January 30th, 2015.

We had another fantastic week in room 4!  Time is flying by.  It is hard to believe that we are at the end of January!

Our class event, "STOP, DROP AND READ" was a great success.  Throughout the day, a bell signaled the students to stop what they were doing and read.  We are very fortunate to work with students who have such a love of reading.

The students have continued to be highly engaged in our bird research.  The students are working hard to read through a variety of text, looking for specific information.  It has been fascinating to learn about the methods of communication, feeding patterns and habitats of the different birds. On Friday, the students presented what they felt was the most interesting fact about their bird.

"Unlike most owls, snowy owls are diurnal not nocturnal, so you are more likely to see one during the day."
"The black capped chickadee hides food for later and remembers up to one thousand hiding spots."
"The anna's hummingbird is no larger than a ping pong ball and no heavier than a nickel."

We finished up our watercolor paintings of our birds.  It was wonderful to watch the students attention to detail as they mixed and layered colours to create their birds.

January 23rd, 2015.

We were very fortunate to have one of our parents come to our classroom to complete a project using clay.  As a connection to our study of Alberta and our look at owls, the students created beautiful owl piggy banks.  They put a great deal of effort into their work and the results are incredible.  We cannot wait for them to be glazed and fired.  A huge thank you to our special volunteer who made it all happen!

In Language Arts and Social Studies, we continued with our winter bird research.  The students have been working on locating information on the internet and reading through text for specific information such as their birds appearance and types of sounds made by their bird.  We have been working on taken information read and recording it in the students own words in the form of jot notes.  The students also worked on sketches and watercolour paintings of their birds.  We are still working on our paintings, but here are some images of the start of our creations.

In Mathematics, we began looking at measuring area and perimeter.  We used cm grid paper to create shapes with a variety of different perimeters.  We also worked to calculate the perimeter of shapes where the measurement of all sides was not given.

In Science, the students worked on a class poster, representing the different elements of weather.  Each student wrote a definition of a given weather word.  The words were then placed into categories including; extreme weather, relating to water and weather instruments.

Report cards will be coming home on Monday and conferences will take place the evening of Thursday, January, 29th and the morning of Friday, January 30th.  We look forward to meeting with you then.  Have a wonderful weekend.

January 16th, 2015.

It was another great week in room 4!

In Language Arts, we read a wonderful book, "A Bird Collection" where we learned interesting facts about birds from around the world.  We were amazed to learn that the Arctic Tern travels all the way from the North Pole to the Antarctic, sometimes only landing once or twice a year!

We then began a research project on winter birds of Alberta.  The students researched and selected a bird that is a yearlong resident or winter visiter to Alberta.  The students read maps and skimmed through a variety of text to help them determine which birds reside in Alberta during the winter months.  For many students, this was a challenging process.  We found images of the birds and are looking forward to creating sketches and beginning our research next week.

In Science, we began a new unit, Weather Watch.  The students worked in groups to share what they know about the weather and what they are hoping to discover during this unit.

Sharing our Knowledge

Working Together

In Mathematics, we spent some time reviewing the concepts that we covered in our math centers.  Accuracy during measurement has been especially challenging.  We then learned about different types of lines including; horizontal, diagonal, vertical, parallel, intersecting and perpendicular.  The students worked to create snowflakes following a specific set of criteria such as; 2 perpendicular lines that are 15 cm in length, 2 parallel lines that measure 5 cm.

In Physical Education we have been finishing up our unit on floor hockey.  The students have applied their skills in a variety of games.  It has been wonderful to see the cooperation and team spirit.  We had a fantastic time at our second Zumba class.  The students demonstrate such confidence while performing the dances.  By the end of the class we are all exhausted!         

Having Fun With Zumba!

January 9th

Welcome back!  It was wonderful to reconnect with the students and hear all about everyone’s winter breaks.  We began the week with writing about the things in our lives that we are grateful for.  The students came up with some very thoughtful ideas.

“I am grateful for classmates who help me when I don’t understand the work.”

“I am grateful for a class that appreciates everyone.”

“I am grateful for the fact that I can go to the grocery store for the food I need to help me grow.”

“I am grateful to have the chance to sleep in complete silence.”

“I am grateful for such nice neighbors.  When my mom broke her wrist, they made us dinner.”

“I am grateful for books to read on my shelf and in the library.”

“I am grateful for a healthy smile because I feel everyone should have one.”

Reading their work made us very grateful to have the opportunity to work with such wonderful children!

This week we completed both our dinosaur centers in social studies and our math centers.  The students put a great deal of work into these centers. 

Here are some images from our math centers:

Working on adding different dollar amounts

Measuring distances on a map of Alberta

Here are some images of our dinosaur centers:

A fossil 

Building our own dinosaur following research on bones and skeletons

We had our first Zumba class this week!  It was a highlight for many of us.  The students were so engaged and already have quite the dance moves.  We cannot wait to see what they can do by the end of our Zumba sessions!  Unfortunately I was too busy dancing to capture any pictures.