Thursday, June 18

 Hi parents,

Today we had a really good day. It was "DJ Day" for last month's table prize winners, so we got to listen to a playlist they put together with song requests.

We did Spelling Sentences, with a focus on writing dialogue. This was kind of perfect because so many students are trying to use dialogue in their picture prompt stories, and now they've learned how to properly format it.

We did some cursive practice, and used Duolingo for French.

Throughout the day, we updated Line Graphs to keep track of the temperature. It was a boring day in terms of temperature, very little variation.

The Room 3 Talent Show is June 23! 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, June 17

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome time at Fish Creek Library yesterday. The students loved exploring the many interactive activities, and listening to some really cool choose-you-own-adventure books. Apparently we were the only group that made it to the end of the adventure!

Today was a bit of a rough day for our class. I know we're almost at the end of the year but I'm hoping we can end on a high note with everyone trying their best! We did a lot of story writing today and watched an episode from Liberty's Kids that taught the class a bit about the American revolution. We talked about how at this point in Canada's history, 'Canada' didn't really exist - it was mostly just an extension of Britain - but then again, Canada didn't exist for most of its history, when you consider the indigenous history dating back thousands of years.... We had some interesting discussions.

The students did an awesome job on a tricky math task, which I will post here if anyone wants to try it at home. The task involved converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages.

The students have been taking home work from throughout the year steadily throughout the week in the hopes that it reduces the need to stuff backpacks full on the last day.

Room 3 Talent Show - June 23

We will be having our annual classroom Talent Show on June 23, for anyone who would like to participate. :) All talents are welcome, and performances can be done in person, or recorded and shared with me digitally! Please send me an email if your child would like to participate so I can roughly plan for how long we'll need.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Sports Day (June 24)

Monday, June 15 (and Spelling Words for this week)

 Hi parents,

Report cards are more or less written so I can get back to doing daily blogs. :)

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, the students did some poetry reading. They each received a different, simple verse poem, practiced it, and then read it or recited it aloud in front of the class.

We went over this week's spelling words (see end of this blog), had music, and played basketball in gym.

In the afternoon we did Quiet Reading, and then learned about percentages. The students learned how to convert a fraction /10 into a fraction /100, and then how to write that as a percentage. They also discussed times when they may have heard the phrase '___ percent' in daily life - its funny how a lot of kids start talking about percentages way before they actually know how to calculate it! 

Hopefully today's lesson will help us avoid a generation of young Scott Steiners.

Tomorrow is our Walking Field Trip to the Fish Creek Library! We are hoping to leave LBS at 8:30am.  

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling List A (June 12 – 19)

the	with	said	one	chain
teacup	soap	oil	sooner	come

 

Spelling List B (June 12 – 19)

they	going	anyone	without	rainbow
clearly	board	noise	gloomy	pure

 

Spelling List C (June 12 – 19)

because	right	laugh	happen	remain
fearful	loaves	pointed	foolish	clueless

Monday, June 8

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today! The students read their haiku poetry aloud to the class, we got through some more Book in a Box presentations, and we talked more about converting mixed fractions into decimals.

I am not going to be updating the Blog this week until Friday as this is my report card writing week, but stay tuned for a couple of messages regarding the French Party (June 10), and a Walking Field Trip on June 16!

Have a nice week,

Zac

Spelling Words! (Week of June 7)

 Spelling List A (June 5 – 12)

hear	very	claws	only	helpful
quite	I’m	player	bear's	bears

 

Spelling List B (June 5 – 12)

board	done	awesome	surely	hurtful
bored	Jim’s	gyms	don’t	winner

 

Spelling List C (June 5 – 12)

there	since	flawless	totally	doubtful
doesn’t	founder	they’re	hopes	Hope’s

This week we're doing another review list. Hopefully these words will be a good refresher on the concepts we've covered over the last few weeks. Good luck!

Thursday, June 4

 Hi parents,

We had another great day today. Wheelchair Basketball was a blast. The students wrote reflections in their journals about it.

In French, we learned how to count to 20. I'm curious how much the students retained. This is something we'll practice a little bit every day this month.

"French Party - June 10"

We will be having a 'French Party' on June 10! This is something of a tradition in my class although we didn't get to it last year. Basically students are encouraged to bring baguettes and croissants, and wear 'French' clothes. We will have some fun French-themed lessons, and we'll show some appreciation for Francophone culture, cuisine, and language. 

About half the class presented their Book in a Box projects. It went really awesome. It was less formal and intimidating that how I've done it in previous years - more like show and tell. I think this format helped students to feel less stressed about the public speaking aspect of it. 

The spelling quiz is tomorrow! Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, June 3

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today, once again mostly spent on work period time.

Today the kids finished up their Food Chain projects, by inventing a carnivore that was capable of eating the herbivore they created yesterday. I've had a couple kids tell me this was one of their favourite projects we've done this year, which makes me really happy. It's been a lot of fun to see their creations for me too.

In math, we did a tricky fraction math problem, in which the students were presented with a hypothetical race, and a list of runners, with their current position written as a fraction. For example, "Henry is 1/2 of the way to the finish. Sam is 3/8 of the way to the finish."

Students had to figure out which runners were farthest ahead or behind, by using equivalent fractions to figure out the relative position of fractions with different denominators.

The whole afternoon was work period. Most students are staying on top of their work, but there are a few who will probably have a bit of homework this weekend....

Tomorrow we are starting our Book in a Box presentations.  We also have our second session of Wheelchair Basketball.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, June 2

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. In the morning, students worked on their book reports, food chain projects, and books in boxes. We've got several big projects on the go right now which is awesome for a Montessori work period. The students are showing their time management skills like crazy - they had two hours this morning to spend working on these three big tasks, and for the most part, they're actually getting completed!

We added another level to the Food Chain project. Today, the students designed a herbivore that was well-adapated to eat the plant they'd created yesterday. This herbivore also had to be able to survive in the region it lived in, and to have at least one defensive adaptation to protect it from predators.

In math, we've been learning about fractions. Today we used the fraction tower material to show how fractions with larger denominators represented smaller pieces. We did some fraction drawing challenges too, including splitting an equilateral triangle into four equal pieces.

Have a nice day,

Zac

Monday, June 1

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today in spite of the rain, and some students did some really awesome work. I told the class this is the most important time of year to do their best work, because I'm doing report cards, and also it just feels so much better to end the year on a high note. Please talk to your child at home about trying their best - at least for the next couple weeks! As we are a Montessori classroom, intrinsic motivation is key, and I try to avoid bribes or consequences as a means of getting students to do their best work.

We went over the new spelling words, and the students worked on book reports for their novel studies. 

In the afternoon, we started a cool three-part project for Science. For this project, the students did some quick research on a natural region in Alberta, and then designed a plant that could grow there. They listed the plant's specific adaptations that would help it live in that specific area, as well as defensive traits that could help protect it against the animals that might live there. Tomorrow they'll be designing a heribivore that can overcome these defenses (using its own adaptations), and eat their plant.

Our first session of Inclusive Hoops was a blast!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Friday, May 29

 Hi parents,

We have a great day today. The spelling quiz went really well, I marked them all but forgot to hand them back. The students researched plant adaptations some more, and we brainstormed a big list of adaptations that help plants deal with different living conditions.

In math, we learned about fractions. We talked about a fmous fraction paradox, and looked at the Fraction Tower material. The students coloured in blank fractions to represent given numerators and denominators.

In writing, we started working on book reports, to go alongside the book in a box project. Students only had time to write their introductions so far.

Please help your child pick out 3-5 items for the Book in a Box project! They will be presenting this project next week. 

Have a nice weekend,

Zac