Tag Archives: ask me

Week 6

Happy Sunday!

Just a quick post before we all get settled in for this evening’s Jets game!!

Recap and Things to Come!

-We FINISHED The Problim Children! And yes…it left off having us wanting more! I have good news and not so good news! There is a sequel! BUT The Problem Children and the Formidable Foe doesn’t come out until February 19, 2019! Should we read it?!

The Ask Me question for this weekend is: Which character from The Problem Children do you most connect with and why?

Remember your options?

Sundae (Sunday), Mona (Monday), Toot (Tuesday), Wendell (Wednesday), Thea (Thursday), Frida (Friday) and Sal (Saturday).

I was born on a Saturday AND I really love outdoor stuff so I’d have to say that I’m most similar to Sal, although I felt a connection to Thea too.

-I think we are going to read another Natalie Lloyd book called The Key to Extraordinary!

-The CREATE-A-THON is coming!! We had our kick off assembly and I hope your children are in fundraising mode! Each time a student raises $30 s/he gets their name put in a draw for some spectacular prizes! The actual Create-a-Thon will take place this upcoming Thursday (October 18), but you have 2 weeks to get all your pledges in! Good luck team Room 123!

-Murray still requires small boxes for the Create-a-Thon. I’ve noticed Kleenex boxes, cracker boxes and even cereal boxes. Have some to donate? Either have your child bring the boxes into the class or drop them off in the library with the others!

-We have completed our first round of Common Learning Times! It’s been a lot of fun, so much fun actually that we are sticking with the theme of learning as a 3/4 team and starting book clubs tomorrow (Monday)! We will be looking at non fiction books as we learn about light and sound!

-We have been writing some incredible stories about out driftwood art pieces! Next week we will work on our final copies and then we will be ready to reveal them to you via Seesaw! These are narrative pieces with a focus on word choice. Our final copies will give us the chance to practice our best printing! We can’t wait to share them!

-We are half way through WALK-tober! Thanks to all the students and parents who joined our walking school bus last week. Lori and I have decided to continue the “bus” for the rest of the month. October 31 will be our last walking day. Don’t live on our route? You could drop off your child if that works for you! The walking school bus is for all students in the school (not just the 3/4s). Parents may choose to walk with us or just drop off their children. Our largest group is 13 students…can we beat that?! Let’s see!

-The October book order is due this week. If you are wanting to make an order, please do so soon!

-This week is Waste Reduction Week!!

We will spend some time each day talking about the impact waste has on our lives and what we can do to make more positive impacts!

-There is no school on Friday!

Week 4

Hello Families!

The final weekend in September…how did it get here so quickly?!

We’ve been pretty busy over the past few weeks. Take a look at some of the things we’ve been working on!

-Read Aloud: We’re about half way through The Problem Children and we are eager to see what happens next!

-ELA: We’ve been focussed on our Letters to Danielle and working with Rooms 122 and 126 for our Common Learning Time. Over the past week we have been working on spelling high frequency words properly. We will continue to meet with our groups this upcoming week and then decide if we want to do one more week before assessing what we have learned.

-Math: We have Common Learning Time with 122 and 126 for Math too! Each group has been focusing on the concept of Place Value. Here is a great video explaining place value…with one exception: it is American and therefore they are using commas. Just ignore that and you’ll find a great explanation! The students have all seen this before, but it’s worth a second or third viewing if students need it.

Mathantics-Place Value Video

-Integrated Inquiry: We have been working with Murray with our “Pre Genius Hour” brainstorming. The kids will finish their sharing with him next week and we will be one step closer to choosing a project! We did a mini Genius Hour session today as we are thinking of ways to get us to Assiniboine Forest more often! We are thinking about the cost of the bus fare and what our alternatives could be. Our driftwood art pieces have been put on hold…just until next week! We have officially completed our Inquiry Log  covers, photos to come soon!

What do you see in these pieces of wood? An animal perhaps?!

-Friluftsliv: We had an amazing morning in the forest! The damp weather did NOT dampen our spirits! I hope you enjoyed the photos on Seesaw. Each student chose their own photos to share with you and recorded their own message about the field trip. We can’t wait to take them back to Assiniboine Forest! We’ve been pretty good about getting out to enjoy nature throughout September! Let’s see what October brings!!

  

 

-Terry Fox Run: We made it back from the forest just in time for our Terry Fox Run! Thank you for sending in your donations. It’s amazing to see Terry’s legacy live on.

-Orange Shirt Day: #EveryChildMatters. Today we read the Orange Shirt book. It is about a young girl named Phyllis and her experience within a Residential School. We had many discussions about Truth and Reconciliation today. Please feel free to continue the conversation at home.

Orange Shirt Day Video

What’s happening this upcoming week/month?!?

-We are calling this month WALK-tober and are asking families to walk to school! We will track how many students arrive at school by ‘foot’ (not by car or bus)! This bulletin board is looking a bit bare! I need your help! If anyone is up for it, can you create something to add to our board? It should ‘match’ the theme, and that’s about my only criteria!

-We will continue to work on our mindfulness practice. Taking a few minutes at 1:00 to resettle, refocus and spend a few moments actually “in the moment” has been great for the students.

-After seeing a neat post on Twitter, we have decided to get a class pumpkin and write the things we are thankful for. We have so many things to be grateful for. It is important to take the time and remember that.

-School picture day is on October 9!

-On Monday we are going to fill in our October calendar so we are all “in the know”. Please ensure that all purple folders are sent in on Monday so we can add the calendar to them. I think as a class we can do a better job at using our folders each day-you never know when we are going to send a note home. The folders will help us be more organized. IF your child needs a reading log please have them pick one up. Reminder: they can be found in the bottom of the mailboxes!

This week’s Ask Me question is…to talk about 3 highlights of the week. Please leave an oral or written comment on Seesaw below the Ask Me post.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy these last few days of September!

Until next time,

Danielle

Week 2!

Hello Everyone!

Week 2 is in the books! I hope everyone feels a little more settled in their routines and is finding some time to relax this weekend!

Here is a recap of last week!

-We started our new Question of the Day morning routine! Each day a question is posted for the students to answer. It should only take a few minutes to do, but I feel like it might help with developing a morning routine that prepares us for the school day. Before the students start to answer their question they get unpacked and settled. So far…we have been doing better than ANY other class I have taught with bringing the purple Communication Folders (aka Home Reading). Keep up the good work!! FYI-in case your child has not shared it with you…we have filled out our September calendar. Please check it over for important dates and feel free to add anything you think we may have missed OR something that is important for you as a family to remember!

-We are on a roll with The Problim Children! I love it when students ask if I could read for longer or ask me to read for a second time in the same day! There are so many benefits to reading to your child. These kids are NOT too old to be read to. They love it. It is a great opportunity to model what good readers do, to teach/learn new vocabulary and discuss comprehension 🙂

-We are getting the hang of those Number Puzzles! If you are finding the Puzzle Helpers (at home practice) a challenge, please let me know. I’m here to help!

-Back by popular demand….zentangles (images created by repeated patterns)! Each year I attempt to do something different for the Inquiry Log covers and I am outvoted! I am very excited for these projects to be finished. They are all going to be amazing and unique. BUT you’ll have to wait until Meet the Teacher night to see them!!!

New to zentangles? Here are some examples!

-It is International Dot Day today (Saturday!). They say Dot Day is September 15ish…because it is more important to celebrate the message than to celebrate on the actual day! “Just make a mark and see where it takes you”. I love it! We often talk about Dot Day in the form of art, but it can really be about anything! Take a risk, try something new, test out an idea…see what happens!

Dot Day Song

-I attended the Manitoba Nature Summit with Lori on Friday/Saturday. We had the BEST time learning about the importance of outdoor play, free play, even ‘risky’ play. We heard from some excellent keynote speakers and even participated in a mini forest school session. We have so many ideas to bring to Montrose…stay tuned for exciting news!

         

What’s Happening This Week?!

-It’s the Terry Fox Run @Assiniboine Park this Sunday (tomorrow). Registration begins at 8:30 and the walk/run begins at 9:30. Since I am already registered I won’t be there too early, but Hudson and I will be there rain or shine. We’d love to see you there too!!!

-No School on Monday

-We are beginning some common work times with 122 & 126 this week. During these common working times students will be in mixed groupings and may or may not be working in 123 (with em). We really enjoy working together as a 3/4 team and find that the students create a great bond with one another when we use this approach. Each term we change the groupings so the students can work with a variety of other students and teachers too!

-We will finish our zentangles and start another art project as well! Earlier this week I had asked for driftwood for our next project. If you were able to find any, could you please send it in on Tuesday for us? Thanks!!

-On Tuesday we have a special presentation from Ms Mary! Mary is from the Green Action Centre. She will be doing about 8 presentations for us throughout the year. Each presentation has an environmental focus to help us become more aware and more educated to make more environmentally friendly choices! Our first talk will be about Littlerless Lunches!

-The 21 students (7 from each room) that were randomly selected for the farm field trip will be away on Wednesday, September 19. Please dress for the weather and pack a lunch. Again, if your child is not coming to the farm, he/she will be going on a different field trip later this year. Once details have been finalized I will let you know what we will be doing/where we are going! Lori and I are going to the farm with the kids. The rest of the 3/4 students will be doing something fun too…any guesses?!

-Book orders will be submitted on Thursday. Thanks for the orders so far! Once I order it will take 1-2 weeks for the books to arrive. *Is anyone interested in being my book order helper? The task consists of putting together the orders once a month. It is an “at home” job. Let me know if you want to help us out with that!

-Monday, September 24 is Meet the Teacher night! Order forms for pizza were sent home on Friday (with the oldest sibling). I am looking forward to chatting with you whether you are new or returning to the 123 community!

-The Ask Me question is now up! Please let me know via typed or oral comment what you have done to connect with nature this weekend! Haven’t been outside yet?! There is still lots of time 🙂

Until next time,

Danielle

First Week of the 2018-2019 School Year!

Hello Families of Room 123!

If you have been part of the Summer Book Club and are not in Room 123 you may want to unsubscribe from the blog now! You are more than welcome to stay part of our community, just know that most of what is posted will be about what is happening in 123! I will be in communication with families of students who have read the book about an upcoming celebration:)

Well we made it through the first few days of school! It’s hard to believe that I’m back to blogging for a new school year! As I type I have my sidekick sitting with me…I’m thinking about changing my name to Blog With My Dog! I guess she just wants in on the action!

Here is a little overview of our first week!

-We got used to our new classroom community, including welcoming 3 new friends to our school

-We started our first read aloud book!

-We learned a new word ‘friluftsliv’…it’s a Norwegian term for “open air living”. More to come about friluftsliv…it’s going to be great! We are going to see how many days we can spend time outside throughout the school year and track that! Any predictions?!

-The Communication Folders were sent home. Please send the folders back each day. If there is a note for me, students will place their folder in the “Hand In Bin” and if not, they will put the folders straight in their personal mailbox. If there are notes to go home we will put them in the mailbox and the students will add them to the communication folder before they go home. It is an attempt to keep everything a little more organized! Also-due to a lack in full class participation of book logging we are asking students/families to let us know if you want the logging sheets. Students are asked to write a book recommendation each time they finish reading a book. We will add the recommendations to our classroom book recommendation binder for the kids to use when they are stuck on what they should read next. Need an example of a recommendation? Let me know!

-The Number Puzzle Helper books have been sent home. We have similar books at school that we will work on, so these books are just for at home practice as you see fit. Try to do one per week. These puzzles may be new to your child. The grade 3s did an example with me on Friday and we will do another one together this upcoming week. The new grade 4s worked with a buddy on Friday and can do this again or see me with their next puzzle

-We have completed our first 3 writing assessments and our spelling inventory! The students were troopers during this assessment time!

-The September book order has been sent home. Orders are due by September 20. Ordering online is the easiest method for me, but I am more than willing to submit your order for you as well

-Ask Me question is up on Seesaw! The question is: “Ask me to comment about the first week of school!” You can have your child comment using your parent account. He/she can type a comment or record a comment. I love reading/hearing the comments. Great job! Aren’t on Seesaw yet? Please see me for your personalized QR code and an overview of how it works! Please note that the QR code works for more than one family member.

 

What’s Happening Next Week?

-More reading, more writing, more math, more friluftsliv, more fun!

-Information about an upcoming field trip will be sent home

-I will be away on Friday to attend the MB Nature Summit (Friday and Saturday)

-Sunday is the Terry Fox run! Hudson and I will be there! Let me know if you and your family plan on attending. It would be awesome to get a group picture taken before the walk/run!

Terry Fox Run Assiniboine Park

I hope you all are ready for a really great year in Room 123!

Until next time,

Danielle

Sunday Funday!

Hi Everyone!

Happy Father’s Day to the dads reading this post AND Happy Marathon Day to all of our runners! I hope you’ve all had a happy weekend, regardless of what you’ve been up to!

Me?! I’m at the lake…still! Ms V will be holding down the fort tomorrow and I’ll see you all on Tuesday 😊

Here’s a glimpse of the week that has just passed and what’s in store for the week ahead!

-Family Life/Health is now over for the year! The kids did a great job, whether they were with Helen (grade 4) or with me (grade 3). The grade 3s did their final ‘project’ by using drama to perform a skit about one of the safety topics we’ve talked about!

-We are getting close to being half way through The Wild Robot Escapes! Don’t worry…we’ll finish with time to spare!

-The book orders are on their way! Any books that have been ordered should arrive by Friday!

-Thanks for all the great fraction comments from the Ask Me question last weekend! You have no assigned Ask Me question this weekend and with only 10 days of school left you actually will have just one last Ask Me question! Stay tuned for your final question next weekend!!!

-We have been on a roll with the Seesaw posts! The outdoor observation photos and reflections are done, the plant reflections are done (and plants have been sent home), safety skits are done and many students have also finished their post about Field Day! I love that you get a peek at what we do at school and in an instant can be connected with us!! We adore getting comments from parents 😊

-You’ve received your field trip notice so this is just a reminder about our visit to Assiniboine Park taking place Wednesday, June 20. Please make sure your child is prepared to be outdoors for the day…the forecast is looking to be in our favour! I have one parent who can come for part of the day. Anyone else interested?! Let me know ASAP!!

-Friday is Fun Lunch. I can’t remember the cut off date for orders, but it must be coming soon. Have you handed yours in?!

-All library books are now due. If you have not returned  your books yet…please “due” so now (sorry, I couldn’t help myself! 😉)

-I’m still reading the Endling, but it’s looking good as our Summer Book Club choice! Next weekend I’ll post instructions about how to join!

Have a great week!

Until next time,

Danielle

We Belong at Montrose!

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope the students have been able to share about their experiences from the We Belong Vertical Group sessions we’ve had this year. Yesterday was the wrap up assembly and unveiling of our new Montrose Treaty!  Even though I wasn’t there to experience everything, I was able to get a feel for the morning thanks to a parent who has sent photos and videos of the assembly 🙂 Room 123, you did a great job leading the Round Dance.

Montrose Belonging Tree

Montrose Treaty

-It was presentation day for Book Clubs! Ms V sent me a few pictures, but I can’t wait to hear all about it!

-Ms V also told me that our art display is up! That’ll be a beautiful surprise when I walk into the room on Monday morning! Ms V has been a super substitute for us this week and this whole year <3

-We are about 60 pages into our final read aloud of the year: The Wild Robot Escapes! 4 students who recently purchased the book have been bringing their copies in and following along as we read. If anyone else is interested in doing that, please do!

-I’ve picked up two selections for our Summer Book Clubs! I am almost finished previewing the first one called Family of Spies: Paris by Jodi Carmichael. It’s a great story and since the author is from Winnipeg there are many details that are Winnipeg related! The only problem is…the rating I found online was for ages 8-13 (which is a pretty big range). I’d say this book is more Grade 5+. There are some pretty challenging words, a lot of French words and names of buildings and the topic of World War II is more detailed than I think most of the students are ready for. That being said, I think a few of the students would be ready for the content and would really love it. If you’d like to borrow it from me then please ask! It will NOT be our Summer Book Club choice!

-Our other option is called Endling: The Last by Katherine Applegate. She has written some of our favourite read aloud books over the past few years (The One and Only Ivan, Crenshaw and Wishtree to name a few). I will preview this book to make sure it’s age appropriate. Once a decision has been made I’ll let you know and students can decide if they’d like to join!

In case you are new to our Sunmer Book Club here’s what you need to know!

-We use the blog as a tool to communicate about the book

-I’ll post a reading schedule for us to follow and some ideas for talking points

-The kids will post their thoughts each week (as often as they can)

-In September we will do a wrap up event at school!

All students in the school are welcome to read with us. Parents may also choose to do this as a read aloud if they feel like the book is too challenging for their child to read independently. The beauty of the blog is that we can read and communicate from anywhere! Last year I posted from the lake and Mr. Stefaniuk posted from Australia! Stay tuned for more details!

Our plants are growing…for the most part! There are still a few that haven’t sprouted, but don’t give up hope! Maybe rethink what your plant needs. Are you giving it too much water? Not enough? Too much sunlight? Not enough? Do a little research and see what you can find! I’m thinking that plants will be sent home this week. The kids want them to stay BUT the reality is that we need to start finishing projects and getting organized for summer! We only have 3 weeks left of school!

-Speaking of which: We are headed to Assiniboine Park on Wednesday, June 20! Our plan is similar to our Gimli trip last year. Things will not be over scheduled. The kids will have choice of what they want to do and how much time they want to spend doing it. Options may include-organized games, kites, guided meditation, walk/exploration, drawing, reading, drama, etc. If you are interested in joining us for the day (or part of the day) please let me know. We can accommodate many volunteers since we will be at the park. We just ask that you can take your own mode of transportation so we don’t have to worry about space on the bus!

-It’s also Field Fay this week on Thursday! Please be ready to spend the morning (I believe) outside! Mr. Strachan has been planning some fun events for you to enjoy!

-I’m sending the book order in this week (on Monday). If you’re thinking about making one last order please do so sooner than later!! We want to make sure the orders come in before school is out!

-The Ask Me question this week is posted on Seesaw and is about fractions! Post a comment or send me a picture of a ‘real life fraction’ you’ve encountered over the weekend!

We used these measuring spoons when making pancakes! These are all fractions of tablespoons and teaspoons that can be used for cooking! Need to double a recipe? Can you use a differed measuring spoon to accommodate the new fraction?!

-Don’t forget about our June Kindness Calendar! Have a great weekend practicing mindfulness and playing outside!

Have a great weekend:)

Until Next Time,

Danielle

And Just Like That…It’s June!

Hello Everyone & Happy Saturday!

Last week seemed to go by impossibly quick! Sadly, I think that is going to be the norm for the remainder of the school year 🙁

Here is what happened lsat week at school and what will be happening this week!

Book Clubs: The end is near! We have a work period on Monday, a rehearsal for our presentations on Wednesday and then our final presentations on Friday! We will be making some final decisions about how to proceed with our Drama sessions and then let the kids know what to expect!

Math Groups: We are working on fractions and how we use fractions in our everyday lives! We are counting by 1/2s, 1/3s, 1/4s and 1/10s and also doing compatible fractions. For example: If I ate 1/2 of a pie, what fraction did I not eat? (In other words what fraction do you need to get to one whole). Or 4/10 of the kids in the class were away today, what fraction of the kids were at school? The progression of compatible numbers continues! First we needed to learn compatible numbers (number pairs) to 10, then 20, then 50, then 100 and now fractions!

Mathantics Fractions are Parts

IF you are still challenged by recalling or determining compatible numbers to the whole numbers I listed above…please practice! It is so helpful with addition and subtraction in mental math if you know those number pairs.

1+9=10        9+1=10

2+8=10       8+2=10

3+7=10      7+3=10

4+6=10     6+4=10

5+5=10

*Use those facts to help you with 20! 50! 100!

If you know that 2+8=10, then 12+8=20 and 22+28=50 and 32+68=100

Use the number pairs for 10 to get you to the next group of 10 (22+8=30 and then think about what you need to get from 30 to 50 which is 20 so 22+28=50).

Practice for a few minutes each day!

“Let’s do compatible numbers to 50” “I have X, you have?” and your child will determine the fact that is missing. Example: If you have “34” and you are looking for the missing added to 50. On paper this would look like 34+?=50.

We are still asking that families practice skip counting at home if your child isn’t able to skip count fluently. If they are having to stop and think by counting on, then they need more practice. Students should be able to fluently count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s. 6s, 7s, 8s and 9s may still be developing.

Once your child is able to count then they are ready for multiplication fact practice. If you have flashcards then pull those out and practice for a few minutes each day. You can split them into piles of “mastered” and “still working on” or see how many they can get in a given time and compare each day, etc. Turn it into a game!

You can do the same things with division facts. We’ve made the connection that division facts are the commutative property for multiplication facts! If you know 3×4=12 you also know that 4×3=12, 12/3=4 and 12/4=3 🙂

Uptown Funk Multiplication Song

Multiplication Rap (x2 or x3)

3 Times Table Song

4 Times Table Song

5 Times Table Song

6 Times Table Song

7 Times Table Song

8 Times Table Song

Read Aloud: We finished Wishtree! It was a lovely story about friendship and belonging. I hope the kids have talked about the story at home. It got a “slow clap” from the kids when I finished reading, so I think that means they liked it! We will be starting our final read aloud book for the year…The Wild Robot Escapes! If you already own the book  you are welcome to bring it in and follow along as I read!

Compost Presentation! Ms Mary came to school on Friday to teach us about composting and soil. She was very enthusiastic and passionate about the subject. Compost is something that I’ve been thinking about lately and she definitely provided us with great information.

I am hoping that next year we take on composting at school!

Plants: Our plants are growing! We will let them grow for another week at school and then think about sending them home! Some of the plants will need to leave their Ziploc bag home and be planted in a container that will give them more room to grow! I love it when the kids come racing in to the window to see if their plant has grown overnight! We worked with a partner and compared two plants using a Venn Diagram. This way we could see how the plants were similar and different. Our “classroom pets” are growing too! Well…some of them! We are learning about which of the growing environments we created are best suited for pumpkin seeds 🙂

We will wrap up our Observation Station with 122 & 126 this week. We’ve observed and documented the same spot outside since there was still snow on the ground! It will be super neat to pull all our pictures and notes together to see how our nature spots have changed with the change of season.

Volunteer Tea: Thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers for making helping out in so many ways. It means a lot to have connections between home and school 🙂

*Due to the performers at the Volunteer Tea we will have to change Genius Hour to this week. I’ll do some planning and let the kids know on Monday when a good time will be. I’m thinking about Thursday as of now.

Family Life/Health: We have met twice and will have two more lessons this upcoming week and two more after that.

*Book order is due on June 11so we have enough time to get those final orders in!

This week will we also do more learning about provinces (hint-there will be a connection to our upcoming Drama activities!), do an art project about provincial flowers, get back to our outdoor education (I regrettably let the weather dictate a few days of not going outside) and create a giant kindness calendar for the whole school! This is part of your Ask Me question for the weekend: Through Seesaw send me an idea of what we can add to our calendar to inspire our school community to show kindness to themselves, others and the earth. This idea came from the calendar below that we found in the copy room at school. Now we want to make a kid/family friendly one instead!

Have a nice weekend 🙂

Until next time,

Danielle

Sunday Funday!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I’m sure the beautiful weather got many of you outdoors! It’s hard to believe that it has been so hot already and it’s still only May!

Here’s a little recap of last week at school

-Outdoor Classroom Day! We spent day outside doing mostly what we do inside, with the exception of technology! Some of the kids loved it, some liked it and some would rather spend a shorter time outside (like we are doing for our 30 for 30). It. Was. Hot! Which was part of the reason some kids didn’t love it (and why some did)! It’s important for us to get outside regardless of the weather. We can’t spend 5 months inside because it’s too cold…or 3 months in br sure it’s too hot! We just need to adjust to the weather! On Tuesday we moved around to find shade, took a break inside for lunch and choir and made sure to drink plenty of fluids. The community clean up and seed planting seemed to be on the list of favourite activities. Thank you to the 3/4 team for taking on this outdoor adventure. A big thank you to the students who are self proclaimed “not outdoorsy people” for not only participating, but making the most of their day

-Our seeds are starting to sprout! Stay tuned via Seesaw to watch the growth process! As the kids notice changes they will snap a photo and label it with any important information and add it to their Seesaw portfolio. This is a great way to talk about this experiment at home!

-We have another growing experiment happening at school! This is also your Ask Me question for the weekend! Together we brainstormed different places to  grow plants in the room where the amount of sunlight would vary and provide different watering options for our pumpkin seeds. We have settled on 6 different ideas and now you need to make a prediction and comment what seeds you think will have the best growth (via the Seesaw post). We have charts up around the room to track the watering schedule and growth. This should be fun!!

-Our Book Clubs are almost over!! We will finish reading/making this week and then share our experiences and recommendations with the other groups. Groups that are making iMovie trailers will have their video posted to Seesaw as they are finished. What a fantastic app! The kids are doing a great job creating the trailers and making the connection that it’s actually the technology version of writing a book recommendation!

-Divide and Conquer! We are working through division, fractions and decimals right now! These are often the concepts that students “fear” the most…until we get going. Then they realize that we use these skills in our everyday lives and that knowing how to add/subtract/multiply and understanding place value all really help! However, some students are realizing that not having recall for the multiplication facts is affecting their speed for learning the basic facts for division. By now we should be able to recall the facts for 2 to 20, 5 to 50, 10 to 100, 3 to 30 and 4 to 40. The students may still be developing the answers for the remaining facts, but they should be able to determine them using a strategy they know. Take a few minutes each day to listen to your child skip count or do flashcards. It’s will help with their confidence 😊

What’s happening this week?!

-Family Life is starting! You all should have received a note to give you the heads up. Helen is working with the grade 4s and I will be working with the grade 3s. In grade 3 we will talk about personal safety and families. The grade 4s will learn about growth and development in changing bodies.

-We Belong Vertical Groups #3! Our final session will happen on Tuesday! The students will rotate to whichever activity they haven’t done yet. I believe our cluster will be going to the treaty activity.

-We will continue our daily edits, listen to Wishtree and post our May reading and writing samples. It will also be days 23-27 of our 30 for 30 challenge!!

-The 30 day environmental pledges should be completed by now. We will be checking in with the school and community to ask if they’ve completed their pledge and then take our posters down. We generated a lot of interest and many important conversations. Well done 123!!

That covers it for this week! I’m sad not to be ending this post with a #GoJetsGo but our team has a great season and we will be ready for a new run to the cup for 2019!

Until next time,

Danielle

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, close friends and anyone who fills a motherly role in your life. I am so lucky to have some of these people around me since my own mom lives in another province. The ladies at work take care of me by giving advice, bringing me homemade treats and even helping take out pesky stains in my clothes. It takes a village to raise a child…even one who is grown up already! We honour, respect and love you…not only today, but EVERYDAY! I hope you all enjoy your homemade gift and can see the thought and care your child has put into making it for you. Enjoy your day! I’m also lucky to be a puppy mama to my fur baby who is so loyal that she lays beside me as I type this blog post!

 

We have a very busy week ahead of us and I hope everyone takes the time to read this and make sure you are “in the know”!

Let’s get started:)

-Monday: I am away in the morning and Ms V will be in. In the afternoon it is our “Rooftop Photo”. An email was sent home asking students to wear Jets clothing or white or blue. We encourage everyone to join in on the theme! It is also game day, so I’ll be wearing a jersey! If you are enjoying wearing Jets gear/white/blue on game days please continue to do so!

-Tuesday: It’s Bike Rodeo day. A pink note was sent home last week giving you details about a bike safety presentation from MPI (see below)

On Tuesday the Destination Imagination (DI) group is presenting their challenge project to the school! We will be going with 122 to see their incredible display of the 4Cs first thing in the morning (9:10). This is also a last effort for fundraising. Students are asked to bring in a donation if possible. Thanks!

-Wednesday: It’s Conscious Kindness Day! On this day the United Way is asking people to pay it forward through random acts of kindness to show how compassion for each other in an effort to make healthy communities.

What will you do today?

-Greet people with a good morning or a kind gesture?

-Do something extra (chore, classroom clean up, community clean up, etc.)

-Make someone a card, write a letter, draw a picture?

-Talk or play with someone new or someone you haven’t connected with for awhile?

There are countless ways to be kind. Kindness is free, so everyone can do it! Need some inspiration? Check out this amazing Superhero!

-Thursday: This is our second round of “We Belong Vertical Groups”. On this day the kids from our group (123,124,125 and Nursery) will rotate to another activity and we (the teachers) will do our dance activity with a different group of students.

-Friday: We are becoming an OUTDOOR CLASSROOM today! The students wrote me a letter trying to persuade me to do the all day outdoor class event/plant day combination and they won! Well actually we all win! We did a full day outside last year to celebrate the 30 day challenge and it was great. I am excited to be doing this year’s full day outside with Room 122 and 126!!

Here are some of the planned activities (based on the ideas from the letters)

-Math (we have a scavenger hunt type activity planned)

-Planting (two different stations)

  1. Pumpkins: Each student will take a pumpkin seed home after we plant them at school!
  2. You will plant a seed of your choice! We have talked about this in class and here is what you need to know: Instead of us all planting the same type of seed and watching them grow at school we want the students to each choose something that they are interested in! We will go through the Scientific Method as the seeds grow and learn more about many types of plants instead of just one. *This means that each student will need to bring in the following items BEFORE Friday: a ‘seed’ of their choice. This can be from a package, from a fruit or vegetable (could be part of the vegetable if you want) or from a flower. Please do some research before choosing your seed so you will know if it needs direct sunlight, less sunlight, little water, lots of water, how long it is expected to take to grow, etc. Write down some of these important details (including the name of your plant in your home reading folder) so we can transfer that to our tracking sheets. You will also need to bring in a small Ziploc bag to plant your seed in. We prefer that the bag has been previously used and washed out (but that is not required). We will provide the soil (unless there is something very specific you need!). Students who do not bring in a seed will be given seeds at school, they will just not have as much choice as I will only have a few different types for them to choose from.

-Read to Self/Read to Someone

-Phys Ed (just need to confirm that with Mr Strachan)

-Meditation

-French (just need to confirm that with Madame)

-Community Clean Up (walk through the neighbourhood to pick up trash/recycling). I notice so many straws when I go for my lunchtime walk with Helen….AHHHHH

-Observation Station with your team from 122 and 126

-and…FREE EXPLORATION TIME

How is that for a Friday?! If the forecast looks undesirable we will let families know if our outdoor classroom day will be postponed via Seesaw.

***If you want to spend the day with us please do so! Just let me know, we’d love to have you!!!

 

I think that covers it! I’m looking forward to a really great week!

P.S. Happy Birthday Manitoba!

Until next time,

Danielle

#GoJetsG

 

Cinco De Mayo!!!!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I hope that you find time to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful spring weather this weekend! Let us know what you’ve been up to via the Ask Me question on Seesaw or the Home Reading folder!

We have completed the first ten days of our 30 outdoor challenge at school!! We’ve been lucky to have had some gorgeous weather but let’s be honest…I think we need some rain to help get the dusty streets and sidewalks under control! Reminder: there is no school on Monday so Day 11 of our outdoor learning will not take place until Tuesday!

Tuesday is also our 3rd running club meeting. As you know, we’ve decided to change things up and have run club in the mornings this year (8:10 on Tuesdays and Thursdays). We have had about 40 kids join us so far but would love even more! This run club is about developing/maintaining a healthy lifestyle and getting some fresh air. Being outside before school has actually helped those of us involved get a great start to the day! It’s not too late to join! Students in the run club in grades 4-6 do not have to participate in the Fit Run in June. So if that’s holding you back…don’t worry. You can be new to running to join or you can also walk and work your way up to running. Parents: Thank you for joining us! You don’t need to commit to coming each session or even each week. You can choose to help supervise, you can walk or you can run. We’ve had at least 5 parents out to each session so far and we really love the community feel that it creates having students, parents, daycare and teachers out together. We hope to see you soon!!!

Here’s a recap of last week at school!

-We finished A Boy Called Bat and have started a new book called The Wishtree. On Friday we actually sat outside our window near a tree which might just become our very own Wishtree! I also finished pre-reading The Wild Robot Escapes and have decided (by request) that it will become our next (and possibly final) read aloud choice. Some students have already chosen to purchase and read their own copy of the book and are aware that there was a chance I’d be reading it to the class. Those students are welcome to bring in their copy and read along with me when the time comes!

-The grade 4 book club was a success. We had 20 kids join us!! I think we have time for one more book… then it’ll be summer book club time! We will let the grades 4-6 kids know ASAP about the book choice and the meet/eat/treat time. Grade 3s you will get your chance at a book club in the summer. That one will be open to all students (tell your friends in the other classrooms) 🙂

-Book Clubs with 122 and 126 are going well too! We will finish our books by the end of the month and present a maker piece to the other groups. After that…we will keep this time slot to do some drama!!

-We have been doing a daily edit to help develop editing skills. Each morning the students are greeted by a message on the board. It’s a letter that outlines what is taking place on that day. They get a chance to fix an error before the announcements begin. After the announcements we finish up any corrections as a class until the letter makes sense. The kids love being detectives! Give it a try at home! We are looking for: uppercase letters in the correct spots, punctuation, homophones, contractions and spelling of commonly used words.

Looking for a weekend edit?! Copy this out (be mindful of proper letter formation) and bring it to school on Tuesday. Good luck finding all the errors!

-Multiplication is going pretty well. Some students would benefit from at home practice of skip counting and basic facts. This can be done anywhere and anytime! Out for a walk or in the car or during the intermission of the Jets game…just ask some questions! Example: skip count by 4s to 40, name the doubles facts to 20+20, explain how any factor multiplied by 4 is related to doubles, use flashcards, etc. Throw in some addition/subtraction/compatible numbers too!! This will all help to develop recall and 5 minutes if regular practice can go a long way 🙂

-Our first We Belong Day with our vertical teams was great! We (123,124,125 and PM Nursery) listened to a great story, did some dancing with Mrs. Silk and then wrote down a word that described how dancing made us feel! Next time the kids will change stations and the teachers will repeat the same activity with a new group of students! Great job on remembering to wear clothing that reflected who you are. We loved hearing all the stories about why you chose your outfit 🙂

What’s happening this week/month?!

-May 17 is Outdoor Classroom Day and May 18 is Planting Day so we are thinking of combining these two themes and spending the day outside (Friday, May 18). Any ideas?! We have some ideas but would love to hear what you’re thinking!

-This week we will choose our plant/soil/environment inquiry topic. I will be asking the students to write down their top 5 wonderings and we will go from there!

-We will also continue our research on provinces and territories

-Monday is Day 2 and because there is no school there is also no Genius Hour. I’m thinking about giving the kids time on Friday instead. There are a number of students/groups ready to present their work. So we will make time for that and for a work period as well

-Don’t forget to get your book order in if you plan on making an order this month. I’ll be sending that in this week. After that you’ll have one more chance to order before summer!

-As many of you already know, Murray is taking a team of Grade 6 students to the Global Finals for Destination Imagination!! If you are interested in supporting this exciting opportunity please visit the GoFundMe page below!

I think that’s all for today! Enjoy your weekend!

#GoJetsGo

Until next time,

Danielle