Blog Entry –March 31st Update

TAKING ACTION

            Our new school focus is “Taking Action”. We started our class discussion this week by focusing on Earth Hour and what we can do to help improve our planet. Both the Grade 4 and 5 classes came up with goals for the remainder of the year to show that we can take action to help the planet in our classroom, school, community, and at home. 

Grade 5 Goals: Let’s Take ACTION!!!!

What can we do to make a difference?

 As a Class

* Bring in reusable water bottles to class

* Turn off the lights and open the blinds

* Place the garbage in the correct bins

* Only use the paper we need, and use both sides

* Use containers in your lunch rather than ziplock bags or wrappers that get thrown out

* Use the G.O.O.S bin paper

In our School

* Properly sort our recyclable items and compost

* Crush your water bottles so they take up less space in your recycling bins

* Picking up garbage around the school

At Home

* Unplug electrical devices when they are not being used

* Cooling off by having a cold drink, or using a fan rather than turning on your air conditioning

* Make sure all your lights are turned off before you leave your home

* Exercise instead of using electronics

* Walking, or using your bike rather than driving to school

* Don’t leave the fridge open for long periods of time

* Water your plants with your left over water from your water bottle or fish tank

* Take shorter showers

* Clean with more eco-friendly products

Globally

* Electric cars

* Creating your own compost

* Not buying products that harm the environment

* Plant more trees

Grade 4 Goals:  Let’s Take ACTION!!!!

What can we do to make a difference?

Class

* Only use the lights when we have to

* Create posters for visuals so every student knows what is suppose to go in the green bins, blue bins, and the garbage

* Use reusable water bottles instead of plastic water bottles

* Eco teams checking the bins in the class at second break

* Use G.O.O.S paper instead of using new paper when brainstorming or sketching

* Always try to use both sides of paper when we can

* Use containers in our lunch rather than wrappers that just get thrown out

School

* Use containers in our lunch rather than wrappers that just get thrown out

Home

* Compost, and recycle at home as well

* Use G.O.O.S paper at home

* Short showers

Community/Global

* Pick up garbage in your neighbourhood

LANGUAGE

READING

            As we are finishing up our last letters (Grade 5 last week was March 24^th, and Grade 4 is March 31^st) students will soon be placed in groups for literature circles where they will be able to demonstrate their learning. Using the comprehension strategies (e.g. questioning, making connections, predicting, and inferencing) we have practiced, fully explaining their ideas with examples and details students will be able to communicate their knowledge, questions, and inquiries around their given literature circle books.

WRITING

Both the Grade 4’s and 5’s are working on descriptive writing. We started our conversations and learning focus around what senses we can use to help us describe everyday objects. Students rotated around the room writing out juicy/salsa words to describe a variety of objects. Later in the week students drew out monsters and focused on using descriptive detail to describe their monster to a partner and have them draw out what they visualized the monster looked like from only their partners oral description.

MATH

We have finished up our 3D Geometry unit and are moving onto Fractions this week. 

A reminder, Math Help is every Wednesday and Friday and is open to all students in my Grade 4 and Grade 5 class. As well after any quiz if a student would like a re-quiz they should be coming to math help and asking for help in order to do the re-quiz.

Independent Projects

Both the Grade 4’s and 5’s independent projects were fantastic and their peers really enjoyed being able to see all their hard work as well as learn something from their classmates. We will be doing a final round of independent projects in June closer to the end of the year. 

Week of March 24th

LANGUAGE

READING

We are finishing up focusing on Questioning as our reading strategy. Using our class read alouds (Grade 4 – Undergrounders, Grade 5 – The Giant Slayer) we have collected some thick questions. We took one of the questions and using the APE model we answered it. Students were also placed in groups and read articles on real world issues and created their own thick questions. Next week the students will be given a non-fiction article and a thick question and will have to answer it using the APE model.

A- Answer the Question (use part of the question in your answer)

P – Prove it (what is your evidence/facts)

E- Explain/Extend  (make connections to your own life/experiences/other things you’ve seen or read. Explain how it relates to your answer)

WRITING Both the Grade 4’s and 5’s are working on descriptive writing.          Some examples of Descriptive Writing * report * newspaper *  magazine article * poem * letter * speech * question and answer *texts This week students used their senses to describe a variety of objects. Using descriptive words the students tried to describe the objects in as many ways as they could.  MATH We are still working on our 3D Geometry unit.

Grade 4 and 5 Students are expected to…

* identify and describe prisms and pyramids, and classify them by their geometric properties (i.e., shape of faces, number of edges, number of vertices), using concrete materials

*draw and describe nets of rectangular and triangular prisms (Sample problem: Create as many different nets for a cube as you can, and share your results with a partner.)

* construct three-dimensional figures (e.g., cube, tetrahedron), using only congruent shapes

* construct a three-dimensional figure from a picture or model of the figure, using connecting cubes (e.g., use connecting cubes to construct a rectangular prism)

* construct skeletons of three-dimensional figures, using a variety of tools (e.g., straws and modeling clay, toothpicks and marsh- mallows, Polydrons), and sketch the skeletons;

* construct prisms and pyramids from given nets;

Grade 5 students are also expected to…

*identify prisms and pyramids from their nets;

*distinguish among prisms, right prisms, pyramids, and other three-dimensional figures;

A reminder, Math Help is every Wednesday and Friday and is open to all students in my Grade 4 and Grade 5 class. As well after any quiz if a student would like a re-quiz they should be coming to math help and asking for help in order to do the re-quiz.

ART

Connecting to our Geometry unit, students are creating optical illusions using shapes.

March Update!

Blog Entry –March Update

Celebration of Learning

            Thank you for everyone that was able to come out for the students’ celebration of learning! The kids were very excited to have you visit the class and loved taking the time to write with you. The tips were great as well and the kids enjoyed reading them the following day!

Independent Projects

I know the date for the projects has changed a few times and I apologize. Many activities and due dates were popping up and I did not want students to feel stressed about the Independent Projects. The purpose of the independent project is for students to be able to share their love of learning. It will allow students to take initiative and share their work. Students have the freedom to choose the topic of their project and how they want to present the information. Students can work in pairs or independently. Work on the project is to be done at home, however students may work on it in study hall or if they need help can stay in at breaks in the classroom when I do not have duty.

The Independent Projects will be presented March 21^st in class, in a similar set up to a science fair.

LANGUAGE

WRITING

            We have finished up with our Explanatory (Grade 5) and Procedural (Grade 4) writing and will be looking at a new writing form Descriptive Writing in both of the Grades after the March Break. A few students have not finished their 2^nd writing piece and have it to finish up over the March Break as it was due on Thursday before the break.

Some examples of Descriptive Writing

* report

* newspaper

*  magazine article

* poem

* letter

* speech

* question and answer texts

MATH

We are wrapping up our Measurement Unit by students using their knowledge they have learned to design on grid paper a blue print of a place (e.g. zoo, mansion). Using their perimeter, area, measuring, and linear dimension skills students will be designing a place using regular and irregular polygons labeling the perimeter and area of each building. Students will be provided with class time to work on the assignment.

Our next unit of focus for math will be 3D Geometry!

A reminder, Math Help is every Wednesday and Friday and is open to all students in my Grade 4 and Grade 5 class. As well after any quiz if a student would like a re-quiz they should be coming to math help and asking for help in order to do the re-quiz.

ART

We have been focusing on the Elements of Design to display emotion in an art piece. Before the break students brought in any materials that they needed to create their art piece. They choose to create an art piece (e.g. sculpture, drawing, painting etc..) of their choice that displays an emotion they feel on a regular basis. After the break they will be writing a reflection afterwards about their art piece and how the Elements of Design they used help portray their emotion.