This week we have been reading and writing all about Penguins!!!!
Everyone is becoming such strong readers, they worked in groups to do some reading comprehension!

In Daily 5 the students have shown fantastic independence and are taking charge of their own learning! During our Daily 5 time they are not making their choices between Work on Writing or Read to Self.

Students are creating their very own non-fiction penguin books! Throughout the week we have read some fiction and non-fiction books about penguins to learn what they can do, what kind of animals they are and what they have! This has been the topic for their work on writing time and they have been doing their very best!


In Math so far, with patterns, we have talked about how to copy, create and extend patterns. This week we discussed how to translate a pattern, this means we see a pattern, find the rule and show it in more than one way. An activity we did to try this we in groups students used manipulatives such as counters, farm animals and coloured blocks to create a pattern. Then the students swapped stations, figured out the pattern rule and created an action pattern that followed the same rules.

We also took some time to talk about making 10! This is a mental math strategy that we use to help us with addition and subtraction problems in the future!
We talked about which parts (making ten buddies) always go together to make 10.

In Social, we started discussing what a map is and how we can make them. We then created classroom maps that use symbols to show where things are in the classroom.
Following a legend we made as a class students mapped out our classroom.

 

In Science, we started talking more about hearing and did an experiment of guessing Whats in the Tin?! Students shook tins with various objects and tried to guess what was inside! They were pretty surprised!

BEACH DAY FUN!!

Lego Fun!

Our Lego in class visit was awesome! The students did lots of review with from their colour mixing unit!
In pairs the students worked together to create art machines! It was so cool to watch them work in teams building and following their instructions. These art machines were motorized and made great designs! The students made three different drawings:

1. With Primary colours only. 

2. With Secondary colours only. 

3. A Monochromatic picture. 

                                                     

 

 

Next they worked with wheels and axels to create a Dune Star buggy! Such a fun packed afternoon!

Author's Chair - Students share what they read or wrote during Daily 5.

This week we have really been grooving into our Daily 5 routine. With the addition of Work on Writing the students we able to choose which they would like to work on first - Read to Self or Daily 5. It has been going great! The students have really taken responsibility for their learning and found a passion in reading and writing!

What does Daily 5 Look and Sound like in 1P?

In Math we have been continuing with our Patterns unit. Each student has been working on creating, copying and extending patterns. We have talked about the various pattern rules, ABAB, AABB, AAB, ABB, ABC, etc. They had some time to create their own patterns and take pictures! Check these out!

 










We were extremely lucky this week to have the Grade 3's visit us! The 3DM has spent a lot of time learning about the human ear this year and we're learning about senses so they came to our class to show us some experiments about sound. This was a great introduction to our focus on Hearing as our next sense.

Does sound travel through solids?

 

Does the amount of water change the pitch?

Does sound travel through water?

Ruler Sounds

Rubber band sounds

All about the Human Ear! How many parts does it have?

Reminders: 

Monday Afternoon is our Lego Field trip! It is in the classroom and the cost is $8.00 per student. You can pay this cost online through powerschool, by cheque (East Elementary) or cash by Monday morning. 

Back to Work!!

I hope everyone had a great break and happy holidays! 

Rocks & Rings was here this week! It was so cool and so much fun! We have some curling naturals in our group, keep an eye on them!
"The Curling Canada Rocks & Rings program is designed to introduce the Olympic sport of curling to elementary school children. By bringing the curling rink to the school gym we reach children that would otherwise not have access to the roaring game. "

To find out more about this program you can visit the site here

We are getting right back into business in class! This is our first week of our spelling program. Spelling will only be done on 5 day weeks. Every Monday students will copy their spelling words into their agendas. Their lists will be 5 spelling words + 3 challenge words. The challenge words are chosen from the popcorn words we have covered so far in the year. Throughout the week we will do activities in class to practice these words; students are encouraged to practice their words at home as well. On Fridays, we will write our tests! 

To find a master list of our words, click here. 

In Daily 5 we are doing great with Read to Self! The students are up to 12 minutes of reading the whole time! We are not launching work on writing! We have talked about student roles during work on writing and teacher roles. 

The most important parts are getting started right away and write the whole time! To practice this we are building our stamina, we have timed writing sessions! Students this week were given 3 mins, 4 mins and 5 minutes to write as much as they could about a chosen topic. Our topic this week was what you can and can't do in snow! It was amazing to see how much more they can write when they light those bumfires! Each sticker shows how much they accomplished each day.

Holy Super Senses! In Science, we are continuing to discuss our 5 senses and how they help us see the world. This week we are focusing on the sense of touch!

Our first experiment was reaching into and feeling mystery bags! Each bag had a different item inside and we only used our sense of touch to feel and describe the items! Some of the things we felt was sandpaper (rough), a stuffy (soft, fuzzy), A block (smooth), fathers (soft, fluffy), pinecone (pokey, hard) and a tape ball (sticky). 

Next, we started our first page for our senses books! TOUCH! We tested a bunch of different materials by how they felt, came up with describing words and glued them onto a hand page. 

 

In Math we have started a unit on patterns. The students have worked with various materials to create and copy patterns. We have learned that patterns can be made using different colours, shapes, sizes of objects and pictures. Some of the patterns we have created follow the ABAB, ABB, AAB, or ABC rule. 

 

Next week, we will focus more on extending patterns.