I hope that all of our Valley View Families have had a lovely break and that at Thanksgiving, everyone considered something they were thankful for.
My thanks go out to all of our families who have ridden the sometimes big waves with us throughout our re-organization of classrooms. At times the pathway seemed challenging but I can assure families that at Valley View we strive to bring purposeful learning to the classroom every day.
We have something new happening on Fridays starting this coming week and will continue until the winter break. From 8:30 – 9:15am, we have what we are calling STEAM Friday (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics). A team of teachers have organized this initiative and students have been very responsive. Keeping the curriculum and the program of studies in the forefront, students were asked to identify three areas of studies they would like to explore for 45 minutes. From the students’ recommendations, teachers selected an area of study to lead. For example: students identified drama, puppetry, choral speech, readers’ theatre etc. (K – 2). and I chose to lead this area of study. I will connect this activity to the Alberta Program of studies and I will provide feedback to the teachers of the students I will lead. In my group I can expect a mixture of grades K – 2 students.
For my activity I am asking parents to send to school any of the following goodies – leftover coloured or white paper plates, cups and napkins; pompoms; toilet paper and paper rolls; clean socks (adults and kids); Dowling stick ½ inch; foam (the type you can make cushions or seats from) quilt batting; wooden spoons with long handles; ribbon, lace, buttons, bows, googly eyes, feathers, felt pieces, fabric, fur fabric and anything else to create puppets that families may have at home. Support staff will also be deployed to assist in classrooms. It will be important for students to arrive at school on time to make the transition to classrooms for the 45 minute activity flow smoothly.
Other happenings in October:
On the 31 we will have a brief safety assembly in the afternoon and we will acknowledge students who choose to wear costumes. Costumes are only to be worn in the afternoons. Fake weapons are not encouraged and face paint instead of masks are requested. We do try to teacher a regular curriculum on the 31st although some teachers may use pumpkins in math or science activities. Donations of pumpkins would be a lovely addition to any classroom activity. We are not asking for snacks, however if snacks are sent we encourage snacks that follow the Choose Most Often, not the Choose Sometimes, or Choose Least Often according to the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines https://open.alberta.ca/publications/5906406 . Please confer with the classroom teacher before any snacks are sent to school.
Important dates to keep in mind:
October 23, picture day. Details will be sent home early this week; we were just waiting for more flyers from Life Touch, the photographer.
November 16th in the evening – Celebration of learning and parent / teacher conferences, school as usual
November 17 during regular school hours, celebration of learning & parent / teacher conferences, VV K – 5 and SP K – 5. Details will follow at a later date – system NID, no students at school. We are using this time for conferences.
My thanks go out to all of our families who have ridden the sometimes big waves with us throughout our re-organization of classrooms. At times the pathway seemed challenging but I can assure families that at Valley View we strive to bring purposeful learning to the classroom every day.
We have something new happening on Fridays starting this coming week and will continue until the winter break. From 8:30 – 9:15am, we have what we are calling STEAM Friday (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics). A team of teachers have organized this initiative and students have been very responsive. Keeping the curriculum and the program of studies in the forefront, students were asked to identify three areas of studies they would like to explore for 45 minutes. From the students’ recommendations, teachers selected an area of study to lead. For example: students identified drama, puppetry, choral speech, readers’ theatre etc. (K – 2). and I chose to lead this area of study. I will connect this activity to the Alberta Program of studies and I will provide feedback to the teachers of the students I will lead. In my group I can expect a mixture of grades K – 2 students.
For my activity I am asking parents to send to school any of the following goodies – leftover coloured or white paper plates, cups and napkins; pompoms; toilet paper and paper rolls; clean socks (adults and kids); Dowling stick ½ inch; foam (the type you can make cushions or seats from) quilt batting; wooden spoons with long handles; ribbon, lace, buttons, bows, googly eyes, feathers, felt pieces, fabric, fur fabric and anything else to create puppets that families may have at home. Support staff will also be deployed to assist in classrooms. It will be important for students to arrive at school on time to make the transition to classrooms for the 45 minute activity flow smoothly.
Other happenings in October:
On the 31 we will have a brief safety assembly in the afternoon and we will acknowledge students who choose to wear costumes. Costumes are only to be worn in the afternoons. Fake weapons are not encouraged and face paint instead of masks are requested. We do try to teacher a regular curriculum on the 31st although some teachers may use pumpkins in math or science activities. Donations of pumpkins would be a lovely addition to any classroom activity. We are not asking for snacks, however if snacks are sent we encourage snacks that follow the Choose Most Often, not the Choose Sometimes, or Choose Least Often according to the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines https://open.alberta.ca/publications/5906406 . Please confer with the classroom teacher before any snacks are sent to school.
Important dates to keep in mind:
October 23, picture day. Details will be sent home early this week; we were just waiting for more flyers from Life Touch, the photographer.
November 16th in the evening – Celebration of learning and parent / teacher conferences, school as usual
November 17 during regular school hours, celebration of learning & parent / teacher conferences, VV K – 5 and SP K – 5. Details will follow at a later date – system NID, no students at school. We are using this time for conferences.