October 31, 2014

Happy last day of the month everyone!  I'm writing our blog in the morning with a plan of what we'll do (no guarantees!) as I have to leave the school quickly after dismissal today for medical reasons (nothing to be concerned about).

Here's the plan:

1. Opening exercises - the students will do a Mad Minute.  Ask them how they did compared to their last Mad Minute.  Did they beat their score?  That's the goal, not whether they did better than other students.
2. Spelling test and memory check - marks will be in their planers
3. R.W. - We'll be finishing up some previous work from our Literature Study and Guided Reading, and then going on to Independent Reading
4. W.W. - The students will continue working on their postcards for S.S., writing about a community in B.C. that they have researched
5. Computers - we will spend time on All the Right Type today
6. Music - with Mr. Banman
7. Math - Miss Dyck will teach Math today as I have a meeting.  The Grade 3's will work on skip counting by 3s and 4s, and the 4's are using skip counting to multiply (now you see why I swapped the unit the 4's were working on, as this one works better with the unit the 3's are on).
8. Science - we're talking about what causes day and night today.  Ask your child about the experiment we did with the styrofoam ball!
9. D.P.A. - I have some hilarious dance time planned to some fabulous children's songs..we should have a good time with this!
10. Art - We're finishing our spirographs, adding the spiders to them as well.  These will be displayed in the hallway.
11. B.U.G. draw - I'm doing this right before dismissal.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and if you're venturing out tonight, stay safe and dry!

October 30, 2014

Good rainy afternoon everyone!

Here's how our day went:

1. Opening exercises - the students worked on an O.W.I., based on a photo of some wildebeests in Tanzania.  Ask then to describe the photo to you!
2. W.W. - Mrs. Simpson was in helping me conference with the children on their writing.  We got to everybody in the class, which was wonderful!  Their writing has improved so much since September and I'm so pleased with how they're implementing the use of paragraphs into their work
3. Handwriting- the Grade 3's are officially handwriters!  We started today on lower case e, l, i and t.  Get them to show you how they do it, and be sure they remember to slant their letters.  The 4's reviewed upper and lower case G and H today. Here are some photos of the first few minutes of handwriting:
   

   

   
4. Math - The 4's worked on multiplying by 0, 1, and 10 today while the 3's continued their lesson on writing numbers in different ways (standard form (950), words (nine hundred fifty), using base ten words (9 hundreds, 5 tens, 0 ones), and pictures).

1. R.W. - We enjoyed two chapters from our read aloud book, and then went on to read Chapter 4 from our Literature Study book, The Chocolate Touch.  The bell went right during a very suspenseful part, so the kids are hoping to finish it soon!
2. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
3. R.W. - with Mr. Ediger
4. Chapel - today the students heard from Tharyn's grandmother about the Christmas Shoebox program.  Each child came home with a box.  Please try to fill out with items suggested for either a girl or a boy, specific which age and gender you chose, and attach the form to the outside of the box.  Then return it to school.  It would be great if everyone in the class could fill a box for a child in need!

October 29, 2014

I'm sorry for the late blog post today - drama club went a little long so I'm quickly trying to get everything done!

1. Opening exercises - the children did a pumpkin word search
2. W.W. - they continued on their narratives, focusing on paragraphs
3. Grammar - I did a semi-formal assessment with the children today on what we've learned so far in grammar.  I didn't want them to prepare ahead of time as I truly wanted to know how much had been retained.  Feel free to ask them how they did.  I didn't required a signature.
4. DPA - the class taught me how to play dungeon ball, and everyone had a blast.
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. Math - the Grade 4's ventured into multiplication, reviewing what they've already learned and building on those skills.  The 7x and 8x tables are the toughest to memorize.  Please work with your children on these at home (I have flash cards you may borrow if you like).  Remind them to use some of the strategies we've learned in class (for example if you have 8x4, you know that 8x2 = 16, so just double it to find out 8x4).  The 3's continued with learning how to represent one number in more than one way using base ten materials
7. S.S. - the class started their community postcard project.  These will eventually be brought home for you to see the fruits of their labour. :)

October 28, 2014

Here's what happened in Grade 3/4 today:

1. Opening Exercise: We finished up our Daily Gram for last week. This activity focused on capitalization, punctuation, adjectives, and correct usage of words.
2. Bible: We started off with our weekly prayer and praise items and the class prayed for one another. Afterwards, we finished off where we last left off in our What's In The Bible series. We learned about salvation, faith, and redemption.
3. Writing Workshop: Today in poetry, we had a little quiz (it was just for me to see where the students were at). This way, I can see what we still need to work on before we get further into writing poetry. We ended our W.W. off by doing a sword drill in dictionaries. This will be important for the students so that when they're struggling with a word or a meaning, they can quickly look it up in the dictionary.
4. Math: We did pumpkin math today. I brought in 3 pumpkins and the students used these pumpkins to complete a pumpkin learning activity. It was all about estimating and then measuring. At the end of the day, we cut open our pumpkins and counted the seeds by either 2's, 5's, or 10's.
5. P.E.: Today I taught the students a new fun game called Dungeon Ball. It's a game very similar to Dodgeball.

October 27, 2014

Here's the low down on today:

1. Opening exercises - we did independent reading today
2. Spelling Word Work/Memory Verse - we reviewed Psalm 100:5 and did our pre-check for Unit 7 of Spelling.  Everyone has corrections this week (5 times a night, Mon - Thurs., in their Homework Book).
3. R.W. - We had Guided Reading today, and the Grade 4's read a skit called 'The Western Sentinel' while the 3's read 'Song Sounds'.  Then we enjoyed Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing together afterwards.
4. Math - We continued on with Numbers, and the 4's started working on greater than and less than while the 3's continued with representing numbers using standard form (762), expanded form (700+60+2), and written form (seven hundred sixty two).  I've decided to move things around a bit, and the 4's will be hopping on to a different unit for a while (multiplication!) because I feel this will better prepare them for future units.
5. P.E. - Mr. Banman
6. S.S. - we talked about different types of communities (lumbering, fishing, mining, industrial, ranching, farming) and the students wrote about which they would live in if they had to move and why.  Next day we're going to study three specific communities and create a project from one of them!  More information to come!
7. Chapel - Mrs. Hills led today

Here are some photos of the class at lunch today:

October 23, 2014

Hi everyone!  Hopefully your weekend is off to an excellent start.

• Opening exercises - today we did a desperately needed desk clean.  
• Spelling test - the average was 10/10 today, which is fantastic!  Glad to see the children are remembering their words. 
• W.W. - The students began their discovery drafts today of their "Best Day Ever" or "Worst Day Ever" stories.
• Handwriting - the Grade 3's are finishing their printing review this week and the 4's are working on upper and lower case 'e' and 'f' in cursive.
• Math - The Grade 3's and 4's both finished their work related to writing numbers in place value charts and in standard form (and grade 4's in expanded form and words).
• R.W. - The class completed their Chapter 3 activities from The Chocolate Touch and then we enjoyed 'Planet Earth' together.
• P.E. - with Mr. Banman
• R.W. - with Mr. Ediger
• Chapel - Mrs. Campbell led today and did a fun object lesson using pumpkins.  

October 22, 2014

We had an awesome day today, and considering I was up at 4:30 AM, that's a feat in and of itself!  I had to get my daughter to her bus for 5:30 AM to attend We Day in Vancouver, which got us off to an early start.

Here's what happened in the 3/4 room today:

1. Opening exercises - we did a Mad Minute (30 math facts, with 1 minute to complete as many as possible).  I emphasized with the class that I don't care who has the highest mark.  What I am concerned about is if they improve their own scores.  They are solely competing with themselves, and hopefully working on Xtra Math will help with that.  Other mathematical concepts are so much simpler if the students know their basic facts well.  Thank you to those families who have been doing Xtra Math regularly!
2. W.W. - the students continued with their narrative writing, finishing off their prewriting organizers. Today we talked about transition words (after, lastly, suddenly, as soon as, etc.), and paragraphs.  The Grade 4 students that I taught last year are accustomed to paragraphs but the Grade 3 students are likely venturing into new territory.  With the prewriting organizer that they have, their paragraphs are made for them, with one for each event.  We've also been talking a lot about paragraphs during R.W., so they've seen them in action in books.
3. Grammar - today's assignment was review of the previous weeks
4. DPA - we played a round of Capture the Flag
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. RW - we had 20 minutes of Read Aloud time, and everyone was keen to hear another chapter of Fudge's antics!
7. Math - the students had their first assignment with numbers today, and for many of them much of the time was spent getting accustomed to working with a textbook and setting up their exercise books properly.  This can be a difficult feat, but once they know how to do it properly (date, title, legible printing, numbers on the margin, etc.), it makes everyone's lives easier!
8. S.S. - today we crossed over our mapping unit with our communities unit and looked at city, farm and town maps and compared the three

October 21, 2014

Sorry for the late post! Today was a busy day in Grade 3/4. Here's just a brief snapshot into our day today.

1. Opening Exercise: We did a daily gram today (my first time doing one with the students).

2. Bible: We took time today to share prayer requests/praise items. One thing the whole class was thankful--and very excited--for was the arrival of baby Malachi, Tyson's new brother :) The class then prayed for either their own requests or for their fellow classmates. As a teacher, it warms my heart to see how much these students care for one another.

3. Writing Workshop: In poetry, we discussed adjectives and how we can use them in our poetry writing to make our poems come to life.

4. Math: We did a bit of review on regular and irregular polygons.

5. Health & Careers: Since it's germ season, we learned about the journey of a germ and how to prevent the spread of germs.

6. Gym: We played round 3 of Belly Ball. After 3 weeks, the teams are dead-even: 37-37.

7. Science: We veered from Structures today and did a bit of hypothesizing and observations. We tested the reactions of Mentos with different beverages. The students LOVED this.

October 20, 2014

I can't believe how far we are into October already!  Time is flying by with these students.  Thank you for raising such wonderful children for me to work with.  They all put in a great effort today and were truly a joy to teach,.  I am so thankful.

1. Opening exercises - we worked on an O.W.I. today, featuring a group of children playing soccer by the ocean in Brazil
2. Spelling/memory - Unit 6 (all review words) and memory verse 4 will be tested Thursday this week due to the Pro-D day Friday
3. R.W. - we worked on the activities to do with Chapter 3 of The Chocolate Touch
4. Math - Today we bid farewell to our patterns unit and moved on to Number Concepts.  The students have brought home everything from their Math duotangs to do with the previous unit.  It's up to you what to do with it at this point.
5. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
6. S.S. - Another unit was finished today!  Mapping came home, and Communities was started.  The children will learn all about urban and rural communities, different communities in B.C., and our government in this unit.
7. Chapel - Mrs. Bloch led today

October 17, 2014

We ended the day with the kids putting me into tears laughing so hard, which is a perfect way to end a busy week in my opinion!

1. Opening exercises - the children worked on a challenging crossword puzzle
2. Spelling test - their scores, along with their memory verse scores, are in their planners
3. R.W. - we read Ch. 3 of The Chocolate Touch
4. Computers - we spent some time exploring a few links I find for the students for educational games
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. Math - tests were returned, corrections were started, and tests are being brought home for signing.  If you have time to work on any further corrections with your child, that would be appreciated
7. D.P.A. - the gym was in use, so we did DPA in the classroom today.  Each student led the class in movement and we had lots of fun
8. Science - today we learned about how the sun's position in the sky affects the length of shadows.  We did an experiment to do with this as well, noting how short shadows are at noon compared to the morning and evening.  If the sun comes out this weekend, please take some time to point out shadows and their lengths to your child!
9. Art - we continued on our spirographs.  These are starting to look really neat!

October 16, 2014

Today was a productive day!  Here's what went down:

• Opening exercises - we did independent reading and reviewed the new homework procedures.  
• W.W. - we began a new project today.  The students will be writing narratives (stories that can either be real or imaginary) about their best or worst day ever.  Today we shared some personal stories about best and worst events in our lives and then started our graphic organizer for our prewriting
• Handwriting - the Grade 3's continued their print review and the 4's worked on upper and lower case D
• Earthquake drill - we practiced what we would do in an earthquake, and answered a lot of "What if" questions about earthquakes
• Math - we had our patterns test.  On to number concepts and operations next!
• P.E. - with Mr. Banman
• R.W. - with Mr. Ediger
• Chapel - Mrs. Ryskamp spoke today

October 15, 2014

Your child is coming home with some information about our new homework program today.  Please read over the handouts with them, log in to Xtra Math, and ensure they do their memory verses and Spelling homework.  The yellow duotang needs to come back to school every day. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Today we began with some journaling about Thanksgiving.  I asked your children to mark themselves out of 5 based on what they wrote, how much they wrote, and how wisely they used their time.  I'll be curious to see their grading. :)

We also worked on compound words and contractions in Grammar today, and then enjoyed 'Guard the Castle' in DPA.

Math was spent doing some review work in preparation for our test tomorrow, and then after lunch we had our S.S. mapping quiz.  I'll mark those tonight and have them back to the children tomorrow.

October 14, 2014

Here's what happened in our grade 3/4 class today:

1. Bible: We continued with our "What's in the Bible?" series as we learned how books were chosen to be a part of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.
2. Poetry: We have been learning about figurative language (similes, metaphors), as well as imagery. Today we learned about voice and how different poems have different voices. We brainstormed different words that would describe a poem with the following voices: happy, sad, silly, and lazy. The class was very creative! We then used those words to create 4 mini poems.
3. Math: The students are now familiar with polygons so I introduced them to regular and irregular shapes.
4. PE: We continued with our game of Belly Ball (hopefully you now know what Belly Ball is all about). The Red Thunder Bolts continue to lead against the Green Gladiators, but only by 1 point! It's 32 to 31!
5. Science: Today we discussed the importance of a solid foundation and even related it to the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. The students got the chance to see how different foundations affect stability of a structure.

October 8, 2014

I'm hurrying off to the ASCI Teacher's Convention in Kamloops today, but here are some photos from our field trip!  Have a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend everyone, and see you all back at school on Tuesday!

October 7, 2014

Today was a busy, but fun day in grade 3/4. Here's how our day went:

1. Opening Exercise: We did a O.W.I. with a picture of an ice cave in Russia.
2. Bible/Writing Workshop: We combined the 2 subjects today as we talked about Thankfulness since Thanksgiving is approaching. We discussed things we are thankful for and recorded these on a chart paper. We then looked up different verses in the Bible that talk about being thankful. Afterwards, we wrote acrostic poems using the word THANKFUL. The students came up with some great ideas.
3. Math: Since we have been working on polygons, we built our own geometry monster glyphs (you can have your child explain this to you!). Basically, the students had to build their monster based on different factors (the length of their name, vowels in their name, how many siblings they have, how many pets they have, and so on). I can't wait to see the finished product!
4. P.E.: I introduced the students to one of my favorite gym games growing up: Belly Ball! This game is a mix between Dodgeball and California Kickball. Make sure you ask your child to explain this game to you - they absolutely loved it! We made teams in class and will continue to use these teams this month as we play different team games. We have the Green Gladiators vs. the Red Thunder Bolts. So far, the Red Thunder Bolts are winning by 1 point!
5. Science: We put our construction hats on and became engineers. We watched a quick little clip of a building collapsing and tried to determine why that building wasn't stable. Using what we had previously learned, we took an unstable structure (an empty toilet paper roll) and had to make it so it wouldn't tip over so easily using only a bag of beans, 2 elastic bands, and 2 pieces of toilet paper. They were much better engineers than the builders who built the collapsing buildings.

October 6, 2014

Good afternoon everyone. We worked hard today on listening.  That will be our focus for this short week and next.  The children know that it is very important to me that they are always listening for instructions and are doing what they've been asked.  Please help them with this by talking with them about it at home as well.

1. Opening exercises - we did a daily gram today
2. Spelling - the children received their words for Unit 5 today and their memory verse (Psalm 100:3) but they won't be tested until Oct. 17th
3. R.W. - I read aloud to the class from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
4. Math - we are wrapping up our patterns unit now.  The students will have a test on what they've learned next Thursday.  Feel free to ask your child to bring home his/her Math duotang home so that you can review with them.
5. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
6. S.S. - we started our Canada maps.  The students have a quiz on these next week Wednesday.  All grades will be given the capitals of the Canadian provinces and territories and will have to figure out which goes where.  The grade 3 students will also be given the province and territory names.  The grade 4 students will have to know how to spell the province and territory names correctly. Please practice these at home with your child.
7. Chapel - Mrs. Everett spoke today

October 3, 2014

What a day we had today!  Your child might mention that I spoke to the class this afternoon about the importance of listening.  Today seemed horrible with regards to this, as many times the class was just not paying attention.  Please reiterate that at home with your children.  The more attentive they are in class, the quicker we can move on to bigger and better things. :)

1. Opening Exercises - the children did Independent Reading
2. Spelling test and memory check - nearly everyone did very well.  Marks are in planners
3. R.W. - we finished our work from Chapter 2 of The Chocolate Touch. We spent quite a bit of time discussing cause and effect, and how it is an integral part of a good story.  The class discussed causes and effects from two of the books we are currently reading, as well as in our own lives.
4. Computers - the children are progressing at individualized rates through All the Right Type
5. D.P.A. - the class enjoyed another game of Guard the Castle
6. Music - with Mr. Banman
7. Math - The grade 3's worked on their addition patterns today while the 4's learned about predicting and justifying their answers based on information they already have
8. Science - We did an outdoor activity to start class today, as I wanted to show the children that although the sun appears very small in the sky, it's actually enormous, and that distance makes things appear smaller.  We found an entertaining song about the sun (check it out here), and the class journaled about their learning that we did outside.  We also corrected any thinking that the sun is a ball of fire (they should be able to tell you what it is...give them a hint that it has to do with hydrogen and helium). 
9. Art - We started our annual spider spirographs today.  This is related to our Math unit on patterns, and is a project which requires a ton of care and precision.  Some students were asking if they could do a spirograph at home too, so here's a link: (Spirograph directions and template).

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

October 2, 2014

I saw many of you at chapel today, which so much fun.  The Grade 5/6 class put on a wonderful student-led chapel, and their parents were invited to join us.

Here's what took place today:

1. Opening exercises - we did a Thanksgiving word search
2. W.W. - continued on our All About Me writing
3. Handwriting - the Grade 3's continued their review of printing while the 4's reviewed upper-case C and lower-case c
4. Math - The 4's did some multiplication stars (ask them to show you) and the 3's worked on patterns in adding 2 digits plus 1 digit as well as with calculators
5. R.W. - We read Chapter 2 from The Chocolate Touch and then I read aloud to the class
6. P,E. - with Mr. Banman
7. R.W. - with Mr. Ediger
8. Chapel

October 1, 2014

I can't believe that it's October already!  Here's how we started this month off:

1. Opening exercises - everyone cleaned their desks!  This brought great joy to me, as some were a massive disaster scene!
2. W.W. - The students shared their imagery paragraphs from yesterday (what awesome descriptive words they used!), and then went on to finish up their 'All About Me' writing.  About half the class has completed theirs now.
3. Grammar - our focus was on prefixes and suffixes today
4. DPA - we played a new game called 'Guard the Castle'.  Ask your child to describe it for you, but the majority of the class really enjoyed it!
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. R.W. - independent reading
7. Math - we had a big change in Math today.  After many failed attempts to have the entire class hand in certain pages, I have reverted back to duotangs for Math.  This way the students can just hand in their duotang, not needing to make sure they have certain pages handed in or that their name is on every page. Easier for them, and easier for me.  It took some time to get organized, but it will be worth it in the days to come.  Then the 3's went on to finding patterns with their calculators while the 4's finished up their graphing.
8. S.S. - we're wrapping up our mapping unit, and I told the class about their final project to do with mapping.  They will be working on a map of Canada, labeling all the provinces, territories, and capitals.  It must be done in straight, neat printing, with correct upper-case letters and spelling.  The map also will be coloured, with each province/territory being a different colour, and each one outlined with a pencil crayon, and then shaded in with that same pencil crayon.  Mapping is a detailed task, and one that must be done carefully and well.  If your child is meticulous with this type of task, I will encourage him/her to bring it home to work on it there.