LANGUAGE
READING
Students are continuing to write letters on a bi-weekly
basis to communicate their comprehension of the reading they do doing read to
self times.
A sample letter students wrote as a class.
Grade 4
Wednesday October
23, 2013
Dear: Mr. Mayotte,
We are reading a realistic
fiction book called No Talking by Andrew Clements. As we were reading we made some
predictions and asked ourselves questions as we read to ensure we understood
what we were reading.
In Chapter 10 we
predicted that in science class Mrs. Marlow would ask a lot of questions, and
when the students only responded using three words she will probably figure out
what is going on. Adults tend to pick up on changes in student behaviour and
since the Grade 5’s typically are loud and chatty the fact that they are only
responding using three words will most likely stand out to the teachers. As we
read further into Chapter 10 we discovered our prediction was correct that Mrs.
Marlow would ask her students questions to get them to respond however she has
not figured out why they are being so quiet. She seems to be enjoying figuring
out why probably because she is a science teacher and she mentioned experiments
are one of her favourite things to do.
Whistling, farting
noises, burping, and screaming was all teachers could hear at recess in Chapter
9. As we read we wondered if the teachers were going to get annoyed with the
sounds that the kids were making because they can make sounds just not say
words. We think that if we were out
on that playground we would be getting annoyed by all of the screams and
whistling and random sounds that the fifth graders were making. We find it
difficult to focus in class when noises are being made if the kids are making
noises and sounds for a few days in a row student’s might start to get
frustrated with each other.
So far we thoroughly
enjoy reading No Talking by Andrew Clements. We are curious to find out
if the girls or the boys will win in the competition or if it will be a tie.
Sincerely,
4-1 FI
Grade 5
Wednesday
October 16th, 2013
Dear: Mr. Mayotte,
The book we have been
reading in class is called The Top Ten Ways to Ruin the First Day of School by
Ken Derby. As we were reading we made predictions, connections and asked
ourselves questions.
While we were reading we
stopped and jotted a prediction that Tony and Mo would try to make a run for it
after they made the photocopies of Tony’s hinder. While they were making an
escape they would run into Mr. Gore. We made this prediction because Mr. Gore
has caught Tony and Mo in every other situation so far and they always knock
him down. Mr. Gore gets covered in
some type of liquid, for example Mr. Gore has already been covered in toilet
water, coffee and jello. As we read on our prediction was correct Mr. Gore got
knocked down by the boys and covered in paint this time.
As we were reading we also made some
connections. One of our text to self connections was about Tony while he was in
the photocopy room. We put ourselves in Tony’s shoes. If we were Tony we would
pull up our pants and flip over the photocopies so that if we got caught we
could pretend that we were photocopying for another teacher. Hopefully the teacher
would believe us or else we would be in a lot of trouble!
As we continue to read
we wonder if Mo will continue to get in trouble with Tony or if he will stand
up to Tony and say enough is enough. Mo seems to just go along with what Tony
wants however gets frustrated when he gets into trouble. That reminds us of how
in school we are constantly reflecting on the choices we make and have to
remember that we decide what we do. Following along with a friend even when we
know it is wrong is a choice that we can decide to say no, and choose a
different path. We cannot wait to find out what happens next!!!
Sincerely,
Class 5-1 FI
As a class we will focus on mini lessons this week
to continue to get students to stop and jot their thinking (inner
conversations) but also to find examples and evidence in the text to support
our ideas.
WRITING
We have started our first writing form. For Grade
4 we are focusing on Recount in Grade 5 we are looking at persuasive writing.
Last week students were given exemplars (samples) of the writing form they are
learning. In groups they pulled out the success criteria and we discussed as a
class what a Recount/Persuasive Writing Piece needs to have in it.
MATH
We have finished Division and Multiplication for
now but will be using those skills through out the whole year and will continue
to offer math help to refresh the skills.
Math Help
Wednesdays (1st break) and Fridays (2nd break)
We started a new unit in math. We will be looking
at Number Patterns. Here are the expectations for the Grade 4’s and Grade 5’s.
Grade
4
* extend, describe, repeating, growing,
and shrinking number patterns (e.g., “I created the pattern 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9,
.... I started at 1, then added 2, then added 1, then added 2, then added 1,
and I kept repeating this.”);
*connect each term in a growing or shrinking pattern with
its term number (e.g., in the sequence 1, 4, 7, 10,
record the
patterns in a table of values that shows the term number and the term;
*extend
repeating patterns that result from reflections, through investigation using a variety
of tools (e.g., pattern blocks, dynamic geometry software, dot paper).
*make
predictions related to repeating geo- metric and numeric patterns (Sample
problem: Create a pattern block train by alternating one green triangle
with one red trapezoid. Predict which block will be in the 30th place.);
*create a
number pattern involving addition, subtraction, or multiplication, given a
pattern rule expressed in words (e.g., the pattern rule “start at 1 and
multiply each term by 2 to get the next term” generates the sequence 1, 2, 4,
8, 16, 32, 64, ...);
* create
repeating patterns that result from reflections, through investigation using a
variety of tools (e.g., pattern blocks, dynamic geometry software, dot paper).
Grade 5
*identify,
and extend numeric and geometric patterns, using a variety of tools (e.g.,
concrete materials, paper and pencil, calculators, spreadsheets);
*extend
repeating patterns that result from translations, through investigation using a
variety of tools (e.g., pattern blocks, dynamic geometry software, dot paper).
*build a model
to represent a number pattern presented in a table of values that shows the
term number and the term
*make
predictions related to growing and shrinking geometric and numeric patterns (Sample
problem: Create growing L’s using tiles. The first L has 3 tiles, the
second L has 5 Predict the number of tiles you would need to build the 10th L
in the pattern.)
*create
geometric patterns, using a variety of tools (e.g., concrete materials, paper
and pencil, calculators, spreadsheets)
*make a
table of values for a pattern that is generated by adding or subtracting a number
(i.e., a constant) to get the next term, or by multiplying or dividing by a constant
to get the next term, given either the sequence
