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January was a busy but exciting month for our class.  We completed the study of Christmas Around the World and we were amazed at the similarities/differences of the celebrations in the different countries.

We were so excited to have Michael Kusugak and Jerry visit our school to tell stories of the Great White North.  Jerry showed us many objects, clothing and toys that people have in Nunavut.  The Chinese New Year began in January and we were learning about the significance of the fifteen days celebration.  The students experienced the importance and meaning of the Year of the Rat, tray of Togetherness, Oranges ad Red Envelopes.

We now look forward to all the exciting learning activities that will take place in February.  I Love to Read month and our 100 th Day celebration of working with numbers will be our focus!

​We just celebrated our 50 th Day in Kindergarten, marking the halfway point to the school year! We had an exciting day full of learning about numbers. Our 50 th Day started by making crowns to wear, letting everyone know that we were having a celebration. Our 5/6 buddies from Mrs. Harding's room helped us with our number hunt. We had to search for all the numbers from 1-50 up and down the hallways. We found the number 50 on Norma! Mrs. Stansell made delicious cookies that we got to decorate with the numbers 1-50. We decided to share the cookies with our buddies to say 'thank you'. We are looking forward to the next 50 days in Kindergarten! 

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The Grade 7-8s in Mr. Ewert's class have had a very busy month of January to ensure that we have swift and focused start to the new year.  Students have done a great job of getting back in the swing of things and are already showing positive results.

In English Language Arts we have been working on studying Animal Farm by George Orwell covering many topics including, political models, satire, allegories, propaganda, revolution, foreshadowing, narrative voice, and much more.  Students have been reading, discussing and writing many responses to show their learning.  We will be following our novel up with our second formal essay of the year in the coming month.  Also, don't forget that it is I Love to Read Month and we are busy with that each day.

We have also been hard at work on our Writer's Workshop projects with our third formal publication complete and posted on our student blogs.  Be sure to log into our class blog at https://mrewert.edublogs.org/ , then click on the individual student blogs to read all the amazing works that our students are creating.

In Social Studies we have been comparing our Animal Farm discussions to the different systems and forms of government present in history and around the world.  Students had a mini-unit of instruction and completed a formal quiz showing their learning.  We found it interesting that it is possible for a government  to have several forms within it such as socialist programs within a democracy that is also considered a constitutional monarchy (ask your son or daughter for an example of this).

In Science we have been studying identity of rocks, the rock cycle, and the Earth's Crust.  Students have been sorting rocks in relation to the rock cycle.  They have been discussing the structure of the Earth's crust.  Students are learning larger concepts such as convection currents and how they shift the surface of the Earth, where earthquakes originate, how the Earth changes over time and much more.

Math has been a prime focus this past month as we are in the season of assessments.  With formal assessments due at the school, division, and provincial levels just around the corner students have been brushing up on all their essential Math outcomes with key focus on square/roots, decimals, integers, and fractions.  Students have been diligent efforts and are showing clear evidence of their progress.  We are proud of our growing Math ability.  Ask you son or daughter to show you their current Math concepts; to teach is to deepen our own understanding.

In addition to all our academics grade 7-8 is hard at work in all their extra-curricular activities including, dance clubs, basketball teams, study hall, knitting club, fitness club, Young Philanthropists Club, student council, track, and our new yoga club.  There are even more things going on in our school all the time, but as you can see, they are almost too numerous to mention.  We keep our students busy here at AEMS as you can never engage a young mind enough!

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We have been a busy bunch since we returned to school after our break.  We have been learning so many new things.  We have had great fun completing activities and experiments that are helping us learn and understand the properties of light in science.  We were so excited to use our flashlights to make shadows and rainbows in the classroom!

February is upon us and that means so is "I Love to Read" month.  We have a full month of various activities including reading buddies, wear clothing with words days, pajama day and guest readers.  We will have the opportunity to read and hear many great stories throughout the month!  If you have time to come and read to us this month we would greatly appreciate it.  We LOVE when we have guests that come and read to us!

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." – Dr. Seuss