This year has flown by entirely too quickly. It's hard to believe that we are heading towards the last week of school. Feels like we just had Thanksgiving?!
This week will be a busy one - tomorrow is the parent afternoon, Wednesday is sports day (remember to send them in their team colours), and Friday is our beach field trip.
Some of the children were complaining a bit that we are still doing work. I am going to be continuing to keep our routines as regular as possible until perhaps the last few days. We will still be doing review and learning new things in Science and Socials, after all, summer hasn't quite arrived yet!
Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow! :)
Monday, June 17, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
Hi guys!
Here's the homework message (parents: this is for the students of Division 4 to read and think about - they need to inference what the "surprise" will be):
Next week, perhaps on Tuesday or maybe Wednesday, we will have a new student joining us. This student has most likely going to have either light brown or blonde hair and black eyes. I'm not sure if our student is male or female, but either way, I'm sure we're going to really like him/her. I do know that our student enjoys running and climbing (gymnastics), just like some of you! The new student is a vegetarian, and especially loves chewing on sunflower seeds (kind of like another student in our class - perhaps the two of them will share their snacks together - even if it's not allowed!). The new student's name is currently unknown, perhaps we'll have to help him/her figure that out? I also know that our student has a pink/white room. This new student can be quite shy and prefers the quiet - I guess if we really want the new student to like our class, we'll have to whisper a lot more than we usually do!
Can you inference anything about this student?
You need to think about what's been written above. Bring your thoughts to class on Monday. Don't bother asking me much more than what I've written, I'm not saying anymore for now! However, on Monday night, I might post another clue.....
Have a lovely weekend and see you guys on Monday!
Next week, perhaps on Tuesday or maybe Wednesday, we will have a new student joining us. This student has most likely going to have either light brown or blonde hair and black eyes. I'm not sure if our student is male or female, but either way, I'm sure we're going to really like him/her. I do know that our student enjoys running and climbing (gymnastics), just like some of you! The new student is a vegetarian, and especially loves chewing on sunflower seeds (kind of like another student in our class - perhaps the two of them will share their snacks together - even if it's not allowed!). The new student's name is currently unknown, perhaps we'll have to help him/her figure that out? I also know that our student has a pink/white room. This new student can be quite shy and prefers the quiet - I guess if we really want the new student to like our class, we'll have to whisper a lot more than we usually do!
Can you inference anything about this student?
You need to think about what's been written above. Bring your thoughts to class on Monday. Don't bother asking me much more than what I've written, I'm not saying anymore for now! However, on Monday night, I might post another clue.....
Have a lovely weekend and see you guys on Monday!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Can someone slow the time down??
WOW! The end of May is closing in on us.. please... could we slow it down a bit? I was just telling the class that we've got tons more to do..!! I've even considered extending the school day - I'm sure that would go over splendidly with the children!
Heads up: I'm trying to firm up a date for our parent afternoon - potentially June 18th, but that could change. I will try to let you know ASAP as I know some parents may need to arrange time off.
As many of you know, our class was selected as one of a number in the district to try out the mini iPads for 6 weeks. I've finally figured out what we are going to do as a "larger" project - excited! I just hope we can finish it in time to share on parent afternoon!
In other news, I've begun a "crack down" on homework. As the students are preparing to enter grade 4 and 5, my main goal with implementing this "crack down" is to get them to understand that THEY are accountable and responsible for their own homework. Finishing it and leaving it at home is no longer accepted as an excuse.
The grade 4's will/have been experiencing a greater load, mainly trying to get them to finish up some of the activities begun in class. In the coming weeks, I will also be going over a number of things that they need to start to be more aware of:
- Titling items
- Trying their best by including enough information, not just the bare minimum
- Keeping tidy notes / completing assignments neatly and with pride
Excited for our trip to Van Deusen tomorrow - it always proves to be a great workshop and the gardens are beautiful at this time of the year. Besides the landfill, we have two more field trips to come:
1- Museum of Anthropology at UBC on Thursday, June 13th
2- Year end field trip to the beach (TBA) - casual, relaxed day for the children to relax and enjoy their last week as Division 4!
Thank-you to all parents who rescued us with our lack of drivers to Van Deusen. Really appreciate it. A thanks also to those that are taking us to the landfill on the 31st - we got plenty of volunteers!
Check out our Instagram account if you haven't had a chance: http://instagram.com/mstansclass
Heads up: I'm trying to firm up a date for our parent afternoon - potentially June 18th, but that could change. I will try to let you know ASAP as I know some parents may need to arrange time off.
As many of you know, our class was selected as one of a number in the district to try out the mini iPads for 6 weeks. I've finally figured out what we are going to do as a "larger" project - excited! I just hope we can finish it in time to share on parent afternoon!
In other news, I've begun a "crack down" on homework. As the students are preparing to enter grade 4 and 5, my main goal with implementing this "crack down" is to get them to understand that THEY are accountable and responsible for their own homework. Finishing it and leaving it at home is no longer accepted as an excuse.
The grade 4's will/have been experiencing a greater load, mainly trying to get them to finish up some of the activities begun in class. In the coming weeks, I will also be going over a number of things that they need to start to be more aware of:
- Titling items
- Trying their best by including enough information, not just the bare minimum
- Keeping tidy notes / completing assignments neatly and with pride
Excited for our trip to Van Deusen tomorrow - it always proves to be a great workshop and the gardens are beautiful at this time of the year. Besides the landfill, we have two more field trips to come:
1- Museum of Anthropology at UBC on Thursday, June 13th
2- Year end field trip to the beach (TBA) - casual, relaxed day for the children to relax and enjoy their last week as Division 4!
Thank-you to all parents who rescued us with our lack of drivers to Van Deusen. Really appreciate it. A thanks also to those that are taking us to the landfill on the 31st - we got plenty of volunteers!
Check out our Instagram account if you haven't had a chance: http://instagram.com/mstansclass
Monday, May 6, 2013
Updates
What beautiful weather we are having!!
Today, I had the class outside since the activity that we were doing was easily transferrable to the outdoors. If you take a look at our class Instagram, I posted some pictures of what we were doing. A few weeks ago, the children were introduced to the reading power "Inferencing". We practiced finding clues to figure out what was happening in pictures and have been using an activity dealing with emotions. An emotion is taped on someone's back and they have to use three clues given by the class to guess the emotion. They've been having a great time, so much so that all of them want a turn and I'm not sure how long this will take!!
In Writing, we've been working hard on Idioms. Each of them created a flap book of 4 idioms - the literal picture and the actual meaning. I then gave them an idiom that they had never heard of and they were tasked to go online and research it's meaning and origin. They created a larger picture of the idiom and are now working on typing up a story which integrates the idiom they researched. I'm hoping to have them share this with you at our upcoming parent tea (expecting to hold it in early June).
In Math, we've been working on geometry and fractions. We also began mental math and mad minute. Mad minute is basically "drilling" of make 10 facts (all addition facts that add up to 10) and doubles (number added to itself). We've discussed a number of strategies for applying make 10 and doubles and have extended the list to use friendly numbers, doubles +/- 1, using place value and have begun to look at "borrowing" to round up and then "returning" to get the actual answer.
The grade 4's were introduced to decimals today. They didn't seem to take it too hard when I told them that the rod that they've come to fondly recognize as a "ten rod" is now a "one". We discussed what half looked like and that it was also known as 0.5. We also talked about how 0.1, 0.5 and 0.4 were all less than 1. The last bit I threw at them was "what does 1.4 look like?" - was pleased that a few of them figured it out after a bit of pondering. We will continue to work on representing decimals in the coming weeks. Once they are comfortable with tenths, we will then make them adapt to thinking that their "hundreds flat" now represents a 1. Thrilling!
The grade 3's have wrapped up their Science unit on Structures. We are now moving onto plants - beginning tomorrow. They are in the midst of sharing their grandparent letters and family photos. It's been fascinating listening to all the stories! We can't help but to all think that life has changed a great deal..
For the grade 4's - I am going to plough through the unit on Light and Sound - this probably means that they will be getting some more homework. We can't afford to use too much more class time to let them finish activities. We will start, and if they don't complete it, they'll need to finish it at home. Lucky for us, we've already covered a few concepts in the coming unit on Habitats and Communities. In Socials, we are nearing the end of our unit and will soon begin to look at Explorers.
A few (??) weeks ago (time really is just flying way too fast), we went to 1001 steps in Surrey. It was a GORGEOUS day. The children all seemed to enjoy themselves and it was just lovely having the beach to ourselves. We discovered a TON of living organisms and Lynn, our guide, had a small fan club following him around on the beach. He and his wife Jacquie, both have a wealth of knowledge of beach organisms and we were all fascinated by what we saw and what he knew. If you are interested, the organization he takes part in is Birds on the Bay. Lynn also emailed me a clip on youtube that TH recommended (Thanks!) to him - click here to view a Giant Spider crab molt - amazing! Got lots of "WOWs" when I showed the class :)
Cheerio!
Today, I had the class outside since the activity that we were doing was easily transferrable to the outdoors. If you take a look at our class Instagram, I posted some pictures of what we were doing. A few weeks ago, the children were introduced to the reading power "Inferencing". We practiced finding clues to figure out what was happening in pictures and have been using an activity dealing with emotions. An emotion is taped on someone's back and they have to use three clues given by the class to guess the emotion. They've been having a great time, so much so that all of them want a turn and I'm not sure how long this will take!!
In Writing, we've been working hard on Idioms. Each of them created a flap book of 4 idioms - the literal picture and the actual meaning. I then gave them an idiom that they had never heard of and they were tasked to go online and research it's meaning and origin. They created a larger picture of the idiom and are now working on typing up a story which integrates the idiom they researched. I'm hoping to have them share this with you at our upcoming parent tea (expecting to hold it in early June).
In Math, we've been working on geometry and fractions. We also began mental math and mad minute. Mad minute is basically "drilling" of make 10 facts (all addition facts that add up to 10) and doubles (number added to itself). We've discussed a number of strategies for applying make 10 and doubles and have extended the list to use friendly numbers, doubles +/- 1, using place value and have begun to look at "borrowing" to round up and then "returning" to get the actual answer.
The grade 4's were introduced to decimals today. They didn't seem to take it too hard when I told them that the rod that they've come to fondly recognize as a "ten rod" is now a "one". We discussed what half looked like and that it was also known as 0.5. We also talked about how 0.1, 0.5 and 0.4 were all less than 1. The last bit I threw at them was "what does 1.4 look like?" - was pleased that a few of them figured it out after a bit of pondering. We will continue to work on representing decimals in the coming weeks. Once they are comfortable with tenths, we will then make them adapt to thinking that their "hundreds flat" now represents a 1. Thrilling!
The grade 3's have wrapped up their Science unit on Structures. We are now moving onto plants - beginning tomorrow. They are in the midst of sharing their grandparent letters and family photos. It's been fascinating listening to all the stories! We can't help but to all think that life has changed a great deal..
For the grade 4's - I am going to plough through the unit on Light and Sound - this probably means that they will be getting some more homework. We can't afford to use too much more class time to let them finish activities. We will start, and if they don't complete it, they'll need to finish it at home. Lucky for us, we've already covered a few concepts in the coming unit on Habitats and Communities. In Socials, we are nearing the end of our unit and will soon begin to look at Explorers.
A few (??) weeks ago (time really is just flying way too fast), we went to 1001 steps in Surrey. It was a GORGEOUS day. The children all seemed to enjoy themselves and it was just lovely having the beach to ourselves. We discovered a TON of living organisms and Lynn, our guide, had a small fan club following him around on the beach. He and his wife Jacquie, both have a wealth of knowledge of beach organisms and we were all fascinated by what we saw and what he knew. If you are interested, the organization he takes part in is Birds on the Bay. Lynn also emailed me a clip on youtube that TH recommended (Thanks!) to him - click here to view a Giant Spider crab molt - amazing! Got lots of "WOWs" when I showed the class :)
Cheerio!
