Wednesday afternoon with Mr. W: Computers and music

We started the afternoon in the computer lab where the students began or continued to work on a Power-point presentation on a creature, animal of their choice. Students tend to start their first Powerpoint presentations like reports that they have been doing in school. I want brilliance and flash but will wait until they have completed their basic Power-point presentations before showing them all the magic that they can add to their presentations. We just got everyone up and running on their presentation when it was time for music.

In music the students learned, practiced and polished a percussion singing song that they already want to perform at the next school assembly or gathering. Be sure to check out the class music photo's under our Picture Gallery at the top right. As well keep watching the blog for when we will be performing as parents you are always welcome to come along and celebrate your children with us.

After Music we went back to the computer lab to continue working on our Power-point presentations. Sometimes it is good to have the computer teacher as your classroom teacher.

Tuesday Oct 10: TV debate and leaf art

Leaf art design project at the end of the day

Notices:

Picture day Thursday bring in forms

Spelling: Each week the students have a spelling pretest on Monday. There is a double sided page of spelling activities using the spelling words to be completed each week. Some time is given at school to work on this sheet, however, it may also be done at home to give practice with the spelling words. The spelling is in a dark blue or black duo-tang. On Friday there is the real spelling test which is marked, recorded and sent home.

The two debate groups
(Click picture to see it larger)

We started the day with 15 min to work on the Spelling activity sheet. Our Tuesday debate, thinking, oral language topic today is... Should students be allowed to have a TV and game system in their rooms? The students worked on their own for five minutes to come up with ideas for and against having a TV in their room. They then broke into 2 teams one team that supported the idea and one opposed. The students will be given time to write out their ideas and we may have the debate on Friday.

Computer lab doing Power-point

After recess we had a work period in the library. Those students finished all their Socials were given time on a computer doing power-point on a topic of their choice, the others worked at the tables in the library to finish their missing Socials. At the end of the period all students were given ten min of computer time.

After computers we broke into two math groups to continue working on addition with regrouping and strategies for addition.





After lunch we had a rip roaring game of Slimers Island with Mr. Edwards grade 4/5 class. This was followed by a reading or work on your mini-book period. We ended the day working on a fall art project using fine pen markers. The students drew a leaf then filled it in with patterns. We will cut the leaves out and put them on our bulletin board.



All in all a hard work, creative day.

Monday Oct 3rd: Mini-books and Bach

Three students pose with finished "ABC of Me" mini-books.

Notices:

Thursday is picture day, dress nice, bring back forms

We started the day with the practice pre-test for this weeks spelling words. All students were told to take their practice spelling test and the full spelling list of words home. I did not get time to update the spelling words on the blog but will do it tomorrow.

This weeks mini book is part vocabulary part learning about synonyms (words that mean the same thing) to make their writing more interesting. The book is called "I am Big"
The students were given the following list of synonyms for big:

Definition:
large, great
Synonyms:
a whale of a, ample, awash, brimming, bulky, *, burly, capacious, chock-full, colossal, commodious, considerable, copious, crowded, enormous, extensive, fat, full, gigantic, heavy-duty, heavyweight, hefty, huge, hulking, humongous*, husky, immense, jumbo, mammoth, massive, mondo, monster*, oversize, packed, ponderous, prodigious, roomy, sizable, spacious, strapping, stuffed, substantial, super colossal, thundering, tremendous, vast, voluminous, walloping, whopper, whopping
Antonyms:
itsy, little, small, tiny

We talked about which ones were appropriate synonyms for describing a person or thing rather than a space or lots of power. The students have to write a mini-book using many of the synonyms of big. This is as much a vocabulary builder as a lesson in writing stories.

After recess the students had music with Mrs. Awalt .... then we divided into two math groups to continue practicing addition with regrouping.

After lunch the students not in choir listened to the amazing music of Johan Sebastian Bach and completed a one page report on Him.

This was followed by Socials where we continued our study of North American Native homes. Through a study of the types of homes and dwellings used by a people we can tell many things about how the people lived and the environments that they lived in... Today we studied the Pueblo, large multi-family dwellings made of piled rocks, clay and straw bricks. This form of dwelling was used by the Navajo, the Hopi and the Zuni Nations. So far we have looked at the wigwam of the Algonquin, the tepee of the prairies nations, the long house of the West coast and the igloo of the Inuit.

Friday Sept 30: Mr. Clark's last visit

Notices:

Spelling tests were marked and sent home

We began the day with a creative visualization as we did attendance. After attendance we had the first of our weekly spelling tests. The spelling was marked and handed back to the students. After Spelling we then did a graph, grid, drawing, math assignment. My goal today is to talk to the students about the beauty of Math and how math is more than numbers. I wanted to make the connection that Math is connected to music and art and abstract thought. I often find that the students who are artistic do not believe they are good at math. In reality artistic students are thinking mathematically all the time.

After Recess we had buddies. During buddies the students read to their little buddies and helped them learn how to tie their shoes. As there are only 17 little buddies only 17 students who were finished a certain amount of their weekly work went to buddies. The remaining students worked on completing their unfinished work.

After recess we watched an excellent 1959 Disney movie where Donald duck wanders into a magical land where the beauty of the laws of mathematics unfold before him. The students took written or visual notes. We then had a discussion on the beauty and magic of math. If you would like to see this movie search You Tube for '1959 - Donald in Mathmagic Land' or go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRD4gb0p5/RM

After Lunch Mr. Clark, who teaches us First nations history and mythology, came to tell us stories and introduces us to an art project. This is the fourth and last of Mr. Clark's Friday visits to our class. We are very fortunate to share his teachings and stories which are filled with First Nations lore, wisdom and knowledge. It is always wonderful to see that students will still sit still, enraptured, listening to an oral story. We will miss him and his stories. "hyeshqe" Mr. Clark "hyeshqe."

After Mr. Clark's visit we cleaned up the class and shared a gym class with Mrs. Crystal's class. We played a rousing game of bench ball with the brand new balls the school just purchased.

Have a good weekend everyone and don't forget to work on your 'ABC mini-book of Me (you)' due Monday.

Thursday Sept 29 with Mrs. O'Connor

Notices:

Spelling test tomorrow... study lists on the right

The students read silently while I took attendance and then we started the day with a writing activity. I have cards with writing topics on them and I get the students to choose one and then write about that topic. The card that was chosen today asked the students to pick from 5 different topics and 5 different characters. The task was then to write about the topic from the characters point of view.

After finishing our activity I gave the students time to work on the fractured Fairy Tales that we started yesterday, I explained what they are in the last post. Ask your kids to bring the books home when they are finished so you can see all the hard work they have put into them.

Recess

After recess we had show and tell. We are working on public speaking skills, however I am asking the students to keep the items in the cloak room during other times of the day.After a person speaks to the class the other students are asked to generate questions about what they have heard and seen.

We currently have quite a few things being worked on so I gave them some time to catch up so we can move onto new activities soon.

During math we continued to work on addition and understanding the math strategies that are being used to solve the problems. We split the students into three groups so they can have more individualized instruction. Mrs Colley joins us and takes a group, I take a group and our wonderful assistant Mrs. M takes a group on the days she is in the classroom during that time.

I am impressed how hard they are working on their math skills.

Lunch

After lunch we went to Library. The students love library day and enjoyed getting new books to read.

After library we walked back to class and took out our science books. As you know we have been studying habitats and communities. Today I got the students to think about how are personal choices affect habitats and communities. If negative changes happen to a habitat it may put plants and animals in danger. I got the students to think about how their play or actions had affected an animal or plants habitat and then write a letter to it explaining what they had done and how they could change their actions next time. I was impressed with the amazing insights they came up with. This might be an interesting topic to discuss with your kids, they are very excited to share their new ideas.

The students worked hard today, so I took them outside for some DPA, we went for a short run, played a quick game and then came inside and organized our desks. Tomorrow they can start fresh with their books all organized, just like the first day if school! I will see you all next Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Morning Sept 28th with Mrs O'connor

Today the students started the day silent reading while I took attendance. I read them the the fractured Fairy tale " The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig". Fractured Fairy Tales are traditional fairy tales rearranged to create new plots with different meanings and messages. They are a fun way to teach literary elements such as character,setting, problem, plot, climax,conflict and theme and conclusion. Today we studied character development. I had the students storyboard a new character from a traditional fairy tale. They will have the next week to work on creating their own fractured fairy tale around the character they developed today.

After recess I gave the students an interest inventory. They answered questions about their likes and dislikes. This helps me get to know them better and also helps them develop skills that are important in developing for career education. After 15 min of D.P.A our brains were ready to concentrate again and we split into three groups to continue working on our math strategies.

Tuesday Sept 27, the great cat vs dog debate

Notices:

Tomorrow is the Terry Fox fun run in the afternoon.

Please have proper shoes for running around the school.

We began the day with 10 min of work time to finish off their name tags and or to work on their mini-books while I did attendance.

Two students did a show and tell. "C" lost her tooth a few days ago and brought it to school to get a cool tooth container that they give out at the office. "C" explained that the tooth fairy had actually dropped it so C was able to bring it to school for the cool container. "I" showed a dog that she bought on the weekend at Spirit lake from someone who was trying to raise money for cancer. "I" and her cousin had made food to sell at the roadside to also raise money for Cancer.

Students prepare for the debate

The Debate

Every Tuesday morning I have the students do a writing assignment to compare and contrast two things. To help the students find ways to express their opinions, to set the stage and come up with ideas the students divided into two groups. One group that like dogs better than cats and one group that like cats better than dogs. The two groups worked together to brainstorm ideas. The dog people made a chart to list the good qualities of dogs and the bad qualities of cats. The cat people did the same but the reverse. Three students were chosen by the group to have a debate. The first student said why the (cat/dog) was the best, the second why the (cat/dog) was the worst and the third person had to rebuff the other teams arguments and make a final statement in support of the (cat/dog). The debate was good for a first attempt and the interest in the process was great. The debate was followed with a writing assignment where the students wrote about which are better cats or dogs.

After recess we read for 30 minutes then watched a 11 minute video on Terry Fox as we have the Terry Fox run at the school tomorrow in the afternoon. Keeping the spirit of Terry Fox alive is something that every one of us in Canada and the world can be proud of. We are going to make Terry Fox in the afternoon after P.E. After the video we looked at strategies for addition.

We began the afternoon with P.E. After P.E. we worked on our terry fox posters and watched another 44 min video on the life of Terry Fox.