Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tuesday May 29th

Yesterday I was away and the substitute gave the spelling, Socials, choir, math adding decimals lessons. 

Today we began with ME where the students began another of our mini books.  This topic was based on the book "That's what Friends are For."  This was followed by the students working on their Dragon story.

After recess the students read then continued to work pm their "design your own country report."  After lunch we had pe then set up the gym for the assembly.  The choir, our drum group, and our class on recorders performed in front of the whole school.  It was great to see those parents who could join us to watch the children perform.





And that was our day.  I will get the spelling words up tomorrow, take care and see you then.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012




We began the week with our weekly spelling pretest.  Our spelling words for the week are: 

didn't, that's, they're, you're, couldn't, haven't, o'clock, we're, isn't I'm, it's, who's they'd, could've, they've, you'll, don't, aren't, ostrich, Mississippi.

After the pretest the students worked on the 4 page of spelling sheets that help the students focus on the weeks spelling words.   This weeks words are all contractions which are a shortened form of a word or group of words, with the missing letters usually marked by an apostrophe.

After recess the students had silent reading  for half an hour followed by Handwriting practice where they wrote out the Spring:

March wind is a jolly fellow; 
He likes to joke and play.
He turns umbrellas inside out
And blows men's hats away.
He calls the pussy willows
And whispers in each ear,
"Wake up you lazy little seeds,
Don't you know that spring is here.
This was followed by math where we marked the work we did last week on writing dollars and cents and converting cents to dollars and dollars to cents.

After lunch we had p.e. with Mrs Mantai's class followed by Socials where we worked in the computer lab on our design your own country report.


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tuesday May 15th: Science venture


Tuesday began with a handwriting assignment  with two choices.  Choice one on self esteem and the second choice books as treasures. The first choice was longer and was to be illustrated.  The second choice was a single sentence but the students had to print a response to what they thought the quote meant. 


After Handwriting we worked on making a crest (coat of arms) as a symbol for their nation in our "design your own nation" project.  We talked about colors and what they mean, shapes and what they stand for and what different animals mean if used on their national coat of arms. 


After recess we had 30 minutes of silent reading then went to the computer lab to find information and pictures for their nation report.  They were to find a national animal, tree, fish, flower, bird, for the nation they are making.

After lunch we had two science or education students from the university of Victoria representing "Science Ventures" who taught us about Sound and Light.  The activities and experiments went for the whole afternoon and were totally fun.  The activities were child centered and engaging for our students.  The students themselves became part of the experiments and we heard sound through our mouths (biting on a pencil) and saw how different colored lights became white, as well as many other cool experiments.  See the pictures that I have uploaded of some of the activities.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday May 14th: The day after Mother's day


We began the week talking about how their Mother's day books were received by their mom's, the laughs, the tears the hugs.  The students worked hard on their project and were surprised that one student said their work was more valuable than a $300 purse that was also given as a present.

Then we did our weekly spelling test and handed out a one page, double sided, worksheet instead of the two double sided sheets for the students to work on.
This weeks spelling words:
across, alone, among, brother, again, front, banana, appear, compass, pedal, given, heaven, mountain, ocean, cousin, purchase, often, color (colour), water, Mother's day

After spelling the students wrote a one page response to what they did for Mother's day.

Recess was followed by Music with Mrs. Awalt.  They worked on reading music and playing the recorder.  The students will be performing at our next assembly on May 30 th.  After choir we started a unit on Money.  It is through money that we introduce the students to the concept of writing decimals:  7c = $0.07. 
The students think it is easy so they tend to think it is simple.  It is simple but they need to understand the concepts of tenths and hundredths so they do not make mistakes later on.

After lunch those students not in choir listened to and did a one page report on the musical group the Cranberries.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Tuesday May 8th

Notices :
Class photo Day is Friday
Food For Fun is this Friday

We began the day with the students writing a type of  "I am" poem.  The students had to fill in an answer sheet to prompts like: I am, I think, I see, I found etc.  then they had to draw a picture and write out the poem in alternating colors.

After recess the wrote out a quote by  Kahlil Gibran On Children.  This is the thought for the week and handwriting practice.  We talked about the quote and the students wrote it out in their best handwriting. 

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

This was followed by math where the students worked on finishing their large pictograph and tally sheet.


After lunch we had P.E. against Mrs. Carlton's class followed by 30 minutes of silent reading before doing an art project for the special day on Sunday. 

Pictures will be added tonight for today and yesterday... 

Last week overview from Mrs. GP

We are continuing our Sound unit in science.  Last week we covered loudness (amplitude, decibels) by exploring with elastics and by observing oats move by using our voices to vibrate plastic wrap. Louder sound resulted in greater vibration and more movement of the oats.  We also looked at graphic representation of sound waves and discussed their amplitude.  The students, by experimenting, have discovered the connection between energy, sound and vibration.  Notably, that the louder the sound, the more energy carried and the bigger the vibration.  The children will be exploring pitch and frequency by exploring the changes in pitch that results when you tap bottles with more or less water volume.  We will also be creating music with water-filled wine glasses.

Last week, we looked at artist Faith Ringgold, a renowned African American artist.  The children watched a power point presentation on the artist and responded to her works.  They then began an art project inspired by her art involving autobiography, a quilted perimeter, a short narrative and a drawing depicting something autobiographical.  We will be continuing this project this week. 

The children have been been reading Princess Petunia and the Ferocious Fire-Breathing Monster.  They have completed a variety of activities with this book and will finish it up this week.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday May 7th




Notices :
Class photo Day is Friday
Food For Fun is this Friday
I am updating the blog throughout the day so you can follow our progress as it happens.  Photo's will be added later tonight from home.

I hope you had time to get out and see the super moon when it was full this weekend.  It looked 40% larger and 15% brighter as it was at it's closest orbit to the earth for the year. 

We began the week with our Weekly spelling words.  This weeks words represent time.  The words are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, January, February, July, August, September, November, month, year, holiday, autumn, season, calendar, second, minute, December, Friday
The students were given the pretest and a list of words for their black spelling duo-tang which they should bring home if they do not finish it during spelling time today.


After recess the class went to music where they continued to polish the two recorder songs they are going to present at the assembly on Wed. May 30 at 2:00.  The class also sang happy birthday to "S."  After music the students worked in groups to create a pictograph.  They had to pick a topic, make a tally sheet, canvas all the students in the class then create a pictograph of the information.  They worked well in the groups they picked themselves.  Topics were favorite TV show, favorite Greek Hero, favorite pizza, favorite cartoon, favorite animal. 

After lunch the class had choir.  Those students not in choir listened to and did a one page report on the band Kansas a 70's progressive rock powerhouse that still has huge popularity in America and Europe.

After choir our class took part in the Saanich Emergency planning class in the gym.  Students were given an emergency bag to take home.  The students are show you the contents of the bag and explain to you it's contents. (there are items like a radio and non-perishable food stuff that are not in the kit and are your responsibility to put into the kit to make it truly a full emergency kit)


In socials we talked about and did a one page report on How Canada got it's name.  Many people thought it came from  the First nations word Kanata which means village, or kanatak which means sacred place or from the Spanish word for 'Aca nada' which means "here is nothing" as they did not find gold in Canada.  The students had to write about which one they thought was the actual reason that this country was called Canada.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Friday May 4th: May the forth be with you

Notices:
Welcome to May the fourth, international Star Wars day.
School fund raiser forms came home yesterday... help support the Parent fund initiative. 

We began the day with our weekly spelling test.  The tests were marked and handed back.  Three students got perfect 20 out of 20 on their tests.  These word lists are harder than those before spring break so it is expected that the students will not do quite as well as they did on their older spelling tests, so more practice for some is needed.

After spelling the students worked on two writing assignments while watching the first Star wars movie released # 4 with Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, the fictional character and the main protagonist of this original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where Luke  finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi. He soon becomes an important figure in the Rebel Alliance, leading the struggle against the Galactic Empire. I find that students of this age are the perfect age for beginning to understand the heroic life of a young person and often leads to a greater interest in reading and writing. 




After Recess the students continued with the Star Wars movie while working on our ongoing writing assignment.

After lunch we had buddies followed by math using tally marks and surveys which we use in creating our own graphs.  After Math we had P.E. where we played against Mrs. Carlton's class.






Wednesday, May 2, 2012

This week's spelling words

This weeks Spelling Words:

follow, matter, summer, million, dollar, scissors, cattle, address, office, suppertime, blizzard, penny wrapper, wallet, occurrence, village, collide, battle, Inuit, novel

Pretest has been given and corrected,  given out and the spelling sheets are in black duo-tang.  Good luck on Friday's test

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tuesday May 1 st

Today we spent the morning cleaning up and finishing off last term's work and preparing for the final term and the last report card.  Please note the section on the side for assignments which count toward the final marks under each of the subject areas.  You will notice that in Social Studies there are currently two assignments.  'Life or Death' on the importance of seal to the Inuit and the 'buffalo' on the uses of the buffalo to traditional prairie First Nations peoples.

The morning was also spent doing paper cut art work for a project we are doing.

 In the afternoon we were treated to a play by green-thumb theater from Vancouver on writing, reading and the use of imagination.  The students sat well and listened attentively to the performance.  We finished off the day working on all assignments that are currently due.