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!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Writing & Math Updates
Hi All,
Third term previews will be going home on Wednesday - keep your eyes peeled for them!
Next Thursday, we will be headed out on our field trip to 1001 Steps. I'm slightly short drivers, please let me know if you can help us out!
In the past two weeks, we've been spending more time on geometry. On Friday of last week, we started to build cubes using straws and pipe-cleaners. We discussed the various properties of the cube - edges, vertices, angles and faces. Today, we constructed a tetrahedron (triangular pyramid) with the same materials. In the last ten minutes of Math, we had a great time dipping our figures in soapy water to get "faces" and letting the wind blow bubbles for us.
Today, we put up our I Am poems. With Earth day being next week, the poems were written in order to advocate for the environment. We began last week with a picture book called the Great Kapok Tree. In the story, the various animals that were living off the Kapok tree spoke to a logger about why it was important to not cut down their tree. Please take a look at the pieces if you have time - it's quite evident that the children are quite passionate about this subject!
Hoping to speed through the Grade 3's unit on Structures (guess we didn't make it in time for the bridge building competition) and the Grade 4's unit on Sound and Light. On the bright side, our field trip has forced us to start looking at some of the learning outcomes in both grades' final units in Science :) We've been using a lot of the materials that Lynn (the guide and presenter at 1001 Steps) left us to use for reading comprehension and Science.
Speaking of the reading comprehension, today, we went over finding the "big idea" and "supporting details" within a piece of text. We've been working informally on this concept since the fall and will be something we will continue to work on until the end of the year. The children will also begin to explicitly learn about inferencing as well - a difficult concept in reading, but something they are already doing within their own reading!
That's all for now!
Third term previews will be going home on Wednesday - keep your eyes peeled for them!
Next Thursday, we will be headed out on our field trip to 1001 Steps. I'm slightly short drivers, please let me know if you can help us out!
In the past two weeks, we've been spending more time on geometry. On Friday of last week, we started to build cubes using straws and pipe-cleaners. We discussed the various properties of the cube - edges, vertices, angles and faces. Today, we constructed a tetrahedron (triangular pyramid) with the same materials. In the last ten minutes of Math, we had a great time dipping our figures in soapy water to get "faces" and letting the wind blow bubbles for us.
Today, we put up our I Am poems. With Earth day being next week, the poems were written in order to advocate for the environment. We began last week with a picture book called the Great Kapok Tree. In the story, the various animals that were living off the Kapok tree spoke to a logger about why it was important to not cut down their tree. Please take a look at the pieces if you have time - it's quite evident that the children are quite passionate about this subject!
Hoping to speed through the Grade 3's unit on Structures (guess we didn't make it in time for the bridge building competition) and the Grade 4's unit on Sound and Light. On the bright side, our field trip has forced us to start looking at some of the learning outcomes in both grades' final units in Science :) We've been using a lot of the materials that Lynn (the guide and presenter at 1001 Steps) left us to use for reading comprehension and Science.
Speaking of the reading comprehension, today, we went over finding the "big idea" and "supporting details" within a piece of text. We've been working informally on this concept since the fall and will be something we will continue to work on until the end of the year. The children will also begin to explicitly learn about inferencing as well - a difficult concept in reading, but something they are already doing within their own reading!
That's all for now!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Artifacts, Homework and Great Playing
Hi All,
Quick note about the Heritage project.
After sending the email out last night about having presentations after Spring Break, one family mentioned that for them, it would be easier to have it done today since a lot of practice had already occurred - thanks for pointing that out! I polled the students and about 6 of them said that they wanted to present today. Another chunk of them next Tuesday, and a small number decided that they would go after the Spring break. Please ask your child when they are deciding to go.
There were a few that said they'd like to go today, but admitted that they hadn't practiced for the presentation. For those, I've slotted them into on Tuesday.
As with everything, please do communicate ASAP if there has been frustration/stress when something is assigned - we can always work something out and hopefully prevent any undue tension for all involved!
In other homework news:
Grade 4's:
1. Science Quiz on Natural vs. Artificial Light (they need to know the difference, be able to identify different sources and be able to tell me why you can see the glow of the moon).
2. Vocabulary foldable - we began this in class. They have 5 terms related to Inuit First Nations people that they need to define, draw a picture for and use the word in a sentence. The pictures need to be coloured. This is due Monday. They've had two classes to work on this and we defined Shaman together. Most students are finished with this.
Grade 3's:
1. Timeline - they were to complete a personal timeline. All of them finished "Drafting" the timeline and are in the midst of putting it onto good copy. They need to fine-line (with a skinny black felt) the wording and colour in their pictures. Due Monday. They've also had this for two classes now and many were just finishing up with "beautification".
We spent a block of PE playing outside today - the weather was too nice to be inside! My only criteria for outdoor play was that they needed to be moving and not standing around. I am SO glad we took the opportunity to spend that time outside on our own! I told the children that I observed a lot of kindness, smiles/laughing, students playing with those they normally don't interact a lot with, turn taking, flexibility (both physically and socially), and trying out new equipment that they may not usually have the opportunity/courage to try when there are many children around.
Not sure you heard about it or not, but we had a guest speaker from Birds on the Bay on Monday. Lynn, shared many pictures and artifacts about the creatures we might find over there. The focus is around Marine life/habitats. The children were fascinated and were extremely attentive and engaged in the presentation. Sometime in April, we will be going on a visit to either Crescent Beach or 1001 Steps to explore with Lynn. It's going to be GREAT!
Our class is officially in the lead for the penny drive. We had another conversation about the competition "for fun" and ultimately, all of us "win" because we get to support clean water initiatives and help save lives. There are a lot of extremely excited and proud students!
Have a lovely weekend! Weather is suppose to be nice tomorrow!
Quick note about the Heritage project.
After sending the email out last night about having presentations after Spring Break, one family mentioned that for them, it would be easier to have it done today since a lot of practice had already occurred - thanks for pointing that out! I polled the students and about 6 of them said that they wanted to present today. Another chunk of them next Tuesday, and a small number decided that they would go after the Spring break. Please ask your child when they are deciding to go.
There were a few that said they'd like to go today, but admitted that they hadn't practiced for the presentation. For those, I've slotted them into on Tuesday.
As with everything, please do communicate ASAP if there has been frustration/stress when something is assigned - we can always work something out and hopefully prevent any undue tension for all involved!
In other homework news:
Grade 4's:
1. Science Quiz on Natural vs. Artificial Light (they need to know the difference, be able to identify different sources and be able to tell me why you can see the glow of the moon).
2. Vocabulary foldable - we began this in class. They have 5 terms related to Inuit First Nations people that they need to define, draw a picture for and use the word in a sentence. The pictures need to be coloured. This is due Monday. They've had two classes to work on this and we defined Shaman together. Most students are finished with this.
Grade 3's:
1. Timeline - they were to complete a personal timeline. All of them finished "Drafting" the timeline and are in the midst of putting it onto good copy. They need to fine-line (with a skinny black felt) the wording and colour in their pictures. Due Monday. They've also had this for two classes now and many were just finishing up with "beautification".
We spent a block of PE playing outside today - the weather was too nice to be inside! My only criteria for outdoor play was that they needed to be moving and not standing around. I am SO glad we took the opportunity to spend that time outside on our own! I told the children that I observed a lot of kindness, smiles/laughing, students playing with those they normally don't interact a lot with, turn taking, flexibility (both physically and socially), and trying out new equipment that they may not usually have the opportunity/courage to try when there are many children around.
Not sure you heard about it or not, but we had a guest speaker from Birds on the Bay on Monday. Lynn, shared many pictures and artifacts about the creatures we might find over there. The focus is around Marine life/habitats. The children were fascinated and were extremely attentive and engaged in the presentation. Sometime in April, we will be going on a visit to either Crescent Beach or 1001 Steps to explore with Lynn. It's going to be GREAT!
Our class is officially in the lead for the penny drive. We had another conversation about the competition "for fun" and ultimately, all of us "win" because we get to support clean water initiatives and help save lives. There are a lot of extremely excited and proud students!
Have a lovely weekend! Weather is suppose to be nice tomorrow!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Past, Present and Future
Hi All,
Quick note to let you know that some worksheets are coming home tomorrow - it was a very quick practice set that we did last week about past/present/future tense verbs. I noticed in a number of students' writing that they were misusing verb tenses so we went quickly over it. It took less than 5 minutes to complete and was not really a focus since many of them should be beyond this concept now.
If you check and notice some mistakes on the sheet, it probably means that your child needs some practice converting past/present/future. An easy way to help them with this is just having them practice conjugating the verbs while you are out and about. Ex. I'm setting the table. What's tense is this? How about past? Future?
That's it for now! Enjoy the sunshine!
Quick note to let you know that some worksheets are coming home tomorrow - it was a very quick practice set that we did last week about past/present/future tense verbs. I noticed in a number of students' writing that they were misusing verb tenses so we went quickly over it. It took less than 5 minutes to complete and was not really a focus since many of them should be beyond this concept now.
If you check and notice some mistakes on the sheet, it probably means that your child needs some practice converting past/present/future. An easy way to help them with this is just having them practice conjugating the verbs while you are out and about. Ex. I'm setting the table. What's tense is this? How about past? Future?
That's it for now! Enjoy the sunshine!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Another update
** Posted earlier tonight, please read the below post as well - for grade 3 parents!**
This past week, our class has been using pedometers (still working on that term, you might be hearing about the "thermometers" they've been wearing) during the day to measure the number of footsteps they've been taking each day. It's been a terrific way to talk about numbers and to get the children moving - sometimes a little too much! I can't tell you how funny it is to watch a child take quick little steps to get from point A to point B or to have them quickly running on the spot! Next week, we will be working with the calculators to figure out how many steps they've taken in total, how many their table group has taken, and how many our CLASS has taken as a whole! We are also going to use the data to create some graphs. I haven't decided how long we will continue to use the pedometers, but it's definitely making them a little more aware of how much walking they do throughout the day. So far, none of them have hit the 14K step mark - this is apparently how many steps active children should be taking daily!
In Writing, we've been talking about reviews - how good reviews include a recount of the book without giving away the ending, an opinion and a rating of the book. They are currently writing a short review which will be for homework if it's not complete tomorrow. This is due for Thursday as we will begin to type up our reviews on the laptops on Thursday afternoon.
We've begun to talk about Questioning and it's importance as a reader. We read the story "the Rough Faced Girl" (First Nations folk tale that is sort of like Cinderella) - lots of terrific questions generated from this story. We did a lot of modelling and discussion around the questions we could ask before, during and after reading. I was really glad to hear that some of them figured out that when we ask the question "what was the author's message?" helped them to deepen their understanding because the hidden message was "beauty comes from within".
We spent an entire afternoon on Science and Socials today. It was a good work session. The grade 4's have started their unit on light and sound - they were talking about artificial vs. natural light and did a quick picture sort. They are going to be having a chapter (very short chapter!) review next week and a quiz will follow soon thereafter.
The 4's also learned about where names of places around BC and Canada came from. They learned about a place in BC called Namu. Namu's named originated from an orca. They completed a page in their duotangs about people names. There were a few that did not finish, their work was sent home and is due tomorrow as the sheet was worked on together with Mrs. Rosychuk.
The grade 3's had their Heritage projects introduced today. We went through the package that was sent home and talked about what was expected. They were given examples of each component, so hopefully they can explain it to you! They all seemed to be pretty excited about it - heard some comments like "this is going to be so cool!" and "ooo.. I'm going to ask my Gram!"
The 3's also began an experiment on testing the strength of three kinds of pillars. They got so excited testing the cylindrical pillars that the 4's began to wonder what was up. I think one group was able to stack 14 textbooks on top of their cardboard pillar before it toppled over. Triangular and rectangular pillars have not yet had a chance to be in the spotlight!
I've attached a poster from our school counsellor, Mrs. Switzer. Just for anyone who may be interested. Feel free to pass the message along to any other parents you know!
In Writing, we've been talking about reviews - how good reviews include a recount of the book without giving away the ending, an opinion and a rating of the book. They are currently writing a short review which will be for homework if it's not complete tomorrow. This is due for Thursday as we will begin to type up our reviews on the laptops on Thursday afternoon.
We've begun to talk about Questioning and it's importance as a reader. We read the story "the Rough Faced Girl" (First Nations folk tale that is sort of like Cinderella) - lots of terrific questions generated from this story. We did a lot of modelling and discussion around the questions we could ask before, during and after reading. I was really glad to hear that some of them figured out that when we ask the question "what was the author's message?" helped them to deepen their understanding because the hidden message was "beauty comes from within".
We spent an entire afternoon on Science and Socials today. It was a good work session. The grade 4's have started their unit on light and sound - they were talking about artificial vs. natural light and did a quick picture sort. They are going to be having a chapter (very short chapter!) review next week and a quiz will follow soon thereafter.
The 4's also learned about where names of places around BC and Canada came from. They learned about a place in BC called Namu. Namu's named originated from an orca. They completed a page in their duotangs about people names. There were a few that did not finish, their work was sent home and is due tomorrow as the sheet was worked on together with Mrs. Rosychuk.
The grade 3's had their Heritage projects introduced today. We went through the package that was sent home and talked about what was expected. They were given examples of each component, so hopefully they can explain it to you! They all seemed to be pretty excited about it - heard some comments like "this is going to be so cool!" and "ooo.. I'm going to ask my Gram!"
The 3's also began an experiment on testing the strength of three kinds of pillars. They got so excited testing the cylindrical pillars that the 4's began to wonder what was up. I think one group was able to stack 14 textbooks on top of their cardboard pillar before it toppled over. Triangular and rectangular pillars have not yet had a chance to be in the spotlight!
I've attached a poster from our school counsellor, Mrs. Switzer. Just for anyone who may be interested. Feel free to pass the message along to any other parents you know!
Grade 3's Heritage Project
Hi All,
I introduced the grade 3 Heritage project this afternoon. It was meant to go out last week, but we just didn't get to it. The dates should have been changed, I think we caught everything except one:
For numbers 2, 3 and 4 (Family Photos, Elders Speak, and Artifact), that will be due Friday, March 8th. Everything is pushed back by one week.
I think they are pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing. If there are any questions or problems, please let me know and we can figure something out!
I introduced the grade 3 Heritage project this afternoon. It was meant to go out last week, but we just didn't get to it. The dates should have been changed, I think we caught everything except one:
For numbers 2, 3 and 4 (Family Photos, Elders Speak, and Artifact), that will be due Friday, March 8th. Everything is pushed back by one week.
I think they are pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing. If there are any questions or problems, please let me know and we can figure something out!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Ack! A Month??
Wow!!! Where did time go? I thought I'd only missed 2-3 weeks of posting.. it's been a month!!
First: Happy Valentine's Day to all!
Our class had a super time ... we had a LOT of fruit.. so much that I had to send some of it home. Many thanks to those that sent some in. The children really enjoyed their fruit kabobs, especially the chocolate dip. C&C also brought cookies to share, but we ran out of time and stomach space, so they agreed that we'd share them on Monday - an extension to V-day treats!
It's been a busy few weeks. I've really pushed the kids quite hard and it's still not done yet! Here's a run-down of what's been happening:
Math:
We've been intensely working on addition/subtraction with 3 or 4 digit numbers with regrouping. Many of them are either over the "hump" or just nearing the peak of the "hump" of subtraction. By "hump", I mean the part where they are struggling to understand what is happening when they are "borrowing" (we now call it REGROUPING, because really, it's not borrowing, there is no returning of numbers!!) to subtract but are very close to being able to work out problems without any adult prompting of what to do.
Some children have also been exploring polygons - what regular polygons and irregular polygons are. We also had to briefly review the 3 kinds of angles (acute, right and obtuse) during that conversation. They discovered that regular polygons are:
- 2-D
- have an even number of sides
- have an even number of angles
- is an enclosed shape.
We also did an activity where they were given a irregular polygon and they had to use the pattern blocks to figure out how to build the irregular polygon. I tried this activity during a professional workshop - it was not easy! The purpose was to challenge them to move the shapes around to places where they might not expect them to be and to also be willing to rotate them. A lot of spatial thinking involved!
For other groups, we have been starting to work on the concept of multiplication and it's meaning. We represented multiplication through "groups of". In fact, I will NOT be letting the grade 3's talk about "times" until they are very solid on the concept of "groups of". We talked about examples such as:
There are 5 table groups in our class, each table group has 4 students - this means that there are 5 groups of 4. We modelled it with blocks and then proceed to experiment to see if we could re-arrange the "students" and have 4 tables of 5. What do ya know, it does! From there, the idea of either skip counting or repeatedly added is reinforced. If it's 5 groups of 4, that means we had 4 five times: 4+4+4+4+4.
For those that are a little more confident in "groups of", they started to work on representations with arrays. As a class, we talked about where we might see arrays in real life:
- windows on a building - perhaps 4 floors of 5 windows each - a 4X5 array
- muffins in a tray - maybe 4 by 3 array
- eggs in a cart
- rows of people in a theatre
Those children were then assigned a number and asked to find all possible arrays using that number. For example, whomever had the number 3, had to use square grid paper to cut out a 3X1, 3X2, 3X3...3X10 arrays.
In the coming weeks, some students will start to explore single and double digit division, single to double digit multiplication, perimeter and area, and everyone will continue to work on addition/subtraction and we will also begin working on fractions. For some students, we continue to work on the concept of patterning - defining a patterning, extending a pattern, identifying it's core.
Reading:
As many of you know, our focus lately has been on non-fiction text features. I don't know if the kids perceive this as "reading", but it really is a reading skill! As they go up in the grades, there will be a greater and greater demand in reading non-fiction text, particularly when they hit grade 5. It is important that they understand the different parts of this genre as it will help them to better comprehend or, to even know where to look in order to figure out what they are reading about. Before we created our foldable non-fiction text booklets, we went through each feature and glued a small summary about it into our reader's notebooks.
In the coming weeks, we will turn our attention back to the genres from the 30 day book challenge and will also begin to work on questioning and inferencing as reading comprehension skills.
Writing:
We've had many mini-lessons that have focused on a number of writing strategies:
First: Happy Valentine's Day to all!
Our class had a super time ... we had a LOT of fruit.. so much that I had to send some of it home. Many thanks to those that sent some in. The children really enjoyed their fruit kabobs, especially the chocolate dip. C&C also brought cookies to share, but we ran out of time and stomach space, so they agreed that we'd share them on Monday - an extension to V-day treats!
It's been a busy few weeks. I've really pushed the kids quite hard and it's still not done yet! Here's a run-down of what's been happening:
Math:
We've been intensely working on addition/subtraction with 3 or 4 digit numbers with regrouping. Many of them are either over the "hump" or just nearing the peak of the "hump" of subtraction. By "hump", I mean the part where they are struggling to understand what is happening when they are "borrowing" (we now call it REGROUPING, because really, it's not borrowing, there is no returning of numbers!!) to subtract but are very close to being able to work out problems without any adult prompting of what to do.
Some children have also been exploring polygons - what regular polygons and irregular polygons are. We also had to briefly review the 3 kinds of angles (acute, right and obtuse) during that conversation. They discovered that regular polygons are:
- 2-D
- have an even number of sides
- have an even number of angles
- is an enclosed shape.
We also did an activity where they were given a irregular polygon and they had to use the pattern blocks to figure out how to build the irregular polygon. I tried this activity during a professional workshop - it was not easy! The purpose was to challenge them to move the shapes around to places where they might not expect them to be and to also be willing to rotate them. A lot of spatial thinking involved!
For other groups, we have been starting to work on the concept of multiplication and it's meaning. We represented multiplication through "groups of". In fact, I will NOT be letting the grade 3's talk about "times" until they are very solid on the concept of "groups of". We talked about examples such as:
There are 5 table groups in our class, each table group has 4 students - this means that there are 5 groups of 4. We modelled it with blocks and then proceed to experiment to see if we could re-arrange the "students" and have 4 tables of 5. What do ya know, it does! From there, the idea of either skip counting or repeatedly added is reinforced. If it's 5 groups of 4, that means we had 4 five times: 4+4+4+4+4.
For those that are a little more confident in "groups of", they started to work on representations with arrays. As a class, we talked about where we might see arrays in real life:
- windows on a building - perhaps 4 floors of 5 windows each - a 4X5 array
- muffins in a tray - maybe 4 by 3 array
- eggs in a cart
- rows of people in a theatre
Those children were then assigned a number and asked to find all possible arrays using that number. For example, whomever had the number 3, had to use square grid paper to cut out a 3X1, 3X2, 3X3...3X10 arrays.
In the coming weeks, some students will start to explore single and double digit division, single to double digit multiplication, perimeter and area, and everyone will continue to work on addition/subtraction and we will also begin working on fractions. For some students, we continue to work on the concept of patterning - defining a patterning, extending a pattern, identifying it's core.
Reading:
As many of you know, our focus lately has been on non-fiction text features. I don't know if the kids perceive this as "reading", but it really is a reading skill! As they go up in the grades, there will be a greater and greater demand in reading non-fiction text, particularly when they hit grade 5. It is important that they understand the different parts of this genre as it will help them to better comprehend or, to even know where to look in order to figure out what they are reading about. Before we created our foldable non-fiction text booklets, we went through each feature and glued a small summary about it into our reader's notebooks.
In the coming weeks, we will turn our attention back to the genres from the 30 day book challenge and will also begin to work on questioning and inferencing as reading comprehension skills.
Writing:
We've had many mini-lessons that have focused on a number of writing strategies:
- Stretching sentences - using question words to help us make our sentences longer and more
- Word choice - we explored quotation marks and at the same time slid "tags" in there. We looked at how using words other than "said" when a character is talking can change the entire mood of a sentence:
- Example: "Come to house" said the boy vs. "Come to my house" whispered the boy vs. "come to my house" snickered the boy.
- Introductions (aka Super Ways to Start) - we examined a number of different strategies to write an introduction. We talked about how the introduction is a "snapshot" of the entire piece of writing
- Conclusions (aka Wrap Around Endings) - we learned that the conclusion is also a revisit of the introduction using different words. Sometimes, we can include our own emotions to make the conclusion feel "final"
We also learned about "recounts" and how it's basically a retell of something that has happened. This could be from the news, the radio, someone talking on the phone about something that happened recently, something you write in your journal, etc.
We identified the introduction, conclusion, body, action words (verbs) and time words that were used to write a recount.
From there, expository writing was introduced. When we finally did our bubble gum writing, everything kind of "magically" fell into place. The children were all quite comfortable writing introductions and conclusions. They worked very well in "stretching sentences" and using great adjectives and verbs. We took the time to go through the writing process - brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing and final drafts. Although their pieces were short, they were very concise and used some excellent language - I was very impressed with a lot of their writing!
Science:
Grade 4's are finishing up their unit on Science. We will have our presentations next week. This week was just too short and too busy! Next week, we will also begin our unit on light and sound.
Grade 3's - will continue to work on structures. There is a bridge building competition that is hosted by the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC each year. It is my HOPE that we can complete our unit in time to potentially enter any interested students in this competition. It is being held on Sunday, March 17th in North Vancouver. No details have been released, but I will keep you posted!
Socials:
Grade 3's are finishing up their unit on Canada. Next week, I will be introducing our Heritage project. Part of the project is exploring their own family histories and part of it will be learning research skills and applying these skills to research pioneer life.
Grade 4's are still working on First Nations. This is actually a HUGE part of the grade 4 curriculum - the bulk of it! I'm planning a field trip on UBC's museum of Anthropology in order for us to examine the importance of the Cedar tree to the First Nations groups in BC. I've been on this field trip before and it is an excellent one (fascinating as well) - a great learning opportunity for not only the 4's, but the 3's as well.
We've had quite a number of students off sick this week. I hope that they all have a wonderful weekend but also get some time to rest and either get healthy or keep healthy! :)
Monday, January 14, 2013
Staying Healthy
Hi All,
With all the talk about the nasty bug(s) going around in the news, we've been on "high alert" here in Division 4. Please keep your child at home if he/she is not feeling well.
In an attempt to keep us all healthy, we've been insisting that the children wash their hands before snack and lunch (no more asking, it's a must-do task now!). To prevent a large crowd in the washrooms and at the sink, half of the students use hand sanitizer (we switch between washing/sanitizer each day). The tables are sanitized each day, but we may need to step that up a notch as well!
I'd appreciate any donations of medium-large sized hand sanitizer to help us out!
Many thanks!
With all the talk about the nasty bug(s) going around in the news, we've been on "high alert" here in Division 4. Please keep your child at home if he/she is not feeling well.
In an attempt to keep us all healthy, we've been insisting that the children wash their hands before snack and lunch (no more asking, it's a must-do task now!). To prevent a large crowd in the washrooms and at the sink, half of the students use hand sanitizer (we switch between washing/sanitizer each day). The tables are sanitized each day, but we may need to step that up a notch as well!
I'd appreciate any donations of medium-large sized hand sanitizer to help us out!
Many thanks!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Fours a Winner
I'm sending home a new Math game today called "Fours a Winner". I introduced it to the class on Wednesday and they played it during Math yesterday. Hopefully they can help you with the directions, but just in case:
FOUR'S A WINNER
Materials:
FOUR'S A WINNER
Materials:
- 2 distinct pieces for each player (probably around 20 pieces each) - try smarties, cereal, coins
- 2 paper clips
Number of players: 2
Objective: to be the first player to get four in a row (horizontally, diagonally or vertically)
Directions:
- Place two of the paper clips on one of the numbers at the bottom of the page
- First player - move ONE paper clip. Add the two numbers that the paper clips are on. Place your marker on the board according to the sum of the two numbers added. Ex: Paper clip #1 is on 3, paper clip #2 is on the 4. 3+4 = 7. Place your marker on the number 7 somewhere on the board.
- Second player - move ONE paper clip. Add the two numbers that the paper clips are on. Place your marker on the board according to the sum of the two numbers added.
- Continue playing until someone has four in a row.
We talked about how this is a strategic game. Not only are you trying to get your own four in a row, but you are trying to block the other player's four in a row. In order to do so, you may need to adjust your plays ahead of time - if you need a larger number on the board, you may need to move the paper clip to a larger number.....
Enjoy and have fun!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Happy New Year!
Welcome back!
I hope everyone's holiday was nice and restful! Back now for 3 days and it seems like Christmas was a long while ago....
We've been busy! Here's the summary:
Writing:
We've been talking about introductions, conclusions and stretching out our sentences. We've examined a variety of ways to start a story and how authors use their introductions to wrap up their writing with a "wrap around conclusion". This week, we examined expanding our sentences by asking a variety of questions. We did a few as a class, in small groups and independently and today, we turned to our own writing. The children were asked to identify sentences that were "shrunken" and try to stretch it out after we played around with two examples. The children are now into our Writer's Workshop routine and all have appointed days to conference with me. This is one on one time where they get to share part of what they are working on. We talk about the strengths of their piece and identify 1-2 things that they may need to try, revise or edit.
Reading:
We continue to work on building connections. Before Christmas, I shared a matrix with the class - it identified what I was looking for when I graded their connections. I think they are starting to realize that they cannot connect to anything (ex. the girl has a red shirt, so do I) - their connections need to help them better understand the text. Now, to work on expanding the explanations in order to deepen the understanding.....!
We will also start to work on identifying the main idea and supporting details in both fiction and non-fiction text. This is an important skill, particularly as they get older.
As many of you have noticed, we also started a 30 day book challenge. The goal of the challenge is to expose the students to a variety of genres that they may not normally choose to read. We've been gradually looking at different genres and their traits. In general, I try to read a couple of examples to them and have them form connections to the examples that we examine.
Math:
Continuing to build on patterning, numeracy and operations! Some students are working on representing double digit addition using the base ten blocks and representing it using pictures, numbers and expanded form (ex: 24's expanded form is 20+4) both with and without regrouping (everyone's working at their own pace), while other groups are working on triple digit addition/subtraction with and without regrouping while still others are working on double digit multiplication.
For some, we've learned a little about perimeter through patterning. I asked the children to identify a pattern through the perimeter of squares - what's the perimeter when you have one square? What about when you add a 2nd square and they are stuck together? How about a third? My hope is that eventually, we can connect this back to algebraic thinking and ask - what's the relationship between the number of squares vs. the perimeter?
This group, a group of students worked on double and triple digit addition/subtraction questions with 1 unknown number. We started off simple:
2+ £ = 6
Knowing that,
£ + 2 = 6
We tried applying it to larger numbers. It's still a concept that needs practice, but they are starting to feel a little more confident. Once they have addition and subtraction down, we'll work on seeing whether they can identify the relationship between multiplication and division!
Science:
Grade 3's are beginning a unit on Structures and Materials. Yesterday, we examined a bunch of different structures from around Canada and talked about the shapes and materials that we thought might be used. Towards Spring Break, we will be (hopefully), constructing our own bridges. The BC Engineers usually host a Bridge building competition around that time, and it is my hope that someone in the class will be interested in participating! Who knows, perhaps we have some future Iron Ring-ers in the class?!
The Grade 4's are still working on their unit on Weather. They will be having a quiz on Tuesday (I told them what was on it - they should have notes!). Once we finish this quiz, there will be a few lessons on animals and weather and the unit will be pretty much finished. I will be asking them to do a cumulative project at the end. I don't anticipate that the project will be a large one, but it will require a bit of research and they will be required to present it to the class.
Social Studies:
The class will be going to the Cannery in Richmond - relates to our Socials curriculum, particularly about Community (grade 3) and First Nations (grade 4). More details to come!
I hope everyone's holiday was nice and restful! Back now for 3 days and it seems like Christmas was a long while ago....
We've been busy! Here's the summary:
Writing:
We've been talking about introductions, conclusions and stretching out our sentences. We've examined a variety of ways to start a story and how authors use their introductions to wrap up their writing with a "wrap around conclusion". This week, we examined expanding our sentences by asking a variety of questions. We did a few as a class, in small groups and independently and today, we turned to our own writing. The children were asked to identify sentences that were "shrunken" and try to stretch it out after we played around with two examples. The children are now into our Writer's Workshop routine and all have appointed days to conference with me. This is one on one time where they get to share part of what they are working on. We talk about the strengths of their piece and identify 1-2 things that they may need to try, revise or edit.
Reading:
We continue to work on building connections. Before Christmas, I shared a matrix with the class - it identified what I was looking for when I graded their connections. I think they are starting to realize that they cannot connect to anything (ex. the girl has a red shirt, so do I) - their connections need to help them better understand the text. Now, to work on expanding the explanations in order to deepen the understanding.....!
We will also start to work on identifying the main idea and supporting details in both fiction and non-fiction text. This is an important skill, particularly as they get older.
As many of you have noticed, we also started a 30 day book challenge. The goal of the challenge is to expose the students to a variety of genres that they may not normally choose to read. We've been gradually looking at different genres and their traits. In general, I try to read a couple of examples to them and have them form connections to the examples that we examine.
Math:
Continuing to build on patterning, numeracy and operations! Some students are working on representing double digit addition using the base ten blocks and representing it using pictures, numbers and expanded form (ex: 24's expanded form is 20+4) both with and without regrouping (everyone's working at their own pace), while other groups are working on triple digit addition/subtraction with and without regrouping while still others are working on double digit multiplication.
For some, we've learned a little about perimeter through patterning. I asked the children to identify a pattern through the perimeter of squares - what's the perimeter when you have one square? What about when you add a 2nd square and they are stuck together? How about a third? My hope is that eventually, we can connect this back to algebraic thinking and ask - what's the relationship between the number of squares vs. the perimeter?
This group, a group of students worked on double and triple digit addition/subtraction questions with 1 unknown number. We started off simple:
2+ £ = 6
Knowing that,
£ + 2 = 6
6 -
£ = 2
6 - 2 = £
We tried applying it to larger numbers. It's still a concept that needs practice, but they are starting to feel a little more confident. Once they have addition and subtraction down, we'll work on seeing whether they can identify the relationship between multiplication and division!
Science:
Grade 3's are beginning a unit on Structures and Materials. Yesterday, we examined a bunch of different structures from around Canada and talked about the shapes and materials that we thought might be used. Towards Spring Break, we will be (hopefully), constructing our own bridges. The BC Engineers usually host a Bridge building competition around that time, and it is my hope that someone in the class will be interested in participating! Who knows, perhaps we have some future Iron Ring-ers in the class?!
The Grade 4's are still working on their unit on Weather. They will be having a quiz on Tuesday (I told them what was on it - they should have notes!). Once we finish this quiz, there will be a few lessons on animals and weather and the unit will be pretty much finished. I will be asking them to do a cumulative project at the end. I don't anticipate that the project will be a large one, but it will require a bit of research and they will be required to present it to the class.
Social Studies:
The class will be going to the Cannery in Richmond - relates to our Socials curriculum, particularly about Community (grade 3) and First Nations (grade 4). More details to come!
