Bonjour tout le monde!
Please see the March newsletter for a few updates and important dates: Brantford Division 9 Newsletter – March
In Math this week, we made a new calendar for the month of March using multiplication or division to represent the numbers. We played a game of “Battle” using cards – two players face off, each with their own half of a deck of cards. They each flip the top card at the same time, and whoever is able to multiply the two numbers shown and say the product first wins the cards. This continues until neither player has any cards left in their stack. Try playing at home! If it is too challenging to multiply the larger numbers, try taking out the cards with 6, 7, 8, or 9, as well as the Jack, Queen, and King cards, until your child is comfortable with the more friendly numbers.
In Science, we learned more about mountains, using the CHOMP note-taking method, and wrote our notes on the backs of our mountain paintings.
In Social Studies, we learned about the Indigenous peoples of the Plains. We made predictions about some of the technologies they used in the past (and may still use today), looked at images of the landscape and charted the territory on a map, and read about the elements of Plains culture. Although the articles we have been reading are very text-heavy, I am so impressed with the growing reading comprehension of the class. The CHOMP note-taking skills, reading the pictures, and looking for context clues have helped students to glean key information. Bravo, Division 9!
For writing, we read a story called Jérôme par coeur, and reflected as a class all of the qualities of Jerome that make him a wonderful friend. We then reflected on our own friendships and wrote poems about the qualities and actions that make a good friend. We made paintings to go with our poems, which will be displayed with work from other classes in the school, all based on this charming book. Jérôme par coeur is a story about friendship and love, the ways we can show our care despite the perceptions of others.
For word work, we practiced the sounds “am” and “im” using images to help us sort the words into different categories. Some students chose to break up the words by sound, others by number of syllables, word gender or part of speech.
In Phys. Ed., students shared gymnastics floor routines they have been choreographing and preparing. They were asked to demonstrate several ways of moving across the mats, jumps, and balances.
During snack time this week, we watched and discussed the following videos from Everyday Speech, a program for social-emotional skill building. We have been working on recognizing the tools we can use to be calm and ready to learn. One rule we have established is that if a fidget toy is used to help us stay calm and focused, it is a great thing, but if it is a distraction or causes conflicts, it needs to go in the backpack or my teacher desk. If you are interested to see, I have linked the videos below so you may discuss these strategies at home:
Finding Strategies That Work For You
Staying Calm to Solve a Problem
Thank you for all you do to help your children be the wonderful learners they are! We have just one more week of class before spring break, and we will be hard at work to complete a few more projects before then.
Take care, and have a lovely weekend!