Skating Week!

WOW! I was so impressed with these kiddos skating abilities this week! It is so much fun to get to spend time with them on the ice. Thank you to Mr. Van Huis for all his hard work setting everything up, and having some skill work for the kids to try out!

Our next Skating week will be Feb 12th - 15th. 

A Few Reminders: 

- Grade 4's go skiing/snowboarding Monday! Please check your emails for some important information. 

We do not return to the school until 4:00pm that day! 

- Report Cards go home January 30th. 

- There is no school on January 31st (PD Day)

- Grade 4's go to the Edmonton Symphony on Feb. 1st. Please pack a bagged lunch, as we will be at the theatre over lunch time. 

Peter Bowers!! 

We were so lucky to have Peter Bowers come to our school and do some lessons with us! Peter works with Structured Word Inquiry, which takes the students into a world on in-depth understanding of the English language. Students looked at the word culture and its base, origin and other words that relate to its root meaning. 

Ask them about their visit!

Reading:

Students are continuing to work on summarizing text that has been read. This week, we discussed how to write a chapter summary from a novel. 

Again, we looked over our story elements and determined what important information needs to be involved in a chapter summary. 

Then students worked on their own to write, in their own words,  what happened in this chapter, making sure to describe the beginning, middle and end. When writing a chapter summary, it is different than from an entire book or reading. There isn't always a definite problem and solution, and sometimes we can even be left with a cliff hanger! 

Writing:

We also finished our read aloud novel, Fart Powder! It was a hilarious novel by Jo Nesbo a Norwegian author. It was set in Norway, and as we read, we would look up the locations on google maps and really felt like we were there! 

As a writing project, students are writing newspaper articles based on the main event, (SPOILER ALERT) the stealing of Dr. Proctor's Fartnonaut Powder, and the Independence Day Police Chase/Royal Salute! It was quite an eventful ending to a story. 

First, we discussed the text features we see in a newspaper article, who the audience is, and what the formatting looks like. 

I reminded students of our writing process as we worked, and for out planning we worked with making "jot notes" on our organizers. Students worked on summarizing the main problem in the story using the 5W's  and then we planned our paragraphs. 

Students will work on Chromebooks to create their final copy! 

In KidBlog this week, our focus was on building our Opinion Paragraphs. Grade 4's are working towards creating more of an Opinion Essay, using a multiparagraph format. Grade 3's are working on building strong sentences, and supporting details. 

Our topic this week was: "Who was your favourite Character in Fart Powder?"

We made a Mind Map of all the characters and things we knew about them. 

I introduced O.R.E.O. Format to students to help them with creating reasons & explanation. 

They did such a good job with this! I can't wait to watch them grow as writers! 

"MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN FART POWDER

In Fart Powder my favorite character is Nilly. I like Nilly because is brave. I like that he is brave cause if he is brave he can do more than other kids and people. Like getting eaten by an Anaconda,That would be hard not to scream but he did not he just found out a way and got out. I also like him because he is good at playing the trumpet,and I know that playing the trumpet takes lots of practice. The last thing that I like about Nilly is that He looks like Ron from Harry Potter,and I really like the movies. This is why I really like Nilly. PS: I love the book thank you Miss Potter for reading this book to us!"

-B.K.

"In my opinion Nilly is my favourite character because he is so tiny. A good reason that he is so tiny is because he could get out of the dungeon of the dead through the toilet. Another reason Nilly is my favourite is because he can talk his way out of really anything. This is good because he can talk his way out of trouble so he doesn't get in trouble. To add to that he was eaten by an Anaconda and survived it which means he good really survive anything. Also he is really brave. Which is good because he wouldn't be afraid of a lot. These are the reasons Nilly is my favourite."

- G.S.

Math: 

This week we have continued our math studies with multiplication. We started with arrays this week, and having the students work to understand the differences between rows and columns.  Arrays are another way of representing multiplication sentences and create visuals for students. Some of the students really enjoyed this as it helped them gain a deeper understanding of how multiplication is repeated equal groups. 

Students worked through word problems, using whiteboards, drawing arrays and finding their corresponding multiplication sentence. 

Then in partners, they used dice to create multiplication sentences up to 6 x 6 and drew arrays to count & solve. 

We also covered some quick Multiplication Rules to help them with the basic facts. Some students already knew these, which is great, but its always nice to get a refresher!

Science 4: 

Grade 4's this week have been working on study/note taking skills. Using an online source all about waste they have been creating their own notes on specific topics. 

Thank you for your collection of Fast food garbage! We had a few late entries and will be sorting them next Monday! 

Science 3:

Grade 3's were introduced to their next unit of Study: Hearing & Sound. To start us off, we talked about what sound is: Sound is energy that is generated when matter vibrates. These vibrations travel in waves to our ears, which sends messages to our brains! 

We did a fun sound matching activity, where students had to listen to sounds and determine what they came from in our environment. 

Next week we will start some experiments involving pitch! 

Social 3: 

India Day was on Friday! Students moved around all three of the Grade 3 classrooms, enjoying different activities to have them experience Indian culture! 

There was the Food room! With butter chicken, naan, and mango smoothies!

Diwali Lantern making! 

Learning some Bollywood Dance moves! 

And Henna, which I am sure you saw when your kiddos came home on Friday! 

January 15 -19

A Few Reminders:
- Skating is Monday - Thursday next week. Please send students with skates, helmets and mitts. There will be some skates and helmets to borrow.
- Grade3 - India Culture day will be on Friday January 26th. Please check on Powerschool for forms.

 Peter Bowers will be visiting our school for a Professional Development session on Thursday. Our class is one of the classes he will be working with! We are very excited!




January 29th is our first Ski Day for Grade 4's! Our day will look as follows:

Time	Activity
8:25am	Load bus
8:30am	Bus leaves for Rabbit Hill
8:50am	Bus arrives at Rabbit Hill
9:00am-3:40pm	skiing/snowboarding
3:40pm	Load bus
3:45pm	Bus leaves for Robina Baker
4:00pm	Bus arrives at Robina Baker

Every child is required to take a lesson at their level and will then have the opportunity to free ski the remainder of the day. Students require a bagged lunch and proper winter wear.

- Edmonton Symphony (HMS Pinafore) is a Grade 4 field trip on February 1st. Please fill out the permission forms online. 

Reading

We are revisiting Summarizing: knowing how ti find, organize, and retell important facts or story elements. I read aloud the book The Princess and the Pig to the students and we summarized the story using the "Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then" Model. 

First we looked at these words and tried to decided how they related to the elements of a story (Characters, Setting, Problem, Solution). Then we discussed where in the story (beginning, middle and end) these elements showed up. When we retell a story, we want to only tell the important things, and ensure we tell them in sequence.

Students worked in pairs to summarize The Princess and the Pig in their own words. 

Writing

Every year, there comes a time where we all revisit a writing classic: Show, Don't Tell! This is when we try to describe what is happening in a story, without actually saying. 

As a warm up, we played a very fun game of Emotions Charades! 

Students acted out emotions, and then we jotted down some of the actions that showed us that emotion (i.e. TVS biting his nails, with a frown on his face, shows us hes nervous!).  After we had a bunch of different ways to describe emotions we took to writing. 

Students transformed "Tell" sentences into "show" sentences!

Math 

It's time to Multiply! We introduced Mutliplication to the Grade 3's this week, and reinforced some facts with Grade 4. 

The strategy of multiplication we focused on this week was repeated addition. It is important for the students to understand, when we are multiplying we are adding equal groups. 

Students worked on turning repeated addition into multiplication number sentences, and vice versa. 

Science 4:

We had a lot of experiments to check in on this week! 

First stop - Which toilet paper decomposes the best? 

Students observed their toilet paper samples a week later to see how they were holding up, and the winner was.... KIRKLAND brand! 

We then regrouped and discussed what benefits this would have on our enviroment, and in our sewer systems. 

Next Stop - Dig up the Lettuce! 

Students dug up their lettuce leaf to see how it was holding up! This year our lettuce held out a little better than in the past! While it was still green, it seemed to have shrunk and had moisture taken from the lettuce. It also was weaker and had broken into smaller pieces. 

We also held a week long experiment of garbage collection! We sorted out garbage all week into student created categories: Paper, Plastic, Paper recyclable, Organic and Foil waste. On Friday we weighed all our waste! 

As a class, we had collective of 8.8 lbs of waste! 

6.6 lb was organic waste, uneaten lunches and wasted food! 

We went through our categories of waste, weighed it and then sorted it - was it all complete used? Or was it wasted? This was a chance for use to really see our impact regarding waste, and brainstorm ways to reduce it. 

Plastic - was almost all used. Some items could be washed & reused for paint cups (fruit cups). 

Paper - There was tons of paper with one side blank, or still usable in our paper waste! We created a scrap paper bin, where one sided paper can go and be used for drawing or math. 

Foil - was almost all used. We could reuse some foil container from take out food once or twice more. 

Organic - This was where we saw the biggest difference. Out of 6.6lbs of waste, only 1.4lbs was waste that was completely used. There was lots of unfinished apples and sandwiches (which led to the "if you don't like it, take it home! This way your parents know!" conversation). 

We can reduce our organic waste by creating a compost for banana peels, apple cores, etc.

Social 3 

Students took an in depth look at life in India this week, and discussed how environment affects the way of life for people in a community. We discussed the various types of geographical landforms, and climate. Next we will be looking into the environment and regions of India. 

India day is next Friday! 

A Few Reminders:

We will need a couple volunteers to help tie skates! Please contact Ms. Potter if you would like to come. 

Ski Day is coming up! Grade 4's will be skiing on January 29th and March 5th. These are full day ski days! We also need volunteers for skiing! Please contact Ms. Potter if you would like to come. Chaperones are responsible for purchasing their own lift ticket and transportation. 

Reading: 
This week, students have taken some time to catch up on their reading passports and work through reading comprehension activities.

Grade 4's passports are based on genre, where students are working to read a book from each genre each month. So far, they were to cover mystery, historical fiction, picture books and this month is realistic fiction! The reading of these books is meant to be done at home, or during quiet reading time. Once they have complete a summary on their book they receive a passport stamp!

Grade 3's passports are a bit different. Each month we read a fairy tale or folk tale from another country, discuss some connections we can make to other texts, and summarize the story. This month, we read the Egyptian Cinderella. While we read, we took time to discuss and compare this version to the Cinderella story we know.

Writing 

Coming back from the break, its nice to do a bit of a review of things we've learned this year. This week, we took an in depth look into the writing process and followed the steps to create our Tweet About our Holidays Project! 

The Writing Process includes all the steps we take as writers to create a final product. First, we discussed what types of things writer's write! 

We worked together to create some visual posters for the classroom to show the writing process. 

Our writing project is Tweet About your Holidays! This is where the students create a Google Slide, that looks like a twitter page, and tell all about their Holidays!

As a class, we discussed who our audience would be. This was a little way to discuss social media as well, and the impact of what we would say online if this was real. 

Next, we brainstormed through discussion! During snack, students spent time with their peers catching up and talking all about their holidays. 

Then, we worked with Graphic Organizers to create our tweets! 

This is a big step, and big learning curve! It is so important we go back and revise out work! Students got out their red, black and blue pens and read over their tweet. This was also a good time to remind them of Sentence Stretching. 

This is where they add more details, or change out overused words with more interesting and exciting words. I was really impressed with how every student went over their own work!

Finally, our Finished Product!

Math 

This week, we finished up with our subtraction unit. Some students still need lots of reminders and reinforcements when it comes to carrying. Lots of practice at home will help, and I will be working with small groups to reinforce the concepts. 

Next week we are beginning our Multiplication Unit! Grade 3's will be learning how to multiply through various personal strategies, and the Grade 4's will be reinforcing the facts they already know and applying it to new concepts. 

Science 4 

We have worked on two different, slightly long term, experiments this week! Our big focus is materials in our waste that are biodegrable, or decompose. Waste that is able to decompose, and break down it better for our environment. 

Experiment 1: Toilet Paper 

Which Toilet Paper brand breaks down the best?

Experiment 2: Lettuce in Dirt

What will happen to Lettuce when its been buried in dirt for a week?

STAY TUNED!

In one week, we'll dig up and check out our experiments!

Social 4

We discussed how communities in India work together and make decisions. Next we will be looking at the land and regions of India.