River Heights’ Review
December 2014
Engaged Thinkers
Learning Activities
Kagan structures can be incorporated into any lesson. Mrs. Kruger uses many
Kagan structures in her music program. In one lesson, to help students practice
note reading, she incorporated Stand Up Hand Up Pair Up. This structure
was used to have the students pair up randomly for an activity. Teachers remind students that drive-byes (where a student walks by/ignores a student
when it is time to pair up) and shadowing, (following a student to ensure they
are the partner) are not allowed.
They then moved into a structure
called Quiz Quiz Trade (pictured
to the left.). This structure is used
well when concepts are being practiced. Each student has a card; in this
lesson the cards had various note
measures. One partner holds up
their card and the other partner answers the question, in the music activity the partner read the notes. The partners then switch roles. Students are allowed to Tip, Tip, Teach if their partner
requires assistance. The next activity was to join two groups to make a group
of four. The students then laid out their cards and each student read their
card. After practicing ,each group performed for the class.
The basic principles of Kagan structures can be remembered by the acronym PIES:
P = Positive Interdependence (students
working together in a positive manner)
I = Individual Accountability (each student is accountable for his or her own
achievement/contribution)
E = Equal Participation (everyone participates, everyone learns)
S = Simultaneous Interaction (many
students participate in the structures at once)

Dec. 2nd— K2 Skating, 2F/2K
Skating, 2/3W and 3O Skating

Dec. 3rd—4P/4R Skating

Dec. 4th—Earth Rangers Show

Dec. 5th—Last day for Tree of
Hope donations

Dec. 8th—2F at Medalta

Dec. 10th—2K at Medalta, 5S
and 5K Skating

Dec. 11th—2F and 2K at
Medalta, Winter Village 6-8pm

Dec. 12th—PD Day—No
school for students

Dec. 16th—Gr. 6 Skating

Dec. 17th—Gr. 5
Immunizations, Gr. 1 skating,
K1 skating

Dec. 18th—Christmas Sing-aLong (2-3pm)

Dec. 19th—Noon dismissal

Dec. 20th—Jan. 4th—
Christmas Break
Hot Lunch
Friday , Dec.5 – Taco in a Bag &
Tutti Frutti
Thursday, Dec .11 – Pizza 73 &
Smoothies
Thursday, Dec .18 – Skinny’s
BBQ Smokehouse
The 10 Cross-Curricular Competencies
Key Understandings for “Know how to learn “
Taken from: http://erlc.ca/resources/resources/cross_curricular_competencies_overview/documents/
cross_curricular_comptencies_overview.pdf
While learning how to learn, students…

Develop the values of work ethic, self-reliance and responsibility

Use self-reflection to inform life-long learning, career and wellness choices

Use community and personal resources to support personal growth and well-being

Assess skills, knowledge, attitudes and values for possible application in various roles and contexts

Integrate career development and personal well-being into lifelong learning
In a Framework for Student Learning
Alberta Education describes a crosscurricular competency as an interrelated
set of attitudes, skills and knowledge that
are drawn upon and applied to a particular context for successful learning and
living. They are developed by every students, in every grade and across every
subject/discipline area.
A. Know how to learn
B. Think Critically
Self-reflection
Reflection is an important part of learning at River Heights
as students throughout the grade levels reflect on their
learning. Through this process the students identify their
strengths and areas in which they can improve. At times
students use de Bono's 6 Thinking Hats to reflect. An example is the teacher may ask the students to use their yellow
hat to think about the good points of the activity/project
or the feelings about a certain topic, such as oil spills.
C. Identify and solve complex problems
E. Innovate
The Sixth Thinking Hats help students filter information so
they can view an issue through a particular lens.
F. Create opportunities
Black Hat—Weaknesses. What is wrong with this?
G. Apply multiple literacies
Red Hat—Feelings. What are my feelings about this?
D. Manage information
H. Demonstrate good communication skills
and the ability to work cooperatively
with others
Yellow Hat—Strengths. What are the good points?
Green Hat—Creativity/New Ideas. What is possible?
I.
Demonstrate global and cultural understanding
White Hat—Information. What are the facts?
J.
Identify and apply career and life skills
Blue Hat—Metacognition. Thinking about my thinking.
What thinking is needed?
Reflection to Inform Learning
Student Led-Conferences were held on November
25th and 26th. These evenings provided parents with
the opportunity to spend time with their child(ren) as
the child(ren) shared their learning with their parents.
Pictured to the left is a Kindergarten student sharing
her portfolio with her dad. The Kindergarten students
use CATS to self-assess their work.
Pictured to the left: a kindergarten student explains
how the CATS are used in their reflection/
self-assessment.
“The first one means you're just starting to
learn.
The next one, you're getting there.
The next one, you can do it every time
good.
The wow cat is usually when you can even
help others!”
Pictured to the right is a grade four student sharing her portfolio with her mom. The
grade four classes, as well as
many other classes, are using
portfolios in their classrooms to
document student growth. As self
-assessment is a common practice at River Heights, the grade
four students use the same descriptors as our report card; Beginning, Approaching, Developing
and Meeting. Students appreciate the opportunity to self-assess
their work and explain why they
assessed themselves they way
they did.
Engaged Citizens
Grade 1 students participated in a Quiz Paraphrase Quiz Paraphrase
Trade Activity to review sight words. The first question students asked
their partner was “What word is this”. The second question was “How
do you know that it is …?”. This follow-up question provided the students with an opportunity to share their thinking and literacy understanding, which moves the activity to a higher-level thinking activity.
One answer that was shared with their partner was “I know that wh
makes a “wh” sound, and the “e” on the end makes the vowel say
its name so I know the word is white”. The other partner paraphrased, which ensured they were actively listening and helps them
remember the word by repeating what their partner answered. After
each partner had a turn at reading a word and explaining their
thinking, the partners thanked each other and high fived each other or did a different Kagan
cheer. Ask your child(ren) which Kagan cheer is their favourite.
After working with several partners, all the students gathered in a Community Circle and had an
opportunity to reflect on the activity. They put on their “Yellow Thinking Hat” and used the sentence starter “I like the way …”. Examples of answers were “some people were giving me clues
and not saying the word”, “how people paraphrased, when they did paraphrase it made me
feel good” or “people helped me with my words”. Reflecting on an activity or their learning is a
critical piece of learning at River Heights.
On November 25th students participated in the first session of their option program to “Explore” the topic. The various sessions offered are: Christmas cards, Mindfulness, Plasticine Art, Tork Time, Visual Journaling, Winter Olympics, Creative Creations, Fitness and Exercise, Puppetry, Fun with Ropes and Knots,
Christmas Science Experiments, Lego Robotics, Leaders for a Day, and Floor Hockey. The “Create” sessions take place on Dec. 2 and 9th, with the “Reflect” session on December 16th.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Entrepreneurial Spirit: one who creates opportunities and achieves
goals through hard work, perseverance and discipline; who
strives for excellence and earns success; who explores ideas and
challenges the status quo; who is competitive, adaptable and
resilient; and who has the confidence to take risks and make bold
“If you are not part of
the solution, you are
part of the problem.”
Eldridge Cleaver
decisions in the face of adversity.
The grade five students were the magazine fundraiser winners of
the dodge ball game against staff and special guests, Tiger’s
hockey players. Eleven Tiger players represented the team. Pictured to the left, many of the grade five students were in the
“swamp”. The staff, the Tiger players, and the grade five students
enjoyed themselves.
Ethical Citizens
Student Leadership has been busy planning school activities with a Christmas theme. Spirit Week will take place
the week of December 15-19th. Students will be notified about each day’s theme as posters will be in the hallways
and we will have daily announcements as reminders. We will be having a Christmas Assembly on December 18th
from 2-3pm. Various classes and students in Student Leadership will be performing, Student Leadership will be
sharing information on the history of Christmas Carols and we will have a school sing-a-long. If you are able to,
please join us in this activity. We will also be selling “Candy-Cane Grams” which can be sent to students attending
any MHSD #76 school. Students can purchase Candy-Cane Grams at recess time the week of December 8-11th
and December 15th and 16th for $0.50 each.
River Heights staff, students and families do a wonderful job
of teaming up to support families in our community. Once
again River Heights is participating in the Salvation Army
Tree of Hope. If you are wanting to donate an item to the
Tree of Hope, please collect a tag from the tree and have
the unwrapped gift (with the tag attached) at River Heights
by December 5th. The Tree of Hope is located outside the
office. We have been told that there is always an extra need
for gifts for the older children.
We are also collecting non-perishable food items. These can
be dropped off in the boxes across from the office.
Thank you for your support in helping our community.
Parental Connections
Parent Council
Welcome to December!! So far, we have been very lucky with the weather,
not too many cold, cold days yet…but of course, winter is still young …
We just wanted to congratulate the students of River Heights for their
amazing hard work that went into the Remembrance Day Assembly. It was a
real pleasure to watch the emotion not only on the students’ faces, but also
to feel the emotion throughout the gym. A job well done!!
Coming up right around the corner is Winter Village. Please join River Heights Parent Council
and the staff of River Heights School Thursday, December 11th from 6-8pm at the school. This is a
fun filled, family oriented evening where every classroom will be transformed into “shops” with a
different activity awaiting inside, while on the outside of the classes, along the “street”, you will experience the magic of the season through local talent, and find warm drinks to sip and treats to enjoy. The success of the evening depends heavily on parental volunteers; when you are called upon
to volunteer by your child’s class rep, we ask you to please help out if you can. Thank you!!
Our movie night that was originally planned for Friday, November 21st unfortunately had to
be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We thank you for your understanding, and we will
keep you updated on the rescheduling of this event.
The Skate-A-Thon is quickly approaching in February, and we are still looking for someone to
head up this event. River Heights Parent Council benefits from the funds that are donated during
this event, as we turn around and put that money towards field trips and other learning experiences for our students. The other part of the money goes to The Kinsmen Club, and is used towards
free family skating and swimming among other activities provided by The Kinsmen Club. Please
contact Parent Council if you are interested in helping out with this event in any way. Thank you.
Our next Parent Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 3rd at 7:30 p.m. in
the Library Commons. Following the meeting, we will have snacks and punch and time to mingle.
Please join us if you can. Please note that there is no Parent Council meeting in January, but we
will resume our monthly meetings in February.
Christmas Vacation is close upon us…we wish you a safe and happy holiday season whether
you are travelling far or staying close to home. We wish you endless sledding and mugs of hot
chocolate this winter holiday and the whole season through!! We hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with magic and memories!! Merry Christmas to you and yours…
Melissa, Lisa, Janine and Randi
Community Information