Assessment: How Does It Work?

Hello Everyone,

While I have detailed our assessment process before, I thought it might be a good time for a reminder!

First, Ms. Driussi is hosting evening sessions during the next two weeks about how assessment is changing at the school. Please note, we will not be changing how we are doing assessment. The sessions are primarily for classes in the school that are transitioning this year to using the B.C. Proficiency Rubric, which we have already been doing in Div. 5 for the last year.

Our process to assess and report student learning to you will not change in Div. 5. So, you don’t have to attend the school info sessions unless you have a child who is in another division. Then, it may be a good idea to hear the session, especially if you are new to the school. We had a similar session in my classroom last fall when I started using the proficiency rubric.

Second, please encourage your child to complete e-portfolio posts. As you may have already seen, Ms. B and I are going through the posts and adding comments to let students know if they are on the right track. Please feel free to also comment! These posts will shape our reflections when we communicate progress for term one on the report card.

Third, in class we have been going over the words associated with the proficiency rubric to ensure we all understand them. I often say that the proficiency rubric is easier to understand, with its words of emerging/developing/applying (proficient)/extending if you create a LIFE RUBRIC. Think of one thing that you do daily. We put up posters of the four parts of the rubric on the walls in class, Ms. D said an activity, and then students moved to the part of the rubric they thought they were in.

For example, where are you on “cleaning your room?”

EXTENDING — I can clean my room independently and use sophisticated skills, some of which I learned on my own time, such as feng shui arrangements, Marie Kondo folding, organizing boxes I created myself, to clean it. No one needs to tell me to clean my room. I could teach someone else how to clean a room, and I probably remind other people to “get to it!” I even developed my own personal schedule for cleaning and posted it on the fridge.

APPLYING — I can clean my room independently and use a complete set of skills I have been taught to organize it — for example, vacuuming, making my bed, and picking up materials to put into organizing buckets I have been given. No one needs to check in on me as I am cleaning my room. I feel confident doing it myself.

DEVELOPING — I can clean my room myself with some guidance. For example, someone might need to check in on me and say, stop reading and get to cleaning! Or, maybe I need help getting the vacuum out and turning it on. Maybe I need some advice on how to fold corners on the sheets. But, I have a partial understanding of what to do and can do some of it myself.

EMERGING — I can clean my room with guidance, as I am beginning to learn how to do it. I might need assistance deciding when the room is dirty, staying on task and not making new messes while cleaning it up, or not shoving dirty laundry under the bed but instead putting it in the hamper. My parents are showing me how the vacuum works, as I haven’t done that before. My parents came in and modelled for me how to clean, so I can learn how to do it next time on my own.

**Try this at home as a discussion. Try something like — making your own lunch, making dinner, riding a bicycle, or playing with a sibling.

Fourth, students will receive rubrics for assessment. By Tuesday, everyone will have the Human Body Corporation one, for example. You will notice, we follow these steps when using a rubric or assessing a mini project:

  • Teacher will hand out a rubric and criteria to review and keep. 
  • Student can use the rubric and criteria to stay on track for the project.
  • When the project is complete, the student will do a self-assessment, indicating where they think are at with regards to the proficiency rubric. They will also indicate areas of strength and areas of stretch/improvement.
  • Sometimes a peer will provide input. The student will write down any peer feedback they feel is important to remember. 
  • Teacher will review the project and add feedback.
  • Teacher will use words associated with each level of the proficiency rubric to indicate progress AND will relate those words to the learning intention and standards from curriculum. For example, “Johnny is developing his understanding of how to apply his independent research skills.” 
  • Teacher will break down the comments into subject areas when needed, as many of our assessment tasks are trans-disciplinary.
  • Rubric will be sent home with the student for signing.
  • Parent signs and student returns with it to school so we know it has been seen.

Last but not least, we will be having a meeting together the first week of December. I will be setting up meetings with each parent and student, so we can meet together to discuss progress and make goals. Prior to the meeting:

  • Students will complete a written reflection for the report card and relate their progress to the strengths and goals they talked about on the e-portfolio.
  • Teacher will complete the proficiency rubric and comments for the report card.
  • Parent will review the student e-portfolio and complete a parent questionnaire distributed in late November and bring it with them to the meeting.
  • We will meet together for a 20-30 minute meeting before or after school.
  • Student will read their reflection, then the teacher, and the parent.
  • We will make and record goals on the report card.
  • The report, including the parent questionnaire, goes to Ms. Driussi for review and signing.
  • Student and teacher will sign.
  • Final copies of reports go home before Winter Break. There will be 2 copies, and you need to send one back to school for our file.

I hope this helps you to understand our assessment process! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Ms. D

Systems Unit Update, October 22!

Hello Everyone!

Here is a quick update from Ms. Boroumand and myself about what is going on so far in our unit.

Math: In the past several weeks, we have been exploring how to interpret and analyze graphs and charts. We have also been exploring measures of central tendency. We explored using pattern blocks to build three-dimensional bar graphs and to explore mean, median, and mode. In the coming week, we will explore health statistics to see how graphs, charts, and measures of central tendency are applied in the world. We had a great discussion this morning to apply math to the Federal election, too! Coming up, we will have a quick formative check in, as well as a project in which you can apply these math skills.

Language Arts: Students will be writing a TED Talk, or a speech, related to something they are passionate about, related to mental and/or physical health, personal awareness and responsibility, empowerment, or another related topic. They will be presenting their speeches to our MACC 4/5 class on November 15th. In order to work towards this, we have been exploring how to choose words that are more descriptive and that can paint a picture for others. In the coming week, we will be exploring what makes a good speech and diving deeper into writing our TED Talks. We are taking everything step by step, and students received a planning document yesterday to help structure their speech thoughts.

Social Emotional Learning and Health Education: Students have been studying the parts of the brain related to regulating emotions and stress. We have also been discussing our relationship to stress, and strategies to cope with stress, so we can have better focus, apply creative and critical thinking, and be ready to learn. Students have explored mindful breathing, mindful eating, journaling, going for mindful walks, social connection, quiet reading, being creative and doing art. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring how nature can help us cope with stress and be ready for learning. Our make-up walk to Central Park will be on the morning of Monday, October 28th. Be on time and ready to go walking at 9AM!

We also discussed how to understand nutritional facts on food labels and think critically about ingredients present in packaged and processed foods. Our goal is to learn how to make better food choices for our mental and physical health. In the coming weeks, we will dive deeper into the nutritional value of foods, and learn about what vitamins, minerals, and probiotics do for our health.

Videos We Watched:  

Tips for mindful eating

Sugar hiding in plain sight

All it takes is 10 mindful minutes

How to make stress your friend 

How the food you eat affects your brain 

Breaking the mental health stigma 

Social Studies: Prior to the election, we discussed how the Canadian system of government. We ran a mock election in class to learn how the First-Past-The-Post electoral system works. Connected to our exploration of food choices, students also explored the nutritional value of traditional Indigenous food systems. This last week, we looked at indigenous perspectives on health and wellness and brainstormed how this is connected to our own thinking about how to promote health.

Videos We Watched: 

Levels of Government in Canada and Canada’s Electoral System

French: Students have continued to explore parts of the body, learning how to integrate first, second, and third person pronouns with body parts. Students have also been learning a song about body parts, which you can practice at home on this video. For a quick formative assessment, students are doing mini dialogues with the teacher using phrases learned in class.

Art Education: Students have been continue to work on their Personal Hive projects, using mixed media. Our zentangle mural is hanging up in our class for all to enjoy! Up next? Poppy art using charcoal and acrylics, which we hope to finish before Remembrance Day.

Science: We talked about different types of germs, how they are spread, how to prevent the spread of diseases, the power of soap, communicable and non-communicable diseases, and a bit on epidemiology or diagnosing diseases. We did a strawberry DNA lab to learn how soap breaks down cell walls and to learn about how to write up a proper science lab report. We had a lab called “patient zero” where we had to guess who was infected with a mystery disease. We played a card game called Microbes and Us to learn about the various ways to prevent disease. Finally, we did some readings on pathogens, which everyone has in their binders, to learn more about topics from class. Please see our e-portfolios for a formative assessment post on some of the things we discussed. Coming up next? Research on a disease of your choice, guessing a mystery disease, a germ lab, and some discussion about herd immunity.

Formative Skills Assessment: Grade 4 students have been engaged in writing the FSAs this week. In the coming two weeks, they will finish up the paper and electronic portion of these assessments.

Central Park Trip: We will be doing this trip from 9-12 on Monday, Oct. 28th. Please come to school on time and be ready to go at 9AM. Make sure you have on some good walking shoes that are okay in wet grass at the park. We will only be taking a snack in our pockets and be back before lunch.

Pumpkin Patch/Costume Parade/Pumpkin Carving/Party: Please bring a plastic bag to school on Tuesday, Oct. 29th for the Pumpkin Patch. Everyone will take home a pumpkin. Please wash it and take out all of the guts, but don’t carve it! Bring it back to school on Thursday, Oct. 31st for carving. Everyone then puts all of their carved pumpkins in the gym with candles. It always looks amazing, and you are welcome to come see it during our costume parade on Thursday at 1PM.

After the carving and costume parade, we will have our student-organized class party. Everyone has been asked to contribute in some way by signing up on the list in class. Please ask your child what their responsibility is for the party and encourage them to be part of our community. The organizing of this party is a great learning experience, but it is better if everyone participates so they benefit from the discussion that follows at our next class meeting.

ADST and Technology: We had a great workshop about Micro:Bits and artificial intelligence provided by @KidsCoding this Monday. We will hopefully have more opportunities to play with Micro:Bits this year, as Ms. D has been in touch with our ADST specialists for additional workshops during the year. Stay tuned! Also, all students are now set up on One Drive and can use it at home, sharing documents with me through the One Drive cloud. All work can be done online in all of the programs!

Book Fair: Last days for the Book Fair are October 23 and 24. It is open during lunch and after school.

Stay tuned for more information and don’t forget to check out my twitter feed on the main page of the blog for daily snippets of our activities!

Thank you to Ms. B for all the great work she is doing with students. She will be here through November 29th, which will be her last day at Suncrest. 

Have a great week!

Ms. D and Ms. B

Systems Unit Update, October 7th!

Hello Everyone!

I can’t believe we are already in October! We have been doing a lot of learning for our first unit on the concept of SYSTEMS, and here is a quick update according to subject area:

 

Socials/Science/LA:

As our unit progresses, we are learning curricular competencies around inquiry and research that will serve us well during our independent projects later in the year!

Using the wonderings board in the classroom, and the prompts that Ms. D likes to call the “jar of inquiry,” we are learning how to ask deeper questions. We have a variety of great questions already posted on the board. Students have been encouraged in their e-ports to take one of those questions and do further research, which can be posted in a new e-port entry. Ms. D and Ms. B will also look at the questions to inform discussions in class. The best research starts with well-thought-out questions!

As we learn about the personal choices we make that help the human body, or as we do research for projects on organs and diseases, we are also learning how to take notes, how to watch videos and write down key ideas or vocabulary, how to document our resources, and how to choose appropriate websites. Ms. D and Ms. B have also chosen a variety of websites for students to use, and there are boxes of unit-related books in the classroom from our Suncrest and District libraries.

Finally, we are learning about time-management and communication skills as we try to use our time effectively during class, use alternative spaces to work so we aren’t distracted, take breaks independently (because this helps us to focus), use fidgets to help with sensory movement needs, and communicate to others, both peers and the teachers, about our needs. 

Almost everyone has finished their rough draft of the Human Body Corporation letter, having done research on one organ and writing a business letter to prove why their organ is essential and should not be fired! We went over the basics of paragraph writing, and Ms. D wrote a business letter together with the class on the projector, so we all understood how to break up our thoughts into at least 3 paragraphs. Our goal is to work on adding descriptive words, more complex structure, and transition words to our writing during our upcoming writing activities with Ms. B. Everyone is also typing their letter, learning how to access One Drive and to share documents with teachers on that system. All letters will be done by Thursday, October 10th.

We also started our conversations about microbes and pathogens by watching a cool demonstration online to better understand the size of the tiny organisms that can make us sick. You can view this at home. We also talked about the different kinds of cells of our body, the parts of cells, and the genetic information in our cells. Next week? A strawberry DNA experiment and talk about scientific lab procedures.

We are all looking forward to our field trip on Friday, October 11th to Science World! Please do show up on time that day so we can load the buses promptly at 8:50 AM. We will be attending a Digestion Show in the middle theatre, then an IMAX “Human Body” video, having lunch, and then going through the general exhibits for an hour in small groups. Please don’t bring backpacks — only a lunch bag with a name on it. You will need lunch, as there isn’t time to purchase food there. We will leave at 2PM and be back to the school no later than 2:45. Thank you to our parent volunteers who are coming with us!

Science, Mindfulness, Physical Education, Health!

Ms. B discussed the structure of the brain with students this week, and everyone made brain skits to present in small groups that explained how the parts of the brain work together. We had discussions about how being mindful and breathing deeply has been shown, scientifically, to improve the connections in the brain. We are doing some activities from the Mind Up program, which teach about brain health and self-regulation strategies. This coming week, we will continue with more research about what the brain needs for maximum performance!

We also did some learning outside, taking some time for independent, mindful thinking in the natural environment surrounding our school, such as Rumble Park. Please make sure you bring a sweater or jacket each day, so you are prepared for any kind of weather, as we may go outside rain or shine for activities! We will be discussing all of the positive things we can do to improve our own personal mental health, which is an important part of our Physical and Health Education curriculum.

In gym, we are doing activities related to strength, reaction time, and endurance, and we have also discussed how doing gym means getting your heart rate up! To that end, we want to make sure that if we are playing games, we choose ones that will help us with heart health! This last week, we did a lot of sprints, discussed different ways to stretch safely, participated in group strength activities, and played virus tag in relation to our classroom discussions on microbes and pathogens. Ms. D challenged everyone to think of how we could adapt virus tag to make it even more active and fun!

Please look for a letter coming to you soon about our walking field trip to Central Park on Friday, October 18th! We will be doing a variety of nature activities and getting some great exercise outdoors.

ADST and Systems!

Last week, Ms. D introduced everyone to a new thing she learned about last Spring called Scrappy Circuits! First, we discussed the system of electricity using the Universal Systems Model. We talked about how a battery works, including that it involves a chemical reaction in the battery between a metal plate and the acids inside. Then, we pretended to be a circuit and passed paper electrons around to a student pretending to be the “lightbulb” so we could understand how circuits work! After we had the basic idea, we then built our own circuits.

To do this, we made “bricks” out of cardboard that become components of the circuit. First, we made a battery brick out of cardboard, an LED, and 3 clips. Then, we made a light brick using an LED and 2 clips. Then, we made aluminum foil connectors between those bricks or used alligator clips, to make the bulb light up! It was challenging, because we had to use a lot of patience, fine-motor skills, and problem-solving to get our circuits working consistently. If you want to do more of the bricks, you can go online to Scrappy Circuits, as everything can be made with simple items at home or at the dollar store. You can also follow their group on Twitter:  @ScrappyCircuits. Ms. D is following them, so you may see them on my list!

Art and Systems:

We have begun a longer art project to create our own PERSONAL HIVES. What are the things that help you to thrive? Who are the supportive people in your life? What passions keep you going? What places or environments help you to be the person you want to be? As part of our discussions around the core competencies of personal awareness and critical thinking, we are making a small hive of hexagons to display that represent, through mixed media, the important supports in our lives that keep our hive humming! If you want to bring any supplies from home that would add to your art, please do! We have tons of mixed media materials to choose from in the classroom, as well.

French and Systems:

We began going over the French vocabulary for parts of the body and played Simon Says in class. This involved learning the words for your and my, as well as the articles associated with each French noun. Please do practice your French at home to become more familiar with the words. We will be using a variety of resources, including handouts, online websites, songs, and dialogues to help us learn French associated with the human body. As we practice with websites, we will post them on the blog so you can use them at home.

Math and Systems:

Most everyone understands the basics behind probability now, and we are familiar with vocabulary that describes the probability of different situations such as likely, impossible, or certain. We have been collecting data about our genetic traits, games we like, and other personal details, and analyzing that data by creating graphs and finding mean/median/mode/range. We did a great activity using a ruler and dice to discuss median, and we have looked at several graphs online related to a variety of subjects, including Canadian Government, as we prepare for our Student Vote on October 16th.

We are working from a variety of resources, rather than just one textbook, given the many levels of math knowledge in the class, as well as our need to integrate math into the unit in a meaningful way. One of those resources is Probability and Statistics for Middle Grades. We will have handouts in class for further practice, such as the one we distributed Friday on reading graphs for information, which involves reading problems carefully, understanding vocabulary about data discussed in class, and using basic operations to answer questions about the data. We will be asking students to use these data analysis skills frequently, whether discussing brain science, creating their own surveys, or doing scientific experiments about germs in the school!

Other Upcoming Things and Dates:

ALL OCTOBER:  FSA Testing for Grade 4 students during class time

October 11, Field Trip to Science World All Day

October 16, Student Vote

October 17, Math Games Night 6:30 – 7:30 PM (Ms. D is looking for volunteers to run game stations!)

October 18, Walk to Central Park 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

October 21-24, Scholastic Book Fair in the Library

October 21 VOTE! 🙂

October 22 Photo Day

October 25 Pro-D Day, No School

October 29 Pumpkin Patch — bring a plastic bag to school!

October 31 Halloween Pumpkin Carving, Costume Parade, Class Party

November 8 Remembrance Day Assembly

November 11 Remembrance Day, No School

Report Card 20-30 minute conferences between student, teacher, and parent — Dec. 2-6, stay tuned for letter in mid November

MUSICAL — last week before we go to holiday break

Stay tuned for more information about November!

Kindly,

Ms. D and Ms. B

SYSTEMS UPDATE — September 20th!

Hello Everyone!

Hopefully you are following my quick updates on Twitter and receiving email reminders that help you to have a daily sense of what is going on on Division 5! I am enjoying working with our new MACC 4/5 group, and it was a pleasure to speak to parents during the parent-teacher conferences this past week. Thank you to everyone for making the time to come in!

 

Ms. Boroumand, our student teacher, visited us for two days this past week, and she will begin full time on Monday, September 23rd. During the first two weeks, she will be taking over up to 40% of lessons, and then on October 7th, 80%. She and I have been planning together since July, and she has some great activities and learning prepared for everyone! We look forward to collaborating together to complete our unit on SYSTEMS.

Here is a quick update in each subject area of what we are doing!

Socials/Science/Health/Core Competencies:

  • We had great discussions about the Universal Systems Model, identifying the goal, input, process, output, and feedback of systems we know of such as school.
  • As part of creating our classroom system, we talked about what good group work looks like, and we brainstormed essential agreements we want to have while learning together in Division 5. These will be posted in our room and everyone will sign them to show they agree.
  • We began discussing some of the things that are inputs into our SYSTEM of our own body, which lead to good learning and health, such as how much sleep we need, how to use fidgets, taking breaks, and having balance after school.
  • We talked about one of the core competency focuses for this unit, personal awareness, and we completed activities on analyzing your personality, talking about differences, and measuring personal space to help us be aware of ourselves and others in our learning community.
  • We did body drawings to see what we already know about the internal workings of the human body. Then, we began doing a series of 11 body systems stations such as reading, completing diagrams, taking our heart rate, finding lung capacity, and measuring the digestion system. Packet from these stations is due on Monday, Sept. 23rd unless you talk to Ms. D.
  • We watched two science videos to have a better sense of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems. During the videos, we talked about how to take notes when listening, such as writing down key vocabulary or questions, rather than everything we hear.
  • We talked about the core competency critical thinking, as Ms. D often follows up a fun activity with a deeper question designed to create discussion. Everyone was invited to post questions on the Wonderings Board as they come up, so we can discuss!

Math and Systems:

  • Everyone took Math Assessments as part of Ms. D’s system to see what everyone knows already and how to best approach curriculum. 
  • We discussed systems of measurement, imperial and metric, and talked about decimals and fractions a bit as we converted between different measurements. To apply this knowledge, we measured different parts of the body for all of our classmates to find the average length of shoulder to arm, or hip to foot. Then we had a critical thinking discussion about how we would use this information in real life.
  • We did several data gathering activities in the classroom to practice tallying findings, and we discussed how we might display findings in visual ways that help others to better understand the data. During our first week, we made table maps to learn more data about one another, which are displayed in the hallway across from the music room.
  • We played probability games such as PIG and SKUNK and discussed the chances of winning, whether there were any strategies to help you win, and how games of chance could be related to being a risk-taker, trying new activities for the first time in real life.
  • We played Rock, Paper, Scissors, made tree diagrams of the possible outcomes when playing with a partner, and then compared our experimental and theoretical probability results. We discussed that the larger your sample set, the closer experimental probability gets to theoretical probability.
  • Everyone is at different levels in the class with regard to fractions, reducing fractions, division, decimals, and percentages. It is important to know that this is okay, and that as we continue, if some of this is new to you, it will become more clear with practice. Sometimes we will discuss things that provide depth and complexity, and may go above grade level, because sometimes people are ready, need the extra challenge, or even just ask questions about something new and interesting! Some people do know how to do these challenges, but it is okay if you are learning how, too. Be a risk-taker and try something new, and also practice asking questions when you don’t understand, as I am happy to explain! Remember that Ms. D is always assessing according to grade level expectations, and I am often checking in to see if everyone is able to successfully understand and complete math in those areas.
  • We used the NY TIMES Learning NetWork Graph of the Week and practiced being critical thinkers through the questions, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?” I invite everyone to look at graphs in the newspaper or online news sources and do this at home, too. We want to understand the different types of graphs, how data can be presented visually, and how to be critical thinkers!

Physical Education:

  • We have gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 30 minutes. Sometimes we will be doing other activities outside, and this may change our gym times.
  • We are focusing first on activities about strength, reaction time, and endurance.
  • We talked about how to be prepared for gym, wearing the right shoes for running, bringing a water bottle to class every day, and eating breakfast every morning so you have energy!
  • We ran sprints and did quick-reaction games involving listening to instructions and passing objects quickly between teammates, all designed to practice reaction time and personal awareness.
  • We have been doing planks, stair walks, sit ups, crab walks, bridge poses, and other exercises designed to develop strength.
  • We have been doing running designed to practice endurance, and I saw many students doing a great job with this during Terry Fox on Friday! Good work!
  • Finally, we have been connecting our activities to our SYSTEMS unit by taking our heart rate, talking about nutrition and sleep, and relating our reaction time games to the parts of the brain and how it functions.

Language Arts and Research:

  • Students wrote me a personal letter at the beginning of the year, which provided me with beginning information about writing skills, as well as information about themselves! Thank you for taking the time to write!
  • We began working on e-portfolios, and we went over the criteria for a quality reflection, talked about e-portfolio procedures and how we use them for assessment, and learned to post a picture using the iPads. We published our first post by Friday of this last week. For new students, I know this will be a learning experience for our first few posts!
  • We set up our journals, which we use instead of lined paper in the classroom to record our notes, thoughts, diagrams, research, and math work. We set up a Table of Contents in the beginning so we can keep track of topics and can use the journal as a reference when we need it!
  • Ms. D introduced our first project of The Human Body Corporation! Any time there is a project, an explanation will be provided. On Monday, I also have a rubric to pass out, and we will go over it together. The Corporation is firing body parts, and each student will need to do some research and write a business letter to the Corporation proving why their chosen organ is the most essential to the body!
  • When researching online we discussed how to start with websites you know are safe and useful, like www.kidshealth.org, which we have been using for the body stations. Use the search bar at the top (where the magnifying glass is) to search the website for more information. Then, you can use Google to look for more, but avoid websites labeled “Ad”, as well as Wikipedia and ones with .com. We want to have less ads and more information! And we want quality websites. Look for ones ending in .gov, .edu, .net, or .org. Ms. D helped some students to get started. Also, see the Articles of Interest on Ms. D’s blog for some websites, too.
  • When recording notes you can use bullet points, not full sentences. Try to put things in your own words, rather than copying. You will better remember what you read, and putting things in your own words means you have to think about what you are reading. Record where you found the information, such as the website name.
  • Research and note taking, as well as the whole inquiry process, takes time to learn. Right now we are doing structured inquiry, with specific questions students need to answer from the handout. Our goal is to build skills during each unit that will lead to independent inquiry during the independent project, our last unit of the year.

Art:

  • We have talked about mindfulness and how art such as zentangle doodling can help! Ms. D provided everyone with bookmarks to design with zentangles from the series Yoga for the Mind.
  • Our next step will be to create a larger zentangle mural together, with focus on mindfulness, personal awareness, collaboration, and different kinds of line. Stay tuned for our mural in the hallway!
  • With Ms. Boroumand, we will continue our mindfulness through a personal awareness hexagon hive project and more.
  • We are also using our building, design, skit making, writing, and drawing skills to create something that will help explain the path of blood through the heart. This will be a mini project we can work on over the next few weeks when there is time.

Other and Important Dates:

  • Students are working away on the xylophones with Ms. Fletcher in music! We meet for music on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
  • Bring all your books in on Wednesday mornings, as we have Library every Wednesday after recess.
  • No School on Sept. 27th, Pro-D Day.
  • Orange Shirt Day Sept. 30th
  • Science World Field Trip Notices went out Friday — trip on Oct. 11th!
  • No School Oct. 14th Thanksgiving
  • We are doing the Student Vote on October 17th! Ms. Boroumand is leading us in some lessons all about government to help us understand the SYSTEM of government before we go to vote.
  • Central Park Walking Field Trip on Friday, October 18th
  • Book Fair Week of Oct. 21
  • Photo Day Oct. 22
  • No School Oct. 25th Pro-D Day
  • Pumpkin Patch Oct. 28th at school
  • Pumpkin Carving, Costume Parade Oct. 31st

More to Come in the Next Update! Stay tuned!

Welcome Back! Beginning the 2019-20 School Year

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back! I look forward to seeing you all next week!

Please check your email for information about the schedule and supplies, and do respond to let me know you received it. This way, I can make sure you are on my official email list!

On Tuesday, Sept. 3rd we only meet for one hour. We will first meet in the gym first for a school assembly at 8:55 AM. When the assembly ends, MACC 4/5 students will come with me to our classroom. Please enjoy socializing with other parents in the gym, and students will be ready for pick up at 10AM.

The rest of the week, September 4-6, we meet for full days, 8:55 – 3:00 PM.

Students do not need anything special for the first day. I will send home a packet of information on the first day with more information and class guidelines. 

Supplies are communal and arranged by the school. For week two, I also ask students to bring the following personal items labeled with their name: 

–1, 1 inch 3-ring blue binder
–1, 1 inch 3-ring red binder
–a pair of earbuds
–a basic calculator
–a basic math set with protractor and compass
–inside runners to wear in the classroom and gym
–a water bottle

Thank you very much for your support, and I look forward to seeing everyone next week!

Ms. DeTerra
District MACC Teacher 4/5

Thank you and have an excellent summer!

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for the opportunity to teach your children, for all of your support this year, for helping us with field trips and driving, and for all of your thoughtful notes and generosity as we have ended the year. It was a great year, and I look forward to the one to come! I hope you all have a lovely, relaxing summer, and I will see you in September! 

Thank you!

Overview Term Three — Fantastic Work Division 5!

Here is a review of the many things we did during term three!

To tie the big ideas from our curriculum together into a larger, enduring understanding,
we studied subject areas through the lens of a universal, conceptual theme.

For term three we focused on the concept of CONNECTION
in our unit 
THE NATURE CONNECTION. 

Unit focus statement: 
Human beings impact and rely upon the balance of nature’s interdependent systems.

Unpacking the concept of CONNECTION — What does it mean?

What does connection mean, and where do we see it? We began with class discussions around what we connect to personally, how we are connected to the community, and how we are connected to the world. Each student made a zine, which is a small, paper, easy-to-reproduce info magazine, to describe all of the things they feel they are are connected to.

How are we connected to our natural environment? First we talked about what we can find in our natural environment and had fun deciding what is abiotic and biotic. IS a virus alive or not?? What about prions? At the end of the day, some of this is still up for debate!

We watched Planet Earth: Pole to Pole, and discussed the variety of biomes, ecosystems, and amazing organisms that exist across the planet. Each student was given a card with an organism within our local ecosystems, and after doing quick research, placed it on the board to connect it within the food web and cycles of our world. Further reading was done on how parts of nature are connected through food chains, as well as the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water cycles.

Making connections to tell the story of life!

To better understand how organisms in our ecosystems are connected, we investigated taxonomy. Scientists use taxonomy to classify life according to specific features, adaptations, reproductive and survival behaviours, and appearance.

Before we looked at the official chart, we did our own hands-on sorting, and small groups were given piles of pictures of animals and organisms to organize into specific groups according to characteristics. We had lots of great debate! Then we had an opportunity to learn about the classification system, picking an animal and learning about their kingdom, phylum, family, class, genus, and official Latin species name.

 During one of our many walks, we found roly polys. New discoveries were made as we learned pill bugs are not actually BUGS, but are instead ancient crustaceans that need water to breathe because they have gills! And they reproduce through parthenogenesis! We made a roly poly bug farm in the classroom and did some on-the-spot research to answer our questions and learn more!

This led to amazing discussions about how we have evolved as organisms over time. We looked at how we are connected to the past, and how paleontologists and archaeologists use careful observation, documentation, and critical thinking to construct our history from fossil evidence and dig sites. Our visit to the UBC Biodiversity and Pacific Earth Science Centre Museums allowed us to learn more about biodiversity, adaptations, genetic diversity, and how scientists connect clues together to understand the story of life. 

How do we become more connected to and observant of the nature around us?

As we looked at how we are connected to other organisms, we developed a better understanding of place and the nature directly around us. Through the Burnaby-New West Walking Challenge, we took regular walks outside, during which we used the Walking Curriculum, a series of activities designed to help us become more observant, mindful, and thoughtful about what we are seeing and experiencing while we walk. We discussed how this mindfulness and being outside was helping improve both our physical and mental health! These exercises also helped us practice being super-observers to help with science investigations in the future.

We used loupes to look carefully at natural specimens and plants found around our playground. We talked about how to observe shape and line quality first when trying to carefully draw specimens, and we did several still-life, up-close drawings to record outside findings. We learned names for local plants and trees, identified invasive plants that were not part of the ecosystem, and discussed local animals and habitats.

      

We also read The Girl Who Drew Butterflies about Maria Merian who changed science with her careful drawings. Then we made our own careful butterfly drawings, with attention to symmetry, and with the addition of pastel and watercolour technique.

Finally, we talked about extinct, endangered, and protected animals in B.C. Afterwards, each student chose a unique animal they didn’t know anything about and researched its biome, ecosystem, habitat, taxonomy, adaptations, behaviours, and connection to First Peoples stories and art. Students asked questions, documented research, and recorded resources in a bibliography. Finally, they presented their findings in a written e-port entry, as well as a beautiful piece of art inspired by the works of Oregon artist Sue Coccia and zentangle patterns.

  

First Peoples’ Connection to Nature and Traditional Knowledge:

As we developed observation skills that help with scientific investigations, we also asked, “What is science?” We discussed the difference between lab science, school-based science, and traditional knowledge of First Peoples. We read My Elders Tell Me, a great story about how a group of First Nations children learned skills for daily survival and respect for the environment directly from their elders. We watched videos about the Great Bear Rainforest and learned how those lands are being actively protected by First Peoples and others collaboratively through the combined use of indigenous, traditional knowledge and new technology. We read how First Peoples are working in partnership with scientists to manage local waterways, and how indigenous knowledge provides careful observations from years and years of living on the land. We learned about clam gardens and how First Peoples managed marine food systems, so we can better protect food sources today. Overall, we had great discussions about our connection to the land and the value of traditional knowledge!

How are our actions connected to the health of the environment?
Talking about the core competency of SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

Part of being better connected to nature is better understanding our role in keeping the environment we depend upon healthy!

How much fresh water is available in the world? After a hands-on lab, we realized it’s not very much! We did a series of activities provided by the GVRD about the water cycle so we could understand how we get fresh water, which human activities impact fresh water availability, and what we can do to reduce our water footprint. We went to the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve to hike and see crystal clear water, amazing old-growth trees, and new animals and plants we hadn’t experienced before. We saw our clean watershed and learned how it is protected. 

We had a visit from the Vancouver Aquarium’s Virtual Aqua Class Program, to learn about ocean plastic pollution, micro plastics and their impact on us, and how we can reduce plastic use. The OWL Organization from Delta came to share how pollution, rodenticides, and housing development are impacting local ecosystems and birds of prey. We visited with an owl and a hawk up close and discussed how we can help!

  

Finally, we talked about global warming and climate change, listening to the inspirational Bill Nye explain the science and the possible problems that will occur. We read articles about desertification, pollution, and other human-made disasters in the environment. As a final project, students chose one area to research further and presented a slideshow explaining the problem, how our actions are connected to the problem, and things we can do to help. 


Finding connections as we read!

Ms. D read The Skeleton Tree, while everyone followed along and took notes in “readminders” designed to collect thoughts about new vocabulary, key details, connections, or questions while reading. This involved metacognition — becoming aware of how we think so we can improve our critical thinking! The book tells the story of two boys stranded on the Alaska coast and how they survive.

We also read parts of The Practical Survival Guide for Kids as we discussed what we would do if we were lost in the wilderness. We created comprehension questions of greater depth using Question and Response (QAR), and students explained this in their e-port entries about the book. It was an exciting tale that connected well to our unit!

We also explored the connection between literary devices, voice, and expression of meaning in poetry. We continued ongoing writing work from Rip the Page to further develop our descriptive vocabulary. One day we created a class poem all about nature and posted it on Twitter! Students learned about alliteration, personification, metaphor, similes, and other literary devices, as well as poetic forms such as ballads, dual-voice poetry, limericks, haikus, and tankas. Each student chose one poem to explore further through recitation, using the tools of public speaking such as emphasis, enunciation, tone, volume, pace, gestures, and pauses to communicate meaning.

Our final activity for the year is a fun in-class Battle of the Books! We have made teams and are currently reading and making questions for the battle on June 21st!

Connection Between Nature and Math! 

Our main focus was geometry and math related to patterns in nature. We read the book Flow, Spin, Grow and actively looked for the shapes and patterns from the book during our walking curriculum activities. As part of our discussion, we also identified 2D and 3D shapes and discussed how they are classified and why.

Students also completed activities about measurement, area, perimeter, shape classification, volume, angles, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals through applied math problems about nature in the books Animal Math and Planet Earth Math.

Some students took on extra challenges in geometry classifying triangles, using basic algebra expressions to find angle measurements, or doing area challenges in the book Area Mazes 2.

Others enjoyed artistic parts of math, using compasses and protractors to create complicated patterns from This is Not a Math Book.

We also discussed Fibonacci patterns, watching a video series on angles found in nature and making our own, portable “angle-a-trons” for 137.5 degrees to try outside on plants, confirming that leaves grow in specific and consistent angle patterns to maximize light exposure.

We  enjoyed using a protractor to measure angles in our classroom, finding out that construction of tables and wall corners isn’t always a perfect 90 degree angle as we might have imagined!

Finally, we used our discussion of geometry and measurement to create scale models of objects so we would understand how to make a scale model for applied design. Many students also participated in optional math competitions for Abel and Gauss. Congratulations!

     

Getting Outdoors, Getting Healthy!

We talked a lot about how being outside was good for our physical and mental health, and so we spent a good deal of time learning outdoors and having fun!

We went dragon boating three times at Burnaby Lake, displaying collaborative and communication skills as we rowed in two teams up to 4000 meters in a session. Whew!

We did the Burnaby-New West Walking Challenge, recording minutes walked at school and at home.

Congratulations to Division 5 for having the most minutes of any class in the Burnaby School District!

 

We went to the Watershed, doing a hike outdoors, which was amazing! And we did the Walking Curriculum, taking our learning about observation and mindfulness outside. 

We integrated conversations about the outdoors into our French learning, as well, by focusing on communicating the weather. To prepare for the Watershed, we talked a lot about weather conditions and how they change frequently at the mountain. We are currently practicing a song in the style of Shawn Mendes that communicates the weather!

For Applied Design , we decided to imagine what the empty grass space outside of our classroom could be like. Using math and our outside observations during the unit, we made scale models of a proposed nature space for relaxing, learning, and taking a break outdoors. Students were asked to incorporate mathematics and unique natural elements into the design. Thank you everyone for your creative results!

Independent Project and Career Education!

By February, most students had selected topics for independent study. They were allowed to select any topic as long as it was something they sincerely cared about!

During each project this year, we developed curricular competencies to help with a successful independent inquiry.

 

These skills can be found in almost every aspect of the curriculum, including career education, social studies, language arts, science, fine arts, and applied design. Here is a quick summary:

  • Understanding passions and making a commitment to pursue a personal interest
  • Project management, goal setting, and meeting deadlines
  • Self-management as they monitor their time during open work periods
  • Asking questions that further an inquiry, including open and closed questions
  • Documenting and organizing research through notes and a bibliography
  • Searching online effectively, including finding reliable and safe resources
  • Using critical thinking to analyze resources and summarize findings
  • Communicating findings in writing and through public speaking 
  • Applying creative thinking by sharing results through a variety of media

For more information on the original task, please see the post on Independent Project.

Music for Term 3, from Ms. Fletcher

In music class, students continue to explore elements of beat, rhythm, tempo, pitch and form. They have been playing music individually and collaboratively on African drums, as well as learning how to read music notation and play the recorder.

Final Reflections and E-Portfolios

Thank you to all of the students for your excellent work this term! Please see each of their personal e-portfolios for self-reflections about core competencies and learning this year.

It’s the Final Countdown!

Hello Everyone!

Here are some things we are finishing up this week and next:

  • Independent Project Notes and Bibliography, due today June 7th
  • Applied Design Nature Scale Model, ongoing with hope to finish by June 12th
  • Presentation Materials for Independent Project, due June 13th
  • French Weather Vocabulary and Song, ongoing through next two weeks
  • E-Port entries on math, language arts (Skeleton Tree book), and end of our nature connection unit
  • Finish Connections Slideshow presentations by Monday, June 10th end of day
  • Continued discussions around social responsibility, geometry as time allows during project time
  • Battle of the Books Project Reading, with Battle on June 21st

For Independent Project, here are some things to think about for the presentation on June 13th 12-2:30 PM. We have already talked about these in class:

  • You need something visible to show. Doesn’t need to be a trifold or poster, but you need something people can look at. Many of you are doing slideshows, models, trifolds, and posters. 
  • Boxes, poster board, bristol board, coloured paper, white standard paper in multiple sizes, modelling clay, and building supplies are available in the classroom to use. Just ask! Lots of options!
  • Print a copy of your bibliography to show at your presentation spot in the classroom.
  • Think about your “talking points.” Good idea to have 5 key things you would really like to communicate. Also, be able to answer, “Why did you choose this topic?” 
  • Make sure Ms. D has any zines or handouts by the morning of June 12th for photocopying.
  • Gather together any materials you will need for interactive displays. If you are going to have food, how will it get to school? How will you serve it? Do you have toothpicks, napkins, and serving utensils? How will it keep cold? If you have something messy, how will you keep your space clean?
  • If you have large items coming for your presentation, please don’t bring until after Monday, June 10th.

After Independent Project, what’s going on????

  • Student Reflections and Parent Questionnaires Due June 14th in the morning at the latest.
  • Sports Day on Friday, June 14th! Early Dismissal at 1:00 PM
  • Nature Art — Details to be announced as we have to see if we have enough time
  • Nature Park Visiting Challenge Winner Announced June 17th Monday
  • Parent Volunteer Tea on June 20th, Thursday 2-3:30 PM. Division 5 will be helping to serve at this event from 2-3 PM and needs to wear white shirts and black pants.
  • Battle of the Books Battle on June 21st!
  • Reading Around the World completion deadline for free lunch June 21st!
  • Ocean Acidification Lab, One-Cut Geometry Activities, French Singing 
  • Year-End Recognition Assembly, Monday June 24th 9:00 AM. Many students from our class are being recognized. You are welcome to attend.
  • Year-End Party TBD, likely outdoor picnic!
  • Last day June 27th 9-10 AM only. Report Cards distributed.

If anything changes, I will let you know! Stay tuned for the next post, which will be an overview of our learning from term three. Make sure to check e-portfolios for reflections and pictures of our work, as well as Ms. D’s Twitter feed, which can now be seen on the home page of this blog.

Almost done with the year!!!!

May 27th — Math Review and Fibonacci!

Hello Everyone!

So, during our unit “The Nature Connection”, we have had an opportunity to work on a wide variety of math skills from the content and curricular competencies of the math curriculum.

We have done math using the following resources:

  • Journey Through the Animal Kingdom: Math in the Real World
  • Journey Through Planet Earth: Math in the Real World
  • This is Not a Math Book (Math Art)
  • Math Connections to the Real World Grades 5-8 (Review of Decimals/Fractions)
  • The Original Area Mazes Volume 2
  • Fibonacci Videos (see below)
  • And challenge math from Geometry Books grades 7-10 level for those who wanted it

We have addressed the following parts of the math curriculum (I can’t list them all, but here are the top ones!) Students worked on all of these at their own levels of understanding, depending on grade level and experience. We also added depth and complexity as needed.

  • Big Idea: Closed shapes have area and perimeter that can be described, measured, and compared.
  • Using reasoning to explore and make connections
  • Estimating reasonably 
  • Model mathematics in contextualized experiences
  • Visualize and explore math concepts
  • Use math vocabulary and language to contribute to math discussions
  • Explain and justify math ideas in concrete, pictorial, and symbolic forms
  • Reflect on math thinking
  • Number concepts to 1,000,000
  • Decimals to hundredths or thousandths
  • Area measurement of squares and rectangles, as well as some abnormal combined “L” shapes
  • Relationships between area and perimeter
  • Duration, using measurement of time, 24 hour clocks, & reading time zones
  • Classification of prisms and pyramids
  • Single transformations
  • Tallying and graphing, Diagrams and charts, coordinates/quadrants
  • Financial literacy
  • Volume
  • Roman Numerals
  • Division using remainders and decimals, depending on ability
  • Reading temperature with positive and negative integers
  • One step equations with variables and understanding algebraic expressions

Everyone has turned in their work for Animal and Planet Earth Math, and they received a check plus, check, or check minus. A few people did not have their work and need to check in with me as soon as possible. 

We watched an excellent series of videos on Fibonacci and Math in Nature. Here are the three videos to watch again at home. Yes, the person who did the videos speaks very, very fast! We stopped and started the videos many times while watching. Have you used your angle-a-tron at home? We used them outside, and it was amazing to see that they worked! 137.5 degrees and 90 degrees everywhere!

Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 1

Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 2

Fibonacci Doodling in Math Class # 3

Also check out these websites from Math is Fun talking about:

Fibonacci Sequence

Nature: The Golden Ratio

Golden Ratio (more advanced)

Solid Geometry

Feel free to browse the other topics on Math is Fun for further information. I have also put some practice websites for math topics at the Articles of Interest Page.

As we do the math for our applied design project making a scale model, here are some websites to look at:

Pictures of objects “to scale”

Teach Engineering Scale Model Fun

At a base level, making a scale model is about visual-spatial reasoning and understanding. Yes, we do measurement, we use a scale, we talk about ratios, etc., but we are also trying to understand a visual and spatial relationship between two objects or two spaces.

For example, today to better understand our natural space, we went for a walk around the actual, larger space outside. Walking it helps our brain understand how big it is, beyond the actual measurements of 81 feet by 23 feet. Then, we took the box we are using for the scale model and placed it on the ground, inside the larger space, so we could see just how much smaller our model is than the actual area beside the portable. Reactions included, “Whoa!” It takes seeing things from a different perspective to truly understand scale. Great work everyone on your math scale objects today in class! See Twitter for pictures.

By the way, making a scale model is tough! So, at the base level, can you understand how to enlarge or reduce a 2D square or rectangle on grid paper? Can you understand a 1:4 relationship or ratio or fraction as we described in class? Good job! You are on the right track for your grade-level curriculum!

Ms. D

May 13th Update — Projects and Deadlines

Hello Everyone!

We are in the home stretch before the end of the year!!! I can’t believe it…. We are gradually finishing up our unit, and we have several projects we are working on now as we reach the end.

Animal Research and Art Project: I provided students with a rubric for this. Today I started checking in on their notes, sent to me in Google Docs or done in their journals. Many students need to add depth and detail to their research AND to ask more questions. So, tonight, I told everyone to add 5 new questions about their animal to their research notes. In class, students have begun making the art pictures using Sue Coccia’s art as a guide. They will draw the images, fine line them, and then colour everything in with watercolour pencils or pencil crayons. The final version of the research, a bibliography, and the animal drawing are due end of day Thursday, May 16th. Colouring can continue beyond that time as it may take extra days to finish.

Poetry Out Loud!: Everyone was asked to find a poem of 8-16 lines or two main stanzas to present out loud in front of the class. We are practicing using enunciation, emphasis, tone, inflection, volume, gestures, eye contact, expression, etc. The presentation does not have to be memorized, just well practiced. 

Connections Project: For the end of our unit, we are looking more seriously at human impact on the environment, climate change, ocean acidification, and ways humans can improve their behaviours to be better connected with nature. Each student will choose one way humans are CONNECTED to the interdependent system of nature, whether it is a positive or negative example. For example, they could look at alternative energies, pollution, improving mental health by being outdoors, or how climate change is affecting us. There are many books in the classroom right now to help everyone find a topic, do basic inquiry, and make a short, 10 slide PowerPoint. Details to follow in a different post with criteria. Due date will be May 31st, but if it is finished before then, great!

Independent Research Project: Books from the District libraries will be returned by Thursday,  May 16th end of day. Please use and document them in your notes before then. At some point this week, please let me know what you are doing for primary research, as this will help me plan ahead and/or point you in the right direction. All research, notes, and bibliography are due by June 7th. The presentation is due June 13th. We will be talking in class about ways you can present!

E-Port Reflections: We have done 6 so far, and there will be a few more in class to come. Please make sure you have published all of your reflections so I can look at them. I was following up with people today if they hadn’t finished and reminding everyone of the topics for each entry.

Applied Design and Math Nature Space: Please see separate post about this project we have already started. Everyone has a partner and will be creating a scale model. I think this will be a fun making project for everyone! While the general plan and most of the project will be done by June 17th end of day for assessment, it is okay to be working on final touches up until the last week of school.

Nature Canvas Art: We are going to see if we can also do one last art project around nature for the year, so we will see if we have time during the last 2 weeks of school. We will also be writing some poetry to go with the art!

Skeleton Tree and Battle of the Books: We are working on finishing this novel, then we will turn in our ReadMinders, and write a final book response related to survival in nature. Then, to practice QAR questions and to develop reading comprehension skills, I am having a mini Battle of the Books. More on this in a separate post!

Animal Math, Planet Earth Math, Angles Handouts, Fibonacci: Done this week by end of day Thursday. I am in the process of checking in with everyone on Animal Math and doing one-on-one math lessons as needed on basic division, adding and subtracting of decimals, and mainly, geometry concepts such as types of angles. As we finish the year, we will do the Abel/Gauss tests on May 15th and more class work on Fibonacci, angles, and a fun activity using pythagorean theorem to find the height of a tree.

Dragon Boating: Our main PE/Gym has been through walking and getting outside. On May 22, 29, and June 5 we will work hard as a team dragon boating! Thank you to our parent volunteers.

French: We are going to learn basic weather expressions and learn to sing them in French! Tomorrow bring your vocals! 🙂

Have a great evening!

Ms. D

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