Update from Ms. R

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the students and their families a safe and happy holiday season and all the best in the new year...2020!

The homework for this week is....there isn't any homework! The children have worked very hard these last 75 days and they deserve a break. HOWEVER, the students all promised me that they will continue the habit of reading for at least 20 minutes (or more) each day.

The class also talked about the things that they can do that does not involve a computer, tablet or phone. Having a friend over to play, building/making things out of old boxes (tissue boxes are great for making things) and reused paper, playing board games, designing and making new games, taking a walk and playing outside are all wonderful ways to pass the time. We read a book a few months ago called "Square Eyes" about a boy who watched too much TV. SO... our electronic devices are wonderful, but we don't want to use them so much that we get "square eyes"!

Parent Notes:

1. Thank you to all the families for the very generous holiday gifts. Of course, these are not necessary, but I do appreciate them.

2. We raised $860.44 for Daily Bread Food Bank! Thanks to the hard work of the students in our class, our school will donate this money to help people in our city who don't have enough food to eat. The class was also recognized at our school assembly this week for their work during December's "kindness and caring" month.

IMPORTANT DATES

December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break holidays
January 6, 2020 - School resumes - Remember to bring "indoor shoes" back to school.
January 17 - P.A. Day
January 27 - Family Literacy Day

News for December 20

The last week of school for 2019 was a busy one! The children counted the hundreds of dollars donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank, learned the history of many holiday songs, created large winter-themed paintings and even learned about the Roman Numerals number system.

Math:   The children had a quick lesson about Canadian currency and how to count money using their skip-counting skills. Then they applied their knowledge to our Food Bank project to count all the collected money. First, the money has to be sorted into groups of the same types of coins and bills. Then we skip counted the amounts of the different groups and recorded the amounts in a chart. Finally, the students used their calculator skills to add up the total. We were still receiving money even on Friday, so the grand total was $860.44! Well done!

The children preactised reading aloud large numbers and also used their calculator skills each day this month to calculate the next term in our increasing doubles pattern. We started with "1" on December 1st and when the number is doubled each day (1,2,4,8...) on the the twentieth day or December 20th, the number was 524, 288! If we had continued to the end of the month, on the 31st the number would be 1,073,741,824 or over one billion! Ah...the power of doubling numbers!

The class also practised solving addition and subtraction questions with regrouping. (This is a skill that must be practised so that the process becomes automatic.)

The class also had some fun playing BINGO this week. BINGO is a great game to practise quickly recognizing two digit numbers and horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines.

The class finally had some time to learn about the Roman Numeral number system. In our classroom, we use Roman Numerals each day to write the date. For example, December 20, 2019 can also be written 20 XII 19. The children can read and write Roman Numerals to 12 or XII. Also, the students now know how to write the year 2019 = MMXIX and 2020=MMXX.

Writing:  This last week of school, there were no new spelling words as the class spent some time reviewing the word wall words learned so far, with an emphasis on homophone word pairs. For example, we played the guessing game, "I'm Thinking of a Word Wall Word" and solved word wall word search puzzles (even one containing the student's names).

The children reflected on what they have learned so far this year in class and then wrote about it, making sure to write their sentences correctly.

Social Studies:   The children learned about the traditions of some of the different holidays at this time of year. Christmas (December 25) is celebrated by Christians and there are religious aspects (birth of Jesus) and non-religious aspects (Santa and Christmas trees). Hanukkah (December 22 - evening) is celebrated by Jewish people and lasts for eight days. The first day of winter (December 22) is also called the Winter Solstice and is based on the placement of the Earth in its orbit around the sun. Its also the day with the shortest amount of daylight hours. We also talked about the traditions around New Year's Eve celebrations...even using "party horns" to announce "Happy New Year" when the clock strikes twelve midnight.

Reading:  The class learned about some songs that are popular at this time of year. They read the words to several songs. These words are called "lyrics" and are a type of poem. The students practised recognizing rhyming words as well. The oldest song we learned was "The 12 Days of Christmas" which was written in 1780, so people have been singing this song for over 239 years! (It's a tradition at our school to sing this song altogether, complete with sign language signs at our end-of-year assembly.) Did you know that "Jingle Bells" (1857) is actually a song written for American Thanksgiving?

Art:  The children created large paintings over several days. The only criteria was that it should be an outdoor winter scene. The children took great care to create artworks with lots of details. The children also added a bit of "sparkle" by brushing on glitter glue on the snowy areas of their paintings. These paintings were rolled up and put in backpacks to display at home!

Finally, our amaryllis plant's second flower bud started to bloom and the original flowers have started to fade. The class had a couple of good discussions about the "circle of life" and how all things, plants and animals, have a life cycle and the complicated idea that no plant or animal lives forever. However, the amaryllis taught our class so much about patience, exponential growth, measurement, DNA, aesthetic beauty and life cycles.

Books read aloud this week:

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (finished)
I Have a Little Dreidel by Maxie Baum
The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer
Roman Numerals by David Adler

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to read the non-fiction story about how crayons are made and to answer the comprehension questions. There is also a math worksheet reviewing two-digit subtraction (with regrouping). This homework is due on Friday, December 20th.

Parent notes:

1. Daily Bread Food Bank - Our class project has been extended to Tuesday, December 17th. Thanks so much for giving money to help needy families.

2. HELP...your child become confident in math! Please help your child practise adding and subtracting two-digit numbers with regrouping. We covered the standard methods this week in class, but for some children this knowledge is very fragile and easily forgotten. Solving two or three questions, at home, correctly each day, perhaps using a whiteboard, will help to strengthen this basic math skill.

IMPORTANT DATES

December 17 -  Daily Bread Food Bank money collection finishes - The deadline has been extended.
December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break holidays
January 6, 2020 - School resumes
January 17 - P.A. Day
January 27 - Family Literacy Day

News for December 13

This week in Room 222, the students made large, sparkly borax crystals, learned and wrote about the poinsetta plant and created paper chains almost as tall as eight of our schools stacked on top of each other (76 metres)!

Math:   This week the class learned the standard algorithms to solve two-digit addition and subtraction questions with regrouping. The procedure for addition is fairly easy, but the subtraction questions are very tricky. The children know that to do these kinds of questions accurately, one must practise, practise, practise!

The class continue to learn the power of doubling numbers. Our calendar pattern is a doubling pattern (children use calculators at this point, to figure out the new number each day), the read aloud book "One Grain of Rice" is based on a doubling pattern and the children saw a video based on this pattern.  Doubling makes numbers bigger very, very quickly! Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OuJhaqeUbo

When I was a child, I loved to make paper chains each year for our family Christmas tree. The class really enjoyed making these chains too! The children started talking about the math ideas that we could explore using the chains. The students counted the individual paper circles in their chains (as non-standard units), estimated the lengths and then they used metre sticks to measure their chains (standard units). They worked in their table groups to use calculators to total the numbers and then we calculated the grand totals for the whole class. There were 1,586 paper circles linked together to make a chain 76 metres long! We had to go into the hall to have enough room to measure them. One table group made a paper chain that was almost as long as a blue whale!

Writing:   All of the snowflake posters are now finished and on display on the bulletin board in our classroom. The students also continued to write (and receive) letters as part of our school-wide holiday mailbox program.

Ms. G, one of the staff members in our school whose classroom is beside ours, surprised us this week with a beautiful poinsettia plant! Of course the children were full of questions about this plant that is a traditional decoration for Christmas. After a bit of research, we learned a lot about poinsettias and the students wrote about what they learned in their journals. Did you know that it got its English name from the US Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett? Around 1820, he saw this green and red plant and it reminded him of traditional Christmas colours. He named it after himself and so the plant is known as "poinsettia" in English. Did you know that the red parts are not petals? They are specialized leaves called "bracts" and the actual flowers are the tiny yellow flowers in the centre of the red bracts.

Reading: In our guided reading groups this week, the children talked a bit about folk tales and how sometimes these stories were invented to explain things in the world before science could explain the real reasons. For example, the story we read was about why snakes have no legs, elephants have two long tusks and giraffes have long necks. These kinds of stories are entertaining, but are not the real reasons for these animal features.

During our daily read aloud times this week, the children continued to learn and talk about winter holiday traditions. Did you know that Frosty the Snowman was a story told in song first, then a cartoon and a book? Did you know the "tomten" is a fictional creature that looks after farm animals during the winter in Sweden?

Science:   The class learned about how a solid can dissolve and disappear into a liquid. Using borax powder (a laundry detergent additive) the students tried to dissolve the powder in cold water, but it didn't work. When hot, boiling water was added, the powder disappeared! The reason for this is that the boiling water molecules are moving around rapidly and there is more space between the water molecules. So the borax can go in these spaces and "disappear". When the water cooled down overnight, there is less space between the water molecules and the borax comes out of the solution, The students hung a piece of pipe cleaner into each cup and the borax re-formed or crystalized on the pipe cleaner creating beautiful clear cube-shaped crystals! The children looked at the crystals using magnifying glasses and wrote about what happened by filling in a chart with information on what the borax looked like before and after it was dissolved in hot water. The class even did a "molecule dance" to physically show what water molecules do when water is a solid (ice), liquid water and boiling water (gas).

Social Studies:   The children learned about a variety of traditions that are observed this time of year. They heard the story of Frosty the Snowman, began making holiday wreaths from reused plastic bags, learned how the poinsetta plant became a symbol of Christmas and the tradition of using paper chains to decorate Christmas trees. We also had a very interesting discussion of the religious (the birthday of Jesus who is the central figure of Christianity) versus the secular or non-religious (Santa Claus and Christmas trees) themes of Christmas.

Art:   The children worked in their table groups to reuse plastic bags to make wreaths to give to some of the staff at our school. Plastic bags are not recyclable, so this activity at least gives the bags a "second life". Wreaths are traditional at this time of year for Christmas, but wreaths are also used all through the year as decorations in many cultures.

Finally, our class amaryllis plant bloomed this week! Currently, there are two big, beautiful red flowers. The plant is now 41 cm tall. We talked about how the plant is now like an "adult plant" because it has stopped growing taller and is now putting its energy into growing its flowers. There is also a second bud growing beside it, that is catching up in height.

Books read aloud this week:

One Grain of Rice (A Mathematical Tale) by Demi
The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
Merry Christmas Squirrels! by Nancy Rose
Frosty the Snowman by Jack Rollins
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (to be continued...)

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a fiction story about the animal sticker in the homework writing journal. There is also a math worksheet reviewing two-digit addition and subtraction and word problems (without regrouping/renaming). This homework is due on Friday, December 13th.

Notes for parents:

1. Food Bank Fundraiser - Our class is in charge of collecting money for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. Did you know that there are over one million food bank visits in Toronto every year? Please help this organization battle food insecurity in our city by donating money to this very worthy cause. Our class is collecting money until December 13th. Please visit dailybread.ca for more information.

2. Outdoor Clothing - Please send your child to school with adequate cold weather gear. A coat, boots, gloves and a hat (if the coat does not have a hood) are essential. Scarves and snowpants are needed when the wind chill makes it feel even colder outside. Please know that I will ensure that your child is adequately dressed for the weather. REMEMBER to tuck extra pairs of dry sock and mittens in your child's backpack. Often socks/gloves get wet and it's a nice feeling to be able to put on dry ones.

2. Swim Class - Until mid-January, our swim classes will be held on MONDAYS. Please make sure your child brings his/her swim gear on Mondays until mid-January. I will let you know when the date changes again.

IMPORTANT DATES

December 6 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
December 12 - Winter Concert - PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY! (Our class will perform in the Spring Concert.)
December 13 - Daily Bread Food Bank money collection finishes
December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break holidays
January 6, 2020 - School resumes
January 17 - P.A. Day

News for December 5

It was a four day week, but the students were busy making and writing about snowflakes, creating posters for our FOOD BANK fundraiser and wrote letters as part of our school-wide Holiday Mailbox program.

Math - The children practised solving two-digit addition and subtraction (no regrouping) questions and word problems. We talked about the words in math word problems that indicated if the question needs to be solved by adding (e.g., altogether) or subtracting (e.g., give away). The children are expected to solve two-digit addition and subtraction questions vertically, with the digits of the same place value lined up appropriately.

The class has been watching, measuring and graphing the growth of our amaryllis plant. This week, we saw the plant enter a new phase of its growth as it grew an average of 3-4 cm each day! It now meausures 22 cm tall (and there is a second flower bud now growing).

Writing - The class reviewed how to write a letter and learned how to address it with "to" and "from" names and addresses. The children wrote letters to the principal, other teachers and to their friends. The class also learned that to get a letter in return, it's a good idea to ask questions so the the recipient will be more likely to write a letter back.

The children did a compare and contrast writing assignment based on their science knowledge of real snowflakes and paper snowflakes. They discussed in their table groups how they are the same (e.g., hexagon shape) and how they are different (e.g., one is made of ice and the other is made of paper). The students wrote, edited and created a good copy to put on a poster with one of the paper snowflakes that they made. These posters will be displayed on the bulletin board in our classroom.

Reading - In our guided reading groups, the children chorally reread the story, Jillian Jiggs, and learned how to recognize rhyming words and we collected these to be used in a future project. The class read aloud a poem titled, The Snowman, collected the rhyming words and answered comprehension questions.

Art - The students learned a way to cut paper snowflakes that uses a six-sided, hexagon shape. Using tracing paper, which is thinner and easier to cut, they folded and cut designs to make paper snowflakes. The class used folding guides to help them fold the paper into thirds, which is difficult to do. We talked about how cutting paper snowflakes is a form of "kirigami" (Japanese for cutting paper), where paper areas are removed to make "negative space" and that it is the removal of paper that creates the design.

Media Literacy - The children learned how to use the "5 W's" (who, what, when, where, why) to help them put complete information on a poster. They used this strategy to make posters to advertise our class food bank project. These posters will be put around the school to remind all students and staff in our school to donate money to our project.

This week, students began to write and read food bank fundraiser reminders on our morning announcements. By the end of this project, all students will have a chance to be on the morning announcements.

Books read aloud this week:

Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman
The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman
Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow by Phoebe Gilman
The Incredible Bouncing Chowder by Peter Brown

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is for students to write about the "tooth traditions" in their families. There is also a math worksheet reviewing analog and digital clock times and interpreting information on a calendar. This homework is due on THURSDAY, December 5th (since Friday is a P. A. Day).

Notes for parents:

1. Our class is in charge of raising money for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank. Did you know that there are people in Toronto that do not have enough food to eat? This charitable organization helps those people. We are collecting money from families and staff to help. Please encourage your child to bring a donation to put in our collection jars. We will be collecting money from December 2-13. Please visit dailybread.ca for more information about this organization.

2. If your child will be away or if you are going to pick up your child during the school day, please email me to let me know. I will let the office know as well and, if you are going to pick up your child, I will make sure that your child is ready. Often the children are not in our classroom because they are outside at recess, in the lunch room, in the gym, in music class or in the swimming pool. Letting me know in advance saves a lot of time and confusion.

3. Please be reminded that the principal has made a school rule that there are to be no toys, trading cards or electronic devices brought to school from home. Many times these items are lost or cause distractions. (The one exception is Pokemon Club on Tuesdays, but this is for grades 3-6 only.)

IMPORTANT DATES

December 6 - P.A. Day - no classes on this day
December 12 - Winter Concert - PRIMARY CHOIR MEMBERS ONLY! (Our class will perform in the Spring Concert.)
December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break holidays
January 6, 2020 - School resumes

News for November 29

This week the children made rainbow crayons, created money collection jars for The Daily Bread Food Bank and made their own analog clocks!

Math: The children finished the unit on reading and writing the times on analog and digital clocks to the hour (e.g., 2:00) and quarter-hours (e.g., 2:15, 2:30, 2:45). The students will tell you that the hour hand placement is tricky!

At the end of the week, each child made his/her own analog clock. After placing the 12 numbers correctly around the circumference of the clock, they made a short hour hand and a long minute hand and attached the two hands to the middle of the clock face using a paper fastener. The clocks were taken home for the children to practice reading and showing analog clock times.

Writing: After finishing hearing the read aloud chapter book, the class did a reading response activity to write about what they remembered about the story. The most interesting part of this activity was talking and writing about why the author wrote the story. Eleanor Estes based her book on events that happened in her own life. The lesson learned was for children to remember to treat every person kindly and that teasing and excluding are really types of bullying. What is "fun" or "funny" for a few people, is not always "fun" for everyone.

Guided Reading: This week the small instructional groups met to read the Canadian classic book, Jillian Jiggs. The book is written in rhyme and this week the children chorally read the book once and discussed the story. Next week, as we read it again, the students will collect the pairs of rhyming words and look at the spellings to see the different ways the English language spells words to create the same sounds.

Science, Writing and Art: The class reviewed the properties of solids and liquids and did an science/art activity. When you add enough heat to solids they will eventually turn into a liquid. For example, we talked about how rocks turn into liquid rock or magma inside volcanos using the heat in the centre of the Earth. The magma outside of the volcano is called lava and the liquid rock eventually cools to form solid volcanic rock.

 For the experiment, the children sorted the crayons into different colour groups, peeled off the paper, put different coloured crayon pieces into a foil muffin pan and put the pan in boiling water. The crayons turned from a pile of wax cylinders, into a liquid which took the shape of the muffin pan and when the pan was removed from the heat, the "new" crayon shape became a solid again.

Later, children wrote about how they set up the experiment, what was needed, the steps to do it and using science words, explain what happened.

Social Studies: The class finished our class advent calendar envelopes, as we count down to the advent or arrival of the winter holidays. We also talked about what the word "random" means, as every day each child has an equal chance of getting the package of the day, before the star student picks a name.

The class discussed why children lose their baby teeth and learned about the tooth traditions from many countries in the world. Did you know that in Mexico, a child puts her/his tooth under a pillow and a mouse (El Raton) takes the tooth and leaves a small gift?

Media Literacy: The class learned about the tradition in Room 222 to collect money for The Daily Bread Food Bank every December. The students made collection jars for every classroom in our school to collect the money. They made labels with all the important information for the classes to know. (Next week, the children will make advertising posters and speak on the morning announcement as well.)

Books read aloud this week:

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (chapter book - now finished)
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof - Tooth Traditions From Around the World by Selby Beeler
Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman