January 25th to January 28th

We wrote free verse poetry on our favourite winter activities. After generating ideas on a planner, we worked to put words and phrases together in creative ways to capture our thoughts, feelings and memories of our winter activities. We then used ink to create prints of our activity. We are excited to share these with you at our learning conferences.

January 18th to January 22nd.

The students created poems on their favourite winter activities.  Poetry can be a challenging form of writing. They did a fantastic job. 

In math, we began working on subtracting numbers up to 10 000. We also worked through some word problems involving multiple steps and operations such as addition, subtraction and multiplication. We have been working on reading through the problems carefully and highlighting important key words and numbers to ensure we know what the problem is asking. We began by working through a problem together, followed by completing a similar problem with greater independence. It is wonderful to see the great effort the students put into this work. They are up for the challenge!

In Science, we measured shadows and discovered that the position of the light source impacts the length of the shadow.     We also tested a variety of materials to determine which ones reflect light. We learned that the best reflectors have a smooth and shiny surface. 

We worked collaboratively to write Haiku poems. We then created scenes using translucent and opaque materials to create shadow scenes representing our Haikus. 

Today we had a wonderful time reading and sketching with our grade one buddies.  It is fantastic to see what fantastic role models the students are during this time. 

A highlight of the week was the school wide performance called, "Klondike Rag". 

Put on by Canadiana Musical Theatre Company, the play taught us about an important historical event in Northwestern Canada. 

Report cards are coming home today. We had a good discussion about the numbers and descriptors used in these report cards. Please have your child share what we discussed. We emphazized that the numbers are not "out of" 4, rather each number has its own meaning.  Please remember that we have conferences next week. We look forward to seeing you all then. 

January 11th to January 15th

Following Ms. Reschke's trip to Mexico, we learned about life in a Southern beach town.  We examined photographs that showed differences in housing, plant life and animal life. The students learned about how coconuts grow, their stages of development and how they are harvested.  We brought a coconut to class, cracked it open, drank the nutritious water and then ate the meat.  So delicious!

We worked on a variety of different math activities.  We continued our work with measurement, creating a picture following a number of different instructions such as; measure 16.5 cm North and draw a snowman.  In order to be successful at this activity, the students had to read instructions carefully and measure accurately.

We practiced our basic multiplication facts with a new game called, Multiplication Squares.  The students are each bringing a game sheet home.  We encourage you to have your child teach you how to play the game and then play the game together.

We also began subtraction of numbers from 10 000.  We began by doing guided work using the whiteboards to assess the students current levels of understanding.

In Science, we completed an experiment that showed that light travels in a straight line from its source.  We then continued our exploration of shadows by testing how a variety of objects could be used to create interesting shadows.

January 4th to January 8th

We had a fantastic first week back following the winter break.  We began the week by creating recipes for our winter break in our visual journals.  It was interesting to hear what was important to the different students.  Some looked for an action-packed adrenaline filled holiday while others enjoyed lazy and cozy activities.

We read the book, "Snowflake Bentley" which focused on the true story of Wilson Bentley, a farmer living in Vermont in the late 1800's.  He had a love of snow and spent his life working on capturing snowflakes through photography.  Through his work, we learned that no two snowflakes are alike.  Inspired by the story, we combined measurement in math with art and created beautiful snowflakes, measuring each line we added to our snowflake.

The students were excited to finally have the opportunity to share their research on the provinces and territories.

In Science, we began a new unit, "LIght and Shadows".  We discussed different sources of  light and distinguished objects that emit their own light from those that require another source of light to be seen.  We looked at transparent, translucent and opaque materials and that opaque objects create shadows.  We had a fantastic time playing shadow charades with an overhead, trifolds and large pieces of white paper.  I felt incredibly old when I learned that most students had never heard of and overhead projector!

We then experimented with a variety of shadow puppets to different pieces of music.  The students had only a short time to collaborate for there shows, but their creations were fantastic!

We had a great deal of fun in Phys Ed this week.  The first day of Zumba was wonderful.  Another hit was the new game, "Scrabble Sramble".  Be sure to have your child share how we combined spelling with physical activity.  Spelling had never been such great exercise!