Short Week!

Even though it was short week, we got lots of work done!

In Science, we sorted and collected all our garbage this week! After lunch Monday, we went through our trash and came up with categories of how we can sort our garbage. Through out the week, we have been throwing our garbage away accordingly, and this afternoon we will see what kind of waste we create more of!

We also took a look at the 3R's, Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. We discussed how we can make a difference in our world with our actions. Feel free to brainstorm with your child about things we can do to make our environmental footprint smaller.

On Monday afternoon we gathered in the classroom and I shared oral stories and traditions with the students about Alberta's First nations people. We took a look at some artifacts (Thanks to Mrs. S!) that were tools used long ago, as well as, listened to stories of how these were used and hunting traditions.

 

We also started a project with Mr. Maltais, where students will tell oral stories of First Nations people. Students took their stories, mapped them out and created an audio video on Adobe Spark. We will be finishing those next Wednesday and I cannot wait to share!

In Language Arts, we looked at Concrete poems this week, and how they are made. Students then made an abstract concrete poem through Tagul.
Students used their knowledge of figurative language, and used similes in their poems to describe their animal.

 


We were so lucky to have Drum Fit at the school all week! Students moved and grooved to some tunes while playing drums on large exercise balls. On our last day we even had students as instructors!

Hoppy Easter Everyone! 

(No School until Wednesday!)

Poetry, Hyperdocs, Haiku poems and More!!!

First and foremost, I hope everyone enjoyed their Spring Break! 

We have been lucky to experience almost every season's weather this week, let's hope this spring weather sticks! 

Before the break... 

We had our Cake Walk!! Thank you everyone for bringing in cakes in support of our year end trip! We raised quite a bit of money and it lowered our trip cost a lot! 

In exploration of Poetry we have covered a few different forms, discussed purpose and why it is important to people. 

Poetry includes figurative language such as metaphors and similes. We read the story "My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil," and students identified different similes describing the main characters classmates. Then in pairs they wrote similes about each other, and had to draw their partner based on their description! 

They did awesome with this and have really transferred similes into their own writing! 

They even started to use similes in their Spring Break personal narratives! 

We have begun to explore Hyperdocs, which is a really interactive way for students to work with and understand a concept. 

While working with Haiku poems this week students worked with a hyperdoc to explore, explain, and apply their skills around Haikus. This document links them to videos, examples and sources where they can view different medias on a specific topic. Ask your kids to walk you through one at home! 

Students also used a very fun app - Tellegami - to have a avatar read their Haiku Poetry for them! To see our class' work click here. 

In Math this week, we have worked with rounding numbers to estimate sums and differences of numbers to 10 000. This was an easy concept for some, but students are reminded to read their questions carefully as sometimes we may round to specific place values. 

i.e. 214 + 581;

Rounded to the nearest ten, is approximately 210 + 580 = 790

Rounded to the nearest hundred, is approximately 200 + 600 = 800

We spent some time in Social discussing Alberta's regions in the past, and the First Nations people that lived there. This included looking at the tools they used to survive, how they used buffaloes and other nautral resources, and what their homes were like. Many First Nations people lived in TeePees that needed to be able to move with them as they travelled. Students designed their own TeePees, using the symbols, patterns and colours from Blackfoot traditions. Inside they drew/labelled objects you would find in a TeePee in the Grasslands region.

We then discussed how First Nations had many connections to the land, even so that their calendar months were not named the same as ours. We then made our own calendar names for our months that showed our connections to our land, community and canadian culture. 

Check out our FourBee Calendar Year here.

In Science we took a look at the garbage everyone brought in! We sorted, counted and discussed which Fast Food restaurant produces the most waste ... and the winner is Wendy's! Thanks for helping us do this and saving your garbage! 

We also sorted all our waste and noticed most fast food places will use paper container/wrappers. We concluded this would be because it is cheaper and easier on the environment as most is recycled, or biodegrable. 

This week's WeSearch Wednesday had us discussing the difference between landfills and dumps, how landfills are made and why they are important. Feel free to quiz your child on their knowledge! 

We have begun to talk about hazardous wastes in our environment and the proper ways to dispose of this waste. There are many dangerous things that can happen if our water or food sources are contaminated, which can occur if we do not dispose of things properly! Student have been given an at home research task! With an adult, we're encouraging students to look around their homes to see if they have any household hazardous wastes! 

A Few Reminders..

- No School Friday April 14th - Tuesday April 18th for Easter Break
- Ms. Potter will be away April 26 - May 4th
- Camp Warwa Permission & Deposit is on Powerschool, please fill out if you would like your child to come on our year end adventure!