“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”
– T. S. Eliot
Good afternoon!
This will be a pretty short post, as students do not have too much work to do over the break.
Today we completed a short Language Arts activity using “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch”. Students were asked to generate a funny image, using one of the similes or metaphors from the song. We had some great pictures created to share with the other classes. Check out some of our work below.
We also played a party game that had us drawing on our heads! Students place a paper plate on their heads, and then are asked to draw the following without looking, or moving their plate:
Draw a floor.
Draw a Christmas tree. Add some decorations.
Draw a start on top of your tree.
Add a fireplace and mantle next to your tree.
Draw some stockings on your mantle.
Add some presents under your tree.
You can imagine that we had some pretty funny results.
Thanks for all the kind holiday cards and wishes. I hope that you all have a great winter break, and we’ll see you in the New Year.
Homework: Read 20 minutes (each night)
Science – Climate Project (due January 10th)
Your brain is full of spiders.You have termites in your smile.
Today we were busy, but we also got a lot done. We started our morning off by going to the gym for some Christmas carolling. The students did a great job! They were respectful, sang their best, and set a great example for the younger students. It was a really nice, fun way to start off the day!
We then returned to class to write our unit test. Thank you to everyone for all their hard work throughout this unit. I can’t wait to come back in January and start Simple Machines!
This afternoon we helped our Grade 1 buddy classroom to decorate gingerbread houses and gingerbread men. This was a lot of fun, and it meant a lot to the Grade 1 students. We were also able to give our Grade 1 buddies the ornaments that we made them last week (the snowflakes). They were happy to get a gift from all of you, and I know how hard all of you work to be patient with and to help your buddies all year long. They love it, and they love you guys. Even during carolling today they kept turning around to wave hello!
In Language Arts this afternoon we discussed similes and metaphors! This is a concept that we are going to continue to discuss as we learn to add more description to our writing, and in our upcoming poetry unit. Today students listed to the song “You’re A Mean One, Mister Grinch” and were challenged to find all the similes and metaphors hidden in the song. There are a lot!
Eg. You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile.
Last day tomorrow! Please remember to bring snacks if you’ve signed up, and please remember to consider our food allergies. No peanut products of any kind will be allowed, and that includes products that were not baked in a peanut free facility. Students are also invited to wear their pyjamas and to bring along pillows and blankets. We are going to be watching “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” because we only have two pages left in the the book to read aloud during snack tomorrow morning!
Homework: Multiplication quiz (4s and 9s)
Read for 20 minutes
Math: Gr. 4 – pgs. 100 #1-7, 9
Gr. 5 – pgs 90-91 #1-7, 10-12
Science – Climate Project (January 10th)
P.S. I wish I had a picture of your gingerbread men to post, but unfortunately by the time I got back from my meeting, all that we had left was crumbs!
This will be a short post, with the concert coming up so quickly this evening.
Today we continued to work on our multiplication and division unit. Both grades are currently working through the multiplication chapters. Grade 4s are practicing working with alternative strategies to find solutions, and are using multiplication tables to find and recognize multiplication patterns. The Grade 5s are working at using some of the alternative strategies to multiply larger numbers. We will be reviewing these strategies and making sure that the students are comfortable, before moving on to 2-digit numbers. Please assist students in working through, and checking over their math homework whenever possible.
In Science today we played “Big Wheel” and congratulations to Group #2, you did an excellent job. I was very impressed with all the groups, and their knowledge of our current unit. Please take the time to review using the study guide for the unit test, which is tomorrow! Students should review:
Glossary terms (pgs. 53-55)
4 forms of precipitation (pgs. 29-30)
4 types of clouds (pgs. 38-39)
The Greenhouse Effect -how humans effect climate change
Students should also be comfortable discussing how air moves, and with the experiments that we conducted in class.
As a reward from the sticker board, students were able to play “Sugar, Sugar” on the Promethean Board, as a class, for 15 minutes today. I’ve posted the link to this game below, in case anyone was interested in trying to beat level 8 at home!
Homework: Multiplication Quiz – Thurs. (4s and 9s)
Math: Gr. 4 – pg. 100 #1-7, 9
Gr. 5 – pg. 90-91 #1-7, 10-12
Science: Unit Test – tomorrow
Climate Project – January 10th
If you are planning on attending our Winter concert tonight, students will be meeting me in Rm. 167 (Miss Rose’s classroom) after 6:30 pm. The concert will start as close to 7:00 pm as possible, and we do ask that parents consider staying for the entire concert, rather than leaving during a performance, as this can be quite disruptive. The concert last night was just under an hour in length, and we are hoping to keep tonight’s the same. I will have indoor shoes with me for those that need them!
Only 3 more school days until break! This week is just going to fly by!
Today finished our Weather Watch unit. We discovered that sand heats up much quicker than water, but that it also cools down much quicker than water. This led us to discuss the difference between a land breeze and a sea breeze. We also reviewed the Greenhouse Effect. This was a topic that we briefly discussed during Waste in Our World. We were reminded about what clear cutting was, and the effects of burning fossil fuels. We also discussed the difference between the Greenhouse Effect occurring naturally, and when pollution causes this effect to be accelerated.
In Language Arts we wrote a small quiz on verbs, nouns, end punctuation, and topic sentences. We will of course continue to discuss these important grammar concepts throughout the year, but today was a way for me to get a better understanding of where students are in their understanding.
We also had the opportunity to watch some of the other Division 2 concert performances today. There was a concert rehearsal in the gym, and we were able to see the performance before our own, as well as a number of the performances that will follow us. Tomorrow night we will be meeting in Rm. 167 (Ms. Rose’s classroom), and the students WILL all know where that is before tomorrow night (we are going to visit tomorrow). The doors do not open until 6:30 pm, and the concert will begin around 7:00 pm.
Homework: Multiplication quiz – 4s and 9s times tables (Thursday)
Read 20 minutes (NO Reading Journal this week)
NO Spelling this week
Math: Gr. 4 – pg. 100 #1-4
Science: Climate Project – January 10th
Unit Test – Wednesday (study guide went home today!)
Winter Concert – tomorrow @ 7:00 pm
We will also be having a small classroom celebration before we go our separate ways for the holidays. Thursday afternoon we are going to have a pyjama party. Feel free to wear your pyjamas to school, bring blankets, pillows, stuffed toys, and we will be watching a movie together, and playing some games. If you would like to bring a snack to school, please return the form sent home today, and please pay special consideration to the listed allergies. Thanks!
Today students started researching their climate projects in computers. We discussed some different ways to search for information, as well as the importance of citing your sources. Students have been practicing recording where they find information, and creating reference lists for projects that include the websites, books, etc. that have used. This is a topic that we will continue to discuss, and will expand upon throughout the year. We have students doing places as far away as Australia, Korea, China, Tokyo, India, and Russia, and are going to have a great variety of climates to examine on January 10th!
Students also finished their Rocky Mountain sculptures today. Everyone did a wonderful job, and I loved hearing everyone’s explanations about some of their choices. We had students include the Columbia Ice field, glacial lakes and rivers, grizzly bears, black bears, mountain sheep and goats, rock deposits, glaciers, jagged mountains, caves, mosses, trees, and coal deposits! It was great to see and hear all of your creative responses!
In Art today we completed our final 3-D project. We constructed candles that match our concert song (“Shine a light for Peace,” and “Rise Up Oh Flame”), and made some decorations for the gym. This is the final project we will be doing on form this year. We have one more shape project in the new year, and then we will be moving on to line and texture.
Homework: Read for 20 minutes
Language Arts: Quiz! (Topic Sentences, verbs, nouns, end punctuation) – use your pink book to study
Math: Gr. 5 – pgs. 90-91 #1-7, 10-12
Science: Climate Project – January 10th
Weather Watch Unit Test – Wednesday! (review glossary terms this weekend!)
Health: Home Activity #3 (relax for 10 minutes)
Winter Concert, Division 2 – December 18th @ 7:00 pm
We made these geometric candles!Great job everyone!
What a busy, busy day! Today we started off by working through our new math unit. Both grades are studying multiplication and division at the moment. We are also both learning alternative strategies for multiplying. One strategy we are using, is to use smaller, more familiar multiplication facts.
Eg. To find 9 x 14
Find 9 x 10 = 90 and 9 x 4 = 36.
Since 10 + 4 = 14, we can add the products of the multiplication facts (90 + 36) to discover that 9 x 14 = 126.
We are also using multiples of 10 to work in the opposite direction, and using subtraction.
Eg. To find 29 x 3
Find 30 x 3 = 90 and 1 x 3 = 3
Since 30 – 1 = 29, we can subtract the products of the multiplication facts (90-3) to discover that 29 x 3 = 87.
We have also explored using benchmark numbers and number lines, as well as counting on strategies.
In Science today we started an experiment which has us testing the temperatures of different substances. We are trying to determine which material will heat more quickly: water or sand. Today we measured their initial temperatures (28 ‘ C, and 20 ‘C respectively), and tomorrow we will place them under a heat lamp, so that we can test the rise in temperature in both substances.
We also created small ornaments to give to our buddies next week, as a holiday gift. They turned out wonderfully!
Homework: Multiplication quiz – 3s and 10s (TOMORROW)
Read for 20 minutes
Reading Journal (TOMORROW)
Spelling Quiz (TOMORROW)
Language Arts – Grammar Quiz: nouns, verbs, topic sentences, and end punctuation (Monday)
What a great day. Thank you to all the students for all of their hard work! Today in Language Arts, we started to focus on the plot of our stories. Students are recognizing the different events, and are challenged to correctly order the events from stories. We also worked with commas and quotation marks today. Students practiced where to place this punctuation.
Eg. “He’s going to catch the bird!” John yelled.
“If you hold him down, I’ll try to rescue the bird,” Breanna told John.
Students did a great job, and it was nice to see so many people working together, and helping one another with our editing today.
In Social Studies, we continue to examine the Rocky Mountain region. We finished discussing climate and vegetation today, and then we began our project for this chapter. Students are constructing a mountain range using modelling clay. They are turning out beautifully, and we will continue to work on them tomorrow.
We also had literacy centers today. As promised, I will be adding details about our centers as we continue to work through them. Our first center is called “Independent Reading”. Students (in groups of 3-5) receive a copy of the same book. This month we are reading Avalance! by Pascal Haegell. Students then receive a flip book of possible response questions. They can choose a question that focuses on: content, author, or illustrator. Some example questions are:
What topics does this book or chapter describe?
What kind of research did the author have to do to write this book?
Did the illustrations help you understand the information better? Why or why not?
Students pick a card, and record their answer in a literacy center notebook, which will be collected after each round of centers.
We also finished our door today! Students each made a Who, and put their own faces on them. Our Whos are singing around the Christmas Tree, just like in the story. I think the door looks amazing, and the students have worked so hard on all the snowflakes, trees, decorations, houses, and Whos! Great job 4/5 N!
Homework: Multiplication quiz – 3s and 10s (Friday)
Read – 20 minutes
Reading Journal (Friday)
Spelling Test (Friday)
Langauge Arts: Quiz! (Topic Sentences, nouns, verbs, and end punctuation) – Monday
Science: Climate Project – Due January 10th
Health: Home Activity #3 (relax for 10 minutes :))
