Ms. Coutts' Class

Category: Cross-Curricular (Page 7 of 7)

Responding to Mathematical “Problems”

November 24, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Hmm… it’s interesting that we refer to some of our learning in math as “problems.” Sounds kind of negative, doesn’t it? Problem-solving is about identifying important information and finding solutions to unknown variables. Maybe a better phrase would be “puzzle-solving!”

Division 3 is working on developing their responses to mathematical puzzle-solving . Our goal is to communicate our thinking clearly using words, numbers, symbols, and pictures when needed. Anyone reading or viewing our responses should be able to track all the steps and calculations used, and even be able to tell what the questions was!

Division 3–what are some things you are including in your page layout, or in what you record on your paper, to make your process clear?

Fog

November 16, 2021 / / 6 Comments

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

 – Carl Sandburg, 1916

Div. 3 — I am always reminded of this poem as I drive up the mountain into the fog. Please share your thoughts/observations/wonders about this poem in the comments.

 

Our Class Wreath

November 10, 2021 / / 3 Comments

 Our class wreath for Remembrance Day is based on Wassily Kandinsky’s work Squares with Coloured Circles (Farbstudie – Quadrate und konzentrische Ringe), 1913. Even though this piece could be considered Kandinsky’s most famous creation, it was not originally intended to be an entire composition. It was a study of how colours interacted with each other in various combinations. Kandinksy was a synesthete–he could hear colours, and see sounds. Colour tells its own story to each person, and to Kandinsky, colour meant more than just a visual component of a picture.

Division 3 chose colours that represent a word, feeling, or idea about Remembrance Day. We removed form and image in order to allow the colours alone to tell the story. Some colours speak of sorrow and loss, others speak of hope, and others tell of the journey through the darkness and into the light.

Division 3–what colours did you choose and why?

Binary Bracelets

October 29, 2021 / / 2 Comments

In September students learned how to write numbers in binary (a base-2 number system). Today students learned that letters can also be coded in binary! Each student mapped out their names on grid paper, chose their colours, and beaded their names into a bracelet.

Here is a message for you, Division 3. Let’s see if you can decode it!

1001000 1000001 1010000 1010000 1011001 1001000 1000001 1001100 1001100 1001111 1010111 1000101 1000101 1001110

What Is Fair?

October 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Is the world a fair and just place to live?

Students in Division 3 worked in teams to do a building challenge where they were tasked with building the tallest tower possible in ten minutes. Each group received an envelope containing toothpicks, string, tape, spaghetti, and mini-marshmallows to build with. This is a common ADST challenge that many of the students have done before… but what they didn’t know was that each envelope had different amounts of supplies. Some had lots of marshmallows but very little spaghetti, some had lots of spaghetti but few marshmallows, and so forth.

They had different amounts of supplies because this was actually a Social Studies exploration where students would examine the how the distribution of the world’s wealth and resources are inequitable. In this task students:

  • asked questions, analyzed ideas, and communicated findings
  • developed a plan of action to address a challenge
  • exchanged ideas and viewpoints to build a shared understanding

So here’s how it all went down…

Continue reading

Class Agreements

October 26, 2021 / / 5 Comments

How should a classroom space feel?

What kinds of things can make it a productive space? A caring space? A safe space?

How can we all contribute to building community in our classroom?

What are your roles as a student? What are the teacher’s roles?

These are all questions we have started exploring as we reflect on our class agreements.

At the very start of the year, we brainstormed various roles and responsibilities expected from students and teachers. Several themes emerged from this discussion, and these themes are our Class Agreements. The agreements are:

  • Mutual Respect
  • Safety
  • Right to Participate/Right to Pass
  • Attentive Listening
  • Appreciations/No Put-Downs

These agreements don’t happen automatically–they take work and collaboration on the part of each individual student and teacher. Because these themes can be quite broad, students worked in small groups to create Y-charts to describe what each of these agreements would “Look like,” “Sound like,” and “Feel like.” After the first round, we reflected on what each agreement meant, and what each group wrote–we discussed how we could be more specific with our descriptions. Then groups worked on adding ideas to two more Y-charts.

A couple of things I noticed during this group work:

  1. At first, students had a tough time naming specific actions, phrases, etc. to describe each of these categories. There were lots of notes about “Sounds respectful,” and so we really had to dig into what you would actually hear if you walked into a space where people were treating each other with mutual respect, for example.
  2. You might notice off-topic doodling or writing on some of the sheets. Some students noticed this, too. We discussed the idea of “respecting the work.” Especially when we are working in a group, it’s important to honour the contributions of others by offering our own quality contributions. I’ve also noticed this doodling etc on assignments. Keep the doodles to your doodle-book, and keep the assignments clear of clutter so they are easier to read. It is important that we communicate our ideas in ways that others can understand.

Division 3–what is something you can do to help contribute to developing and maintaining these class agreements? Comment below!

Roots2Grow

October 8, 2021 / / 4 Comments

Monday was our first Roots2Grow session with Pablo in our school garden. Our focus for this session was “Care for Self, Care for Others, and Care for the Land.”

First we looked at the Medicine Wheel, which symbolizes life in a continuous natural cycle. The Medicine Wheel represents the four directions, the four seasons, the four elements, and all of humanity. People are part of the Earth, just as are the plants, animals, air, water, and rocks around us. It is important that we establish healthy relationships with all of these parts.

Gardening is a living process that responds to the natural cycle. The school garden is a small ecosystem that will succeed if we watch and take cues from the natural world. We do not need to be “perfect” gardeners (who is “perfect” anyway?!), but we can grow as gardeners simply by learning from what we are doing and what we have done in the past.

Our world is currently in a state of environmental crisis caused by past human actions. We must learn to care for ourselves, care for others, and care for our land in order to develop practices and take action to conserve and restore our natural resources.

Pablo reviewed the expectations for the garden, and then we got to work harvesting quite a few different types of vegetables!

We collected:

  • Peas
  • Beans
  • (Tiny) carrots
  • Oregano
  • Radishes
  • Mint
  • Lettuce
  • Spinach

Which veggie was your favourite?

Did you do anything with it (like add it to some cooking or put in a smoothie)?

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

September 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Original artwork by Hawlii Pichette

Much of our work this week has centred on honouring the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, and it is important to note that truth and reconciliation is an ongoing process that requires reflection and action.

Many students already had a lot of background knowledge about residential schools and are continuing to learn challenging truths of Canada’s past. Reconciliation starts with a willingness to listen and learn in order to restore positive relationships for affected communities.

The Honorable Justice Murray Sinclair, chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said that “education is what got us into this mess, and education is what will get us out of it.” On Thursday September 30, I hope you can take some time to learn and reflect. Here are some links to support you in your truth and reconciliation journey.

Original Artwork by Hawlii Pichette

What are some actions you plan to take during this first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (and beyond)?

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