Baking up a Storm

We did some Christmas baking today with the blue group. We made and decorated 3 different varieties of cookies, and made another different kind of treat. We measured out the ingredients, mixed and rolled the dough, formed the cookies. Each student had the opportunity to make his or her own individual cookie. You will have a chance to taste our treats on Tuesday. Special thanks to Lexi's mom and dad who assisted us!

Shopping, shopping, shopping

They students were so excited to attend the Santa's Seconds Sale this morning. They did some choosing, some buying, and some wrapping with the help of some grade 8 buddies. Now the hardest part may be getting all these special parcels to the bus! We hope you enjoy the gifts lovingly chosen for you!

Even the jolly old man himself paid a visit!

Hard at work in Santa's Workshop

We have turned our dramatic arts centre into Santa's Workshop. Santa and his elves are busy preparing the North Pole.

Wrapping the gifts!

Preparing the signage!

Santa's nice list-hope you are there!

Blue Group Christmas Party

As a group, we are trying to brainstorm what the students would like to see for their Christmas party this year.  We have created a long list of "must haves" for our party (be sure to check out our "Giggle of the Week" to see one boy's suggestion), and we will continue to fine tune the details shortly.  After this week, we only have 3 weeks to prepare, and when we only see the blue group every second day, it may add some extra challenges to the preparations!  We took a vote to decide on the date of the party, with most agreeing that it should be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 2:15. We hope you will be able to make it as all are invited to share in the festivities.

Stonecrest Snowsuit Fund

Stonecrest will once again fundraise to support the purchase of new snowsuits for local children.  This fundraiser will be held from Monday, December 1 to Friday, December 5, 2014.  Should you wish to support this initiative, we accept donations of money, or new winter clothing.  If you choose to write a cheque, please address it to “Stonecrest E.S.”.

Please note:  Due to storage limitations, we are no longer able to accept gently used winter wear.  Should you have used winter items that you wish to donate, may we direct you to your local donation box, or Value Village on Hazeldean Road.
In keeping with the spirit of the season, the staff at Stonecrest would prefer that families, who wish to purchase teacher gifts during this festive season, redirect their generosity towards this fundraiser.  Therefore, if you choose to make purchases, may we suggest new hats and mitts, or other winter wear, which we will donate to less fortunate families on behalf of our “Stonecrest Family.”  Should you choose to make a donation on behalf of a teacher/staff member, please feel free to use the tear-off tag at the bottom of the letter sent home this week.

Sticky Business

We have set out our magnets as well as a variety of objects which may or may not be attracted to the magnets. After reading a non-fiction book about magnets, we discovered and experimented with making other metal objects into magnets.  We made a sewing needle into a magnet, and even a pair of tweezers! One child explained that it was like when you rub a balloon on your hair, and then it picks up things! Be sure to ask your child what they know or discovered about magnets. If you have any skills or expertise about special magnets, be sure to let us know, we'd love to hear from you!

Shapes

   

As mentioned earlier, we have begun discussing shapes.  In the French class, the students are learning the names of the 2 dimensional shapes.  In the English class, they are learning about the names and attributes of the 3 dimensional shapes. We watched a video that uses both 2 and 3D shapes to make a roller coaster.  The students love the you tube video of Shawn the Train and his roller coaster adventure.  If you would like for your child to see it at home, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBUjH2KJns4.

Shapes, shapes, shapes

We will begin talking about 3 dimensional shapes. Today, we worked with our reading buddies to create a variety of 3 D shapes. Then together, we built a 3D shape person. It started out as a man, but as the day progressed, they began to accessorize and our he turned into a she. In the end, we named her "Sal the old shape Pal". Hopefully, you will hear your child talking about cylinders, cones, pyramids, prisms and spheres soon. We will be talking about these until Christmas.

Firefighter visit

Today, our local volunteer firefighters came to Stonecrest. They kindly gave their time to visit students and discuss fire safety, and what an outfitted firefighter looked like. Then, a highlight, we got to visit the firetrucks in the snow. Even Sparky made a visit.

Show your Stonecrest Spirit

It is that time of year once again when we are offering Stonecrest school clothing for sale.  The online store is now open and available for business.  Please note that there is a $5 shipping fee on all orders and items are shipped to the school.  The order deadline is fast approaching (Nov. 20), so be sure to visit the store right away!  Please go to https://shop.riddellathlete.com/stonecrestclothing2014 to view all the new and exciting items available. If you have any questions about the items, please don't hesitate to ask.

Magazine Fundraising Reminder

 Just a reminder from our School council that the deadline for ordering magazines through the QSP fundraiser ends next week.  The deadline for placing orders is next Wednesday, November 12. Please remember that the revised code is 3727948.  Thanks to our hardworking, dedicated School Council members!

Smart board/smart kids

We recently had a portable smart board wheeled into our classroom. It has been a lot of fun to play educational number and letter games in such a BIG, kinaesthetic way!

Dem bones, dem bones

We have been continuing our slightly spooky theme of bones, skeletons and skulls into November. We have talked about animals that are vertebrates and invertebrates. They have had the opportunity to match animals and x Rays. In the science centre and the arts centre, we have continued our explorations.

Smile

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, the photographers will return to Stonecrest.  If you wish your child to have retakes done, please let me know.  Since the classes had not been split the last time they were here, we will be taking class photos at that time.

Witch writing

We have been completing many pieces of Halloween writing. You may have seen some of our little booklets at home. In an attempt to entice a few more young writers, we offered some "witch's fingers" as an incentative. Suddenly, we had a number of very excited creative writers. If your child brings home a book and a witch's finger, please help them celebrate his or her efforts.

Outdoor time

With some relatively nice weather over the past week, we managed to get each class outside for a nature walk. We are so incredibly lucky to have the green space we have on our school grounds. Our task while outdoors was to look for some of the changes in the forest that has occurred with fall setting in. We found 3 nests, lots of seeds, beautiful leaves, and a crunchy sound as we walked through the woods. Look at the joy in our faces!

Halloween Spelling

With Halloween approaching, we have been talking about bats, cats, rats, spiders, witches, etc, and those who love to write are writing about these things. We tried some whole group spelling, depicting the "at" family. We built "cat", "rat", "hat", "bat", but then other words not associated with Halloween as well such as " mat", "fat", etc. Be sure to ask your child if he or she can spell any of these words!

Thank you

Thanks for your patience as we reorganized the previous two classes into three. Having a class size of 20-22 students is so different and preferable! Thank you so much to those of you who have sent in the voluntary $20 fee. We have split it up appropriately between the old class and the newly formed class. If you wish to still contribute, it is not too late. The money is extremely helpful with the purchase of various craft items and baking materials.

Witches Brew

Anticipating the upcoming season, our water table has been transformed into "Witches Brew"! We have a variety of frogs, bats, spiders, eyeballs, snakes, pumpkins and mini cauldrons. There are eye droppers and tweezers that help the students with fine motor skills as they pick a variety of items. We have a possible "recipe" posted. Students are encouraged to create his or her own recipe after we brainstormed for potential ingredients. 

Library Day for Blue Group

Tomorrow is a library day for the Blue Group.  Many students return their book in the days leading up to library day.  We do not keep track of who brings them back, but keep them safely stored in a library bin.  On the day before library day, we try to remember to put the library reminder slip in your child's Note Tote.  Please do not be alarmed if you get this, and have already returned the book.  For simplicities sake, we simply put one in each Note Tote as we have not kept track of who has returned a book to date.

Mmmmm...pumpkin muffins

With the help of an extra adult (Ainslee's grandma), we made pumpkin muffins today. The pumpkin was already cooked and the dry and wet ingredients were assembled and mixed. Each student then mixed his or her own muffin, put it into the muffin tray and then washed and dried the bowl and spoon. We got the chance to sample them later this afternoon, and all agreed, they were delicious! The blue group will make them tomorrow.

Pumpkin Muffins

4 eggs

2 cups of white sugar

1 1/2 cups of oil

2 cups of pumpkin puree

3 cups of flour

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

2 tsp of baking powder

2 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of salt

2 cups of raisins

Beat eggs slightly, add sugar, oil and pumpkin.  Add the dry ingredients. Mix.  Bake at 350 degrees.  Makes 24 muffins.