Monday, September 18

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome Monday today.

In the morning, we watched a video about Terry Fox, and then the students wrote in their journals about him. The options were:

"Terry Fox is a hero because..."

"Dear Terry, [write a letter]"

"My thoughts on Terry Fox"

Students were also allowed to come up with their own writing prompt that was related to Terry Fox, and some of them decided to write poems.

In math, we revisited rounding to the nearest hundred, and used 'rounding hopscotch' to help students practice. Hopscotch is underrated for counting. I can't believe it took me this long to realize. It'd be a great way to practice counting by 7's too, when we get there.

We also practiced the new spelling words, had Music and gym, and learned about some of the Montessori materials in our classroom.

Terry Fox Run - Tomorrow!

Lake Bonavista School is proud to be participating in the Terry Fox School Run. Please join us and continue the legacy of one of our greatest Canadian heroes. Donate at: https://schools.terryfox.ca/LakeBonavista Thank you for joining us in the fight against cancer! #terryfoxschoolrun @theterryfoxfoundation 

  

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of Sept. 17)

 Spelling List A (September 17 – 22)

Bite	Lane	Pete	Lone	Cute
Tire	Make	More	Tube	Have

 

Spelling List B (September 17 - 22)

State	Close	Twice	Argue	These
Value	Whole	Strike	Cakes	Gene

 

Spelling List C (September 17 - 22)

Scene	Telephone	Assume	Empires	Phrase
Prices	Ireland	Sigh	Delicious	Actually

The theme this week is 'The Bossy E', also known as 'the silent e'. You will also find a few sight words (in italics).

I always use this video to review bossy e. They are probably sick of it by now.

Friday, September 15

Happy Dot Day!

This morning, the students continued to work on their Dot Writing tasks from yesterday. The students have really put a lot of work into these so I thought I'd show off a few:

We had our spelling quiz, which definitely was harder than last week's, but was still pretty good. Sight words are always trickier. For most weeks, I'll just throw a few of them in, and the rest of the words will focus on a specific spelling pattern.

 We did some Dot artwork, using Q-tips and paint. Students used the q-tips to make tons of colourful dots in whatever style they chose.

We went outside for a kickball game for PE, and it was nice to see more teamwork and strategy emerging from both teams - the Ghost Evees, and the Red Pandas.

We did a very brief place value check-in, and talked about rounding to the nearest hundred, and how this skill is similar to and different from rounding to the nearest ten, which the students have mostly mastered now.

We ended our day with Music. :)

Have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, September 14

 Hi parents,

We had a really awesome day today. 

In the morning, we read 'The Dot', and the students did some writing in response to it. They had the choice between writing about the lesson in the story, a time they felt like the main character, writing a sequel, or answering the ever-philosophical question, "what is art?"

We kept practicing rounding with a speen-run type of activity, where students rounded tons of numbers, up to 5-digits, to the nearest 10, until it was practically second nature. It seemed to do the trick. In the coming days we'll work on rounding to the nearest hundred, then thousand, then ten-thousand, then hundred thousand, and then we'll call it a day.

In the afternoon, we did our first full Daily LA session, where all the students were engaged in different literacy tasks within their groups. It was fantastic. Much better than I expected - it usually takes a few weeks to get to where we were at today.

We ended our day by playing and then working on a math game called "Dungeon Dice". Basically, students roll dice, and use multiplication and division to battle monsters. There are items and treasures to find, and plenty of other challenges too. And what's cool about it is the students fully design all the cards. :)

Have a nice day,

Zac

PS: Tomorrow is DOT DAY and Spelling Quiz Day!! Wear dots, and practice for the quiz!

Wednesday, September 13

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty great day today. In the morning, we revisited the 'scoop sentence' lesson from yesterday, and talked about how its good to include sentences of a wide variety of different lengths when writing paragraphs. Even though it may be tempting to make every sentence long and detailed, it's usually better to throw in a few short, simple sentences, and medium length sentences, to keep things interesting. The students wrote short paragraphs about a topic of their choice, using single, double, and triple scoop sentences.

In math, we continued to work on rounding. It's been a bit of a struggle. I think we may have moved a bit too fast, and now we need to slow down and really work through the concepts. Practicing rounding at home will always be helpful :)

We reread the book about Maria Montessori, and focused on the idea of the moveable alphabet. The students worked in groups to make their own 'moveable'-style words. They did an awesome job cooperating and completing the project in ways that were creative and unique.

In the afternoon, we made official kickball teams ('Green Evees' and 'Red Pandas'), and played a game a of kickball outside. I think its really beneficial for students to get to experience being on a team with their classmates - it can lead to new friendships and stronger connections, as well as giving the students the opportunity to win as a team, lose as a team, and do so with grace.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Dot Day - September 15

 

This is based on the book 'The Dot' by the way.