Monday April 30

Notices: 
Report Cards Went home today.
Food for Fun Notices in Report Envelope
Book Order forms due tomorrow

We began the day with our weekly spelling words.  Words will be posted tomorrow as my computer at school was upgrading all day from the district. 

After spelling the students filled out a venn diagram which is used to compare two different things for things that are unique about both and things that are in common.  The example we used was a cat and a dog.

After recess the students had music where they practiced the recorder and hope to present two songs at next months assembly.

Music was followed by reading for 35 minutes before many of  the students went off to lunch monitor different classes or serve in the lunch program.

After lunch those students not in choir listened to and did a one page report on the band Led Zeplin honored as one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

Choir was followed by Social Studies where we watched a you-tube video of Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump and did a one page report on the buffalo and how all of the body parts were used.

Great day and Great job on the reports.  Remember two months before the next report card keep up the good work and set some goals, thanks Mr. W

Tuesday April 24:

Notice:

Report cards will be handed out next week and will cover your student's progress as we discussed at the Student-Led conferences.  This is the first year your child will receive letter grades which reflect their standing not in the class but against a provincial norm. 

We began the day talking about driving and driving practices and how you, their parents, think about driving.  The students then had to do a one page report with pictures on driving.

Writing was followed by Reading for 30 minutes.  Some students can read forever and moan when we have to stop.  Most of the class focused and read quietly for 20 minutes before getting fidgity.

After reading we continued to work on division.  Yesterday we started with division questions that were the reverse of basic multiplication facts.(20 divided by 5)  Then we worked with questions that had a remainder one. (16 divided by 5)  Today we worked on large multiples of 5 and there were no remainders.  (175 divided by 5).  I tried to show them that division becomes more complicated but is often easier with larger numbers as you don't have to memorize facts you break the questions down into small simple steps.  175 becomes 17 etc.

After lunch we have P.E. where we played Dr. Dodge ball and had a Gladiator challenge.  After P.E. the students practiced handwriting on one of two quotes, one about merry-go-rounds, the second on  big decisions. As always they had to illustrate and color the page with a border.

Monday April 23 rd

Welcome back after a sunny weekend.  We began the week with our weekly spelling test and spelling worksheets.  These worksheets are due on Friday after the weekly test as students can use the worksheets as an aid to study.

After recess the students had music where they learned a new song continued to work on perfecting a song on their recorder which they will present at next months assembly.

After music the students worked on a writing assignment on the topic of jobs and careers.  This is part of an ongoing writing assignment we are working on.

After lunch the class went to choir.  Those students not in choir listened to and did a report on Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist and composer is India's most esteemed musical Ambassador and a singular phenomenon in the classical music worlds of East and West. 
 

After choir we spent the rest of the afternoon (to many groans and much whining) practicing division.  We first approached it as reverse multiplication using a times table chart then went on to division with remainders.  Many of the students seemed to get the process but may still not understand it visually. 

 We stopped 10 minutes early in the day for a quick game of silent ball as all the students in the class, who were working on division with me, got the sample division question right.

Friday April 20:

Wed and Thursday were covered by Mrs. GP and she is not yet trained on updating or using a blog.

Friday began as most Fridays do in our class, with our weekly spelling test.  The tests were marked and recorded but, as Tracey is away they were not handed back.  They will be handed back on Monday.

After Spelling the students had time to read followed by recess.

After recess we talked about tally marks and how to use them in graphing.  We did a tally of 5 popular fast foods having the students pick which one they would choose for supper tonight.  (pizza, burgers, sub sandwich, hot dog and nachos)   I then took the students to the computer lab and gave them their first lesson in Microsoft Excell, with a lesson on how to make information into a graph. 

The students explored all the different types of graphs that Excell had and tried to decide which format was the best format to display the information.

 After lunch we had buddies with our buddy class where the students read and played games with our buddies 

Tuesday March 17th

Notice:
Assembly Next Wednesday the 26 Th.
Please come and watch if you are able.

We began the day with the thought of the week and the students wrote it out in their best handwriting.

When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.

~ Cree ~

We talked about the meaning of the verse and came up with the idea that greed is what is causing many of the problems with the earth. We talked about how logging and hunting are not evil just over logging and over hunting.

After handwriting we went to the computer lab and reviewed the use of Microsoft Word and a great Internet site called "Wordle" which takes words you type and arranges them in cool ways. We incorporated the products of this web site into our ongoing project. Most of the students loved this site and would love to show you how it works at home.
We returned to the computer lab for 20 minutes after recess to finish printing two for each student. We returned to class where the students were given an additional 20 minutes color their 'Wordle's' or to read.


we are now switching over to math... correcting word problems from yesterday. We corrected the 5 questions from set A and the students kept working on set B and set C until lunch. This is not homework.

After lunch we begin the afternoon with another Read for the Top final. It was so close we ended up 5 to 6 for the grade 5 team. It was an outstanding effort on behalf of our class readers.

In P.E. we played dodge ball tag which was followed two small art projects.

Monday April 16 th:

We began the week with a "Read 4 The Top" challenge against Div 2. Div 2 was the victor but our students did a great job against the grade 5 team.

After Read for the Top we had our weekly spelling test. This weeks words are:

strong, wrong, copy, cloth, problem, October, whole, explode, control, shown, bowl, bottom, smoky, coach, throat, toast, doughnut, foe, seventeen, monarch


The students then worked on the spelling assignment sheets that help the students think about the meaning and spelling of the various spelling words. This is due Friday and as always when and if they get 100 percent on their Friday tests, it counts as having the sheets done.

Throughout the day we worked on finishing off our masks which are now beginning to be put up on the bulletin board in the hall outside our class and upstairs by the office. Come and see the finished masks when you drop by the school.


After recess the students had music with Mrs. Awalt where they practiced their recorder numbers and exercises.

After music the students worked on math problem solving of word problems.

Lunch was followed by Choir where the students listened to and did a one page report on Chopin. Chopin is well know as one of the greatest piano players of his or any time. He performed for the king at the age of seven. His performances showed exceptional tenderness, happiness and boldness.

After choir the students read then worked on our latest writing assignment working on 10 things liked. The students started with number 10, 9, 8 etc in descending value until number 1 which is the most liked.


We cleaned up and played 5 min of Silent ball before the buzzer and home time.

Great job everyone

Read for the Top Team

Our read for the top team had their first challenge and lost in an exciting Canuck style in the dying seconds of the contest. They represented themselves and the class in one of the most exciting and close rounds of competition I have seen over the years. I am very proud of them. They compete against the grade 5's from Mr. D's class on Monday. Great job everyone.

Wed - Thurs April 11-12

Mrs. Graham-Pasquale had a great two days with the students. She brings a lot of energy and skill to the class and was a great presence at the Student-led conferences. Great Job Mrs. GP. We look forward to when you update the blog yourself. (Mr. W)

Friday the 13 th of April

Notices:

We have begun our Mothers day projects and would request that students email or send in a photo of their mothers to

dowilson@sd61.bc.ca

Nothing better than macaroni picture frames to remember elementary school days.

Thank you all for the insights into your children at our Student Led conferences. Your children do insightful and creative work all the time and I get to appreciate and enjoy it and them. So thank you.

We began our Friday with our weekly spelling test. The tests were marked and recorded and handed back to the students. You should ask that your child brings them home as I suggest that they do.

After Spelling we worked out of our M.E. book (morning exercise) on a writing assignment for May.

After recess the students read for 30 minutes then we worked hard on finishing up our First Nations inspired masks. They are coming along well and I hope they are ready for putting up and for a presentation at an assembly.

After lunch our little buddies came down to our class to listen to stories our students had written and work on Math with them.
We finished the day working on our masks then had a rousing P.E. period with Mrs. Favell's class. Great day everyone, have a great weekend, see you Monday

Tuesday March 10th

Notices:

Early dismissal Wed and Thurs for Parent Teacher Interviews.
You are welcome to come between 2 and 4 on either Wed or Thurs.
I look forward to seeing you all and having your children show you their work.

Welcome back all. I hope you had a great Easter Weekend.

We began the day with our weekly spelling list;

since, which, inch, string, title, shrimp picnic, mind, wild, decide, why, skyscraper, buy, right, lightning, write, cypress, bicycle, Easter, chocolate.

After recess we had a work catchup period to make sure the students work was up to snuff for student lead conferences tomorrow and Thursday.

After lunch we began with P.E. with Mrs. Mantai's class followed by a reading period then a catchup/coloring/painting/reading period to round off the day.

See you all tomorrow for student lead conferences and I look forward to seeing your latest mini-books and your Chief Pontiac one page report which are due tomorrow.

Wednesday March 4 th

Mrs. Graham-Paqsquale, Mrs' O's replacement, was in for her first morning with the students. We welcome her. During her first morning she taught Language arts (Writing), Math (area and perimeter), Science (Sound)


In the after noon we began by reading and Computers followed by music with Mrs. Awalt and ended the day with a work period.

See you all tomorrow.

Tuesday March 3 rd

Mr. Wilson was away for dental appointments. Students started new mini book on things that they can do with their hands. This mini book is based on the book by Bryan Collier "These Hands" it is due next Wed. The students started this book by exploring a list of 200 verbs and dividing them into things they can do with their hands and things they can't.

After recess the students read then worked on the completion of page 172-173 in the math textbook on reading pictographs and bar graphs.

After lunch they had p.e. then worked on a one page report on Chief Pontiac a famous Canadian Chief.

Monday April 2 nd.

Notice:

Friday is Good Friday 6th
Monday 9 th is Easter Monday

Spelling test on Thursday
Student Lead interviews Next week Early dismissal Wed. Thurs.

Cruella Deville (Mrs. Dagg ) dropped by
with one of the 101 dalmatians while kids were painting their masks

We began the week with our thought of the week and handwriting practice. The quote we discussed and the students wrote out in their best handwriting is by Pearl S. Buck.

"That river, it was full of good and evil together.

It would water the fields when it was curbed,

but then if an inch were allowed it,

it crashed through like a roaring dragon."

The concept in the quote was easy for the students to grasp although no one knew what the word curbed meant. So after a quick vocabulary discussion the students wrote it out and illustrated it with their best handwriting.

After Handwriting and thought of the week we had our weekly spelling pre-test. Remember there are two double sided pages handed out to all students to work on at home as an assist to understanding the spelling words (due Friday after the test: Note all students who achieve perfect on their spelling test are exempted from being taken to task for not completing their spelling work sheets). The students only had 5 min to start their spelling sheets so I will give them time later in the day.

Weekly Spelling words: then, else, edge, when, tenth, empty, sketch, easy, eager, sneakers, mean, fifteen, receive, piece, believe, spelling, people, squeeze. (focus: ea words; i before e except after c rule)

After recess the students had Music with Mrs. Awalt where they worked hard at their recorder and music reading skills. Hopefully the will be able to perform at an upcoming assembly.

This was followed by Math. In math we have begun a unit on reading and making pictographs. We corrected page 171 and pages 172 and 173 were assigned. These two pages will take two days to complete in class after which they will be assigned as homework.

After lunch most of the class went to choir. Those few students not in choir did a one page report on Giuseppe Verdi a child prodigy whose works are know for their strong, sad stories, vigorous orchestral styles, forceful writing for voices and serious drama.

After choir the students were given time to work on their spelling word building skill sheets until 1:45 when the students were given their extra recess for the students in the school achieving 5000 nights of home reading (this was moved from Friday when it was raining).

Outside at extra recess

In Socials the students continued work on our masks and mask theme. We looked at a picture of a thirteenth-century wooden mask from the deer ceremony from the Southeast.