News this week...

HI everyone!
Happy Tuesday!  Things have calmed a bit at school this last little bit. I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend with your family. The weather was amazing- I liked it a little more than this cold snap. Poof! Guess that was our summer?  JK (well at least, I hope to be kidding)

This week:
We are learning about persuasive writing. In order to establish connections and a better understanding we are reading mentor texts. We started off with a text titled, "Should Children Choose Their Own Bedtimes." We read through the text in small groups and then we chose a side to support. You may be surprised to know that the majority of the class thinks that you (the parents) should choose bedtimes!  When I have read this text before in other years this has NEVER been the outcome! Amazing! We have also listened to a few Robert Munsch stories on Tumblebooks last week to get the class thinking about how to be persuasive and convincing. This week we will be reading "Hey, Little Ant." Should the ant be squished?
Morning messages will continue to be posted. They likely won't make it on here every day as sometimes they are not finished in time for me to post them.
Fractional parts of a whole has been our focus in math. Students created fraction sundaes and pizzas last week. Today we talked about mixed fractions and used pattern blocks to show wholes and parts of a whole. If your child can assist you at home with making equal parts that would be great. Measuring part cups (2/3 of a cup etc.), teaspoons, cutting pizza into eighths, sixths and so on. I've been impressed with   their understanding of the concepts.
Friday is WILD WILD WEST.  There is an assembly at 9:10 (ish) in the morning to recognize students for this month's character trait- respect.  You may have heard your child talk about GOTCHAs. They were started this month. Students are being recognized for little things that they are caught doing. Helping a friend or teacher, cleaning up without being asked, keeping a tidy desk, having their agenda at school, homework done, etc. There is a box outside our classroom that houses the Gotchas.  Students earn points for their house when they receive a Gotcha.  Our class is adding up the Gotcha points alongside the House Colour/Spirit Day points.
David Suzuki's 30x30 Outdoor Challenge is on!  We have been pretty good at completing our 30 mins outside since starting a couple weeks ago.  I signed up for this on his website. The kids and I talked about how studies show that 'most' kids these days are spending less and less time outside than generations before.  Our time outside can be anything- an organized game, scavenger hunt, drawing nature, or just being in the lovely out of doors!  If we don't fit it in during the day, I challenge the class to try to do it at home.
Have a great week,
Alana

A 'Whole' Lot of Fun

HI everyone,
Happy Monday!  I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends and all mom's received their 'breakfast in bed' and had their stories read to them!  I know that not everyone has a Keurig but I hope you can make use of it or the tea somehow. Many of the kids reported that their gifts were well recieved- great news.
This week is a bit calmer than last week. It was great to see all of you who were able to make it out to the BBQ and Fun Fair. Mac (my son) liked seeing everyone and getting candy (Thanks Daisy!).

Please find attached a few morning messages from last week and this morning. I know there are some errors still, but everyone's improving on their editing and revising skills.

In math we have switched gears from money to fractions- our words of the week are math based. Fraction, half, whole, parts, equal, quarter and third.  Students worked with tissue paper today to create and label fractions as part of a group.  We talked about numerator (top number) and denominator (bottom number) as well. In literacy, we continue to work with descriptive texts. We read Owl Moon last week and that led us into similes and comparative language.

Yearbook sales have been extended until Thursday. $17.00 per book.  Also book orders are due on Wednesday. Thanks!
Alana

Yesterday's morning message

May!

Hi everyone,
Just a quick update to let you know the happenings of this week. It's a busy one!
Thursday is our school BBQ and Fun Fair at the school. It will run from 5-7p.m. Our intermediate students have been advertising their Fun Fair games over the announcements. There will be a BBQ and food/drink items for sale.  I hope the weather holds up and we are able to stay outside for this event. Hoping to see you on Thursday!

In other news:
In literacy we have been talking about the moon and its phases as part of learning about descriptive texts. We watched some very interesting videos about the moon.  The kids have been contributing their previous knowledge to a chart which we are adding to as we gain a better understanding about the characteristics of the moon.  In guided reading, students have been reading about texts that align with numeracy and social studies. Students have been working on writing our "morning message" in small groups for the last few weeks as one of their centres during literacy.  Starting today, these messages will be posted online on this blog.  Please comment on them if you are able and we can share the comments in class.
In math we have been working with money. Last week we designed our own menus and used calculators to add up the items after we had rounded and estimated the total cost. It would be great if you helped your child practise counting money and making change. Real life examples working with money are great for learning.
I will be back later to post the morning message created this morning!
Alana