What another amazing week we have had in Room 16! Here is a recap of some of our learning from this week: Credible sources - We visited a website called, "Save the Pacific Tree Octopus" and students were asked to research information on this animal. Some students hinted to me that they noticed strange things on the website, and that some of the information listed did not sound real. After having a closer look at the website, we came to conclusion that this website is not a credible source! We learned how important it is to use only credible sources when researching. Another way to tell if a website is credible or not is to look for .org or .edu at the end of the URL. Scientific Method - All students watched a brief video from www.studyjams.com on the Scientific Method and understanding how all scientists use this process to make observations, ask questions, form hypotheses, conduct experiments and collect data. We will continue to use the Scientific Method throughout the year to guide our work. Non-fiction features - This week, we spent some time looking at a Reading Power called Zoom In. Zooming In when we read non-fiction books is very important as non-fiction books contain many useful features such as captions, glossaries, maps, charts, headings, etc. Sometimes, we may not need to read an entire non-fiction book from start to finish, so it is very useful to understand how to use these features to help us find only the information we are searching for. Math Operations - we spent some time this week reviewing subtraction (Grade 4's: into 3-4 digits with and without regrouping) (Grade 5's: into 4-5 digits with and without regrouping) and multiplication (Grade 4's: single digit, 2-digits by 1 digit) (Grade 5's: 2 digit by 2 digit). Grade 4 students are encouraged to practice their basic multiplication facts up to 9. Pumpkin Project - We started sketching our pumpkins and making observations. Students were given time to record any prior knowledge or understanding of pumpkins (how they grow, colours, shapes, sizes, etc.) and were encouraged to ask questions. We will continue to work on our pumpkin projects up until Tuesday. Many thanks to all our parents and families who donated pumpkins to our classroom and/or school! We are truly appreciative! Updates: 1) Safety Assembly on Tuesday October 31 at 1:30pm. All parents and family members are welcome to attend. Students are welcome to wear their Halloween costumes if they celebrate Halloween. Keep in mind, costumes need to be appropriate and not contain violence or fake weapons. We are encouraging face paint instead of masks. We are not asking for snacks on this day, however if snacks are sent in, we encourage snacks that follow the Choose Most Often, not the Choose Sometimes, or Choose Least Often according to the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines https://open.alberta.ca/publications/5906406 2) Field study forms for National Geographic Live are due on Nov. 3/17. For anyone interested in checking out our presenter on this day, please check out the link: www.artscommons.ca/WhatsOn/ShowDetails.aspx?show_id=8273BC5B-E989-4210-A699-2D9D3D63CC72 3) November book orders are due on Nov. 1/17 4) We are beginning to collect cardboard for our upcoming inquiry project. We are encouraging all students to try and bring in some old cardboard from home. Thanks in advance! 5) Please see file below for an update from our school nurse:
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1) National Geographic Live Field Study forms went home today. Please sign and return back to school with your child by Nov. 3, 2017. Any available parent volunteers with valid CBE clearance, please contact me as soon as possible. Thanks in advance!
2) November book orders went home today--they are due back Nov. 1 3) Safety Assembly will be on Tuesday October 31 in the afternoon (stay tuned for exact time) 4) Choir starts tomorrow at lunch (for choir members only) 5) We are in need of cardboard for our upcoming inquiry project. Any donations of cardboard will be much appreciated! 6) Many thanks to our parents/families who sent in some pumpkins for our pumpkin project! We will continue to accept any donations up until this Friday. Thanks again to our wonderful families : ) What a fast paced fun week at school we have had in Room 16! This week was the start of our Follow Your Passion Fridays (also known as STEAM Fridays). STEAM is an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. In the last few weeks, teachers have been very busy thoughtfully planning activities and lessons with a focus on STEAM, keeping the Alberta Program of Studies at the forefront. Students were then asked to choose three choices that they are passionate about and wish to learn more about. From there, students were placed in one of their top three choices for their STEAM activities. Today, everyone began their new STEAM activity (8:30-9:15am) and I could sense the energy and enthusiasm from all! Students will continue to take part in STEAM activities 1-2 Fridays a month. I am looking forward to hearing all of the exciting learning opportunities that all students will experience during their STEAM activities! We have begun an exciting new inquiry project after watching an inspirational video about Caine's Arcade. Caine was a 9-year old boy (who is now a teenager) who had a creative idea, to build arcade games out of cardboard. His simple idea and video has now gone viral, and students all across the world are now testing their creativity skills, designing and building their own cardboard games! Students are just at the beginning stages of this project, focusing on what Caine's goal/purpose was and then to think about what their purpose will be in the classroom when they create their own games. Our inquiry project will incorporate Grade 4 and Grade 5 learning outcomes from the Alberta Program of Studies (for example, a Grade 4 student building her game would not require to have any circuits or moving parts to it, while a Grade 5 student building her game, would have to meet the working circuit requirement). Our inquiry project will focus on curricular outcomes such as simple machines, magnetism, circuits, and electricity and more! I am so very excited to get this inquiry project started! For more information on Caine's arcade, please click here: cainesarcade.com/ We are going to begin a fun, wiggly and dirty (gasp!) vermicomposting project in Grade 4/5! Ask your child to explain what vermicomposting is and the huge role our red wiggly worms will play in helping us create healthy, nutrient rich soil (which we then plan to use for planting in our Greenhouses!) Stay tuned! We spent some time this week reviewing Reading Powers (using metacognition - "thinking about thinking", awareness of what you are doing as you read). We learned that there are 5 useful reading powers: connect, visual, question, infer and transform. We reviewed the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts and will spend some time focusing on how to use reading power to help us better understand non-fiction texts. If your child and family celebrates Halloween, he/she is more than welcome to wear a costume to school on Tuesday October 31 (costumes should only be worn in the afternoon). Please refrain from anything too violent, gory or inappropriate (no masks please). Students are welcome to bring their costumes to school and get dressed at lunch. There will also be a brief safety assembly on this day in the afternoon. Please continue to bring in healthy snacks and lunches to school with your child (limit the Halloween candy as a snack) Thank you for supporting healthy nutrition choices for your child. We are planning a neat pumpkin project next week in Room 16. If any parents wish to donate a full size pumpkin to our class we would be so thankful! Or if parents would like to come in and volunteer (having valid CBE clearance) please contact me as well. Feel free to email me with any questions or if you wish to help out! Do not forget to wear your best smile on Monday! It's Picture Day! Have a lovely weekend everyone! Welcome back everyone! I trust that you all had a wonderful and restful Fall break. I am so eager to get started on a new exciting inquiry project that all Grade 4/5's will be taking part in! Stay tuned for more info!
Halloween: Students are welcome to wear a costume on Halloween. Costumes must be safe and appropriate for school (should not be gory, violent or inappropriate). Students are also welcome to not wear a costume if they prefer as well. Here are some important upcoming dates: 1) Picture Day is next Monday October 23, 2017 2) Safety Assembly on Tuesday October 31, 2017 3) Field study on Monday November 6 to National Geographic Live 4) Field study on Monday November 13 to Fort Calgary *Any available parent volunteers who have valid CBE clearance and wish to volunteer for our upcoming field studies, please contact me as soon as possible. Your help and support and truly appreciated! What an amazing week we have had at school! Students had an awesome time at the Telus Spark Centre on Wednesday. We had the opportunity to participate in a building challenge and many were stumped and frustrated with their results (which we learned is okay, since our brains are actively being challenged!). Ask your child to share some of their learning from our time at the Spark Centre!
All students have now chosen a topic that they wish to explore for Genuis Hour. Topics will be connected to the Alberta Program of Studies and we will use the Scientific Method to guide us in this process. I am excited to start this journey with all students and help them record their observations, generate deep level questions and help to further explore their theories and ideas. I really enjoyed learning more about each student's name and how their names were chosen for them. We discovered that some names are passed down from generation to generation while other names were chosen for other significant purposes. All students completed their Origin of My Name writing today in their visual journals and they all turned out lovely! Important updates and reminders: 1) Last day of school before fall break is Friday Oct. 6. Students return back to school on Tuesday Oct. 17, 2017 2) Picture Day is on Monday Oct. 23, 2017 3) Home journals are coming home today. Please read your child's letter and write a response back to them! Have a lovely Fall break everyone! |