Good afternoon!

We had a great day. We got caught up on some Math this morning. Our Grade 4s have started practicing recognizing different patterns in multiplication (such as 0s, 1s, 10s) and are building on some of the skills that they learned earlier this week such as doubling, and building arrays. The Grade 5s also started working on some multiplication strategies today. They too have been practicing using arrays and doubling. The Grade 5s are also expected to extend these strategies to division.

In Language Arts, students have finished the editing process, and are writing the good copies of the stories that we have been working on. Students focused on making changes, being neat, and considering what they could add to the story. Our rainbow editing had students do things like “circle all end punctuation,” so in rewriting their stories, students had to discern for themselves what needed to be changed, and what was acceptable. These stories will be due on Monday.

In Health today we looked at Session Two of our FRIENDS unit. Students are practicing recognizing feelings, and the importance of expressing feelings. We discussed some non-verbal cues that we might see if someone is feeling:

• happy/excited
• sad/worried
• angry/frustrated

Students did a great job, and we had some great discussion happening. I also enjoyed watching the students act out some of their emotions for one another.

Homework: No School Tomorrow

                         Language Arts – Desert Stories Due

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Math: Gr. 4 – pgs. 88-89 #1-10

                                      Gr. 5 – pgs. 78-79 #1-12

                         Skiing – MONDAY (please back a lunch regardless)

We are going skiing on Monday, if the weather cooperates. Please send students prepared. Students need to bring their school work, a lunch, etc. These things can be left at school and collected at the end of the day, however, if students do not come prepared for the day and skiing is cancelled due to weather conditions, it is difficult to accommodate for a large amount of missing work, lunches, etc.

Good afternoon!

Today in Science we worked together to build our own thermometers. Students used plastic bottles, water, rubbing alcohol, food colouring, straws, and clay to construct their very own thermometers. When the liquid in the bottle heats up, the particles get more energy and move apart (expand),which causes the liquid to rise up the straw. As the liquid cools the particles slow down, and come closer together (contract), which causes the liquid to fall back down the straw. We will be moving our thermometers around our classroom this week and next week, and testing out the results.

We also had our town meeting today. Students presented their opinions on building the pulp and paper mill to the mayor and council. We also had a question period, which allowed the students to ask each other for more information, to clarify, or to extend what they had said. The students did a wonderful job, and even though we had a bit of a debate today, the students were respectful to one another, and made sure to ask each other questions that were on topic and relevant to our discussion. We had a small referendum so that the council could better understand public opinion, and then the council had 5 minutes to  reach a decision. It was very close! Our referendum had students split right down the middle, with 10 students against and 10 students for. In the end, the council decided to delay building the mill.

Homework: No School – November 30

                         Ski Days – December 3 (MONDAY)

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal – tomorrow

                         Spelling Test – tomorrow

                         Multiplication Quiz (0s and 1s) – tomorrow

                         Book Orders – tomorrow

                         Report Card Slips – ASAP

Don’t forget that tomorrow is our town meeting! If you want to dress up as your character you may!

Homework: Ski Days – Dec. 3

                         Multiplication Quiz – 0s and 1s (Thurs.)

                         Spelling (Thurs.)

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal ( Thurs.)

                         Math: Gr. 5 – pgs. 74-75 #1-10

                                      Gr. 4 – pgs. 84-85 #1-10

                          Book Orders – November 29th

                          French Quiz (Grade 4) – TOMORROW

“On Monday, when the sun is hot,

I wonder to myself a lot:  

`Now is it true, or is it not, 

That what is which and which is what?’”

 

– A.A. Hodge

 

Mondays always feel like the busiest day of the week, with lots of work to be done, and new things to start working on!

Today we finished choosing which jacket our company would be creating in Science. We decided on a jacket that is waterproof/wind resistant, and with sleeves that zipper off to create a vest. This jacket also had material that, similar to a mood ring, could change colour along with temperature changes. This activity was part of the curricular outcome of: “Test fabrics and clothing designs to choose those with characteristics that most effectively meet the challenges of particular weather conditions; e.g., water resistance, wind resistance, protection from cold,” and is included in the report card outcome under:

• Predict and describe patterns of air movement in indoor and outdoor environments.

We also started Session Two of our FRIENDS unit today. Students were asked to practice identifying feelings in others. In Session One we discussed how everyone has feelings, and how our feelings and reactions can vary from individual to individual. Today we tried to translate that skill to other people. We examined different facial expressions, and tried to describe the feeling that we felt was represented. We will continue with this activity on Wednesday.

Starting this week we will now be having a weekly multiplication quiz. Students will be asked to practice a particular set of multiplication facts, and after our spelling quiz on Fridays, we will now finish a multiplication quiz. This week (as our first week) students have  been asked to review multiplication facts with a factor of 0 (0x3 = 0, 0x12 =0), and multiplication facts with a factor of 1 (1×3 = 3, 1×12 = 12). Don’t forget to review, because each week we will be adding more and more multiplication facts.

We have our first ski day tomorrow. Please send students dressed for the weather (snow pants, jackets, hats, mittens, extra socks, etc.), and we ask that students bring a waterbottle and a lunch. Students will be allowed to purchase snacks if they choose, but please consider packing snacks. It will be a long day, and your student may still be hungry or run out of money.

Homework: Ski Days – Nov. 27th and Dec. 3rd

                         No School – Friday, November 30th

                         Multiplication Quiz (Os and 1s) – Thursday

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal (Thursday)

                         Spelling Quiz (Thursday)

                         Math: Gr. 4 – pgs. 84-85 #1-10

                                      Gr. 5 – pgs. 74-75 #1-10

                         Book Orders Due November 29th

                         French: Quiz on Wednesday

Spelling Words: birdhouse, hideous, rosebud, brush, bruise, house, shred, shrub, rush, bush

Problem of the Week (submitted by Vansh): Charles had a picture. He sent it to ten friends. Each of his friends sent it to 10 friends. How many cycles would it take for 1 million people to have received the picture?

Good afternoon!

Today we started a new unit in computers. We will be learning to use some of the different microsoft office programs, focusing on how students can use microsoft office for projects or presentations. Today we started working with powerpoint. Many students were already familiar with powerpoint, and we used everyone’s different knowledge levels, in order to learn from one another. Students were challenged to begin a powerpoint presentation about themselves. They were practicing working with different text boxes, word art, inserting clip art, changing the background, and adding animation. We will continue to focus on powerpoint for the next few weeks of computers, as well as continuing to use mathletics.

In Art we began another 3-D project. Students were asked to use lines to change a simple shape, to a 3-D form. This project combined some skills that we have learned from previous projects this year such as colour combinations. Check out some of our work below!

Report cards went home today. There will be the option to visit the school between 4:00-6:00 pm on Monday, November 26, so that any questions about the new format can be answered. There will be members of the administration as well as members of the report card committee present. This time will NOT be to discuss individual student marks. If there is a concern regarding an outcome on your report card, please email me at Ashley.Barrington@fmpsd.ab.ca and we can set up a separate meeting time. You can also ask the students for assistance, as they have become very familiar with the new outcomes over the past few weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Homework: Ski Days Nov. 27 (Tuesday) and Dec. 3

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Language Arts: Desert story due MONDAY

                         Math: Gr. 5 – return signed test

                                      Gr. 4 – pgs. 78-79 #1-4

                         Book Orders due November 29th

                        Vista Ridge forms ASAP

                        Report card slips returned ASAP

Good afternoon!

We had a very busy, but very productive day here in 4/5 N. We started off by finishing writing a story that we have been working on. We have been practicing writing, and story writing in particular, over the last few weeks, and students have been working to complete a story that we started using a picture from the national geographic website. The picture featured two Oryx in the desert, and students had to come up with some characters, a setting, 3 events, a climax, and a solution, using the picture for inspiration. On Monday, we will be editing these stories using the Rainbow Editing technique that we learned yesterday.

In Science we finished designing our jackets. Students were challenged to create a jacket that was warm enough for winter, cool enough for summer, and wind/water resistant. They came up with some really great ideas, and it was neat to see all of the different design plans that students came up with.

We finished Day 3 of our current Social Studies case study. We have been portraying characters from the Foothills community of Frive. Our community has recently been offered the chance to open a pulp and paper mill in the area, and the community is going to have a town meeting on Wednesday, November 27 to make our decision. Students have each been playing a character in the community. Today they created a small presentation to share with council, and created posters/signs in support of their side of the issue. The students will be allowed to come to school in costume on Wednesday for our town meeting, so start thinking about what you would like to wear!

Homework: Ski Days – November 27th (TUESDAY) and December 3

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Spelling Test – tomorrow

                         Reading Journal – tomorrow

                         Language Arts – finish desert story – Monday

                         Math: Gr. 5 – sign and return test

                                      Gr. 4 – pgs. 78-79 #1-4

                         Book Orders due November 29th

                         Vista Ridge forms – ASAP

Good afternoon!

Today was a very busy day, and I wish that I could write more on what we did today, but I actually have an appointment this afternoon. Instead I just wanted to remind families that Healthy Family Fun Night is tonight at 6:00-7:30 pm, so come over to the school for some healthy snacks and fun!

Homework: Reading Journal

                         Read 20 minutes

                         Spelling Test

                         Gr. 5 Math Test – signed and returned

                         Book Orders due November 30th

                         Vista Ridge Permission Forms – TOMORROW

Good evening!

We had a very busy, but very productive day today in 4/5 N.

We started off by reviewing our “story mountain” and the elements of a story. We have been using a mountain as an image that we use to discuss how to write a story. It has an interesting beginning, but slowly builds towards events #1 and 2, then finally we reach the top of the mountain. Here there is the climax! It is the most dramatic part of our story, and where the problem/plot come together. Then we start heading back down the mountain towards event #3, and finishing back on the ground with the solution.

We have also been practicing writing paragraphs within stories. While we are very comfortable in writing a small paragraph on a single topic, we will now start organizing longer pieces of writing (such as stories) into paragraphs. Students are practicing adding a new paragraph when they change topic, or speaker, and are using their topic sentences to help them decide what should or should not remain within a paragraph. This is a skill that we will be developing throughout the entire year, but we are off to a very good start.

In Science today we finished a new set of “I can” statements. This is a mid unit quiz that we use to remind students of what they already know! The statements that we worked with today are:

• “I can describe evidence that air contains moisture and that dew and other forms of precipitation come from moisture in the air”
• “I can describe and measure different forms of precipitation, in particular, rain, hail, sleet, and snow”
• “I can record weather over a period of time”
• “I can identify some common types of clouds, and relate them to weather patterns”

Everyone did a great job, and I am looking forward to reading some of your understandings!

Homework: Ski Days – November 27, December 3

                         Read 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal – Friday

                         Spelling Test – Friday

                         Math: Gr. 5 – Return signed test

                                      Gr. 4 – Blue Review Book (tomorrow)

                                                 – pgs. 76-77 #1-15 (optional – study)

                         Math Unit Test (Grade 4) – TOMORROW

                         Book Orders – November 30th

                         Vista Ridge Forms – ASAP

                          Health – Home Activity 1A and 1B

                          Healthy Family Fun Night! – Tomorrow from 6:00-7:30 pm!

Spelling: basketball, blast, stall, baste, beast, least, best, last, sell, tell

Homework: Ski Days – Nov. 27 and Dec. 3

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal (due Friday)

                         Spelling Test (Friday)

                         Math: Gr. 5 – Tests signed and returned (tomorrow)

                                      Gr. 4 – Review Book (Wednesday)

                                                 – pgs. 74-75 # 1-7

                                                 – Unit Test (Wednesday)

                         Book Orders (November 30)

                         Picture retakes (Wednesday)

                         Health – Home Activity 1A + 1B (Wednesday)

Good afternoon!

We had a wonderful day today. The students started off by getting to explore the bullying.org website. In particular, students played the “Bully Busters” game. Students are able to design their own bully and the hero, and work to free the other children. It is a really fun little game, and students enjoyed it. Many students also explored the other sections of this website as well. This website features many drawings, poems, songs, etc. submitted by students across Canada and the United States, aimed at increasing bullying awareness. The website is:

www.bullying.org

Feel free to check it out some more over the weekend.

We also constructed our “Be a Hero” comic today. Students have been working on this comic all week. It features the pledge off of the bullying.org website.

Anti-bullying Pledge

This is for me

my friends today

And my friends tomorrow.

I think being mean stinks!

I won’t watch someone get picked on

Because I am a do something person

not a do nothing person.

I care.

I can help change things.

I can be a leader.

In my world there are no bullies allowed.

Bullying is bad.

Bullying bites.

Bullying bothers me.

I know sticking up for someone is the right thing to do.

My name is __________

And I won’t stand by

I will stand up.

This pledge has also been featured on family channel, and if you visit the family channel website, they are also featuring some information about Bullying Awareness Week.

Have a great weekend!

Homework: Ski Days – Nov. 27 and Dec. 3

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Math: Gr. 4 – pgs. 66-67 #1-7 and pgs. 71-72 #1-8

                                      Review Book

                         Math Unit Test (Grade 4) – November 21st

                         Social – Alberta Project Part 2 – MONDAY

                         Retakes – November 21st

                         Vista Ridge Forms – ASAP

                         Health – Home Activity 1A and 1B – MONDAY