Did You Know…? A ‘bobsled’ is so named because early racers bobbed their heads back and forth to gain speed (which didn’t work).
Good afternoon,
Today all of the Gr. 4-6 students participated in a Health and Wellness Day! The classes were divided into 6 groups and the groups rotated to different sessions. The sessions that we had today were on:
Teasing and Harassment (Mr. Rutledge and Mrs. Organ)
Cyberbullying (Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Shackleford)
Yoga (Mrs. Chaulk and Mrs. Harris)
Conflict Resolution (Mrs. Merrick and Mrs. Balfour)
Mindfulness (Ms. Barrington)
Dealing With Stress (Mrs. Holodniuk and Ms. McNeil)
I hope everyone learned something new today and had fun. Thank you for your excellent behaviour. Every group was very attentive during my sessions and it was appreciated.
This afternoon we had our Virtue of the Month Assembly. Our virtue this month is Peace. Congratulations to Sedrick, Risolat, Alex B., Rukaya, and Mounika on being our monthly award winners. Keep up the great work! Our class sang “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley along with the other Grade 5 classes today. They did a wonderful job! They sang loudly and got the rest of the school to join in.
We also did the following DPA activities today as part of our Assembly. We were hoping to encourage some peace and mindfulness through both:
Spring Break begins tomorrow! There is no school on Thursday or Friday this week. Take time to relax with your families and I will see you all on April 4th! We will be having a Spirit Week our first week back to help fund-raise our Breakfast Program.
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Book Talk – April 14th
Health:
Home Activity 5A (FRIENDS)
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesdays 3:00-4:00 pm
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
On our way to the Lion King yesterday.It’s almost ready to begin!Happy Birthday Brayden!Today was Risolat’s last day…We have really loved having you and getting to know you… You are a great friend and very kind-hearted…Good luck in Toronto Risolat!
Did You Know…? In WW2, Spitfires were painted pink to camouflage them against low, pink-tinged evening cloud.
Good afternoon,
Today the Grade 4’s began to review this past unit on Multiplication and Division. Students who didn’t finish their review questions in class will be bringing them home for homework. We will be continuing our review on Monday. This means that we will be having our Math test on Tuesday. Want to start studying at home? Use your textbook – go back and do some practice questions over again from our lessons. Use Mathletics – go into the lessons and get some extra practice. Use the blog – click on Math-Grade 4. There are extra worksheets that can be printed at home. Next up? Multiplying and dividing larger numbers!
In Science today, the Grade 5 students completed the assigned quiz on Electricity and Magnetism. Then students worked to finalize their projects, which were presented today. The Grade 4 students reviewed what we have learned this week about levers:
The Grade 4 students will begin constructed vehicles as part of the cumulative project next week. Our Grade 5 students are going to help as well. Once the Grade 4’s have constructed a vehicle that uses their knowledge of forces to move, the Grade 5’s are going to help them to add electric motors.
In French today, we began to discuss time telling. Students learned some new vocabulary that they will use to tell time:
Students also began to review their numbers. We have practiced our numbers from 0-31, however, we will need to go further (to 60) in order to properly tell time. I’ve added our PowerPoint slideshow from today’s lessons to French-My Classroom/Elementary School (sidelinks). We also watched this cute video to help us to listen for the time:
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Book Talk – April 14th
Math:
Grade 4 – pg. 117 #15-8
Health:
Home Activity 5A (FRIENDS)
Lion King Permission Forms/$2 – due ASAP (Performance is March 22nd)
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – TONIGHT (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
Great job on your Paper Bag Book Reports everyone!
Did You Know…? At any given second the space bar is being hit six million times across the world.
Good evening,
Grade 4 and Grade 5 began our morning with some basic Math fact practice today. Today was our first day of Multiplication Olympics. Each student started at the Bronze level today. Students who master this level move to Silver, then Gold. At the Bronze level, students are each given a blank multiplication chart. Students must fill in the chart as quickly as possible. In order to move on to Silver, students need to have no mistakes and complete the chart in 5 minutes. We had 4 students ready to move on today. Everyone else came home with a suggestion from me on how to prepare for our next day of Multiplication Olympics. Some students are working on their 8x, 7x, 9x, 4x, etc. while others are just practicing to increase their fluency and speed. Keep up the great work. Want to practice using the Math Olympics sheet? Print blank sheets from home by visiting the Multiplication Review page (side links).
Students presented their Book Club presentations today. I was very impressed by some of the objects chosen by different groups of students. We had flashlights because a character would, “light up your heart,” and pencils to show how “dull” a character’s life was. Don’t worry, the included a sharpener, after all, his life became “sharper” throughout the story. Next up, another Book Talk! Students will begin preparing another Book Talk starting tomorrow.
The Grade 5 students continued to work on their Science projects today. Finished projects will be shared tomorrow. The Grade 4 students and I continued to discuss levers. We reviewed what we had learned yesterday about 1st class levers. Then we looked at second and third class levers. Some examples of a 2nd class lever would be a wheelbarrow or a nutcracker. On these levers, the fulcrum and effort are on either end and the load is in the middle. Examples of third class levers might be: the human arm, tongs, or a fishing rod. We were able to build both levers using some tape, a ruler, and a load of our choice. We discovered that moving the load closer to the fulcrum, makes it easier to lift.
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Math:
Grade 4 – pg. 115 #3, 5, 7
Science:
Grade 5 – Electricity and Magnetism Quiz (Friday)
Health:
Home Activity 5A (FRIENDS)
Lion King Permission Forms/$2 – due ASAP (Performance is March 22nd)
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Did You Know…? Four was usually written ‘IIII’ in classical Latin, not IV. The latter was mainly a medieval usage.
Good evening,
Our Grade 4 students began working on posing and solving multiplication and division word problems today. Here is the example we worked on together:
In order to solve this problem, we used two strategies: make a model and guess-and-test. Here is our model:
We began by drawing 7 squares for the players to play on. Then we filled each of the squares with 2 players, because we knew there were going to be some singles games. This meant we had 14 players (2 players x 7 games = 14 players altogether). Next we started adding players two at a time to make doubles games. After we created one doubles game we had 16 players, then 18 players, then 20 players, then finally 22 players! Looking at our model, we could see that we would have 4 doubles games (4 players x 4 games = 16 players altogether) and 3 singles games (2 players x 3 games = 6 players altogether), meaning that there would be 22 players playing in 7 games in the tournament (16 doubles players + 6 singles players = 22 players). The next strategy we tried was a guess and test strategy:
To use this strategy we thought about what combinations of numbers would add up to 7, since there would be 7 games altogether (some doubles and some singles). We came up with 1+6, 2+5, 3+4, 4+3, 5+2, and 6+1. Then we used these to help guess and test. When we had 1 doubles game (4 players x 1 game = 4 players altogether) and 6 singles games (2 players x 6 games = 12 players altogether), we only had 16 players (4 doubles players + 12 singles players = 16 players in total). So that combination didn’t work. Next we tried 2 doubles games (4 players x 2 games = 8 players altogether) and 5 singles games (2 players x 5 games = 10 players altogether); we only had 18 players (8 doubles players + 10 singles players = 18 players altogether). So that combination didn’t work. Next we tried 3 doubles games (4 players x 3 games = 12 players altogether) and 4 singles games (2 players x 4 games = 8 players altogether); we only had 20 players (12 doubles players + 8 singles players = 20 players altogether). So that combination didn’t work. We didn’t give up! Next we tried 4 doubles games (4 players x 4 games = 16 players altogether) and 3 singles games (2 players x 3 games = 6 players altogether); we had 22 players! That combination works! So, if there are 22 players playing 7 games, there would be 4 doubles games and 3 singles games. Students were given some practice problems using multiplication and division. Unfinished work went home for homework.
In Science today, Grade 5 students continued to build their Burglar Alarms. Tomorrow is the last day that students are going to have to work on these projects! In Grade 4 we reviewed what we have been learning about drive systems:
Then we began discussing levers. We watched this video to get us started:
Today we learned the following vocabulary words: load, effort, and fulcrum. Then we looked more closely at first class levers. Some examples of first class levers are: scissors, a see-saw, and pliers. These are levers because you have the load on one side of the fulcrum and the effort on the other side of the fulcrum. Then we were able to do two hands on experiments on first class levers. The first experiment we did involved lifting some textbooks with 2 pencils. One pencil was the fulcrum, the other was the arm of the lever. We found that the farther the textbooks were from the fulcrum, the harder it was to lift them. When we moved the fulcrum closer to the load, making a longer arm for the lever, it was much easier to lift the books. Next we practiced lifting some textbooks with a wood dowel. It was heavy! We experimented in using our bodies to make a lever. We used our shoulder as the fulcrum, balancing the load on one side and using our hands to exert the effort force on the other side. The closer the books were to our body and the longer the arm of the lever was, the lighter the books seemed. We will continue to explore levers tomorrow.
We also completed our Paper Bag Book Reports today. Presentations are tomorrow!
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Paper Bag Book Report Items – tomorrow!!
Math:
Grade 4 – pg. 114 #1, 2, 4, 6
Science:
Grade 5 – Electricity and Magnetism Quiz (Friday)
Health:
pgs. 46-47 – “Red and Green Thoughts” (FRIENDS)
Lion King Permission Forms/$2 – due ASAP (Performance is March 22nd)
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
Snack Shack – Thursday (buy some snacks to support Gr. 6 trip to Edmonton)
“Hoppy Birthday” Sedrick!Some action shots of our lever.Lifting it on to your shoulder was tough.Those textbooks were heavy at first!As you pulled it closer to your body, the easier it became.
Did You Know…? Four-leafed clovers gain their extra leaves as a result of stress.
Good evening,
The Grade 4 students continued to work on relating multiplication and division facts from 1-9 today. Tomorrow we are going to be moving on to problem solving and then we will be finished this unit! Woah! Don’t worry, we still have one more multiplication and division unit to tackle this year. We will be having our Unit Test next week. We will set the final date for the Unit Test by the end of the week. I want to see how our review classes go first.
In Science today, the Grade 5 students continued to work on their Burglar Alarm projects. These projects will be finished by the end of the week. Stay tuned for some pictures and videos of our hard work. The Grade 4 students continued to explore simple machines. Today we reviewed some of what we have learned about gears and drive systems. Today we created a drive system where the second gear was at a 90° angle to the first. What we discovered was that when creating this drive system you need to be really carefully that the teeth of the gears fit together. However, building a drive system this ways means that we can change the direction more efficiently. Next we moved on to levers. Today we brainstormed some examples of levers we have seen or used. We came up with the following and more:
Then we watched this video from Dr. Skateboard. In this video, he explains how a skateboard (a complex machine – made of two or more simple machines) is a lever:
Want to watch more Dr. Skateboard? Check out his YouTube page for more videos on Simple Machines.
I will also post these links on our Grade 4 Simple Machines page (sidelinks).
Students were also given time to work on their Paper Bag Book Reports with their Book Club groups today. I can’t wait to see these projects presented on Thursday and Friday! We have some really creative responses from some of these groups!
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Paper Bag Book Report Items – tomorrow!!
Math:
Grade 4 – pgs. 111-112 #3-5, 7, 8
Grade 5 – pg. 140 #1-3
Science:
Grade 5 – Electricity and Magnetism Quiz (Friday)
Health:
pgs. 46-47 – “Red and Green Thoughts” (FRIENDS)
Lion King Permission Forms/$2 – due ASAP (Performance is March 22nd)
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
Snack Shack – Thursday (buy some snacks to support Gr. 6 trip to Edmonton)
Did You Know…? A study at the University of Wurzburg showed people enjoy comedy more when they are holding a pencil between their teeth.
Good evening,
I was away this morning helping with school Science Fair. Thank you everyone for listening to the TOC so well. She had no notes written for me when I returned so I am assuming that no news is good news! Congratulations to Amira, Brayden, Alex B., and Hetvi on all your hard work at Science Fair today. You all did wonderfully! I know that the rest of the class is going to be cheering on Hetvi and Brayden as they move on to the Wood Buffalo Regional Science Fair!
In Science today, the Grade 5 students began work on their culminating project for this unit. Can’t remember the details of our Burglar Alarm project? Check out the Grade 5 Electricity page; the project is posted there. The Grade 4 students and I did a quick review of the wheel and axles and further explored the pulley today. I wanted to go back and go over pulleys again because we didn’t get very much hands on practice last time we discussed pulleys; some of our materials weren’t cooperating. Today went much better. Students were all able to build and use a fixed pulley and a “block and tackle” where you use a fixed and a moveable pulley. Moveable pulleys can be hard to build (as we saw today) but they do make the work much easier!
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Paper Bag Book Report Items – tomorrow
Social:
Regions Project – TOMORROW!
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
Snack Shack – Thursday (buy some snacks to support Gr. 6 trip to Edmonton)
Amira looks exited about Science Fair!Hetvi was proud to show off this solar oven.Alex did a great job demonstrating the scientific methods he used.Mrs. Luco’s ECDP class visiting Hetvi’s project.Mrs. Matheson judging Brayden’s project.Thank you to all the families and guests who stopped by today.Mr. Thorne asking Alex a few questions.
Did You Know…? Ladybugs often hibernate in clumps made up of millions of individuals.
Good evening,
Today we had a very exciting and busy day. We have a new seating arrangement and a lot of our furniture has been moved around too. Students now have access to a new table, the blue table, and a new carpeted area to use as collaborative work space. We also had the pleasure of welcoming a new student to our class today – Sedrick! I know we will all work hard to make sure he feels welcome. Thank you everyone for being so kind and welcoming today.
In Math today, the Grade 4 students continued to practice their division skills. Don’t forget that you can access notes from our Math lessons by using the sidelinks. You can also find lots of extra practice that students can be working on at home!
In Science today the Grade 4 students continued to examine wheel to wheel drive systems and wheel to wheel drive systems that use a belt. We did a few different experiments to test out the direction the wheels turn in each system as well as their speed. As we learned yesterday when we looked at bicycles, the sprockets don’t always turn at the same speed! Students were hands on in their learning, building and testing the following:
The Grade 5 students have completed all their lessons in Electricity! Students reviewed magnets today and we were able to use some iron filings to see the magnetic field of a bar magnet. These are the final notes for our Interactive Notebooks:
I can’t wait to start our Burglar Alarm projects next week! Great job Grade 5’s! Don’t forget, you can view all of our notes for this unit by clicking on the sidelinks.
In Art today, students continued their work from last week. We are still working on completing our Keith Haring inspired sculptures. We will continue to work on them next week.
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
Paper Bag Book Report Items – tomorrow
Math:
Gr. 4 – pg. 109 #5-7
Gr. 5 – Assignment (Monday)
Social:
Regions Project – March 14th
Registration Forms – ASAP (They are now late!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
School Science Fair – Monday, March 14th @ 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Registration Forms – ASAP (Due at the office on Thursday!)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – No Floor Hockey until April
STEM Club – Mondays, Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Yearbook Orders – $22 (March 31st)
Family Movie Night – March 18th (Alvin and the Chipmunks), entrance by donation
Family Science Night – March 21st @ 6:00-7:00 pm
School Science Fair – Monday, March 14th @ 11:00 am-12:00 pm
We used Fresh Start on GoNoodle to get in some DPA today.Students did a great job!It’s nice to get out of our seats and move.And practice some balancing!Here we go!
