Harris- Grade 3 Ramsay

 We had a wonderful start to our week with a visit to the Telus Sparks Science Center. Our day started with the students becoming sound engineers as we took a journey around the centre to test the different noise levels in many areas. After experimenting with how different materials absorb and reflect sounds, we put our skills to the test to create the best design that would buffer and amplify sound. The rest of our day was filled with wonder and adventure as we created our own short animation, became virtually transformed into a member of the pterosaur family, watched a digital version of Goodnight Moon and discovered how each of us, despite our nearly identical DNA, experience the world differently. We would like to extend a warm thank you to the wonderful parents who joined us and made this trip such a success! I would like to extend a thank you for all of our parents and students who joined me for parent/teacher conferences. It was a delight speaking to you and learning a littl...

Our class would like to start by saying a big "Thank you " for all the wonderful donations collected for our Veteran's Food Bank drive. It was lovely to see the generosity of our Ramsay School community.  We have been using the book, One Grain of Rice  by Demi in literacy and math to explore number patterns. This great book provided a wonderful opportunity to apply our knowledge of character traits. For example, we discussed the qualities that make a good leader and how a leader is successful. In the story, the Raja (a Hindu priest or chief) failed to fulfill his role and was consequently unjust and selfish. As with most read-alouds we also use this as an opportunity to introduce and learn new vocabulary words such as; plentiful, modest and implored.  One Grain of Rice introduced the students to the concept of an exponential growth pattern. The growth pattern for the rice that was gained by the character Rani was by doubling the previous term ( i.e. 1+1=2, 2+2=4, 4+4=8 et...

As part of our Social Studies program, we are learning about Alberta, and it's regions. As a class, we are extending our focus to include significant Indigenous Landmarks in Alberta. The grade 3/4 students are busy learning how to create a google slide show and researching one important Alberta Indigenous Landmark. We will be sharing and teaching each other where the landmarks are located in Alberta, the significance of these landmarks to the Indigenous people, and what you can expect to see when you visit. Our initial research has found many wonderful locations that have been placed on our google classroom, such as; Okotoks Rock, Ancient Buffalo Rock, Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, Mt. Yamnuska. Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park, Grassi Lakes, Grotto Canyon.  In Science, we have started our Waste and our World Unit. This week we began to identify wastes produced within our community and the different forms of pollution. We have also begun to explore our human consumption and learn t...

  Thank you to our volunteers who made our trip to Fort Calgary a wonderful success. Our first outing allowed us to build on our understanding of the history of Calgary and the four inhabitants of the land. The students learned firsthand what it would be like to be an archaeologist unearthing cultural artifacts through an archeological dig. We discovered that the artifacts from the Indigenous, Fur Traders, North West Mounted Police and the Settlers could be easily identified based on what the artifact is and it's material. In addition, we discovered the process that archeologists need to follow when removing a relic from the ground by clearly identifying and recording its location on a grid. We also had the pleasure of working with an Indigenous Elder who shared the importance and value of oral storytelling.  Our day ended with our first opportunity to engage in a sit spot along the Elbow River on our way home. As the year unfolds, we hope to take the time to return to our sit...

We have been participating in the Building with Materials and Testing Materials and Design unit in Science. This week we had a lot of fun participating in the marshmallow challenge. This was a team-building activity in which teams must try to build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one meter of tape, one meter of string and one marshmallow. This task emphasized group communication, leadership dynamics, collaboration and problem-solving. Despite being successful or not, all the students learned from the experience, and our discussion afterwards helped us review the concept of building a structure with a wide base and why a triangle shape is often used. We discussed that the triangle is the strongest shape, has a strong base and can provide immense support. We saw that some of the world's most famous architectural designs, like the Eiffel Tower, Great Pyramids and the Louvre Pyramid use the support of triangles to make beautiful and durable structures...

Our Terry Fox run at the end of September gave our class a terrific conversation about character traits. We discussed that character trait are  unique attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs that contribute to our personality . Character traits can be positive or negative, often displayed through a person's actions and feelings. As a class, we discuss what characteristics we feel Terry must have possessed to be able to attempt and accomplish so much through his attempt and vision when starting out on his journey of hope. Our learning about Character traits discussed the importance of developing characters' physical and personality traits in fictional stories. Each of us used this knowledge to create a superhero. Our job was to identify a superhero, inform our audience of their physical and personality traits, and explain how they got their superpowers. We will continue to use these characters when we further explore story development.  This week we used the award-winning book "...

 Hello Everyone, I want to begin by thanking all of the families who were able to join us for our open house on Friday afternoon. It was lovely to see some parents I have not yet met in person and to showcase all of the great work that has been unfolding in room 8 since the beginning of September. If you did not get a chance to connect and would like to, please drop me an email, and we can arrange a time to chat. This week we had our soccer residency; this was an excellent time for our students to develop their soccer skills further and learn many aspects of the game. This opportunity also proved to be a great chance for us to continue to develop our skills as a class to focus on the importance of teamwork and communication. In addition, we learned the value of playing a game to have fun without emphasizing the winner. In literacy, we created a poem showcasing "me". We reviewed the importance of adding adjectives to describe nouns and using words to express personal character...