Spelling List A (Nov. 6 – 20)
Spelling List B (Nov. 6 – 20)
Spelling List C (Nov. 6 – 20)
Hi parents,
We had another great day today. In honour of our new novel study, Pocket Bear, the students shared and wrote about their stuffed animals' stories and origins. It was really cool to hear about some of the older ones that belonged to parents or grandparents previously.
For Art, we did some sketching about the story Jeff Stockton shared with us yesterday. The students were so immersed. The room was silent for a long time while everyone drew.
The spelling quizzes are about half-marked. So far they've been quite good!
This week we had four employees of the week. I was happy to see students taking their classroom jobs so seriously.
Next week will be the busiest two day week ever. Along with learning about Remembrance Day, we will be watching the Charlotte's Web movie!
Have a nice weekend,
Zac
Hi parents,
We had a great day today. The highlight was probably that we met with Jeff Stockton, who will be working with our school this year with a focus on expressive storytelling. Jeff is an expert storyteller, and captivated the students today with riveting stories accompanied by beautiful harp playing.
In Writing, Ms. Philippi read the class the book 'Eyes That Kiss in the Corners'. The students learned about similes, and came up with ideas for their own uplifting similes about themselves and their families.
We did a long and challenging math check-in. It forced the students to apply their knowledge of addition, subtraction, and place value in new ways.
Tomorrow is a PJ Day and Stuffy Day. I have asked the students to bring in a stuffed animal with a special story, as we will also be starting 'Pocket Bear', which is a book about old toys with sentimental origins.
It is also our spelling quiz tomorrow!
Have a nice night,
Zac
Hi parents,
We had a great day today. In the morning, we finished reading Charlotte's Web. I honestly really loved reading this book aloud. I hadn't read it since I was a kid, and its even better than I remembered. The students seemed to love it too, and I was happy to hear them laughing at all the right moments.
For our writing today, the students wrote Newspaper Articles about one of several amazing animals in the novel - Wilbur, Templeton, and Charlotte. The students pretended they were reporters who had just learned of the compassionate and kind actions of the animals in the book. We talked about using Headlines to catch the audience's attention, and including quotes from characters in the book to add more depth and authenticity.
In the afternoon, we used the Stamp Game to practice subtraction with regrouping across zeroes. The students have been doing great with these lessons so far. I appreciate their patience, as these materials can feel pretty slow and inefficient at first. They're fantastic though, once you get the hang of them.
We also had Music and a Fire Drill today.
Have a nice night,
Zac
Hi parents,
We had a pretty good day today! In the morning, we had a long work period to finish up work from last week. Then, the students added a written explanation to their 'water safety and care' comics from last week. I don't know if I even mentioned those in the blog. But basically, the students made comics to capture various points from our discussions around safety and care for bodies of water.
In math, we started working on the standard algorithm for subtraction. As we work through the steps, I'm making a point of reminding the students of how these same steps would play out with the stamp game.
We went over the -ir words for spelling this week. Last week's quiz was the best one we've had so far this year, so please keep studying at home, its making a huge difference!
In the afternoon, we played Halloween Trivia, after learning about the history of Halloween. This was meant to happen last week but sadly we didn't have time. It was just as fun today.
We also met up with our buddy class and did some quick buddy activities.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Spelling List A (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)
Spelling List B (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)
Spelling List C (Oct. 30 – Nov. 6)
Hi parents,
We had a great day today. In the morning, the students used their 'Wilbur Webs' from last week to help them write paragraphs about their favourite pig. We had our first official 'paragraph writing' lesson today, and talked about how a paragraph is a collection of sentences on a single topic, and how a good paragraph features variety in sentence structure.
In Math, we did more work with the Stamp Game. I'm really happy with how these lessons have been going. Slowly but surely the kids are getting the hang of subtraction with regrouping!
In the afternoon, we built on our lessons on 'bodies of water' from a couple weeks ago, and talked about how to preserve and protect bodies of water, as well as how to be safe around them, both in Winter and Summer. The students filled posters with their ideas, and then we went over them as a class.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Hi parents,
We had a great day today. Of course the highlight was the walking field trip to Fish Creek Library. The kids loved browsing the massive selection of children's books and checking out books for themselves. They also enjoyed listening to a choose-your-own-adventure read-aloud and learning about the many programs the library offers.
In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, Music, and Spelling. We talked about this week's words, focused on the -ur sound, and the students worked on their Art Cards.
Have a nice night!
Zac
Spelling List A (Oct. 16 – 23)
Spelling List B (Oct. 16 – 23)
Spelling List C (Oct. 16 – 23)
Hi parents,
It was great getting to talk with you all this week! Sorry for the lack of Blog posts.
We've been doing a lot of art this week. Many kids were able to finish their art card artwork today, and many more will finish early next week I'm sure. Here are a couple finished ones:
The Work Period wall was once again full this week, and today the students had a ton of time to finish up things from earlier in the week.
We also did our spelling quiz. I'm not done marking them all yet.
Our Walking Field Trip is on Monday! Please ensure your child is dressed for a chilly walk, and also send them with their library card, if they have one.
Have a nice night,
Zac
Hi parents,
We've had a pretty good week so far. It's been very art-centred.
The students have been working on watercolour lions with colourful manes. I'm hoping we can use them for Art Cards! This activity has also been a good way to practice blending paints, and using the bristles of a paintbrush to create hair-like textures.
In Math, we've been talking about fractions, and how fractions can apply to groups of objects rather than just a singular object (for example a pizza) being divided up. For example, the students in Room 3 are all 'whole', but if you look at the class as the whole, then the students all become fractions of it. Today we had 24/26 kids in class.
In the afternoon we did Daily LA. We also started a second art project, kind of an Art Cards backup plan, in which the students zoomed way in on a flower and focused on sketching and shaded carefully to illustrate the different textures and colours.
For writing, we've been doing "Same Topic" Spelling Sentences. This helps to build paragraph writing skills, by connecting each sentence to one main topic.
Have a nice night,
Zac
