October 31, 2013

Today was a very exciting day for the students!  They observed immediately upon looking at the agenda that it was a fun day with plenty to look forward to, most notably our visit from Richard Wong, a physicist at the University of the Fraser Valley.

We started the day with Bible, looking up multiple verses in the Bible related to our topic of how God created everything and that he speaks truth to us.  The children are getting much quicker at looking up verses in the Bible now that they know where almost half of the books are!

Then we had Handwriting, and the Grade 4's worked on cursive H and I while the 3's finally got to try their hands at cursive!  They started with the easiest ones - e, i, l, and t (all lower case).

Then on to grammar where we discussed sentences with the Grade 3 students, and specifically the difference between interrogative and declarative sentences with the Grade 4 students.

The students had an early recess and then we had our visitor arrive!

Dr. Wong (a.k.a. Richard) focused on the spectrum of light, and how different types of light affect how we see colours.  Ask your children about the spectrometer that we used, and the different colours they saw depending on which light they were looking at.

After lunch we had the October B.U.G. draw (pizza B.U.G. lunch will be NEXT Friday, November 8th - students who won this will have emails sent to their parents), and then Art, where we finished our Spider Spirographs and Name Art.

The day ended with chapel and we sang 'Trading My Sorrows', 'Jesus Loves Me' and "Hey, Jesus Loves Me!"

Have a wonderful evening everyone, and whatever your family does tonight, I pray it will be enjoyable and safe.  :)

October 30, 2013

What a busy, albeit short, day we had today!  The students worked very hard, and accomplished a lot.

We started with Writing Workshop.  Has your child told you about the Opening Exercises we do most days?  It's working on their grammar, punctuation and spelling and gets everyone to work right away in the morning.  We started with that today, and then went on to a lesson on transitions in writing (also, finally, then, etc.).  The students are now working on bringing a personal narrative through to the published phase, and for some this has become a race.  I'm hoping they're not too discouraged when they meet with me and I send them back with lots of changes to make to improve their writing!

After WW we had RW, and I read aloud to the students from 'Matilda' (I figured they needed a break after their hard work in writing!).  Then they had some time for Independent Reading.

This was followed by recess, and then Math.  The grade 4's continued through their work in estimation and likely have one or two questions to complete for homework.  The 3's are working with number lines and noticing patterns when counting by 5's, 10's and 100's.

Then the students had P.E. and P.O.W. with Mr. Banman.

After lunch we had S.S., and the students started on a project where they will create a treasure map. This should be loads of fun while building their mapping skills.  I'm looking forward to seeing their final product!

October 29th, 2013

We had a lengthy talk about bullying and teasing today, and I'd greatly appreciate it if you could extend this at home, as we have some recurring problems with many of the students in our classroom, particularly out on the playground.  Also a reminder to parents that supervision is only provided until 15 minutes after dismissal.  After that, it is the parent's responsibility to supervise their children.

We spent some time working on Flander's Fields (has your child memorized his or hers?  Please continue to work on memorization and projection), which will be presented at Remembrance Day assembly next Friday.

The students had Music, and then we had Math.  The 4's are being pushed to work on estimation, which is proving tricky for many of them as they tend to be perfectionists who always want the exact answer! :)  The 3's are continuing on ordering numbers.

During S.S. we discussed our stereotype assignments, and then continued working on mapping.  The students will have a fun project coming up on this topic!

They finished the day with Library and P.E.

October 28, 2013

Well today sure felt like autumn, albeit a gorgeous autumn day!  Our trees are rapidly shedding their leaves, but the sun has been shining brightly in our classroom!

We began today with Reading Workshop, and the students are continuing through their Guided Reading books focusing on the setting (one of our questions was, "Would your story be the same if the setting was Disneyland?").  Then they finished up some activities related to Chapter 5 of 'Henry and the Clubhouse'.

Spelling was after RW, and the students were given their words.  Some students have asked for more challenging words, which I am eager to provide them.  They will have that option next Monday should they so desire.

Then we had DPA and I shocked the students be having them do Yoga.  They were very reluctant at first, but then ended up having a blast (the majority anyway).  They were amazed at how flexible the woman we were watching was (and she was easily twice my age!). 

After recess we worked on our writing, focusing on interesting leads.  We talked about how using dialogue, foreshadowing, action, character or setting description are all fantastic ways to being a personal narrative.  Then the students went back and edited their own writing.

I gave the students some time to work on their unfinished spirographs from Math/Art last week, and then we went on to regular Math.  The 4's finished their problems relating to Venn and Carroll Diagrams and the 3's worked with me on ordering numbers from least to greatest and vice versa.

After lunch we had Science, and continued our telephone dissection, followed by some work with light, which is what we'll be studying for the next little while.  We have a special guest coming into our classroom on Thursday to do with our Science unit as well!

Take care everyone and have a great evening!

October 24, 2013

The students had the pleasure of witnessing my voice disappear today as the day went on!  Good thing I'm not teaching them tomorrow, as I suspect I'll have nothing left!

We had grammar today, and the children did some review.  Then on to Handwriting, and the Grade 3's finished off their printing and the 4's started F and G.  After that we did our Spelling Test and checked their memory of their books of the Bible.

After recess the children went to a presentation about the composter we now have upstairs!  Get them to tell you all about it. :)

Then they enjoyed some of this beautiful weather for DPA and that was followed by Math.  We all played a fun place value game, which they can easily play at home.  They just need numbers between 0 and 9 on cards (2 sets) and a sheet of paper.  Get them to show you it this weekend!

After Lunch we had a fun Math/Art class, making spiderweb spirographs.  Here are some photos of the kids working on them.  We'll make a display in the hallway once they're done.

October 23, 2013

Writing Workshop was first on the agenda today, and the class continued working on the first draft of a personal narrative.  Some of the kids had trouble stopping, which was such a good sign of how keen they are to work on this project.  We also shared with a neighbour, pointing out different elements of a personal narrative that we heard in their writing (character description, setting description, dialogue and interesting details).

Then we went on to Reading Workshop, and the students were given some time to finish up their Lit. Study Ch. 5 work.  Then I read from 'Matilda' and then the students had silent reading.

Following Recess, we had Math, and time got away on us quickly!  The Grade 4's continued working hard on their work with Venn Diagrams and Carroll Diagrams while the 3's did some work with creating as many numbers as possible using 1 hundred flat, 2 base ten rods and a 1 cube, etc.  We just started to prepare for a fun math game when class was over!  We'll have to check it out tomorrow.

The students then had P.E. with Mr. Banman followed by P.O.W.

After lunch we had S.S., and I shared a story with the students that is all about stereotypes ('The True Story of the Three Little Pigs').  Then we went on to Chapter 2 in the textbook, which is all about describing our world. 

October 22, 2013

We started the day with Bible and we had a quick talk about bullies and behaviour on the playground that helps ensure we are not bullying.  Then we went on to review the books of the Bible, and talk about the difference between true and false.

During RW we worked in our Guided Reading groups focusing on setting, and the students drew pictures of the setting of their stories.  This proved to be quite challenging for a lot of the groups, but was a great learning experience regardless!

For WW the students examined a short story by Lois Lowry and made note of the elements of a personal narrative in that story.  Then they started writing their own personal narrative which they'll have more time to work on tomorrow.

Then they were off to music after recess, and then we had Math together.  The Grade 4 students started working with Venn and Carroll Diagrams today.  The 3's continued with their base ten numbers and regrouping.

After lunch the students had S.S., and we discussed stereotypes.  They have some interesting homework to be done over the weekend about this topic too!

They then had Library and P.E.  Have a great night!

October 22, 2013

We started off our week with RW, and continued reading aloud together from 'Henry and the Clubhouse'.  I'm working with the students in class on their expression when reading out loud.  Please encourage the same at home (that their questions actually sound like questions, etc.) for continuity.  They then worked on some activities related to Chapter 5 from this book.

Afterwards we had our Spelling Pre-Test.  No memory verse this week as it's a shorter week, but the children will be assessed on the first few books of the Bible (from Genesis to Eccl.), so please review this with them.

We enjoyed our usual game of soccer for DPA, and then after Recess we had WW.  The students are doing the preliminary 'Explore' stage of their narrative writing.  Ask them about some of the ideas they wrote down on their idea bank today (and even ask them about the foolish thing I did with ketchup a few days ago!).

Math came next, and the Gr. 3's worked with me on writing numbers in different ways by regrouping tens and hundreds.  The 4's continued on with their work from Friday.

We had Science as our class after lunch and the kids had a BLAST doing our dissection...not of an animal, but of a phone!  Ask them what makes the phone ring, how the dialing happens and what the parts all look like.  The only thing we couldn't get undone was the microphone portion (none of us were strong enough!).

Mrs. Hills led chapel today, and Mrs. Everett led worship.

Enjoy these beautiful autumn days everyone!  God bless!

Friday, October 18th

We started today with Devotions with Mrs. Everett followed by the spelling test and memory verse test.  If you're not seeing these come home, please ask your child about it, as they are always handed back before the end of the day Friday.

Then we had R.W., and we worked together through the comprehension and connection questions from Ch. 4 and read Ch. 5 (or most of it anyway) together.

After Recess the students had Math, and continued on their work with place value.  The Grade 4's added greater than and less than to their repertoire today.  Most students have a bit of homework to take care of this weekend in Math.

I followed this with working on the poem 'In Flanders Fields' with the students, as our class has the honour of presenting this poem to the school at the Remembrance Day Assembly (Nov. 8th).  Each child has lines to memorize, and I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd practice with them at home.

Then we went on to work on our typing technique in the lab.

After lunch today we did some work in Science (ask your child about the experiment where we created a model of an ear drum!). On October 31 we have a special visitor coming in related to our Science unit, so that's something to look forward to.

The kids ended their week with P.E.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend with your family!

Thursday, October 18, 2013

We started today with adding three more books to our 'Books of the Bible' list (we're at Ecclesiastes now, and that one is a mouthful for these kids to say!).  Then we finished off this topic in Bible about building our foundations on the rock, not the sand.  Then the students worked on handwriting and contractions, as well as some grammar review.

They had an earthquake drill during library time today, which proved interesting as there isn't a multitude of hiding locations in that room.  They figured it out though, and everyone was safe.

After recess the students had Music, and then an outdoor DPA session with Mrs. Everett.

We had Math today as well, and the students continued their work with place value, using base ten materials.  The Grade 4's found different ways of showing the same number, and the 3's were working on writing numbers in expanded (300+50+3) and standard (353) form.

After lunch we had Art, and the students finished their name art from last day.  I also read to them from 'Matilda' during this time.

We finished the day with chapel, led by Mrs. Bloch and she talked about what we can do when we're having a rotten day, which we all have. Hopefully today wasn't a rotten day for any of your children! :)

October 16, 2013

We started today with Writing Workshop, learning how to revise and edit our own and each other's work.  The students had an opportunity to put that into practice immediately following the lesson.

During Reading Workshop we had Guided Reading, and the students worked with their Guided Reading groups on a character trait handout, focusing on the traits, actions and dialogue of one of the characters in their novels.

For Math we continued our work with place value, writing numbers in standard and expanded form (gr. 4) and pictorially (gr. 3).

The students had P.E. with Mr. Banman, as well as a Problem of the Week.

Following Lunch we had S.S. and we finished our charts about sources of information today, and each group presented their findings to the class. 

October 15, 2013

Welcome back after a long, and hopefully restful, weekend!  We started today with Spelling (list words are posted, along with the memory verse), and then went on to Reading Workshop.  We discussed character traits and came up with an awesome list of different character traits.  Then the children read independently for a few minutes and came up with MORE character traits which they wrote down on post-it notes. 

After RW we went on to WW, and the students spent a bit of time working on a short write about a special memory.  Tomorrow we'll work on revising and editing these.

After Recess the students had Music and then Math.  The Gr. 4's worked on their corrections and the 3's started our new unit on Number Concepts.

The kids enjoyed the beautiful weather outside at lunch today!

During the afternoon we had S.S. and the students who hadn't yet shared their posters did, and then we went on to work on a quick assignment about sources of information and which were useful and which were not.

The students finished their day with Library and P.E.

October 9, 2013

Here we are at the end of our week already!  We had a lot to fit into today, and we started with Writing Workshop. The children completed their projects they are working on for you, and some continued working on their Poetry Anthologies.  We did a bingo activity today in writing too, and the children came up with lots of great ideas to write about this year!

Then on to our Spelling test, which was all review words and most got them all correct. :)

This was followed by Reading Workshop, and we enjoyed another chapter of 'Matilda' from our read aloud, and then had 15 minutes of silent reading.

After recess we had our Math test.  I'll mark these over the weekend and have them back to the students by Tuesday.  They will be expected to correct any errors on their test.

They then had P.E. with Mr. Banman, followed by 20 minutes of S.S. poster presentations.

After lunch those who weren't done their Math tests finished them, we shared the last few S.S. posters, and then filled out our planners with the heaps of homework the children have for the weekend. :)

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone!  I'm looking forward to the 2-day Teacher's Convention in Surrey and coming back next week full of new ideas to work into my plans for the year!  Enjoy plenty of turkey and time with your families this weekend and savour all the blessings He has richly bestowed upon all of us.  Take care!

October 8, 2013

We started with Bible today and the students works more on building their foundations on the Rock, along with adding 3 more books to our memory of the books of the Bible.

During RW we worked through some more comprehension and extension activities of Henry and the Clubhouse.  For WW the students worked on their Thanksgiving surprises for you. :)

The children had Music after recess followed by Math, in which they did review for their tests tomorrow.  Some haven't finished their worksheets and I encouraged them to bring them home to study from.

After lunch we had S.S. and we discussed the difference between a fact and a opinion, and the students had 10 minutes to continue on their posters, which are due tomorrow. 

The students finished their day with Library and P.E.

October 7, 2013 - Assembly and bats!

We started today as we do every first Monday of the month, with an assembly.  Mr. Morrow talked about some upcoming events (the long weekend and the earthquake drill on October 17th to name a couple), and then sent us on our way.

For Reading Workshop today we started Chapter 4 of 'Henry and the Clubhouse'.  The students also listened to another chapter of 'Matilda'.

They had a Spelling Pre-test (yes, there is Spelling this week, but the list is short and the words are quite simple), but no memory verse this week.

For D.P.A. we enjoyed a game of soccer in the gym, and then the students had an indoor recess  due to the rain.

During Writing Workshop we worked on a little surprise for you for Thanksgiving, and that's all I'll say about that! ;)

The students found out today that they will have a Math test on Wednesday.  I told them that they can bring their textbooks and duotangs home to review and make sure their corrections are done if they'd like to.

After lunch (the rain let up so they could play outside for a while) we had Science and we played a neat game in the gym where we found out if we can hear the same way bats do (using echolocation). Then we returned to the class and the students tried an experiment where they closed their eyes, had a book in front of them and spoke, then did the same without a book in front of them (noticing the echo).  We also discussed how when humans make noise it's done via vibrations in the vocal chords, and we looked at a diagram of vocal chords.

We ended the day with chapel, and it was awesome to have the middle school worship team leading the music today!

October 4, 2013

Mrs. Everett started today with devotions with the students and administered their spelling test as well.  Then we had Guided Reading groups, a discussion and questions about visualization (ties into our writing topic right now about using sensory details), and then I read from 'Matilda'. 

After Recess we had Math, and the students worked on corrections and then continued with some additional practice with patterns.  Next week we will have a test on what has been taught (and hopefully learned!) so far, but I'm not mentioning this to the children yet. 

Then we went to the lab to read some hilarious poetry by Shel Silverstein.  The children each copied one poem out into their Poetry Anthology (their collection of poetry they enjoy), and then they worked on All The Right Type for 15 minutes.

Some hard-working students enjoyed a pizza lunch with me today (part of the monthly B.U.G. draw), and then we had another session in the lab, this time working with www.studyladder.ca .  Your child has his or her login information written in his or her planner, as well as an information sheet for you with that information on it.  We experimented with it a bit today, and I encouraged the children to work with it this weekend at home.  It reinforces what we're learning at school and helps to build their confidence as well.

The students ended their day with P.E. with Mr. Banman.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend everyone!  Here's hoping this fantastic weather continues! :)

October 3, 2013

We started the day today talking about our poster in the classroom that Mr. Morrow printed off for each class.  It shows the virtues and values that our school feels are important and we will be focusing on one or two each month.  This month we're talking about "Being Thankful".  Feel free to carry over this theme at home to help reinforce the ideas. 

Then we briefly talked about our Bible topic, building our foundations on the Rock, and worked on the first 15 books of the Bible. 

After that the students had Handwriting (Grade 4's are working on cursive C and Grade 3's are working on printed KLMNOPQR).  

This was followed by Grammar, and our lesson today was suffixes and compound words.

This was followed by a quick visit to the library and then recess, Music and DPA.

After DPA we had Math, and the students finished their corrections and then the Grade 3's worked on textbook Page 33 (all have finished now) and the 4's worked on their Extra Practice sheets.

Following Lunch we finished our classroom time with Art, and the students started work on a name poster using patterns.  We'll finish them next week.

We ended the day with Chapel (have you tried the Fruits of the Spirit song at home yet?).

Enjoy your evening everyone!

October 2, 2013

Writing Workshop was what we began today with, and the students continued working on their poems about Autumn (many are now finished).  These will be displayed on our Wall of Fame in the classroom, so feel free to pop by and have a look at them anytime. 

After WW, we had RW, and the students enjoyed a chapter in Matilda.  Then they continued with our Literature Study of 'Henry and the Clubhouse', continuing through Chapter 3.

After Recess we had Math.  The students did a Problem of the Week this week too, that really got them thinking and required the use of their knowledge about patterns. 

The students also had P.E. with Mr. Banman today.

After Lunch we had S.S. and the students had their last working block for their culture posters. 

October 1st - A new month already!

October is here, and we greeted it with a productive day at school.  Starting with Bible, we worked on our list of the books of the Bible today.  See if your child can list the books of the Bible up to Ezra (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra), as they should have this memorized by now, and many demonstrated that they did in class today.  Then we continued our discussion on the importance of building our lives on the Rock.

The children then had a silent reading block, followed by Writing Workshop, where we continued to work with the sensory detail of colour.  We also started work on a colour poem today!

After recess the children has Music, and then we went on to Math.  We continued through to the last page of this chapter in the Grade 3 text (Show What You Know), and the Grade 4's are working on some extra practice sheets as well.  If the students weren't done their corrections which were for homework, they were expected to complete them before any other work in class.  We also started subtraction in our math drills today, so if you're working on this at home, please switch from addition to subtraction to help with their skills.

After lunch we had S.S., and the students worked on finishing off their culture posters.  These should be quite the works of art and information by the time they're complete, as they're going to share with the class many of the traditions their families have!  I'm looking forward to reading them. :)

The class ended their day with Library and P.E.

Take care and have a restful evening!