Communication Competency! Update Friday December 1st

Hello Everyone!

Happy Holidays are upon us! Ms. D set up her holiday tree in the classroom today so we can fill it with some maker projects over the next three weeks, which connects well with our unit on machines and technology. I look forward to having fun making things with all of you! If you have any ideas of smaller, holiday tree projects we can do, remember students, feel free to comment on this blog entry with ideas! Next week, we will also celebrate the Hour of Code!

Today students worked away on projects. There is the Socials Technology Timeline and the Math Survey Project, both due Tuesday end of day. Many students are choosing to take some of the work home, and there are also dedicated periods in class to work on both projects on Monday and Tuesday.

Students received their math quiz marks, and parents please do sign them so they can be returned right away to student portfolio folders in class. Thank you! Everyone did very well and they are using the learning in their current math project.

We spent a lot of time talking about Communication Skills during the first term, and now we are moving on to unpacking Creating Thinking! Today I sent home a Parent Letter Core Competencies, a copy of the Communication Competency Profile from the BC Curriculum, and a Communication Competency Reflection Handout. Students began reflecting on their communication skills in class, and I ask everyone to please continue the conversation at home about future goals and areas of growth. Handouts are due back to me on Monday, thank you!

We will finish up TED Talks and French quizzes early next week! Thank you for all of your hard work and collaboration in groups over the last few days. 

Have a great weekend!

Ms. D

Charting Technology’s Impact! Update Wednesday, November 28th

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday was very exciting! We worked with tools, measured our stuffed animals, collaborated with peers, and did some great learning together.

Unit: Socials

We are continuing our conversation about technology’s impact on humanity and our world. Each student has chosen an area of technology, such as communications, entertainment, transportation, or health, to research further. With their findings, students will create a timeline of technology developments! We have looked at some timeline examples in class, and a wide range of non-fiction books on inventions and machines are available to use. We discussed strategies for using non-fiction resources, such as using synonyms for our topic as we look through the table of contents or the index. 

Timeline criteria includes:

  • Use no more than 4 pieces of legal-sized paper to create the timeline,
  • Use a ruler to make the “line” for your timeline down the center, and then mark off specific dates. I showed examples in class.
  • Use both words and coloured pictures to illustrate the changes in technology. Limit any words to the name of a technology, the date, and 1-2 sentences about the technology or change in history.
  • Make sure to focus on machines, technology, and devices. We don’t need the whole history of your topic area. Our focus is machines.
  • Write words in pencil, then go over it in fine liner at the end so it is visible.
  • We will display these in the hallway, so make sure all words and pictures are appropriate.
  • We will have one week, and you may use time in class and at home.

Unit: Science and Art

As we talked about simple machines, we discussed how the WEDGE makes work easier because it helps us split things with less effort. We looked at sandpaper and its purpose, and we talked about how the edges of sand particles (the small rocks and minerals in sand) act as tiny wedges, splitting away the wood slowly to smooth it down.

Each student received a piece of wood to sand down, and everyone said it was hard work! Then, we used another machine, the hammer, to put nails into our wood piece in a pattern. This will become a lovely piece of art after everyone finishes connecting the nails with coloured yarn and string! I look forward to the finished product. And I enjoyed watching everyone work with hammers and learn how to use simple levers successfully — for some it was the first time! Stay tuned for more making projects during the month of December! And thank you to all parents who donated hammers for us to use. They will be returned shortly, as soon as students finish up.

Language Arts

About half of the class has finished their TED Talks. During the delivery of these speeches, students are practicing their communication skills from the BC Core Competencies by listening attentively, providing positive feedback afterwards, and practicing the gentle ways to give and to receive constructive criticism to improve for next time. With every project, we are exercising our self-assessment muscles, and hearing feedback from peers helps students find the words to fill out their assessment rubrics.

French

Thank you to everyone who has completed their French quizzes online. Ms. D will start doing the oral quizzes today and over the next couple of days, as it will take time to get through everyone.

Math

Thank you to everyone who did their homework and brought in a stuffed animal yesterday! We had a wide variety of interesting critters! The purpose was to have something to measure and to begin our new unit Math Makes It Work. We talked about the differences between the imperial and metric measuring systems, and then discussed how it is important to know how to use both! Students used both systems to measure the height, width, and breadth of their animals. Meanwhile, we also created a measuring wall, where we put down the measurements of all students in the classroom, along with the heights of our stuffed animals. It will be interesting to see if everyone’s height changes as the year goes on!

Math quizzes were completed, and I will hopefully have marks from these by the end of the week. 

Math Survey projects are due next week on Tuesday. Use your time wisely in class to get your data from the surveys organized and to talk with your partner about how you will display the data on one poster in an interesting way. Remember you have a rubric with criteria on it in your math binders!

Reminders!

  • If any parent knows of an engineer or science-based person who would like to come in and talk — or anyone who works with technology (digital or any kind of machines) — then please let Ms. D know! We are looking for visitors!
  • Please save recycled items, particularly tubes and interesting bits for building. The students will be doing a project next week that involves a need for parts!
  • Library on Wednesday, so reminder to bring in your books!
  • Please return signed work back to the classroom as soon as possible, so we can put it in our black portfolios!
  • Break does not start until Dec. 22nd. If you are planning on leaving early, please let me know ASAP, as we will be doing unit activities until the end. Thank you!

Have a great day! I look forward to December, as we will have Hour of Code next week and lots of maker things to do leading up to the break!

Ms. D

Quick Update on Friday, November 17th

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick update of what we are doing as we head into the weekend!

  • TED TALK: Everyone has finished writing these, and we will print them in class on Monday. Please practice your speech over the weekend, as we will present them on Thursday, November 23rd.
  • UNIT-TECHNOLOGY: We began our unit by defining technology and creating a poster to document our current feelings on whether technology is a benefit for humanity overall, or not. We began talking about technology pros and cons, and we read two great parodies by Ayn Droyd to talk about the impact social media and personal tech devices have had on our lives.
  • UNIT-SIMPLE MACHINES: We identified the types of simple machines, and we have begun trying to identify where we see them in the more complex machines around us. We discussed how a machine is something that was designed to make work easier — we hope! Today, students lifted Ms. D with a large wood lever to discuss how levers work! We discussed LOAD, FULCRUM, and EFFORT, and how the distance of the load from the fulcrum can make work easier or harder. Please finish the Simple Machines Handout for Monday.
  • MATH: We are finishing up some math material from unit one, reviewing types of graphs, practicing some more with decimals, and we even talked about probability using Monopoly and Yahtzee games today. Some students are still working on making their Google Form Survey online for our math project, and hopefully the surveys will all be ready early next week to send out!
  • ART: If you haven’t brought a rock yet, please bring one for Monday!
  • FRENCH: Please finish all French quizzes on Human Body, Numbers 1-20, and Foods from French-Games.net before Thursday, November 23rd. Some of you may need to catch up at home with the lessons, so you can do the quizzes more quickly in class and show results to Ms. D. We will have a formal quiz on Dec. 1st on saying the ABCs in French, saying your numbers 1-20, and writing the basic human body parts. Everyone is making a vocabulary list for themselves using the website to study. French Immersion students are working in the French Literature Books on French summaries, as well as reading Debrouillards Magazine for further French practice.
  • BUILDING! Please bring in any tubes you have at home in the recycling!!
  • NO SCHOOL NEXT FRIDAY NOV. 24th
  • CARIBOU Results Posted, please check online

That’s all for tonight. Have a great weekend!

Ms. D

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

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

 

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

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

Focusing on the positive choices we can make for good health!

Hello Everyone!

Here is a quick update of what we have been doing in class. Hope you had a lovely weekend with the sunny, October weather (not today, though!)

Unit Studies:

Students have finished researching a disease of their choice, and they are now making a 10 slide Power Point to explain the disease. Ms. D spent some time on Friday teaching students who are new to Power Point how to use this tool. For many grade fours, this is a new presentation method. For grade fives who were with me last year, the focus this year is to make your slideshows more aesthetic and effective. We will focus on how to use fonts, colours, pictures, and organization to make them more effective! Here are the criteria for this assignment:

  • Please do 10 slides for your presentation.
  • One slide will be a title page with your name, title, date
  • Title the other slides using the questions from the notes page Ms. D gave to you
  • Spread out the information so you use up 10 slides. Don’t put too much text on any one slide.
  • Use bullets and shortened phrases to present information, not paragraphs.
  • Don’t have a last slide that says, “Bye!” or “Thank you for watching!”
  • Avoid using really bright colours such as red, yellow, or bright blue on top of black — it is very hard to read.
  • Avoid using red, orange, and yellow unless you really want to bring attention to your words.
  • Do use pictures, interesting fonts, etc. BUT please don’t use silly pictures. Pictures should help the presentation, not just be entertaining.
  • Make sure pictures don’t have copyright symbols like “Shutterstock” over them.
  • No bibliography is needed for this presentation.
  • Make a script for your PowerPoint. You can do this in the “notes” section on the PowerPoint itself, or write a separate script for yourself.

We have two more people who need to present their Human Body Corporation letters tomorrow, and then we will be moving on to our DISEASE GUESSING activity in groups, during which you will use some of the human body expertise you have gained.

On Friday, we began a formal lab on GERMS. Everyone dressed in safety glasses and had sanitized swabs to take samples of surfaces we think may have germs in the school. We brought the swabs back to the classroom and swiped them across agar plates (homemade ones). Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will look in on them to take our first data observation and see if anything is growing. The goal is to collect information and answer the questions: Where are there germs in the school? If you touch a specific spot in the school, what is your probability of getting a germ, out of all the places tested? We will be using science, close inquiry and observation skills, and math to analyze our results.

Next up? Looking at healthy choices! Today we talked about how stress and positive thinking can play a role in your health. We practiced mindfulness breathing that anyone can do if they find themselves in emotional situations, to calm the brain and begin to think rationally again. This week we will discuss diet, exercise, and other personal choices we make that help the body. Thank you to our Community Health Nurse Students from Douglas College who came in on Friday to talk with us about some of these personal choices and their impact on immunity!

Some Other Quick Things:

  • October 18/19 we will be doing the Caribou Math Test Competition. It is free for everyone on this first test of the year. You practice ahead of time by going to Caribou Tests online 
  • We are finishing an ART IDENTITY Project which requires everyone to find interesting words to describe themselves and then to present them in an artistic, colourful way. They are looking amazing! If you hadn’t finished the paper gluing portion, it was sent home today. We hope to have these done tomorrow.
  • In Math we did some more review of decimals, converting decimals into Mixed Numbers, and also practicing addition, subtraction, and multi-digit multiplication of decimal numbers. Most people finished the first page in class. Please try page 3 or 4 of that handout for 15 minutes tonight.
  • In Beginning French, students are working on French-Games.net on the vocabulary in the sections on Human Body, Food, and Number Words. Students must finish all the lessons in each section. For example, Human Body actually has three sections to it, and each one has four lessons. If you don’t have earbuds, please get some and have them for class, as listening and repeating the words is an important part of practicing. Once complete, you must take the quiz. Don’t take the quiz until you are ready. YOU MUST TAKE THE QUIZ in class for each section and show the completed screen and score to Ms. D; it can’t be done at home. This instruction was given in class during our last French lesson. If you did a quiz at home you will need to re-do it for class purposes.
  • French Immersion French students were given a booklet from the A la une series to take home for one night only. They are to read it and make a list of 20 new words for themselves in their journal. An alternative choice is to choose one article or story and write a quick French summary of what they read. After they complete some of these booklets, they are to work on French-Games.net using the Advanced settings, which will mean doing more reading and writing of French than our beginner level students.

Let’s have a great week! Remember, we are working on COMMUNICATION SKILLS as our area of the Core Competencies to unpack during this unit. Please continue to work on being active listeners and caring, thinking collaborators with one another.

Ms. D

Communication Skills!

Hello Everyone!

We had a good day today, researching our disease, going to music, playing some more Deal or No Deal to practice fractions and probability, and doing a cool experiment about “patient zero”! Did you find out who patient zero was? Tell me tomorrow if you figure it out! 

A key focus during this unit is COMMUNICATION. As part of the B.C. Curriculum students focus on three areas of lifelong skills called Core Competencies. You can read more information about them here. This year, we will be giving special focus to one-two areas during each of our large units. 

On the poster in our classroom, one of the words we focus on to be a lifelong, successful person and learner is COMMUNICATOR. We have brainstormed what this means, we talked about the “I CAN” statements today under Communication, and we discussed how this skill is used in MACC projects and other things we have done in the past, at school or at home.

Each morning, we have are having a special morning meeting (in addition to class meeting) to talk about core competencies and to get our day going! To practice COMMUNICATION, we did an activity from the book ZOOM, read the book I’m Bored, played the game TELEPHONE, and practiced how to have a conversation. In class, while listening to people read their Human Body Corporation letters, we have talked about active listening. What does active listening look like?

All of these things help us in our daily interactions with peers, adults, and our family. I encourage each of you to talk about COMMUNICATION at home. Do your parents have to be aware of communication skills in their work? How do effective communication skills provide you with new opportunities? How does communication help us get our needs met?

Ms. D

Diseases Project Research! Websites to help you, too!

Hello Everyone:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to everyone who already presented their Human Body Corporation letters. They are very entertaining! 

We had a good time today playing Deal or No Deal to think about probability and chance, having a visit from the school counsellor who read us the great book Invisible Boy to talk about how to build a better community through inclusion of everyone, and working on a new unit task!

Everyone has now chosen a disease or illness they would like to know more about so we can make a quick PowerPoint and inform others! To practice note-taking, Ms. D handed out a list of questions and a piece of paper to keep track of your notes. We are working on understanding how the best research and note-taking begins with a question AND involves writing down the parts you read that help answer that question! So, keep some bulleted notes about what you find out!

Homework this weekend is to spend 15 minutes researching your disease and to check out last night’s blog entry with math websites to go through. Also, please look for a rock (due Oct. 16th) that is flat and round to use for art as I described in class.

Here are some websites to help you with your research. You will need to use four websites during this project. Keep checking back, as Ms. D may add more during the weekend now that I know what your diseases are! If you haven’t given me your disease, email me! Have a good weekend!

Kids Health Diseases and Conditions

Kids Health Parents Diseases and Conditions

Suncrest Elementary World Book Resources

Mayo Clinic Diseases and Conditions

World Health Organization Health Topics

Healthlink BC for General Health Information

BC Cancer Agency

CDC BC Centre for Disease Control

Diabetes.org for Diabetes 1

Hemophilia National Association

Web MD AIDS HIV

Canadian Lyme Disease Association

Canadian Cancer Society What is Lung Cancer?

American Thyroid Association: Hypothyroidism

CDC Ebola Virus Outbreaks

Canadian Cancer Society Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

World Health Organization Smallpox

CDC Influenza Flu Virus

Government of Canada Tuberculosis

Healthlink BC Mad Cow Disease

My Health Alberta Mad Cow Disease

NHS in the UK Rickets

Epilepsy Foundation What is Epilepsy?

CDC Anthrax

International FOP Association What is FOP?

Canadian Cancer Society What is pancreatic cancer?

Canadian Cancer Society What is colorectal cancer (colon cancer included)?

WHO Pneumonia Fact Sheet

Have a great weekend!

Ms. D

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