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
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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!
