Happy New Year!

We started 2016 with a brand new seating plan. We also started fresh by organizing and decluttering our desks! 

After a two week holiday, Christmas and New Years, the students had a lot to write about in their Journals! 

 

We talked about our favourite memories from 2015. After the students had some time to reflect, they completed a project for their portfolios. 

We then read a book titled, "Squirrel's New Year's Resolution" and the students came up with some goals for the New Year. They put their ideas in a graphic organizer and then compiled them into a paragraph. 

For spelling this week, the kids had an opportunity to explore some different options with "word work". Some chose to stamp out their words, some created their own "scrabble spelling" and some made a "word search". These are all fun and effective ways to review the words of the week. 

We completed another Star reading test. This is one of the methods we use to test the students on their reading and comprehension. It gives us information about what level they are reading at and strategies to use in each individual circumstance. 

In Math this week, we started off by playing an addition game. Students were given questions and had to colour in the answer. A hidden picture was revealed after they had completed all of the addition problems! 

We also continued working on our "Mathletic" review booklets. This week, the students were working together to count coins. This was a great review for all of them! 

They were also taught some basic multiplication strategies to complete a crossword in their booklets. 

In Science, we talked about the different instrument families and how they make sounds. We then watched a video and the students completed a worksheet sorting the different instruments. 

The students had a blast rotating through some sound centers. They experimented with tuning a glass, paper cup telephones, creating vibration with a ruler and elastic bands, rubber band music, sound travelling through solids/liquids/gas and creating sound waves. 

The students concluded that:

Sound waves are caused by vibrations. 

The faster the vibrations, the higher the pitch. 

The slower the vibrations, the lower the pitch. 

Sound waves travel through solids, liquids and gas. They travel quickest through solids. 

For art this week, we made snowmen as seen from an aerial view. The students used pastels to blend the edges, to give dimension to each snowball layer. They finished them off with a patterned scarf, carrot nose, twig arms and eyes. They turned out great!

Congratulations to a few of our students who reached their goals over the holidays! 

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!

Merry Christmas!!!

Pj day with a winter movie was a great way to end the week! Thanks to the parent council, the students ALL enjoyed popcorn with the movie!! 

We had an awesome surprise from the North Pole!!! Santa replied to ALL our letters! The students had SO much fun reading their letter to the class. Copies of these letters were sent home on Friday. Make sure you check your child's mailbag for them. The originals were kept and will be put into your child's portfolio, which they will receive at the end of the year. 

Thank you to all the parents who sent in snacks for our brunch! It was a delicious meal!

The students enjoyed playing some board games. Battleship, Checkers and Old Maid were some of the favourites. 

We read the story "Mooseltoe", the students practiced lines to a reader's theatre and then they performed! They did a GREAT job!

We did some spelling review this week, by playing WORDO. The students chose 20 words off our word wall for our "word bank". Then they created their own WORDO board using 9 of the 20 words. 

The students had the opportunity to do some buddy reading with 3D.They loved choosing new friends to read to! 

 

For handwriting this week, we learned the letters Kk and Ff. The students were so excited to spell FORCHUK! 

We also worked on an activity called "Value of Words". The students used our word wall words and addition to figure how much they were worth.

For Social, we read the story "Lights for Gita". This story talks about the Indian celebration, Diwali. We also watched a little video about the celebration. Ask your child to tell you what Diwali is. 

We also read from our mini books on India. We have now finished our study of India and following the break, we will have a cultural day celebrating India food and culture. 

Congratulations to our students who have read 1200, 1800 and 3000 minutes!! If your child has not made it to 1200 minutes, please spend some time reading over the holidays. 

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!!