Did You Know…? Snails have up to 14,500 teeth on their tongues.

Good evening,

Today the Grade 4 and Grade 5 students had their quiz on their 6x tables. This upcoming week we will be focusing on our 9x tables, and our quiz next week will also be on Wednesday. I will be sending home 9x table practice sheets tomorrow for students to begin to work on over the weekend. Please make sure that students are reviewing their multiplication facts each night at home if possible! We learned to strategies today that can help students with their 9x tables. The first you can view in the image below:

The 9x tables from 1-10 have an interesting pattern. Notice that the 10’s place value place counts up  by 1’s, and the 1’s place value place counts down by 1’s. If students know where to start, they can follow the pattern to complete this fact family! We also noticed that the numbers in the answers (for 1-10) add up to 9. For example, 9 x 2 = 18. Well… 1 + 8 = 9. Try this one: 4 x 9 = 36. Well… 3 + 6 = 9. This is a great trick that students can use to check their work and to make sure that they haven’t miscounted! Finally, we learned about the “Rule of Nines”:

In Science today, the Gr. 4 students began an introduction to Simple Machines. Today we went on a Scavenger Hunt around the room to see how many Simple Machines we could locate. Check it out below:

Stay tuned for more!

The Gr. 5 students today reviewed some of the Safety concepts that we learned last week. Then we completed these online demos to help us to categorize different devices that use electricity, and to follow the path of electricity:

http://www.science4us.com/elementary-physical-science/energy/electrical-energy/

In Art today, students continued to work on their interpretations of a “Dreaming With My Great Mother” painting. Students are allowed to choose their own and to use a variety of materials for this project. Stay tuned to see our finished work in the next 1-2 weeks! Want to check out more about the “Dreaming With My Great Mother” paintings and artists? Check out the resource below:

“Dreaming With My Great Mother” – http://www.youraga.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Dreaming-with-my-Great-Mother-Interpretive-Guide.pdf

Today we also had a “Book Talk.” I gave a 3 minutes presentation to students on one of my favourite picture books, “The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs” by Phoebe Gilman. I talked to students about the author, showed some of the illustrations, and read the first page of the book out loud. Then I shared with students the main character of the book and the problem she faces. I shared that I always connected with Jillian because I knew what it was like to always be messy and to have my Mom want me to clean my room! I was careful not to give away any secrets or the ending of my book. Students then marked me on my oral presentation. We decided that while I had earned between 3-4 (we didn’t all agree) on most categories, that I probably should only have earned a 2 for being prepared because I didn’t have any notes, etc. to help me and because I hadn’t really practiced much before my presentation. Students are going to be giving their own “Book Talk” on January 26th. The assignment sheet went home today, but you can view/print another copy below:

How to Give a Book Talk

Students were asked to pick a favourite picture book from home or to borrow one from our Classroom Library. Students will need to read the book and prepare and practice their “Book Talk” in the next 2 weeks before sharing it with the class. I did ask that students use books that they are comfortable sharing for this assignment. We will be reading each others’ books next, so they should not use anything that they are uncomfortable sending home with another student. If they don’t want to share any of their own books, they can use one from the Classroom Library instead. Happy reading!

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Language Arts:

• Book Talk – due January 26th

Math:

• 9x Tables Quiz – Wednesday

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Grade 5/6 Basketball – Thursdays, 3:00-4:00 pm

Toque Tuesday Forms – due January 18th

Family Movie Night – January 22nd, 6:00 pm, School Gym, Minions

Sorry for a short post two nights in a row! I had a meeting after school.

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Art tomorrow – welcome to bring supplies

Math:

• Grade 4 – pg. 58 #4-9
• Grade 5 – 5 Questions
• 6x Tables Quiz – Wednesday

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Toque Tuesday Forms – due January 18th

Family Movie Night – January 22nd, 6:00 pm, School Gym, Minions

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Language Arts:

• Computers tomorrow (bring headphones!)

Math:

• Grade 4 – pg. 57 #1, 2
• Grade 5 – 5 Questions
• 6x Tables Quiz – Wednesday

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Toque Tuesday Forms – due January 18th

Family Movie Night – January 22nd, 6:00 pm, School Gym, Minions

Did You Know…? Postcard collecting is the world’s third most popular hobby after stamp and  coin collecting.

Good afternoon,

The Grade 4 students continued to practice their 3-digit addition today in class. To help with our review we watched the following Math Antics video:

Students who didn’t finish their work today in class may be bringing homework.

All the students (Grades 4 and 5) received a 6x Table Practice Sheet today:

This is to help students to review their 6x tables. Remember, we have a quiz on multiplication every Day 4! Day 4 will be on Wednesday next week. Students who get their forms complete and signed for all of our times tables will be receiving a secret Math prize. So… practice, practice, practice!

In French today we reviewed our numbers from 0-69. Then we started to discuss Mathematical Operations. We learned 5 operations:

• Plus – Add
• Moins – Subtract
• Multiplier Par – Multiply by
• Diviser Par – Divide by
• Égale – Equal(s)

Then we played a game as a class. Students had to solve addition questions adding to 31. Groups could receive bonus points if they were able to read the entire Math sentence in French. Take a look at the example below:

This is a great way for students to be practicing our new operations, as well as practicing our number vocabulary.

In Language Arts today we began editing the paragraphs that we have been writing this week. In order to do so we used the following editing checklist:

On Monday we will finish our editing and be writing second drafts. We are working towards getting these paragraphs ready to be published!

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Language Arts:

• Library on Monday

Math:

• Grade 4 – pgs. 53-54 #2, 4, 6-10
• Grade 5 – 5 Questions
• 6x Tables Quiz – Wednesday

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Toque Tuesday Forms – due January 18th

Did You Know…? You can sometimes see ‘moonbows’ caused by light from the moon refracted by water droplets.

Good afternoon,

Today was Day 4, which is the day of the week that we have been working together to practice multiplication. Before the break, I had asked the students to continue to practice their 3x tables. We had a short quiz on the 3x tables today (both Grade 4 and Grade 5). We actually write the same quiz every week, just the fact family we are studying changes:

Today we started the 6x tables. The Grade 4 students and I learned a strategy that you can use to help you to learn your 3x tables – doubling. We have used this strategy a lot this year, as it already helped us with our 2x, 4x, and 8x tables. To find a 6x table fact you can double the same 3x table fact. For example:

3 x 6 = 18

6 x 6 = 36

Since 3 + 3 = 6 (or 3 doubled) we can use doubling to add 18 + 18.

18 + 18 = 36, so 6 x 6 = 36!

The students and I also listened to the 6x Table Toon from Mathletics to help us to practice counting up by 6. Want to practice more at home? I reminded students today of some tips they can use to study at home: counting up by the number, reciting your times tables as fast as you can, getting a family member to quiz you, etc. but remember that we also have a “Multiplication Review” page with some links on it! Click on the links in the middle bar to check them out!

Today and Language Arts, we reviewed the work that we had done on Day 1, 2, and 3. Then we took some time to put this work together into a complete paragraph. Students were asked to keep their work neat, organized, to remember to indent their work, and to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end it with a punctuation mark. Check out my example below:

Next week we will be editing and redrafting our work.

In Art today we visiting the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Travelling Art Exhibit – Dreaming With My ‘Great Mother.’ We had previously watched the following video to discuss using a careful, critical eye, and the importance of constructing multiple drafts:

We applied this video to our Art class today. We are using a critical and discerning eye when studying the pieces. Then students were asked to begin work on a first draft. If they finished, they were to get advice and specific suggestions from their friends on how to improve their first draft. Next week we will be returning to the exhibit to complete our second drafts.

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Language Arts:

• Paragraphs due tomorrow

Math:

• Grade 5 – 5 Questions

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Language Arts:

• Topic/Concluding Sentences due tomorrow

Math:

• Grade 4 – pg. 53 #1, 3
• Grade 5 – 5 Questions

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

Did You Know…? Octopuses can be taught how to open jam-jars, but forget how to do it almost as soon as you stop teaching them.

Good evening,

Today the Grade 4 students and I continued to work on some mental Math strategies that can be used during addition. Today we talked about adding from left-to-right, such as the example below:

To do this, students look at the place-value places from left to right. For example, 353 + 260 might be difficult to solve in your head. However, you can start at the left and add 300 + 200 which equals 500. We still need to account for 53 + 60. Again, starting at the left we can add 50 + 60 which equals 110. 500 + 110 is equal to 610, however, we still have 3 + 0 to account for, which equals 3. 610 + 3 is equal to 613, so the sum of 353 + 260 is 613. Take a look at the second example below for more information:

Students were given time to practice these strategies in class, however, students who didn’t finish their work may be bringing home some homework tonight. Tomorrow we are going to move from mental Math to a more tradition addition algorithm… adding from right to left!

In Science today, our Grade 4 students were working together to finish up some of their unfinished work from Waste in Our World that we didn’t quite finish before the break. I have to say I was extremely impressed with their group work today and how well everyone was communicating and helping one another. The Grade 5 students started their new unit on Electricity. Today we discussed some changes that we are going to make to how we work in our classroom. We are going to try a “flipped classroom” approach for this unit. This means that students will be able to access some videos and lessons BEFORE class (they will be posted on the blog). Then, during class they will review these materials with a partner before beginning a related activity. Afterwards, we will work together as a group to finish their activities and to have a quick lesson, take notes, or work in our interactive notebooks. I have posted some new videos under “Grade 5 – Electricity” about our upcoming lessons that students are encouraged to preview. We also reviewed the culminating project that students will be creating for this unit. You can see the project, worksheets, and rubric below:

Burglar Alarm – PBL

This gives students an idea of what we are working towards and some of the goals of this unit. This project will be completed largely in class, though students can bring materials from home. They will discuss this later with their groups. Finally, students watched our first set of videos for this unit. These videos are all about electrical safety:

Students are working together in small groups to create safety posters on what they have learned from the above.

In Language Arts today, students started Day 2 of our “Paragraph of the Week” activity:

Today students were using their brainstorming webs from yesterday to write some body sentence for their paragraphs. Students were asked to narrow down their brainstorming to a few ideas that fit well together. Then, they were asked to change these ideas into 3-5 strong, stretched out sentences. You can see my example below:

Tomorrow we will be writing Topic/Concluding sentences.

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Computers tomorrow – bring headphones, practice spelling

Language Arts:

• Body sentences due tomorrow

Math:

• Grade 4 – pg. 50 #2, 3

Science:

• Grade 5 – review “Flipped Classroom” videos

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm

Cross-Country Ski Club – January 14th, 21st, 28th (forms due ASAP)

 

Did You Know…? Giant tortoises compete in neck-stretching competitions to establish rank.

Happy New Year!

Today the Grade 4 students started with a new Math lesson. Before the break we had been practicing estimating sums. Now, we will be learning a variety of addition strategies that students can use to answer addition questions. Today we focused on two different strategies: friendly numbers and counting on. Friendly numbers has students change a number to something easier to work with. However, they must consider what they have added or subtracted and remember to include that number in the final sum. Consider the example below:

200 is easier to work with than 198. To get to 200, you must add two. So… we have subtracted two from 343 to account for the difference. Now we can add the numbers 200 + 341. These numbers are much “friendlier” to work with. Since the sum of 200 + 341 is 541, then the sum of 198 + 343 would also be 541.

In using a counting on strategy, students were asked to consider the place value components of the numbers:

It would be easier to add 170 + 300 than it is to add 170 + 348, but we still have the number 48 to account for (348 = 300 + 40 + 8). The sum of 170 + 300 is 470. Next we can solve 470 + 40 or we can break it down further and solve 470 + 10 +10 +10 + 10. We still have the number 8 t account for. The sum of 470 + 40 is 510. Next we can solve 510 + 8. The sum of 510 + 8 is 518. Many students find add the numbers in “parts” much easier than tackling the whole number. Look at the example below for more on using a counting on strategy:

We will continue to practice these two strategies as well as a third tomorrow.

In French today, we completed our study of French holiday traditions. Today we discussed French New Years’ traditions. As we discussed last class, many French traditions have a base in the Catholic faith as France was dominantly a Catholic country for a large period of history. Today we discussed how French citizens celebrate “l’arrivée des Rois.” Our favourite tradition was “la galette des Rois” or the King’s cake. This cake traditionally comes with a paper crown on top. Inside is baked “La fève” (usually a coin or small token). The person who finds it in their slice becomes the King or Queen for the day! We are going to celebrate this tradition ourselves on Wednesday. Can’t wait to see who the King or Queen is. Students also wrote “Mes Resolutions” or New Year’s Resolutions. We are going to post them on a bulletin board to share as a class before they come home.

In Language Arts we have started something called “Paragraph of the Week.” We will be following the following 4-day schedule:

Today students brainstormed in their paragraph books about this week’s topic: My Favourite Subject. Tomorrow we will be using this brainstorming to write complete body sentences. We also received new Spelling words today:

Don’t forget that you can always practice at Spelling City. We have Computers on Wednesday this week, so our first quiz is coming up fast! Don’t worry, you still get the whole week to practice. We’ll retest next Monday for those that need more practice after Wednesday.

Agenda:

Read 20 minutes

Math:

• Grade 4 – pg. 50 #1
• Grade 5 – pg. 94 #1-3

Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm

STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm