Little Picassos

Even with the crazy schedule we had on Friday, we found a little time to begin an art project that will be evaluated.  We were not able to finish, however, and we will continue at a later date.

Good News, Cookie Dough, and Math!

Congratulations to Julia B. and Julianna who are this week's Good News Ticket winners.  Did you know that there is a way that our class can earn these tickets outside of the classroom?  Ask your child about it.

Yesterday it was announced at our assembly that our fall fund raiser is selling cookie dough and muffin mix.  The students brought home all of the information yesterday.  They have three weeks to collect orders.  They seem very excited about the incentives that have been offered to encourage their participation.  Please help out as much as you can!  We would like to purchase more technology for the Learning PIT and we can with your support.

I found a cute website that allowed me to create
number mazes to assist with Prime and Composite numbers.  I have attached one on the useful links page of the website.  Download and print it out and you can have fun practicing!
        
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A Day of Firsts

Today we attended our first school mass of this school year.  We were asked ahead of time to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the St. Vincent Society that works closely with our parish.   Our class brought 29 items!  Way to go!  Our Social Justice Club appreciates the support.  We will be asked to bring an item each time there is a mass, so let's see if we can beat this amount next time.
Overall our class was very well behaved.  Fr. Roche was also very impressed with our performance.  He also encouraged all of us to attend a weekend mass every week.  He reminded that that is how we observe Commandment #3:  Keep holy God's day.
We also had our first House League assembly today.  The students enjoyed a movie prepared by Mr. LeBlanc and they also found out what colour team they are on.  Ask them about my "dancing" and being a "suitcase model".

Math WORK Stations in the Learning PIT

Today the students were assigned a math WORK station in the Learning PIT based on their strengths and needs with regards to the topic of Prime and Composite numbers.  This allowed their work to be differentiated and for students that need more support to receive assistance from either Mrs. Lapico or myself.  Each student worked at one of the following stations:  Teacher's Station, Practice Plaza, or Proof Place.  When completed they went into "The Shop" where they were to play a Prime and Composite board game and/or work on math games on the computer, for extra practice.  I have included the links below, so that they may access them from home and continue to practice.  As they have all discovered, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY KNOW THEIR MULTIPLICATION FACTS, or else they will have a difficult time with the concept of prime and composite numbers.  Each student is encouraged to practice this daily, regardless of any other homework that they may or may not have.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter!                                                             

  Here are the links to the games!  Enjoy!
http://www.mathgoodies.com/factors/factor_trees.asp
http://www.aaastudy.com/fra63ax2.htm
http://www.helpingwithmath.com/resources/games/prime/prime01.html

You Have the Audacity......

Today a few students were shown how to use "Audacity" which is a computer program that they students will use to assist them with revising their writing, among other things.  Eventually everyone will have the oppotunity to use it!

In math today, we also continued learning about Prime and Composite numbers, for the second day.  Please check the Anchor Chart Library page of the website for helpful information that you can use from home.

Congratulations to the following students who each won a pair of Spitfire tickets for Thursday's game:  Adam, Julia R., and Julianna.  Have fun and GO SPITS!!!!! (especially Kerby Rychel)  Thanks for all of the jokes and riddles - I sure have a great bank to draw from!

Reader's Response - Collaborative Style

As we continue to work on activating our prior knowledge using our schema while making connections, be have begun the process of learning how to do Reader's Response.  A Reader's Response is one way that each student can demonstrate their proficiency at using the reading strategies that we are learning.  When reading during independent reading time, they are able to read a book that is at their reading level and something that they are interested in.  This will enable them to be more successful.  They are encouraged to use sticky notes and their red and blue strategy book marks to assist them with recognizing connections that they can make.  The actual response is their written connection to something that they have read in the text.  Yesterday I modelled a sample based on a novel we read.  Today the students were assigned groups and wrote a response based on a selection that we read from our Nelson Literacy resource.  Check out the photos!

                                                                     

Manic Monday

Today for our math lesson we discovered what multiples are.  We realized that that is a sophisticated way of saying skip counting and we also related it to multiplication (since the words sound so much alike!).  From there we learned common multiples and lowest common multiple, with the aid of a hundreds chart.  The students are encouraged to use this chart during their independent practice work and must keep it in their orange duo tang.  I worked with many students at recess today to correct errors in their work from last week (both in their duo tang and workbook).  I encourage them to keep up on this, and if ever my assistance is needed to correct errors, all they have to do is ask me!                                                                                                           

Free Spitfire tickets for this Thursday's game!!!!  

 Now that I have your attention, I will be raffling off three pairs of tickets on Wednesday for the September 27th game.  All the students have to do to have a chance to win a pair, is they need to submit a joke or riddle for our "Joke of the Day" page AND they must have a note from a parent indicating that they will be able to use the tickets should their child win. I do not want to give tickets to anyone who cannot use them!  They will have a chance to win for each joke or riddle they submit.  Stay tuned - I will let you know the results on Wednesday evening!  Best of Luck!

There isn't an I in TEAM!

                                     On Thursday we worked with Mr. Kennette's class, in groups, to solve problems.  We were in a "lake" with only two "boats" and we had to travel the width of the gym twice without getting "wet".  Talk about creative problem solving and cooperation between classes and grade levels!  Check it out!

Palindromes

Our class certainly fulfilled their responsibility of collecting palindromes.  Once again we had more than enough to fill a chart.  Check it out!

Why all of this word play, you might ask?  I have been reading a novel aloud to the class called "Punished" by David Lubar.  While doing so, I have been modelling appropriate oral reading using phrasing, expression, intonation, proper pronunciation, and enunciation.  We also practiced activating prior knowledge by making connections (a reading strategy), characteristics of a narrative, using sticky notes, predicting, as well as providing the opportunity to get excited about words. It seemed to have sparked some interest because students are now suggesting words that we could add to our word wall and are starting to use more sophisticated vocabulary in their writing.

The Good News and the Bad News

Congratulations to Julia R., Caroline, and Julia B. for winning a prize each in the Good News Ticket draw for this short week.  If it seems like more girls than boys are winning, you are correct.  The reason for that, however, is the disproportionately large number of ladies in our class (the ratio of girls to boys is 18:10).  Come on guys, you can do it!


Now for the bad news... We had to have a personal hygiene discussion today due to the body odour that is detected in our room on a daily basis (even before gym class).  We talked about the importance of showering daily, washing hair every other day, putting on clean clothes daily, and brushing teeth twice daily.  It is a good idea to wear deodorant also (but not instead of showering).  Thanks very much for your cooperation and understanding in this matter.
   

Working on Our Number Sense

Today we had some fun working in partners, small groups, and the class as a whole as we practiced reading, comparing (< >), and ordering larger numbers - up to 7 digits.

Some students would really benefit from some extra practice in reading seven digit numbers properly.  Try looking in the newspaper for some!

We also discussed the need for the students to be more aware of the events happening around the world as we work on making connections.  Since one of the possible ways to make connections is to connect to events in the real world (present or past) it is necessary to build up a SCHEMA of world events.  We brainstormed ways that they could do that.  Try reading the newspaper, listening to the news on the radio, watch television news, find news on the internet, etc.  We also have a great link on the "Helpful Links" page on our website (called 10 x 10).  Check it out!

What a Day!

For gym today, we learned a new game called Clothespin Tag.  The clothespin pictured below created an interesting situation.  Check it out and ask your child about it!

On the topic of word play, the students certainly did not disappoint with their extensive lists of anagrams.  Again, they did not all fit on the chart, but here are some of the collected items.  Did you know that one of our surnames is an anagram?  Rivait can become trivia!

Today's search is sending our class looking for palindromes.  Here is a chart to get you started!

More Word Play

Our class has begun to get really interested in words!  I remind them constantly that they need to use more sophisticated vocabulary in their writing and responses to questions.  As a result, some students have started suggesting new words for our word wall that they can use in their work (they are even looking in the dictionary and the thesaurus!).  In addition, the class was introduced to onomatopoeia through our read aloud today.  Ask them about it!  Today's word assignment is to find at least on anagram.  See the beginnings of our anchor chart below - we will surely fill it tomorrow!  Happy Hunting!

Very Impressive!

Almost everyone brought in at least one oxymoron today, and some students had lengthy lists!  We sure proved that we should not be called morons!  Check out the list below.  Some did not make the list due to space restrictions, but we talked about them all the same!

The circled items are the ones that appeared in the novel we are reading.  Logan "found" those oxymorons during his quest.

Please check the Anchor Chart Library page of this site for charts that will assist students with their homework today.

Artists Hard at Work

On Friday we reviewed what the primary colours are, then discussed how to make secondary colours.  We use the primary colours to demonstrate this, then used all of the colours to create tertiary colours.  Check out the photos!

... the process...

... and the finished products.  This lesson was about experimenting and practicing.  We will do a more polished looking piece at a later date that will be evaluated.