Tag Archives: multiplication

April Snow…Just Has To Go!!

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Hi Everyone!

I’ve heard that April showers bring May flowers, but this April snow just has to go!! Anyone else think we’d have more signs of Spring by now? I had this nice picture in my mind that I’d go away for Spring Break and come back to puddles instead of snow hills. Oh well…it’ll happen when it happens I guess.

I enjoyed hearing about everyone’s breaks. Whether you went away or relaxed I’m sure it felt great to take a bit of a break. Now that we are back it seems impossible to think that there are less than 3 months before summer break begins. We have so much to learn and discover until then and we aren’t wasting any time!!

Here is a recap of last week!

-We started a new book called The Wild Robot (by Peter Brown)

We have mixed reviews about the book so far (we are about 100 pages in). Some kids are really enjoying it, some are waiting to get “hooked”, some have expressed that it isn’t their favourite. I’m so glad that kids are comfortable enough to share their true feelings. I am not offended nor do I take it personally if kids don’t love the books I choose to read to them. I’d love for every kid to fall in love with every book I read and recommend, BUT it just isn’t realistic. I do put a lot of thought into what I choose to read and the kids totally understand why I chose this one. Have them share what’s happening so far!!

-The grade 4 Book Club is in full swing. If you are having difficulty finding a copy of


please let me know and I’ll see what I can to do help. I think I’ve had a chance to reach out to all the kids from 123, but I know students from other classes were having some trouble finding a copy. We have 21 kids on our book club list! This is more than expected…so there is a bit of a book shortage in the city! Reminder: we meet once, on April 30, at lunch, to meet/eat and discuss the book!!

-Book Clubs with 122 and 126: This is part of the Ask Me question for this week (posted on Seesaw). We have 73 students split into 12 groups that are led by 6 adults! The students seem to be excited about doing these book clubs and let me tell you…I am too! We meet for an hour on Days 1 and 3, then can use a half hour on Day 5s as a work/‘ketchup’ time. Ask your child about the book they are reading, who is in their group and who their book club leader is, etc. We will meet until the end of May and this will replace our WTW sessions. Therefore there won’t be spelling words coming home on a regular basis anymore. We will be doing spelling in other formats for the rest of the year.

-Multiplication Fun: We’ve been having some fun with multiplication this week. Some of the work we’ve been doing includes crack the code puzzles, games and creating our own “colour by number” sheets (multiplication version). It’s a fun way to learn basic facts and students can work on facts at different paces and challenge themselves as they are ready. 2 digit multiplication will be next for those students who are ready. (Below is an example of the type of puzzle we’ve been doing, but is different from the actual puzzles we’ve been solving. It is one that I found online  from https://www.math-salamanders.com/).

-Earth Day Inquiry: I shop a clothing line called 10 Tree (Disclaimer: this is by no means an endorsement for 10 Tree) and was sent an email about an Earth Day initiative. The email was a really neat idea that I wanted to share with the kids. Turns out they liked it too. I’d like to share it with you as well because it serves as the inspiration for our next inquiry project. We are in the planning stage but hope to have our newest (interactive) bulletin board up and running soon!! We plan on using the following ideas (AND 8 more of our own) to inspire our school community to make a pledge and make a change for 30 days! We have been talking a lot about changes we’d like to see and how we also need businesses to make initiatives to help people to become more aware. #BeTheChangeYouWishToSeeInTheWorld

Ten Tree Pledge

-The Twitter!: I had many things to share via Twitter with the kids. We had a great time scrolling through my “likes” and seeing what happened around the Twitter world while we were on Spring Break!

-Book order was sent in on Friday and should arrive next week

What’s Coming Up Next!

-I am away on Monday morning for PD (but will still be in the building). We have a substitute who is new to the school and I expect to hear lovely things from her upon my return. Please show her a warm Montrose welcome 🙂 #BAM

-Swimming lessons for Grade 4s start on Wednesday. The kids are divided into two groups. Half of our class is going with 122 in the first session and the other half is going with 123 in the second session. The first group will eat lunch a per usual and the second group will eat lunch when they return. Please send your child to school with everything they will need for the pool. As for the grade 3s…we will think of something fun to do 😉

-We will try again with Genius Hour this week (also on Wednesday). Last week we had some challenges with remembering how to be active listeners and how to demonstrate expected behaviours. I look forward to seeing a positive change this week 😊

-Book Clubs will happen on Tuesday and Thursday morning (9:30-10:30)

 

-In the next few months we have a LOT of birthdays coming up. I’d just like to remind families of allergies that we have in the class and in the school. Please be mindful of kids with allergies as you decide if you’d like to bring in a treat to celebrate a birthday. We want all students to be able to take part in all class activities and student safety is our top priority. Bringing a birthday treat is not mandatory and many students do not bring in anything at all, so please do not feel like you have to send something in. We’ve also been talking a lot about products that have extra (wasteful) packaging and therefore we are encouraging families to consider this before providing a snack. We are challenging families to send in snacks that contribute as little waste as possible (which also relates to snacks with the most Heath benefits…fruit, vegetables, etc.). Thanks for your cooperation!

-Whiteout!!! Let’s support our Winnipeg Jets and wear white during the playoffs! Whether you are a hockey fan or not, you might feel yourself getting into the spirit that the community the Jets brings to our city. #GoJetsGo

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Until next time,

Danielle

Oh Deer!

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Hi!

I just had to share my view from my dining room window… (as well as get my Cherry WTW group to think about homophones!)

I ended up with 7 of them in the yard! It’s a nice view and reminds me of how serene it is out here BUT at the same tone I need to remember that too many deer can mean the addition of a scary predator! About two weeks ago a coyote ran through the yard! That was the first time a coyote has been in the yard (that I know of)…and hopefully the last! Studying animals and their habitats has me thinking about things differently. There is a reason that coyote was in the yard. Does it have something to do with a high deer population so close to the city, are they becoming less afraid of human activity, has there been a habitat loss and the coyotes are on the move?! I’m always on the search for tweets, photographs, cool facts, news stories, connections, human impact stories to share with the class. It is my hope that these types of conversations are happening in your home  as well 🙂

Here is a recap of last week at school…

-We spent an hour each day working in our Literacy Circle/Ecosystem groups with 122. Ask your child what’s he or she is studying and what they have learned so far! We will spend the next week finishing the book as well as the independent projects that go along with it. We have a fun art activity planned once we finish learning about the ecosystems!

-We still have about 7 more Green Screen projects to record and post. Thanks for your patience. We WILL get them all finished!

-We made it outside twice this week for gym class! It has been so beautiful and I love it so I’m crossing my fingers this forecast of a storm is incorrect…or perhaps it will miss us!

-We watched some videos and discussed multiplication and why we would make the change from addition to multiplication. Don’t worry if this is new for you. We will be doing lots of practice! I recommend listening to the Multiplication Mash Up that I posted to Seesaw the other day!

-We talked about Canada’s North in relation to art, culture, language, animals, climate, food, population, the creation of Nunavut and more! I love that we understand that people live in the North (despite the cold, the high cost of groceries, long and dark winters, the distance to large cities, etc.) because of culture and language. The culture of Canada’s North is unique, interesting and important. These are things that make people feel at home. It is important to pass on stories and traditions to keep culture alive. I have yet to travel anywhere in Northern Canada… but one day I will get there!

-Wednesday was Pink Shirt Day (Manitoba participates in two Pink Shirt campaigns each year). Kindness Matters. You Matter. We ALL Matter!

 

-We’ve had two Genius Hour presentations and they were both great! It sounds like more students are ready to present on Friday (our next Day 2)

We were treated to some amazing movies!!!

A working clock!!! How “time-ly” since we’ve been working on telling time!!

-MTYP performed The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Montrose! It’s so incredible that they can perform such detailed plays with only a few props, costumes and actors. Job well done MTYP!

The Library has new furniture! As our Library transitions to a Centre for Inquiry and Innovation you will begin to notice some changes! The new furniture arrived on Thursday and needs to last a long time. We talked about what we need to do as a school to care for this new equipment and use it as it is intended to be used!

-Ask me this weekend is to do another food log. This time we will try and follow the guidelines set out by Canada’s Food Guide. Choose one day (Saturday or Sunday) and eat well! Afterward, write a response in your Home Reading folder about this experience. I look forward to eating well and comparing the experience with everyone on Monday!

Link to Health Canada

What’s coming up next week?

-More Literacy Circles with 122 (all week, an hour a day)

-Yoga and Library on Monday!

-Thursday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. Something we will chat about 🙂

-Book orders are due this week

-Friday is Genius Hour (come prepared to work on your project)

-We will also start to prepare for Student Led Conferences…no hints quite yet 😉

-If the weather cooperates we will continue to go outside for gym on Days 2 and 6 (if not more!)

One last thing I wanted to share with you…

I came across these stats online (Jane Baird’s Twitter account @janebaird123) and wanted to talk to the kids about it.

I read to the kids daily (unless there is a conflict in schedule) and as I’ve said before…it is my FAVOURITE time with them. I can read books that are more challenging because we take the time to learn new vocabulary, to explain concepts, to make connections, etc. I get to model accuracy, how to self correct, fluency and expression. We have discussions that demonstrate comprehension. The kids learn from each other’s predictions, questions and wonderings. I let the kids relax. They don’t have to sit if they don’t want to. I want them to be comfortable, it’s how I like to be when I read. If you aren’t reading to your kids, I suggest you give it a try. They aren’t too old. They love it! They want you to read to them (I asked and there were many hands up!). Take turns reading or model reading like we do in school. Read a favourite you had as a child or find a new favourite together. There are so many impacts from reading (writing, vocabulary, spelling to name a few). If you aren’t already doing so…make time for daily reading 🙂

Have a great weekend and GoJetsGo!

Until next time,

Danielle

 

 

Recap & Looking Forward!

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Happy Saturday Everyone!

To catch you up on what went on last week…

-Festival: We were great (as you heard on the last post). I’m still trying to figure out how to post the second song. It doesn’t want to email such a large file. I’ll keep thinking!

-Folklorama: Our two presentations were super fun. The first one was about African music. We got to listen to many different instruments and songs, then we also got to play some instruments and sing and learn some dances! There were so many smiles going around…it was contagious! The second presentation was on the form of Chinese Martial Arts called Wushu. We had an instructor and one of his students demonstrate their craft. They were amazing. They moved so quickly and purposefully. After that they taught us some moves too. They announced that they brought prizes for 3 students who they felt were very focussed during our ‘lesson’. Two students from 123 won! Good job!!!! What a great way to learn and celebrate other cultures 🙂

-MTYP: On Friday afternoon we had the MTYP touring performance called Dib & Dob. This was an interesting play because…there was no English! The two main characters spoke a language that the two of them had made up. Some of the words were similar to English, but we had to use other clues to figure out what they were trying to say!

-Other: Our classroom is looking a bit different! The old SmartBoard is gone, new projector is being installed and the bulletin/whiteboard from the back of the room is now where the SmartBoard used to be! We are getting very excited to be able to try out our new technology! The research we’ve been doing for our country projects is paying off! We are now in the making and sharing of information stage! Flags are being put up, Lego figures of symbols are being created, and facts are being learned! We finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone!! I have been convinced to read the second book. It is interesting to see how excited the students are about the series. It was very fun to read and I hope the class enjoys the second one as much as the first. We will however read a book in between. One about human rights.

-Ask Me…Question: This week the question asks the students to share 3 things that happened this week. It was such a busy and exciting week that I thought it’d be nice to have a chat with our families about things that happened! *Now that it is March…can you please do the February reading graph at home 🙂

Looking Forward!

-This week will continue to work on our country projects. Some of the activities/stations we have planned are: Fast Facts (most are finished), Flags (we are about 2/3 finished), Lego symbols (1/5 finished), Food (making a local dish out of plasticine), Language (sharing how to say words and phrases), Postcard writing and Human Rights activities.

-We are going to finish our bridges with Murray on Tuesday afternoon!!! We are also going to construct another structure that we are creating for the purpose of testing strength! It will be an instant challenge, so we will need to think quickly!

-We will work though more multiplication facts! Most of the kids are really liking multiplication. After understanding that multiplication means ‘groups of’ and how multiplication can be represented, students enjoy learning their basic facts and like to share how quickly they can recall the facts!

Need more practice? Try coming up with a fact and represent it in these four ways (Commutative Property-“turn around fact”, Repeated Addition-using adding to represent multiplication, Groups of-use objects and put them into equal groups that match the fact, Array-an arrangement of objects in columns and rows that match the fact

-Canada 150: We are having our first Vertical Group activity day on March 9. We will find our who is in our group and which station we will start at. I’m looking forward to leading my station about Aboriginal Languages and excited to hear how the students in the other groups (Dance, Drama, Drumming) enjoy their experiences as well. Reminder that throughout the rest of the year all students in 123 will be part of all four Language and Culture stations.

-February is over…we should all be finished reading the I Love To Read Chapter books chosen by each student. Students were asked to read a new chapter book that they could do a little project on. These projects are starting this week! If you have not finished reading, please spend some time this week finishing up your book!

-We are going to do our final copies for the Narrative writing that we wrote awhile ago. This piece is meant to be published and shared at conferences. I am still missing a few narrative writing pieces. If I do not receive them ASAP then I will  not be able to edit the work and students will publish without teacher edits.

-Book orders are due this week. I am hoping that this order will not take as long as the last order did. It is very unusual for Scholastic to take more than a week (in my experience). Apologies to any inconveniences from the last order.

Have a great, great weekend!!!

Danielle