Category: General Update

I hope everyone enjoyed their day off today, especially with the lovely weather we had!

I wanted to thank everyone for their contributions to our Remembrance Day Assembly on Tuesday November 10th, which went very well. Thank you to Kane, Daniel, Emma, Henry, Tove, and Amy for speaking in front of the whole school about both poppies and our art. Thank you to everyone for making the lovely poppies displayed around the gym. Some of these art pieces will be posted at the front of the school along with our Division 5 wreath of poppies made with the quilling technique. The rest of the poppies will soon be hung up in our classroom.

I had news from the Association of Professional Engineers that we will be able to have an engineer come by and do an activity with our class the week of November 25th, so that is great! More details as I receive them from the presentation’s organizer.

We completed our math projects on Tuesday and continued to work on French. We made a goal of having 10 French tests online completed by end of week, and everyone will have some more time tomorrow to work if needed.

We watched a movie by Disney Imagineers on Levers and Pulleys which explained how these simple machines work and how they are used in amusement park rides at Disneyland. Afterwards, Ms. D brought out a large wood plank and wood fulcrum and asked students to use this lever to lift her in the air. We discovered that by moving the fulcrum closer to the load, Ms. D, the amount of force or effort needed to complete the work of lifting an adult on the lever was reduced. Afterwards, students were provided with a set of supplies including hot glue, popsicle sticks, coffee stirrers, a spoon, paperclips, rubber bands and string, and were given 30 minutes to build a catapult using levers that would launch a marshmallow as far as possible. We will continue building on Thursday morning, and I asked everyone to please do research on catapults for ideas. We will further discuss the differences between first, second and third class levers tomorrow, as well.

Also due on Thursday are the technology positive and negatives worksheet, as well as the simple machines scavenger hunt. Scholastic orders are due Friday (and if you ordered before, the order is on its way.)

By the way, the reason I put the date in the post title is so that you know what day I am recapping in my post. WordPress, which I use to create the blogs, is housed on servers located on the east coast. Thus, when I am making an update for November 9 on the evening of November 9, it posts it for the next day, as on the east coast it is tomorrow. For that reason, please see the date in the title for the day I am talking about. I won’t post every day, so students should always refer to their agendas for homework, not the blog.

Have a great evening and see you tomorrow!

This morning students had open time to complete their math projects and ask any questions. If projects were completed, they had open time to complete french tests online, as 10 french tests need to be completed before end of week, when a mini-project on one vocabulary area will be assigned.

Everyone turned in their paragraphs all about the poppies and Remembrance Day, and I asked anyone interested in presenting for the assembly to read their paragraphs in front of the class. Of those who volunteered, I picked 6 students to read portions of their paragraphs at assembly. Everyone from class is being asked to dress nicely and preferably in black and white colours. We will all be going forward with our poppy paintings, the six speakers will present, and then we will turn our paintings over for all to see. We also made a poppy wreath for the assembly out of quilled paper, which two students will present tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing our presentation as well as presentations from other divisions! Just a reminder that poppy donations are being collected tomorrow, so please bring in any donation you can contribute.

Today we also did a group activity designed to illustrate the connections between the machines and technology we use, ourselves, and the environment around us. Everyone was assigned a card with a title on it. Four students had SOIL, AIR, WATER and LIGHT (sun), and then everyone else had cards such as HUMANS, PLANTS, ANIMALS, FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER, STORES, RESTAURANTS, TRANSPORTATION MACHINES, FUEL, ELECTRICITY, FACTORIES, etc. One person received a ball of yarn, held on to an end, and then tossed the ball to another person in the circle who had a card with an item related to them (an example would be water tosses to electricity.) We kept doing this until we had quite the web of connections, and then I asked students to think and reflect on what this could mean for technology in our world. Everyone received an assignment to reflect by writing down 10 machines and putting their positive and negative impact on the world, which is due on Thursday.

Following this, we watched a short film on simple machines and discussed mechanical advantage and the equation for work = force (effort) x time. Each student received a sheet to do a scavenger hunt for simple machines at home. Tomorrow we will discuss LEVERS in more detail and do a hands-on activity I hope will be fun for everyone!

At the end of the day, we had some free choice time (as promised, since we were unable to do it on Friday), while some students finished their art projects in preparation for tomorrow’s assembly.

Have a great night! Reminders: No School On Wednesday, Library Books for Tomorrow, Poppy Money, and Scholastic Orders due Friday.

Just a short update as we are on the weekend!

Students have given themselves “homework” as assigned in their agendas for the Math Project. Each student has agreed with their partner to take on a portion of the project. Please refer to the rubric given to you for the project. A block of time will be given on Monday, and then the project is due on Tuesday. The assignment was to analyze your data from the survey, which you should be able to see online, by making a visual graph of your choice, finding the mean/median/mode/range of your data, and then writing a conclusion about your data that includes an explanation of how you analyzed it.

We continued our talk about simple machines, and students turned in a list of machines and notes about them from the National Geographic Machines Series read on Thursday and Friday. Students also worked on our large technology mural, which is a collage about items related to technology’s impact on us. Next week, we will be looking at technology’s impact on the world more closely and doing a variety of activities to investigate machines.

We also had an hour of music on Friday afternoon, and I believe everyone was working on ukeleles with Mr. Wilson. Mr. W reported the class went very well. Afterwards, the students worked to finish drawing and painting on our Remembrance Day contribution of poppy paintings. They are looking beautiful and a few students will need to finish painting on Monday. For homework, everyone was assigned a paragraph to write about “Why do we have poppies for remembrance day?” and “How did we make the art we completed?” The purpose of this is not only paragraph writing practice, but also to prepare a potential presentation for the assembly. Ms. D will choose the best paragraph to be presented during the assembly, as long as the student is willing to present aloud in front of the school. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of Remembrance Day prior to attending the assembly.

Happy Birthday to Naomi and thank you for bringing in cupcakes!

Due to paint clean up, we had to cut time from having free choice today, so Ms. DeTerra will allocate some time on Monday to free choice. Also, at our class meeting we will need to decide who will register as a team for the science games. Any student who wants to participate must be available on the day of the event, have a parent willing to attend with them, and be okay with the media release form (meaning being okay with having your picture taken and potentially used by the Association for publications in the future.) On Monday, be ready to discuss ways we can do this. Fingers crossed that our registration is accepted, too, as space is limited!

We started the day by discussing the machines we see all around us, starting with the kitchen! We identified the simple machines and then looked at several different kitchen tools to see what simple machines we could identify, including the wedge, pulley, inclined plane, lever, screw and wheel and axle. When identifying simple machines, we paid attention to the purpose of the tool we were looking at and identified how it makes work easier. By doing this, it made it easier to see which of the simple machines was involved. We also read a series of National Geographic books talking about different kinds of machines in the home, in sports, in health, and in construction, so we could further identify simple machines and understand how they work. For homework, students were asked to look at different versions of a can opener and “think like an engineer,” explaining why they think an engineer would have made that particular design for the machine.

After recess, we continued working on our surveys for the math assessment. Many are done with their surveys and are in the process of collecting the data from class members, parents or anyone else they care to survey! Next step is to use the rubric and make a graph for the data, identify the mean/median/range/mode of the data, and write an explanation about their data analysis. As a side benefit, students have been learning how to troubleshoot using an online application, how to use shortcut keys on the PC such as ctrl-V and ctrl-C, how to be clear in writing survey questions such that all can understand, and how to interact with people when taking a survey (for example, not leaning over them or making comments while they take the survey so as not to influence the person being surveyed.) The room was full of excited energy as they completed the project.

After music, students began work on an artistic presentation for our special assembly next November 10th for Remembrance Day. We looked up pictures of red poppies using our iPads and then drew large, zoomed in pictures of the flowers on 12×17 paper. Then, we went over the pencil with charcoal and used kleenex to help blend the black into the white space of our flowers. Tomorrow, those who are finished will be painting around the flowers using red, acrylic paint to emphasize the flowers using a bright colour and positive/negative use of space. We will hold these up and present them as part of the assembly. We also will make a wreath to be presented by two class members, and Emma and Shelley, from the Intermediate Choir at Suncrest, will be singing. I look forward to this solemn and important assembly.

Mr. P from Suncrest also came in today to announce there is a Chess Club that will meet at lunch on Fridays, probably starting next week. Stay tuned for announcements! Also coming up is a Diwali Celebration with the school and a notice went home explaining this. Finally, we are looking forward to the Young People’s Concerts coming up the week after next.

Have a great night!

Today was an exciting day of building and making. First, we introduced the new unit and talked about some of the things we will be doing. Then, everyone re-organized their blue binders and put some items they were proud of from unit one into their black portfolios, so we can keep track of our best work over time. Once all of the projects from the unit have been signed by parents, then they, too, will go into the black binder.

Then, I asked everyone to take a yellow sticky and put on it a quick explanation of whether or not technology has had a positive or negative effect on mankind overall. I created a chart for the board to post the sticky representing the spectrum of our opinions on this topic, with positive on the far right and negative on the far left. Some people felt it was both positive and negative, so their posting was in the middle. We will revisit our feelings on this topic at the end of the unit.

We then talked about how great inventions or technology get made and looked at some examples of products invented for the Olympics that took place here in Vancouver in 2010. We also talked about the engineering design process and reviewed how creative thinking occurs. Students were put in groups of two and given the task of building a structure that would be as tall as possible and still be able to support the weight of a small stuffy mouse in the classroom for 15 seconds. The constraints for the project (as we discussed this as part of the design process) involved time and materials (each person was allowed up to 100 index cards and 2 feet of masking tape.) The students created a plan together, showed it to Ms. D, then received their materials for building. They had to make many redesigns and adjustments, and kept testing their structures during the entire time. Everyone had a great time building and it was a good introduction to thinking about design, technology, and the creative thinking process, all of which will play a role in our learning during this unit.

Then I introduced the math assessment. Rather than doing a simple test, I provided students with an opportunity to show what they know while also learning how to do something new. We worked with Survey Monkey, one of many survey making sites that is free, and they created surveys to use with the class and people they know. They are tasked with finding the mean, median, range and mode of the data they collect, as well as making a graph and writing a quick explanation for their data. A rubric was provided for assessing this application of math knowledge. They received time today for working, and tomorrow we will continue, as it may take until Friday to finish.

Finally we did some great running and a game of California Kickball during PE. One of the things we are really working on is cooperative play and learning how to be competitive without being negative or argumentative toward others. We reviewed the rules together carefully, and Ms. D had to play referee closely during the game. It seemed people were enjoying the game and we may continue it on Monday in the gym.

I look forward to continuing the conversation tomorrow! If any of your children ask you to do their survey, I hope you will oblige them, as it will give them more results to tally later for their project. Many thanks for your support! And thank you to the students and Ryan’s Dad for helping me lug things into the classroom this morning, as I am beginning to collect many supplies for this unit!

Have a great night!

Hello everyone,

Today we finished up our unit projects and submitted them with their rubric. We also did a final unit reflection, which some people still needed to finish for tomorrow.

Per students’ request, I did a little bit of Spanish today by writing the schedule in Spanish and teaching them the parts of the body in Spanish. We also had some quick discussion about all the different languages in our room — Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), French, Romanian, Arabic, Korean, Spanish, and English. We did some comparisons of how languages sound by counting from 1-10 in everyone’s different languages. We also talked about how the mouth, teeth, and tongue work differently to produce sound depending on the language. In English, the mouth is more loose, French/Spanish require more tension in the cheeks and less of a loose chin, and when speaking Chinese the mouth does not open very far to produce sounds.

We also did some language arts work by looking at word origins. We brainstormed a list of difficult words to spell from our last unit. (It also gave Ms. D a chance to review some words that she found in student work. For example, the difference between their, there, and they’re.) Everyone chose five words and then looked them up using the iPads for origin, roots, the language the word comes from, and prefix or suffix meanings.

In Math we reviewed probability through a final game of Deal or No Deal. Tomorrow there will be an assessment, as mentioned before.

Library was today, and students had quite a few overdue books. As a reminder, please ensure books are brought back on Tuesdays for either renewal or return. All four books checked out must be brought back before any new books can be taken from the library. Please put a digital reminder or agenda note for yourself to help remember your books on Tuesdays!

Today we had some time to finish the unit project. Those who were finished had two peers evaluate their work, then completed a self-assessment using the rubric for the project. Tomorrow is the last day to have time to work on this, as it is due end of day.

We had a great class meeting, which allowed us to reflect on what went well during the Halloween Party and what we would do differently next time. Overall, everyone thought the party was fun and we all appreciated the work of the Halloween Committee. Everyone thought there was a great selection and variety of snacks. Several people commented how much they enjoyed the movie. We decided for our next party we may decide to structure the eating times differently and that we will look at our clean up process so no one is left cleaning by themselves and people don’t feel as rushed. Overall, there was great reflection about what worked and didn’t, and it was done in a respectful, constructive way. We ended with conversation about the origins of Halloween and how it is different from today’s Mexican/Central American holiday (Nov. 1/2) of Day of the Dead. We noted that Day of the Dead costumes were very popular this season!

Several students are interested in the Science Competition run by the Association for Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. This is an activity run outside of school, and it requires us to sign up online in mid-November. Teams are 4-5 students, and there are two options for participating. One involves doing a science challenge over time, at school or home, and then presenting this challenge at the competition. Another option is the Mystery Competition, where the team shows up and is given a surprise challenge to solve in a half day’s time. Both options require the team to be present at the location (TBD in mid-November when they put out all the details). We may be limited to only one team as the event is popular. Some students have expressed interest, so please let me know if this is something you would like to do. We should have a parent volunteer, as a coach needs to be present at the event, and we want to ensure either Ms. D or someone else can come. Please let me know if you are interested. More information to come, as we will have to see if we get a spot for a team (as space is limited) and if enough students would like to do this.

Several students have asked me about both French and Spanish. First, some of our students who have been in French Immersion are interested in creating small discussion groups of French. I have answered by asking them to participate in the online work we are doing first. After the online work, we will be doing a project, which will involve student choice and more interactive (writing or oral) options for learning and presenting. If students are interested in forming a French Club, they can definitely do this and consider using our free choice Friday periods for meeting time. Students have also asked me if I can teach them Spanish, which I have a lot of experience doing, so I responded by saying I could definitely do some small lessons as time permits or make this part of free choice, as well. Today we learned a few Spanish words during class meeting, just for fun.

On Tuesday, we will finish our Deal or No Deal probability activity we were doing last Thursday. On Wednesday, we will have a short math assessment on median, mean, mode, range and probability, followed by some extra challenge questions for those students who would like to show me what they know.

Our new unit is called “Our Human Creations” and the focus statement is: 

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

This will be an inquiry into:

• Scientific forces behind machines
• The role machines (and technology) play in our lives
• Social change as a result of machines

We began this unit today by:

• Brainstorming a huge list of machines and technologies we are aware of
• Labelling each technology with a “+” or “-” to indicate if we think the technology has made a positive or negative impact on humans
• Creating a large mural, whole-group collage on the back wall to express how we feel about the impact technology is making on our world

If anyone has any magazines that could be cut up, we would love to have them!

Also, please see the newsletter for Suncrest that your child should have brought home. Some copies were left in the classroom! Students should also get their project marks signed and bring it back to school tomorrow (the responsibility of doing so is a mark, too!) I have copies of the parent conference participation rubrics, as well, and will hand these to students tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued support. Let me know if you have any questions!

Our next unit is on machines and technology. Please think about the following in advance to help support the unit.

1. If anyone knows someone who belongs to the Association of Engineers in BC and could help me to gain contact with the organization, please let me know. Also, if anyone knows someone who works in electronics, technology, or anything to do with making machines of any kind, please let me know if they might be interested in coming in. Please consider if the person is able to talk with young children and is a good speaker, too. Thank you for your help!

 

2. If you have any packaging that comes into your home or things you might be looking to get rid of that are on the list below, please save it somewhere, as I will be asking for it at a later date for building projects:

1. long tubes (cardboard, plastic, gift wrap, paper towel)
2. lego, knex, blocks, marbles, any building supply
3. milk jugs, cleaned out completely
4. broom handles
5. wood dowels of any kind
6. bamboo sticks/skewers
7. clothes pins
8. circular cardboard pieces
9. shoe boxes
10. straws
11. wood sticks (popsicle sticks)

 

3. In addition, we are short on the following types of supplies, and it would be helpful to have more in the classroom:

1. rulers (using metric and inches)
2. white erasers
3. scissors (standard sharp scissors that actually cut, as the small kid scissors don’t do well when building — there are packs of three at Michael’s for $4.99)

 

Thank you for thinking about this now as we get into some exciting building and making projects. What we can do sometimes depends on what I can gather and find!

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great day today, with pumpkin carving, a costume parade, watching the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, and having community-building time as a class. Many thanks to our Halloween Party Committee, including the help of Michael, Amy, Sophia and Cynthia who either organized the notice to go home, collected information about what people were bringing, helped decorate the classroom, or brought the movie to show today. Thank you to all of the parents who supported their efforts, and thank you to all students for bringing in food, goody bags and drinks to share. Many people dressed up today, and our costume contest prizes went to Michael and Daniel. I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

We worked on our unit projects today, as well, and I let everyone know we will extend the deadline for the projects to Tuesday end of day. Homework is to continue working on these at home. Please do not get help from parents and also please do not plagiarize by using either web articles or someone else’s electronic work. Thank you for being principled during this project.

Today most of the students received their first body systems project back along with the rubric and notes from Ms. D. If you didn’t get it today, then I missed getting it to you before our Halloween festivities, as I was talking one-on-one with each student. I will give them to you first thing on Monday. If you did receive yours, please have Mom/Dad sign the rubric and bring it back, as that will be a homework mark and we want to include these projects in our portfolio.

Thank you and have a great weekend!