I got a sneak preview of the new 4/5 pod - ready for Christmas next year! My favourite part is the view from the windows - we've got a clear view to both the Saddledome and the Elbow River. Can't wait to see this space with 100 kids in it!

LOVE this photo of a giant bubble we made during SpArts day 2017! We had so much fun!

This June, I accompanied the Year 4 students to Kamp Kiwanis, and outdoor school program just outside of Calgary. We had so much fun learning about sustainability, exploring the woods, playing the animal game, and singing campfire songs! After three days in the wilderness, we shed many happy tears, had many laughs, and brought home countless stories to the Year 4/5 portables.

I have been building planters with my math students! The photos below show the demonstration planter I made, but the kids are working in groups to create their own planters as well.

Given a length (of a board) students designed a rectangle that had the same perimeter. They then calculated the surface area of the planter and volume of dirt required to fill the planter. I did all the cutting of wood, but they did all the hammering and nailing! We finished them off by painting the exterior in the theme of the Circle of Courage. Our plan is to donate the planters to our elementary campus to use in their outdoor garden classroom.

Attached below is our final product for our Math Cookbook. Students worked with fractions to learn how to halve and double a recipe of their choosing, and then the students brought their baking into school which we "sold" to each other using fake money, to help practice adding and subtracting decimals.

Below is a poem one of my students wrote for the Lieutenant Generals' school poetry contest this year. She chose to write about an indigenous painter who inspired her, and also created beautiful portrait drawing that accompanied this work.

​Alex Janvier
By C.W.
 
At a desk in the Blue Quills Indian residential school
sat Alex Janvier painting something cool.
 
The colour on his paintbrush danced across the page,
It’s like the yellow, red and blue were free from a cage.
 
The Alberta Institute of Technology gave him formal training,
After he graduated he taught to a University his painting.
 
The Federal Department of Indian Affairs
Commissioned him to make eighty paintings to share.
 
Later together a group of artists he brung,
For the Indians of Canada pavilion.
 
He now has a gallery in Cold Lake,
Still more art he continues to make.

I have been working on a really exciting "Choose Your Own Adventure" style writing project with my year 4/5s, which includes some training in basic coding and website design! The website we are using is called www.twine.org and it is a platform that allows you to build multi-ending stories. The kids are all super engaged in their work, and I can't wait to see the final products.

In the meantime, here's a sample twine I made with some classmates during my time at UBC. 
http://www.philome.la/maryalyson_/beyonce/play 

Over spring break I took a well-deserved trip to Tofino. Below are two beautiful drawings made by nature, and one set of drawings I made while sitting on the beach. 

We have been busy writing television show scripts  over the last few weeks, and are looking forward to filming our shows and airing them on our CAATV channel! Attached is a great example of a show from the DETECTIVE/MYSTERY genre, and another from the ADVERTISEMENT genre. Enjoy!

​My 4/5 class submitted an entry to CBC's Canadian Music Class Challenge, and although we didn't win, we did receive an Outstanding Mention for our region! I am so proud of all the hard work these kids put in, as well as the work of my colleagues who made this possible.