News for May 5

News for May 5

This week the students were busy solving a pentomino math challenge, learning about Ojibway art, beginning our class project about caterpillars and much more!

In math, the children worked in partners to solve the pentomino challenge. The children had to determine all the different ways to arrange 5 squares. Then they worked to calculate the area and perimeter of each shape. 

The children also reviewed place value and how to round numbers. Rounding numbers helps when estimating because rounded numbers are easier to add/subtract/multiply/divide using mental math. The children practised rounding numbers to the nearest tens place and the nearest hundreds place. The class also reviewed patterns and worked on creating patterns on a grid.

The class finished their art reflections on the Andy Warhol inspired art they created last week. These are now on display in the hall with the art. The children continued to work on their stories connected to their treasure jars. One of the tasks in this project is to design a way to display the finished story on the actual treasure jar...

In social studies, the class learned how the Aboriginal Peoples used bark in their everyday lives. Birch tree bark, in particular, was very useful in making houses, canoes and containers. The students used squares of waxed paper to fold their own paper canoes. These origami canoes can really float!

The children also learned about the Ojibway (also known as Cherokee or Annishinaabeg) style of art, using thick black lines and bright colours. This group of First Nations Peoples is divided into clans named for different animals, like the bear, wolf and loon. Each child chose a piece of Ojibway-style art to colour. The class also listened to a read aloud of the Aboriginal folktale, "The Loon's Necklace" and watched a video of the National Film Board's adaptation of this story.

In science, the students learned about how animals make strong and stable structures like nests and honeycombs. We also received a delivery of live caterpillars! We will be observing these over the next few weeks as they complete their life cycles and transform into butterflies. The class started by creating science folders, then they drew diagrams and measured their caterpillars. We watched an episode of The Magic Schoolbus called "Butterflies and the Bog Beast". The students are learning a lot of facts about caterpillars. Did you know that caterpillars build a web called a tent to protect themselves? Did you know that the science name for caterpillar poop is "frass"? 

The grade 3 students from Ms. Ceneda's class came to our class twice this week to review concepts in reading, writing and math. Most importantly they learned about how to write a standardized test, which for 8 year old children, is very difficult to do. For the next two weeks, we will be meeting for two periods every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to do this test preparatory work. During this time, the grade 2 students go to Ms. Ceneda's class. The formal testing period is during the week of May 23 to 26.

This week on The Room 204 Interview Show our guest was Ms. Marcus. She is an teaching assistant at our school. The video can be seen in a separate posting.

Finally, the class attended a Jump Rope for Heart assembly this week. This is our school's annual fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. All money donated goes directly to the Heart and Stroke charity. The final event, where children go outside and skip will be held on June 2nd.

Books read aloud this week:

The Loon's Necklace: An Aboriginal Folktale retold by William Toye

Houses of Bark: Native Dwellings - Tipis, Wigwams and Longhouses by Bonnie Stern

Ojibway Clans: Animal Totems and Spirits by Mark Anthony Jacobson

Animal Structures: The Truth About Animal Builders by Bernard Stonehaus

That Darn Yarn by Tony Millionaire