Your Weekly Recap

Happy Hallowe'en!!

What a lovely week we have had! In E.L.A., we have begun planning our recounts/biographies about courage/respect. I hope that we can finish these within the next week - or thereabouts - so that we can move on to the next unit, Me(dia) Smart! 

I have really enjoyed my time in Science this week and hope that your student has as well! In Grade 5, we discussed the respiratory system. We built a working model of the lungs and used ourselves as test subjects to determine how exercise or stress affects breathing rate. 

Today we were introduced to the digestive system by my favourite Science teacher Ms. Frizzle and then built models out of ...... candy! 

We even found some prepared slides & microscopes to look at different types of cells!

In Grade 4 we discussed how absolutely amazing plant & animal life can be! We built a food web using ourselves as well as many, many pieces of string. Later in the week, we played a game outside to learn about the importance of balance between the number of producers, herbivores and carnivores in a habitat.

Today we discussed 'special features' of animals and plants - more commonly known as structural adaptations. We tried moving different bird foods (.... some represented by candy) with different instruments including chopsticks and tweezers to represent different beak shapes. We learned that not all instruments worked well for all food types - and then matched different beak shapes to different food types! 

In art, we continue to study shade and tone with our Grade 4s. This week we introduced perspective into the mix! We learned that mountains 'fade into the distance'. We applied this - in addition to some creativity - to create paper-cut landscapes. The students seemed quite interested in creating habitats and then designing animals/plants with special adaptations to live in them - so I think we will start on this shortly!

In Grade 5, I was happy to have the opportunity to work with students to create an Andy Warhol-inspired pop art piece. Most students are showing a great dedication to learning more about the 1960s to better understand the roots of this art movement. I hope next week to be able to balance the WebQuest with more hands-on practice again!

My goodness! How is there more? I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat waiting to know the results of our plants vs. sunlight experiment. I will have to keep you in suspense as our observations continue.... but I must say that Plant B who has been sequestered in the cupboard does not look as sprightly as Plant A.






Finally, a big thank you to all those you helped to make the Hallowe'en Spooktacular Dance such a success! The students & I had a wonderful time and greatly enjoyed all your efforts!

Have a safe & happy weekend!