Have a safe and happy summer holiday!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the families of Room 5 a safe and happy summer holiday!

See you all in the schoolyard on Tuesday, September 3, 2013.

News for June 27

News for June 27

The students managed to do many different kinds of activities during the last week of school.

The students assembled and sewed their art journals this week. This is a journal they can use over the summer to write in and do art. The children had a chance to try out different stamp images and alphabets, coloured tape, alphabet stencils and drawing lessons from books by Ed Emberley.

The class learned how to use a strip of paper to make a Mobius Strip (invented by the German mathematician, August Mobius in 1858). By putting a half-twist in a circle of paper, you make a one sided piece of paper. When you cut this circle in half something very surprising happens. (Try it and see!) We also learned this is the basis of the famous recycling ring symbol. The students also learned how to use a strip of paper to join together two paperclips. A video of this paperclip trick can be found at the end of this posting.

The class learned the history of bubble gum. We read the book, POP! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy. (Did you know that bubble gum is pink because that was the only food colouring available at the time when it was first mixed?). Thanks to Ms. Farrelly for giving us the permission, to chew bubble gum in class. The students tried Bubblicious, Dubble Bubble and Bubble King bubble gum.

The students made thank you cards to thank the staff that has helped them all year. We thanked Ms. Farrelly, Norah, Francesca (gym), Ms. Kang (music),  Ms. Miller (library), the lunch ladies, the snack ladies, our sign language interpreter, Kelly and Wendi and last but not least, the caretakers, who keep our school clean.

The children opened the time capsules they made back in September, 2012. It was fun to discuss the things that had changed and the things that had not changed.

Kelly brought in her pet, Sheldon, who is an African pygmy hedgehog. He is so cute! The children got to ask her questions about him, watch him swim and pet him (he feels like a hairbrush). A video of Sheldon swimming in our classroom "pool" can be found at the end of this posting.

The students had a chance to finally learn two needle knitting. The children already know how to cork (which is basically knitting in a circle) and this type of knitting looks easy but requires lots of practice to get it right. The children learned an old pioneer rhyme to help them remember the 4 parts of the knit stitch:

"In through the front door,
Once round the back (and in between the needles)
Peek through the window.
And off jumps Jack!"

The class finished watching the movie, Because of Winn-Dixie. We also got to watch some Pink Panther cartoons during our class party, on the last day of school.

And finally...the children cleaned their desks with shaving cream!

Sheldon the hedgehog...swims!


How to do the paperclip trick...

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is...there isn't any homework! The children worked hard this week and with only 4 days to go, each of them deserves a break.

News for June 21

News for June 21

This week, Ms. Farrelly visited our classroom to thank the children for their letters asking permission to chew gum in the classroom for half a day, when we do research into the history and manufacture of gum. After an in-depth discussion, Ms. Farrelly asked the class to promise to put the gum in the garbage after chewing it and to let her know what they learned after the lesson.

The main project this week was the completion of the students' sock creature movies. The children worked in groups to create the opening title and credits, then they performed their plays in front of the class. These videos can be found in a previous posting (June 20th). 

The students learned how to create their own word search puzzles using blank grids and only the words from our class word wall. These puzzles were then solved the next day by other students. It was a great way to review the word wall words (and make sure they were all spelled correctly)! The class learned about binary code, both the history of it and how it's used with computers. Did you know that binary code is simply the use of 0's and 1's and it's linked to the on/off pulse of electricity? They got a copy of the 8-bit binary code for the letters of the English alphabet and used this code to write out their names in binary code. Since we were talking about how computers are powered by electricity and batteries, the class observed a "lemon battery" that we made to power a digital clock. The class worked together to write a simple computer program based on the idea of the game "20 questions". The game guesses which student in the class you are thinking of by asking a series of yes/no questions.

The class wrote "good bye" speech bubbles for the sock creatures they made. These and photos of the creatures, are making up the last display for the year on the bulletin board in the hall outside of our classroom.

Each student designed and made a cover for the art journal they plan to create. Using sharpie marker and watercolour pencils, the children experimented with line and colour patterns to fill the paper with different designs.

The children had a chance to review the projects from the last 10 months in their portfolios. Each child chose two activities that he/she thought they did well and shared with the class why they chose those projects. The portfolios went home with the students on Thursday.

On Friday, we participated in the school-wide Play Day. The children competed in teams doing different activities. It was a lot of fun!

Books read aloud this week:

Picasso and the Girl With the Ponytail by Laurence Anholt

The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real by Margery Williams (short chapter book)

Sock Creature Movies!

The Wacky Bunch by Amy, Abby, Caroline and David

 


The 4 Friends In Sock Monkey Land by Andjela, Katherine, Danielle and Harshitha




The Great Monkey And The Robber by Hanandi, Layla, Mackenzie and Meredith




The Robbery Night   by Akshit, Etienne and Larissa



The Problem With Our Parents  by Kashish, Emma, Lemaan and Yamin

Update from Ms. R

It was wonderful to see the families at the Fun Fair on Saturday. What a beautiful day it was!
Thank you to everyone who made the day a great success.

The homework for this week is for each student to play the board game he/she created in class, with her/his family. The children were asked to write a reflection on the experience, including what parts of the game went well and what they could do to improve the game. This homework is due on Friday, June 21st.

News for June 14

News for June 14

This week, the students worked on and completed, a number of projects.

First, the students finished their books starring the sock creatures they created. After writing the good copy of their stories, they designed the front and back covers and bound the book using a "stick" binding.

In math, the children worked very hard to design and create their own board games. After planning, playing the game and making some changes, they made the final game boards. The students used coloured buttons as "men" and one dice to move the men forward. The children also had a chance to play each other's games. These board games were sent home on Friday as part of the weekly homework, so the children can play the game with their families.

During our word wall word times this week, the students learned more about synonyms. Taking an "old" word wall word, the class learned 5 or 6 synonyms to use in place of that word. Learning synoyms for common words is important because using alternative words makes writing more interesting to read.

In science, the students finally finished their research posters on the plant, fruit or tree that they chose to learn more about. They presented their favourite fascinating facts to the class. These mini-presentations were videotaped. This video can be seen at the end of this posting.

The students had their last meeting with their kindergarten reading buddies this week. Our class made cards with photos thanking their friends for being their reading buddies. We had a little party, sharing potato chips and singing "They Jellybean Song", one last time.

The students worked hard to paint wooden picture frames to hold photos of themselves, to give to a special person in their lives. They also created a "pop-up" style card to give with the photo frame.

In computers, the children visited sites to practice sudoku puzzles and to play games featuring Julius, the Paul Frank monkey. Here are the links:

http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/sudoku.html

http://www.paulfrank.com/plannedpines/

Books read aloud this week:

Zoom! by Tim Wynne-Jones (finished)
Lumpito and the Painter From Spain by Monica Kulling
Pablo Picasso: Breaking All the Rules by True Kelley
The Dog Who Bit Picasso by Antony Penrose

Here is the video of fascinating facts from the students' research on different plants and trees:

 

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for students to write a letter to me in the homework writing journal. In the letter each student was instructed to reflect upon the activities we did in Room 5 this year. To help remember all the things we did together, we talked about how the children could visit our class blog and go back 9 months to September 2012 and scroll through the pages. The letter should include the activities the child liked the best (and why) and some they didn't like (and why). I'm looking forward to reading all the letters from the students!

Please note:

1. As of Monday, June 10 the students will no longer be able to borrow books from the library. All checked out books must be returned to the library.

2. Our school's big fundraiser, the annual Fun Fair is on Saturday, June 15 from 11:00-3:00. Blue forms were sent home this week to pre-order food and play passes. See you there!

News for June 6

News for June 6

During this 4-day week, the students made a lot of progress on our Sock Creature project. Each child completed sewing the basic model (with body, arms, mouth and button eyes) and planned and began to write the rough copy of an adventure story featuring this new sock creature character.

The children wrote a reflection on creating his/her scratch art. They each made a small poster to showcase the art, written refection and a photograph of the art before the black glue-paint was brushed all over the paper. These posters are now on display in the hallway.

The class worked on finishing their plant/tree research by collecting some cool "Did you know?" type of facts. The students also made drawings of the plant or tree he/she is studying to put on the research posters. They learned how to use watercolour pencils to add colour to the drawings. (Their practice drawings with watercolour pencils were so good that, at the last minute on Friday afternoon, we used them to make an art display in the hall by our doorway!)

In math, the students worked on completing a booklet to review patterning. They learned the history of sudoku puzzles and practiced completing 4-squared and 6-squared puzzles, using pencil and paper and unifix cubes with game boards. Finally, they reviewed and applied geometry concepts to create cubes using old playing cards.

The children completed the CASI reading assessment. This type of written reading assessment is usually introduced in grade 4, but the students learn strategies to help complete the assessment at the end of grade 3.

Books read aloud this week:

Zoom! by Tim Wynne-Jones (short chapter book)
Everything's Coming Up Sock Monkeys! The Art, History and Business of the American Sock Monkey by Bonnie Kraus Connolly
The Glass Doorknob (featuring Uncle Gabby the sock monkey) by Tony Millionaire
Sock Creatures by John Murphy
Only in Dreams (featuring Julius, the monkey) by Paul Frank

Update from Ms. R

It was a busy week! There was the EQAO test...butterflies...sock creatures...the class play...

The homework for this week is to continue to read each day. I felt I really pushed the students this week with all the activities. Of course, students are expected to read for 20+ minutes every day.

Important Dates:

June 7 - PA Day - no classes on this day

June 15 - Fun Fair

June 21 - Play Day (raindate: June 24)

June 27 - Report Cards sent home and last day of classes for the school year

News for May 31

News for May 31

This week the students wrote the EQAO grade 3 test during six separate testing periods. The tests are marked over the summer by the EQAO team and results of your child's exam will be returned to the students at the end of September.

In between the six separate EQAO testing sessions the students began working on our class sock creature project. The goal is to create a character that can be used in movies, art and writing. This week, each student sewed and stuffed the creature's body and legs then sewed on the mouth.

In science, the butterflies were released this week! With the butterfly cage outside on the playing field and the door opened, they took off into the air. Some even flew up as high as the school! The children drew diagrams of the butterfly life cycle. The students also learned about the butterfly's tongue (proboscis) and why the wings have scales on them. We also had an interesting discussion on how a butterfly knows how to fly when it comes out of the chrysalis. Finally each of the students created a covered origami box and decorated it with a paper butterfly. Each child put the empty chrysalis of his/her butterfly into the box as a keepsake of this class project.

As part of the set decorations and props for our play, the students made lots of very big tissue paper flowers. These flowers were used as props and to decorate the curtains on the stage.

The children continued to work on all the parts of the class play this week, ending with the performance of the play at the school assembly on Friday afternoon. The students worked together to create the dialogue and narration, the staging, the props, stage decorations and signs. It took a lot of time and effort by everyone to make the story of The Empty Pot come together as a finished play. The performance was a great success! Thanks to everyone for all their hard work.

Books read aloud this week:

Butterflies and Moths by Nic Bishop
Seed By Seed: The Legend and Legacy of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman by Esme Raji Codell