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

Spelling Words (Week of May 31)

 Spelling List A (June 1 – 5)

I	son	eye	sun	one
won	know	hear	no	hear

 

Spelling List B (June 1 – 5)

stairs	flower	bored	two	right
board	write	stares	too	flour

 

Spelling List C (June 1 – 5)

weight	wood	hours	witch	lessen
would	which	wait	ours	lesson

This week's words are homophones! I tried to pick the ones I thought would be most useful to know but there are so many others, it might be fun to brainstorm a list with your child.

They're, their, and there, and buy, bye, as well as your and you're are also great ones to review.

Good luck!

Thursday, May 28

 Hi parents,

We had a great Fort Day today, but it was ridiculously hot in the school. The PJs were a crazy idea, in hindsight.

Still we did a lot of learning today. The wrapped up our unit on Telling Time with 'time phrases', which in many cases involved fractions (quarter after 8, half past 1, etc.) Which is perfect, because that's what we're learning about next. 

In French, we learned a bit about the Montreal Canadiens.

In Science we read about Plant Adaptations.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz!

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, May 27

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today. The students spent a long time working on their book in a box projects. I've done this project 3 years in a row now, tweaking it slightly each time and this is my favourite iteration of it. The students are turning their boxes into 3D models of settings in their bookx and its really cool.

We learned about 'energy pyramids' in science today. The students drew their own diagrams, and even invented a pyramid for a fictional planet with different plants, herbivores, and carnivores.

Fort PJ Stuffy Day - Tomorrow! (May 28)

Whole bunch of days combined tomorrow. The students are invited to bring a blanket, a pillow, and a stuffy to school, and wear their PJs. This was chosen by the students who won last month's table prize.

The stuffies are only able to come out if a possibly stolen elf toy is returned, though.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, May 26

Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. The students did good copies of their latest haiku poems.

We learned about telling time in math. This lesson went super well. I think it paid off leaving this till later in the year, when everyone is a lot better at counting by 5's. Will probably do the same next year. Students who already knew how to tell time answered challenge problems about 'elapsed time'.

We spent a lot of time working on the Book in a Box project too.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Monday, May 25

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today! In the morning, the students wrote haiku poetry. They used poetic words from a word list to make their poetry extra nice. This also challenged them to think outside the box with how they used words. 

We practiced this week's spelling words a bit, and the students quizzed each other to figure out what list they should work on. We talked about how getting 8+ correct means you're ready for the next level up.

In the afternoon, we worked on the Book in a Box project. The boxes are looking good so far and the kids seem really into it.

We also did an area and perimeter activity in which the students learned how two rectangles with the same area can have different perimeters, and that a long, skinny rectangle will have a longer perimeter than a shorter, wider rectangle with the same area.

Have a nice night,

Zac