September 13 - A White Thursday
Hello,
Quite the weather we are having this week, I must say. I do not mind the cooler temperatures as it helps us to settle into school routines. We have been busy learning this week:
Social - we are reviewing directions and mapping skills from last year. This will help us in our discussions about Alberta and its location within Canada. It will also help us as we learn where our ancestors and early settlers have come from in Alberta's past. We have begun a visual dictionary of landscapes found within Alberta to help us as we explore Alberta's uniqueness.
Science - we are beginning our year with the topic of Waste and Our World. We have sorted out what truly is trash and what are durable, non-durable and disposable goods. We began a discussion about "recycleables" and "compostables", but have not yet completed it.
Math - Nearly everyday, we complete a "MAD MINUTE" based on products. (It is a misnomer as it is a 2 minute timed test.) Many students are quite successful in the smaller products (4, 9, 16) but begin to slow down as the products become larger. This is normal! I encourage everyone to continue practicing the multiplication facts at home as well. We are also working on patterns and relations this week, and have focussed on increasing and decreasing sequences.
LA - We have been introduced to KidBlog, an online kid-safe blogging site where we do many writing activities. Students will be writing on this platform 4 days a week - ask your student to share his/her posts with you! We have begun a class read aloud - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. It is a fabulous novel that makes me cry every time I read it. We are also doing a review of some mechanics of writing - ending punctuation and types of sentences. We are learning about subject and predicate as a way to identify the parts of a sentence, which is leading up to determining the proper noun(subject)-verb (predicate) agreement. We have not yet begun a formal reading section of class nor a library class. These should be forthcoming in the next week or so.
We had a great entertainer this morning. The students learned that in order to be a friend, they had to act like one and be one first. Another message was that REAL friends are the kind to seek, not fake friends. A message that is good for everyone to remember! Have a great long weekend with your families!
Quite the weather we are having this week, I must say. I do not mind the cooler temperatures as it helps us to settle into school routines. We have been busy learning this week:
Social - we are reviewing directions and mapping skills from last year. This will help us in our discussions about Alberta and its location within Canada. It will also help us as we learn where our ancestors and early settlers have come from in Alberta's past. We have begun a visual dictionary of landscapes found within Alberta to help us as we explore Alberta's uniqueness.
Science - we are beginning our year with the topic of Waste and Our World. We have sorted out what truly is trash and what are durable, non-durable and disposable goods. We began a discussion about "recycleables" and "compostables", but have not yet completed it.
Math - Nearly everyday, we complete a "MAD MINUTE" based on products. (It is a misnomer as it is a 2 minute timed test.) Many students are quite successful in the smaller products (4, 9, 16) but begin to slow down as the products become larger. This is normal! I encourage everyone to continue practicing the multiplication facts at home as well. We are also working on patterns and relations this week, and have focussed on increasing and decreasing sequences.
LA - We have been introduced to KidBlog, an online kid-safe blogging site where we do many writing activities. Students will be writing on this platform 4 days a week - ask your student to share his/her posts with you! We have begun a class read aloud - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. It is a fabulous novel that makes me cry every time I read it. We are also doing a review of some mechanics of writing - ending punctuation and types of sentences. We are learning about subject and predicate as a way to identify the parts of a sentence, which is leading up to determining the proper noun(subject)-verb (predicate) agreement. We have not yet begun a formal reading section of class nor a library class. These should be forthcoming in the next week or so.
We had a great entertainer this morning. The students learned that in order to be a friend, they had to act like one and be one first. Another message was that REAL friends are the kind to seek, not fake friends. A message that is good for everyone to remember! Have a great long weekend with your families!
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