We began our day with a big eye opener. Students are learning about waste in our world and were presented with a video about how Sweden is buring their garbage/waste. They were then presented with the question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of buring our garbage? It was a tough question.
Today in the gym we learned about strategies and skills for volleyball. To warm up we played a game of tic tac toe. You can ask me about this game. We also had to work with a a partner to practice bumping the ball back and forth. This morning we continued our exploration of the Rocky Mountain Region. We made a rocky mountain visual journal page that allowed us to record facts that we already know, as well as completing online research about climate, vegetation, wildlife, etc. to fill in our gaps. We attempted to learn another form of "friendly number" today where we used expanded form to simplify addition. This will help greatly as we move into more challenging numbers and acts as a check for our work. After reading another chapter of "The Secret Garden" students discussed if they still felt empathy for Colin, now that his health has improved some and he is going to be venturing outside to see the secret garden. He has begun to treat the servants poorly again. Mary and Dickon also successfully sneak him into the garden and Colin's breath is taken away by the beauty of it. He proclaims that he will live! We also read the title of the next chapter and some students are predicting that Ben, one of the manor's gardeners, will discover that they have snuck into the secret garden. Several new literacy stations were introduced. Some students watched a video about the natural regions of Alberta and took jot notes, others worked in their visual journals to complete their Rocky Mountain facts, some played a vocabulary and spelling game called "Bananagrams" and lastly, others focused on answering comprehension questions while they read! In science, we finished our scripts for our commercials and took photos that match our script. This will then be put into an iMovie. Reminders: Picture Retakes/Class Photos - tomorrow (November 15) Fun Lunch - Thursday, November 15 Please return field trip forms. Feet for the Street Family Evening RSVP
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This morning we finished our "If I Were A Poppy" writing and are now ready to send our beautiful cards to our Canadian troops. Our students also participated in the Remembrance Day Assembly. Some of our students were part of a dancing routine to the song "Imagine" by John Lennon and did a great job.
In math, we got to use the computers to play math games that had us using our addition, subtraction, and place value skills. This may have been the quietest our classroom ever was when there were students in the room hahahaha! In our next chapter of "The Secret Garden", Mary and Colin were discussing how to get Colin to the garden without being caught. Colin has not spent much time outside because he thinks he is too ill. Colin also met Dickon, who had brought all of the animals he has tamed to the manor. We had to make a prediction about what will happen at the end of the novel and draw a picture to match in our visual journals. In science, we have been feeling frustrated and a bit stressed as we learn to work as part of a team to create a recycling commercial where everyone's ideas have to be shared and valued. This means we are learning about compromising! It's hard but we're having lots of valuable talks about it. Reminder: Field trip information and Warm Feet For the Street sent home. No School Tomorrow - Remembrance Day Quidditch Club Info Meeting on Monday - bring your lunch This morning we wrote wonderful poems to go in our cards that will be sent to soldiers as part of the "Write the Troops" campaign. We had to write a "Persona Poem" where we had to write from the perspective of a poppy. We used our five senses to describe what we would see, hear, feel, and a wish for our troops.
In math we had a huge challenge!! We had to estimate how many pop can tabs were in a bag sitting on our table. We worked together to develop a strategy and then actually estimate how many were there. Afterwards, we counted all the tabs and determined if our estimate was close. Some of us were very close and others were far off. We will continue to develop strategies for estimating. We played a game of "Fruit Bowl" outside during physical education. It was fun! During guided reading we are beginning to think more deeply about what we are reading. Students need to read for meaning and to understand! We are beginning to write summaries, ask wonderings, and answer questions related to our books. Lastly, in science we continue our work around waste and the importance of being an Environmental Citizen. We learned about what can be recycled and watched a video of how the recycling facility in Calgary works (http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/WRS/Pages/Recycling-information/Residential-services/Blue-cart-recycling/How-Recycling-Works.aspx). We are creating Public Service Announcements for the school to teach our peers about why it is important to recycle and how to use the bins in our classrooms. Reminders: Remembrance Day Assembly Tomorrow at 10am - donations for poppies are welcome No School Friday Volunteers needed for our November 29th field trip. In writing we completed our "What is Peace?" writing. We also began to discuss the writing we will be doing as part of the "writing for the troops campaign". We will be creating cards with messages of hope and gratitude inside. This is a simple thank you note from the students in our classroom and school.
After returning from the gym today we discussed good sportsmanship. We realize that sometimes we will lose. And other times we will win. That means that we will not brag about being awesome (even though in room 145 we are all awesome!) As part of math we participated in another feedback loop. We attempted to learn a new strategy for adding and subtracting but realized it was not as simple as we originally though. We will stick to rounding numbers and looking at place value for now when completing addition and subtraction problems. Keep bringing in pop can tabs if possible. They will lead into a awesome lesson around estimating and multiplication :) Ronald McDonald House® Southern Alberta has a great initiative combining recycling with fundraising. They collect pull tabs from pop and juice cans as well as pet food containers. Our class will then send them to Ronald McDonald House® Southern Alberta. Then, the House, with their recycling partner, Westcan Recyclers Ltd., recycles the tabs and receives money as you would from pop cans and bottles. The Veteran's Food Drive was a huge success!! Our school raised 1639 items to donate - thank you to all the families that helped make this possible. Your generosity is greatly appreciated this Remembrance Day. Miss Nanavaty was a great sport and took her pie in the face very well! In science we are learning about what can and can not be recycled at home and at school. Our classroom will be creating public service announcements for the school to teach our peers about how to best use our bins. Reminders: Remembrance Day Assembly - Thursday, November 10 at 10am No School Friday - Remembrance Day Still looking for volunteers for our November 29th field trip to Fish Creek Park - more information to follow later this week. Today in the gym, we played another game of Quidditch. We were able to play the game by tracking points. It was very competitive! We have also been discussing different strategies we need to use (including dodging, communication, etc.)
In writing we learned about "What is Peace?" We listened to a story called "What Does Peace Feel Like?" by Vladimir Radunsky that described peace using five senses. What did peace sound like, feel like, smell like, taste like, and look like. Ask me if I can remember how I described peace. We continued to learn about rounding. We received feedback from the teacher about what we need to look at, then we had to go back into our work and fix up any mistakes. We also got to play the game "Roll It" again where we had to round to the tens or thousands. At the end of music class we were left with four quarter notes - yay!! We are being good listeners. We learned about a sixteenth note. It's a ticka, ticka. Ask me about it. Students worked all together to create a repeating pattern. In social studies, we had to work cooperatively to research about the climate, vegetation, national parks, wildlife, etc. in the Rocky Mountains. We will be using this information on our giant classroom map that is hanging on the back of our door. Our school has done a FANTASTIC job raising donations for the Veteran's Food Bank! We've surpassed our goal of 600 items and have thus far collected 1229 items :) Lastly, we will be going on a field trip to Fish Creek Provincial Park on Tuesday, November 29th and are in need of a few parent volunteers to join us. Please contact me directly if you are able to join us. Reminders:
Where has the time gone?! It is hard to believe it is already November. Today in writing we began by describing what we did for Halloween. We had to describe how our costume felt, what it looked like, what sounds we heard walking around, etc. In the gym, we played Quidditch. This is a game from Harry Potter. One team had red pinnies and the other yellow. If you didn't have a pinny you stayed against the wall. Then we ran for the ball and if we were tagged our teammate had to run over and give us a pinny. Ask me more. We are still looking at rounding numbers in math. This is important because it helps us find an approximate amount or number. See if you can think of real life examples where you would use rounding and discuss with your child. Lunchtime had some kids learning to knit. There will be a few more spots available. Students can participate in a lottery draw tomorrow if they are interested. Social studies was a brain buster!! We are learning more about the Rocky Mountain region. Ask me if I can remember how old the Rocky Mountains are. There was also discussion about some important places that we find in this region. The Columbia Ice Field for instance. Is it shrinking and why? Reminders: Donations for the Veteran's Food Bank - before Nov 9 Math review sent home - please sign and return tomorrow Picture Proofs sent home |
Mrs. OttersonTeacher at New Brighton School and lover of the great outdoors! Archives
June 2017
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