Loving February

This month, the students are adding 'spelling' practise to their Word Work during Daily Five.

The cards have letters in a mixed up order.  The challenge is to use the magnetic letters to create at least five words, plus, unscramble the letters to make the mystery word.  The students seem to be enjoying the hands-on approach!

Each card has a clue, so they know the curricular area that the word comes from.

The students have learned many, many strategies for adding subtracting in their three years at school.  They will be working towards learning an 'efficient' way to add larger numbers.

I was surprised to learn, when I did my Masters, which focused on math and science, that people in other countries do NOT use the same algorithm (method) to solve these types of addition or subtraction questions, as we do in North America.  Our method can easily lead to errors.  It is so very important that the students understand the 'why' of this method, and not just follow the 'pattern.'  One thing that I insist on, is NOT using the words "carry the 1" because they are actually moving a group of ten.  It may seem like a small, insignificant detail, but to a student who is just learning, it is important that they understand what is actually happening. 

The Grade One, Two, Three and Four classes have close to 100 students total.  To celebrate both the 100th Day of School and Valentine's Day, they co-operatively created this bulletin board.

Don't judge the spelling!

The sentiments were so warm,

and heartfelt!

Each heart made me smile!

Friends, learning, teachers,

make this school go around!

Letters of thanks

The students wrote letters of thanks to the Jean Vanier Jr. High students who were part of the Ukrainian Fair last Friday.

As a little gift, they followed the directions found on the website below, to create these "matryoshka" dolls, using origami paper folding techniques.

http://meijosjoy.blogspot.ca

Let's Go Oil Kings...Hockey Hooky Day!

Another field trip this week!  Who knew that a teacher could legitimately take students out of school for a day of fun at Rexall Place?  Our class, along with a few others from the school, did just that!  We went to watch the Oil Kings win!

Here we all are, ready for the game to begin...

...bouncing up and down with excitement!

The students had hot dogs and pop for lunch.  A few got other treats and there were a few souvenirs as well.  How else do you say that the Oil Kings are #1?  For some this was their first hockey game ever!

Some knew all about goals, and slapshots and penalties!

No matter if it was their first or fiftieth time, when there was one of these....

there was one of these!  They certainly knew how to cheer!

After one high sticking incident that led to a penalty, one darling poked me and stated"  He just did what you told us never to do!"  Hooray!  A connection was made!

A few participated in the puck toss, but sadly, the winner was Z5533, 

and all our pucks started with E....

...but one lucky guy managed to snatch this up in the shirt toss!

Thanks to the four parents who braved the cold and the bus ride to be with us, getting us food, helping buy the souvenirs, taking us to the bathroom and keeping us safe!  Thanks to our school leaders for letting us play 'hooky' today!

Hearing and Hockey

Today was our Hearing and Sound in school field trip.  Our guest was Dr. I. M. TuLoud, who with the help of some lovely mommy helpers, took the children through five different work stations to explain many of the concepts in our current science unit.  Here one of the boys is using the sign language alphabet to decipher a clue.

What makes a low pitch?  What makes a high pitch?

At what decibel level can sounds be harmful to our ears?

Do sounds move through solids, liquids or gases better?

(Don't you love that face?  I think she just made a connection in her learning!!)

Here's our guest who used the tubes to help the students 'see' the sound vibrations.

It was a very successful morning!

Day Two of the floor hockey games....the students spent three weeks before honing their skills,

including passing, shooting, and proper stick handling.  They had a blast!

MARVELLOUS Monday

Last Friday, the students were shown such kindness as they worked with and learned from some Jr. High students both here and at the other school.  Today, the students were able to reciprocate as they became the 'big' helpers for some Gr. One buddies.  The primary classes have undertaken to work on a variety of ways to become more in tune with the characteristics of being great citizens.  In the late fall, the students learned how to be "bucket fillers."  Today, they filled out applications for becoming members of the "Kind Kids Klub."

Because it is a little more difficult to do this when you are only learning to write, the Grade Three students assisted the Grade One students in completing their application forms.

Lots more words....

...and a real sense of pride in a job well done!

...

What does a member of the "Kind Kids Klub" do?  In the month of February, they will be performing a random act of kindness, like the one below, each and every school day....

...so expect to see a 'kind kid' show up at your house!

Look at all this learning!  I was so very pleased!  Learning what natural resources, goods and services, exports and imports are all about in Grade Three is simply a challenge.  This group has risen to this challenge.  Learning to read a non-fiction resource and find information, is also a challenge. Though it is part of the Language Learning curriculum, its obvious use is in other curricular areas, such as science and social.  They are learning the special features of non-fiction writing, and expanding their thinking to not only find what's in the text, but also what that information means.  In fancy terms, they are learning to synthesize.  The students were able to find the information shown above, using the index, and explain what the information meant.  For example, if Peru grows sugarcane, artichoke, asparagus and mangoes for export, that means that the land is suited to that crop and that the weather allows the growth of those crops.  We all agreed that no one in Alberta grows mangoes!

Ask your little one if they can identify some of the text features of these pages in their social text.  Can they find:  captions, diagrams, headings, and bold type, for example?

A FUN Friday!

What a wonderful day, full of learning, involving students in older grades willing to be leaders to our class!  In the morning, our Grade Seven buddies came in to help us create our pipe cleaner snowflakes. We had read the story of "Snowflake Bentley", a farmer's son who dedicated his life to capturing the first images of snowflakes on film using a microscopic camera.  It is because of this man's work that we know that each and every snowflake is an individual creation of God and like us, there are no two alike!

Once the pipe cleaners were twisted, and string tied, they were suspended in a cup with a borax solution.  Over the weekend, we hope to see crystals added to our creations, just like crystals are added to the specks that start to become snowflakes.

In the afternoon, we travelled over to Jean Vanier Catholic School where the students in the Ukrainian Bilingual Jr. High program had prepared a most informative look into the culture of one of the countries we explore in Social Studies.  Each was dressed in a traditional blouse, shirt or even a soccer jersey.

We got to see the money of the Ukraine, here pinned onto an embroidered cloth.

When a student in the Ukrainian Bilingual program finishes Kindergarten, they receive a doll, like those  that the students are admiring.

How far reaching are the movies of Hollywood?  Here is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! spoken in Ukrainian.

Those young men in front are leading the students in learning the dance steps....say it with me: step -  behind - step - kick.....

and once it was practised, the students tried it with traditional music!

Probably everyone's favourite, that transcends the language barrier, was the opportunity to try to shoot a ball at the soccer net.....soccer is a huge favourite in Ukraine!

Thanks to the grandpa and mother who joined us on our little journey and thank you to the Jr. High students who were so willing to share their knowledge with us!

Just another little reminder:

Students have music on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday so PLEASE have their recorders packed for those days.  Library is on Friday, so books should be returned then.  THANKS!