Hello everyone!

Sorry I was gone for so long this week. With parent-teacher interviews, it is hard to find that extra time in the evening.

We had a great Friday! We started off with our spelling test, and our mad minutes. Mad minutes is something new that we have started instead of working on our weekly multiplication quizzes. Students recieve 60 multiplication questions, and are challenged to complete as many questions has they can in 3 minutes. Then we mark the questions together, so that students are checking over their work. It is really fun, and quite a challenge! Students try every week to best their score from last week. I was really impressed with the improvement that I saw today. Some students doubled their score in just one week. We will be switching out the question sheets once a month, and students are also challenged to get faster and faster at recalling those basic facts. Some students are already down to 2 minutes!

Today was also our yearly winter walk! All the classes from Gr. 1-6 went for a walk around the Timberlea area. It was beautiful weather for the walk, with the sun shining brightly. It was a wonderful way to get out of our classroom, and to get some exercise!

In Art today we started another project focusing on Line. Students looked at Zentangles, and how the artists use line to convey texture and patterning in their work. Zentangles are often inspired by nature, and they utilize line in creating patterning throughout. The great thing about them is that the lines are not all straight.. We got to try out some curls, swirls, diagonals, etc. Check out some of our work below. We were inspired by the zentangles, but we have decided to complete a Valentine’s project. Students are creating tangles all around the hearts. When we are finished, the hearts will be coloured, and the rest will remain black and white. This is a great project that will lead us into a discussion of positive and negative space, as we continue to progress this year.

Homework: Read 20 minutes

                         Math: Gr. 4 – Extra workbooks

                                      Gr. 5 – Extra workbooks

                         Computers – Powerpoint assignments (Friday, Feb. 15th)

                         Science – Sign and return Weather Watch tests

                         Art – Hatching Project

                         Family Math/Science Night – February 13th @ 6:00 pm

                         Science Fairs – March 4th and March 7th

                         Book Orders – February 22nd

Good afternoon!

What a busy week this is turning out to be! Today we started off our morning with some math. The Grade 4’s wrote their unit test, and the Gr. 5 students were working on some review work. They have been asked to complete some word problems, their unit review, and to work in their extra workbook. All of this is in preparation of their own unit test, which will take place on Thursday.

In Science we discussed class 2 levers. Students built a simple class 2 lever using a ruler, tape, their desk, and a water bottle. Using this lever we determined that like the class 1 lever, the task is easier when the load is closer to the fulcrum. We call this a mechanical advantage. We also prepared to conduct an experiment on class 3 levers tomorrow. Students will be attempting to pick up objects with tweezers, and we will see where the effort should be placed in order to have an advantage using this class of lever. Today we made our predictions, and wrote out our procedure. We have been practicing using the scientific method in class during our experiments, which will help students to conduct their own experiments for our upcoming science fair.

In Social Studies we worked on our Canadian Shield poems. Students were given the opportunity to work together to finish writing both their rough draft, and their good draft today. They turned out wonderfully. Students wrote about the climate, landforms, vegetation, etc., and everyone worked hard to be as descriptive as possible. These poems are due no later than Thursday for those who still have work to do!

Homework: Read for 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal – Friday

                         Spelling Quiz – Friday

                         Multiplication Quiz – Friday

                         Math: Gr. 4 – Extra workbooks – due tomorrow

                                      Gr. 5 – pgs. 110-111 #1-6

                                                 – pgs. 114-115 #1-21

                                                 – Extra workbooks – due Friday

                                                 – Unit test (Thursday)

                          Social: Canadian Shield Poems (Thursday)

                          Science/Math Family Night – Feb. 13th @ 6:00 pm

                          Science: Classroom Fair (March 4th) and School Fair (March 7th)

                          Book Orders – due February 22nd

“The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within.” 
                                        –  William C. Bryant

Good afternoon everyone. Don’t forget to sign up for parent-teacher interviews if you are planning on attending. You can register here:

http://timberlea.schoolappointments.com/admin/

Homework: Multiplication Quiz (Friday)

                         Read 20 minutes

                         Reading Journal (Friday)

                         Spelling Quiz (Friday)

                         Math: Gr. 4 – Unit Test (tomorrow)

                                                 – Extra Workbook (Wed.)

                                      Gr. 5 – Unit Test (Thurs.)

                                                 – Extra Workbook (Fri.)

                         Science: Weather Watch Test – signed and returned

                                           Science Fair – March 4th and March 7th

                         Book Order – due February 22nd

                         Math/Science Family Night – February 13th @ 6:00 pm

Spelling Words: chipmunks, punish, music, munch, punch, spunk, chunk, chump, hunk, mink