Connaught School's Grade 3/4 Classroom Blog

This week Ms. Jaques' and Ms. Sinclair's classes went on a field trip to the Lougheed House on 13th Avenue. (Next week the rest of the 3/4s will get to go as well.) Before we went we did some research about Calgary's history, and James & Isabelle Lougheed's lives, at the amazing Canadian Virtual Museum website HERE . The Lougheed House was built in 1891. At that time, Calgary was very small, it didn't have very many buildings. The population was only 100! Lady Belle advertised for Calgary and tried to get more people to move here. At the time the Lougheed House was on the outskirts of Calgary and there were no buildings around it. Sir James and Lady Isabelle Lougheed are known for helping Calgary grow. James was knighted after World War 1 for helping Britain win the war. Lady Belle was Metis. Metis people are people of two cultures - European and Indigenous. Lady Belle's mother was Metis, and her father was English. She spent a lot of her life hi...

This week, in teams of two or three, students researched and presented on a famous structure. They explored the purpose behind building the structure, when it was built, where it can be found in the world, and many other facts about why it is unique. Teams then used resources from our Maker Cart to represent their structure and highlight its most unique features. Here are our creations:

It may have been a chilly week in Calgary, but in Connaught, students were on fire with creativity! During our science time we got messy by building bridges using various materials... some worked better than others! Ask your child what materials they found to be the best. We tested many types of structures and discovered that the taller/skinnier a structure was, the less weight it could support. Our shortest and sturdiest buildings supported 3 glue-sticks while our tallest could only support 1. We also explored different types and categories of structures... can you name the three types of structures? (Support, Span, and Contain) Finally, we looked at some famous structures around the world. What structure is your child presenting on? In Social Studies we are preparing for our trip to the Lougheed House (if you would like to join us, email your child's teacher). We have explored who Lady Belle was and why the house is a significant landmark in Calgary. We have also be...

Students have been learning about the six regions of Alberta in more detail. Students have been exploring various resources to document their knowledge in their visual journals of the following categories:  landforms bodies of water animals recreation vegetation  Students engaged in an activity titled "caption this" where they wrote a brief explanation of various photos. Students were tasked with creating juicy descriptions using quotation marks. Parents please ask your child when does a writer use quotation marks and why? Later we will be turning these captions into interesting paragraphs! Students please share which caption you wrote with your parents.  We have started gymnastics in physical education, students have engaged in various stations using the equipment such as balance beams and ladders to practice strength, flexibility and balance control.  We have been practicing our multi digit subtraction. We are learning, the sta...

Welcome back to a new year and a new decade!  We are so thrilled to welcome back all Connaught students!  Thinking ahead ten years, students shared what direction their lives will take at the end of the decade when they will be 18, 19 and 20.  It was exciting for them to imagine that they all will have graduated in 2030! This term promises to be engaging and enriching as we explore the curriculum with guest speakers, special projects and field trips.  Throughout January and early February, each of our classes will visit Lougheed House as part of a walking field trip to explore the life of Lady Belle.  Lady Belle was the first lady of Lougheed House, wife of James Lougheed, and entertained many royal and special guests at their manor and gardens here in the Beltline. Students will use artifacts to enhance their understanding of the life of this extraordinary change maker of Alberta. Watch for volunteer opportunities from your child's teacher. We are also en...