Jesus is the Reason for the Season

May the love of the little babe, who came to save us all, be the joy and inspiration of all your Christmas wishes.  God bless.....

The season for learning

Just couldn't resist one more Grinch picture!   This might seem like a 'fun' project (and it was) but the real reason that it was done was to continue to work on fine motor and planning skills.  There was a lot of cutting, then placing and planning before glue was applied.  Each turns out a little different as each child puts their own spin on how the Grinch will look!  Thanks to the "Glyph Girls" for sharing this wonderful pattern with me!

We tried a 'hands on' approach to remembering the way the three different rocks are created in the earth.  The first is igneous, which is created by heat.  Using the heat of our hands, we tried to melt the mineral bits, into a new rock form.

Once it was cooled, a new 'rock' was formed.

We tried this with three different types of 'mineral bits'.  We noticed that some of the mineral bits seemed to be easier to melt than others.  Some stayed a bit more crumbly, like the rocks we may find underground.  It was an opportunity to find out that depending on the composition of the minerals, the rocks would have different qualities.

 Sedimentary Rocks are recognized because they appear in layers.  If the students put the three different 'rocks' that they created one on top of the other, they could see the layers as they formed.

Here are the sheets they will be using to create their own little geological guide for the three rock types.  We are going to do a 'hands on' tomorrow for metamorphic,  the root of which is morph which means to change.  Heat, time and pressure are needed to change rocks.  One example  would be limestone which is a sedimentary rock that becomes marble under the right conditions.

The notes that we referred to on the whiteboard...you might note the Power Rangers reference, as they morph into their new characters!

Mr. Grinch

We are using the Dr. Seuss story of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' to learn some new concepts.

Using the song from the animated version of the story that is shown on television every Christmas, we distinguished between metaphors and similes.  In a metaphor one thing is said to be another.  Here's a wonderful example where the Grinch is told "You really are a heel."

Similes are a bit easier to spot, because the word like or as is used in the comparison.

"You're as cuddly as a cactus."

The BEST quote from the story became an art project last Friday.

The students also learned that synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing.  They brainstormed for synonyms of the word smile, then brainstormed again for ideas of what makes someone smile at Christmas.  Using that information they wrote a letter to the Grinch persuading  him to smile (or grin, or beam)  This letter explained to the Grinch that "You will feel better and you might even smile when you're drinking hot chocolate and eating Christmas cookies."

I love this one "You should smile because Jesus saved our lives and also other people will like to be friends with you."

The students are also practising making connections with the text.  That means that as they are reading, they are thinking about what they read and think about how it relates to an aspect of their own life, or reminds them of something else that they have read or they remember something in the world around them that is similar to the text they have read.  In this assignment, they used the three coloured hearts to write the connections that they made.

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Prayers for the children lost today

A tragedy like the one we have heard about today in Connecticut reminds us all that each and every day is a gift from God.  Love your children, be kind to others and remember that violence never solves anything.  This might be a useful link to use as your child asks the questions that young ones shouldn't have to: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/resources_for_families/talking_to_children_about_community_violence

What do I look for?

Sometimes as a teacher, we forget that parents are not as well versed on how classrooms, assessments, teaching and learning have changed since they were in school as students themselves.  I had a great little conversation with one mom during student-led conferences.  She admitted that with three children at school and three binders coming home that covered Grades One to Six, she wasn't really sure what to look for!  I thought I would give everyone a little idea....

First, we have been asked to include ALL the sheets used in the writing process when a writing sample is added to the Evidence of Learning binder.  The idea is to see how the child fared throughout the entire process, and not just see the final polished (and edited) version.  So in this package, the first page would be the vocabulary that we brainstormed together as a class that would be used in writing the directions, followed by some jot notes (written after some visualization and discussion).

Those jot notes are then used as a 'plan' and the student writes a rough draft.  This rough draft is then either self edited, peer edited or teacher edited.  Often the students are asked to help a peer, because this is less worrisome to them, then having the teacher tell them what needs to be fixed.

The final step is to create a final draft, which should be free of errors.  Often, at this age level, the students are only just learning how to reread their work to check for errors, but it is something that is emphasized.  I will be using a rubric to assess this writing.  Some rubrics are written is very kid-friendly language, and then I would ask the student to self assess.  Some rubrics are more adult language orientated and then I would most likely use a highlighter to outline my assessment.  Research tells us that marks (whether they be letter grades or percentages) are less likely to help students improve.  Instead, research tells us that written feedback with specific areas to improve or to continue to work towards, will make a difference in the student's continued journey to success.

What should you look for?  You need to take all those pages out of the plastic sleeve, look them over, read the comments and rubrics and recognize areas that your child is improving in as well as what areas still need to be worked on.

Look what I walked into right after lunch on Friday.  I think they like me!!

Just "Monkeying" Around

What a HUGE surprise for the students when they came to school today!  One young man even asked if we were going somewhere because there were parents in the classroom.  I believe in giving students experiences to 'hinge' their learning onto.  One area of the curriculum that we are currently working on is writing directions or instructions.  When they have had the experience of making a root beer float, or blowing bubblegum bubbles, the writing is easier to accomplish! 

Tomorrow the students will be writing directions on how to make sock monkeys,

but today they are learning new vocabulary, using their senses to know what stuffing feels like, and  experiencing the joy of creating something from (almost) nothing.

There are a great sense of accomplishment as they stuffed, pinned and stitched on tails, and arms, muzzles and ears.

Of course, there were also lots and lots of adults to offer support and encouragement.

An added side benefit was that gender roles were blurred and both boys and girls took this project very seriously, knowing that their efforts would pay off!

Amazing how much thread was used.  There was an adult constantly rethreading needles!

Thank you to the grandparents....

and parents....

who came in to ensure....

that every knot ws tied...

every tail stuffed....

every ear attached...

every eye glued...

and every child happy!

WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

I am positive that when the instructions are written tomorrow,

every child will remember what steps they followed to create their new friend.

It's not very often I get to be on this side of the camera!

December brings.....

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, the season of waiting for the coming of Our Saviour.

To give a visual, our friends in Grade Seven helped each student make an Advent bracelet, with 3 purple and 1 pink bead to represent the 4 Sundays of Advent (which are the colours of the candles on the Advent wreath) and then 20 beads of a colour of their choice for the other days before Christmas.

We only get to see these great friends once a month for about 1/2 hour, so time spent with them is very special!  We are grateful for their time with us!

In our current science unit, the students are recognizing what it would be like to be geologists, the scientists who study the earth including rocks and minerals.  Using mineral samples, they are learning

how to use magnifying glasses to observe more closely,

magnets to test for positive or negative reactions in the minerals,

and a light source, to find out if the mineral is transparent, translucent or opaque.

Which word would you use for this mineral?