JUNE!

WHOA! 

Was it just me or was June an absolute whirlwind of a month? There was so much going on day to day it went by way too fast! I cannot believe the year is done. I can honestly say that every year it gets harder and harder to say goodbye on the last day. This year's crew was no different. Each child was wonderful and amazing in their own unique way and will stay in my heart and memories for years to come. 

This post is going to highlight some of the projects and special events over the past month. 

CAMP WARWA

This was such a fun experience for all of our students! I feel like archery is always a big hit, and this year we were lucky enough to get on the water and go voyageur canoeing! This was so fun to do after working on our Life of a Voyager projects! 

Here are a few snaps of our trip! 

Here is a link to all the pictures taken during our trip. 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WEEK 
Our students were immersed in the FIrst Nations Culture over the past few weeks. On Monday, we have the Ben Calf Robe school come and perform at our school.

From what I heard - as I was on crutches and not able to attend- the Cultural Showcase at Edmonton International Airport was amazing! Our own RBES student was a performer alongside his mother!

TRIATHLON DAY

This was one of my favourite days this year! Althought it wasn't our sunny dream, it was an astounding day! Triathlon Alberta and Mrs. K did an amazing job of working together to create a smooth and fun event for all!

I even participated, it was not easy for this old gal!

For Mrs. K's Album from the day - click here!

(this photo was featured on Triathlon Alberta's instagram page!)

In class, we spent out last few days working on our plant e-books. The students did amazing jobs and really worked with text features and slides to create visually stunning work.

RIPPLE EFFECT

Students learned all about how contaminants get into the water and spread in an community. Then they painted some wooden fish to hang around Devon to remind people to be thoughtful of how they litter, or dispose of liquid waste!

 

FUN DAY!

Even with rainy weather, we had fun! Fun Day was indoors this year and we filled the halls with laughter and smiles. I was down at the Face Painting wing busy as a bee. Mrs. K will be posting pictures on the weekly update! Keep your eyes peeled! 

We also had some class fun, by creating Tie Dye shirts this year! Thank you for taking the time to send in shirts with your child over the past few weeks. This was such a fun and interesting experiment! This was my first Tie Dye experience EVER! I think they all turned out pretty neat!

POTTER PARTY

THE WINNING HOUSE IS...

SLYTHERIN!

Due to weather, our Potter Party this year was split up! We spent some time on Tuesday and Wednesday doing various activities - reading, art, math and logic puzzles - with a twist of Harry Potter to it! 

We also enjoyed some delicious treats and drink while watching our movie! 

and of course.. the hardest part of the year... 

GRADE FOUR FAREWELL

I have to start this with a big THANK YOU. You have all raised amazing children, and it has been my pleasure to teach this group this year (and some even two years!). They are full of positivity, laughter and kindness. Everyday they gave me a reason to smile (and let's be honest, scowl), whether it was by telling jokes (or laughing at my bad jokes) or making up some silly song to go along with our activity. This group was constantly asking questions, wanting to know more, taking risks and reaching further. They were inspiring to each other, supportive and caring. I wish them all the best of luck in their future education journey, and they will always have a special place in my heart. 

Congrats to our Athletes of the Year! 

Congratulations to Sam! 

This year was also the first year we had our Love of Learning Award. As the parents of this group, I am sure you can imagine how hard it was to chose one child for this award.

This year, I went with a different approach for making the video. I asked the students two questions in a video interview.

1. What was your favourite memory of Grade 4?

2. What will you miss most about Robina Baker?

In this video, I was able to fit in their favourite memories which you will see in this video. However, in order to keep it to a manageable time I was not able to fit in what they will miss. I can tell you that almost every student had a similar answer: RBES Staff and Teachers. 

 Mrs. K will create a video link on Youtube for our Video. 

May 20 - 31

A Few Reminders:
There are quite a few events going on in June. Make sure to check the blog calendar!

• June 5 - Early Dismissal
• June 7 - BGRS Track Meet
• June 11 - Riverview Visit
• June 11 - Bike Rodeo
• June 12 - BOKS Wrap Up Party
• June 12 - Conservation Presentation
• June 13 & 14 Camp Warwa! Please fill out final payment & permission online. 
• June 18 - Devon Ripple Effects
• June 20 - Cultural Showcase @ EIA 
• June 22 - 23 Outdoor Ed Camping Trip
• June 24 - Triathlon Day!
• June 25 - Potter Party 
• Send in an old white or light grey shirt for our year end craft!
• June 26 - Wagner Natural Area FT
• June 27 - Free Swim Day & LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

TWIN DAY

What a fun day! Everyone looked great!

ELA 

Students are working on e-Books All About Plants! This is our next unit in Science and during WeSearch Wednesday we are taking time to work in slides to create our very own all about plants book. 

Our main focus with this book is to recognize and use text features for our non-fiction writing. Students are working to use titles, subtitles, text, images with captions, labels and diagrams, bolding words for the glossary, and a bibliography page. 

Student have been using various resources - books, websites and videos - to gather information and record it in an organized way. This week they have taken that information and begun to write paragraphs on each topic. This week we dug deep into photosynthesis! 

We have also been working on our summarizing skills. We read a non-fiction reading and discussed how to write a proper summary. This is an essential skill that is often a struggle for students. When summarizing it is key to talk about the important points that are related to the main idea of the reading, without adding extra information that was not included in the reading. After reading through their passage, students read two summaries and determined which was a proper summary of what they read. 

We have also been fine tuning our reading comprehension skills. In small groups, buddy reading or independently reading, we have been reading through fiction and non-fiction and answering questions based directly on what was read. We have been working on a variation of "rainbow reading". Using multicoloured highlighters to highlight the question and then using the same colour find the evidence in the text to answer the question. This is in efforts to have them find the answer from the reading instead of trying to make up - or guess answers. 

Reader's Chair

Lailati read Mo Willems Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed 

Dakota read Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

MATH 

Over the past two weeks students have been working with Geometry. Some key terms that are new this year are congruent and symmetry. Congruent shapes are the same shape and size and shapes that have a line of symmetry have two parts that are congruent. 

Students explored these concepts through various centers over the week using manipulatives to create symmetry art, drawing symmetrical shapes and images and even some fun tech art! 

 

We also have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes and how to describe and sort them. Students had a quick refresher on the names of 3D shapes, what edges, vertices and faces are and how we can use these to describe/sort shapes.

A new shape for students this year is the right angle prism. 

 Right Angle Triangular Prism

Right Angle Prism  

We also had some math fun using play-doh to make some 3D shapes! I gave students hints based on vertices, edges and faces and they had to create the shape they thought was coming out of the bag! 

We also practiced our right angle shape making skills! 

SCIENCE

Shadows change as our day goes on. It's been tough, but we found some cloudless and sunny days over the past week and went outside to track our shadows! In pairs, students traced their shadows in the morning, and then again at the end of the day to see how their shadow changed. 

We also conducted experiments on which qualities make good and bad reflectors. With all the lights out, we tested various materials to narrow down the the best qualities. Good reflectors are solid, shiny, smooth and often metal. 

As we conducted the experiment students took sketch notes to record their observations. 

To wrap up our Lights & Shadows unit, we played Jeopardy! Everyone absolutely loved this review game and participated enthusiastically!  

Afterwards we completed a quiz on the concepts covered. 

SOCIAL

We have been reading and learning about the Voyageurs of Alberta's past. Students are working on a writing piece, that we will turn into an Adobe Spark video, telling the story of their Day in the Life of a Voyageur. As a class we brainstormed the sights, sounds and activities we would have to do in a day. Their writing is so fun and full of voice I can't wait for the videos!

Of course, we had to create out Voyageur cards first! 

DRUMFIT