We had a great afternoon on our virtual field trip to Drumheller where an expert talked to us about rocks and minerals and quizzed us on our knowledge. They even asked really difficult questions, such as what the name of the dinosaur found in Alberta was called. Luckily we had one paleontologist expert who knew the answer! Having a virtual field trip, where they took us on a tour of the Tyrell Museum was a great alternative to bussing there (and nobody got car sick!)

Rocks have really sparked our interest and many students have been starting rock collections. We eagerly await the dull, rough edged rocks that we put into the rock tumbler to have some (artificial) weathering take place. We think that the sand will smooth out the edges and we hope to get some shiny smooth rocks by the end of the process. We will keep you posted as to how that is going. Mrs. Njie took the rock tumbler home to do its thing on her basement floor!

In class we have also made our own artificial sedimentary rock. We all know how to do this and can explain the process to you. We wrote about it in a 'How to ...' piece of writing. We talked about how we use models in science to help us understand real things. Scientists use models all the time. I wonder if you can discuss with your child what a good model for igneous and metamorphic rock might be!


We have been showing our understanding of math by completing a sheet like this one. Please take a moment to ask your child to write down a three digit number and fill out this sheet. This will help you know what your child needs more practice on at home. They should be able to complete each section fairly easily.

I know that a lot of students are getting excited for Hallowe'en and we have been discussing a few things in class. We all agreed that some people like to celebrate hallowe'en and some do not and whatever we choose, that is absolutely fine.  There are some School Traditions that are explained below. Please don't feel you have to dress up or take part but please do take the time to read the rules surrounding expectations. This will avoid the disappointment of being asked to remove part or all of the costume (and we really don't want to do this).

For Parents: - please let your parents know via your blog that Halloween costumes should not have masks (safety hazard), makeup (too complex for at school), weapons or be violent/inappropriate costumes (e.g. the clown from It, Freddy Kruger, etc.); students can bring a second healthy snack for themselves for the afternoon learning fun.

We thought we could be creative around the snack - the children had lots of ideas, such as peeled grapes to be eyeballs or sugar peas to be worms! Let your imagination run wild, but please note, we are asked to bring in healthy snacks! Your child will get enough candy when they go Trick or Treating!!

We will be doing activities in school that are loosely, but not specifically to do with Hallowe'en (such as estimation of how many seeds a pumpkin will have and counting the seeds, looking for efficient strategies. As you can see, there is more math than Hallowe'en in this activity (but don't tell the children that!). Please let me know if you are uncomfortable with your child taking part.

Housekeeping:

Popcorn will be sold on Wednesday and Thursday so if you want to take part, bring in your toonies.