Wednesday, September 9

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today. The students did an awesome job with their first Fire Drill, and we learned some cool things in Science.

In the morning, we did 'Spelling Sentences'. This is my favourite weekly writing routine. Basically, the students have to write 5-10 sentences, with one of their spelling words featured in each sentence. As if that wasn't fun enough, each week's practice comes with a randomly chosen 'twist' - something they have to include in each sentence, always based on developing a specific writing skill. The twist is chosen with a dice roll.

Today the twist was that each sentence had to include a proper noun. This helped the kids build an understanding of proper nouns, and what words should / should not be capitalized in a sentence.

In Math, we've been working with the Golden Beads to practice representing numbers, addition, and regrouping. The Grade 3s are doing awesome with this concept and are almost ready for the standard algorithm. The Grade 4s clearly remember it from last year and are starting to talk about decimals. 

In the afternoon, we talked about natural vs. processed materials for science. We watched a cool video that showed the students 8 important indigenous inventions that were created solely from natural materials. The students brainstormed lists of other examples of natural and processed materials.

Have a nice night,

Zac