News for January 20
This week our class produced the second episode of The Room 5 Interview Show. The video can be found at the ending of this posting.
The students worked hare all week preparing for the social studies test on Canada's Provinces, Territories and capital cities. The students learned the main bodies of water in Canada, the five great lakes and the oceans on the west, north and east coastlines of the country. The class learned different types of study strategies including, writing review, quizzing a partner, and creating strategies for remembering (for example, Manitoba begins with "M" and it's capital, Winnipeg begins with and upside down "M" or "W"). It's very difficult to study information that must be memorized but these are skills that students will need throughout their school careers.
In math, the students learned about congruent shapes ("Same size! Same shape!"), prisms and pyramids. They also reviewed what they learned about Chinese tangram puzzles. Tangram puzzles are solved using seven 2D geometric shapes. Recall last week, the class did a round-robin activity where they solved 20 tangram puzzles in 20 minutes! This week, they designed and created their own tangram puzzles and the class solved these in half the time!
The class began to learn about Chinese New Year holiday. They learned about red "lai-see" or lucky envelopes that are used on special occasions to give lucky money to children and unmarried adults. The students used these envelopes (and their knowledge of geometry) to fold and staple holiday lanterns. We also discovered that the shape of the inside space of this lantern is the 3D figure called an octahedron. These lanterns are now decorating the hallway outside our classroom.
The students began a unit on poems and poetry. We talked about rhyming words, why they rhyme and how to create rhymes. One of the best ways to address the rhythm of a poem is to expose children to the words in songs. The class learned about the famous Canadian singer/songwriter, Stompin' Tom Connors, and listened to the lyrics of his song, "The Hockey Song". This song also helped the children to learn more about hockey, the Stanley Cup and one of the most famous Canadian hockey players, Bobby Orr. Here is a video of Stompin' Tom Connors singing "The Hockey Song":
During our computer time this week, the students practiced solving tangram puzzles and doing Canada fact quizes. Here are the links:
At the end of the week, the students were invited up to Ms. Harte's class to see her students' science projects. Our class talked to the grade 5 and 6 students about their research and took notes (to help them write letters to Ms. Harte's class next week)..
Books read aloud this week:
Ms. Nelson is Missing by Harry D. Gallard
Three Pig, One Wolf and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone
Celebrating Chinese New Year by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Number 4, Bobby Orr by Mike Leonetti
The Room 5 Interview Show!
The Room 5 Interview Show!
This week Joaquin and Arsheia interview our school's gym teacher, Mr. Hinrichsen.
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