Update from Ms. R

The photos and video are now posted.

The homework for this weekend is to write a fiction or non-fiction story in the homework writing journal. This homework is due on Friday, May 25th.

I would like to wish all the families of Room 5 a happy and safe Victoria Day long weekend!

News for May 18

News for May 25

This week we welcomed 25 Painted Lady caterpillars to our class! We also said good bye to Ms. Stark, our third and final student teacher for the year. We wish her the best of luck in her teaching career. We will miss her.

In science we started our new unit by learning about the characteristics of insects (for example, insects have 6 legs). The students also had a chance to observe, record and draw what the caterpillars look like (colours, texture, length). The science name for Painted Lady caterpillars/butterflies, is Vanessa cardui. The class also learned one of the important principles of science which is to report on and draw exactly what they see, not what they think they should see.

In math, students investigated and practiced using the vocabulary of probability (certain, likely, equally likely, unlikely and impossible). The children flipped coins, spun spinners and used what they know to discuss how to determine the probability of all the possible outcomes.

As a follow-up to the book we read recently, "The Banjo of Destiny", the children learned about the history and the parts of the banjo. They also got a chance to hold and play the banjo. At the end of the week, we had a "special musical guest" who came and played the banjo in our class...one of our former student teachers, Ms. Fletcher! She came and played the banjo and sang songs along with the children. As a connection to our reading the biography of Jim Henson, we sang Kermit the frog's famous song, "It's Not Easy Being Green". We also sang "The Lazy Song" and of course, the song we sang at the Winter Concert, "Firework".

 A video of our visit with Ms. Fletcher can be found below:



The students wrote a review of the quality of the instructions they used last week to make a balancing acrobat toy. Then they created a poster that included a good copy of this writing and a photo of each student balancing his/her acrobat. Recall the purpose of this lesson was to have the students reflect on the process of making a toy instead of buying one. This is a link to our pioneer unit. These posters are now on display in the hallway.

Ms. Stark taught the students how to sketch with charcoal. Using burnt willow vine charcoal the class went outside to sketch trees. These sketches are now on display in the hallway outside our classroom.

The class also had a chance to practice the sport of Speed Stacking (cup stacking). This is a great activity for children to increase their eye-hand coordination.

Update from Ms. R

Happy Mother's Day to all the Room 5 families!

The homework for this week is to complete the math worksheet on area and perimeter. This worksheet was sent home on Friday. Homework is due on Friday, May 18th.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, June 12 our class will have a visit from Scientists in the Schools. The program requires TWO PARENT VOLUNTEERS. If you would like to volunteer that afternoon, please let Ms. R know. Thank you.

Important Dates

May 17-25 - Book Fair
May 21 - Victoria Day - no classes
May 23 - ABC or Anything But the Car Day
June 1 - P. A. Day - no classes
June 6 - Spring Concert (new date) 6:45 - 8:00 - note our class performed at the winter concert and therefore will not be performing at the spring concert. However, members of the primary and junior choirs will be performing at the spring concert.
June 12 (PM) - Scientists in the Schools - TWO PARENT VOLUNTEERS are needed. Please contact Ms. R if you would like to join us on this fun-filled afternoon.
June 28 - Last day of classes

News for May 11

News for May 11

This week, the students had a special day on Tuesday. The grade 3 students went to Black Creek Pioneer Village and the grade 4 students stayed in Room 5 and had a Medieval Day with me. They learned about the legend of King Arthur, made marshmallow-launching catapults and created stained glass-like art. They learned about Robin Hood and archery, labyrinths and mazes and made their own butter to spread on bread for a snack! Then they went to the computer lab to try out electronic mazes, archery and a Robin Hood game.

http://pbskids.org/mayaandmiguel/english/games/sports/archery/archery.html
http://www.freeonlinegames.com/game/the-legend-of-robinhood
http://www.prongo.com/maze/index.html

They also saw the Daffy Duck version of Robin Hood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS5R6ztNTqc

In math, the children finished up the measurement unit on area and perimeter. They discovered that shapes can have the same perimeter but different areas or the same areas but different perimeters! Finally each child measured the area and perimeter of their hand. On Friday, we began the unit on probability by doing a class math experiment where the students predicted the colour and number of cubes in a sealed box.

The class worked on reading assessments this week in prepartation for the final reading assessment scores that are required by the school board this time of year. As well, the grade 3's have accelerated their preparation for the EQAO test at the end of the month.

The students worked hard to make gifts for Mother's Day. They created beads out of polymer clay (Fimo) and used these to make necklaces. Ms. Stark showed the children how to make large flowers out of tissue paper. The students were all excited to give their gifts to their mothers!

In our guided reading groups, the children each read instructions on how to make a pioneer style toy and discussed why pioneer children made toys and what materials were available to them. At the end of the week, the students tested how clear the instructions were by making their own balancing acrobat toys. A video of the results can be found about the text of this posting.

The class worked with Ms. Stark to review how to create a complete and well-designed invitation. The students decided which kind of party they would like to have and made an appropriate invitation, that provided not only the required information, but would also want someone to attend the party.

Books read aloud this week:

The Way to Start the Day by Bryd Baylor
The Party by Barbara Reid
The Black Book of Colour by Menena Cottin

News for May 4

News for May 4
There were a lot of special activities this week! On Monday, the whole school braved the cold to participate in a school-wide Track and Field meet. In the afternoon, our class learned we had won "cookie medals" for collecting the most pennies in last week's Penny Challenge fundraiser. On Tuesday afternoon, our class met with a visiting artist. The children looked at the work of French artist Fernand Leger and used his work as inspiration to create colourful paper sculptures. On Friday morning, the class presented the school assembly on cooperation (more information at the end of this posting). On Friday afternoon, the children participated in Jump Rope for Heart, by skipping with all the students outside on the playground.

We welcomed our new student teacher, Ms. Stark to our class this week. Ms. Stark is a student at Queen's University.

In math, the students wrote the final unit test on fractions. The children are now learning about the measurement concepts of perimeter (measured in linear units) and area (measured in square units).

The class began the new social studies unit on Pioneers. The children did partner reading (where one child reads part of the passage and the partner summarizes what was read) of a non-fiction story called "A Pioneer Child's Day".

Ms. Stark led the class in our science summative activity on sound. She presented the concept of making sounds without instruments. Using plastic bins, staplers and paper bags the students experimented with all the different ways to make sounds. Finally they had a chance to perform together. The students also watched professional artists perform "Stomp" where they danced and made music using garbage cans and lids.

http://www.stomponline.com/index-us.php

Books read aloud this week:
Banjo of Destiny (chapter book) by Cary Fagan
More Than Anything Else (a story of young Booker T. Washington) by Marie Bradby

Our class was responsible for the school-wide recognition assembly that was held in the gym this Friday. The students worked very hard on putting together a play about cooperation based on a story called "The Two Greedy Children". A video of the play can be found at the end of this posting.

Update from Ms. R

The homework for this week is to write a fiction or non-fiction story about medieval times, using the special paper given to the students on Friday. The children can write a report about our field trip or write a narrative with the setting in the middle ages (around 500 CE to 1500 CE). The students are encouraged to be creative with the special paper in creation of their stories. This homework is due on Friday, May 4th.

News for April 27

News for April 27

This week the students concentrated on our Medieval Times unit as they prepared for the field trip on Friday.

The class learned some tips and tricks on how to take notes for research. The children read information about castles and used highlighters to highlight important information. Next they took this highlighted information and wrote notes in their writing journals.

The students read information about the various levels of society in medieval times, different types of jobs, how a boy became a knight and the different buildings found in a typical medieval village. We spent all day on Friday at the Medieval Times Dinner and Theatre. The class had a great time and learned a lot! Thanks so much to Amelie's father, Tom and Julia's mother, Gabi for volunteering their time to help on this trip. A video of our trip can be found near the middle of this posting.

In math, the class continued the unit on fractions by reviewing the concepts and writing the unit test on Thursday. When in the computer lab this week, the children played a variety of fraction games on a math games website:
http://www.maths-games.org/fraction-games.html

In science, the class continued the unit on sound by experimenting with different instruments and creating a small stringed and wind instrument. They had a chance to play a ukelele, may different types of drums (including a "talking" drum) and percussion instruments (including a "cowbell"). The class even had a chance to participate in a "drum circle" by playing a variety of drums and percussion instruments along to music.

We were also lucky to have Natasha's father, Joe, visit our class to talk about (and play) the saxophone.