Spelling Words (Week of March 19)

 Spelling List A (March 19-24 )

Boxes	About	Near	Used	Voice
Guft	Thurp	Chost	Jord	Starf

 

Spelling List B  (March 19-24)

Common	Damage	Angry	Suppose	Search
Bleaner	Shooba	Marfle	Gappy	Zutter

 

Spelling List C (March 19 – 24)

Portog	Rippy	Oystle	Gwextoint	Chompman
Binglot	Dunkamellow	Sandlife	Prejuggle	Antikitten

This week's theme is Nonsense Words! 

Practicing reading and writing nonsense words is an awesome way to help students build a stronger understanding of the individual sounds and chunks that make up every word in the English language. It is a great way to challenge students to do more than just memorize the spelling of words, and to realize that they can attempt to sound out any word they encounter, even if they aren't real words.

When practicing these words, it may be fun to challenge your child to create their own definitions for them!

Friday, March 17

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a really great day today. 

Our classroom was trashed by leprechauns! They wrote a taunting limerick on the SMARTboard, but today we still felt very "lucky" as Mrs. Brady stopped by for a visit and to share an Irish Blessing with the class.

Students finished their good copies for their Limericks and shared them with the class. Some limericks were even shared with other classes!

We finished watching The Little Prince. There were lots of tears (mostly from me) and I think the students genuinely started to understand why it's such an important story. Whether you read the book or watch the film, it will always help you remember what really matters in life.

We learned about the history of St. Patrick's Day. We ended our day by playing "Classroom of Doom", a math game that challenges the students to show their knowledge of multiplication,  subtraction, addition, and division facts, while gathering treasures. 

All around it was a very fun day. If your child missed the ending to the Little Prince, it is available on Amazon Prime Video if you have that, and also available or rental on Youtube.

Have a nice weekend,

Zac

Thursday, March 16

 Hi parents,

We had another good day today! Maybe watching The Little Prince is having such a profound impact on the class that everyone is being their best selves. 

In the morning, we continued to work on limericks. Check some of these out - this is just a small sample! They're all super unique and fun.

In math, the students finished their old school worksheets, and wrote word problems to accompany various division equations. The class has definitely got the hang of division now. Next week we'll start the dreaded "Long Division", which I anticipate will be pretty difficult, though probably less-so than subtraction.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, and learned more about the Medicine Wheel. We learned how each colour also represents a different type of wellness - mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. We'll be spending more time learning about those in the near future.

We ended our day by reviewing India's celebration table.

Have a nice night!

Zac

PS: Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day! Remember to Wear Green! Also the Spelling Quiz!

Pinching / Clamping of Non-Green Wearers is Forbidden!!

Wednesday, March 15

 Hi parents,

We had an exceptional day today! In the morning, the students worked on the good copies for their limericks. They're looking great so far. We talked about the importance of ensuring every word is spelled correctly, written neatly, and spaced evenly when writing a good copy. This is especially important for limericks, as it helps the reader anticipate the rhyme and rhythm.

We started watching The Little Prince. It's such an amazing film. We've already noticed a lot of differences between the film and the novel. For example, the film centres around a young girl, who meets a quirky aviator, and hears the story of The Little Prince from him. The original novel is just from the perspective of the aviator. I think the movie version makes the story more relatable for children as it is basically a movie about a kid who learns the story - just like the students in Room 4 are doing!

In the afternoon, the students had music and Daily LA. We revisited Alberta and reviewed the celebration table. 

We did some old school division worksheets - 54 division problems. No funny business. Just lots of math practice.

We read a book about Coco Chanel and talked about how being different is pretty cool.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, March 14

 Hi parents, 

Today was a pretty good day for our class. The students made a ton of progress on their limericks, and we spent time editing them, and reading them aloud. The read-aloud aspect was the toughest. We will start working on good copies tomorrow!

The students carpet behaviour has been pretty off for a while, so unfortunately we had to implement a 'carpet seating plan'. This is to reduce distractedness during class discussions. The class isn't very happy about it because usually this is an approach I reserve for younger students. 

The class worked on division word problem worksheets that turned out to be pretty challenging. 

After Mindfulness, we learned about "The Medicine Wheel", which is a significant symbol in numerous indigenous cultures across North America, though different groups may interpret it differently. The Medicine Wheel is essentially a way of representing the ways different aspects of our world, community, and body are interconnected. It can be used to interpret cycles such as the seasons, stages of life, and animal life cycles, different emotions, different times of day, plants, and much more. It is a complex topic that connects really nicely with the work we've done so far around mindfulness and wisdom.

At the end of the day, we reviewed the Ukrainian celebration table and filled in more of the gaps on our note pages.

Tomorrow we will begin watching "The Little Prince". Please let me know if you do not want your child to participate in this activity! The movie is rated PG, though the general consensus is that it is appropriate for ages 8+, and having seen it myself, I do think the class will definitely be able to appreciate it.

Have a nice night,

Zc

Monday, March 13

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good Monday today. There is so much going on right now that it has made planning days quite easy.

For example, with St. Patrick's day coming up on Friday, we have no choice but to work on limerick writing. The students will be working all week to craft their very best limericks. We will be practicing reading these aloud too, as rhythm is essential in every good limerick.

Blog Homework: Complete the Limerick

This homework is worth 2 points per person who finishes it. Complete the limerick using proper rhyme and rhythm:

    There once was a girl from the moon,

    Who wanted to buy a balloon,

    ______________   

    ______________

    _______________________________

We learned more about Peru in social studies today by reviewing the video on Peru's celebration table. We learned that the tanta wawa bread in Peru is very special, and is often shaped like babies, alpacas, or baskets. We also learned that weaving is a huge part of Peruvian traditional culture.

In the afternoon, the students had Music, Gym, Spelling, and Daily LA.

Have a nice night!

Zac

 

Spelling Words (Week of March 12)

 Spelling List A (March 10 – 17)

Change	Doesn’t	Scratch	Tiny	Warm
Strange	Wasn’t	Hatch	Shiny	Form

 

Spelling List B  (March 10 – 17)

Busy	Bought	Follow	Remember	Library
Dizzy	Caught	Swallow	December	Carry

 

Spelling List C (March 10 – 17)

Ireland	Patrick	Clover	Shamrock	Leprechaun
Europe	Lucky	Limerick	Dublin	Potato

More rhyming words hopefully help with limerick writing! And some Irish-themed words for authenticity. 

Wednesday, March 8

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today. In the morning, we had an extended work period to catch up on tasks from earlier in the week which were interrupted by our Showcase work. We also spent some time reviewing Tunisia and filling in gaps in our research. We'll do the same for the other communities tomorrow.

We took a quick trip to Room 9 to look at the display wall. Please, during conferences, make sure you visit Room 9 and ask your child to give you some information on each of the countries and their celebration tables! They are ready to amaze!

Also - if you have not booked conferences yet, please do so! And if you encounter any issues with this process, send me an email so I can book you in manually.

In math, we talked about division strategies. Namely: 

-Repeated subtraction

-Skip-counting backwards

-Arrays

-Making equal groups (noodles and bowls)

Most students seemed to prefer to just reimagine their division problems as if they were multiplication. That's valid too!

In the afternoon, we had Daily LA, Music,  and 7 Sacred Teachings Bingo. The students are still having trouble finding authentic ways to show their understanding of the teachings. The most successful students with this task have been the ones who plan in the morning how they're going to show a specific teaching, and then carry out that plan. It doesn't need to be anything simple - even something like asking someone to join in a game at recess is more than enough - but I do want it to be intentional, and to push students a bit out of their comfort zones.

Looking forward to conferences tomorrow and Friday!

Zac

PS: Spelling Quiz tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 7

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today although energy levels continue to rage on at unusually high levels.

In the morning, we visited the three remaining celebration table showcases. The students learned more about Peru, India, and Alberta. 

We revisited our lesson on the French phrase "Je mange" (I eat), and the students made little cartoons depicting people eating things and saying "Je mange du pomme" for example. 

We did Daily LA, and the students also filled in their 7 Sacred Teachings Bingo sheets. It might be helpful to talk with your child at home about ways they can go above and beyond to demonstrate the values. Some of the submissions have been a bit questionable, like for example: "Today I showed respect by not punching my friends".  I'm really hoping this task challenges students to go out of their comfort zones and do good things, so they can see how rewarding it is and grow as individuals. 

Student-Led Conferences are this Thursday and Friday! Please book a spot if you have not already done so, and let me know if you have any difficulty doing this. I can book you in manually too.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, March 6

 Hi parents, 

We had a pretty good day today but energy levels were unusually high. Even after a run around the whole field the students were still pretty energetic. 

Our Art Showcase Celebration Tables are set up! Each of the Grade 3/4 classrooms features one fully put together table, featuring kids' artistic representations of traditional food, linens, bread, lanterns, and flowers from one country. Our classroom is hosting the 'Tunisia' table. Each day we will be visiting two classrooms and learning about a different country. These tables will also all be set up in Room 9 during Student Led Conferences, so your child can give you a full tour and show you everything they've learned so far.

In math, we practiced division. We used worksheets from this website: K-5 Learning Division

It is a great resource for printable math worksheets.

We practiced this week's spelling words, talked a bit about Limericks, and finished reading the Little Prince. What an amazing book! I am hoping we can watch the new (ish) animated movie next week in class. But I will need to send a form home first because it is rated PG in some countries. So stay tuned for that.

We ended our day with a 7 Sacred Teachings Bingo check-in. 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of March 5)

 Spelling List A (March 5 – 9)

Birthday	Colour	Across	Soft	Sunday
Why	Eye	Pie	Sigh	Buy

 

Spelling List B  (March 5 – 9)

Couldn’t	Earlier	Glance	Paste	Wonder
Apply	Eye	Nearby	High	Guy

 

Spelling List C (March 5 – 9)

Modify	Multiply	Shanghai	Awry	Fungi
Bonsai	Ally	Deny	Notify	Thigh

 

This will likely be the second last week that we focus specifically on rhyming words. With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I want to make sure the students are ready to write some limericks.

Good luck!