Amaryllis Update (2)

Andrej and his family report that our amaryllis is now 49 cm tall and the little one is catching up and now it's 46 cm tall!

Can you see the flower bud starting to split open?

Amaryllis Update (1)

Andrej and his family report that our amaryllis is now 39 cm tall and the little one is 20 cm tall!

Room 204 Holiday Fudge Recipe

Room 204 Holiday Fudge Recipe

The children made homemade fudge to eat as a treat on the last day of school for 2017. This is a tradition in my family and we always make it this time of year. It is very easy to do and it is a  good recipe for children to make (with adult supervision).

You will need:

1 can (300ml) of sweetened condensed milk

1 bag (300g) chocolate chips

1 square pan (20 cm by 20 cm) lined with parchment paper/plastic wrap/wax paper

*Melt the chips and condensed mild together in a saucepan on low heat (or in the microwave) until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into the lined pan and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. When cooled, cut into small squares and serve. Enjoy!

Update from Ms. R

Update from Ms. R

Thank you everyone for the generous gifts! They are not necessary but they are appreciated. I wish all the Room 204 families a safe and happy holiday!

The homework for this week is…there is no formal homework! The children have worked very hard in the last 76 school days and they deserve a break. HOWEVER, each child has promised me that he/she will read for 20 minutes or more EACH day. During the unstructured holiday time it’s easy to neglect such a simple activity, but it is very important for children of this age to read each day. Recall that reading experiences include: reading to self, reading aloud to an adult or listening to an adult read aloud.

Please note that our LIBRARY DAY (Day 1) currently falls on Mondays. Therefore we will be visiting the library on the first day back to school (January 8). Please help your child to remember to return his/her library book.

Important Dates:

December 23 - January 7 - Winter Holidays

January 8 - First day of school for 2018

January 19 - PA Day (no classes)

(*For all holiday and P. A. Day dates, please go to the "calendar" section of the Toronto District School Board website at tdsb.on.ca.)

News for December 22

News for December 22

In the week leading up to the winter holiday, the children were very busy learning the history of holiday songs, folding origami and making fudge!

The big news is that our school fundraiser for the Daily Bread Food Bank, organized by our class, was a great success! The children counted the money and our class raised $93.95! The grand total raised from the school families and from the Winter Concert was $774.41. Well done Davisville PS!

The class continued to write and receive letters during our school’s “Holiday Mailbox” program. 

In math, the children learned how to identify and describe right angles and angles that are bigger than right angles (obtuse angles) and those that are smaller (acute angles). The students used plastic polygon shapes to create “polygon art”. After tracing the shapes and outlining them with sharpie markers, the children coloured them using pencil crayons. They also used what they know about geometry as they folded paper pieces to make origami wreaths.

In writing, the children continued to write different kinds of poems. This week they focussed on rhyming words in poems. They wrote their own versions of the nursery rhyme “LIttle Jack Horner” and then tried writing their own rhyming poems. They also wrote poems based on their math polygon art.

The students watched a few classic holiday TV shows. “Frosty the Snowman”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” were all TV presentations from the 1960s. Did you know that two of these shows started off as songs? There are many ways to tell a story! While watching the shows, the children ate popcorn that we popped in the classroom. Did you know that each kernel of popcorn is a seed and that there is a drop of water inside the kernel that heats up to 100 degrees Celsius and “explodes” to create the popcorn?

The students continued to learn the history of classic holiday songs in their Holiday Songbooks. They learned the meaning of new words and looked for words that rhyme. We talked about when the songs were written and figured out how long ago that was. The oldest song we learned about was “The 12 Days of Christmas” which was written around 1780. It’s cool to know that when we sing that song, we are singing words written 237 years ago!

The class also learned that the lyrics in a song can tell a story and  become a book. “The Hockey Song” is a classic Canadian song by Stompin’ Tom Connors. The class also watched a video of him performing the song. Did you know that he got his name from stomping his foot so hard on the stage that he would make a hole in the floor? After that he would bring a piece of plywood on stage to stand on to protect the floor when he sang. Here is a link to the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4TSkpI9wdk0

The class learned how to play “Chinese Checkers”. The board is based on a hexagonal star and is a fun game with very simple rules.

Finally, the children made chocolate fudge. This is a tradition in my family and it is an easy recipe for children to make. We melted the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk together in a saucepan. Recall that adding heat gives the molecules more energy and they move farther apart making the solid into a liquid. Then the liquid mixture turns into a solid when put in the fridge and heat is taken away. Cooking is really science! (You can find the recipe in a separate posting.)

Books read aloud this week:

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (chapter book - finished)

Frosty the Snowman - DVD

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess (book and DVD)

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer - DVD

Merry Christmas Squirrels! by Nancy Rose

The Hockey Song by Stompin’ Tom Connors

Update from Ms. R

Thank you to all the families for making our Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate this week a great success! The children worked very hard and did an exceptional job. Well done everyone!

The homework for this week is to complete the reading comprehension activity sheet and the geometry review sheet. This homework is due on Friday, December 22nd.

SPIRIT DAYS

Our school has a tradition of “Spirit Days” during the last week of school, before the winter holidays. Children have a choice to participate or not. Here is a list of the days:

Monday, Dec. 18 - School Colours Day - purple and yellow

Tuesday, Dec. 19 - Super Hero Day

Wednesday, Dec. 20 - Sports Day

Thursday, Dec. 21 - Ugly Sweater Day

Friday, Dec. 22 - Pyjama Day

Important Dates:

December 22 - Last day of school for 2017

December 23 - January 7 - Winter Holidays

January 8 - First day of school for 2018

(*For all holiday and P. A. Day dates, please go to the "calendar" section of the Toronto District School Board website at tdsb.on.ca.)

News for December 15

News for December 15

This week the children learned how to fold origami trees, how to grow crystals and they put on costumes for their performance at the school’s Winter Concert!

First, the students created collection jars and boxes to give to all the classes in the school to collect donations for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Did you know that $1.00 buys a meal for someone in Toronto who needs it? Our class is in charge of this charity project and we will use our counting money strategies to count the money collected next week.

Our school has a tradition of a school-wide post office program called “Holiday Mailbox” in the two weeks before the winter holidays. This program helps children learn how to properly write letters and address envelopes. The children are familiar with letter writing from lessons earlier in the year, but the proper format of an envelope with address, return address and stamps is a bit more challenging. It’s always very exciting to get letters!

In math, the class began reviewing 2D or two-dimensional geometry. Polygons are 2D or flat, closed, shapes with straight sides. Every polygon has sides, vertices (corners) and angles. Did you know that the number of sides, vertices and angles is the same for every shape? For example, a triangle has 3 sides, 3 vertices and 3 angles. As the number of sides/vertices/angles increases, the more the shape looks like a circle. (Circles are not considered to be polygons as they have so many sides/vertices/angles, they are considered to have zero sides/vertices/angles.)

In writing, the children learned how to write “list poems”, listing their favourite foods or the things they find in their desks. They also learned how to write “acrostic poems” where the individual letters of a chosen word become the first letter of additional words related to the chosen word. The students are collecting the poems they've written in personal folders to become a poetry book in the future.

In science, the students learned about how solids are dissolved into liquids by stirring borax powder (used for washing clothes) into hot water. When the powder is dissolved it disappears! The students put a pipe cleaner in the borax/water solution to “catch” the borax crystals. Did you know that the borax molecules went into the spaces in between the hot water molecules? When water is at 100 degrees Celsius, there is more energy in the water and more space between the water molecules than in cold water. When the water cooled down, the borax came out of the solution and formed crystals on the pipe cleaner and the sides of the cup. The crystals were clear and looked like little cubes and were very sparkly!

The class had the third mindfulness session with Miss Judy this week. She reviewed how to identify negative feelings (How am I feeling? Where do I feel it in my body?) and how to pause and consciously breathe to help calm down. (There will be one more session with Miss Judy in January.)

A tradition in Room 204 is for children to create a “Holiday Songbook” to learn more about the poems and history found in some of the popular holiday songs at this time of year. After reading the lyrics, learning the meaning of the words, the year the song was written and calculating how long ago the song was written, the children sang the songs together. So far, the class has learned the history of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, “Jingle Bells”, “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth”, “I Have a Little Dreidel” and “The 12 Days of Christmas”. Did you know that the song Jingle Bells was written for American Thanksgiving in 1857? So when we sing that song, we are singing words that were written 160 years ago!

The children learned about the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. After reading aloud a book describing the meaning and traditions of this holiday, the children learned how to play the Dreidel game and even had a chance to try some Hanukkah gelt (chocolate coins) at the end of the day.

At the end of the week, the students learned how to fold an origami tree from a square piece of paper. These are now decorating the shiny red tree in our classroom.

Finally, the students continued to rehearse for the Winter Concert on Monday and Tuesday and performed on Tuesday night. The children worked very hard to sing the two songs and perform the dance routine. They all did a great job!

Books read aloud this week:

The Story of Snow - The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

One Grain of Rice - A Mathematical Folktale by Demi

The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns

I Have a Little Dreidel by Maxie Baum

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (chapter book)

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a story (fiction or non-fiction) of his/her choice, in the homework writing journal. There is also a math sheet with practice questions and word problems using two-digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. This homework is due on Friday, December 15th.

PARENTS!

On the evening of Tuesday, December 12, our class will be performing at the Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate. Please arrive at 6:15 PM and get a seat. The performances begin at approximately 6:45 pm. The primary choir will also be performing, if your child is in the choir. The principal has asked that there be only 3 guests per child so that there will be seats for everyone. (Please see an email sent today with additional information about the concert.)

News for December 8

News for December 8

This week the children learned how to add and subtract two-digit numbers with regrouping, wrote author biographies about themselves and made homemade rainbow crayons!

In writing, the third set of books written by the children are finally finished! Recall the children were challenged to write a fiction story about a little plastic figure. They wrote, edited and revised the stories themselves (I typed them), created illustrations, front and back covers. This week they wrote an author biography about themselves to include at the back of the book. These books will now be become part of our classroom library.

The class practised their letter writing skills and their book reviewing skills by reading the book of a fellow student and writing a letter to them. In the letter, each child wrote about a favourite part of the story and suggested something they could do to improve their writing. Each letter also had a question about the story for the book author to answer. 

The class learned about the life of the poet e e cummings. He was famous for writing poems with no capital letters and little, if any, punctuation. He used words like an artist uses paint. The students tried writing poems like this using random words and words cut out of magazines and arranging them on the page in an artful way.

In math, the class reviewed basic addition and subtraction strategies in advance of proceeding to adding and subtracting with regrouping. Then using place value blocks, the students modelling addition and subtraction with regrouping. At the end of the week, the children learned the algorithm to add and subtract two-digit numbers on paper with out the use of blocks. The class also used these skills and applied them to solving word problems

In science, the children did an experiment applying what they know about liquids and solids to create large rainbow crayons. First they removed the paper from lots of different coloured crayons and sorted them into different colour groups. They wrote the steps of the procedure in their journals and explained, in a science way, about what happened. Specifically, as heat was applied to a cup of wax crayons (buy putting it in a “bath” of hot water), the crayons melted together. When the heat was removed and the wax cooled down, it became a solid again. The children then had a chance to draw pictures using the BIG crayons they made themselves!

Miss Judy, our mindfulness teacher, visited again on Tuesday to help the children identify their feelings and practise their mindful breathing. She also gave the class an introduction to meditation practice. 

The day of concert performance is almost here! The children have worked very hard to practise their singing and dancing. This week the students got their costumes and practised each day to be ready for the big day next Tuesday.

Books read aloud this week:

A Poke in the I - A Collection of Concrete Poems) by Paul B. Janeczko

Enourmous Smallness - A Story of e e cummings by Matthew Burgess

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a book report on a book that has been read at home. There is also a final review sheet reviewing Canadian money concepts. This homework is due on Friday, December 8th. 

The children also brought home the lyrics to the two songs we are performing at the Winter Concert to learn the words. The songs are “What a Wonderful World” (the Louis Armstrong version https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=21LGv8Cf0us) and “Everybody’s Waitin’ for the Man With the Bag” (the Kay Star version  https://m.youtube.com/watch?params=EAEYAdoBAggB&v=mwhADcoShpk&mode=NORMAL).

PARENTS!

1.  On the evening of Tuesday, December 12, at 6:45 PM, our class will be performing at the Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate. Please arrive at 6:15 PM and get a seat. The primary choir will also be performing, if your child is in the choir. The principal has asked that there be only 3 guests per child so that there will be seats for everyone. (A half-page note on bright green paper went home on Thursday with more information.)

2.   Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather and has INDOOR SHOES that he/she can leave at school and  put on and take off independently (teachers love velcro…). Many students are playing in the sandbox or on the field at recess times and they are tracking dirt into our classroom, especially on the rug. Thanks.

Important Dates:

December 12 (evening - 6:15 drop off and 6:45 PM performance begins) - Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate (Our class and the Primary Choir is performing.)

December 22 - Last day of school for 2017

December 23 - January 7 - Winter Holidays

January 8 - First day of school for 2018

News for November 30

News for November 30

This four-day week the children practised using what they know about Canadian money to solve word problems, they learned about mindfulness from Miss Judy and started to rehearse our dance for the Winter Concert.

At the beginning of the week the students went outside to measure the length of the school using metre sticks. Did you know that our school is 135 metres and 17 centimetres long? The children also worked in groups to figure out who the winners of our contest were and how many people entered the contest. Congratulations to Bhavika and Valia from our class who tied for the closest answer to the real measurement. Afterwards, each child wrote a short reflection on all the work they did to make this contest a success.

After hearing a read aloud of the sixth, and last, Martha the talking dog book, the students learned about how to write a book report. Each child chose his/her favourite Martha book and then answered questions about the story.

Finally, all the stories inspired by the little plastic person toys, are finished after being edited and revised. These stories will be typed and will become part of our third set of published books next week.

The class started to talk about poems, poetry and poets. We discussed nursery rhymes and their history. Sometimes nursery rhymes became the lyrics to songs. Did you know that Mother Goose was a fictional character made up when they first wrote down the nursery rhymes that had been passed down through families for hundreds of years? The class learned about concrete poems, also known as shape poems, and the children had a chance to create some themselves. They also made poetry folders to collect the different poems that they write over the next few weeks.

In math, the children continued to practise counting Canadian coins. Using the strategy of starting with the largest value coin and using skip counting skills the children counted various combination of coins and reviewed the concepts of “< less than” and “> greater than” to help them figure out which group of coins had a larger value or if a group of coins was enough money to buy something. They used these integrated skills to practise solving word problems completely and correctly (using pictures, numbers, words).

The School Council has paid for our class to have 4 sessions with mindfulness workshop leader Miss Judy. She came to our class on Tuesday of this week and spent two periods talking about what mindfulness is, mindful breathing exercises and how to try to regulate feelings and emotions so that we can do our best work and make good decisions. Miss Judy will visit us again for the next two weeks and then one session in January.

In guided reading, the children continued to read books together and discuss why an author chooses to write a particular story. In the guided reading book sessions this week, we read “Too Many Books” by Gilles Tibo, the book also won an award and the students talked about the possible reasons why the book was chosen to win.

The class was invited to the Grade 8 Spectrum Student Art Show on Thursday. There were a lot of wonderful art ideas at the show. The children brought clipboards, paper and pencils to write down information about the art they thought was the best and practised asking the artists questions and saying kind things to them about the art that they made. (We will write the grade 8 students letters next week thanking them for inviting us and telling them what they like about their art show.)

Finally, the students started to learn the dance moves to the song “Everybody's Waitin’ For the Man With the Bag”. Each child wrote down the parts that they preferred to play and I did my best to give everyone his/her first or second choice. Then it was time for learning the dances, where to stand when not being featured and listening to the changes in the music so everyone can work together. We are almost there…

Books read aloud this week:

Perfectly Martha by Susan Meddaugh

My First Mother Goose - A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes retold by Ilona Opie

Lemonade and Other Poems by Bob Racska

A Fly Went by Mike McClintock

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a story in the homework writing journal that has something to do with coins or money. There is also a math sheet reviewing money concepts covered this week. This homework is due on THURSDAY, November 30th (since Friday is a P.A. Day).

 

PARENTS!

1.   Save the date! On the evening of Tuesday, December 12, at 6:45 PM, our class will be performing at the Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate. The primary choir will also be performing, if your child is in the choir. More details to follow…

2.   Please make sure your child has INDOOR SHOES that he/she can leave at school and  put on and take off independently (teachers love velcro…). Many students are playing in the sandbox or on the field at recess times and they are tracking dirt into our classroom, especially on the rug. Thanks.

Important Dates:

December 1 - P.A. Day - no classes

December 12 (evening - 6:45 PM) - Winter Concert at North Toronto Collegiate (Our class and the Primary Choir is performing.)

December 22 - Last day of school for 2017

December 23 - January 7 - Winter Holidays

January 8 - First day of school for 2018

News for November 24

News for November 24

This week the children learned the names and values of Canadian coins and how to count money, they did a science experiment with different liquids and solids, created a BIG advent calendar and much more!

In writing, the class learned about how to revise their writing, which is different from editing. When children EDIT their work, they use a pencil to correct mistakes such as, capital letters and periods missing or word wall words spelled incorrectly. When children REVISE their written work they use a coloured pen and make their good writing even better by adding more words to give the reader more information. The students are now editing and revising their writing, before reviewing their stories with me. For this project, I will be typing all the written work before the stories are bound together with a front and back cover.

The students wrote a reflection on the art they made last week using clocks, that was inspired by the painting, “The Persistence of Memory” by Salavador Dali. After doing some research on Dali, we found lots of photos of him with magnifying glasses. So I took a photo of each child looking through a magnifying glass. Finally, the children each assembled the good copy of his/her reflection writing, the photo and their colour version of “The Persistence of Memory” to make a poster. The artwork and reflection posters are now on display in the hall outside of our classroom. Did you know that “The Persistence of Memory” is worth over one million dollars? Did you know that Dali also designed the label on the wrapping of Chupa Chups lollipops?

The class also used magnifying glasses to create miniature art! The children designed artwork on small (approximately 2 cm by 3 cm) paper rectangles. Then the artwork was framed in small plastic keychains. The children each made two of these and kept one at school and took one home. Some made necklaces, some put them on the zippers of their coats or backpacks. One child was overheard saying, “I’m wearing art!”

The class has begun an author study of the writer Susan Meddaugh. Each day this week we read one of her books featuring a dog, named Martha, that can talk. Next week, after reading aloud the 6th book in the series, we will talk about how to write a book report.

In math, the children learned the names and values of the Canadian coins, toonie ($2), loonie ($1), quarter (25 cents), dime (10 cents) and nickel (5 cents). We included the penny (1 cent) as well, even though these coins are now out of circulation. The students used what they know about skip counting to help them add up the value of a group of different coins.

In guided reading, I met with the groups twice this week. The focus of discussion was on writer intention, or why an author writes a story. The first book was fiction and was based on Aesop’s fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. The second book was non-fiction and was about wolves and sheep. Finally, we talked about the connection between these two books.

In science, the students worked together with the children in their table groups to predict and then observe, what happens to liquids and solids when they are heated (put in hot water) or cooled down (put in freezer). The students recorded this information on a chart.

The class discussed the Christian tradition of using an advent (Latin for “arrival”) calendar to count down the days until Christmas. The tradition in our classroom is to create a “Room 204 advent calendar” to count down the days until the Winter Holidays. Each child wrote a kind letter to a fellow student, collected some small toys and treats and put them all into a large decorated envelope. Each day, for 21 days, one student is randomly selected to receive the advent envelope of the day. This activity is meant to foster kindness and patience (as it’s not easy to wait for your turn…)

Finally, each day this week groups of students continued to write and read an announcement about our contest, on the school’s morning announcements. Everyone did a great job and the last announcement, with the names of the prize winners will happen next Tuesday.

Books read aloud this week:

Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh

Martha Calling by Susan Meddaugh

Martha Blah Blah by Susan Meddaugh

Martha Walks the Dog by Susan Meddaugh

Martha and Skits by Susan Meddaugh