Thank you for another wonderful week of learning!

For the month of April, we have been studying the virtue of trustworthiness. What does this mean to you? What examples of trustworthiness can you think of at school and in the community? Our school will be focussing on a new virtue for the month of May! Make a prediction for what the virtue might be.

Reminder:
May Newsletter and Calendar coming home today.

Thank you room 2 for hosting an assembly and celebration of learning this morning! Share with a family member the celebrations and achievements from room 6. What connections did you make to the presentation? What questions do you have after the assembly? What feedback would you give students from room 6?

Homework: 
Best Character Book Projects are due tomorrow (April 29).

Reminder: 
- Sports Club is today from 3:15 to 3:45

Thank you for your hard work and critical thinking on the PIRLS Reading Assessment grade 4 students! Your participation in this study will help provide important data for this international study on literacy. Share with a family member your thoughts on the test. What were your successes? What was challenging for you?

Homework: 
Try visualizing fractions with the Fraction Domino game!
http://www.turtlediary.com/game/fraction-models.html

Reminder: 
- Sports Club is tomorrow (April 28) from 3:15 to 3:45
- Room 6 Assembly is tomorrow (April 28) at 11:00. Please invite your families to attend!
- Student Wellness Action Team notice is being sent home today.

Our class had a special presentation on the Vista Heights community garden today! Share with a family member the information you learned from Rikki about the garden and upcoming plans. How can you be involved in the garden? What suggestions do you have for the community garden?

Homework: 

- Our Best Character Book Projects are due on Friday April 29th! 

Reminder: 

-PIRLS Reading Assessment for grade 4 students is tomorrow (April 27). You can practice sample passages from the following website: 

http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2016/downloads/P16_FW_Appendix_C.pdf

Thank you for another wonderful week of learning! Ms. Makowski is looking forward to meeting with you and your families to celebrate your learning.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Reminder: 
- No school on Friday April 22 (Student Learning Conferences) and Monday April 25 (PD Day)

We have been working hard on our Zumba dance routines in gym! Student teams have begun presenting our routines and teaching the class our moves. Share with a family member how you demonstrated the virtues in this project. How did you show collaboration, determination, creativity, respect? We will be completing a reflection in class this week.

Homework: 
Go to the following websites to explore digital fraction manipulatives:
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_203_g_2_t_1.html?from=category_g_2_t_1.html

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_274_g_2_t_1.html?open=activities&from=category_g_2_t_1.html

Reminder: 
- Student Learning Conferences are Thursday April 21 from 4:15 to 8:00 and Friday April 22 from 8:00 to 12:30.
- No Sports Club tomorrow - cancelled due to Student Learning Conferences
- No school on Friday April 22 (Student Learning Conferences) and Monday April 25 (PD Day).
- Vista Heights Casino notice is being sent home with the youngest student.
- Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) notice is being sent home with grade 4 students.

Today our class was introduced to our new inquiry project on Identity! In this project, we will be exploring how different groups of people have impacted the history and identity of Albertans and Canadians. Share with a family member the project criteria posted in D2L. We completed a project proposal in Google forms today. Which group of people are you interested in focussing on for this project? Why?

Homework: 
- Best Character Book Projects are due on April 29th!

Reminder: 
- Student Learning Conferences are on Thursday April 21 from 4:15 to 8:00 and Friday April 22 from 8:00 to 12:30. Ms. Makowski is looking forward to meeting with you and your families to celebrate your learning!

The grade 5 students in our class worked on the Tell Them From Me Survey today! This survey allows students to give feedback on our school and their learning. Share with a family member what you think our strengths and successes are at Vista Heights School. Why is our school a great place to learn? How could we improve our school? Please share your ideas with Ms. Makowski!

Homework: 
Practice working on remainders:
http://www.turtlediary.com/game/interpret-the-remainder.html

Reminder: 
- The Book Fair is April 19 to 22! Our class will be visiting the book fair this week. It will also be open for you and your families to visit during Student Learning Conferences!
- Please remind your parents to book a Student Learning Conference with Ms. Makowski!
https://webapps.cbe.ab.ca/MyAccount/Account/LogOn

Today we had an engaging presentation from the Earth Rangers! Be sure to explain to your family the importance of being an animal ambassador.  What are you already doing to be a responsible environmental citizen? What goal do you have for yourself?  What strategies do you have to achieve your goal?

Have a fabulous weekend!

We are continuing our study of multiplication and division in math! Share with a family member the connections you make between multiplication and division. What strategies do you use when multiplying and dividing large numbers?

Homework:
Practice dividing on the following links:
http://www.turtlediary.com/game/find-the-quotient.html
http://www.turtlediary.com/game/interpret-the-remainder.html

Reminder: 
- Sports Club is today from 3:15 to 3:45
- Book Fair brochure is being sent home today!

In gym, we have been designing a Zumba routine to share and teach the class! Share with a member of your family which music your group has chosen.  What are the important dance moves that you are including in your routine?  Does your routine have a least 8 different dance moves? Reflect upon your team work, including cooperating and collaborating with your group.  Have you achieved excellence?  What evidence do you have to support your thinking?


Homework:
A school has 400 students. They all come to school by bus, and each bus carries the same number of students. How many students might there be on each bus?

How many different ways can you solve this problem? Show Ms. Makowski your math thinking tomorrow!

Reminders: 

Vista Heights School Learning Commons is having a Book Fair! 

- We will be selling Scholastic books and merchandise during the school day. 

- Tuesday April 19 to Thursday April 21, 9am – 3pm, and at our special Family Event during Parent/Teacher Conferences: Thursday April 21 4 pm – 7:30 pm.  Friday 8:30 am to noon.

- There will be classroom draws for free books and display posters.

- A special Family Event draw of a $25 book for one student and $25 of books for the winning student’s classroom.

Our Best Character Ever Book Projects have begun!  Please share with a family member which character from a narrative that you have chosen to complete this project on.  Explain why you have chosen this character. Which one of the three writing reflections have you chosen for this project ?  A Step-Inside? A Character Journey? A Virtues Reflection?  Why?

Homework:
Please read for your Best Character Ever Book Project.  You may also work on your cover design. Check the criteria and assessment posted in D2L. They are due on April 29.

Reminder:
- Sports Club is on Thursday, April 14 at 3:15-3:45.
- School Council is tonight at 6:30! Please invite your parents to attend.

We have continued to examine the artifacts from our Origins of the Blackfoot Museokit on loan from the Glenbow Museum! Share with a family member the critical thinking response you completed for an artifact. Share your thinking and ideas on the following questions: How would you describe the object? How was it made? Is it well designed? What is it's value or worth? What questions do you have about this artifact?

Homework:
Please continue to work on your Current Event Projects! Look for interesting articles and news stories to share with the class for your presentations. The project criteria and rubric is posted in D2L. Please let Ms. Makowski know when you are ready to present.

Reminder:
Student Learning Conferences are next week on Thursday, April 21 from 4:15 - 8:00 and Friday, April 22 from 8:00 - 12:30.  Please see the booking information coming home today.

Celebrate another amazing week of learning!

Our class has been busy preparing for our visit to Aggie Days tomorrow! Share with a family member our class discussion today on our field trip and what you learned about Aggie Days and the agricultural industry. Why are field trips important for your learning?

Homework:
Our Best Character Ever Projects are due on April 29.  Be sure to check D2L for the task criteria and assessment.

Reminder: 
We go to Aggie Days tomorrow! Please remember the following:
- bus leaves at 9:00, will return by 3:00
- water bottle
- bag lunch
- comfortable shoes
- any allergy medication (with a note from your parents)

CBE Traditional Pow-wow is on May 19 at 6:00pm! See below for information:

Our class has begun to examine artifacts from the Glenbow Museum on the Blackfoot First Nations people. Share with a family member the artifacts we examined today. How do the Blackfoot people contribute to the identity of Albertans? Canadians? We will be discussing your ideas in class tomorrow.

Homework:
Go on the blog and open pages to the social studies vocabulary that we will be studying connected to our upcoming Identity projects. Write the words you know from this list, as well as explain what the words mean. If you don't know a word yet, don't worry! We will be learning about these terms in our upcoming inquiry on identity.

Reminder: 
-Sports Club is tomorrow from 3:15 to 3:45
- Our Aggie Days field trip is on Friday April 8.

Our class has begun a dance unit in gym! We are designing Zumba dances with a group to teach to the class! Go to D2L and share with a family member the criteria and rubric we created for this project. Please remember to bring the name of your song and artist to class tomorrow for Ms. Makowski.

Homework:
Challenge a family member to play Fair Play Multiplication! You will need a deck of cards and a dice. Remember, if you roll an even number the highest product wins a point. If you roll an odd number, the lowest product wins a point.

Reminder: 
- Return signed Aggie Days Acknowledgment of Risk forms!

Today we continued to create our Junk Monsters! Share with a family member the multi-media sculpture you have been working on in class. We also began our descriptive writing for our Junk Monsters characters. We are working on adding specific details, similes, onomatopoeia to create an image for the reader when we are writing. Who is your junk monster? What makes them unique? What interesting adaptions do they have? Share your ideas with your family.

Homework:
Continue to work on your multiplication basic facts at home. Play Salute with a family member!

Reminder:
- Please return your signed Aggie Days field trip form as soon as possible. Our field trip is on Friday April 8! We still need volunteers to join us for this amazing learning opporunity! Please ask your parents if they can join us!
- CBE Transportation Services notice is being sent home today.

Thank you for another wonderful week of learning! We have a new virtue for the month of April... Look in the April newsletter to find out what it is! Look for examples of the virtues being shown in the community this weekend.