This class is so enthusiastic about the Drink Can Dragsters that they have made. The most important part of this project is the process of designing, testing and then modifying to improve performance. There are several variables students can manipulate such as the thickness, length, strength and number of the elastics inside, the length and thickness of the dowel, the size of the beads and types of elastics used for traction. They have all come up with what they feels is the perfect combination and have tested them on the classroom floor (constantly :). They are eager to try them out in the gym next week. In Math, we have been working with the concept of division and exploring personal strategies to solve two and three digit numbers divided by single digit numbers. One of the strategies is repeated subtraction or partial quotient. The joy in this approach is that there are many entry points for students to use the multiplication facts that they are comfortable with. Here is the same question answered differently by three students. We will be learning the traditional long division algorithm next week. Reminders:
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Pink Shirt Day is actually on Wednesday February 27 instead of the 28th like I put in the weblog last week. Somehow we got the date mixed up! So, tomorrow, please wear a pink shirt! We will be discussing bullying and the history of this event. Reminders:
-Wear a pink shirt tomorrow for Pink Shirt Day -No school Friday, it is a PD Day (March 1) It was our beloved Friday B day today. For our class, it means that Ms. Schoenberger teaches our gym class. Today she taught us two brand new games that the kids loved. I'm sure we will be playing them again soon! We also had French today which is always fun. It was our first ever app day in math. A great app is a perfect way to develop strategy skills. They are engaging and can develop reasoning that can extend into all creative problem solving activities. Today we looked at two different apps. The first one is called Dots. Players connect coloured dots in groups to score points. Certain combinations create higher points and players can use strategy to eliminate dots to create these combinations. While playing today, I was in awe at the students who can strategize two and even three moves ahead on a dynamic game board. The second game is called Shades. Coloured blocks fall and combine together to form darker blocks. When a row of darker blocks is formed, it disappears from the game board. One of the important strategies to game play is to avoid stacking a darker shade on a lighter one. I was again blown away by how well the students could play! We introduced the students to the Entrepreneurial Adventure Program that the Grade 4 students will be participating in this year. You can find more information here: https://www.thelearningpartnership.ca/programs/entrepreneurial-adventure Our first step is to determine a charity we would like to support with our entrepreneurial endeavours. We discussed a bit about how charities work and the important factors to consider when choosing a charity. We will be using this website to help make the final choice: https://www.charityintelligence.ca/ Students may want to think about charities and discuss them with you over the weekend. Reminders: -wear a black t-shirt and blue jeans on Tuesday for our dance presentation -you are invited to come and view our dance on Tuesday, see invitation in yesterday's reminders -please return report card envelope and skating forms -wear a pink shirt on Thursday, February 28 Students are most engaged when reading material that interests them personally, so rather than doing a class novel study, we decided to do book clubs again this year. Last week, Ms. Paul came to inspire us. She brought thirty novels that are perfect for Grade 4 and gave the students an idea of what each one was about. From there, the students chose their top three choices. Ms. Paul crunched the data and came up with seven groups, each with a different novel. Yesterday the children received their novels and met with their groups for the first time. Students will have time to read at school and can read at home if they choose. They must, however, have their book with them every day at school. We will be reading together in groups and each week we will do a different activity with the books that will focus on predicting, inferencing, reading comprehension and vocabulary. Dance continues to go well. Students are loving hip-hop and our guest instructors are both good at dancing and good at explaining the moves to the students. On Tuesday, February 26 there will be an opportunity for parents to come view and experience dance with Prestige Dance Academy at 10:15 to 10:45. All students are asked to wear a black shirt and blue jeans on their dance viewing day. Reminders:
I hope everyone enjoyed a great long weekend! It was nice to hear the children's stories today. Thank you so much to everyone that sent food for the Valentine's Day party last Wednesday! Great fun was had by all. Thank you also for the thoughtful chocolate and notes for me too! Ice skating forms are in your child's backpack. There is no fee for this but we need permission and acknowledgement of risk forms signed. There are opportunities for parents to volunteer and the schedule is attached on the back of the permission form. The more hands to help with skates the first couple of days, the better. We should have ice and hopefully some nice weather! In Gym today, two instructors came to teach us some hip-hop moves! They will be back all week! Students participated well and it sure was a great cardio activity! Reminders:
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It has been very chilly and the students have done a great job this week despite being inside all day. I hope everyone is managing to keep warm! In Math we have been learning how to multiply two-digit by one-digit numbers. We have investigated several different methods for arriving at answers and evaluated those methods based on how accurate and how efficient they are. Students are welcome to use the strategy they are most comfortable with but have also learned and can use the traditional algorithm. We are now working on multi-step problems so that students further develop their ability to decipher what the question is asking them to figure out and practice applying their new multiplication skills. Practicing basic multiplication facts at home will help your child immensely. In Grade 4, they are busy memorizing up to 7X7 but going up to 9X9 is also appropriate. For those that are basic facts wizards already, the next step is basic division facts to 7X7. In Language Arts, we learned about the Lunar New Year by responding to our Chinese Zodiac animals. Most of the class are Ox and several are Rats. Students compared and contrasted their zodiac description to themselves through writing. We enjoyed some fortune cookies and made up some fortunes we would like to receive. We have started our poetry unit and have looked at poems by Robert Frost and William Blake. Students are writing their own poems. We continue to learn about the earliest history of Alberta . We discussed the shallow sea that covered Alberta and how the creatures living there were immortalized in the Burgess Shale. We talked about the dinosaurs that roamed 65 million years ago. We used Google Earth to take a look at where the Bering Bridge was that the first Albertans used to cross over to North America 30,000 years ago. We covered the erratics that were carried by the ice age and their significance to the indigenous people of Alberta. We talked about their way of life before the fur trade and the significance of the buffalo. The last part for this week was the fur trade, the Metis people and the voyageurs. Reminders: Monday is Winter Carnival Day and there will be winter centres set up around the school for students to participate in. Some centres are outside so it is important students are dressed for the weather if they choose to go outside. Wednesday is our Valentine celebration. Students will be trading cards, munching on snacks and watching a video based on one of the novels we have read. Thursday and Friday are Teacher's Convention days and there is no school for students. The following Monday is Family Day so students are off for 5 days in a row! |
Karen Cooper
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