We began our morning by "making words". The secret message was "legacies make history". We continue to talk about how legacies can be both "good" or "bad" as they leave a lasting impact on the people that we leave behind. In writing we continue to focus on how we can make the most impact with our writing. Students were asked to go back into a piece of writing they did earlier in the year, circle words that are not very interesting, and replace them with synonyms that make their writing better. You can see a sample below: Students also listened to the story "When I was Eight" by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. The story is about young Olemaun, who is eight, and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father’s warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders’ school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she remains undaunted. Her tenacity draws the attention of a black-cloaked nun who tries to break her spirit at every turn. But the young girl is more determined than ever to learn how to read. Students used this story as an opportunity to talk about residential schools and the impact they had on the First Nations people that lived in Alberta. We talked about how First Nations people were forced to assimilate and why the Canadian Government is participating in the process of reconciliation. This will then be connected to our study of why, at New Brighton school, we acknowledge the land and the people that first lived here. Students have begun to learn about how multiplication and division are connected. Students were asked to show several ways that they could divide our class into equal groups. They then discussed all the connections they recognized between multiplication and division using the following chart. After lunch we continued our research about our topics for "Leaving a Legacy at New Brighton School" by reducing our environmental footprint here. Ask your child about their topic. They are encouraged to find out more information at home and bring it to school to include as part of their presentation at our Celebration of Learning in May.
**** Please Note: if your child would like to participate in choir, the form will need to be returned tomorrow ***** Reminders: Apr 14 ~ Good Friday (No School) Apr 17 ~ PD Day (No School) April 18 ~ Scholastic Book Order Due Apr 20 ~ Healthy Hunger (Taco Time Lunch) Apr 21 ~ Book Truck
0 Comments
We are happy to see that blogs are up and working again. We will continue to keep you posted about all the fun and interesting things we are learning about in Room 145! This morning students began to look at how multiplication and division are related. Working with a group of 24 blocks table groups had to make as many equal groups as possible. Students offered answers like 12 x 2 = 24, and 8 x 3 = 24. We then looked at how 24 ÷ 12 = and 24 ÷ 8 = 3. You can practice this skill at home with your child by having them place items into equal groups and then tell you the division number sentence to match. In writing we looked at what synonyms and antonyms are, and how writers use them to make their writing more interesting. We first watched the clip below (who doesn't love a little Sesame Street) to determine what synonyms are. Students then had to look at a piece of writing and replace boring words with more exciting words! After visiting Aggie Days last week students created some beautiful artwork using splatter paint, construction paper and chalk pastels to create a silhouette of a barn, grain elevator, etc. They turned out lovely. After lunch we had a practice for what to do in the case of a lockdown. The students did a great job remaining calm, quiet, and hidden.
During guided reading we were introduced to several new literacy stations. Students are playing the game "Word Cloud" and "Roll the Dice" to focus on vocabulary, learning about how to annotate an article, and write a descriptive setting for a piece of writing. We continue to work with the teacher to read our novels and make predictions about what will come next in the text. Lastly, student work was sent home today in their folders. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly. * * If you are still waiting for a Scholastic book order, I have contacted them and they have informed me the order has been shipped (apparently that can take 1 - 3 weeks). It is supposed to arrive this week. Thank you for your continued patience. * * Reminders: Apr 11 ~ Kernals Popcorn Day Apr 14 ~ Good Friday (No School) Apr 17 ~ PD Day (No School) April 18 ~ Scholastic Book Order Due Apr 20 ~ Healthy Hunger (Taco Time Lunch) Apr 21 ~ Book Truck Today we had a fantastic day at Aggie Days!! Students had the opportunity to explore so many different areas related to agriculture. They thought deeply as they explored the question: How has agriculture impacted our daily lives? Students also learned many new things:
Lastly, a very big thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who make these types of experiences possible for our students :) You will find a few photos that I took of my group below ... I'll download the rest from all the computers with more to come tomorrow! Reminders:
Apr 11 ~ Kernals Popcorn Day Apr 14 ~ Good Friday (No School) Apr 17 ~ PD Day (No School) Apr 20 ~ Healthy Hunger (Taco Time Lunch) This morning we began our day by "making words". Many students quickly figured out that the big word was Aggie Days, as we prepare for our field trip tomorrow. From there, we moved into our continued exploration of the voyageurs and how Alberta's Metis roots began. Students were asked to research about the Metis people and how these individuals helped the fur trade in the 1800s. After conducting some research independently, students looked at the following websites as a class:
Students then had to think deeply about what a legacy is and why it is important. They completed the following task, which will be sent home on Friday. After lunch students had the opportunity to work with Miss Nanavaty and try some "nan-tastics" as part of the exploration around gymnastics. Looking at different types of locomotion and levels of movement. Ask your child about it. In guided reading we continue to look at using descriptive language in our writing. Thinking deeply about what we would see in our minds, what we would want our reader to see and answering our reader's questions. And lastly, as we prepare for our Celebration of Learning we will be connecting to legacies in two ways. We will be looking to create Heritage Minutes that explain our understanding of what it means to "acknowledge the land" and why it is important, and secondly creating an exhibition/booths that feature why it is important to reduce the impact we have on the earth and how we can implement change as part of our legacy. This all stems back to our big question: WHAT WILL BE OUR LEGACY AT NEW BRIGHTON SCHOOL?
***************Please return read-a-thon forms and pledges tomorrow*************** Reminders: Apr 5 ~ Aggie Days Apr 11 ~ Kernals Popcorn Day Apr 14 ~ Good Friday (No School) Apr 17 ~ PD Day (No School) Apr 20 ~ Healthy Hunger (Taco Time Lunch) Today was the first day back and it was busy! We’re tired and the day went by quickly. This morning we began by writing a letter to our buddies telling them what we did on spring break. We had to be specific, providing details so we did leave our reader with questions. When we wrote we thought about the questions: what, when, where, who, why, and how. In social studies we watched a video about leaving a legacy. We then brainstormed a list based on the information in the video. We thought deeply about what the message was, about any wonderings we had and made connections to other things we have learned about. This information was gathered in our visual journals. Ask me to explain what a legacy is and post a comment on the blog. In math we continue to practice basic facts, tomorrow we will be reviewing two and three digit multiplication before we move on to division!
During read aloud today we discussed how the main character, Moose, feels very conflicted with his current situation. He is excited about being able to play baseball with a new friend at school but when his mother switches the day she is going to teach piano lesson, leaving Moose to watch Natalie, he becomes very angry... even though he knows that his family needs the extra money. We began new literacy stations in Guided Reading. We worked on character development in writing (ask me if I wrote about the Old Woman, the Dragon, or the Wild Thing), analogies, social studies research (about how natural resources were used before and after the fur trade began in Alberta) and writing our opinion of the novel we have been studying. We ended our day with our buddies. They shared the letter they wrote to us and we read aloud our letter to them. We also helped them set a reading, writing or math goal. This will be used to update their IRIS account. Please return Aggie Days field trip forms. We will be attending on Wednesday, April 5th. Lastly, we hope everyone has enjoyed participating in the New Brighton School Read-a-Thon. It is now time to see how well we did. Please return pledge sheets and donations to your child’s teacher this week. Pledges (cash and cheques) must be returned to school by 3:15pm on Wednesday, April 5 to be considered for the various prizes. Remember – all money raised will go directly to building a new playground at New Brighton School :) Reminders: Apr 5 ~ Aggie Days Apr 11 ~ Kernals Popcorn Day Apr 14 ~ Good Friday (No School) Apr 17 ~ PD Day (No School) Apr 20 ~ Healthy Hunger (Taco Time Lunch) |
Mrs. OttersonTeacher at New Brighton School and lover of the great outdoors! Archives
June 2017
Categories |