The Fox and the Crow, Tests, buddies and Gym

Many solutions for this problem are coming in, Thanks all who tried

We began the day with a Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon about Calvin bugging his dad with questions about spontaneous combustion.  We had a quick contest for the next Granola train box painting.  The students gave their ideas on a piece of paper and the class was to vote on their favorite entry.  The entries were amazing.  A hay wagon, rainbow train X-mas train present train, Santa sleigh, garden car, monster car, bank car, a bus, a race car and a snowman car.  The Santa Sleigh train car won with the rainbow train car a close second.  B had the winning entry so her and two students are going to paint another train car for the Granola train which is filling up.

 This was followed by our Friday test.  The test contained Spelling, Socials, Math, Science, a language arts question and a short essay on the qualities of a good chief.  After the test the students continued working on assignments due, working on our various art and mask projects and finishing off work that is due.

After recess we studied the Aesop's Fable 'The Fox and the Crow' which features a fox praising a crow "How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds.  When the crow opens her mouth to speak she drops the food she is carrying and it is gobbled up by the fox.  The moral of the story being to beware people that try too hard to flatter you, especially when you know what they are saying is false.

After lunch we went to buddies, had another work period followed by a clean up and a game in the gym against the grade 5's in div 2.  Have a great weekend everyone.  See you all next week.

 

Chiefs and Friday Test questions

We started with a quick look at subtraction.  This was followed by a Calvin and Hobbes with a great strip showing suspense and foreshadowing, two great literary concepts that Mrs. Schneider and I will teach and study this year.  Watterson does not use words, but his effect  using pictures was what we tried to achieve in the last mini-book "Good news, Bad news." 

As a continuation of our Social Studies on Poundmaker, and  the great chiefs. The students were divided into three groups.  The boys made up one group, and the girls were divided into two groups.  The girls were divided into groups depending on what month of the year they were born.  Those born in Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June in one group the those born in Jul, Aug, Sept, Oct, and November in another.  The group topic was "If the chief has always been a boy for the last 1000 years, should it now be possible for a girl to become chief?"  The boys were given the option to join the girls group if they thought a girl should be allowed to become chief, and the girls could join the boy group if they thought girls should not be allowed to become chief.  (No boys or girls switched groups).  The students worked in their groups for 15 minutes of very productive and animated conversation.  We then went to the computer lab and the students were given 15 minutes to research the qualities of leadership.

After recess the students were then given 15 minutes of reading before answering the question "I would be a good chief because." in their M.E.  The class is now involved in a contest to pick a class chief.   A list of activities given by the class to choose our new chief were as follows:  a speech, a dance off, the fastest runner, who can keep a rocket candy in their mouth the longest without it dissolving, completing a puzzle, farthest jumper, memory game, farthest and most accurate thrower, drawing skills, obstacle course, ninja skills.  The skill challenges will be done as individuals and in a group.   We will begin the contest tomorrow in gym and by next Friday will have our chief for the week.  We are going to film it and run it like a reality t.v. show with elimination rounds.   I also have a challenge using rocket candies based on the principles of the pot-latch to help determine our chief.

We are going to start the "Who wants to be Chief contest" with  most of the boys and up to 6 volunteer girls to compete for chief.   We can choose a girl as we have precedent with Poundmaker who we studied yesterday.  He was a twenty one year old from the enemy Cree nation yet he was chosen to be the son  and future chief of the Blackfoot nation.  If Poundmaker could become a Blackfoot chief why couldn't a girl be chosen to be our chief.

Those students trying out for the position of Chief

After lunch we had computers where we worked on reproducing a worksheet with borders, inserted graphics and images, underlining and bolding words, centering test and aligning it to the right or to the left of the page.  The students then went to music where they worked on our Winter concert songs and rhythm exercises. Our Winter performance song is a Hawaiian song sung to Ukulele, accompanied by Sign Language.  It looks and sounds great, can't wait to see it live in December at the afternoon or evening performances.

We finished the day working on the large art folders given out by Mrs. Schneider or their Inuit inspired Seal masks.

Great day everyone: 

Here is the information for tomorrow's test. 
 
Socials:
Will be multiple choice question.  What was strange about the Cree youth being adopted by the Blackfood chief? [ The Cree were traditional enemies of the Blackfoot]

Will be multiple choice question. How did Poundmaker get his name [He was great at making buffalo pounds] The buffalo pound was a hunting device constructed by native peoples of the North American plains for the purpose of entrapping and slaughtering buffalo

List 8 items that the Inuit made from, or out of,  the seal.

 Math:

12 + 6 + 8 + 14 =

10 + 2 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 4 =

10 +      6 + 10 + 10 + 4 =

10 +      10 + 10 + 10 = 40


MATH

Find Friendly Numbers (groups to 10) to help you add:

1. 12 + 6 + 8 + 14 =
2. 27 + 5 + 63 =
3. 34 + 17 + 26 =

SCIENCE
1. Name 3 natural sources of light:

2. Name 3 man-made sources of light:

LA  What parts of writing does COPS ask you to check when you are rereading your work to find your own errors?

C

O

P

S

Addition, Yucky food, Seals, Choir and Masks

Notices:

Two notices for field trips went home today.  Please check your child's bag to ensure they are signed and returned.

Food for Fun this Friday

Movember has been a big hit in our class and was started off with a cookie of a cookie duster brought in by B for everyone in the class.  Always entertaining and tasty thanks B.

The school annual collection of Granola Bars has begun.  Our class is in charge of making the train in front of Mrs. Dagg's class.  It is fitting that the first person to put a box of granola bars in is the little brother of one of our students in Mrs. Dagg's class.  The second person was a person from our class that brought up her granola bar snack to give to the collection.  The caring, giving and thoughtfulness of many of the students in the class continues to humble and impress me.

The First donation to our School granola Drive

Painting the Third Granola Train Car

The secret identity of our mystery generous hero protected in case her mom did not want her giving away her snack.

In Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin is at the dinner table going through a host of sounds and faces and actions ending in a round of applause from his parents.  This lead into our ME write about what they do when they are given food they do not want to eat or do not like it.  I told of a few of my childhood tricks and how the dog used to give me away and how my wife used to hide peas under the lip of her plate. 

In math we worked on an advanced and a basic math addition along with a magic 3 by 3 square.   All the rows, columns and diagonals have to add up to 15.  A nice math quiz and a prep for learning cribbage another great math card game.

After Recess we began by reading then, for our Famous person study, we did the great plains Chief Poundmaker (Pitikwahanapiwiyin).  His great grandson is a friend and hero of mine, Jacob Bighorn.  The great Poundmaker, a Cree, was adopted by the famous Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot as a young man. It caused quite a stir as the Blackfoot and Cree Nations were traditional enemies. Clearly Poundmaker, who was in his twenties, was someone to be watched.  He grew to be one of the most influential leaders of the Northern Plains. He was a key figure in the 1876 negotiations for Treaty Six.

After Lunch those students not in choir listened to and did a report on Michael Mitchell an  award-winning singer, songwriter and storyteller who is on a never-ending mission to stir up some patriotic spirit in the hearts and minds of all Canadians through lively songs and humorous stories of our history, geography and some of the wacky quirks that identify us as Canadians.

A finished maskk

Finished painting

After Choir  we looked at how the seal provided everything to the Inuit of the Eastern and Central Arctic.  I told them anecdotes and stories from the 8 years I lived and worked in the Arctic.  We talked about all the uses of the seal and how the entire seal was used.   Seal meat was a staple winter food, providing nourishment for both the people and their dogs  Even the fat, blood and eyes were eaten. Seal skin was used to make, masks, drums, bags, blankets, clothing, boots, mittens, hats, boats, tents, harpoon lines and floats.  The fat was rendered into oil for light and heating and even the bones were boiled and scraped to make weapons, tools and utensils. These are a few of the basic uses of this amazing animal by these amazing people. (Friday test will ask the students to list as many things the seal provided the Inuit.)

Adding the Simulated wooden background

All day long we worked on our latest seal masks.  They are coming along great and are far easier to design and finish than our Exploration boats the Caravels.   Well done everyone see you tomorrow.  

One Monkey, Two Monkeys

This morning students practised handwriting and wrote as many examples of words that end in ay, ey, iy, oy, and uy as they could and made them plural by adding s (boy - boys). Some students were tricked by "monkey" and found out that more than one monkey is spelled monkeys.
In Math we continued learning about friendly numbers that add to 10 as an addition strategy. For example, ask your child an easy way to add 12 + 5 +14+ 1 =  ____ (written horizontally) or 67 + 24 + 6+ 13 = _____ (written horizontally) without using a calculator.
I read a chapter aloud from our novel study and the students completed a connections exercise, relating things in the novel to their own life, books that they've read, and things they know about the world. Before lunch, students worked on their Monet art. We will finish it next week. Thanks again to K. and her mom for bringing in another piece of Monet's art to share with the class.

In progress Monet-inspired art. We'll finish next week.

Mr. Wilson is teaching the class this afternoon.

Mrs. S

Spelling, Monet, and Science

Thank you for sharing this piece by Monet!

In Math, students made equations that equaled 63 (ex. 50+6+4+3=63). We focused on making groups of ten as an addition strategy. Students also worked on addition practice before their spelling pre-test.

Students proofread and edited their summary about Claude Monet. Then I read aloud from our Survivor novel while students worked on their Monet art. Today students made their backgrounds for their Monet-inspired piece. They look incredible so far. Tomorrow they will work on the mid-ground and next week will finish with the foreground. The end result will look 3-D and similar to Monet’s “Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge.”

A big thank you to K. and her mom who brought in a print of Monet’s art to share with the class. It was interesting to compare this piece to the water lilies one we’ve been analyzing, and note the similarities and differences.

Dribbling Keep Away with a partner

Dribbling Relay

Dribbling Relay

After lunch was a library book exchange, silent reading, and the start of our Sound and Light unit in Science. Today, as a class, we brainstormed and made a web about natural and man-made sources of light. Students were very keen about the topic and came up with interesting answers (glowworms, lightning, etc). After Science, we went to the gym for Basketball. Students practiced dribbling in a keep away game with a partner, practiced ball handling tricks, and finished with dribbling relay races.

Mrs. S

Guess who from our class was in today's newspaper?

Congratulations E. for having your artwork chosen by the Times Colonist and published in today's paper!

E., I will bring a copy for you on Monday.

If anyone else wants to submit weather pictures, I am still collecting them.

Mrs. S

Numbers, Masks, Seals and Assemblies

Movember Tomorrow

Notices: 

* Pro-d Friday / No School

*Bring your Food for Fun money and forms back asap
*Tomorrow report cards come home
*Tomorrow is Movember in the class  Grow those mustaches long and proud to support those with cancer. 

We began the day with our regular Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.  Today's cartoon was about dreaming to fly and the reality of gravity.  Read and discuss it with your child.

The math today was a continuation of our math sense lessons.  The students had to write number words for numbers (502 as five hundred two), given a number word, printing the number (seven hundred six as 706) then they had to write word numbers to answer questions like write 300 greater than 427 or 250 less than 700 etc.  As well the worksheet contained a number crossword puzzle.

After Math the students worked on their seal paintings and their seal masks or decorated their Art folders from Mrs. Schneider.

After recess we talked about memory boxes based on a book by Janet Wilson and Andrea Spalding, set in Victoria, called Me and Mr. Mah.  Mr. Mah maintained a memory box to remember his wife and his links to to his time in China.  The students, in their ME books, began to plan what OBJECTS they would put into their memory box.  The students are going to make a mini-book to look like a memory box. 

A handout will come home for you to work with your child to figure out what types of things are to be in the box.  We brainstormed ideas and came up with objects.  Ideas were to remember every member of our immediate family, old and new friends, things from their past and anything to do with places and times in their lives.  I told how I would honor of a memory of my grandfather, who I never met but was told stories of.  After the war he was the only person on the block who had a pension so he helped feed the whole neighborhood.  I would draw a picture of a few coins and a food item to honour that memory.  

After lunch most of the students went to choir.  Those students not in Choir listened to and did a report on Tchaikovsky.   His compositions are some of the greatest works of the Romantic Era, including the 1812 Overture, March Slav, and The Nutcracker, which has become a Christmas season favorite.

After choir we had computers where we did research looking for information on seals and the Inuit for a big project that is coming soon.  This was followed by a recognition assembly for even even numbered divisions.  We are next month.  Test tomorrow as there is no school Friday.  There will be only math and spelling on the test, no Science or Socials this week.  
See you all tomorrow.  cheers Mr. W