Our learning journey continues....

Some of the little ones are interested in hockey.  One of the teachers has created a small hockey pool, just to have the fun of cheering on one of the teams as they work hard to become Stanley Cup playoffs.  We are officially cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins!

I don't think that this feeble attempt will actually convince you that Ryan Smith came to our classroom, but this little guy got to meet him at his hockey practise and if you look closely, you'll see that his hat has a special signature on it!  Congratulations!

Here's the silly book that led our mathematics and money investigation this week.

The farmer uses the droppings of animals on his farm to fertilize a small little tree.

The following spring, the tree has a coin in each of the flower buds depending on the type of fertilizer used.  The challenge was to figure out how much money would be found in the jar after 100 pennies, 100 nickels, 100 dimes and 100 quarters were stored inside.

As important as the final solution is, the most important part is to hear how the students went about their problem solving.  What do they already know that can assist them in finding the answer?  Many of them did not think about using the 100 chart to help.  How could it help?  In the picture of the SMARTBoard you can see that the students recognized that knowing how many of each coin adds up to $1.00 was also something important to know.  Often the students are asked to talk about these challenges at home with their families.  It gives them a chance to try out their ideas.  It is not absolutely necessary that they have a correct solution, but it is important  that they get to talk in a safe environment and what is safer than home!!??

In the afternoon on Friday, the students were faced with another challenge.  After looking at the finished 'Wild Thing' head, the students thought about how they would make each of the parts of the face.  This allowed them to see their own problem solving skills, allowed them to focus on the size and shape of the various components, demonstrated their ability to create shapes without a tracer and be proud of their finished product.

Writing a descriptive paragraph is next on the list of things to learn!

Where the Wild Things Are

This amazing book is the basis that we will hinge our learning on.  We have explored the circular nature of the story, observed the way that the pictures change size to add to the meaning, made connections to Max's wild behaviour and  then shared our own wild side!

Using an idea found on Mrs. Jump's blog, the students' work looked an awful lot like Max in his wolf suit.

This student shared that when he feels wild he "would throw all of my stuff, and smash the wall."

Either he is being very honest, or his imagination is running rampant!

Did you know that each of the Wild Things have a name?  That seems odd, since Maurice Sendak didn't give them names in the story!

The students sat 'elbow to elbow and knee to knee' and read the story with expression.  They also discussed what details they could notice in the illustrations.

The natural use of large numbers is money.  The students have been learning the history of our Canadian coins, who Queen Elizabeth is since her head in on all of the coins, each coins' value and the reason our dollar coin is called a Loonie!

They have been learning how to count the value of the coins with their peers.  One of the tricks they have learned is to turn the coin over and look at the back, because the front all have the Queen.  They also know that the proper way to count the value is to start with the largest valued coins first.

Can your child say the value in order for  four quarters?

I follow my Ukrainian and Polish roots as I bless food for Easter morning.  My dear friend Irka, shared with me how to create a butter lamb.  It is tradition to bless a paska, ham, sausage, cheese, green onion and eggs along with pussy willows, which signal spring.

Easter is God’s promise which His Son came to fulfill.
A promise of eternal life for all who see His Will.
Season of the budding trees, lilies in their glory,
The greening hills, the daffodils, the Holy Easter Story.
Easter is the joy of Spring, God’s gift and triumph, too.
Reminding us of Jesus’ love in which we’re born anew.

taken from our Religious Co-ordinator's Easter message to the staff of EICS.

May the blessings of Easter and the joy of the Resurrection bring us love,
hope and joy always.

School starts on Tuesday, bright and early at 8:45 a.m.

With all this melting can Spring be far away?

I am sure that this is what it is going to look like on the playground tomorrow.

Here are my suggestions for dressing your kiddo so that you don't get a phone call to come and pick your child up or to bring dry clothes to the school:

a) Ensure that your child is wearing boots....it could be a better choice to do rubber boots than snow boots.

b) Ensure that your child is wearing a coat and NOT a 'hoodie'...we need to be mindful that it really is still Winter and that spring colds will abound if the children are not warm enough.  The wind can be quite cold on these early Spring days.

c) Ensure that your child is wearing 'slush' pants....and if you don't have those yet, then still send the snow pants and explain to your child that they will not be used to be warm, but to stay dry.

d) Send a bag of extra pants, socks and underwear in a disposable plastic bag at the bottom of their school bag, because we all know that the water will just be too tempting to stay away from!

Just know that if your child is drenched, that phone call will have to be made, so a reminder that you can't come to school to rescue them, might go a lot further than my reminder to stay out of the puddles.

Forecast: More Sun to Come

Monday will not be a lot of fun with all the tired children that will be showing up for class. Daylight Saving, especially in the Spring, really causes all of us to need to readjust our internal clock.  Here is some advice to help your little ones be ready for this change:

a) try going to bed 15 minutes earlier both tonight and tomorrow night

b) don't allow 'screen time' (iPads, TV, computer) for an hour before bedtime

c) have a quiet routine in that last hour before bed...limit the silliness and  running around, choosing quiet games and books instead

d) don't change the morning routine on Sunday...get up at the same regular time, don't sleep in

e) get lots of sunshine exposure, especially in the morning

We continued our Robert Munsch story marathon with Alligator Baby, the first book that they have read with Michael Martchenko as the illustrator.  Now almost every book that Robert Munsch publishes has Michael as the illustrator.

Amy Lemons' craftivity was darling and the students attempted to write a summary of the story with five sentences.  The writing was not a success!  They wanted to write and write and write!

In mathematics, the children are beginning to add large numbers.  Some people do not understand the method that is being used for mathematics instruction currently.  Think back to when you (the parent) felt that you no longer were confident in working with numbers.  I know exactly when it was for me, when algebra began.  Our goal in math today is not to allow children to just 'do it' but to understand what they are doing and why.  Here is the perfect example.

The children worked with dominoes.  They chose two, and used them to generate two digit numbers to add together.  This reviews the concept of place value.  They then consciously had to add the ones and the tens together.  Look at the SMARTBoard to see the process.  3 add 5 is 8, then 40 add 30 is 70.  That is the very important step.  The student should NOT be saying 4 add 3 is 7 because those digits are in the tens place and must be understood to represent tens.  The reason dominoes are used to begin with is because there would be few opportunities to have larger numbers that might 'trip them up' as they are practising this new concept.  The second example 89 add 99 demonstrates how the addition becomes a two part process with the larger numbers, what would happen when numbers need to be regrouped.  We'll get there a little later.

**In the photo with the dominoes above, do you see where this little girl still needs more practise?  60 add 50 should be 110.  She showed 6 add 5 is 11.  That small error in thinking may cause trouble later, so it needs to be corrected now.  The understanding of what the value of the digit is, is crucial.

In the Bee Binder is the sheet that the children were working on so that you could see (and hear when you ask them) their thinking.  As with all new concepts, some of the students are still not completely clear on this and need more practise.  I am asking the students to try some at home, using their own dominoes or dice to generate the questions.  No dominoes or dice? Please generate some numbers on your own, being aware that larger numbers means two steps.

Here are two happy, successful guys proud to show off their work to you!

There will be more practice patterns introduced to solidify the understanding that addition involves place value.

Please do NOT introduce the algorithm to your child yet.  That will be done a little later.  Remember, the process is to have the students understand WHAT they are doing and WHY they are doing it.  The algorithm is just one way to get to the solution.  It is not the way to do math.

Our goal should be to see our little ones love the challenge that math brings.  It did my heart good to hear one little girl say "I LOVE THIS! I can't wait to do some more at home"  Wish my math journey as a child would have left me with that attitude!

Aaron's Hair - Problems and Solutions

We are focusing on various comprehension areas that a reader engages in as we enjoy Robert Munsch stories this week.  The story of Aaron's Hair was used to identify the problem at the beginning of the story and the solution at the end.

We again used Amy Lemon's idea to create Aaron.

At one point of the story, the run away hair decided to stick onto Aaron's face, so this gal decided to try out a beard too.  She liked it!

Here's the finished product!  

A bit of fun as we learn happened today.

 

This princess celebrated her birthday and brought a rice krispie cake to share!

Robert Munsch - Canada's FAVOURITE Author

We 'kicked' off Munsch week with this wonderful story of a little girl, Tina, from a Dene Reserve, who loved her new socks so much she wouldn't take them off to wash.

One aspect of reading is making connections with the text.  That is the point of the Literacy Bags that are sent home each weekend, having the children make connections with the stories inside through games, activities and the cuddling with a stuffed animal.

 For the story of SMELLY SOCKS, the students made a ,text to self connection, thinking about a time that they wanted something and asked their parents for it.  How did the parents react?

Using these cute patterns created by Amy Lemons, the children wrote their experience onto their own sock.

We finally counted the various food items that families donated and there were 38 items!  Thank you for your generousity and willingness to give alms during our Lenten season.

The students had their first lesson on how to skip using a long rope.

To begin with, the rope is swung back and forth, to allow the children to feel comfortable with continuing the bounce-bounce pattern.

Please come to the Parent Council sponsored puppet show featuring six of Robert Munsch's stories next Wednesday, March 11th.  Younger siblings are welcome too.  I believe that the performance starts at 9:30 but do check the school newsletter and website to confirm all the details.

Later that week, on Friday, March 13, the students at Madonna will again have an opportunity to give alms and support the Holy Family Association through a one dollar donation to wear a hat in class.  Over the years students have worn some crazy hats, but those usually end up off the head pretty quickly.  Choose a hat that the student can comfortably work in for the day so that they get to enjoy this once a year special day.