Hello Everyone!
It seems like so much has happened in 123 since my last post! Care for a recap?!
-We are soooooo close to finishing Shout Out To The Fitzgerald-Trouts! My prediction is we will finish by Thursday! Today we learned about Kimo’s disappointing pole vaulting attempt and now Toby and baby Penny are MISSING! This would be a great time for a conversation with your child about their thoughts about today’s chapters and predictions for how the story will soon end!
-We are over half way through our current Common Learning Cycle with 122 and 126! So far the students have rotated through two writing crafts and done one session with their third. We are aiming to finish this cycle on February 11! Ask your child about what they’ve been learning in their writing groups!
-We are learning a lot about fractions! Here are some things we have covered and will cover again over the next two weeks! You may want to give them a try at home too!
- Where we see fractions in the real world
- That fractions are equal parts of a whole and that being equal is very important!
- Referring to the numerator (when referring to the number of pieces eaten/shaded/lost etc.) and denominator (when referring to the number of parts of the whole)
- When an objet or set is shared in two it is called halves, shared in three is called thirds, in four is called quarters or fourths, etc.
- Naming compatible fractions…if I ate 1/3 of the chocolate bar then what fraction is left?
- Counting by 1/2 and 1/4s
Next week we have some fun…and tasty fractions to experience 😉
Mathantics-Fractions are Parts
-Students who have some “Add’Em” books to complete have brought them home today (Thursday) and I’d be happy to have them back on Monday. We’ve been working on these for awhile and it’s time to finish up!
-We’ve had two “Mindful Mondays” and two “Thankful Thursdays” so far this month! We are pretty used to mindfulness in 123 because we try to take time to practice mindfulness on a daily basis. Taking the time to be in the moment, focus on our breathing, sitting with our thoughts and feelings and slowing down are great tools to have in our toolbox as we live in a fast paced world. We learned about #BellLetsTalk day on January 29th and the impact that talking about Mental Health has on ending the stigma around Mental Health Illness.
Other classes have been inspired to talk about Mental Health and have found some wise words to share with us all…Thanks 125 for these inspirational and beautiful words 🙂
Today for #ThankfulThursday the focus was on people we are thankful for.Â
The students have been sent home with a blank card. Their task is to create a thank you card for someone they are thankful for and give it to them. Maybe they’ll see them in person or need to pop it in the mail. Maybe it’s for someone they see everyday and maybe it’s for someone who they don’t see very often. Maybe it’s for someone that they don’t even know well such as the mail carrier, the dentist or the local barista at Starbucks (that’s who I should bring a card for!). It feels good to get a card, but it also feels good to give one! Let’s spread kindness and gratitude 🙂
-We’ve finished all of our Canadian art AND take a look at this amazing bulletin board display!! There are nearly 100 piece of art up on display!!!
-We had an amazing trip to the zoo to learn about animal adaptations and how human impact affects animals and their habitats
Now we are working within a small group to go through the design process to: empathize with an animal from the zoo, define a question to a problem we have discovered, ideate ways to solve this problem (one we could do on our own which would be a small impact, one we could do as a society which would have a greater impact and one that is “out of this world” which might be completely impossible, but sometimes those impossible ideas become actual ideas), create a prototype of the solution an then test our our prototype and find ways to be critical thinkers! We are right in the middle of this…so stay tuned for photos!
-We had an incredible visit from Allie this week! She taught us so much about animals of the North, how people of the North live and how they use and respect animals and about how human impact affects how animals live and prosper. She had some pretty fascinating artifacts. I’m sure you’ve already heard all about Allie’s presentation 🙂 Thanks for visiting us in 123!
-Two of our grade 5 friends (Room 123 alumni!) have initiated a school bake sale to help the animals affected by the wildfires in Australia. If you are able to send in some baked goods please fill in the green sheet that was sent home yesterday (unless it has been left in your child’s mailbox. In which case you can let me know if you would like to make a donation and what you would like to send in as that donation!).
-This week’s Ask Me question has been posted and ready for business! This will be a great checkin to see the growth in your child’s reading. Check the Seesaw post for more details! I’ll be participating as well 🙂
What’s Coming Up in the Next Two Weeks-ish
-Next week is the Jack Frost Challenge! We will be trying to spend a little extra time outdoors. Maybe this is a good motivator for you as a family too! What can you do outside from February 2-8?! Wednesday is the day the Jack Frost Challenge encourages students to walk to school. Anyone interested? We will also be doing some activities as a school on Wednesday. Stay tuned for more details from Mr. Strachan and Erin!
-We will finish up our Ecosystem Book Clubs next week and come up with some displays to share our learning with each other and with you too!
-Wednesday is Global School Play Day!! A few weeks ago the students of grade 3/4 wrote letters to us teachers trying to convince us to let them participate in GSPD! Persuasive writing sure can be a great way to convince people to do something you want to do! We will be having a day of learning through play and figuring out what our play has taught us! I’m hoping someone is wanting to play boardgames with me!!!!
-We will be doing more design thinking when we plan out what to create for our Valentine’s Day holders! Once we set the criteria and draw out a design with our list of materials, we will let you know what supplies we may need from home! Students are welcome to bring in cards for their classmates for Valentine’s Day, but are required to bring in one for ALL 23 other students in room. As always I encourage people to use up the leftover cards from years past or make simple cards that can later be recycled. Ginny has a craft up her sleeve for us to do as her gift to 123 🙂 We will also be talking about healthy habits a bit more over the next two weeks, so we are going to plan out a really healthy Valentine’s Day…so hold off on those treats! P.. If you have any nutritional labels from food packages that you would like to send in we will gladly take those off your hands for a mini-inquiry project!
-During the week on February 10-14 we will have many guests at Montrose! We will be celebrating the Arts through storytelling, drama and dance!
It’s pretty awesome being part of the Montrose community! #BAM!!
That’s it for now…but at things come up I will send you a Seesaw announcement complete with all the details you need to be “in the know”!
Until next time,
Danielle