Thursday 31 March 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

It is Thursday already!  Wow where has the week gone?  I guess this is what happens with a short week.

This morning during our Daily 5 we were surprised with an invitation to gather in the Learning Commons with Mrs. Peterson's class.  When we arrived, Mrs. Kinsman treated us to a very special reading of "What Do You Do with an Idea" - by Kobi Yamada.  Thank you!




This afternoon, we had a whirlwind math class where we continued to investigate multiplication strategies.  Mr. Demman was drawing names from a container.  We were paired and challenged to solve a multiplication problem while demonstrating how we understand that the answer is correct.


In science inquiry we were hard at work.

The scientists reviewed what we had planned for our website.  We then broke into smaller groups that would work on each part of the website.  We will be communicating our learning and sharing our understanding in each section.  We have also began to think about pollination?  Why would that be important to our habitat in Mars?




Our engineers made some fantastic progress with the construction of our Mars structure.  It was great to see (and hear) the organization and distribution of tasks as well as the effective communication skills that are developing.  We will be reviewing our process to see what was effective, what worked well and what do we think we might change?



Finally, at the end of the day we participated in gym.  We had another spirited session of Hospital Tag, this time with a few new twists.  We worked so hard that others in the hallway couldn't help but notice (and comment) on our rosy red cheeks!!!

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1.)  Annie Ticket Order Forms went home today.  These orders are time sensitive.
2.)  We will not be going on a Community Nature Walk tomorrow.

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Write an addition sentence and a multiplication sentence to find the number of school days in five weeks.


Wednesday 30 March 2016

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Welcome to Wednesday,
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We have had a busy day here in Room 80.  Lots are going on and we have a lot on the go.

This morning we were so focused during Daily 5 that, at times, you could hear a pin drop... quiet as a mouse...thats a bit of a hint for what came later.  While some of us gathered together in our guided reading groups, others continued with stories that we are writing and some fresh books from the library.

Mr. Demman shared more techniques for writing.  We talked about similies, we made some up, and had a chuckle about the ones Mr. Demman found that didn't seem to work out so well.

This afternoon, we started off with math were we looked at strategies for 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication.  During our Math Daily 3, a few of our friends cleverly created a NEW multiplication math game that we are sure will become quite popular.


Today was our first day of Good Guys and Girl Power.

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In Good Guys we talked about Keeping it Real! - embracing the qualities about ourselves that we cannot change and feeling good about who we are and who we are becoming.

We were lucky to have dance again today.  In class we really got our boogie on!

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1.)  We have a special guest coming in as an Artist in Residency.  Mrs. Ellis will be sharing some of her expertise about art.  We will be connecting art to our learning about India.
2.) Due to our Artist in Residency we will not be going on our Community Walk this Friday ;(

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What was a challenge that you had today?  How did you handle this challenge?

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

Welcome Back Everyone,


We hope that you all had a great break. I hope that it was restful.  We are excited to be back and ready to get back into the swing of things.
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Anticipating that there would be many stories to share, Mr. Demman provided us with an opportunity to share through our writing.  We took time to share some thoughts while practicing our strategies.

We returned to our Social Studies Inquiry this morning and brought our work back to Global Citizenship and the International Rights of the Child.  We re-watched a video from back in January and began reading a book about how Craig Kielburger started Free the Children.  We are focusing on how one person, even  child, can make a difference to Global issues.  Students are being encouraged to think about which global issues they are aware of and which one they might like to focus on in our upcoming inquiry. Ask your child to tell you what we talked about and where their interests might lie.

This afternoon we started off with music. The students are working hard on their pre-recorders.
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In math,


In science inquiry,  the scientists looked at the plants that they were left in the greenhouse over the break.  We found it very interesting that they definitely did not need to be watered.  In fact, the beans were mouldy!  Tomorrow we will be investigating mould and what happened to our bean plants.  The tomato plants seem to have faired a little better.  We also looked at our transpiration experiment and predicted what happened to the two different celery plants.  One other question we will be looking at over the next little while will be How are we going to pollinate our plants in space?

The engineers were feverishly installing the components of their structure.  We had a team connecting our electrical conduit.  We had a few other teams trouble shooting how to connect transport tubes to smaller structures so that we can move safely from one structure to another.  The room was a hive of activity.  Next, we will be working to explain the details and reasoning behind our build.

In gym, we played Hospital Tag.  Once the instructions were received the game was on. The red faces at the end told the story.  When we weren't running from those that were 'it', we were doing sit-ups, push-ups and jumping jacks to free ourselves from the imaginary bandages given to us from those who were 'it'.  We had a great time being active with our friends.  A great effort from everyone.


Things to Remember:
1.)  Note about Girl Power/Good Guy went home today.
2.)  If you have not sent back your Read A Thon Pledge forms and money please do so as soon as possible.
3.)  Reading Pictures that were taken and ordered prior to the break were sent home today.
4.)  Casino Volunteers - March 31 and April 1
5.)  Gymnastics begin next week

Question of the Day:
If we look at questions that make us think about Growth Mindset, please answer the following question:

What did you try hard at today? How did that feel?

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Tuesday, March 14, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Our afternoon we so much fun!  We started off with math.  We looked at what we know about multiplication facts: which are the easiest and how can we use what we know to do mental multiplication.  We figured out that the easiest facts are  X1, X0, X2 and X10.  We used this and discussed how we can use these to multiply such numbers a 2 X 124.  We also learned a new SNAP multiplication game to play in Daily 3.

In science,  we continued our work from yesterday. The scientists began planning their website. They have some great ideas and with the help of experts (Mrs. Quilley and Mr. Demman) should be able to create a great website.

In gym, we worked on passing and moving. We played a game where we passed and tagged.  Then we learned how to play handball. Many of the skills we used in basketball come in handy in handball.

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1.)  Please return all money and pledge forms for our Read A Thon
2.)  If you would like to bring a picture book from home for Buddy Reading please bring it.
3.)  Fun Lunch tomorrow
4.) Parent Teacher Interviews are Thursday evening and Friday morning.

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What has been your favourite part of Reading Week so far?