Dear Parents

We have had a busy week reflecting on our week at City Hall School and preparing to present our Celebration of Learning artifacts. 

-Reminders: Our grade 1 Celebration of Learning will be on May 28, 2025 from 9:00-9:30 am.  All grade 1’s will gather in Room 15 (Mrs. Kosior’s classroom) to share some of the highlights from all of our learning that has connected to City Hall School.  You will then have some time to explore and engage with your child, as they share some artifacts of their learning.  We hope you will be able to join us.  Grandparents are welcome too.  

-Sibbald’s Got Talent!  Our classroom Talent Show will be on Thursday afternoon.  This is an opportunity for any students who have prepared and practiced a skill or talent to share that with their peers.  From our classroom talent show we will submit 2 entries to our school wide talent show which will be on June 6 at 10 am.  Please note that you are able to make a video submissio to my email at cakosior@cbe.ab.ca.  Also please have all materials at school for your child to perform their talent on Thursday May 29.  Thank you!

Preparation for Celebration of Learning

This week we have been busy capturing our thoughts and creating our artifacts of learning.  Not to give too much away…please take a look at our sneak peek of pictures from this time.

Math

In math we have been working on more complex problems involving addition and subtraction.  You can use this summary as background information to support your child’s work in math.  

Learning Intentions:

I can solve addition and subtraction problems using a variety of strategies.

Solving Problems Involving Addition

Students might use any of these strategies to solve problems involving addition:

•	working with concrete models, such as 10-frames, number paths, or counters
•	counting on
•	relating an unknown situation to a known one

For example, if students realize that 5 + 5 is 10, they might solve 6 + 5 by thinking of it as 1 more than 5 + 5.

---

Solving Problems Involving Subtraction

Students might use any of these strategies to solve problems involving subtraction:

•	working with concrete models, such as 10-frames, number paths, or counters
•	counting on or counting back
•	relating an unknown situation to a known one

For example, if students realize that 10 – 5 is 5, then they might think of 10 – 6 as 1 less than 10 – 5 because you are taking away 1 more or because the space from 6 to 10 on a number path is 1 less than the space from 5 to 10.

---

Solving Problems With Many Steps

Some of the problems students will experience in this topic involve situations that combine addition and subtraction.

For example, if you had 8 counters and then got 4 more and then someone took 5 away, how many counters would you have?

•	You could think about 8 + 4 first, which is 12. Then you could think about 12 – 5, which is 7.
•	But you might realize that you are taking away 1 more than you add, so you would end up in the same place if you simply took 1 away from 8. 8 − 1 is 7.

Literacy

This week, we continue to look at word endings.  We learned about Y say I at the end of 1-syllable words.  This can be tricky!  The following is some home practice you may use to support your child’s learning.

May 12 - 16

 Dear Parents,

After our successful week at City Hall School it was nice to get back into our own home classroom and return to our routines.

Please note we will be having a Celebration of Learning centered around our City Hall School work on May 28.  Please stay tuned for more information. 

Social Studies and Literacy

We have been hard at work reflecting back on our week at City Hall School and beginning to document our connection to the places that we visited.  Students reflected on their favorite places they visited and began to plan their story of the place they felt most connected to in their downtown community.

Learning Intentions:

• I can examine how I belong and am connected to the world.

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect to my family and community to the present.

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect my family and community to the present.

• I can examine ways that messages can be organized and presented for different purposes.

• I can develop listening and speaking skills through sharing stories and information.

• I can create messages through the application of writing processes.

Math

This week we returned to looking at subtraction and subtraction strategies.  The following is a summary of key ideas your child is learning.  

Subtracting by Counting Back

•	When you know a total amount and you want to figure out how many are left when you take some away, you can count back from the total. For example, if there are 14 birds and 6 fly away, you can count back to see how many birds are left: 13 (after the first bird flies away), 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8. Note that when you count this way, you say one number for each bird that flies away. You can keep track with your fingers to make sure you say the correct number of numbers. The number of birds remaining is the last number you say.
•	If you wish, you can count back by 2s and say 12, 10, and 8 as you think of 2 birds flying away at a time.
•	You can represent the situation on a bar model like this: The bar model shows that there were 14 birds in total; one part (the birds that flew away) was 6, and the other part (the birds that stayed) was 8.
•	You can count back to subtract the part you know from the total. For example, if there were 14 birds and now there are 8, you can count back 6 numbers from 14 to figure out how many birds flew away: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8. You said 6 numbers and ended on 8, so you know that 6 birds flew away.
•	You can count back until you get to the part you know to figure out the part you don’t know. For example, if there were 14 birds and now there are 6, you can count back from 14 until you get to 6. The number of numbers you say is the number of birds that flew away: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. You ended up at 6. You said 8 numbers, so you know that 8 birds flew away.

---

Subtracting by Counting On

•	Sometimes you know a total and a part, and you want to figure out the other part. This can be done by counting forward, or counting on, from the part you know. For example, suppose there are 14 people coming for dinner. If you know there are 6 plates on the table, you could count on from 6 to 14 to figure out how many more plates you need. It’s not the last number that you say that tells you how many more you need; it is how many numbers you say. You can keep track with your fingers. In this case, you said 8 numbers, so you need 8 more plates.
•	You can count on by 1s or 2s. If you count by 2s, you need 2 plates for every number you say.
•	You can represent the situation on a bar model like this:
•	Even though you are counting on, you are actually still subtracting the part you know from the total: 14 − 6.

---

Helping Your Child

It is useful for children to continue to practise counting on and also to practise counting back from numbers less than 20. Some practice in counting on by 2s (not starting at 1) is also useful, but do this only when the child is ready.

Your child can practise at any time. For example, you can say, “Count on from 6,” “Let’s count back from 15,” or “Can you count back from 10 by 2s?”

Literacy

This week we continue to look at word endings.  We review ED endings, sorting words based on the sound each ed ending makes.  The following is some home practice you may use to support your child’s learning.

May 5-9

 Dear Parents,

Words can not express how wonderful a week we have had at City Hall School.  Thank you to our many volunteers who came along to support our work this week.  Without you, we would not have been able to do it! 

Please look below to hear about our week and the impactful learning we participated in. Share the photos with your child and ask them to explain the stories they uncovered in our city. At the end of the month, a celebration of learning will be happening to recognize and share our good work and learning from our City Hall School Experience.  

City Hall School

Monday

Question of the day

What is the story of the land?

Highlights

We began our week exploring the land at the Confluence, where the story of our city began.  We moved along the river valley, and the children had a chance to explore the four directions from the Confluence. We had the opportunity to explore the playground at the Open as well as the natural spaces at St. Patrick's Island. We walked over 7km that day!

Tuesday

Question of the day

How does the story of this place contribute to our identity?

Highlights

On Tuesday we spent the day in the City Hall School Classroom with some experts from our city.  In the morning we learned about the purpose of public art in our city.  We met with a local artist Michelle Ku.  She is a muralist whose art appears childlike and was so engaging for the students.  She shared her experience growing up as a child, how she creates art, and how she thinks and engages in her art.

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with some people from urban planning. They discussed how communities and their members can contribute to the building and naming of new neighborhoods.

Wednesday

Question of the day

How does the story of this place contribute to our identity?

Highlights

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to meet with Mayor Gontek and Councillor Peter Demong.  We were thrilled to to share with them who we are as students from Andrew Sibbald, spend some time hearing about how they listen, participate and lead our city,  and were able to ask some questions. We also had the opportunity to explore the Central Library and discover more pieces of public art.

Thursday
Question of the day

How can perspective shape our understanding of ourselves?

Highlights

On Thursday, we were fortunate to participate in a City Council meeting.  We were honoured to be introduced by the council and recognized by the audience.  We later explored historic Stephen Avenue and spent time at the unique space of Devonian Gardens. We walked 6 km this day!

Friday

Question of the day

How can a shared experience shape our identity?

Highlights

On Friday, we had the opportunity to look more closely at the the Attirium of City Hall as well as the outside area around City Hall.  We found so many artifacts and gifts to the city that contribute to and tell the story of our city and its people.  

Learning intentions:

Social Studies

• I can examine how I belong and am connected to the world.

• I can determine what makes my communities thrive. 

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect to my family and community to the present:

• I can appreciate how stories and events of the past connect my family and community to the present.

• I can analyze how families and communities in the present are influenced by events or people of the past. 

Language Arts

• I can examine ways that messages can be organized and presented for different purposes.

• I can develop listening and speaking skills through sharing stories and information.

• I can create messages through the application of writing processes.  

Wellness

• I can examine personal characteristics, feeling and emotions and explore understand of self. 

Science

• I can discuss the responsibilities to care for environments is shared by all peoples and is fulfilled by showing respect for and protecting all aspects of nature.  

• For First Nations, Metis, and Inuit, a sense of responsibility towards nature can be connected to place and traditional teaching for future generations, such as taking only what is needed.