January 17, 2017

Dear parents,

Today we began our day with a discussion around our Adventure Stories and the characters we are creating. We focussed on the story mountain and how our Adventure Story needs to follow this model. 

We read a story called "Amazing Grace" and then applied the story to the story mountain. We then worked on the sidekick as part of our writing time. After this, we went to French.

After lunch we worked on our Castles (Grade 4) and our Log Cabins (Grade 3) and measured and figured out the perimeter and the area for our structure. After recess we went to Library to continue our dioramas. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes

January 16, 2017

Hello parents!

Today we had a lovely day, beginning with the Poem of the Week. We practiced this and then moved on to Read to Self while I conferenced with students individually. We then worked on our Adventure writing after recess. We looked at the hero we created and discussed their character traits. We then discussed the villain in their story and worked on creating a picture of the villain. This is leading us up to writing our own Adventure stories! We then went to French. 

After lunch we did Math games as we did not get a chance to do so on Friday. We then had Library and Gym. In Gym we learned the dance, "The Stroll." Please ask your child about this. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes

January 13, 2017

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with the Poem of the Week test. We then moved on to Read to Self when we were done while I conferenced with students. After recess we discussed what an Adventure story was. We learned that it has a hero, a hero's helper, a villain and a quest. I asked student's to think about the hero of a story that they would like to write and asked them to draw and label their hero. Please ask your child about this. We then had French.

After lunch we had our Perimeter and Area test. We then worked on our Social Studies structures. 

Homework:
Read for 20 minutes

January 12, 2017

Dear parents,

Today we had another full and busy day!

We began our day with the POW and spelling words. We then moved on to Read to Self while I did Guided Reading with small groups about Determining Importance. After recess, we went through several examples of student writing and decided what level we thought their work was worth (level 1, 2, 3 or 4) and why. We then set off to do our own Journal writing while focusing on the Success Criteria (opening statement, details, closing statement). We then went to French.

After lunch we had a lesson in Perimeter and Area. We then worked on this concept. We then gathered again on the carpet to check in with our progress by going through several examples of Area and Perimeter. We then continued to work on this concept. After recess we worked on our Social Studies centers. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes
Math test on Perimeter and Area tomorrow (Friday)

January 11, 2017

Dear parents,

Today we began our day with a recap of yesterday's lesson on the First Nations announcement and Residential schools. We reviewed what it was like to be in a Residential school and why we now have the announcement acknowledging whose territory we are on. We then also recapped our lesson on Determining Importance (see yesterday's blog post) and in Guided Reading we applied this concept to "Charlotte's Web." We continued with Read to Self while I did Guided Reading in small groups. After recess we went to the Gym to continue our hockey skills. We practiced stick handling and passing. Students are becoming quite good at this skill! We then went to French.

After lunch, we had a lesson in problem solving. We had to draw an organized list to help us with our math question. We then went on to Prodigy. At the end of the period we reconvened for the math congress and went through the answer together and how students solved it. After recess we worked on our Social Studies centers. Grade 3s worked on building and painting their log cabins while the Grade 4s continued with their catapult challenge measuring how far their object flew. Students also learned about the role of the Monk during Medieval times. We then finished our day with the book Shin-chi's Canoe, which is about Residential Schools. 

Homework:
POW
Read for 20 minutes
Quiz on Perimeter and Area (Friday)

January 10, 2017

Hello parents!

Today we began our day with an article on the acknowledgement of the First Nations territories that we are on. We looked at determining importance and what were important facts in the story. We also had a long conversation about Residential schools and the impact of those schools. We used the following chart to help us determine what was important and what wasn't:

We then answered questions about the article in small groups. We then went to French. 

After lunch, we had a lesson in Perimeter and Area. We then reviewed yesterday's work (and corrected any mistakes we made) and finished other work in our JUMP math books. We will have a test on Friday on Perimeter and Area. We then went to Library and worked on our Ecosystem diorama. Finally, we read the book "Shi-Shi-Etko" about Residential schools to finish our day. 

Homework:

POW

Read for 20 minutes

Math Test Friday

January 9, 2017

Happy New Year parents!

As part of our focus on the new year, we worked on a New Year's resolution craft and activity. To inspire us, we watched Kid President give a few words of encouragement: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o
We also worked on our POW for the week. After recess, we worked on our Journal writing and I'm excited to hear what students did over the holiday! We then went to French.

After lunch we had a math lesson on Perimeter. We then practiced this concept and continued with our New Year's resolution craft if we were done. After recess we had Library and then Gym. 

Homework:
- POW
- Reading for 20 minutes
- Math perimeter work if not done