May 28, 2015

We had a fun day today!  Here's how it went:

1. Opening exercises - the children measured 20 different things in our classroom.  It was a great review of measuring accurately, as well as remembering to tell what unit you're measuring, and whether you're measuring length, width, or height.
2. W.W. - we finished the opinion writing about which dog matched which owner.  
3. Handwriting - The class worked on finishing their handwriting exercise books.  These will come home as I mark them.
4. B.U.G. draw! - As per usual, we enjoyed our end of the month B.U.G. draw.  
5. Math - the Grade 3's worked on division again while the 4's went WAY back in their textbooks to work on equations using multiplication and division.
6. R.W. - I decided we should enjoy the glorious sunshine today, so we took our classroom outside and read from These Are My People there.  It proved challenging for some kids as reading aloud outside is very different from reading aloud inside, especially when planes go by overhead.  It was an excellent experience for them all though!
   
7. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
8. R.W. - with Mr. Ediger
9. Chapel - Jack's dad, Jeff Gates, led chapel today, which all the kids enjoyed.

May 27, 2015

Hi parents!  We had a great day today.  Here's how it went:

1. Opening Exercises - the class read independently
2. W.W. - the students started a new writing assignment today, where they had to match dogs and owners (their opinion, providing reasons for their choices).  This proved very challenging for many of them!  We'll continue on it tomorrow.
3. Grammar - we're nearing the end of our Grammar work for the year so I've asked the students to work their way through the review.
4. DPA - we all enjoyed a game of 'Every Man For Himself Dungeon Ball'
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. R.W. - we finished Chapter 6 and 7 from These Are My People
7. Math - the Grade 4's started 3 digit by 1 digit multiplication while the 3's worked on division (day one, and they all did quite well!).  Please continue to work on their basic facts at home.
8. S.S. - this was the second last class time to work on their gameboards, which appear to be coming along quite well.

May 26, 2015

Good afternoon parents.  I shared some information with the children today that affects them on Tuesdays for the remainder of the year.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Magra is still dealing with the side effects of her concussion and has been told by her physician to not return to work for the next many weeks.  As a result, Mrs. Hoock will be in for her (this Friday, and then every Tuesday until the end of the year).  The children have had Mrs. Hoock in the past, so it's great that we will have a familiar face in the classroom.

Here's what we did today:

1. Opening Exercises - the children worked on some sentences on the board that had a lot of errors in them
2. Bible - I used one of Mrs. Magra's 'The Bible with Buck Rogers' lessons today.  The video series is pretty fun!  They sure make the stories come to life for the kids, and although I heard a few complainers, I noticed many times that everyone was glued to the story.  Today they learned about 1 Samuel, and Saul and David and their roles as kings.
3. Math - the Grade 3's worked on related addition and multiplication sentences while the 4's worked on multiplying 2 digits by one digit.  
4. S.S. - the class had 20 minutes to work on their gameboards
5. Library - everyone was asked to ensure that they have a chapter book to read in class.  Some students forgot their library books today, so I've asked them to be sure to bring them back tomorrow and I'll take them down to get a chapter book tomorrow.
6. P.E. - I don't often get a big chunk of P.E. time with the kids, so today was great.  We did a fitness warm up, with running, pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and burpees.  Then on to a fun game together for the remainder of the time.
7. Science - What a fun class we had today, experimenting with natural dyes!  Part of our unit right now is about finding uses for plants and we definitely did that today.  I presented the students with a variety of different plant items that might dye things, and they were asked to predict which they thought would dye things most effectively.  You'll have to ask your child about the results of their hypothesis.  We emphasized that it didn't matter if their hypothesis was proven right or wrong, and that this is all part of Science experiments.  The most important part to me is that they learned something, which I'm sure they all did.

I'll see everyone tomorrow! :)

May 25, 2015

We had a dreary start to the day with the weather, but the kids had an unusual start to their day with Mr. Morrow as their teacher until recess!  I had a meeting to attend in the building, which was why he was here.

1. Opening Exercises - independent reading
2. Spelling - the class did Unit 29 with Mr. Morrow.  Many got a perfect mark on their pretest which means they won't have any homework related to spelling this week.
3. R.W. - the class read some of Chapter 6 together from These Are My People, and then Mr. Morrow read aloud to them from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. Math - we spent some time on corrections and then the 4's worked on alternate strategies to multiply while the 3's learned about how factors in multiplication sentences can be reversed.
5. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
6. S.S. - the students continued on their pioneer gameboards.  These are due June 5th.  They will have 2 more classes to work on them.
7. Chapel - the Middle School led chapel today, talking about their mission trip to Mexico over spring break.

May 22, 2015

Welcome to the weekend families!  Here's how our Friday went:

1. Opening Exercises - we did a Mad Minute (addition)
2. Memory verse check - there's just a few more students who have to ace their 'Big 12' memory test!  They'll have two more weeks to try. We resume regular spelling words next week as well.
3. R.W. - we finished our Chapter 5 comprehension questions from our literature study
4. Chromebooks! - I introduced Chromebooks to the students today using just the Chromebook I have.  This gave them the opportunity to ask any questions they had about our new computers without being overwhelmed with information in front of them.
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. Math - the Grade 4's started 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication today and the 3's worked with arrays to help them multiply
7. DPA - we played my first round of 'Every Man For Himself' dodgeball, which was fun.  The kids had me in hysterics I was laughing so hard by the end (yes, I like to get in and play with them.  I admit, I'm still partially a kid myself sometimes!).
8. Science - we reviewed how seeds travel, and briefly discussed the food we eat that comes from plants
9. Art -After doing a much-needed desk clean, we did some watercolour painting.  I realize we've hardly used these paints, which is why I've removed them from the supply list next year.  I'll just move the kid's sets down to the new classroom for next year. :)

I'll be sending home an email right away about a few situations taking place upstairs.  Please talk with your children about the seriousness of both. Your support at home is so beneficial to the school environment and the messages they receive from me.  Thank you!

May 21, 2015

We had a great time at the play today, and it was a very different experience from a typical field trip for all of these students. Some had never been to live theatre before, which made this all the more exciting for them. The production was so well done!  Thanks to Stephanie Hampson and Lisa Brendt for helping with driving. 

Here are some photos (we weren't allowed to photograph the production unfortunately):

May 20, 2015

What gorgeous weather we've been having lately!  I'm so thankful for the sunshine and the opportunity for the kids to get out and play!

We started today with me telling the students that, unless something very unexpected happens, I will be the Grade 4/5 teacher next year, meaning I'll be their teacher.  Everyone appeared happy about that!  More exciting though was the class finding out that we will have a different classroom next year, in what is now the computer lab!  There's lots of work to be done, but I'm pretty excited about the move, as are the students.  As we discussed today, there are some major perks to being in that room. They can tell you more!

Here's how our day went:

1. Opening Exercises - we did a crossword puzzle about months and days of the week
2. W.W. - the children continued their writing about the mysterious doorway and stairs at the back of their closet
3. Handwriting - both grades are finishing up their books and doing some review
4. DPA - you guessed it, Dungeon Ball again!  Here are some photos:
   

   

   

   

   

   
   
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. R.W. - we read Chapter 5 from These Are My People
7. Math - we started our multiplication and division unit today!  
8. S.S. - the class began their pioneer gameboards.  

May 14, 2015

We did our first Big 12 test this morning, and 6 students completed it perfectly.  I feel confident they have those verses hidden in their hearts now, and they don't need to do memory verse homework for the remainder of the year.  The other students still need to work on the verses each night, and they'll have three more chances to improve their mark between now and the end of the school year.

Our field trip was awesome.  A very friendly volunteer named John guided us through the Museum, and the children were generally wonderful.  Thanks to Stephanie, Raelene, and Lisa for driving and helping supervise.  Here are some photo highlights:

The afternoon was spent outdoors for P.E. with Mr. Banman, and then with Mr. Ediger for reading.  Mrs. Lothian led chapel today.

May 13, 2015

Good afternoon everyone.  Today was a decent day, but much of the class was super chatty.  Not sure why!  Likely it was just one of those days.  Often I find that after a substitute has been in, their behaviour is a bit below expectations, so that could be why.  Tomorrow should be loads of fun though, and they've always had awesome behaviour on field trips, so I'm sure that will continue to be the case.

1. Opening Exercises - the children journaled about their recent influx of substitute teachers (Mrs. Magra could still use your prayers as she continues to recover from her concussion)
2. W.W. - we finished up our turkey writing today
3. Grammar - the students are doing some work with dictionaries and encyclopedias right now
4. DPA - we played Dungeon Ball
5. Music - with Mr. Banman
6. Math - Fractions and decimals test
7. S.S. - we decided how our pioneer project (gameboards) would be marked.  I really wanted the students to have a say in how they'd be assessed, so that they knew exactly what the expectations were.  We'll start this project next week Wednesday.

May 11, 2015

Welcome to a new week everyone!  We had a wonderful day in Grade 3/4.

1. Opening Exercises - we did a daily paragraph edit
2. Spelling/Memory - no Spelling words this week, but we have our first Big 12 memory test this Thursday
3. R.W. - independent reading and I read aloud for a while
4. Math - we completed the Show What You Know from fractions and decimals, as our test is on Wednesday.  This gave the class a great chance to ask any questions they still had from this unit.
5. P.E. - with Mr. Banman
6. S.S. - we continued working on pioneers, focusing on farming today
7. Chapel

May 8, 2015

Happy Friday everyone!

Today was a super productive day.  We started with a Mad Minute, and many students beat their personal best scores, which is always a reason for celebration.  Then we had our Spelling test, and the children's marks are in their planners.  After Spelling, we had Writing Workshop and the class continued working on their letters to the farmer.  Three students shared their writing and they were all hilarious!  This assignment has really given the children a chance to express their own voice in writing, and it's been great seeing them come out of their shells a bit.  We headed outside for a brain break after writing and did a short session of track and field, focusing on long and short-distance running.  The first part of our day concluded with some time in the lab working on All The Right Type.

After recess, the class had Music with Mr. Banman, and then we had Art (it was a fine arts block of time apparently!).  What we worked on is top secret, but the moms will find out all about it on Mother's Day.

The children enjoyed their lunch time, and then we had Math, where they showed me all that they've learned, and any areas where they could use a bit more review, with fractions (both grades) and decimals (grade 4).  Our day concluded with Science, and we did a fun experiment with different beans (lima, kidney, and pinto).  The class carefully pried open beans that I had soaked in water overnight, exploring the seed, tiny stem that starts and all other characteristics of a seed (shell, etc.).  We discussed the differences in all of these seeds, and how a plant goes from a seed to the plants we have growing in our classroom.  We also made some observations about the beans we planted last Friday.  Most notably, we know that coconut fibre makes an excellent growing medium, as the beans planted in it are doing extremely well compared to those in the peat moss!

May 7, 2015

Good afternoon everyone!  I haven't touched base with the grade 3 students today but the grade 4's sure had a wonderful day at the track meet in Surrey. The weather was perfect and I couldn't have asked for better behavior from my students. Thank you for raising such wonderful children!  Here are a few highlights from our day: