New Unit! Machines and Technology!

Hello Everyone!

We started a new unit last week, so here are some details to share at home!

Unit Focus Statement: People use their understanding of natural laws to create technologies that have an impact on our world.

Areas of Inquiry Nov-Dec:

  • Scientific forces behind machines
  • The role machines play in our lives
  • Social change as a result of technology and machines
  • Innovation and creative thinking
  • Math Makes It Work: Measurement, Perimeter, Area, Mechanical Advantage
  • Using technology to learn languages and to share physical education ideas

We also have some continued work going on!

  • Thank you to everyone for the beautiful Remembrance Day POPPY art made with charcoal and acrylic paint. They are hanging in both the primary and intermediate hallways of the school, and Ms. D is planning to put pictures of some of them on the blog soon. Thank you, too, for our wonderful poppy wreath made with a quilling paper technique! We will use this art technique again!
  • TED TALKS! Everyone began transferring their written drafts to Google Docs today. After typing, self-editing, and peer editing, then the final drafts will be due to Ms. D on Friday afternoon. Presentations will be Thursday, November 23rd, so start practicing as soon as yours is written.
  • MATH SURVEYS! Everyone has their questions 1-10 done, and tomorrow we will transfer them to Google Forms if anyone is not already finished. Once complete, groups will share a link with Ms. D for distribution of the surveys. This project will allow everyone to show their data collection and analysis skills from the first unit for assessment.
  • BC Core Competencies — COMMUNICATION: This week you will see a form come home for students and parents to reflect on communication skills, so stay tuned!
  • CLASS MEETING: As we continue to work on class communication, we had a meeting to revisit the essential agreements we made together at the beginning of the year. We chose to rewrite them after a group reflection on how the first two months in MACC have been, so we can strengthen our community overall. Everyone created stickman drawings of the 12 agreements, which are now posted in the classroom to remind us of what kind of class community we want to have in MACC 4/5.
  • MATH FROM UBC: Ms. Melania Alvarez from UBC Mathematics came to visit today and taught us a lesson on pentaminoes (which was really a fun activity to begin learning about things like perimeter, area, geometry, and more.) We had a great time and the end activity was very challenging! Thank you to everyone for your enthusiasm.

REMINDERS:

  • Caribou Math on Thursday afternoon. Everyone has paid, so we are all set for everyone to participate.
  • Please bring runners on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, even when there is bad weather, so we can do gym inside!
  • Library Books are always due on Wednesdays, our library day.
  • Optional math activities I gave you to do over the weekend are due by Friday if you want a prize. The Diseases challenge is due tomorrow morning, though, as we will mark it together.
  • We will definitely still do the rock art as planned (we just took a break to do Remembrance Day art activities) so give your rock to Ms. D if you have it so she knows we have enough. We will plan to do this on Monday.
  • FYI, if you have paper towel and toilet paper rolls, please save them in a bag and bring them in when Ms. D asks for them in next two weeks. We are going to be doing a lot of building!
  • FYI, we will be doing messy art over next little while, so please bring a paint shirt on Mondays if it is a concern for you. Some of the black ink we will use 2 weeks from now is hard to get out of clothes.
  • PRO-D Day on Friday, November 24th. 

Have a great week!

Ms. D

What a great unit! Finishing up and reflecting….

Hello Everyone!

FINISHING UP OUR FIRST UNIT!

We are almost at the end of our first large unit! Today we spent a lot of time working on our end-of-unit project — creating a fun game to help educate others about how personal choices impact the health of the human body! I have been impressed with how students have been working together and look forward to seeing the end products tomorrow!

We will also be honing our writing skills and creating a TED Talk to share on a topic of passion. Last week, we wrote a practice paragraph on our favourite game, identifying the qualities of a strong paragraph. Today, we began the steps toward writing our first, five-paragraph essay. Ms. D will be taking everyone through it a step at a time! Tonight, make sure you have written your introduction, with a thesis statement. Also, please make a quick outline of what you will talk about under the three points of your thesis statement. I look forward to your interesting talks! A rubric for the essay was distributed today.

Thank you for taking the end-of-unit quiz online. I will go over these with students tomorrow and pass out marks in agendas. As the quiz is online and to conserve paper, I won’t print out the quizzes; however, I will go over them with students one-on-one.

Finally, we will be working on a math survey project, using Google Forms, to apply our math skills we have learned. Everyone experimented with Google Forms last week, and today everyone met with partners to begin discussing topics. More work on this tomorrow! I provided a handout and rubric for the project today for your binders.

LOOKING BACK!

When I think of all the learning that has happened the last two months, it is amazing! Let’s take a look back at a few things we did together. What kinds of skills have we learned? Ms. D will write them in “I can” statements, like those from our Core Competencies.

At Science World….What a fun trip!

We went to a Human Body IMAX, we participated in a fun math workshop all about proportions and ratios, and we enjoyed the many exhibits, including one on math and another on Body Works!

I can communicate well with my peers while enjoying fun, experiential activities designed to learn about the human body and other science concepts.

I can express my personal interests by independently choosing activities in Science World that reflect my passions.

I can collaborate with others to do hands-on, inquiry challenges in mathematics around proportions and ratios.

      

Germ Lab!

We had a great time learning as we did a GERM LAB! Our question was: On what surface in the school would you have the greatest chance of touching a pathogen? We wrote a lab, made observations, and used math to make some conclusions!

I can organize my lab materials in a safe and accurate way.
I can record my experiment and investigation using the proper scientific method format.
I can make careful observations and record the data.
I can use critical thinking skills to choose locations for testing in the school where I think there may be the most traffic, and as a result, more pathogens.
I can look at my data in a table and analyze it using fractions, decimals, and/or percentages.
I can think about and record conclusions based on my data.

  

Strawberry DNA Lab!

While not directly in the curriculum, through depth and complexity, and through direct student questions gathered during the unit, we discussed GENETICS! We talked about common genetic traits in humans (rolling your tongue, eye colour, hair lines, etc.) and did a survey of these traits in our class. We watched a video by Bill Nye and Discovery Channel talking about how the study of genetics began through observations of peas! We discussed how some diseases are genetic and non-communicable, while others, like chicken pox, are communicable diseases. Finally, we did an experiment to separate the DNA from a strawberry! Again, we wrote a lab, made careful observations, and used our critical thinking skills to discuss results.

Classroom Visits!

To add to our unit, we had a neurologist come to tell us all about the brain! Thank you to Patricia’s family for making that connection for us! We also had a team of community health nurse students from Douglas College present on personal hygiene and immunizations. 

HALLOWEEN!

Part of using our core competency skills in COMMUNICATION during our first unit involved the student planning of a Halloween Party! Thank you to our Halloween committee for meeting during recess and lunch outside to plan a successful afternoon party. Here are some fun photos to enjoy of our classroom community!

Have a great evening! New unit coming soon. 

Ms. D

Thinking About Assessment — Some thoughts to consider

Hello Students and Parents:

What is the purpose of assessment (tests, projects, quizzes, etc.)? As I explain to the students, assessment is about two things. First, it helps the teacher find out about a class’s learning needs and to better address them through planning of activities. Second, it helps the student and parents know areas of strength and areas of growth so they know what to work on next!

Marks can cause a lot of stress, but the stress is counterproductive. What I mean is, if a student is so preoccupied with the single mark, they end up not reading any of the feedback. If they worry about how the mark will be perceived, then they take less risks, which results, overall, in less creativity and learning. This is why I try NOT to have as many marks in MACC, because students have been trained to work for the mark as opposed to working for their own learning, joy, and personal development.

So, when you bring home a mark, please take the time to read the feedback. If you can’t read my writing, please let me know. If something doesn’t make sense, please ask and I will explain. Do reflect on your learning and think about what you can do to improve, but don’t beat yourself up for a single mark. The single mark itself does not tell the whole story of your learning!

Also, for those in grade four, we talked about what marks mean. On your grade three report card, you received marks that somewhat translate like this in grade four:

  • Exceeding Expectations — Is like receiving an A
  • Fully Meeting Expectations — Is like receiving a B
  • Meeting Expectations — Is like a C+

If you were hoping for an “A” on everything, then ask yourself: On the grade three report card, did you receive exceeding expectations on everything?

Rubrics will show how projects are broken down into parts. You may receive an overall mark, but the project had separate parts in different subject areas you see on report cards.

If you were hoping for a higher mark, don’t worry, this one assignment or project is not the only way I find out marks. We have a TED TALK coming up, a math project we started today, our unit health game, and then a whole other unit to start! Plus all the daily participation and work you do. I look at the whole picture — not just one assignment.

Everyone is at a different point in their learning. We CAN all do things and all have strengths and areas of growth. You will see me refer to what a student is ABLE to do, what they CAN do, rather than the things they cannot. We all work better looking at what we can do and changing our language about our performance to more positive terms.

Reprogram your thinking, kind of like we program a computer! For example, instead of saying:

  • I can’t do something — say, I can do that with some practice or guidance.
  • I am terrible at something — say, I find this more challenging, and with practice I will develop a new skill.
  • I will never be good at that — say: Everyone has different strengths, and I will focus on how my strengths will best get a project done
  • I am awesome at that — say, I’m on the right track. I think I will take on some new challenges to stretch my thinking.
  • I won’t ever need to do that. I am not interested in that because it is boring. — say, I wonder how this is connected to something I am passionate about? I wonder why they teach this? Why might it be important?
  • I made a mistake — say, Mistakes are how I improve, so I can get feedback.
  • It’s good enough. I can’t ever make it better than that. — say, Is this really my best work? 

Self-Assessment, not self-punishment, is the key. It isn’t helpful for any student to perseverate on what went wrong. As educators and parents we need to help young students focus on their strengths and what went right, first! Then, we need to guide them in using positive and realistic language as they make personal goals for how to improve. I hope every student grows in their ability to recognize their strengths AND talk about their areas of growth in a positive way that helps rather than hurts their progress.

Thank you for listening and thinking about assessment with me. If you have any questions about this, please do let me know. 

Kindly,

Ms. D

 

Science Games?

Dear Parents and Students:

Some of you already know each year I try to take a team to the Engineers and Geophysicists Association’s Science Games at Science World. This is an extracurricular opportunity for a team of students from the school. The last two years our teams have done very well and the event is a lot of fun for everyone.

This year, the competition takes place on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at Telus World of Science.

We are not guaranteed a spot to compete. We submit an application for one team of five students to attend, and then the Association has a lottery and we keep our fingers crossed for a spot!

Students who are interested in this activity may submit their name for a lottery draw amongst MACC students in grades 4-7 (I open it to both classes.) Anyone who gives their name needs to understand:

  • ​Students need to be available all day on March 10th, so check the calendar please,
  • Students need their own parent transportation to and from the event,
  • Preparation and research study is required, on the student’s own time outside of class, to create a project and to prepare for the challenge activities, and
  • Those who participate need to understand we are judged on creativity, knowledge, and the ability to collaborate as a TEAM to create a solution to the challenges.
If your child is interested, please just have them tell me on Monday. Team selection is by lottery AND we don’t have a guarantee we will have a spot at the competition yet. 
 
Thank you!

Quick Update Wednesday October 25th!

Hello Everyone!

Please see these three sections: Things to Think About Tonight, Events Coming Up, and Field Trip Survey Results!

Things to Think About Tonight!

We enjoyed discussing the results of our science germ experiment (post to come about this soon with pictures) and applied math skills with fractions, division, decimals, and percentages to the job of analyzing data! Please finish the conclusion for your lab in your journal, in paragraph form, with at least 8 full sentences. Questions to answer: What did you learn from the experiment? What would you do differently next time? What would you communicate to the principal about our experiment?

Everyone has a topic for their TED TALK, which will be a public speaking project for language arts. Remember, your topic needs to be something you care about! Tonight, please figure out the key idea behind your talk. Then, make a quick outline of the main things you will talk about that support the idea. What do you want to say about your topic? For example, if you are talking about cats, what is it about cats you would like to say? What idea would you like us to walk away with? Due tomorrow.

Reminder to everyone, if you want to upgrade your checking in assignments we recently did, you are always welcome to do so. Any mark that is a check or check minus can be upgraded by adding detail and resubmitting. Ms. D won’t ask you for them, though, so it will be up to you to remember.

We will not be having a math quiz Thursday. Instead, we will do a checking in on Monday.

Disease PowerPoints will be completed Friday, so make sure you are using class time well. Monday we will be talking about final projects that will help bring together what we have done during the unit.

 

Events Coming Up!

On Friday, we will do the PUMPKIN PATCH! Students will receive pumpkins and go collect one of their choice in the field next to the school. It is a good idea to have BOOTS and a PLASTIC BAG, as the pumpkin may be dirty. Take the pumpkin home, wash it, and then clean the insides out. Don’t bring it back until Tuesday morning, Halloween!

On Halloween Tuesday, there is a COSTUME PARADE in the afternoon. Students should not come to school in costume. Bring costumes to school and change for the afternoon. This is so students may carve pumpkins in the gym in the morning! No weapons or very scary costumes, please, as we will be walking amongst younger students for the parade.

Our student HALLOWEEN COMMITTEE is planning a HALLOWEEN PARTY, so stay tuned for more details as they ask everyone to contribute something to the fun!

 

FIELD TRIP SURVEY:

Thank you to the 21 parents who participated in the field trip survey. Here are the results:

  • The majority are interested in a first aid workshop. While not guaranteed, as dates have to work for us, Ms. D will be looking into it.
  • The majority would be okay with additional major field trips, such as Britannia Mines and Museum and Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
  • The majority support participation in Dragon Boating in May/June if it is still available for this coming year.
  • The majority support having an end of year outdoor education event.
  • It was a 50-50 split on how to pay for field trips, so Ms. D will be posting amounts and opportunities as they arise, not as one lump sum.
  • Thank you for field trip and speaker ideas. As we begin a new unit, please think of friends and family who can contribute to our unit with their expertise!

Have a great night!

Ms. D

Superhero Nutrition! Help us build a system to produce an awesome hero!

Hello Everyone!

Looking at our Universal Systems Model, what would we have to list as the INPUTS into a system designed to produce as its OUTPUT the BEST SUPERHERO EVER?

We have identified the some of the key INPUTS we need for an OUTPUT of good health, such as sleep, hygiene, diet/nutrition, exercise, air quality, and mindfulness. But, what do these things specifically do for the human body? Today we are doing a group think and trying to figure out what do these things do! You can respond to this blog entry with your ideas from the brainstorm we did on the board. Everyone needs to provide at least one!

Here are some websites to consider as you do this. Some websites are easier to read than others, so always ask yourself — is this website the best for me? Do I really understand what I am reading? Could I ask questions about the part I don’t understand? (Am I just copying something down, or do I really understand what I am reading????)

Kids Health Nutrition and Fitness Center

Kids Health Staying Healthy

Kids Health Teens Nutrition

Kids Health Vitamins and Minerals

Kids Health Vitamin Chart

Kids Health Minerals Chart

HealthLink BC Healthy Eating

HealthLink BC Getting Enough Calcium and Vitamin D

BC Healthy Families BC Website

Canada’s Food Guide

Web MD Vitamins and Minerals Kids Need (be careful to only read article and not click on ads as there are some throughout the article)

Harvard Health Listing of Vitamins and Minerals

Harvard Help Guide.org on Vitamins and Minerals (bit more advanced)

Girls Health US Government Site

Dole Children’s Health Articles

 

Go, Slow, and Whoa!!!! Looking at healthy decisions!

Hello Everyone!

We have been talking about the healthy choices we can make that impact the systems of the human body such as diet, sleep, exercise, habits, stress reduction, and more. In your HeartSmarts booklets, you are reading about many things you can do to improve heart and body health!

Next time you go into a grocery store with your parents, take some time to notice. Where are the healthy foods? Many times, the healthiest options are located around the outside areas of the store, whereas processed and packaged foods that are less healthy options tend to be in the centre aisles. Is this true in your store?

Today everyone received a handout about Go, Slow, and Whoa! The idea of this chart is to help guide us in making choices about our foods. You can also use the Canadian Food Guide which we received from the Community Health Nurses who visited. GO foods you have lots of when you are hungry. SLOW foods you should think about first and only have moderate amounts. WHOA foods are the “only once in awhile at a special occasion” foods. Using magazines, we cut out pictures to put up on three posters for GO/SLOW/WHOA to practice sorting foods into the three groups and to have a visual reminder in the classroom.

This weekend, please use your HeartSmarts booklet to do some recording of your own habits to think about healthy choices.

  • pp 34-35:  Write down your food choices for five days and evaluate them!
  • pp. 36: Read about SALT and find the item in your pantry with the most!
  • pp. 51-53: Read about WATER and track SUGAR consumption!
  • p. 73: Track your EXERCISE for three days! Read the pages before it for more information if you need it!
  • p. 83: Do the ULTIMATE SCREEN CHALLENGE to see if you can get through a day without screen time!

Please complete these by Friday next week. In the meantime, you are welcome to do any pages in the booklet for fun. We will be doing a few more of the activities next week. Thanks very much to the Heart and Stroke Foundation for these resource booklets!

Coming UP!: Math Checking In Quiz on Thursday, October 26th. Unit Quiz on Monday, October 30th. We will review for both! We will finish our Disease PowerPoint and share them with one another, talk about paragraphing and write up our TED talk, discuss benefits of SLEEP, talk about bear anatomy in relation to indigenous cultures of B.C., and start wrapping up this unit with some end projects.

No School Friday/Monday. PHOTO DAY on Tuesday, Oct. 24th!

ALSO: Please have your parents fill out this survey on FIELD TRIPS, due by next Wednesday. Thank you.

See you Tuesday!

Ms. D

TED TALKS!

Hi Everyone!

When you get a moment, check out these links to learn about health topics AND to think about how you want to write and to make your own two-minute TED TALK!

Ted Talks By Kids For Kids

Ted Ed Videos on Health Lessons

Ted Talks to Watch With Kids

Be thinking of:

  • What makes a good TED Talk?
  • What will your key problem, question, or topic sentence be to start your talk?
  • What evidence will you use to prove your point?
  • Is your topic too big for two minutes? Too small?
  • Are you passionate about your topic?
  • Could you talk about anything you like to do?
  • Could you show us anything from home that is important to you?
  • Will you need to do any research to find out about your topic?
  • Have you thought about what other people who might disagree with you will think? How will you change their minds?

Next step? Start thinking of an outline. More on this tomorrow!

Our Unit, Socials, PE, and Health! Update October 17th

Hello Everyone!

Many things to report today! Here we go….

Unit and Socials!:

In connection with the social studies curriculum and our unit, we are looking at BEARS! Why? We are learning about why bears are important to First Nations in British Columbia, what humans can learn from bears, and how bear anatomy is similar to human anatomy. Looking at First Nations traditional knowledge — knowledge about the land gained from thousands of years living in this region — we discover how important bears were and why they were considered sacred animals. Bear’s have similar organ systems to those of a human, and thus, bears and humans eat similar foods. What is safe for a bear is also safe for us! We can watch bear behaviour to learn where to find food and what foods are safe to eat.

Today, we looked at characteristics of black and grizzly bears and practiced telling the difference between the two types. We learned the white Spirit Bear is actually a black bear with a recessive white gene! We watched a video on the Great Bear Rainforest to see the beautiful lands up north where you can find these bears. We also heard a First People’s perspective about how important the land and the bears are to their culture and way of life.

Tonight, try watching 15 minutes of this video by National Geographic on the Great Bear Rainforest to have a sense of how beautiful these lands are. You don’t have to watch the whole thing.

If you want to know more, you can also find out more information on the B.C. Government Website on the Great Bear Rainforest or Destination BC or this CBC Article on how the Great Bear Rainforest received protection in 2016. 

PE/Health:

Today, Ms. D gave everyone their own copy of a book called Heartsmart Kids which is produced by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. These books are provided by Heart and Stroke to students in grades 4-6 to learn about heart health. Inside you will find activities directly connected to our curriculum. As we investigate personal choices and how they impact the human body, I will be asking everyone to do some activities in the booklet. The book will then be yours to keep!

Tonight, try reading pages 12-13 as a review of the circulatory system and do the activities on pages 15-16. Only spend 15 minutes on this, and if not finished, you can do some in the morning when you arrive. If you would like to work further in the booklet, go for it! But, you don’t have to. I will be pointing out certain pages I want you to look at for sure, and then the rest are optional to do at your leisure!

Math:

Today we did went over some tricks for multiplying simple decimals in our heads! Then, we did some group math, and Ms. D gave everyone math challenges to solve about pizza and fractions. These challenges come from the book United We Solve, which has some excellent cooperative learning activities! We divided into six groups, and students were given a large whiteboard to use to draw pictures and to show their work as they solved the problem. Then, students presented their results to one another.

Art, Language Arts, and Core Competencies:

We recently finished an art project which is currently displayed on the bulletin board in the school across from the music room. Students used fine-motor skills to carefully divide a piece of paper into sections and to collage the sections in different colours using a variety of paper and other media. They then looked at a list of adjectives in either English or French for new words to describe themselves. This involved some language arts thinking, using a dictionary to look up new words, and some reflection. Who am I as a person? What are the personality characteristics I bring to the classroom? We all learned new words, and I was impressed as everyone practiced the Core Competencies of Communication and Personal Awareness. Check out our art when you get a moment! 

Caribou Contest:

We will be doing the Caribou Contest either Wednesday or Thursday. If you want to practice, go to the Caribou Tests website to do it before tomorrow.

Diwali Assembly Tomorrow:

Students will be participating in an assembly designed to learn about Diwali, which is a holiday celebrated by members of our class as well as other students at our school. This is one of many assemblies we will have to learn about cultural celebrations, as we also do one for Chinese New Year, and we have holiday celebrations in December. Thank you Anisha for sharing with us what you will be doing tomorrow during assembly!

HAVE A GREAT EVENING! BRING LIBRARY BOOKS TOMORROW!!!!!

Ms. D

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