Tuesday, March 3

 Hi parents

We had a good day today. In the morning, the students practiced their spelling words with Spelling Sentences, featuring the twist known as 'Haiku Practice' - each sentence needed to be exactly 5 or 7 syllables.

In math, we learned more about arrays, laying the foundations for future work around the concept of Area. We also looked at how multiplication facts can be represented using rectangles, and rectangles within rectangles.

In the afternoon, we played volleyball in gym, did Daily LA, and learned about the water cycle in science. The students created their own water cycle diagrams based on the video we'd watched and the discussions we'd had.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, March 2

Hi parents,

Today we started learning about limericks, in preparation for St. Patrick's Day. Limericks are actually a really challenging style of poem to write, as they include an unusual rhyme scheme as well as very specific syllable and rhythm rules. I think the best way to learn about them is just to read lots and lots of limerick variations - thankfully there are a bunch on Epic!

We went over the new spelling words. We learned volleyball skills in gym. In the afternoon, the Grade 3s played a multiplication math game, while the grade 4s worked on long multiplication.

Conference bookings just opened up - please book yours as soon as you can!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of March 2)

Spelling List A (March 1 – 6)

action	nation	motion	options	lotion
rations	station	section	fiction	emotion

 

Spelling List B (March 1 – 6)

portion	mention	edition	caption	auction
vacation	suction	question	addition	location

 

Spelling List C (March 1 – 6)

solution	position	creation	reaction	petition
equation	duration	friction	rotation	ambition

As you can probably tell, we're looking at the 'tion' suffix this week. Similar to last week, this is another letter combination that is better to memorize than to try to decipher. Also similar to last week, if you know the 'tion' sound, the beginnings of the words are pretty straightforward. I have high hopes for this quiz. :)

 After Friday, I don't want to see any more 'SHUNS' at the end of words!

 

Thursday, February 26

Hi parents,

We had a pretty great day today.

In the morning, we had our spelling quiz, and it went really well! Thanks for practicing at home!

David Bouchard gave an amazing talk in the gym. He talked about being an author, indigenous culture, and how everyone has a unique gift to offer the world. He played the flute and read from some of his books. He is a very engaging speaker - if you'd like to see him talk at our school tonight, please come! I'll post the info again at the end of this post.

In cursive, we learned the letter p. We played the math game 'classroom of doom'. We had Music class, and went outside for gym.

Tomorrow is a PD Day, so enjoy your weekends, and stay tuned for next week's spelling words!

Zac

"THE GIFT OF READING"

We are thrilled to have the incredible Canadian author, David Bouchard, come to Lake Bonavista School. He will be at our school on Thursday, February 26th. In the morning he will present to all students. In the evening, we happy to host a special parent presentation called "The Gift of Reading". You do not want to miss out on this opportunity to hear from this legendary writer.

Thursday, February 26

6:30pm

Lake Bonavista School

To help us with planning, please RSVP by February 24th using this link.

Thank you to our School Council for their financial support of this event.

Wednesday, February 25

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, we made these Pink Shirt Day posters, which turned out super nice. I wish I could post them but they have students in them. They'll probably be out in the hallway for conferences though. :)

In math, we're working away at multiplication still. The Grade 4s are quickly getting the hang of 3-digit by 1-digit problems.

In Science, we learned about states of matter. We had an interesting discussion about atoms. The students made charts to show the differences between each state of matter.

Our Author Visit is tomorrow! And the spelling quiz is tomorrow too, since there's no school on Friday.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, February 24

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today. The highlight was the 'whole school writing challenge', in which every class in the school spent 30 minutes writing about the same writing prompt. I was super impressed by the work the kids in Room 3 did today, I think it really reflected their best effort. :)

We had a good discussion about 'heating' and 'cooling', and how humans are pretty lucky to be able to manipulate the temperature in different ways. We talked about things like smelting, cooking food, freezing food, warm showers, etc. And the students made charts showing a wide range of activities and what temperature they are best completed at.

Tomorrow is PINK SHIRT DAY! 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, February 23

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. 

In the morning, we talked about classic plot structures of movies and novels. We learned about 'rising action', and how typically, a story doesn't just follow a completely linear path while characters take on the problem. Generally there are twists and turns, and smaller problems and solutions that are solved throughout the journey, building up to one big finish. The students chose a movie or book they were particularly familiar with, and created diagrams to show how the plot unfolds.

We went over this weeks spelling words, and came up with the acronym 'intelligent grinches have tacos' to remember the 'ight' blend.

In the afternoon, the Grade 3s worked on basic multiplication fact review, while the Grade 4s did small group stamp game lessons, focused on 2 and 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication. We're also learning the standard algorithm alongside the stamps, because the stamp game is very slow and inefficient. However, its a great way to visualize the regrouping.

Please see the previous post about our upcoming author visit - its going to be cool!

Have a nice night,

Zac

"The Gift of Reading" with David Bouchard

We are thrilled to have the incredible Canadian author, David Bouchard, come to Lake Bonavista School. He will be at our school on Thursday, February 26th. In the morning he will present to all students. In the evening, we happy to host a special parent presentation called "The Gift of Reading". You do not want to miss out on this opportunity to hear from this legendary writer.

Thursday, February 26

6:30pm

Lake Bonavista School

To help us with planning, please RSVP by February 24th using this link.

Thank you to our School Council for their financial support of this event.

Spelling Words (Week of Feb. 22)

 Spelling List A (Feb 20 – 27)

fight	night	might	tight	light
flight	bright	high	fright	sigh

 

Spelling List B (Feb. 20 – 27)

weight	height	slight	knight	tonight
lightly	delight	upright	tighten	eight

 

Spelling List C (Feb. 20 – 27)

midnight	daylight	twilight	frighten	nightmare
lightning	brighten	lighthouse	straight	flightless

 

The words this week may seem tough, but they're not too bad. But memorizing the 'igh' combination is crucial. I will be emphasizing the importance of not trying to sound these ones out, and instead understanding that the 'igh' blend just sounds like 'eye' (or 'ay', in a couple words).

Good luck!

Friday, February 20

 Hi parents,

We had another good day today. We spent a lot of time finishing up Art Cards, and students who finished early wrote short, engaging blurbs about their animal. Or Middle Earth landmark.

We had our spelling quiz, but I haven't had a chance to mark or look at them yet. I was really happy about how many kids raised their hands when I asked who had practiced at home though. :)

We learned a bit more French today, around the phrase 'J'ai'. We learned how to say some common clothing articles, and describe them based on colour.

We ended our day with bench dodgeball in gym.

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

Zac

Thursday, February 19

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. I feel like the last few weeks have been a little hectic and we're finally getting a chance to get back to our routines.

A lot of this morning was spent working on Art Cards. I'm actually so happy with how they've turned out this year. Every student's artwork is super unique - they all did different animals, some have backgrounds, some are painted, some have text, others are super minimalist, its awesome (see below for a few examples).

In cursive, we learned the letters 'f' and 'j'. 

In French, we learned the phrase "j'ai", which means "I have", and the students combined it with the french nouns we've learned to make simple sentences.

In the afternoon, we did an experiment where we went outside and threw boiling water into the freezing air. It was super cool. We recorded observations and hypotheses as well.

We ended the day with Daily LA and a math game called Mind Reader.

Tomorrow is our big 12-word spelling quiz! Good luck!

Zac