to take on new challenges next year.  

Sadly, I won't be here next year to see their first days in grade 2 and 3, but I know they will all shine! Your kids are so precious, they made even the hardest days all worth it!  Thank you room 12 and Stevenson for making this year amazing!  And thank you to you, the families, for raising the wonderful children I have had the pleasure to teach!  I will miss you all, but with any luck I will see you again soon.

Here are some pictures from our year:

Thats all Folks!  Have a great summer!

Finishing Up

We have finally finished our Social Studies research projects and they look wonderful!  Our class had been busy all last week gathering information about the different provinces and territories that the students chose to learn more about.  This week we began putting all of our information on a poster to show the school.

Everyone worked very hard on their research and it shows in their posters!


We have all learnt new things about the different places in Canada, but most people still want to visit Ontario!












We also worked on a new art project this week.  We made bubbles using chalk pastels.  They are all so colourful and beautiful!  They represent the students in our class, just like bubbles we will be floating on to grade two and three.

Calvary Place Concert: Monday 10:30-11:30 a.m., in the gym.  

On Monday, June 22 Stevenson students will be performing for the Calvary Place Carehome.  All are welcome!  

Walking Wolf Performance

This week Walking Wolf, an indigenous artist, came to our school.  He taught us about indigenous singing and hop dancing.  He was very interesting, and he even gave the students a chance to be part of the performance.  

Research in the Classroom

We have been learning about Canada in Social Studies class.  So, this week, we have started doing some research on the different provinces and territories.  We will be using our findings to create posters to advertise the fun and interesting attractions in each province or territory.  It should be interesting to see what we discover.

So far, most of the class is interested in visiting Ontario to see Canada's Wonderland, Marineland, the Prime Minister, and Niagara Falls.  I wonder if any minds will be changed once our posters go up.


Family BBQ

We also had our annual family BBQ this week.  Lots of us turned up to have a hot dog and chips in support of the school.  It was a lot of fun and the face painting was awesome!

Healthy Eating

We have been discussing healthy living habits in our classroom this week.  We learnt about the importance of getting enough sleep, and eating healthy foods.  

Some of us were wondering about the effects of drinking soda on a regular basis, so we did an experiment.  We placed an egg shell into some coke and left it for a couple of days.  The results are scary!  We compared the egg shell to our teeth, and discussed the importance of coke only being a once in a while food.

This week has also been a big week for assessment!  We have been working on year end math assessments all week.  In Writing, we finished a writing assessment that shows all the growth we have made this year.  We are still working on reading assessments, but we will be finishing those up next week.

Celebration of the Arts

This week, we celebrated the arts with our annual Arts Show.  We put up the visual art we were most proud of for all the school to see, and we preformed to show off our talents.  Our class preformed a dance and sang Wavin' Flag.

We are very lucky to have so much talent in our school, and the children love to show off all their hard work! We have to give a shout out to Mrs. Remple, our music teacher, without her this night would not be possible!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to the Arts Show, you helped make it a success!

The Zoo

To begin our week, we took a trip to the zoo.  The weather wasn't great, but the animals were all out and about! We saw animals from each of the animal classifications we have been learning about in science.  The wolves even came up to us and tried to smell us through the glass.  It was quite an experience!

We spent the morning touring around the zoo, and in the afternoon we participated in a lesson on animal life cycles.  We got to see and touch all sort of interesting things, some of our favourites were the alligator skin, and the ostrich egg.  It was a fun day, but by the end we were exhausted.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped make our trip a success!

We have been learning about graphing all year in math.  This week we had the chance to make our own graphs.  First, we worked with a partner to come up with a question.  Then, we got to survey the people in our classroom.  Next week, we will be putting all of our information into a graph.

Don't forget, Wednesday, May 20th, will be our Celebration of the Arts in the gym!

Spring is in the Air

This week we spent time working on a spring art project.  Over the course of a week, we used multiple art techniques and steps to create beautiful watercolour paintings.

First, we created the background using a wet on wet watercolour technique.  To do this we sprayed our papers with water before using watercolour paint on them.  This allows the watercolours to blend into each other in interesting ways.

Next, we painted the middle ground.  Our middle ground was a tree in the spring time before the buds begin to emerge.  To do this we had to learn how to use the paintbrush in different ways to get thick and thin lines.

The last step in our art project was to create the foreground.  For the foreground, we used tissue paper to make small flowers emerging from the trees.  We used tissue paper to make the flowers pop off the paper, and to give them texture.

Our art turned out beautifully and will be displayed in the display case beside the office for May.  Drop by to see it anytime!

Also this week was our Music celebration.  We all gathered in back of the school Friday morning to sing Wavin' Flag.  We were organized into the shape of a Canadian flag and video taped from the roof.

Our Flags looked great waving in the wind.
The full video will be posted on Mrs. Rempel's Music Blog this Monday.

We have also been learning about animal classifications and life cycles this week.  On Friday, we watched a video describing the life cycle of the frog.  Then we had the opportunity to see real tadpoles from a swamp.  It was very interesting to not only see the tadpoles, who were starting to grow their legs, but also all the other creatures in the water.  We found dragonfly nymphs, mosquito larva, bloodworms, snails, and lots of others we could not identify.

Friday, May 1

Researching Animal Names

This week we began talking about animals and their offspring.  We discussed what we knew about the different names animals can have based on their gender or age.  Then, using the iPads, we did a scavenger hunt to find the different names of certain animals.  We had to work together as a table group, and with a partner to find the answers.  We discovered that a lot of animals have similar names, some of them are very interesting.                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

We also had a visit from the Grade 5 Divisional Choir this week.  They sang beautifully, and we were very grateful for the opportunity to hear them.   

How Wind Works

This week, in Science, we have been learning about wind.  We went outside on Tuesday to learn about what wind is, and how you can tell when it is windy.  We looked at the trees, puddles, a plastic bag, and the flag to see how windy it was that day.  It was interesting to see how many different ways we could tell if it was windy.

After learning about the wind we made flags.  Our flags are decorated with things that are important to us.  We used our initials, flags from our culture, our favourite animals, and hobbies to show what is important to each of us.  They turned out really well!  We will be using them in choir when we sing Wavin' Flag.

Please take a few minutes to complete an online survey for our school at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/eysurvey2015

Have a great weekend!

Artist In The School

This week we had our first visit from Mrs. M.  She is the artist that is working with the classrooms this month.  Mrs. M is teaching us to create clay works of art.

Mrs. M taught us how to make different shapes with clay.  Then she showed us how to scratch the clay in order to get pieces to attach to each other.  To test out the new techniques we have been learning, we made caribou.

It was a lot of fun to build things with clay.  We are looking forward to her next couple of visits.

Our caribou creations turned out really well!

Spirit Week

This week was filled with school spirit, everyday our classroom dressed up for the different theme days.  Classroom choice, Halloween theme day, was a great success!

All week we had our snacks and entertainment provided by Legendary Flavours and Fired Up With Fun .  They were able to raise over $1000 for Doctors Without Borders!  Great job Grade 4's and 5's!

To finish off the week we were treated to a Basketball game, Teachers vs. Grade 4/5.  Both teams did a great job, but the Teachers took home the cup once again.

After the basketball game when we arrived back to the classroom, there was a mysterious note on the door for us...

We all got the chance to find our hidden surprises!

We even found the carrots...

Thank you for all your support in making our Grade 4/5's fundraiser a success!  Everyone had a great spirit week!

Enjoy your Spring Break and have a Happy Easter!

Wind

This week we spent time learning about the wind.  We learnt that wind is the movement of air.  Even we can create wind.  We discussed how different kinds of wind can be dangerous and some can be helpful. 

To discover how strong winds have to be to move different objects, we did an activity.  We each got a straw to blow items from a start line to the finish line.  While one of use was blowing it was our partners responsibility to count the number of breathes it took to move the object.  We discovered that lighter objects were easier to move across the finish line than heavier objects.    

Don't forget spirit week is next week, and there are many activities planned.  Below is updated information on the up and coming week.

Monday - Hat Day - wear your favourite hat to school.
Tuesday - Winnipeg Sports Team Day - wear your favourite Winnipeg sports team clothes.
Wednesday - Twin Day - dress up as a twin with a friend.
Thursday - Classroom Choice - Halloween Costume
Friday - Backwards Day - wear your clothes backwards.

LEGENDARY FLAVOURS & FIRED UP WITH FUN PRESENTS:

Monday March. 23^rd to Friday March.27^th, is our spirit week at Stevenson! We are going to be holding a fundraising food stand. The food stand will be open during am & pm recesses. The proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. You won’t want to miss this… Snacks include:

Monday at the back doors– Milky Monday, selling milk for $1.00 and cookies for $0.25

Tuesday at the back doors – Juice boxes for $0.75 and chips for $1.00

Wednesday at the back doors– Milk for $1.00 and licorice for $0.25

Thursday, outside of the gym during the movie

– Pretzels for $0.75, popcorn for $0.50 and pop for $0.75

Friday, outside of the gym during the basketball game

– Juice boxes for $0.75 and candy bags $1.00

But that’s not all…

On Thursday March 26^th, we are also going to have a movie in the gym at 1pm and it is “Finding Nemo”. Legendary Flavors will sell some treats and snacks for the movie. On Friday March 27^th, we have a basketball game it is students vs. teachers. Legendary Flavors will sell some snacks and drinks during this event as well.

We hope to see you all there. Have fun!

Sound Stories

This week we preformed the sound story we have been working on in music.  We worked as a class to put music to the book, Swimmy by Leo Lionni.  Each of us was in charge of a different instrument, and when our part of the story was read we would play our part.  It was a lot of fun to be in charge of our own instruments, and the results were amazing.  Check our the video on Mrs. Rempel's Music Blog.

Thank you to all the parents who were able to make it out to the Open House.  Your children have been working so hard and they LOVE showing you their work!  

Our Grade 4/5's have been working to set up a spirit week at the end of March.  Here is their advertisement:

LEGENDARY FLAVOURS & FIRED UP WITH FUN PRESENTS:

Monday March. 23^rd to Friday March.27^th, is our spirit week at Stevenson! We are going to be holding a fundraising food stand. The food stand will be open during am & pm recesses. The proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. You won’t want to miss this… Snacks include:

Monday at the back doors– Milky Monday, selling milk and cookies

Tuesday at the back doors – Juice boxes/chips

Wednesday at the back doors– Milk and muffins

Thursday, outside of the gym during the movie

– Pretzels, popcorn and pop

Friday, outside of the gym during the basketball game

– Juice boxes and candy bags

But that’s not all…

On Thursday March 26^th, we are also going to have a movie in the gym and it is “Finding Nemo”. Legendary Flavors will sell some treats and snacks for the movie. On Friday March 27^th, we have a basketball game it is students vs. teachers. Legendary Flavors will sell some snacks and drinks during this event as well.

We hope to see you all there. Have fun!

The Choir Wins Silver and We Learn About Stranger Danger

This week our grade 2/3 choir competed in the Winnipeg Music Festival at Westminster Church.  They did a superb job singing their two songs, Lullaby Baby and Nursery Rhyme Nonsense.  All their hard work paid off when they won a silver medal.  CONGRATULATIONS Grade 2/3 Choir!!

The next day our grade 2/3 choir performed for the school at the assembly.  For all those who were unable to attend, here is a video of the choir singing.

Lullaby Baby

Nursery Rhyme Nonsense

This week in health, Mr. Miller came to do the Kids in the Know program with us.  He taught us about being safe around strangers and using the buddy system.  We learnt what to do if a stranger comes up to you: just shout NO, run away, and tell an adult.

Don't forget next week is an important one!

Wednesday - Report Cards go home

Thursday 4:30pm - 7:00pm and Friday 9:00am - 11:30am - Open House, your children can hardly wait to share all their learning with you.