Grade Four Students Celebrate The Giving Tree

To honour Métis Week, the grade 4 classes enjoyed the book The Giving Tree: The Retelling of a Traditional Métis Story by Leah Dorion and explored the value of reciprocity. The students created their own giving tree by using fallen sticks gathered from our nearby forest. Each student considered what they could offer as a friend, student, and a child. During learning conferences, parents were invited to consider and add their own offerings to our Giving Tree. Thanks to all the families who added their contributions!

 

Winter Concert – Next Thursday!

The countdown is on – six days left until our Div. II Winter Concert. All students in grades 4, 5 and 6 have been working hard in music classes to prepare performances for you to enjoy. The Winter Concert will be on Thursday Dec. 14th with an afternoon show at 2:00 pm and an evening show at 6:30 p.m. Please mark this date on your calendar. If your child is in grades 4, 5 or 6, and will not be in attendance on December 14th, please let Mrs. Tran (lmtran@cbe.ab.ca) know as soon as possible. Thank you! We are so excited to share our music with you!

 

Library Evergreening – Books for Families

Thanks to our School Council and Parent Association, our school library’s catalogue has never been more current or robust! We have so many new high-interest books, we are bursting at the seams! If you are in the school for the winter concerts on Thursday, December 14th, we invite you to stop by our “Take A Book!” table, which will be set up in the Plaza, just outside the library.  On display will be a variety of books including novels and developing-reader titles, which we hope families will take to enjoy and keep at home.  It's a great opportunity for our students and families to focus on reading over the winter break by having access to books that may be new to them. No need to return any books you take - they're our gift to you.

 

Fitness for The Food Bank

In the spirit of generosity, our School Wellness Action Team (SWAT) has challenged OHS a food drive called Fitness for the Food Bank! Please help us gather non-perishable food items to donate to the Calgary Food Bank. Our key items are canned soup and canned tomatoes, but will happily accept: pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter, canned meat, fish, beans, vegetables and fruit, cereal, rice, and macaroni and cheese. All donations will be accepted from December 11-18.  On Wednesday, December 13, students will participate in a fun fitness workout in their P.E. class with 2 cans!  Students will receive a full body work out and demonstrate the act of giving by donating their cans to the Food Bank!  Be sure to bring in 2 cans along with any other non-perishable food donations for this great cause!

 

Winter Festive Spirit Days

Not content to just spearhead a food drive, our SWAT will be hosting a week of festively-themed spirit days for our final days of December. As we get ready for a well-deserved winter break, let’s have some fun together as a school community by engaging with the theme of the day. We will be sending out reminders for each day:

•      Monday, Dec. 18 - Classroom Door Decorating Day

•      Tuesday Dec. 19 - Festive Hat Day

•      Wednesday, Dec. 20 - Festive Sweater Day

•      Thursday, Dec. 21 - Holiday Character Day

•      Friday, Dec. 22 - Pyjama Day

 

Professional Learning

Friday was a full day of learning for staff, designed to support the implementation of our School Development Plan. Our amazing grade 3 teacher, Ms. Marshall presented to staff, sharing her experience and deep understanding of learning intentions and success criteria from her time teaching in international schools. Educational researchers Fisher & Frey (2018) report that “learning intentions and success criteria have a significant impact on student success. When students know what success looks like, they are more likely to plan and predict, set goals, and acquire a stronger sense of how to judge their own progress. They are able to recognize that they have something to learn, and what it looks like when they have learned it. When students do not know what they are expected to learn, the chance that they actually learn is reduced.  When students know what they are supposed to be learning, they are three times more likely to learn” (The Teacher Clarity Playbook).  Staff also explored our robots – Ozobot and Dash – to gain a better understanding of coding and programming, in order to help students understand computational thinking. Staff also spent time engaging in Collaborative Response discussions in service of better supporting student regulation and success in learning.

 

Holiday Hampers – An OHS Tradition

As the holiday season approaches, we understand that this time can be especially challenging for some of our OHS families.  In response, we would like to continue our gifts of care this time of year and provide support to some of our families to ensure that they have a wonderful and happy holiday. An email message as well as paper copies of the message were sent home this past week, with details and specific information for each grade level. Let's continue to embody the true spirit of the season by spreading love, kindness, and joy throughout our Olympic Heights community. Together, we can make this holiday season brighter for everyone. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, if you have questions.

 

Upcoming Dates

Dec. 9              Booster Juice & Panago Pizza Fun Food orders due

Dec. 14            Booster Juice & Panago Pizza Fun Food

Dec. 14            Winter Concert 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Dec. 18            Spirit Day – Classroom Door Decorating Challenge

Dec. 19            Spirit Day – Festive Holiday Hat Day

Dec. 20            Spirit Day – Festive Sweater Day

Dec. 21            Spirit Day – Holiday Character Day

Dec. 22            Spirit Day – Pajama Day

Dec. 22            Last day of classes before winter break

Dec. 23-Jan. 7 Winter Break

Jan. 6               Pretzel Fun Snack orders are due

Jan. 8               First day of classes after winter break

Jan. 11             Pretzel Fun Snack

Jan. 15             Non-instructional day (Professional Learning)

Jan. 18             School Council & Parents Assoc. Meeting 6:30 – 8:30 PM