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- Halloween Belfasty day - Number lines and numbers between numbers - Science labs - If I am finished my LA compare and contrast essay Look back: Language Arts: This week in Language Arts, students worked to finish their compare and contrast writing based on a topic of their choice. We have worked through how to organized our writing, how to word our paragraphs and how to conclude our writing. Parents, please note that this is due on Wednesday and students have used all of the class time given. Please check in with your student to see if they completed their work during class time. Science: This was our final week to put together our sky science labs. The student will be presenting the labs to their classmates on Monday. All of the students worked hard on their labs and have put a lot of deep and meaningful thought into how they will share their new knowledge with their classmates. Math: This week we looked at number lines more in depth. We explored why we use number lines, where we see them in the real world and how they can be a tool to help us understand different mathematical problems. As part of this work we talked about how there are many numbers between numbers, parts that make up whole numbers. This launched us into our discussions around decimals and how we use decimals on number lines. Social studies: This week we worked to finish up our research and writing on the various Indigenous cultures still found in Canada and what they can teach us about understanding the land we live on. The final writing portion of this will be due next Thursday. Words of the week: - Decimals - Number Line - Parts - Wholes Ask Me About:
- All Summer In A Day - Buddy Art - October Art Look Back: Language Arts: This week in language arts we continued to look at our compare and contrast essays with the topics of our choice. Students continued to research and develop their introductory paragraphs. Each student had a one on one meeting with me to talk about the direction they were heading, questions they had, and goals for their writing this week. Science: - This week in science, groups continued to build their labs for their sky science topic. Students have now been assigned the due date of November 3rd. On that day the students will go through each others labs and experiments as a way of learning about the other topics that their classmates have been researching. There were many ah-ha moments this week as we discovered what it means to have a lab that creates discussion and exploration. Social Studies: - This week we had the great privilege of being a part of a webinar with the Toronto Zoo. We were able to learn about Indigenous Ways of Knowing when it comes to conservation particularly around saving the turtle population in Ontario. This has helped us to have a bit more understanding of Indigenous connection to the land and the importance of using Indigenous Ways of Knowing to help us maintain and protect our environment. Provocation: - This week the students watched the book and short film trailer "All Summer In A Day". From this trailer we discussed what we noticed in the short clip and wrote down questions that we had about it. From these noticings and questions, students created a story based on one of the questions that was written down in the group discussion. Students were able to present their story using any art form they wanted. We then presented our pieces to a grade 3/4 class today and had them give us feedback on our work. Words of the Week: - Provocation - Embodiment - Choral Speech - Communication Ask Me About:
- The election - My compare and contrast essay - Our song in the musical Look Back: Social Studies: - This week was our last week to finish our research on our two First Nations Cultures that we chose. Moving forward we will be looking to compare and contrast the two cultures that we chose through both an essay and a visual representation. Language Arts: - This week we chose two things that we were very interested in as a jumping off point to understanding compare and contrast essays. Students will be writing about the similarities and differences between the two topics they chose (the needed to connect in some way). We have topics such as Schools vs Residential School and fruits vs veggies. Science: - This week in science our groups that were researching various parts of our solar system and movements of the earth, moon, and stars met to create criteria for their groups project based on big questions. They then started to design and put together an experiment or lab to help teach their peers about the topic they researched in a hands on way. Ask Me About:
- Picture Day - Orange Shirt Day - Zentangle Animals Our Week At A Glance: Math: This week in math we have been focusing on big thinking questions. One of the questions was a starting point which was the following: - If you had 10 ice cream flavours, how many two scoop combos could you make? Show your work visually on a poster. (The extension being is there a formula or a pattern that will allow you to solve for 20 flavours, 50 flavours, 100 flavours?) The next question was aimed at getting students to think visually using tangible aids: -If you had a 4x4x4 cube made up of little cubes and you dipped the whole thing in paint, how many of the smaller cubes would have no faces with paint on them? How many would have 1 face with paint on them? How many would have 2? How many would have 3? and what is the total number of cubes? We started this question by each looking at an individual cube, understanding how many sides they have and that if it was dunked in paint all faces would be covered in paint. We then looked and built a 2x2x2 cube and answered the above questions, then a 3x3x3 and finally a 4x4x4. Each time we built the bigger cube out of the smaller ones. The last challenge, was to see if we could find connections between the numbers or patterns that would allow us to solve for bigger and bigger cubes. Some students are still sorting out the patterns and connections, why not try it as a family?! If you go onto youcubed.org and go to tasks and search for the painted cube the instructions are all there for you! Language Arts/Social: This week we combined social studies and LA. We have been looking at how to compare and contrast information effectively in research and in writing. We looked at how to organize our research for a compare and contrast essay using a template on google docs. Students have been researching two different First Nations, Metis, or Inuit cultures and have a list of criteria to guide their research. Below is the criteria we created as a class: ___ Must have at least 3 stories from each people group ___ How did each culture survived in different seasons ___ Each cultures thoughts on the importance of land ___ Description of the land that each group lives on and how they use the land to survive ___ How contact with Europeans affected their culture ___ Traditions for each culture ___ What language did they speak ___ What did they live in, what did they wear, what did they eat ___ Compare and contrast essay ___ Differences and similarities to be shown visual Research due: October 5, 2017 The goal is to have the research component of the assignment done by Thursday October 5th in order to allow us to work on the writing and visual arts component afterwards. Science: This week in science we started to learn some of the important vocabulary we will need for sky science. We briefly touched on the differences between Emit and Reflect as well as Rotate and Revolve. This weekend, maybe spend some time looking up at the stars! Words of the week: - Emit - Reflect - Rotate - Revolve Ask Me About:
- Terry Fox (and the run) - Belfasty Day - Leo the Rabbit - Mad Science Language Arts: This week in LA students were able to choose an image that captured their interest. The image could not be known (video game, movie, book etc). The students then used this image as the inspiration to begin a story of their very own incorporating what they have learned about adding detail to their work. Math: This week in math we have been working on our number sense abilities using math games and open ended questions. One such question was about Leo the rabbit who needed to hop up 10 steps but could only hop one or two stairs at a time. The students needed to find as many different combinations of hopping patterns as they could. We also played race to 100 which refreshed our skills using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Science: This week in science, students finished their research on ancient astronomy by narrowing down their information to an image that best captured what the culture they were researching thought about the stars, sun, and moon. They then needed to write a short paragraph explaining their image of choice. These are now on display in our hallway. Social: Students are continuing to study and research a variety of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit cultural groups in Canada. Looking for stories that share the cultures experiences and stories that show the relationship between humans and nature. Words of the week: - Diversity - Residential School - Geographical - Environment Ask me about:
- Ancient Astronomy - Skeleton Sentences - Fine Arts and the play! - Welcome Assembly Science: We began our exploration of sky science this week and dove right into understanding how ancient cultures first observed and documented the stars. We looked at several different cultures and found stories each culture had about the stars, sun, and moon. These stories often give us some insight into how these cultures understood space and how space impacted their lives. From finding their way at night, to believing that the stars, sun, and moon were gods there were many different ways of knowing that was true to the people that told the stories. Social studies: It is important to understand that there were many people who live on the land we now call Canada long before the European's arrived. In an effort to develop our understanding of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit cultures that have lived on this land for thousands of years, we are researching many of their unique and diverse cultures. We are trying to understand the connection they had to the land and the importance that was placed on the relationship between land and humans. We are also trying to understand how the vast and diverse landscape of this country helped to create rich and prosperous First Nations, Metis, and Inuit cultures that thrived. By understanding who came before, perhaps we can develop a deeper respect for their ways of knowing and learn from them in regards to care of the land and relationships with nature and each other. Math: We finished off working on our transformation art pieces using turns, flips, and slides. Language Arts: This week we worked with skeleton sentences again and began to develop deeper and more meaningful language when writing short stories. The challenge of the week was to write a one sentence story with detail. Ask me about:
- Flexible seating - Sky Science - Family history Math: We started the year off by looking at transformations of objects. The key vocabulary for this unit for the next several weeks is: - Slide (translation) - Turn (Rotation) - Flip (Reflection) We are learning these terms through an art project Language arts: We are starting off the year by looking at what makes a sentence interesting. We have discussed skeleton sentences and that these are sentences without a lot of details. We have been working on making our sentences juicier! Social Studies: Our first unit of the year is Histories and Stories of ways of Life in Canada. As part of our understanding I am asking all the students to find out where there families are from (before coming to Canada if possible). This has brought up the conversation of the First Nations people groups who were here on Canadian land before it was even Canada. We will be looking at their stories and the stories of all of the people who helped to make Canada the country it is today. Science: Our first unit of the year is Sky Science. We will be looking at what is going on in space, how it affects us here on earth and how space has informed the stories of who we are. We have brainstormed all of the questions we have about space and will work towards a deeper understanding of how what we know will inform our future. Weekly Vocabulary: - First Nations - Truth - History - Transformations Ask Me About:
- PATs - National Aboriginal Day - Summer Fest - Genius hour presentations Subject Specifics: This week the grade 6 students wrote their PATs in math, science, social and reading comprehension. We also had our human sexuality unit this week for both grade 5 and grade 6, ask your students about what they learned. During the rest of our time this week we continued presenting our genius hour projects and we put the finishing touches on our final project for the year. Ask Me About:
- Genius Hour - Garage Band Poetry - Animals in French Subject Specifics: This week the grade 6 students worked hard to review and prep for their PAT exams that are next week. The students wrote practices tests from the website Quest A+ which can be found under our PAT tab of the classroom website. The grade 5 students worked on their Genius Hour Projects which we began to present this week. Students also began a year end project where they had to create their own song and lyrics about their school year on Garage Band. These will be presented on the last day of classes. |
AuthorMrs. Ayer is a grade 5 and 6 teacher. She loves creating art, taking photos and traveling. She also enjoys spending time with her Pooch and Husband. Peek at the week
Monday April 9 |