Friday, December 20

 Hi parents,

We had a fantastic week. Sorry for the lack of blog posts - it's been a really busy one.

We started watching the Muppet Christmas Carol on Wednesday, and watched about 30 minutes each day. The students made venn diagrams comparing the Grinch to Ebenezer Scrooge (and an optional third character, for a challenge - it's tough finding something that Grinch, Scrooge, and Buddy the Elf all have in common!)

We also did writing prompts relating to each of the three spirits that visit Scrooge in the night.

We spent a lot of time filming our Grinch movie, which was entirely written by students. The movie premiered today during carolling, in the gym, in front of the whole school, and received very positive reviews. 

Thank you all so much for all your kindness and support this year. It's been such a great one. I feel incredibly lucky to get to work with such a fantastic class of students. Looking forward to more great days in January!

Merry Christmas!

Zac

Tuesday, December 17

 Hi parents,

We've spent the last couple of days working on snowman sculptures - painting them, gluing broken pieces on, etc. We've been reviewing multiplication in math, and working on Christmas-themed writing prompts. Some students are even using commas in their regular writing!

We've been working on a movie, starring the entire class - its a retelling of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", written entirely by students in Room 3.

Thanks for keeping up with our spirit week. Tomorrow is "Winter Wonderland" day.

We'll also be starting our 'film study' on Muppet Christmas Carol.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spirit Week (December 16 - 20)

 

Spelling Words (Last week of 2024!)

 Spelling List A (Dec. 13 – 20)

elf	gift	sled	snowy	bells
Santa	ice	tree	wrap	toys

 

Spelling List B (Dec. 13 – 20)

elves	Frosty	sweater	Scrooge	chestnuts
candle	stockings	snowball	spirit	wrapping

 

Spelling List C (Dec. 13 – 20)

gingerbread	nutcracker	Christmas	cookies	wreath
jingle	ornament	peppermint	reindeer	workshop

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, these words are tough. It may take a Christmas miracle to ace List C! Please take a moment to review 'proper nouns' as each list has at least one word that must be capitalized.

Friday, December 13

 Hi parents,

Thank you to everyone who attended our Winter Event last night! The students were still so excited about it today. In the morning, the whole school went to the gym, and all the classes performed one more time.

We did our spelling quiz, went to Music, and had bit more time to finish up the Mr. Grinch parody songs.

We ended the day with Daily LA.

I am so happy to report that all of the snowmen / sculptures from yesterday survived the oven, and are ready to be painted next week. Also speaking of next week - we'll be watching The Muppet Christmas Carol for the last three days. Should be a fun week!

Have a nice weekend

Thursday, December 12

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty fun day today.

In the morning the students continued working on their "Mr. Grinch" song parodies. They also worked on their own winter-themed "Math Mystery" problems (like the one featured on the blog yesterday). We rehearsed our songs for the Winter Concert and sounded fantastic.

In the afternoon, we practiced spelling, and then spent the rest of the time working on an art project I thought would be simple - making snowmen out of clay. The students of Room 3 really have an artistic flare though, because the creations they made were anything but simple. There are entire snow families, animals, babies, pets, accessories, and more. Here's how they currently look (unbaked):

Hopefully baking them doesn't cause too much damage. Usually some end up getting scorched.

See you tonight at the Winter Festivus!

Zac

Wednesday, December 11

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today. In the morning we wrote kind 'parodies' of the "Mean Mr. Grinch" song. We'll keep working on those tomorrow. We also met with our buddies to learn about holidays around the world.

We did math mashup work with problems like this:

We did Daily LA and Music. Students have started bringing in Christmas books to read aloud to the class, so we've been doing more read-alouds too. It seems like it could be the start of a brand new tradition.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, December 10

 Hi parents,

Today we finished our 'unit' on commas, for lack of a better word, and the students learned how to use commas to add additional bits of information to a sentence. For example:

"The student, who was only eight years old, was better at multiplication than the teacher."

In math, we played "Classroom of Doom" to review addition, subtraction, and multiplication. 

In the afternoon, we learned about the Medicine Wheel, did Daily LA, practiced Spelling, cleaned up, and read How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Here are some things that were dismantled in the clean-up, and also an updated picture of our art display.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Animal Treat Fundraiser!

 

Monday, December 9

 Hi parents,

We're down to our last 10 school days for 2024, and today was a great second-last Monday.

In the morning, we did yet another comma writing activity, and the students learned how to use commas before common transition words, such as 'so', 'and', 'because', and 'although'.

In math, the Grade 3s continued to practice multiplication facts using dice to help generate random problems. The Grade 4s are fully immersed in practicing the standard algorithm now, although we will continue to bring the Stamp Game in from time to time to ensure those connections are still there.

In the afternoon, we did a quick scrap-booking type activity using pictures from several lessons on Belonging that we'd done earlier in the year. We also went over this week's spelling words, and did Daily LA.

The Badlands artwork is looking beautiful. There are still a few kids who have to put theirs up, but here's the display so far:

We ended the day with Music. 

Upcoming Dates:

Winter Event: Thursday, Dec.  12 (See email for detailed schedule)

Spirit Week: Monday, Dec. 16 - Friday, December 20

Spelling Words (Week of Dec. 8)

 Spelling List A (Dec. 6 – 13)

nice	face	mice	pace	rice
dice	laces	raced	vice	cell

 

Spelling List B (Dec. 6 – 13)

once	cedar	since	places	voice
force	space	peace	scene	twice

 

Spelling List C (Dec. 6 – 13)

pieces	juice	sauce	dancer	scented
recent	choice	police	fierce	device

The theme this week is "c but it sounds like s", mostly at the ends of words. I think List C is deceptively difficult this week. Might be a good time to introduce "I before E, except after C"!

Good luck!

Friday, December 6

 Hi parents,

We ended our week on a high note.

The spelling quiz went well, although I didn't get a chance to send them home. We visited Room 2's Simple Machines Showcase, played kickball in the snow, and continued working on the Badlands watercolour paintings that we started yesterday. 

The class did a great job during our lockdown drill.

After that, we had our first official French lesson of the year. The students learned how to say 'bonjour', and 'Je suis'. We talked about how 'Je suis' means "I am", and as such is a versatile phrase that can be used to introduce yourself or share other details about yourself. For example, "Je suis contente" (I am happy), or "Je suis professeur" (I am a teacher), or "Je suis un homme" (I am a man).

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

Zac

Thursday, December 4

 Hi parents,

Happy "Smart IQ Day"😂

We had another great day today. In the morning, the students went to a special lesson with Ms. Rooke and Ms. Watson, and talked about the meaning of 'belonging'. After that, they wrote sentences with their spelling words, and then we continued working on multiplication in math. The Grade 4s are absolutely crushing it with 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication, which makes me overjoyed. Usually it's a concept I don't teach until after the break. By learning it now, they'll be able to continue practicing it throughout the rest of the year, and I'm sure it will be second nature by June.

This is how the Stamp Game helps students visualize complex multiplication!

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, and then started an Alberta Badlands-inspired art activity. The students will be painting Badlands landscapes and focusing on the beauty of the layers of rocks.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Fill-A-Sock for the Mustard Seed

 

Wednesday, December 4

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome day today. In the morning, we had an extended work period, and many students finished their 'Black Bear' paragraph editing. Some students shared their work aloud.  I think the extra focus on commas has paid off, because I'm noticing that kids are also paying more attention to them while reading aloud, as well as writing. We practiced spelling, and in math, the Grade 3s practiced basic facts, while Grade 4s (some some Grade 3s who finished early), used the Stamp Game to work on multi-digit by single-digit multiplication problems.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, and then we finished reading Wish Tree! We'll review the ending tomorrow and do some work around it.

We ended the day with Music.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, December 3

Hi parents,

We had a busy day today. In the morning, we learned more about the uses of commas, and focused on how commas can be used to connect different ideas within the same sentence. The students were given badly written paragraphs about black bears, that featured only short, simple sentences with many redundancies. They rewrote the paragraph in their own words, using commas to create sentences of varied length that contribute to the flow of the paragraph. Many students also chose to add descriptive words.

In math, the Grade 3s practiced their multiplication skills, while the Grade 4s (and a couple Grade 3s who wanted a challenge) learned how to use the Stamp Game to solve 2 and 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication problems. While using the stamp game, we also looked into the standard algorithm, so students could see the 'behind-the-scenes' regrouping that takes place. 

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, and then had a great discussion about the ways in which humans change the surface of the earth. We talked about how we need to change the earth in order to survive, whether it be through deforestation, mining, farming, etc., but also that its important to be aware of the impacts these actions can have on the environment.

We ended the day by reading Wish Tree.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, December 2

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. In the morning, we did more work around using commas in writing. I think my mistake in previous years has been not spending enough time explicitly teaching commas, so this year, I'm really trying to provide students with a broad range of situations in which commas can be used effectively.

In math, we learned a new game: "Around the World". It's a new take on a classic math game by the same name, in which students competed against each other to answer math fact problems quickly. In this new version, they compete against themselves and the clock instead, and try to circulate the classroom, answering 22 multiplication problems correctly in under a minute. At this point in the year, it's virtually impossible. It's a more fun way to build fact fluency with less pressure than competing against classmates.

We went over this week's spelling pattern (-ur). We also did Daily LA, and started watching the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra's "Napi and the Rock". This short play showcases indigenous storytelling, and teaches students how indigenous peoples used storytelling as a means of explaining different parts of the natural world. It connects really well to all the work we've been doing around erosion, landforms, and earth's layers. 

Have a nice night!

Zac