Week of February 6, 2026

Apologies for the delay in writing last week’s post. I’ve included two weeks of content together in this blog post to catch us up.

Looking Back:

Literacy:

Phonics:

Last week, we focused on learning and strengthening our understanding of the ou and ow vowel teams. Students explored a variety of words and practiced spelling them by thinking about when to use ou and when to use ow. This week, we learned and refined our understanding of the oi and oy vowel teams. Ask your child if they can share a clue that helps them decide when to use ou or oi compared to ow or oy.

Writing:

Over the last two weeks, we have been learning how to write descriptively. Students identified adjectives to describe the creep or junkyard friend they designed, connecting their ideas to our book Ollie’s Odyssey. They are currently working on a writing piece that includes sequencing and descriptive writing techniques. In this piece, students are attempting to clearly explain how to draw their creep or junkyard friend. They are doing this so that, during conferences, you can use their writing to recreate the creep or junkyard friend they designed.

Reading:

We have finally reached the end of our book Ollie’s Odyssey. Throughout the story, students learned how the characters evolved and changed over time. They were highly engaged in this beautiful book, which is rich with story elements such as different perspectives, text-to-self connections, and cause-and-effect relationships. It truly is a wonderful story that supports many of our reading focuses.

This month, our reading focus is cause and effect. We explored what this means by learning that the cause is why something happens, and the effect is what happens as a result. Students then practiced identifying causes and effects in a variety of sentences.

Math:

We continued to build our understanding of multiplication and division. Students explored the break apart method, a strategy where larger numbers are split into smaller, easier parts to help make multiplying and dividing more manageable.

We learned a fun song set to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” to help us practice the 4s times table, and we used our hands as a helpful trick for multiplying by 9s. Ask your child if they can show you our little trick for the 9 times tables!

Finally, we learned how to properly use a multiplication table to support both multiplication and division. Students practiced this skill by playing a “Bump” game using a deck of cards and counters, making learning both hands-on and engaging.

Science:

We completed our coding unit in science, along with our learning about Earth systems. Students then began a new unit called Energy Systems. They created a title page while learning about different types of forces, including contact and non-contact forces.

We also spent time exploring hands-on science stations focused on the forces of push and pull. Ask your child if they can tell you about some of the stations they explored and which forces they were investigating.

Yesterday, we conducted a science experiment where students created jumping animals using elastic forces. They measured how high their animals jumped and made predictions about how they could modify their designs to achieve greater height.

Social Studies:

In Social Studies, we explored what makes Métis culture distinct and how it contributes to Alberta’s western identity. We began by learning who Métis people are. Students created a title page in their visual journals to share their understanding of who Métis people are to them. We then watched a video that further explained who the Métis people are and their history. After watching the video, students added some of the Métis symbols they identified to their visual journals. We even learned a Métis dance.

Students explored different symbols that give us clues about Métis identity and culture. Finally, we examined 12 different images of Métis storytelling art. Students created a See, Think, Wonder page in their visual journals, where they selected one image to analyze and considered how stories and images help us learn about Métis culture. They observed and identified many of the Métis symbols we had previously discussed within the artwork.

Ask your child what stood out to them the most during this learning.

Looking Ahead:

MTS Reminders - Wednesday February 4

Moving and Planning for 2026-27 If you have moved or are planning to move over the summer months, please notify the school as soon as possible with your new address. For students attending a new CBE school for the fall please ensure the school knows and Transfer Forms have been completed. Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media Use in Schools Just a reminder, K-9 Students are not permitted to use personal mobile devices during the school day. Student devices brought to school must be out of sight and either powered off or set to silent. They should be left in backpacks, lockers or areas designated by teachers or better yet - simply left at home. If your student is feeling ill, they are to speak with their teacher or office to make arrangements for a pick up. For more information, please visit the CBE Website on Personal Mobile Devices at School. Jump Rope for Heart MTS will hold a special event assembly on Tuesday, February 24, 8:30 am, with special guests Max and Mike Pozzo in attendance as well as representatives from the Heart and Stroke Organization. In 2018, when Max was a student at MTS he participated in the Jump Rope for Heart program at our school, where he learned about the signs to look for if someone is having a stroke. Not many 8-year-olds can say they saved a parent's life. Unless your name is Max Pozzo, who knew exactly what to do when his dad Mike suffered a stroke! Max attended a Jump Rope for Heart assembly in 2018 at McKenzie Towne School where he learned the FAST approach to detect whether someone is having a stroke. Five days later, he saved his dad's life by calling 911 because he recognized that his dad was having a stroke. It will be wonderful to have Max and his Dad visit the school again for this special Jump Rope for Heart event – now 8 years later! Help us reach our fundraising goal by donating or register to create your own fundraising page to share with family and friends. Visit our school’s fundraising page to get started. MTS JUMP ROPE FOR HEART Fun Lunch The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday February 25. 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. 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 Upcoming Dates February 11                              Wear Red and Hearts for Valentine's Day February 12 & 13                     Teacher Convention - NO SCHOOL February 16                              Family Day - NO SCHOOL February 24                              Grade 4 Field Trip - Be Brave Hitmen Game February 24                              Jump Rope for Heart Assembly - 8:30am February 25                              Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks Pizza February 25                              PINK Shirt Day February 27                              Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL March 3                                    Sam Centre Field Trip - Penford/Janisse/Massey March 4                                    Sam Centre Field Trip - Pynn/Thomson March 17                                  Wear Green for St. Patrick's Day March 18                                  Fun Lunch - Subway March 19 & 20                          Parent/Teacher Conferences March 19                                  NO SCHOOL for Kindergarten March 20                                  Parent/Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL March 23-27                            Spring Break - NO SCHOOL