Wednesday, November 20

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. In the morning, the class was so quiet and focused as we wrote sentences for our spelling words and finished up work from earlier in the week. In math, we learned the "Arrays" strategy for multiplication, which basically involves creating a grid arrangement to represent a multiplication problem. 

The arrays strategy isn't particularly fast, but it is reliable, and it helps lay the foundations for understanding the concept of "area". 

We read some more of Wish Tree, and met "Samar", one the book's main characters. 

In Science, we re-watched a Bill Nye episode about the Earth's crust. The last time we'd watched it had been during snack, and students were only half paying attention, but this time we paused throughout the video and had some good discussions.

We ended the day with Daily LA and Music.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, November 19

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today.

In the morning, we learned about commas, and how to effectively use them in writing. There are actually a ton of different ways to use commas, so today, we just focused on "If", "When", and time-based sentences. For example:

"If you like Sylvster Stalone, you should watch The Expendables"

"When you go out, don't forget to lock the door"

"In the morning, I eat breakfast".

The students wrote their own sentences to practice.

This morning, we also used the Stamp Game (which has really emerged as the favourite) to solve 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication problems, using repeated addition. This material is great for building a foundational understanding of the multiplication algorithm.

In the afternoon, we did some science work with a big tray of dirt. The students took soil samples and use loupe magnifiers to look closely at all of the components - they observed roots, minerals, wood chips, dead plants, and even ants. Then, we used the same dirt tray to model the process of 'erosion' and how flowing water can change a landscape. 

We ended our day by reading Wish Tree.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, November 18

 Hi parents,

We had a bit of a loud and unruly day today, even after spending lots of time outside in the morning.

We learned the 'repeated addition' strategy in multiplication. This basically just involves adding a number to itself over and over again. It's a good introductory strategy for 2-digit by 1-digit multiplication, because you can solve a problem like "24 x 4 = ___" simply by adding 24 + 24 + 24 + 24. This addition isn't any more difficult than what we've already covered, but the potential to carry a number other than '1' might throw students off.

We went over this week's spelling words and practiced them. We also did Daily LA, and read the first few chapters of Wish Tree. At the end of the day we had Music.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Nov. 15)

 Spelling List A (Nov. 15 – 22)

hard	mark	artist	cards	farming
yard	scar	are	war	party

 

Spelling List B (Nov. 15 – 22)

harsh	radar	warmer	polar	farmer
large	shark	marsh	around	sugar

 

Spelling List C (Nov. 15 – 22)

smartest	stark	farce	larva	cedar
gardener	guitar	archery	around	arrive

The theme this week is -ar - in general, the words focus on the class 'arr' pirate sound, but I threw a few exceptions in as well. We may revisit the concept again the following week to look at the exceptions in more detail, because there are a lot of them!

Friday, November 15

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today, a perfect way to wrap up our excruciatingly long, exhausting week of 1.5 days. In the morning, we had gym and the spelling quiz, as well as a lot of work time for the November Break narrative writing task. 

We did Daily LA, and then learned about using pictures to solve multiplication problems. I want to make sure students know all the slow, concrete strategies for multiplication before we start any fact memorization / mental math strategies. Noodles and Bowls, and drawing picture representations, are accurate, reliable strategies, despite being slow, and I want to make sure everyone feels confident using them. It's always good to have a backup plan if mental math isn't working.

We talked about Earth's layers as part of a quick science lesson.  We're still on the topic of how natural forces shape earth's surface, and we're going to be learning about volcanoes next week.

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words, and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, November 14

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day back at school after the break. The students did a lot of writing in their journals today, as they wrote about one specific event from their breaks. We're trying to move away from the 'list-style' narratives (I woke up, then I ate breakfast, then I played, then I napped,  etc.) and instead focus on developing one interesting event in detail. They actually did an excellent job with this task, I had expected it to take a lot longer than it did!

In math, we played "Place Value Bingo". We haven't explicitly studied place value for a while so I was super impressed by how well the class retained it.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA and Spelling practice. We also previewed and discussed the front cover of our new novel study - Wish Tree.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz. Based on what I saw today, some last minute practicing wouldn't hurt....

Have a nice night,

Zac

Rock Your Mocs - November 18

 

"Rock Your Mocs is a worldwide Indigenous Peoples movement held annually during Metis Week in Canada. People are encouraged to wear moccasins and Mukluks to celebrate the diverse Indigenous cultures across the globe. Rock your Mocs is about unifying Indigenous Peoples globally, promoting cultural pride, and showcasing the diversity of nations.

LBS staff and students are invited to wear their moccasins on Monday, November 18th if they are able to.

Art by Hawlii Pichette @urban.iskwew "

Thursday, November 7

 Hi parents,

We had another great day today. In the morning, Ms. A (our student teacher) led a lesson about Sharing Circles and effective groupwork skills. The students created 'Talking Sticks' for each table, working collaboratively to make sure the sticks reflected contributions from each group member.

The grade 5/6 classes led an excellent Remembrance Day assembly, that taught the school about many lesser-known Canadian war heroes, and also featured beautiful songs and poetry.

In the afternoon, we did a Remembrance Day art project. Before we knew it, it was time for the end-of-day clean-up and Music class.

At the end of the day, I handed out a whole bunch of things - Class photos, art, a MAPSS form, Scholastic Book Orders, and the addition and subtraction quiz from a couple weeks ago. There will be opportunities for a 'do-over' on that quiz in the near future, so please don't worry about the grades. 

Remember that tomorrow is a PD day, and also the first day of November break - we won't be back in school until next Thursday!

Have a nice break,

Zac

Wednesday, November 6

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today, especially in the morning. The kids worked on their Calgary in Motion workbooks, and answered reading comprehension questions about a separate workbook on the Invictus Games and Remembrance Day.

In math, we played "Classroom of Doom". Multiplication has been added to the game to make it more challenging!

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, and then wrote sentences for our spelling words.

We ended the day by looking at the data for how students travelled to school. The students made observations about it.

The spelling quiz has been post-poned until next Friday, November 15, just because this week is short, and next week only has two schools days so it would be pointless to start new words.

Tomorrow is our Remembrance Day assembly. Please consider sending a donation with your child.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Friday, October 18

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today with a tiny class. 

In the morning, the students went off in pairs to survey every class in our school about how they got to school today. We're going to go over the data tomorrow and make observations and predictions.

In math, we learned the "noodle and bowls" strategy for solving multiplication problems. This strategy is only slightly less 'concrete' than the Montessori materials, as it involves drawing circles (bowls) to represent groups, and then filling each bowl with a set number of lines (noodles) to represent that quantity of each group. So for example, you could solve 3 x 4 by drawing 3 bowls. adding 4 noodles to each bowl, and then counting up the total number of noodles to find the product.

In the afternoon, the students worked in groups to read, and re-read, specific paragraphs from "Trapped in Transylvania", that really showcased the narrator's personality. For example:

We talked about how the narrator, Devin, is able to take a scary story like Dracula, and actually make it pretty funny.  It'll be interesting to compare Devin's narration style to the one we're about to experience in "Wish Tree" (the narrator is a tree).

We ended the day with Music.

Tomorrow is School T Shirt Day! The Shirts went home today! If your child was away, they can get their shirt tomorrow and wear it on top of whatever else they wore!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, Nov. 4

 Hi parents,

Today we finished reading Trapped in Transylvania! Only two school days behind schedule, that's pretty good. The students were pretty engaged by this book from start to finish and I really enjoyed reading it and talking to them about it.

In math, we worked with the coloured bead bars on multiplication basic facts. The students have definitely got the hang of making groups, and counting up totals, so now we can turn our focus to building skip-counting skills to make the whole process more efficient.

We started talking about remembrance day and how buying and wearing a poppy can help veterans. We also talked about why veterans may need support - the students had a good understanding of the mental and physical trauma that can come from fighting a war, and how these obstacles can make it harder for veterans to support themselves when they come home.

On Thursday, our school is having a Remembrance Day assembly, and all students will be given a poppy. Please consider sending a donation with your child.

Have a nice night,

Zac