Dear families,

I apologize for no post last week so this post will cover the last two weeks. I was in a ringette tournament last weekend. My own team lost in the semi-finals and my daughter’s team, who I coach, won gold in their division! It was a very exciting fun-filled weekend.

We welcomed our two new students: Anna and Yoo Joon. I am happy to say that students have been very warm and welcoming.

We listened to a story about making New Year’s resolutions, Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution. Click on image to watch:

 

Rather than usual New Year’s resolutions, students chose #OneWord2020 and shared on @padlet. Then we dove into our “magnifying glass” writing to record details on why we chose our word, how we are going to remind ourselves, and to come up with strategies when we know we will be challenged. Check out our “one word” resolutions! 

For writing, we have listened to a number of stories about snow since we have seen a lot of it lately! Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright, Deep Snow and So Much Snow by Robert Munsch, The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett, and The First Sign of Snow (animated video). After listening to these stories, students were encouraged to use their creativity and were offered a choice in their writing. They could take any part of the story to change what happens next (almost like a build your own adventure) or they could write a continuation (like Part 2) of the story, or like The Three Snow Bears (which is a variation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears), they were given the option to write their own variation with different characters and different things these characters try before they fall asleep somewhere. I so enjoyed reading these stories because their creativity really shine through and I it makes me feel excited to see examples of how they are taking risks to incorporate new techniques in their writing! Click here to read stories written by Ana and Anna. Happy reading!

The class was introduced to a new app called Explain Everything. It’s one of the most downloaded educational apps and is similar to PowerPoint where they create slides, can add images, videos, audio, and record like an interactive whiteboard. Students are using this app to record their learning about landforms in Science. This unit is like a multi-mini inquiry project. First, we recorded what we think we know about mountains. Some students said they learned about landforms last year but when it was time to record what they think, they did not remember many facts. The next step was to be curious about mountains. Students were encouraged to record what they wonder about mountains. Then after some shared reading and a video, we recorded our new learning on a new Now I Know slide. Any questions that are not answered by our whole class learning then, students researched. This makes their learning personalized as they are able to make new discoveries based on their own curiosities. They have really enjoyed this kind of learning, finding images, and being able to show what they learned in this way! This past week, we learned about deserts. Next week, glaciers! Feel free to discuss what you wonder about glaciers. This thinking will help them with their work tomorrow.

We watched a short video on Wonderopolis on how mountains are formed. Click here to watch or click here for deserts.

In Math, the grade 3’s learned about linear measurement (mm, cm, dm, m, km) and practiced our measuring skills while the grade 4’s learned about regular and irregular polygons. As a class, we explored using our creativity and practiced the concept of symmetry and the line of symmetry. Then we examined how First People’s art often has symmetry and balance with various patterns.

As an introduction to early settlers in Canada, we borrowed Ms. Willis’ classroom and proceeded to use and take their things without the class knowing. (Well, actually, Ms. Willis did inform them we would be using their class for this purpose.) My goal was to help them experience something somewhat relatable so that they can empathize what it may have felt like for the First Peoples when the first settlers came to Canada. Looking forward to diving into further discussions and deeper thinking on this topic in Social Studies.

We watched a whole school performance, Hip Hop Hoop Dance. It is a story between two people from different cultures who teach each other about their people, culture, and dance as they develop a friendship. From Artstarts website:

Our collaborative Hip Hop Hoop Dance tells a story, exploring the topic of truth and reconciliation through the art of live theatre. It’s a sharing of cultures, both between the performer and with the audience. With both of us being people of colour, we realized we had both experienced aspects of colonization and assimilation. We quickly recognized the similarities between our respective cultures’ art forms, traditions and beliefs. We thought, we should celebrate this and build a performative piece that would recognize not only the celebration of similarities between cultures, but to celebrate the differences that are so unique. Terrance says, “… part of reconciliation is educating non-native people about Indigenous history. This show provides that information, to better understand the way of life of my people.”

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Young People’s Concert on Monday, January 20: We will be leaving the classroom at 9:00 AM sharp to go to the bus. Please plan to arrive early! The bus will not wait for latecomers. This will be our final show in the Concert series.

Hip Hop: Students have been working hard to practice their dancing. It’s remarkable how quickly they learn. This year, students are to wear all black. If your child does not have a plain black top, feel free to take a shirt and flip it inside out or wear navy blue. Please feel free to bring in a black short or long sleeve shirt starting next Monday so we can add “bones” by using masking tape. The performance will be on Friday, January 24 in the afternoon. 

Family Literacy Day and Readathon on Monday, January 27:  Envelopes went home on Friday, January 17. They are due on Thursday, January 23rd. Regardless of whether you receive any pledges (collect money), your child is expected to return the envelope as this is their ticket in the gym door. This year, the school will be tallying fundraising pledges by division. The division with the most pledges will win a pizza party. Please have your child practice reading for up to 45 minutes so that they can read, uninterrupted for 45-60 minutes. They are to bring or have enough reading material for 45-60 minues and wear pyjamas and bring stuffies and a pillow if they wish. 

Save the date and time! Our time in the Family Literacy Day and Readathon in the gym will be at 1:00 to 2:00pm. Families, please join us in the gym during this time. Parents, siblings, and grandparents are welcome!

Ice skating: We still need parent drivers for skating, please. If you have already volunteered, thank you so much. You should find the Volunteer Driver Authorization form in your child’s planner.