It was a tiring Tuesday! There is so much to do as we finish up many of the projects we have been working on and prepare for the official school opening on February 2nd.
We began our morning continuing to build number sense and problem solving skills in mathematics. After reviewing the multiplication questions from the day before, we recognized the need to carefully read word problems as it changes the way we write our number sentences. Students are beginning to develop quick recall of basic facts (continue practicing at home) but are still learning that even though 2 x 4 and 4 x 2 have the same product they do not represent the same thing (using an array to draw their understanding). Most of the class has completed their entertaining beginning for our First Nations story using a picture prompt. Written work was reviewed for spelling, punctuation, etc. and applied to their good copy. We also focused on learning to use a dictionary to help us spell unfamiliar words. As we further our exploration of storytelling, students listened to the legend "Mwakwa Talks to the Loon". We will focus on breaking the legend down into a beginning, middle and end tomorrow. Ask your child if they can remember the lesson that is taught in this story/legend. Young Writer's Conference is coming up on April 22nd. An email was sent home to parents with information about necessary payment (due tomorrow - February 1), how to choose sessions, etc. if your child is interested in attending. It is NOT mandatory. If you did not receive an email please contact me directly at [email protected]. Reminders: Feb 2 ~ Scholastic Book Orders Due (cheques only please) Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch
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Morning "eye opener" was making words. The big word was "multiplication". In the gym we played a basketball game that had us focusing on open and closed spaces. This means that if your team does not have the ball you need to watch your "check". If your team has the ball, the other team will check you. The goal is to get three passes between your team members. In writing, we worked on our entertaining beginnings. These were based on a photo we chose of a First Nations person's life in the past. Ask me to tell you about how I began my story (dialogue, action, sound, narration, question). We also worked on four word problems in math that had students using multiplication. They are found here: We will review them tomorrow. Practice Multiplication – January 30, 2017 Complete the following questions in your math notebook. Use blocks to help you visualize. 1) a) Write a multiplication fact for this array. * * * * * * * * b) Double one factor in the multiplication sentence. Make an array for this new fact. Write a multiplication sentence. 2) Six students can travel in 1 boat.
3) Multiply. What strategies did you use to solve the questions? a) 2 x 6 = b) 4 x 6 = c) 8 x 7 = d) 8 x 2 = e) 8 x 4 = f) 8 x 8 = 4) Write two multiplication facts that will help you find the product of 6 x 8. Miss Lysak had us listen to a song "We are the World"; we practiced "Oh Canada" in French and English; students with solo parts practiced in front of the class as we prepare for the official school opening on February 2nd. Lastly, we created teepee designs in art. Students looked at some traditional ways Blackfoot people created designs for their teepees. We created our own designs that we will need to be able to explain. It was fun :) Reminders: Feb 2 ~ Scholastic Book Orders Due (cheques only please) Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch Today our class learned how to use Google Drive. We will use this tool to put all the work we are doing in our classroom online so students will be able to access them from home as well. Students will be provided with their username and password to try accessing their information from home next week.
We also focused on the multiplication rule for 5 in math. Students reviewed factors and multiples. Please continue to practice multiplication facts at home with your child. We had an opportunity to work with students in Mrs. Deibert and Ms. Maher's class to compare and contrast the different things we have heard about the Blackfoot people on Wednesday and Thursday. Students recorded any new information in their visual journals. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy some time outside in the nice weather! Reminders: Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch What an amazing day! This morning we began by looking at the components of narrative story writing. We are focusing on telling story using a "storyboard" technique. Students will write part of the story, sketch or draw a picture with a caption, and connect to photo that represents the way that First Nations people used to live in Alberta. In doing so, we created the following I CAN statement: "I can write an interesting beginning to a narrative story". Following the narrative writing diamond we looked at four interesting ways to begin a story 1) sounds; 2) actions/suspense; 3) dialogue; 4) narration.
We also continue to practice working on our number sense and quick recall of basic facts. We looked at several questions where we were required to round in order to estimate a difference and then solved a word problem where students could multiply or use repeated addition or subtraction to find the correct answer. You'll have to ask your child what they did in music and gym today. After lunch we were honored to have a Blackfoot Elder come and speak to our class. He told us several creation stories about his people, the significance of the tipi and why the door faces East, and how tipis get their designs. We also had the chance to look at some amazing artifacts brought in by one of our parents and the Glenbow Museum. Did you know that you can visit the museum for FREE from 5pm - 9pm on the first Thursday of every month. You can find more information here! Ask your child about all the amazing things they did at school today :) Reminders: Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch ![]() Thank you to the students that took a look at the math problem posted on the blog last night. Some students based it on the actual number of students in the class and others completed it after Mrs. Otterson had specified the number of students sitting at each table. We explored how multiple approaches to a question can be correct and it was interesting to see the different strategies students applied to solve the question. This morning we also had an amazing presentation from Jill Heinerth. She is a Canadian explorer that grew up in Ontario and now travels the world to explore the wonders of underwater caves! You can learn more about Jill and what she does by visiting the website http://www.intotheplanet.com/jill-heinerth/. We learned how these scientists use these discoveries and look through the lens of an archeologist, geographer, sociologist, etc. to make sense of the world around them. She also posed an interesting question: How do we study to become explores? Students will look at this question in more depth tomorrow. During math today we looked at all the different ways to solve the word problems we have been working on for the past few days. Students have been working with blocks to help us visualize an array and see that a number sentence such as, 24 x 3 can also be broken down into 6 x 3 + 6 x 3 + 6 x3 + 6 x 3 to arrive at the same answer. After lunch we began an art project that had students working together to create a piece of artwork. They each had a section of a photo and then had to draw what they saw brining each piece together to make one complete piece of artwork. We chose animals that were significant to the Blackfoot Nation as we prepare for our Elder visit on Thursday afternoon!
Reminders: Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch ![]() Today we celebrated another friend's birthday! She turned 9. We also came in to see our beautiful pointillism artwork. Ask your child if they remember the process for creating their Alberta landscape. In the gym we came in to find a whole bunch of letters on the floor. There were words written on the white board and we had to spell using the letters. Students had to do exercises at each letter. There were two options. Ask me which exercises I chose and what some of the words that we spelled were. During catch up we had to finish our written story from the perspective of a First Nation, pictographs, artwork using oil pastels, and others had to complete a write up about some of the work that we have been doing. Once all jobs were complete students had the chance to go to practice keyboarding skills or could visit the website www.abcya.com. The Book Mobile came for a visit this morning. Please visit your local library to get a library card for your child so they can visit next time the Book Mobile comes. You can find more information about this service by visiting here. We continued working on the math problems we received last week and will do so again tomorrow. These multiplication problems have students working on solving a variety of problems using multiplication and providing different entry points. In music we watched a video called "Heal the World". We sang "O' Canada" and the people in the choir sang in French. We did African drumming as well! After lunch we had a special presentation about Elder protocol. An Elder from the Blackfoot Nation will be visiting our classroom to speak about his culture, tradition, the connection to nature/earth, the history of the Blackfoot people, etc. This is a great honour. We also are fortunate to have a person coming from the Glenbow Museum that will bring artifacts to share related to our learning about the First Nations people in Alberta. In guided reading students working with the teacher will be acting as "Summarizers" this week. They will be asked to summarize the events in the novels they have been reading using their own words and explaining how they are important to the plot or the development of the characters. Lastly, we began our good copy of our "Winter Count". Students are using fabric to represent how the FNMI people used to pass along the important events from each year. They are using their own symbols and are telling the story of their life thus far. I CAN use multiplication to describe and apply mental math strategies.
Homework Math Problem: Mrs. Otterson's class has six tables with four students at each table. Each student needs to have a pencil, eraser and their notebook. How many supplies does the class need in total? Bonus: If each student needed more supplies, what supplies would they need and how many supplies would the class need in total. Explain your thinking. Reminders: Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 6 ~ Book Mobile Visit Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch Happy birthday wishes were shared with another one of our students that turns 10 tomorrow! This morning students had to be "active" listeners. Over the past week students have conducted research, created posters, wrote scripts and lastly, presented to their peers about a variety of topics exploring our impact on the natural world. As each group presented, their classmates had to answer questions about the topic. We continued on with our guided reading groups where students got to place literacy based games that build on spelling and vocabulary. Others worked with the teacher to read a novel and some continued to answer their science questions. Students are enjoying the math game called "buzz" where they have to follow along carefully to the numbers in the sequence and say buzz each time a multiple of 2 or 3, etc. is found. Ask your child to teach you! Most students had an opportunity to develop their key for their winter count. Those that need extra time or were helping Mrs. Spence with recycling will be given the opportunity next week. Please remind your child to check lost and found next week if you are missing any items from winter activity day. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy some time outside!
Reminders: Jan 23 ~ Library Mobile Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch This morning we continued our exploration of the "Winter Count". Students watched a video that described the purpose of a winter count and then afterwards made a master list of all the things they think they now understand about this type of First Nations storytelling. Students set up another page in their visual journal where a key will be created for all their winter count symbols (I CAN understand the purpose and importance of a winter count). We also continue multiplication exploration using a variety of word problems. Today students were presented with three different problems. They did not need to complete them in order and they offered multiple entry points. They were not required to finish them today and we will continue to look at them tomorrow. Mrs. Otterson was away in the afternoon so there was a guest teacher to work through guided reading and science.
We also still have quite a few items in the lost and found after Winter Activity Day. Please see the attached photos and take a look if anything looks familiar. Reminders: Jan 20 ~ Scholastic Book Order Due (cheques only please) Jan 23 ~ Library Mobile Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch Today we began our morning by looking at several questions related to our understanding of the First Nations people within Alberta:
Students also did some independent research about the Blackfoot people that lived/live in the Grasslands region of Alberta. Our class came up with lots of interesting facts. We completed our pictograph stories and have placed them in our visual journals. They turned out beautifully! Tomorrow we will begin creating they key for our “Winter Count” story. Thank you for helping your child write about 2 important events for each year of their life. They will create a special symbol to represent each event and then design their own “Winter Count”. During math, students worked in a variety of different groups to do different things. Some students 1) worked with blocks to visualize how multiplication and addition are connected; 2) others revisited the word problems we did yesterday to understand the way in which they write the number sentence is important (3 x 9 and 9 x 3 both give an answer of 27 but represent different groups); and 3) others had opportunity to play multiplication war using a deck of cards. After lunch we warmed up with a game of “Unidab” and “Fruit Bowl”. Then we practiced our basketball skills. Students focused on using their fingertips to dribble, crossovers, dribbling while moving forward and defending their ball. Students also finished their Paul Goble and Ted Harrison inspired artwork using oil pastels. Their work is vibrant and sections are evident using yellow to divide different sections. Students will be presenting their science posters on Friday and tomorrow they will need to complete a script about the section of the poster they will be speaking to. When each group presents, the audience will be required to answer questions related to each group presentation. Students will need to listen carefully and take notes as their classmates present. These will be handed into the teacher to assess their understanding of waste and how it we are impacting the earth. All students will need to answer the following questions about these six topics: Reminders:
Jan 19 ~ Fun Lunch Jan 20 ~ Scholastic Book Order Due (cheques only please) Jan 23 ~ Library Mobile Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch ![]() Today was "funtastic"! Students worked hard this morning completing the good copy of their story for our study of how First Nations people used pictographs. Students now understand that they CAN recognize how First Nations people used this type of story telling as an important method of communication about their past. We also looked a video that described what a "Winter Count" is. It is another way in which these passed on important story. Tomorrow we will be creating our key with a different symbol representing each important event in our life. In math, we focused on using arrays and repeated addition to help us solve word problems. We reviewed how to look for important information or key words and students are recognizing the importance of writing the number sentence correctly. For instance 3 x 9 is three groups of nine, while 9 x 3 is nine groups of three. Having the students draw the array or use blocks was a useful tool to help them visualize this way of thinking. After lunch we participated in our very first Winter Activity Day! It was a huge success with students moving to many different outdoor stations. There was three legged races, snow sculptures, snowman building, sledding, hockey, etc just to name a few. After we came inside to continue our work on our science posters. Students will be presenting their knowledge about: how nature recycles, what the 3 R's are, why the 3 R's are important, toxic waste, biodegradability. A few students still need to conduct further research at home. No more class time will be provided and they were invited to take their topics home with them. Below is a list of questions each group was to answer on their poster: Reminders:
Jan 19 ~ Fun Lunch Jan 20 ~ Scholastic Book Order Due (cheques only please) Jan 23 ~ Library Mobile Feb 3 ~ PD Day Feb 16-17 ~ Teachers Convention Feb 20 ~ Family Day Feb 23 ~ Fun Lunch |
Mrs. OttersonTeacher at New Brighton School and lover of the great outdoors! Archives
June 2017
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