Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the math and language worksheets based on our math unit on patterning. This homework is due on Friday, November 8th.

Our school's Book Fair begins next week and runs in the library from Monday, October 28 to Friday, November 1. Our class will be visiting the book fair on Monday morning. Students will be writing "wish lists" of materials that they would like to buy. They can return to the book fair during the week to purchase items that they want.

News for October 25

News for October 25

This week our school had some sad news about our school office administrator, Norah. Norah will be leaving our school to work at another job. Our class had a great opportunity to make her feel special by creating beautiful tissue paper flowers to make a special crown and throne for her good bye ceremony at an assembly on Friday. She loved her hat!

The children used the story planner drawings that they created last week to write fiction stories. The goal was to write a story that contained information in their art. For example, if a grey cat was in the picture then the student should write that the cat was grey in his/her
 story. This approach to story writing helps the students include more details in their written work. These stories are now typed and will be displayed in the classroom along with the pictures that inspired the stories.

In math, the class continued the unit on patterning by looking at repeating patterns with two attributes changing. Then the class focused on learning about increasing (or growing) patterns. The key concepts with these types of patterns is to look at the pattern rule to determine what one has to do to the last term in the pattern to get the next term. For example, 2,4,6, _, the next term is 8 and the pattern rule is add 2 (or +2 or skip counting by two's). The class also worked in pairs to make an increasing pattern connection to our read aloud book, Six Dinner Sid to try and figure out how many dinners Sid the cat ate in one week.

In science, the students read more facts about snails. They also learned how to make a diagram and how a diagram is different from an art drawing. Diagrams are pictures that show true information and have labels in the form of arrows and words. The students learned how to draw a snail diagram showing the parts of a snail. Each child then took a snail fact and wrote it on a page with a snail diagram to create our class book of snail facts.

The class learned how to make plaster of Paris cast sculptures. The children each made imprints of snail shell spiral patterns into plasticine. Then plaster of Paris (a mineral called gypsum) was mixed with water and poured on top. When it dried, the plaster sculpture showed the patterns and designs of the snail shells. The students then wrote about the project in their writing journals.

The students created more comics this week. They learned how to write "narrative boxes" (usually at the top of a panel) to give more information about the story, like a narrator would do. They also learned how to make sound bubbles to add sound effects to their stories. The children are now working on a new four-panel comic strip with an emphasis on the story having a title panel, a beginning, middle and end panel to go with a three part story format.

In guided reading this week, the students read the first half of a chapter book, The Sea Dog. The goals for this week and next week is to discuss how the author uses words in the story and the illustrator uses details in the pictures to give information that isn't obvious. For example, by answering the question, "Why did the boy not want to learn how to swim?", the students can say that he was scared of the ocean but must explain how they knew that. (One piece of evidence was that the boy knew that sometimes the sea was so strong that it broke big ships into little pieces.)

Books read aloud this week:

The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen
Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore
Binky the Space Cat by Ashely Spires
Pattern by Henry Pluckrose
Follow the Line Through the House by Laura Ljungkvist

Update from Ms. R

Multicultural Night was a great success! It was wonderful to see so many families attend and enjoy all the fabulous food.

The homework for this week is to write a story (fiction or non-fiction) about the strawberry scratch and sniff sticker in the homework writing journal. The students have been instructed to write at least one page (but more writing is even better). There is also a worksheet with questions from our social studies unit plus some math pattern questions. This homework is due on Friday, October 25th.

Please note: I have been called for Jury Duty. I will be absent next week on Wednesday, October 23 and Thursday, October 24. Hopefully, I will be back at school on Friday.

Important Dates:

October 28 to November 1 -  Book Fair in the library
October 28 -  School Council Meeting (6:45-8:00)
October 30 -  Parent Council's Fall Family Fair Night (5:00-8:00)
October 31 -  Halloween Parade (after lunch)
November 1 -  Photo retake day
November 8 -  Parent Council's Pub Social
November 11 -  Progress Reports go home
November 14 (evening) and November 15 (morning) -  Parent/Teacher interviews
November 22 - Parent Council's Movie Night
December 20 -  P. A. Day
December 23 to January 3 -  Winter Holidays
January 6 -  First day of school for 2014

News for October 18

News for October 18

Another four-day week, but as usual, the students covered a lot of ground.

In math, we began the unit on Patterning. This week we focused on repeating patterns. The students learned the specific vocabulary for talking about repeating patterns: pattern core, terms and attribute. The children made patterns with their bodies and then took objects around the classroom and made their own repeating patterns. Then they made a class book of repeating patterns by creating a page for each pattern. Each page has a photo and the question, "What comes next in the pattern?" On the other side of the page is the answer and a description of the pattern core.

In social studies, each student presented their poster information linking their heritage country to the world map. The students interviewed each other about their "tooth traditions" in their families. They also interviewed each other about their favourite holiday traditions.

The class learned more about how to listen for the individual sounds in words (called phonemes) and how they can use these sounds to help them write down words and to read words. The students played a game called "Word Ladders". In this game, the children add, take away and move around letters to make new words that match clues.

The students created story planners for their next fiction stories by planning and making illustrations on fancy framed paper. The class will use these "visual planners" to help them write their stories next week.

The students used what they know about repeating patterns to create patterned bracelets using small, coloured elastic bands. After designing several bracelets on paper, each child chose one design to make. It was tough to get the elastics to cooperate! But with the help of "expert students", everyone managed to make a bracelet and some managed to make a lot more!

In science, the research groups reviewed the information they know about goldfish and snails and organized the questions that still need to be answered. The class read the words to "The Goldfish Song" Laurie Berkner, then listened to and sang along with the song. Click here to watch a video of the song:

The Goldfish Song video...  http://vevo.ly/QY7Wfw

In the computer lab this week, the students explored the educational games site:

www.funbrain.com

Books read aloud this week:

Throw Your Tooth on the Roof - Tooth Traditions From Around the World by Selby B. Beeler
I Want a Dog by Dayal Kaur Khalsa (We discussed how the author/illustrator based the cover illustration on the painting "Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jette" by Georges Seurat (French, 1884)
Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for each student to interview a parent by asking questions about his/her life and writing down the answers. The math worksheet focuses on subtraction using word problems and includes a subtraction puzzle.This homework is due on Friday, October 18th.

Please remember if you are going to attend Multicultural Night (October 17th - 5:30 to 7:00) please complete the bottom portion of the information sheet (sent home this week) and send it to school on Tuesday. The organizers need this information to help them plan the tables for the food.

*Please note that, because of our 5-day cycle, our library day is now on Fridays.

News for October 10

News for October 10, 2013

It was only four days long, but we managed to pack in a lot of activities this week...

In math, the students reviewed subtraction strategies. One of the most valuable lessons is to use what you know about addition to help with subtraction. For example, 10-7 = ? can be thought of as "What do I have to add to 7 to make 10?". The class also used "vertical" subtraction to solve word problems requiring subtraction without regrouping.

In social studies, the students learned about the four cardinal directions (north, south, east and west) and learned about maps and why humans use them. They had a chance to discover the different countries of the world on a world map and coloured in the different countries trying to respect the borders. The students then each worked to find Toronto on the world map as well as their families' home countries. After writing about where they live now and where their relatives live now or in the past, each child created a poster with this information and a handmade paper flag of his/her country. These are now on display, with connections to a world map, in the west stairwell by our classroom.

The class learned how to iron this week! The next step to completing our pillows was to iron the two pieces of fabric flat to make sewing the fabric together easier. Each student ironed his/her tie dyed fabric and hand-painted fabric. We will start sewing next week.

Our school's community police officer, Officer Marcie visited our class this week. She spoke to the children about personal safety. Her main message was that children should always let their parents know where they are, who they are with, what they are doing and when they will be home.

The students learned about the song "Wavin' Flag" by the Canadian-Somalian musician K'naan. They listened to the song and learned that the words to the song were based on a poem that his grandfather wrote and used to read to him when he was a child. The book we read was also a story of his coming to Canada and the challenges and successes in his life.

As a connection to our writing unit on creating stories using comics, the class went to the Northern District Library to work with author/illustrator, Martha Newbigging. The children learned about the features of comics and tips and tricks to writing and illustrating their own comics. The class also had a chance to go upstairs to the art gallery where many of Martha's original artwork for her books were on display. On the way home, we stopped for berry smoothies at Rachel's Coffee House. Maria also gave us delicious cookies that she baked. Thanks so much to Jose and Nelani for volunteering to come with us on this field trip.

On Thursday, our class had a Thanksgiving feast! As a connection to the story, Stone Soup, each child prepared vegetables to make vegetable soup. They also learned how to mix and bake bread. (Did you know that yeast is a living micro-organism that blows bubbles of carbon dioxide to make the holes in bread?) The students also made butter by shaking 35% whipping cream until the butterfat separated out. The class discussed what it means to be thankful and wrote in their journals what they are thankful for in their lives. The children used this information to create thankful cards for their families. We even shared our feast with Mrs. Farrelly and Mrs. Schneider!

On Thursday afternoon, the children participated in the school-wide Cardboard Challenge. Using only a cardboard box, cardboard tube, masking tape, scissors and markers, the students created all kinds of things from movie theatres to telescopes to robot arms!

Books read aloud this week:

Follow the Line Around the World by Laura Ljungkvist
Thanksgiving Day by Jessica Morrison
Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth
When I Get Older - The story of Wavin' Flag by K'naan

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to complete the worksheet with math questions and questions about the birthplaces of family members (this information will be used to make family trees in class). Also, the students are to write stories in the Homework Writing Journal. This journal will be sent home every two weeks. The children are asked to write a story (fiction or non-fiction) following the writing rules taped to the front of the journal. This week, the challenge is to write a story about the "mummy" stamped on the first page.

Thanks so much to all the parents that volunteered to join us on our trip to the library next week. We have our two volunteers already, but don't worry there will be opportunities to join us for other activities.

Important Dates

October 9 (pm) - Trip to Northern District Library for a comics workshop with Martha Newbigging
October 11 - P. A. Day - no classes
October 14 - Thanksgiving Day holiday - no classes
October 17 - Multicultural Night (5:30 - 7:00: potluck dinner: bring your own beverages)
October 31 - Halloween
November 11 - Progress Reports go home
November 14 (evening) and November 15 (am) - Parent-Teacher interviews

News for October 4

News for October 4

This week we had a guest visit the classroom! Mrs. Mazzuca, and her daughter Mrs. Cesario, came to our class to talk about her journey to Canada from Italy (60 years ago) and her life in Canada. (Mrs. Cesario is Ms. Katie's mother-in-law and Mrs. Mazzuca is Mrs. Cesario's mother.) Mrs. Mazzuca told the class how she traveled on a boat for 15 days and nights and arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax, the entry point for over a million immigrants to Canada. She then took a train to Toronto where she lived and raised her family. The children learned about the history of Pier 21 and talked about how Canada is a nation of immigrants from all over the world. Each student wrote a question for Mrs. Mazzuca to answer. For example, on student asked what kind of food she ate on the boat and Mrs. Mazzuca said there was all kinds of good food but most of the time she felt seasick from the big waves of the ocean rocking the boat! The next day, the students wrote in their journals about what they found most interesting about her visit to our class and even wrote about who they would like to learn more about and possibly invite to the class to ask him/her questions.

The students learned about homophones this week. Homophones are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. This week we studied one/won and two/to/too.

In math, the children used what they know about place value to help them add two-digit numbers without regrouping. Using place value blocks, they made the transition from using manipulatives to using the vertical algorithm. At the end of the week, the children applied what they know to two-digit subtraction without regrouping.

In science, the children worked in two groups to research snails and goldfish. The groups asked questions about what they wanted to know about snails and goldfish to help guide their research. On another day, the groups had a guided reading lesson and wrote down facts they learned. This research will be made into class books at the end of the unit.

The class created more comics! This week, the children concentrated on characters talking to each other. The students also learned the best way to draw a speech bubble in a comic (hint: draw the bubble after writing the words.) Some of the comics are on display in the hallway and others are going into a class book.

The students used fabric paint to create a second piece of fabric for their pillows. Using blue, yellow, red and green they painted designs to go with the fabric they tie-dyed last week.

Each child create a large "portfolio". This portfolio will hold work that the children do in class all year and will be used for the children to assess their progress during the year.

Finally...the students taped photos of themselves into their time capsule books and put them in a box. The class wrote a letter to the "future" Room 5 students to read when the box of time capsules is opened at the end of the school year in June 2014. Then each child wrote a warning on a yellow piece of tape to ensure that the time capsule box is not opened until the end of the year!

Books read aloud this week:

Pier 21 by Linda Granfield
All Kinds of Children by Norma Simon
How Pizza Came To Our Town by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

Computer sites to visit

In the computer room, the students have visited the following sites for educational games:

www.tvokids.org

www.pbskids.org