Celebration of Learning

Thank you for joining me in celebrating your student's successes on Friday! I had such a positive experience watching and listening to the discussions, experiments and explanations our students were conducting.  Please enjoy this short recap of the day's events ... My apologies if I missed your family but my phone was uncooperative for part of the day (perhaps it didn't feel like celebrating).

This Week's Recap

What a busy week we have had! In E.L.A. this week, we introduced the idea of a persuasive text - the essay. We have learned some pretty gross statistics about hand washing in an attempt to back up our opinion that 'It is essential to wash your hands'.  Next week, we will write an essay about hand washing together to practice. We also created some beautiful emotive word cards that highlight how the same idea - fun, for example - can be expressed in a positive way 'entertaining' and a negative 'boisterous'. This will help us to be more persuasive in our writing.

In Social Studies, Grade 4s have begun a biography of a First Nations or Metis leader from pre-Confederation after discussing the importance of language in communication (the perfect occasion for charades!) Grade 5s have begun studying the physical regions of Canada. We are hopeful that we can find one person from each physical region to Skype with us so that we can learn more about our country! So far, we have all but two regions covered!

This afternoon, we had the pleasure of listening to the 'It's a Spring Thing' oratory event. Our class was represented by two fantastic speakers, pictured below. Way to go Ava & Cassandra! 

I must say, I think the highlight for some students was likely Wednesday afternoon ... and their Menchies treat! They were certainly excited!

Tomorrow, we will have our Celebration of Learning. Drop by our classroom anytime from 9-12 and from 1-3:30 to explore what students have been studying. We have experiments, math activities and even an online assignment for you to check out! Stay as long - or short - as you like and feel free to ask questions anytime. 

Important upcoming events: 

• Monday, March 30: Grade 5 Math test
• Tuesday, March 31: Artist Project due
• Thursday, April 2: Swimming (1-2 pm) *We will be walking to the pool*
• Friday, April 3: Good Friday (No school)
• Monday, April 6-10: Spring holidays (No school)
• Monday, April 13: School resumes

This Week's Recap

What a busy but productive week! Report cards were sent home yesterday afternoon with your students after a lovely afternoon of swimming and helping our Kindergarten buddies paint with shaving cream! Somehow, though, it did seem like we managed to paint ourselves more than our cloud pictures....

This week, we began our new Social Studies units. Grade 4s are examining First Nations in Saskatchewan prior to European arrival and, next week, will begin looking at the push and pull factors that led to different groups' arrivals. Grade 5s are studying the Canadian identity. This week, they helped to make a Canadian slang dictionary and looked at symbols of Canadian identity. Next week, they will begin studying the geographic regions of Canada. 

I am very excited about these units! Why? We are using Google Classroom as a tool for learning this term. I am able to upload instructions, information sheets, videos, pictures, even soundtracks for your students in addition to editable worksheets. This means that Grade 5s, fro example, can work independently, at their own pace, on these items while I work with Grade 4s. students, thus far, are more focused and engaged in content, which means I spend less time reminding and more time teaching!  I have told students they can bring a USB to school to listen to music during their time on Google Classroom.

Grade 5s have constructed a store in our classroom and have used it to continue adding and subtracting decimals to thousandths. We are wrapping up our unit on fractions and decimals this week, so a test will be upcoming shortly. 

Next week, on Friday, our classroom will be open for our Celebration of Learning. Our classroom will be open from  9-12 in the morning and 1-3.30 in the afternoon. Please feel free to stop by at your convenience to explore what your student has been learning and celebrate his/her/their success! I will be available for specific questions during these times. 

Please be aware of the following next week: 

• Grade 4 Health projects due on Monday
• Menchies delivery on Wednesday afternoon
• 'It's a Spring Thing' School Oratory from 1-3.30 pm on Thursday
• City Basketball Finals (Girls @ 6:15 pm, Boys @ 7:45 pm) on Thursday
• Celebration of Learning on Friday (no school this day)
• Grade 4/5 Artist Study projects due the following Monday

Important Links

These links may be helpful in completing work at home: 

eText Sign In

Google Classroom

This Week's Recap

Okay, okay - Last week's recap. Sorry for the slow posting, but I've been experimenting with Google Classroom this weekend! Your student will come home with more information this evening. Basically, it's an online system that allows students to complete worksheets individually and collaboratively. It allows me to organize & upload all lesson materials, set deadlines and (impressively) to see immediately what work has been completed & submitted!

Briefly, this week please be aware of the following:

• Menchies orders sent home Monday evening. Due on Friday
• Science test sent home on Monday
• Speech presentations on Monday
• Dress in Green Day is Tuesday
• Swimming on Friday
• Reports home on Friday
• 'It's a Spring Thing' whole-school oratory in the gym, March 26 1-3 pm
• Next Friday, March 27 will be our Celebration of Learning day. Feel free to drop by the classroom from 9:00 - 12:00 & 1:00 to 3:30 to see what we have to celebrate!
• Swimming on April 2
• April 3-10 is Spring Break

This Week's Recap

What a short, but wonderful week celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday! We have enjoyed all sorts of interesting entertainment including making Wacky Recipes based on Green Eggs & Ham, writing persuasive paragraphs about the Cat in the Hat and even making Oreo green eggs & ham (see below). In our paragraphing this week, we have focused on colour-coding to make sure that our sentences have:

• A topic sentence (green);
• Three star ideas (yellow);
• An explanation or extra details about each star idea (red); and, 
• A concluding sentence (green).

Please remember the following upcoming dates: 

• March 10 Skating & Grade 5 speeches due
• March 12 Skating
• March 13 Science test
• March 16 Speech/poem presentations & Menchies orders sent home
• March 20 Reports sent home
• March 27th Celebration of Learning (no regular classes this day. Students come anytime between 9:00 -12:00 and 1:00-3:30 to show you what we've been learning about!)

With regard to skating, if any parents are able to tie skates that would be greatly appreciated! We are also looking for parent volunteers to pick up and/or drop off the skate rentals from the Sport Venture library. Pick-ups have to be made around 12:30 and, unfortunately, this is not feasible with lunchrooms. Please email if you are available to help.

Dr. Seuss Week Begins!

It was supposed to be a day, but - due to popular demand - we now have Dr. Seuss Week! This will coincide nicely with Wacky Hair Day on Wednesday.

Today, we made Thing hats, thought about All The Places We'll Go and made wacky recipes after reading Green Eggs & Ham. What a fantastic day! Tomorrow we'll continue on our quest to explore our creative sides. For now, though, here's a recipe you might (not) like to try this evening:

The I-Shake

Great for hot days!

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups of orange camel milk
• 12 who who ice cubes
• 1 green, slimy egg
• 1 cup of non-gravity cream
• 1-2 Ilhans (10-11 years in age)
• Cinnamon (optional)

Method: 
Step 1: Plug in your blender to warm up (mine is a little grumpy)
Step 2: Add your 3 cups of orange camel milk and non-gravity cream. Blend until mixed. 
Step 3: Add in your slimy egg. 
Step 4: Chop/dice your Ilhan (ahhhh!) and crush your ice. 
Step 5: Add those ingredients to the blender and mix until creamy. 
Step 6: Pour your I-Shake into your cup and add cinnamon (optional). 

Now you're all set for a hot day!

And here's a lovely piece of writing about places you might like to visit:

Oh, The Places I'll Go...

I will travel to India and I will go there because I could dance far and wide. I will go to Ireland! I will try new foods, new flavours of greatness - Oh, the places I will go. 

Then there would be a place called France with fresh baked croissants and yummy baguettes. Oh, the places I may go! 

I will reach San Francisco and enjoy the beautiful sun! Oh the places I wish I can go!

I will come back to Regina and think, "Where else may I go?"

This Week's Recap

Preface: Sorry for the late posting this week. Apparently it helps when you remember to hit 'Publish' on a Friday afternoon. My apologies!

Finally - 15 minutes outside this afternoon! What a fantastic way to end our week! It certainly does get a little less peaceful (only a little, mind you) during indoor recesses.

This week in E.L.A., we have continued our literature circles. It is lovely to hear the ideas and clever reasonings of your students in a small-group setting. We have also discussed different aspects of speaking, including hand gestures, body position and volume, by reciting silly sentences in front of the class. We have begun a new paragraph writing unit in preparation for expository writing. Students have been practicing their handwriting during this time - and I must say there is some lovely penmanship examples emerging!

In Mathematics, we have continued to explore the relationship between fractions and decimals. This week, we introduced thousandths and have worked on converting between m, cm and mm. On Thursday, we explored rock samples using our fancy new magnifying glasses - which led nicely into a discussion on the need for different units.

Briefly, we have begun a new, more balanced approached to Mathematics in the classroom. From my perspective, students are more engaged through a series of lesson activities on the first day of teaching and are better able to complete station activities on the second. For your reference, we generally rotate through these stations:

• Math Talk: Explaining in a math journal how to solve a problem using words, pictures, graphs, etc
• Explore: A hands-on activity where students work with a small group to explore more about the concept at-hand
• Math with Someone: Students work with a partner to play a game which further develops number-sense or students work with the teacher to discuss another aspect of the concept in small-group format
• Math Sense: Students develop math skills using Mathletics
• Math on My Own: Students work individually to apply concept in completing more tradition textbook questions

If you have any questions about the program format, please feel free to contact me!

In Grade 5 Science this week we tested bubble gum and pop to determine consumer value and have begun a research project into the raw materials that go into each product. The Grade 4s made Newton wheels to deduce that white light is all the colours of the rainbow combined. It was absolutely fantastic!

Events for next week:

• Dr. Seuss' Birthday celebrations on Monday - Feel free to wear a costume!
• P.D. Day on Thursday
• Teachers' Convention on Friday (no school)
• If your student is in Grade 5, their speeches have been sent home for revision & finalization. The good copy will be due on March 10 with presentations to begin March 16.