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Hello Everyone,

I wanted to update you about the math we are doing during our unit the Nature Connection.

First, we are doing math in a series of books dealing with real-life math topics. 

• The main required book is Planet Earth Math. For quick finishers, there are also the books on Oceans and Space and the Animal Kingdom, but they are not required.
• All books can be found on EPIC. The main one we will focus on, Planet Earth, I have paper copies of for use in class only.
• EPIC can be accessed from anywhere online during school hours and up to 4PM. After that time, students can still access it if parents sign up for the free extended access at home. The class code to access our EPIC group and the lists of books I have provided was sent home earlier this month.
• The topics deal with standard curriculum in grade 4/5 and are linked to nature themes connected to our unit.
• Ms. D is providing some time in class in between our IP prep times, and during those sessions, students can come for one-on-one lesson or help with questions.

Second, we will be focusing on geometry as we look for patterns in nature.

• We did some measuring and did some practice on metric conversions, with the idea we may need measuring as a tool to talk about patterns in nature. We will also use it as we discuss scale and use this in our ADST project.
• We talked about the different kinds of shapes and the math vocabulary we use to classify them. We discussed regular polygons and platonic solids.
• We talked about the different types of angles, how to use a protractor, the different types of triangles, and the sums of inner angles of regular polygons and platonic solids.
• We discussed Science and Symmetry, watching a video on Ted Ed talking about how symmetry has a scientific purpose.
• Students did a symmetry challenge using the Fold and Cut Theorem. It was harder than it looked!
• We will look at Fibonacci, and do some drawing and investigating of pine cones and outdoor plants to see the sequence in action.
• We will discuss how indigenous thinking about the nature around us and traditional scientific thought can be combined to have deeper understandings of why nature is the way it is.
• If we get time, we will do some work with pentominoes, which allows us to review the math terms of translation, rotation, and reflection in terms of congruent shapes.
• If we get time, we will also do some Area Maze challenges, which are just for fun, and related to geometry concepts.

Third, we will be making our own outdoor education playground model.

• This will be an ADST project. Please stay tuned for a separate post about what to do for this project, which will be due end of June, as report cards do not go out officially until June 29th.

Before June 15th, please have this completed as we would any e-port. It is included as a part of your report cards and will be visible to parents, principal, and your future teacher if applicable. Thank you!

We have gone over the core competencies; however, if you need a review of what they are, so you can know which one you are talking about, here is a link to the BC Core Competencies Ministry of Education

TITLE:  Core Competency Reflection 2022-23 School Year

For each of the core competencies below, please:

1. Tell me what the competency means to you.
2.  Give me a specific example of a way you have used that competency this year.
3.  Tell me what you would like to work on in that competency for next year.
4.  Feel free to include any pictures. Please size them to be smaller, so this entry doesn’t become too long on your e-port.
5.  Limit your response to one paragraph maximum for each competency.

The core competencies are:

1.  Communicating
2.  Collaborating
3.  Creative Thinking
4.  Critical and Reflective Thinking
5.  Personal Awareness and Responsibility
6.  Positive Personal and Cultural Identity
7.  Social Awareness and Responsibility

Want to win some outdoor toys or a game to play with this summer? Please join in our NATURE CHALLENGE!

During the months of April, May and June, starting now, please visit the many parks and natural spaces found in our local area. If you need maps of where these are, you can find them online or in our classroom, and I have provided some links to some great sites below.

Take pictures of yourself in the natural environment. Make a Google Slideshow of your pictures. The person with the most locations by June wins!

Here are the rules:

• Pictures must be taken at some time between April 9 and June 23
• Pictures need to include some identifying nature feature or a sign behind you.
• You need to be in the picture, so I know it is from now.
• One picture per location. Different parts of the exact same park don’t count.
• Same point value regardless of location.
• Local parks, other school playgrounds, beaches, pond areas, pathways, hike trails, lakes, rivers, soccer fields, courtyards with a sign next to it, green belts near your building that have a sign identifying what they are, or any place you can play outside, etc. all count!
• Create a slideshow on PowerPoint or another slideshow application to share the pictures with me. Label the locations.
• You do not have to spend a specific amount of time at the location — all you need is a picture!
• Can’t be old pictures from past years.
• Can include places you travel to outside of the Lower  Mainland between now and June 23 only.
• Make this a family challenge!

Local Location Ideas:

• Burnaby Lake Regional Park
• Pacific Spirit Regional Park
• Central Park
• Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area 
• Confederation Park
• Kensington Park
• Robert Burnaby Park
• Taylor Park
• Willingdon Linear Park
• Deer Lake Park Trail
• Century Gardens at Shadbolt/Deer Lake
• Centennial Rose Garden
• Barnet Marine Park
• Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park
• Find the Eco Sculptures in Burnaby
• Reifel Bird Sanctuary  (requires a reservation)
• Everett Crowley Park  (near Suncrest)
• Byrne Creek Ravine Trail
• Edmonds Park
• Iona Beach Regional Park
• Terra Nova Rural Park
• Spanish Banks Beach Park
• Riverfront Park
• Musqueam Park
• Maplewood Flats Conservation Area North Shore
• Lighthouse Park West Vancouver
• Ambleside Park West Vancouver
• Brunswick Point Delta
• Roberts Bank Coastal Trail Delta
• Boundary Bay Regional Park
• Burns Bog Delta

Small prize for anyone in our class who participates and provides me with a slideshow, and then two main prizes for the two people who go to the most places. I hope you all spend a lot of time outdoors over the next three months!

Ms. D

Eport Title: 

Critical Thinker When Consuming News

Questions:

What are some clues you can look for to know a website may not be a real or reliable source of information?

As you are looking at a website, how can you tell if a pop up window is actual info from the website or an advertisement?

How does fake news spread so easily?

Why is fake news dangerous?

What is circular reporting?

After playing Data Defenders, what can you tell me are important things to do to protect your identity and data online?

What are some other things you know are important to be a digital citizen?

What are statistics?

How can statistics or numbers in the news be misleading?

Hello Everyone,

Today we finished going through Chapter 6, Thinking About the Hidden Rules and Expected Behaviour.

We started by brainstorming the unspoken rules that help everyone have a good experience and to feel safe in four different situations: a movie theatre, group work, in the library, and when we have a substitute teacher. As a group, the last one is particularly important.

The EXPECTED behaviour when a substitute or TTOC (Teacher Teaching on Call) is in the classroom, as brainstormed today by Div. 5, includes:

• Be welcoming,
• Follow the same rules as always,
• Follow the routine in the same way we would if Ms. D were here,
• Be helpful to the visiting teacher and others during the day,
• Staying on task and getting projects done,
• Staying with the group plan, and
• Communicate by raising our hands if we need to make a suggestion.

The UNEXPECTED behaviour when a substitute is here includes:

• Trying to trick the guest teacher or take advantage of the fact they are new and less familiar with the rules,
• Making fun of or laughing at the guest teacher,
• Not following the normal classroom or school rules, even if someone doesn’t tell you to follow them,
• Arguing with the guest teacher about what should be done, as sometimes things have to change temporarily when we have a guest,
• Interrupting all day during discussions without raising a hand, and
• Choosing to read, talk, or do other activities that are not part of the group plan.

At home, please try going over the EXPECTED and UNEXPECTED behaviour or HIDDEN RULES in a variety of situations, such as when you visit a park, during dinners at home, when you get ready for bed, or during a soccer game.

A recap of what we discussed in class, for you to review at home:

• It is important for me to figure out the hidden rules of any situation. The hidden rules help me to know what is expected behaviour.
• When I know what the hidden rules are, then I can behave in a way that is expected by everyone in the group. When I behave in the expected way, people will feel more safe, happy, and relaxed.
• When I use unexpected behaviour, I am not following the rules for a certain situation. Some of these hidden rules are things people are expected to understand. When I use unexpected behaviour, people may have negative feelings about me or the situation, such as feeling annoyed, confused, nervous, or worried.
• I can figure out what the expected behaviour in a situation is by thinking with my eyes, looking around to see what others are doing, or by asking for help to know what the hidden rules are.

Thank you for using this vocabulary of expected and unexpected behaviour at home. I keep reinforcing the ideas from the book in our daily conversations. It will help if these ideas are also reinforced as you have conversations at home, too.

Have a great week!

 

Before the break we went over Chapter 5 of Social Thinking and Me, called Thinking With Your Eyes. Here is the summary of key points covered so you can review at home, as well.

 

 

1.  When I am with other people, it’s always important to think with my eyes. This means to look around where I am, notice the people I am with, and notice what’s going on.
2.  There are many reasons to think with my eyes. Doing this can help me:
   1.  Be safe
   2.  Figure out what people are doing and why
   3.  Figure out what I am supposed to be doing in a situation
   4.  Let others know I am interested in them
   5.  Let others know I am paying attention
3.  When I take time to think with my eyes in a situation, I am observing and learning to use social detective skills.
4. There are all sorts of things I can do once I can think with my eyes. I can:
   1.  start a conversation with someone
   2.  make a guess about another person’s plan
   3.  figure out how someone is feeling
   4.  figure out what I should be doing or not doing!
5. Thinking with my eyes is not something I do just once, and then I am done. It is a strategy I use throughout the day and anywhere I am: at school, at home, during recess and breaks, at the mall, or anywhere else I find myself.

Be observant, and then be a critical thinker, using the information you have observed to inform your actions!

Practice noticing what people are doing, feeling, and saying at home or when you are out with your family, to see what you can pick up about what to do or say next.

 

Hello Everyone,

By end of day tomorrow, Thursday February 9th, we will have finished the novel My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling through which we learned more about what it was like attending a residential school in British Columbia in the 1950s.

As we read, we looked carefully for new vocabulary, recording them in our journals. We also recorded the conditions of residential schools, focusing on how it is different from our own experiences with school.

E-Port:  My Name is Seepeetza Reading Comprehension

Questions:

Please list 15 vocabulary words that were new to you in the novel, and please provide their definitions.

In what style does the author Shirley Sterling write? What is different about reading a book in this style?

What was Seepeetza’s life like on the ranch where she lived with her family?

What was life like in the residential schools and how was it different than what you currently experience in school? Write a paragraph with some specific details comparing your school to her residential school experience.

 

We are continuing our work in the book
Social Thinking and Me.

Chapter 2 is on Flexible Thinking!

Last time we talked about social thinking, and how learning to behave and having maturity in situations can help us to be more included in a group. Thank you to everyone for coming up with some excellent reasons to develop social thinking skills! Great work!

Now, we are talking about flexible thinking. Flexible thinking means thinking in different ways about social situations and noticing how others many think about the situation (their perspectives). When we think in a flexible way in a group, it means we can stay calm and try to figure out social situations in positive ways.

For example, people can do things you may not immediately understand. If you are flexible, you can understand sometimes people do things without any malicious or mean intent. Sometimes people’s behaviours have NOTHING to do with you.

Being flexible means you try to figure out how to be with others without always wanting to get your own way. Take turns, share, and be open to not always being first, right, or the one who gets to do everything. GROUP THINK not SOLO THINK.

Being flexible means you think about what’s best for you AND those around you. You are not alone, and there is a bigger group to consider. If you want to be included, you need to think about the needs of other people in the group.

Being flexible means trying to take a few extra moments to figure out what other people are doing or saying and why they might be doing or saying it. For example, maybe what the words they are saying don’t mean exactly one thing. If I say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it doesn’t mean I was on the wrong side! It means, I woke up in a grumpy mood. Sometimes the schedule changes. We can be open to CHANGE and know not everything will always go according to routine, and there may be some good reasons why!

It is expected we are flexible with other people.  We did a survey in class, and everyone agreed — we all prefer to work and to play with people who compromise, who don’t always want to have their way, who listen, who are open to change, who don’t argue as much, and who don’t immediately assume the worst from every behaviour that happens.

When we are not being flexible, we are doing stuck thinking, which can make us feel frustrated and stressed, and can make those around us feel negative things, too.

We can think with our eyes to find social cues/clues in situations, and to consider the thoughts and feelings of people around us.

When we are more flexible with our friends, teachers, and parents, it helps them feel safe, relaxed, less stressed, and happy. When these people have good thoughts about me because I am flexible, they usually have good thoughts about me and will treat me well.

At home, can you talk more about these ideas? Talk about some times people in the family have used flexible or stuck thinking. Start identifying it when it happens. We started doing this in class today!

 

Title:  Social Thinking

Questions:

What is social thinking?

Why is it important?

Do children of different ages have the same social thinking skills necessarily? Why?

Tell me three different situations where you have used social thinking.

What is flexible thinking?

Tell me the four types of flexible thinking we discussed in class.

Tell me about three situations where you think we use flexible thinking in class.