Wait till you hear all the other exciting work we've been doing and what is coming up...
LANGUAGE ARTS:
We started off by celebrating Canadian authors and our first book report of the year with our Canadian Book Float parade first thing Monday morning! The students shared their reports, explained their "float" decorations and cheered on their fellow classmates! Thank you to Mrs. Birch, our new vice-principal, for attending our big event. If you get the opportunity, our floats are on display in the glass case across from the library. The students are very proud of their hardwork.
For the month of October, the students have been asked to choose a book to read that appears scarey, suspenseful or a mystery. They should have this book finished by October 24th.
Our study of the novel, The Birchbark House is proving to be a thought-provoking learning experience for the students as they make comparisons to the main characters way of life as an aboriginal girl in the 1800's to a gr.5 student in 2008! Along with making comparisons, the students are writing personal responses and learning Ojibway vocabulary. Ask your child what "ahneen" means?
MATHEMATICS:
We've finished our review of addition facts in our daily conditioning and have begun our year long target of MASTERING our multiplication facts! A fact of the day is posted on the whiteboard and refered to frequently throughout the day as well as our daily conditioning warm-up at the beginning of each math class.
As well, we've been reviewing our graphing skills this week in preparation for today's first math quiz. The students seem very confident in their understanding! Our next unit will be exploring number sense; which includes place value up to 1 000 000!
What a great introduction to large numbers with the conclusion of our mathematical folktale surrounding the story of the "One Grain of Rice". We will continue with our problem solving classes next week looking at our first strategy, "Making a Table". We will be practicing this strategy several times over the next couple of weeks.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
I hope everyone enjoyed a little chuckle with my video of Christopher Columbus from last week's post. On Thursday, I read the students a story that was told from the perspective of the native people in the Bahamas who were encountered by Christopher Columbus and his crew. I think it really drove home the idea that history and historical events have to be considered from many different perspectives as we learn it.
We are now beginning to look at Canada's origins and how Canada's First Nations people actually arrived in North America tens of thousands of years ago!
SCIENCE:
What a fun and hands-on week of learning we've had during our Science lessons this week! The students each received their own copy of Canada's Food Guide. They explored the different sections carefully in an oral scavenger hunt. To really get them thinking about what foods belong in each food group, the students created Rainbow placemats made from the food flyers they had brought in last week. The rainbow design represents the suggested servings of each Food group as outlined in the Canada Food Guide. I plan to laminate their placemats so they can refer to them at home at suppertime!
We ended off our week with a video that focuses more on the nutrients that the different foods provide for us everyday.
This weekend the students are bringing home a small assignment...to try a new food, something they've never eaten before! Hopefully this will help them to try some nutritious and delicious foods they have been avoiding (and mom wants them to "give it a try"!) Please fill in the badge slips with the name of the food and sign it. We will display our new food trials around the classroom!
ART:
The Group of Seven reproductions look AMAZING!! They are hanging in our classroom giving us a sense of our beautiful Canadian landscapes and the warm colours of fall. The students did a remarkable job replicating these masterpieces. I've been trying to create a slideshow of the artwork to share on our blog but can't seem to embed it so if you click the highlighted words "Group of Seven" you should be able to see the show. Enjoy!
On Thursday, the students had fun creating their "darker, monsterous sides" as they learned about symmetry and split their faces in half (you'll have to ask them about more of the details!).
Our next art study will look more closely at the works of Mr. Vincent Van Gogh...my favorite impressionist!
OTHER:
- We had our first Super Lunch on Thursday! Thank you to Mrs. Beazley for all your help.
- Book orders were due for Friday but will probably not get processed until Tuesday if you still wish to place an order!
- LIBRARY is on Wednesday, Oct.15th...don't forget your books!
- It's cooling off outside. Students are encouraged to bring warmer clothes to make outdoor recess a more comfortable play experience!
- Have a wonderful, relaxing, yummy Thanksgiving weekend! I'll see you all on Wednesday as I am off to Sioux Falls, SD to visit my brother's family (and remind him of Canadian Thanksgiving traditions!)
Mrs. Eby
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