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:
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