Category: General Update

Outside of our main curriculum, I also like to support individual student passions and interests as time permits. For this reason, I try to build in one open choice time per week dedicated more to the student’s social-emotional development and independent projects. One group has really taken off with this idea! It started with our abstract art project, when two boys decided to turn the art into a marble maze (which really worked for the project, as they were supposed to produce something that represented their personalities and interests, and these mazes show some excellent builder abilities and creative thinking.) Now six different students have formed a mini marble maze club that originated in the classroom but also meets outside to play together. They have been using a variety of paper and building supplies I try to keep on hand.

We have many students in the class who are makers that enjoy building! If you have a maker at home, you may consider dropping by Urban Source, a shop on Main Street in Vancouver where I frequently pick up unique building supplies. The store is dedicated to crafting with reusable items that someone else thought were trash. For $5-20 you have free pick of items available and can fill bags of different sizes. See their website for more info.

Also, I found some new games for the program this weekend, including Maze Racers, that I hope the group will enjoy. Granville Island Toys is having their annual 25% off everything sale until EOD Sunday (lego excluded.) I find they have a great selection of critical thinking based games.

Enjoy the sunny fall weather!

Happy Friday! We started the day by talking about the Jar of Inquiry and used this technique to post questions about our unit on the WONDERINGS board in our classroom. The Jar of Inquiry is a metaphor I use for the inquiry process. At the beginning of your research, you have to build a foundation of basic information by asking simple questions that can usually be answered with a specific answer. Then, after the bottom of the jar is full, you continue building your information by asking deeper questions. Ask your child to explain the process. Everyone contributed questions, and it gave me a better sense of student interests and where to go next with the unit.

Afterwards, everyone signed up to be an expert on one of the body systems, doing more research on an area of interest to them. They will learn more about conditions related to their system, as well, so they can eventually do a project related to diagnosing a patient. They were asked to take notes, while also documenting the resource they were using with a title, author and copyright. This involved discussion about non-fiction features of a book that help you find the information you need.

Students finished up their probability and body stations packets to turn in to me. If they are not done, I asked them to take the packets home. They may need some supplies from me to finish, in which case they should see me at recess on Tuesday to finish up those small details.

We then did some more art related to line, symmetry and composition. Students folded watercolour paper in half, drew half of a butterfly using pictures provided, outlined it using black pastel, and then folded the picture so the pastel would transfer to the other side with rubbing. Afterwards, they filled the picture with background using black pastel again, then used watercolours to fill in the spaces of the picture. Some decided not to do a butterfly and chose to do a beetle, instead. Overall, they are looking great! If students didn’t finish today, they can have more time on Tuesday.

Professional Development day on Monday, so no school! Also, I signed agendas today, as I noted students need to take more care recording all homework. We will do this as a routine until students get used to writing down assignments.

We are looking for jars for next Friday in preparation for an art project. Jars should be larger, approximately spaghetti sauce size, cleaned, no labels, with the lid. Thank you in advance for helping us with this project.

If anyone has doctors or nurses they know who could come to visit us, please let us know! I am trying to create a panel of experts we could talk to. Thank you for your help!

Today we continued our probability experiments and games and we finished our body systems stations packet, which is due tomorrow. In addition, we talked about blood types and transfusions, and we did an experiment to further explore the four blood types and determine which blood types are from those individuals labeled universal donors (type O) and universal recipients (AB). Please ask your child to explain how we used food colouring to represent the four main blood types, combined them by pretending they were from a donor and a recipient of a transfusion, and then recorded the results to see whether the transfusion would be a success or failure. We discussed how the proteins in our blood that are related to our blood type will act upon foreign blood types and cause agglutination, or clumping of red blood cells. If you or anyone in your family has undergone a transfusion and knows something about blood types, please share this with your child now that they have more information to understand blood transfusions!

***Also, if anyone is a doctor or knows of doctors who would be willing to come in and speak with us about general advice he or she would give to maintain good health for children and adults, please let me know. I am trying to put together classroom visitors we can interview, and I appreciate your help or expertise!

Important Notes and Homework:

• Scholastic Orders due tomorrow
• Body Systems Packet due tomorrow — most are done
• Journal entries due tomorrow — most are done
• $5 for Agendas, please see blue notice that went home today
• Forms and Student Verification Sheet due tomorrow
• PRO-D Day on Sept. 28th, Monday — NO SCHOOL!

Reminders!

• No Parent Meeting tomorrow night — rescheduled to October 8th
• Scholastic Orders due Friday
• Terry Fox Donations being collected this week
• Carnival is tomorrow 3:00 – 7:00 PM
• Bring back forms for office, including yellow student verification form, ASAP.

Homework:

• Finish paragraph on school proposal in your writing journal. Due tomorrow. Many people already finished.
• Finish Math T-Chart on Choices, due tomorrow.
• Fill out student volunteer form if interested and get parents to sign.

Today we began by sharing the brain games we brought in as part of homework last night. We then continued our think, pair, share, finishing off the endocrine system and information about skin.

As part of math, and related to our unit of inquiry, we talked about choices, and students brainstormed a T-Chart of Choices We Control and Choices We Don’t Control. This was in preparation for some work on probability. During an open math time, students were given a series of probability situations and games to complete and respond to using charts and written explanations.

We also had an opportunity to talk about digital citizenship as related to our privilege of using the iPads and laptops soon to come. After a great discussion about their experience with technology rules and safety, I asked them each to contribute one rule they think should be in place to ensure we use our technology appropriately. Eventually, students will be given an agreement to sign regarding their behaviour with technology, which they will bring home so everyone understands what is expected and we can make the most of our tools!

Finally, Ms. DeTerra reviewed with students, as part of language arts, the proper format of a paragraph, including indentation, a topic sentence, supporting statements, and a concluding sentence. I provided them with an example, which we discussed, determining criteria for a quality paragraph. We also looked at what vocabulary could be used to be more persuasive. This will be an area of focus for us during this unit of inquiry, and the skill will assist the students with projects later on. Afterwards, in their writing journals, either with a partner or independently, they created persuasive paragraphs around what they would like to change about school. The sky was the limit in terms of changes, as I really wanted them to focus on paragraphing. Some students proposed we have a shorter school day, a school in the sky, school days full of making things, or a school based on the Hunger Games. Okay, well, maybe not real ideas, but they had a great time writing them, which hopefully made paragraphing a bit more fun.

Thank you for reading these updates. Hope you get to enjoy the Carnival at Suncrest!

Today, we had our first Class Meeting. In the past, class meeting may have been an opportunity to discuss issues that have come up in the classroom, which we will still do; however, we will also use class meetings as an opportunity for students to learn leadership, to learn how a business meeting is run, and to propose events for our class. The meetings will have a student leader each week, as well as a meeting recorder who takes minutes. Students can add items to the weekly agenda and make motions to discuss certain issues. Today I modelled how to be the leader of the meeting, and next week I will ask someone to run the meeting in my place. We formed committees to take action on our discussion, so the Halloween and Gingerbread House committees will present their ideas around those two events next week.

Students also did a Think, Pair, Share activity. Rather than have everyone read all articles on the nervous, urinary, endocrine, and immune systems, as well as an article about the skin, we broke into groups with 5-6 students per article. They had to read it, highlight it (and students were reminded that highlighting does not equal painting the paper yellow, but only indicating the important information), and then meet with their group members to figure out how to share information with the class. All of the articles can be found on the Kids Health website. We will present these tomorrow.

Ms. Carson from the Advanced Learning Team came to visit us as students demonstrated the Question Formulation Technique. Students used the technique to brainstorm questions about our unit focus statement. When asked what they enjoyed about the activity, students said they thought it was interesting how many questions were asked, how they came up with so many deeper questions, and how hard it is to not give commentary (or value) to particular questions. Many of them liked the fact that questions were not judged and were instead just collected, as it allowed them to feel more like sharing. They showed a strong understanding of closed and open questions, which will help us as we get into more independent research.

For the afternoon, students did another journal entry, and we went over journal criteria together. This criteria can be found for your information under Notices and Forms.

Then we completed part 2 of our art project we started on Friday. They demonstrated their math measurement and geometry skills by cutting twelve, square panels from their art produced Friday and then evenly spacing them on a piece of black paper. It was encouraging to see students helping one another as they shared knowledge of how to use measurement tools to make perfect squares. These are now displayed above our whiteboard, and the class is looking more personalized every day!

As students finished, they also completed any work left from their Body Stations packet, which is due to Ms. DeTerra on Friday.

No homework today; however, agendas need to be signed, scholastic orders are due Friday, and forms from the office (the student verification form and larger packet sent Friday) are due ASAP. Students are collecting money for the Terry Fox run this Friday, and the suggested donation is at least $1. Reminder: the Carnival is this Thursday! And our Parent Night has been changed from this Thursday to October 8th. Please do see me during office hours tomorrow, 3-4:30 PM, if you would like to speak with me.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend despite the rain, although I think the rain is lovely given how dry our summer was. Since I am originally from Alaska, I enjoy the cold and wet! So, today, I broke out my new boots and wool hat!

Speaking of rain…please make sure your child gets some rain boots or a change of shoes. It can be a good idea so they can change after outside breaks. Otherwise, our portable area will become a big mess during the day.

Friday was an energetic day full of activity! First, we reviewed the digestive system. I had asked each child to think about the journey of a cheerio through their digestive system as part of Thursday night’s homework. In the morning, everyone worked in small groups to show me their understanding of digestion. By showing, I mean that they were given 15 minutes to prepare a quick dramatic skit, using their bodies and words, to show the journey of the cheerio. Afterwards, each group presented to the class, and we discussed their understandings or any details that could be added along the way.

Then, we began working on a two-part art project. It is important students gain a sense of the elements and principles of art, and our focus at the moment is LINE. We also had opportunities to discuss COLOUR as a review of art they may have had in the past. We are each making a nine-panel display that will be made up of different pieces we created on Friday. Students chose either all warm or cool colours for the activity and completed six stations designed to experiment with different media and line: 1. Find a quote and write it in handwriting on black rectangular paper using chalk, 2. Use oil pastels to make a lined pattern, 3. Cut paper of all different types into lines and glue it in a pattern on another rectangular sheet, 4. Paint large swirls using acrylic paint, 5. Make black circle pattern prints using cups and black acrylic paint, and 6. Make interesting lines on paper using chalk and then smear it using fingers or tissue. Using our math and measurement skills, we will be taking these papers and cutting them to make a larger display of evenly spaced squares. Our classroom is quickly taking shape with the decoration provided by student work!

After recess, we had a math assessment. The students in MACC 4/5 have all come to the class with differing levels of math, and it is important I know exactly where to begin or where curriculum may need to be reviewed. To this end, both Mr. Rodgers in the MACC 6/7 class and I have been using some short math assessments. These are not for marks and are only for the purposes of ensuring I am focusing my efforts in the right place! If the math assessment for the current grade level is passed, I will ask students to take the next levels, taking note of where improvement or review is needed.

Many students have strong computational math skills; however, understanding math vocabulary or using applied math in problem solving is more challenging. We will focus on both computational and applied learning, while trying to find common project work that can be done by all students at varying levels. While sometimes students will need some independent math to learn new skills at their specific level, my hope is that we will all be able to work together on project work that can involve everyone’s level of math strength. It will take time to investigate strengths and areas to focus on together, as I explained to the students.

After lunch, students had MUSIC! They have music on Thursdays and Fridays directly after lunch. On Thursdays, it is with Ms. Hetrick, and on Fridays, it is with Mr. Wilson. The two music teachers will both be working together closely to provide a dynamic music program.

On Fridays, we will often have OPEN CHOICE TIME. This time will be sometimes dedicated to open, community-building time, during which students will have a choice of many different activities to do with partners or by themselves. As the year progresses, this time will also be our SPECIAL PROJECT time, during which students will be working on an independent, more self-directed passion project. This Friday, students were involved in active games of chess and Blokus (Ms. DeTerra enjoyed Blokus, too, as it is a fun tetris-like math game!), drawing in small groups, working on some marble mazes constructed with materials in the classroom, putting together a human anatomy 3D model, reading, writing, or working on experiments from our Body Stations Packet. It was also Max’s birthday, so thank you Max for bringing in cupcakes for everyone! Happy Birthday!

HOMEWORK and IMPORTANT NEWS:

• Read the article on the respiratory system from the Body Systems packet and finish labeling that system (many have this done already.) Be able to explain how the respiratory system works for Monday.
• Read 20 minutes and continue Reading Around the World.
• Look over the yellow student verification form sent home, and if there are errors, please send back to school with corrections. A large packet was sent out on Friday from the school with forms that need to be completed and returned.
• Terry Fox is on Sept. 30th at 2:00 PM, and starting next week, the school will begin collecting donations toward the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research. The suggested donation is to send at least a loonie.
• I sent out Scholastic Orders, but if your child didn’t take one, I have more copies in the classroom. Orders for this month are due at the end of next week.
• The parent information night for MACC has had to be changed once again due to the Carnival and also in response to parent concerns about attending. We apologize for the inconvenience. I will put a separate post regarding this, but it will now be on October 8th at 6:00 PM. That said, please stop by during my office hours or ask to make an appointment if you need any clarification or explanation of how I do things in class.

Have a great weekend!

Today we started the day by checking in on our homework, as students become accustomed to Ms. DeTerra’s check system for assessment. Our main focus today was understanding the flow of the blood through the heart. Students were given a variety of materials, including clay, straws, foil and popsicle sticks, to build a model that would show their understanding of the heart’s blood flow and four chambers. Another focus was learning group work skills essential to cooperative work environments. We discussed how this is an essential skill for many of the professions students said they would like to pursue when they wrote me in their personal letters last week.

After recess, we worked on the definition of a good question. Are there bad questions? What kinds of questions are google-able and easy to answer with a yes or no? Which questions are deeper, require more thought, and may ask us to look for information in more than one resource?

To practice our questioning, we did the question formulation technique. Students were placed in groups of three and given a piece of blank paper. We discussed that during the brainstorm, several rules must be followed. 1. There are no bad questions and all questions are good. (no judgement of questions.) 2. As questions are written for the brainstorm, no commentary can be given to indicate that a question is “great,” “excellent,” or “silly.” Again, no judgement and no value can be given to the question. 3. All questions should be written down — anything that comes to mind, no matter of its format or who says it in the group. And all group members can write at the same time, as there is not an assigned “writer” or “recorder.” 4. All questions should be written verbatim as they are said. We discussed how these rules are designed to help us practice not having a filter for our own questions, as we tend to judge what we will say before it even leaves our lips, and it may have been valuable toward the discussion!

Students were given the focus statement “Boundaries are a necessary part of recess time at a school.” They then had 10 minutes to fill a page with questions related to the statement. Afterwards, they had to review their questions to see if any of the things written needed re-wording to actually be considered a question. Finally, they sorted their questions by labelling them with O or C — O for Open-Ended and C for Closed. Students defined open-ended questions as those requiring more thought, deeper discussion, or more than one answer. Closed questions are those whose answer is found in one resource and may have a quick yes/no answer. We will be using this technique, among others, as we find questions that guide our studies throughout the year.

For the afternoon, we had MUSIC and PE. Music folders are purple duotangs, and these folders will most likely always be kept in Ms. Hetrick’s music classroom during the year. We will always have PE on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the gym from 2:15-3:00, which means students will end their day in the gym and be walking back from there as the bell rings. It also means that students have the option of changing into gym strip, as some students go directly home and may want to change there.

Homework: Please read the digestive sheets from the body works packet and answer the questions and label the parts of that system. Tomorrow, be prepared to explain what would happen to a cheerio from the moment you eat it to the time it passes from your body (what is left of it, anyway!) Students received agendas today. Parents should sign them daily so we know you have seen the homework; however, if parents need to communicate with Ms. DeTerra, it is better to email me directly versus relying on the agenda.

HAPPY Friday tomorrow! and Happy Birthday, Max!

As our unit focuses on personal choices, we brainstormed the types of personal choices that can have an impact on our health. The students suggested sleep, eating, healthy food, hygiene, exercises, stress levels, and more. Afterwards, we divided into groups to take on a math challenge. Each group was given the task of making a graph to represent certain information about the class, as related to all of the students’ personal choices. For many students, this was a review, and it allowed Ms. DeTerra to see what they knew about: graph making, types of graphs, gathering data, making a survey, and communicating information visually in a clear manner. Those students who understood how to do so added percentages to their graphs, and some groups worked with Ms. D to convert their data to percentages. The activity allowed us to begin exploring personal choices and provided a snapshot of strengths as regards the computations and processes behind data collection.

Our next project for art was designed to learn about students strengths, passions and interests. We also discussed the idea of abstract versus realistic or literal art messages. Ms. DeTerra provided a large number of materials and discussed how they could be used to make 2D and 3D collages on paper. Students were encouraged to find abstract ways to represent themselves or their interests. Some converted the piece of paper into a mini marble maze. One student had a trampoline and a book built on her paper. Others had fun making creations with hot glue guns. Ms. DeTerra enjoyed watching students use their creative thinking skills with alternative materials and posted them in the classroom to see.

Finally, we continued working on our body systems packet, finishing experiments from yesterday. HOMEWORK tonight, if it is not done already from class time, is to finish reading the three pages of Kids Health on the Circulatory System, answer the quick questions about the circulatory system, and then label the heart. Many students are done with this already.

Agendas are coming! We have them, but we are waiting for a notice from the office regarding payment, as there is a small fee for them. Thank you for your patience. See everyone tomorrow!