November 23 (its a long one)

We have had a couple very busy days.  Today we finished our henna projects and they are on display in the hallway for you to see during Parent-Teacher interviews. 

This morning my guided reading groups worked on a non-fiction text.  From this text they will be writing an information reading response.  This includes writing about things they knew on that topic before reading, what did they learn, what questions do they still have and something they would like to share on the topic.

During writing time in the morning, we completed a self-evaluation on how our classroom behaviour and independent work skills.  We also set a goal for next term along with a strategy that will help us reach that goal.

In math we worked on a math review/assessment.  On this assessment students needed to answer several double digit addition and subtraction questions, write numbers in expanded form and represent a double digit number in as many different ways as possible.  

Please see the previous blog as it will give you important information about report cards.

In writing this afternoon we worked on creating similies.  Please post on this blog one of your favorite similies.  Remember we need more information rather than simply saying "I felt as cold as ice".  You could say instead "My hands were as cold as an ice cube that just came out of the freezer". 

If possible please send in a pair of new socks and 5 dollars for "Fill a sock, Fill a need". 

5 students were chosen for a speaking part in the Christmas concert.  Permission forms were sent home today and need to be returned tomorrow.

Also, Scarlett's tooth fell out today.  Well..... she may have actually had some help pulling it out :)  I wonder if the tooth fairy will visit tonight.  Please keep us posted Scarlett.

Have a wonderful evening.

Report Card Expectations

Report cards are coming home in the new year.  I have been working very hard to get to know your child and their strengths over the past few weeks.  As you know, marks are given based on a 4 point continuum.  If your child receives a 2 on their report card this means they are meeting the grade level expectations for that point in the year.  

Math Expectations for this reporting period:

- represent numbers to 100

- describe and apply mental math strategies for 2 digit addition and subtraction 

- begin to show some strategies for 3 digit addition and subtraction

- apply mental math strategies such as doubles, making 10, thinking addition for subtraction 

- recall basic addition facts and related subtraction facts to 18

- relate the passage of time to common activities using nonstandard and standard units

Writing Expectations:

-      - demonstrates success during Writer’s Workshop (stays focused and completes task)

-      -applies strategies taught in class (stories have a clear beginning, middle and end, uses interesting beginnings, begins to edit and revise work),

-      - uses complete sentences and punctuation correctly

Reading Expectations:

-      -Successful during independent and group reading times

-      -Relies on 1 or 2 decoding strategies to help read unfamiliar words

-      - Attempts to use comprehension/vocabulary strategies taught in class.

-      - Can re-tell basic story elements which include events that happened in the beginning, middle and end.

- - Reading approximately at Level M

- - Just a reminder that decoding at a level M is not the most important factor in determining a reading level.  Your child needs to be able comprehend and discuss the story details.

IIf you have any questions about your child's progress please feel free to email me.  I wanted parents to have this information before this week's parent teacher interviews.

Also, I will be going over with you your child's SLA results.

November 21

This morning during Writer's Workshop we continued to focus on how to properly add dialogue to our stories.  Here is an example of what we did and the rules to follow for adding speech to a story.

"I don't like green bananas" said the monkey. 

"Why not?" asked his mother.  

"Because they taste like glue" the monkey replied.  

"How do you know what glue tastes like?" his mother asked.  

"Just do" said the monkey.

Rule 1: A new line every time someone new speaks.

Rule 2: Surround sound with quotations.

Rule 3: P.B.Q.  Punctuation before quotations

Please remember to practice writing stories at home.  Remember to organize your ideas first to help keep you on track.

This afternoon we worked with Ms. Thomas' class to create henna/mendhi designs.  Tomorrow we will being doing an art project where we use real henna.  We will decorate the designs we created today.

In math we have switched strands.  We are currently working on measurement in particular telling time.  Today we created pendulums which used to measure activities.  We learned that this form of measurement is considered non-standard.  Please answer this question on the blog:  What is using a home made pendulum to measure time considered a non-standard unit of measure?

Also, at the end of the day we once again worked with Ms. Thomas' class on a different inquiry project.  We will be finishing up our unit on sound.  Each child will work with a partner or in a group of 3.  We will complete 2 different projects.  The first project is learning about pitch and vibration where we will make a song using glasses and liquid.  This project will also involve learning about the anatomy of the ear.  The second group will learn about how humans and animals hear.  We will be using google docs to create animal trading cards that explains how they hear.  

Please remember to sign up for parent - teacher interviews this week.  Your child is welcome to attend our meeting.  I am very much looking forward to meeting all of you.

Tech club form Please print and return if interested

P

November 18

Today was Club Friday!  We also had the opportunity to buy popcorn for snack.

This morning we had a lot of fun working with Mrs. Quilley with Dash and Dot.  We got to explore these robots and did some programming to make them move.  Our next step will be to connect Dash and Dot to the math curriculum. Next time we get together we will use a coding program called Blokley.  Once we have this mastered we will then be estimating how far we can make Dash move, we will measure how far Dash went using non-standard units, and we will then graph our results.

Today in writing we continued to work on writing stories from our ideas that are organized on a story map.  Next week we will be practicing adding dialogue and using quotation marks correctly.

Information about Fill a Sock-Need a Sock was sent home today.  I have also sent home a copy of the lyrics for the songs we are singing at the Christmas Concert.  

Have a wonderful weekend.

Families Helping Families

Help us bring some Christmas joy to our city’s homeless

 

The Fill a Sock, Fill a Need campaign provides a Christmas “stocking” of essential needs and small personal items to those in need. 

 

We are asking each student to donate $5 (or more J) to help fill socks to be donated to the Drop In Centre.  If possible, we would also ask students to donate a pair of new, warm, adult sized socks.

 

We strongly encourage students to earn their donation money by doing chores around the house - shoveling snow, taking out the garbage…etc.

 

We will be collecting money from students between November 21^st and December 1^st.  We will also be collecting cash donations during Parent Teacher Interviews. 

November 17

This morning we had a presentation from the Canyon Meadow's Girls choir.  They did a beautiful job.

During Writer's Workshop we discussed what it means to make a positive first impression.  We brainstormed for ideas as to when making a good first impression would be really important.  We then related this to reading and writing.  We know that as writer's we need to make a good first impression to catch our reader's attention so they will read our work.  Here are the different ways that we are going to practice making a good first impression in our writing.

How to make a good first impression when writing:

1. Onomatopoeia - repeat a word

2. Start with a question?

3. Sound word

4. Start with a fact.

5. Start with a dialogue

6. Start with an action

During Math we brainstormed for strategies for solving 3 digit numbers.  A couple of strategies that we thought of were using expanded notation and stacking the numbers.  For example:

326+142

300+100=400

20+40 = 60 

6+2 =8

400+60+8 = 468

We also worked on stacking.

   326

+142

  468

Please practice 3 digit addition at home.

At the end of the day we finished our google slides presentations.  They were awesome and I am so proud of everyone for their hard work.

Have a wonderful evening.