Good afternoon!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend. We got right back to work today, starting with Language Arts. Last week we discussed the importance of rhythm in poetry by reading The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll. We also practiced finding the rhythm of the poem through it’s syllables. We discovered that The Walrus and the Carpenter has a pattern of 8-6-8-6-8-6. Want to try and find the pattern for yourself? Check out the first stanza:

The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright —

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

Today we expanded on this knowledge by writing Haikus. A Haiku must be 17 syllables in length, and is usually about nature or the seasons. It is broken into 3 lines, and has a pattern like this:

Line 1: 5 syllables

Line 2: 7 syllables

Line 3: 5 syllables

Here is an example of a Haiku:

Leaves

Falling from the sky,

Carelessly blowing by me,

Hiding from the cold.

Today students were challenged to write two Haikus. Their first Haiku had to be about a season, however, they could not use the Season in their poem. They had to try and describe images or situations that would convey their Season instead. This is part of showing, not telling (a descriptive writing technique that we have been working on). Their second Haiku was their choice. They could do a favourite sport, food, animal, or riddles! It was up to them to be creative.

This week Aboriginal Awareness Week for Alberta Schools. We are celebrating with something new each day. Today was Art day. We didn’t start a new project, but continued to work on the Art project that we started last week that celebrated Haida culture. However, we did continue with our discussion of First Nations’ oral traditions in Social Studies today. Today we looked at the Woodland First Nations groups, and read a Cree story. This story was about a brother and a sister who snare the sun. We discussed how sometimes stories can be used to explain natural phenomenon, in this case why the days get shorter and darker in the winter, and longer and brighter in the summer! We used our snapshot activity once again, only today students could only use one snapshot to summarize the story. This meant a lot of discussion had to occur about what each group wanted to portray. Tomorrow we will be using masks to finish this story telling unit. Stay tuned for news from Aboriginal/Multicultural Sports Day tomorrow! The weather is supposed to be beautiful!

Don’t forget that tonight is Family Literacy Night! Come to the school from 5:00-7:00 pm and enjoy some First Nations/Literacy inspired performances.

Homework: Multiplication Quiz (Thurs.)

                         Read for 20 minutes

                         Language Arts: Haikus

                         Math: Gr. 4 – pg. 228 #1-4

                                      Gr. 5 – pgs. 232-233 #1-8

                         Book Orders: May 23rd

                         Metis Festival: May 24th