Week of November 28, 2025

Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to attend parent conferences. It was wonderful getting to know all of you, and I look forward to continuing to build a strong home-school connection to support your child throughout the year.

Looking Back:

Literacy:

Grammar:

Students began exploring adjectives this week. They learned what adjectives are and practiced identifying them in sentences. They also moved around the classroom in a Scoot style activity, reading different sentences and spotting the adjectives in each one.

Novel Study:
We continued reading Ollie’s Odyssey and following the adventures of Billy and Ollie, including meeting some mysterious new characters called the Creeps. Ask your child who the Creeps are, how they come to life, and who created them. Students also continued learning about forming opinions. After reading, they answered the question, Do grown-ups remember their favourite childhood toys, and supported their opinions with clear reasons. At home, please share your own favourite childhood toy… if you remember it!

Writing:

We continued our opinion writing unit this week. Each day, we shared a meme of the day, and students challenged themselves to use the word of the day in their written opinions about it. We focused on the key elements of strong opinion writing, beginning with an introduction that includes a clear hook. Students learned that a hook can be created by asking a question, sharing an interesting fact, or using a quote. They then developed the body of their writing by giving reasons and explaining each one. Finally, they practiced writing a conclusion that restates the opinion and summarizes the key points. We began with a shared class example, and by Wednesday, the students were writing their own complete opinion pieces.

Math:

We continued building our understanding of multidigit addition and subtraction with regrouping. Thank you to those who completed the homework page I sent home. That page was meant to show that the concepts are a review from grade 2. In grade 3, students simply build on their two-digit regrouping skills and apply the same steps across more place values. They learned that they just repeat the process as they move through each place. Please continue to support your child at home by helping them build fluency with addition facts and strategies so they can feel confident when adding and subtracting.

Social Studies:

Students have been adding the finishing touches to their Regions of Alberta fact booklet. They gathered five interesting facts and created an artistic rendition of the region they studied. Our next task is to choose their favourite region so we can have some fun with it over the coming weeks. We will also be moving into our study of famous landmarks soon, which should be exciting for everyone.

Science:

We continued our research on several dinosaurs this week. Students have been working on their dinosaur trading cards and many are completing their final details. On Thursday afternoon we learned how paleontologists study dinosaur fossils and use that information to imagine what a dinosaur may have looked like. It was a fascinating look into how scientists bring ancient creatures to life through careful investigation.

Looking Ahead:

Food Support

Did you know that the Breakfast Club of Canada has shared research demonstrating that 40% of Alberta’s children experience food insecurity?  This means that 4 out of 10 children do not have access to food when they are hungry. 

If your family is experiencing challenges with providing food for your children, you can find help at Brown Bagging Calgary. 

Complete this form for support and they can deliver lunches to McKenzie Towne School for your children. https://go.bb4ck.org/l/858913/2024-01-15/38fdbw You can also find out more information on their website https://bb4ck.org/

Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids

Book Fair

Owl’s Nest Book Fair is in full swing!!

Students will have the opportunity to browse and purchase books during school hours throughout the week. Families are also invited to join us for our Family Shopping Events:

Thursday, November 27th — 3:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Friday, November 28th — 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. McLean at tlmclean@cbe.ab.ca.

We can’t wait to share the joy of reading with our McKenzie Towne community!

Fun Lunch

Fun Lunch is only for grades 1-4 and our EES students. 

• Go to healthyhunger.ca
• Log into you existing account or create a new one.
• Add your child’s information in the “add child” box – name, province, city, school, grade and class.
• All Fun Lunches will then populate – select the order now button!

Please make sure to send a morning snack with your child on Fun Lunch Days. Orders must be placed by the Friday before the day.

The Magic of Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, The Magic of Christmas loads up Calgary Transit buses that are magically transformed into “reindeer buses”, with hundreds of gifts and volunteers dressed as Santa and his elves.  Then they deliver Christmas spirit into the homes and hearts of those who need it most. 

From now to December 18, students and staff can bring in a new, unwrapped donation items (not food) and place them in the boxes located in the front foyer.  

Please see the attached wish list for ideas of items to donate. 

For more information or to make a monetary donation, please visit:  www.themagicofchristmas.org/donate 

Thank you for your support!

Upcoming Dates

November 27 & 28                  Parent/Teacher Conferences

November 28                          NO SCHOOL

December 3                             Heritage Park Field Trip - Bossenberry's Class

December 8                             Picture Retakes

December 11                           Grade 1 Winter Concert - 1:30pm

December 17                           Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

December 22 - January 2        Winter Break - NO SCHOOL