The Room 222 Interview Show!

Update from Ms. R 13 III 20

The homework for this week is to write a fiction story in the homework writing journal that has something to do with a birthday cake. It could be about a birthday party, a mystery at a bakery or creating the best birthday cake ever! Also there is a math worksheet reviewing math concepts covered so far this term. This homework is due when the students return back from the extended break.

PARENT NOTES:

It's a new term but the experts are saying that "social distancing" is as important as hand washing to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It will be a challenge to keep your child engaged, but here are some tips to help.

Ten tips for keeping children busy over the break:

1. Keep a schedule - Try to keep to a schedule so that you can organize the day and the children know what to expect. We have a daily schedule posted in our classroom and the children are always aware of when/what is going to happen next. This gives children a sense of security and responsibility. Set times for three meals and morning/afternoon snacks. Set a household "quiet time" for an hour after lunch so that you can have a break too.

2. Computer/screen time - Computer time is great but too much of anything is not always a good thing. Set limits for computer time. Try using a timer to help enforce the amount of time. I use a timer at school several times a day and the children respect the use of the timer and appreciate reminders like, "5 minutes left" and "1 minute left" to help them smoothly transition to the next activity.

3. Suggested websites - Your child of course has her/his favourites, but some time practising math and language skills can be fun too. Here are some ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/user/StarfallEducation

https://thecanadianhomeschooler.com/10-math-review-websites/

https://storybird.com/

4. Dance - Children love to move and dance. Recently, in gym class Ms. Harnick had the children dancing and they loved it! Put on music and move freely with your child. Google new dance routines and learn along with your child.

Here is a fun dance video to remind you how to wash your hands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3HjhevnwA0

5. Quiet games - Children love to play games! Bring out the playing cards and board games and play games together. If you are a little rusty on the rules, just google the traditional rules. The students in our class know a few pencil and paper games too, like "Snowman" and "Dots" and group participation games like "I Spy" and "20 Questions".

6. Learn a new skill - Learn to juggle, solve that Rubik's cube puzzle or perform a magic trick. Teach your child a skill you know like knitting, crocheting or sewing. There are lots of "how to" videos online. This is a great time to practise something new, for a short time each day, to develop a skill.

7. Tell a story aloud - Share a story with your child about when you were young or a time that you learned an important lesson.

8. Cook together - Children love to cook! Teach your child safe kitchen skills and make a traditional recipe or find a new recipe to try together. Children are very proud to eat and share what they make.

9. Write together -  Write a story/book with your child. Write a letter to a family member or family friend. One activity our class likes is to write a cooperative story. Using a die to determine the number of words to write, take turns adding to a story. You could also have your child tell a story orally and you could write or type the story and have your child create pictures and make front and back covers to make a homemade book. These make great mementos for your family.

10. Creative time - Bring out the scrap paper, old boxes (like tissue boxes or food boxes like cracker boxes), tape, scissors, crayons and markers. In class, the children LOVE to draw and make stuff out of discarded items. Try making a bed for a stuffed animal or a building like a house or store.

***If you would like to share a photo of your child's work or activity over the break, please feel free to email me! I promise to email you back.

Important Dates:

March 16-20 - March Break
March 23 - April 5 - TDSB School Closure (COVID-19)
April 10 - Good Friday
April 13 - Easter Monday
May 18 - Victoria Day
June 5 - P. A. Day
June 25 - Last day of the 2019-2020 school year

News for March 13

This week the children finished their animal research posters, finished learning cursive writing and even wrote a basic computer-type program!

We also said farewell to two of our students who are moving over the break and going to new schools. Good luck to them both!

Math -   The survey posters are now on display on the bulletin board in our classroom. The students practised how to sort items. They used Venn diagrams to sort things into what is different and what is the same. They also reviewed how to graph data and solve word problems. The students also had a chance to learn about and solve different "codes".

At the end of the week, the class had some time to explore some higher-level thinking math ideas. First the class learned how to play the strategy game "Dots" (also known as "Squares"). Next, the children analyzed how the game "20 Questions" works. Our class often plays this game orally and this week I introduced a small computer device that plays this game. This led to a discussion of "How did the little computer know what I was thinking about?". So we talked about how a computer works, using on/off binary decisions. Computers use "binary code" or on/off electronic pulses to give information. The code uses a series of zeros and ones to give information. The game "20 Questions" uses answers to yes/no questions to guide the deduction of the final answer. So we used that format to create a type of computer program and made a decision tree diagram to figure out any student name in our class. This "program" is now on display in the hall outside of our classroom.

The students also learned about the life of Leonard Fibonacci. He is responsible for bringing the Hindu-Arabic place value system of numbers (0 to 9) to the Western world, replacing the Roman Numeral system. He also popularized the number pattern 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8..., known as "Fibonacci Numbers" where each new term in the pattern is the sum of the previous two terms. These numbers are also often found in nature (for example, the 5 arms of a starfish, 13 petals on a daisy flower).

Writing -   The students wrote me a letter to let me know their preferences around where they would like to sit in the classroom. I will be moving the desks to create a new seating plan after the break.

Our word wall words this week included how to read, write and use the tricky words could, should and would (wood) and their negative contractions couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't.

The students finished learning cursive writing. They all now know how to write all the lowercase letters of the alphabet and at the end of the week, they practised how to write the capital letters too.

Science -   The animal research posters are now finished! The children worked very hard this week to write the "good copy" of their fact sentences on their posters. The final activity is to produce an animal facts video, but since so many children were away on Friday, we will make the video when everyone returns to class. The posters will also be displayed in the hall outside of our classroom. Did you know that even though sloths are slow on land, they are actually very good swimmers?

Social Studies -   The class learned about the spring Hindu holiday of Holi, on March 9th and 10th this week. During this time people throw powdered colours on each other to help welcome spring. Here are the links to two videos we watched about Holi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1hs5FO_Oqk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wYsmU5IpGM

Later in the week, the children learned about history, symbols and activities associated with the Irish holiday of St. Patrick's Day (March 17th).

Art -    The children wrote reflections on the Andy Warhol inspired art they created last week. The art and reflections are now on display in the hall outside of our classroom.

Media Literacy/Oral Communication -   Our guest on The Room 222 Interview Show was Ms. Chang. She is a teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.

Books read aloud this week:

Holi - We Throw Colour on Each Other by Kavita G. Sahai
Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
Blockhead - The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D'Agnese
Hooray for St. Patrick's Day - Joan Holub
Life-size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya
More Life-size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya

The Room 222 Interview Show!

Update from Ms. R 6 III 20

The homework for this week is for each student to complete the Room 222 blog survey with a parent. (The children were instructed to write their answers using sentences.) There is also a cursive review sheet for children to practise the lowercase cursive letters that the class has learned so far. This homework is due on Friday, March 13th.

Parent Notes:

1. Please check the weather every morning to make sure your child has the proper clothing to play outside during recess periods. These days the temperature goes up and down from day to day. Our playground field is often wet and muddy and many children last week got their clothes damp and dirty. If your child brings a change of clothes, they can change into dry clothing during transition times. Please place these clothes in a plastic bag, so that the soiled clothes can go in the bag and not get dirt inside your child's backpack.

2. Thank you to all parents for reinforcing correct hygiene at home.  Proper hand washing, tissue use, coughing/sneezing into elbows and keeping children at home when they are sick, go a long way to keeping everyone healthy.

Important Dates

March 16-20 - March Break
April 10 - Good Friday
April 13 - Easter Monday
May 18 - Victoria Day
June 5 - P. A. Day
June 25 - Last day of the 2019-2020 school year

News for March 6

This week the students completed their own surveys of the class, wrote book reviews and created art like the famous artist Andy Warhol!

Math:   The children completed the data management unit by creating and interpreting pictographs and bar graphs. The summative activity was for each child to do his/her own survey. First the children asked a question that they wanted to know about the class. Next all the students in the class answered each others' survey questions. Then the children tallied the results and created a graph using that information. Finally, they answered interpretation questions about their survey and assembled all the information on large construction paper. These math posters will go on display on the bulletin board in our classroom.

At the end of the week, the children looked at ways to compare two different things using a Venn diagram. This is a drawing of two overlapping circles and the focus is to think on what is different about the two objects, and write these on the two outer spaces. In the overlapping space, the children wrote what both had or what was the same. First, as a group, we compared a book and a computer, then a pencil and a piece of chalk. On their own, each child compared his or herself with the animal they researched.

Writing:  The students wrote book reports based on one of the six "Martha the Talking Dog" books that were read aloud recently. After choosing her/his favourite, each child wrote about the problem and solution in the story, their favourite part of the book, what they thought happened after the story ended and even offered alternative titles for the books.

The lowercase cursive letters covered this week were: e, f, h, k, l, o, p and s.

Reading: The class learned about "collective nouns" or names for groups of animals. For example, the name for a group of lions is a "pride" of lions. These words are a result of a parlor game from a  hundreds of years ago, where people would try to create a specialist vocabulary to apply to groups of animals.

Science:  The children did a great job using their animal books and reference sheets to independently complete their research graphic organizers, answering questions like, "What does the animal eat?" Every child had a conference with me to collect some extra information about her/his research animal like "What is the science (Latin) name of the animal?" The students are now taking their research facts and putting the facts into proper sentences in their writing journals.

Art:   The class learned about the American modern artist, Andy Warhol. He was known for his use of repeated images and for using images of common everyday things in his art like cows and cans of soup. He decided to use a picture of Campbell's soup because he had soup and a sandwich each day for lunch and he thought that the label was well designed. He used multiple images of the soup can and would often colour the same image in different ways. Did you know that his famous painting of 100 soup cans is now worth $11 million dollars?

The children were challenged to make their own versions of Andy Warhol style art. First, they drew a picture of a can of vegetable soup. Then, four photocopies of these drawings were made. Next, after learning how to use watercolour pencils, the students coloured their four images in four different ways. Finally, they used plain water to turn the watercolour pencil areas into "paint". The children will use these four images together in a final art image next week.

Media Literacy/Oral Communication: This week on The Room 222 Interview Show our guest was Ms. Tiralongo. She is a teacher at our school. This video can be seen in a separate posting.

Books read aloud this week:

Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin
Manners Can Be Fun by Munro Leaf
Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore
A Shiver of Sharks - A Collection of Aquatic Collective Nouns by Patrick George
A Filth of Starlings,- A Collection of Bird Collective Nouns by Patrick George
A Drove of Bullocks - A Collection of Animal Collective Nouns by Patrick George
A Crackle of Crickets - A Collection of Insect Collective Nouns by Patrick George

The Room 222 Interview Show!

Update from Ms. R 28 II 20

The homework for this week is to read the non-fiction text about how animals help humans and answer the comprehension questions. There is also a math worksheet reviewing graphing/data management concepts learned this week. This homework is due on Friday, March 6th.

Parent Notes:

1. Water Bottles:  The children are encouraged to keep a personal water bottle on their desks at school, so that they are able to have a drink whenever they need one. The students bring home their water bottles each day to be cleaned and refilled. (This saves class time going out of the class with a partner for water fountain drinks or bottles to be refilled.) Please make sure that the cap is on tightly, as we have had several leaks and spills on the floor recently.

2. Martha the Talking Dog:  The class is working on a author study project by reading and discussing the Martha the Talking Dog books by Susan Meddaugh. There are videos and games related to this character available on the PBS website. Here is the link:  https://pbskids.org/martha/mobile/index.html

 Important Dates

March 16-20 - March Break
April 10 - Good Friday
April 13 - Easter Monday
May 18 - Victoria Day
June 5 - P. A. Day
June 25 - Last day of the 2019-2020 school year

News for February 28

We were back to the regular five-day school week and the children were busy finishing up projects, learning about graphs and practising how to spell and use the trickiest homophones in English...there/their/they're!

Math:   The students continued to do probability experiments to help their understanding and interpretation of the likelihood of events occurring. The class did several activities using spinners and predicting the likelihood of choosing a particular coloured block from a bag of blocks. Next the children rolled a single die 50 times and tallied how often the possible outcomes showed up. Theoretically, there it is equally likely for a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 to be rolled. Then they rolled two dice and graphed how often particular rolls showed up. The class noticed that 6, 7 and 8 were the most likely to show up. We talked about why that was and the students worked to see which combination of numbers are possible when rolling two dice and we discovered that there are 3 different ways to get a roll of 6 (1+5, 2+4, 3+3), 7 (1+6, 2+5, 3+4) or 8 (2+6, 3+5, 4+4), so it's more likely to roll those three numbers.

The children are now learning about data management by learning about surveys and how to read, make and interpret graphs. Surveys are used to get information that can't be found using books or computers. Graphs are pictures of information. The children answer questions about the class by answering survey questions on the class whiteboard and using their name magnets to create a bar graph each time.

Reading: The children have now finished reading the six Martha the Talking Dog picture books. By reading books in a series, children can focus more on understanding the problem and solution in a story and inferring information, since they are already familiar with the characters and setting.

Writing:  Finally... the glovetopus chapter books are finished! Each student assembled her/his books and bound the final typed versions. These books are now a part of our classroom library for children to read during independent reading times. (Also...the glovetopuses were sent home and are now all in their new homes with the children that made them!)

The children have learned almost half of the lowercase cursive alphabet. This week the letters were: q, i, u, y, w, j, t, and r.

Science: The class chorally read three texts this week about how animals:  animal groupings, different animal body coverings  and animal camouflage. After reading the texts, the students wrote their answers to comprehension questions.

The students began to create their research posters by designing a title for each poster and creating a space for a drawing of his/her animal. Each child now has a graphic organizer to help collect facts about each animal, like "Where does it live?" and "What does it eat?". The children are using books and encyclopedias to read information about the animals.

Media Literacy/Oral Communication: Our guest on the Room 222 Interview Show this week was Ms. Heath. She is the music, drama and dance teacher for our class. This video can be seen in a separate posting.

Books read aloud this week:

Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh
Martha Walks the Dog by Susan Meddaugh
Martha and Skits by Susan Meddaugh
MarthaBlah Blah  by Susan Meddaugh
Perfectly Martha by Susan Meddaugh