Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the math worksheet on measurement and to write a story in the homework writing journal. The story can be about anything but the students were asked to "surprise" me with their stories.

Note: The date for our school's annual Fun Fair has been set for Saturday, June 15th. 

News for April 26

News for April 26

This week was Earth Week. Our school had an assembly, a bake sale fundraiser, a daily question contest and decorated the classroom doors with art made with recycled materials.

On Monday, our class pretended it was April 22, 1813! We tried our best to live like pioneers for the whole day. With the lights off, the students prepared their lunch (baked beans and corn stew, cornmeal "Johnnycakes", homemade butter and bread, carrot sticks, cheese, pickles). They tried writing cursive with quill pens and ink and learned about the pangram sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." (A pangram is a sentence that has all 26 letters of the alphabet.) The students also participated in an old-fashioned Spelling Bee.

In math, the students worked on the measurement unit. We talked about measuring with centimetres, metres and kilometres. The students were also introduced to the concepts of perimeter and area.

The children worked on their opinion essays comparing The Iron Man (book) and The Iron Giant (movie). They also learned how to create figures out of aluminum foil. The good copies of the essays will be displayed on the bulletin board in the hall outside of our classroom.

The students learned some more strategies for writing the EQAO test by reading, discussing and answering questions after reading a poem.

The class used empty tissue boxes to create art pieces for the Earth Week door decorating challlenge.

In science, the class began the unit on plants and soils. They set up experiements to observe how bean seeds sprout. Each child has a science notebook to record the daily changes in the seeds. The children also chose the plant that they wished to learn more about for the last research poster project of the year.

During our computer time, the students explored plant games and activities. Here is the link:

http://primarygames.com/science/flowers/games.htm

Books read aloud this week:

Black Beauty (chapter book) by Anna Sewell
A Shiver of Sharks - A Compilation of Aquatic Collective Nouns by Patrick George
A Filth of Starlings - A Compilation of Bird Collective Nouns by Patrick George
For Good Measure - The ways we say how much, how far, how heavy, how big and how old by
Ken Robbins

Update from Ms. R

Well, after missing so many days of school due to illness, it was wonderful to be back in the classroom this week, even if it was only for three days.

The homework this week is to complete the math worksheet on probability using two dice. The EQAO practice sheet focuses on interpreting information presented in a poster. This homework is due on Friday, April 25th.

Important Dates:

April 22-25 - Earth Week
April 22 - Pioneer Day in Room 5 - We're pretending it's April 22, 1813.
Lunch will be made (and eaten) in class.
May 1 (am only) - Track and Field Day -grades 1-3
May 20  - Victoria Day Holiday - no classes
May 27 - 30 - EQAO testing period for grades 3 and 6
June 7   - PD Day - no classes
June 25  - Report cards go home
June 27  - Last day of class for the school year

News for April 19

This week the students worked in their groups to finish and present their pioneer projects. The children created buildings for our pioneer village that included: a pioneer home, a general store, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop and a schoolhouse. The groups presented their information in front of the class. A video of these presentations can be found at the end of this posting.

In math, the class finished up the unit on probability by learning about the fairness of using spinners and dice in games. They even created their own dice! (Did you know that the sum of the numbers on the opposite sides of a die always add up to 7?) After reviewing the concepts, the students wrote the unit test on Friday.

The children finished watching the DVD, The Iron Giant and completed their notes on comparing the details in the book The Iron Man and the movie. They then used this information to begin a comparison of the book and the movie. The class learned the basic format of the three part essay (introduction, body and conclusion) and began to write their opinion essays by writing, editing and revising the introductory paragraph to their essays.

In preparation for the Earth Week assembly next week, the students worked very hard to complete a paper chain to bring to the assembly. Using scrap paper, the students cut paper strips and wrote earth-friendly messages on the strips. For example, some statements were "Be kind to the earth!" and "Turn off the lights in a room when you leave." The table groups worked to see who could create the longest chain and in the end, we connected the chains together and the final chain was 17 metres and 14 centimetres long! That's taller than the school!

Books read aloud this week:

Black Beauty (chapter book) by Anna Sewell. (This classic book was written in 1877.)


The Room 5 Pioneer Village Projects

Student groups presented their building models and the results of their research.



The Room 5 Interview Show!

This week Emma and Meredith interviewed Norah, the office administrator at our school. Please note that is the last interview show for the school year. Thanks for watching!

Where is Ms. R?

I have missed 4 days of school battling a very bad cold. Hopefully I will be able to post the news for April 12th soon.

News for April 12

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the multiplication review sheet and to complete the survey, with a parent, about our class blog. This homework is due on Friday, April 12th.

News for April 5

News for April 5

During this four-day week, we started a novel study project and finished our math unit on fractions.

The novel we are studying, is The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. The students have read the first two chapters , drew pictures of what was happening and wrote answers to comprehension questions. The class is practicing using the strategy of making pictures or movies in their minds to increase their remembering details and following what is happening in the story.

In cursive, the children learned the letters, m, n, x and q.

The class learned the rules around writing and spelling the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives (ex. small, smaller, smallest and happy, happier and happiest).

In our social studies unit on pioneers, the groups began working on researching different buildings in a pioneer village. They also began to build the buildings using wood blocks. The students also began to watch a series of National Film Board films about the pioneer experience.

In math, the students learned about mixed number fractions and reviewed the information in the unit in preparation for the test. The class wrote the unit test on Friday.

The students have begun taking turns reading two books we have read aloud on the iPad. This is a more interactive experience using iPad apps to read the books, The Heart and the Bottle and You Are Stardust.

In computers, the students visited a site about robots. Here is the link:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/robots.html

Books read aloud this week:

Alphabests - The zany, zanier, zaniest book about comparatives and superlatives by Helaine Becker
My Healthy Body by Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein
The Story of Longitude by Dava Sobel
Who Needs a Jungle by Karen Patkau

The Room 5 Interview Show!

This week, Caroline and Danielle interviewed Ms. Breslaw. She is a kindergarten teacher at our school and teaches our Reading Buddies class.