News for January 30
This week the students began the last week of January by making decorations for the Chinese New Year Holiday. The students learned that this holiday lasts for 15 days and begins this year on February 19th. The date is different every year but is always in January or February. The children used what they know about 2D and 3D geometry to create paper lanterns. By folding and stapling traditional "lucky" red envelopes each child made lanterns to decorate the hallway outside our classroom and even made some to give away to staff members. We also talked about the Chinese Zodiac and how even though all students in our class were born in 2006, some children are considered to be "roosters" if they were born before January 29th (Chinese New Year in 2006) and some are "dogs" if they were born after January 29th of their birth year.
Mrs. Farrelly and Ms. Schneider came by our class to admire our decorations and to ask the students about Chinese New Year. Mrs. Farrelly challenged the class to figure out how old she was if she gave us some clues: she is a "snake" in the Chinese Zodiac and she is younger than Ms. R. The students thought about this and combined the clues with what they know about Ms. R's age and birthday and figured out that she could be either 38 or 50 years old. So we wrote a letter to Mrs. Farrelly to ask for another clue to answer her challenge. We even used our survey skills to help us!
In math, the class finished the unit on data management and began the unit on time. The children reviewed various concepts in the traditional calendar and why they are what they are. For example, a year is the time it takes the Earth to orbit around the Sun once and a day is the time it takes the Earth to revolve around its axis once. They did a lot of activities around figuring out dates that are before and after certain days on the calendar. Finally, we reviewed telling time using analog and digital clocks. The expectation for grade three is to tell time to the nearest five-minute interval (e.g., 2:50).
In writing, the students each wrote a reflection on the process and outcome of making their 3D art inspired by the book You Are Stardust. They also designed a book based on the stories they wrote. Then each child read another student's book and wrote them a letter praising their efforts, offering suggestions for improvement and asking a question about the story. All these materials will be put together to become another Room 5 class book
In science, the students learned about magnets. They read that magnets have two different poles (labelled North and South) and when opposite poles are put together they attract or pull together and when the same poles are put together they repel or push apart, no matter how hard you try! The children experimented with all different kinds of magnets as well as the forces involved in balancing, making wind-up toys work and even playing with play-doh. Science is everywhere!
In computers, the children visited a site to play online games to help them understand forces. Here is the link:
In preparation for author Michael Wade's visit to our school on February 24, the students started to read chapter books in the series ...And Then it Happened. Nest week the children will be writing book reviews to give to Mr. Wade when he visits.
The students have made a lot of progress on their research about various topics about Ontario. So far, most students have almost finished the rough copy of their research and the titles for their posters. Did you know that the Eastern White Pine is Ontario's official tree? Did you know that Ontario's flag has a small flag of England (known as the Union Jack) in the upper left hand corner?
The children received letters from their Learning Buddies this week and they got back the "dinosaur fossils" that they made last week. In turn, the students wrote letters back to their Learning Buddies thanking them for being such good teachers. Mr. Grundy reported to me that the kindergarten children were thrilled to get personal letters back from their Learning Buddies.
This week it was our turn to teach the kindergarten students. The children worked hard to create "Race to 50" game packages and on Friday, they each taught their buddies how to play the game. The students even made their own dice!
Books read aloud this week:
Stone Fox (chapter book) by John Reynolds Gardiner
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