June 5, 2015

Kids on the Block Bullying Presentation
On Thursday we had a special bullying presentation which included a puppet show by Kids on the Block. The students were completely engaged as they interacted with the puppets to come up with solutions for the characters bullying problems. It was an excellent presentation that increased students knowledge about bullying and provided them with tools to navigate similar situations that they may be faced with in the future.

Final Reading Log of the Year!
On Monday, students took home their final reading log of the year! Their goal is to read 16 or more minutes every day for the month of June and our final reading celebration will be the highly anticipated "Tech Party". During this reading party, students who have reached their goal will have time with technology while having fun with their fellow super readers!

Exploring Potash - Learning About SK Resources

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, June 12: No School - PD Day
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

May 29, 2015

Library Books
A note went home this week asking students to return their library books from June 8-12th. If your child has books that have not been returned to the library by this due date, payment info will be sent home after the 15th. Classes who have all of their books returned on time will be awarded a prize from Mrs. Frederiksen, our school librarian.

GMS Track Meet
Monday was a beautiful day for our annual school track meet. Students were divided into age groups and visited stations such as the 60,100, 200 and 400 meter sprints, long jump, triple jump, high jump, and ball throw. Students who placed first, second or third in each category will advance to participate at the Douglas Park Track. Our whole class will be attending the Douglas Park Track event on June 5th to cheer on our school. We also enjoyed some ice-cream treats to cool off, and wrapped up our day watching the school relay races. Looking forward to another great track day at Douglas Park!

Congratulations Virtue Winners!
Congratulations to Abdur and Fatima E. who received the award for conscience during Tuesdays Assembly. These are two students who do the right thing, even when no one is looking!

SRC School Dance
On Thursday, we were invited to the gymnasium for a school dance. The SRC raised money by holding a canteen where students could purchase a treat for $1.00. Great music, great friends and great fun!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, June 5: Douglas Park Track Meet
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

May 22, 2015

Writing About Our Reading

Here is a sneak peek of students sharing their writing. Sometimes it is much trickier to explain our thinking in writing than it is to share our thinking out loud, so we have been working to develop this skill in our Reader's Notebooks. I love listening to these students share their thinking.

Track and Field
Our School Track and Field day will be held on Monday. Please make sure your child comes prepared for a day in the sun with a water bottle, sunscreen, hat and proper attire for that day. We have been practicing high jump, long jump, standing long jump, throwing and even learned how to take part in a relay race!  Here is a picture of us learning how to properly "hand off" the baton to the next teammate on our team using the bases on the baseball field. It was the perfect "mini-track" to demonstrate how a relay race goes, as this was the first time our class has experienced this style of race. 

Prevent the Summer Slide with "Bring a Book - Take a Book"
We are having a "Bring a Book, Take a Book" event at our school from June 16-19th. This is a chance for kids to trade their gently used books for some new books to read over the summer months. Students can bring 1-5 books before June 15th. A note has been stapled in your child's agenda with the information as well.

Important Dates and Reminders

Monday, May 25: GMS Track Meet
Friday, June 5: Douglas Park Track Meet
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

May 14, 2015

Congratulations to Our April Super Readers!
On Thursday, I invited the students who reached their home reading goal in April to a special "Super Readers" Lunch in the library. We had a lot of fun hanging out, catching up and enjoying a few treats to celebrate.

Building Fluency with Reader's Theatre Plays

Why Do We Need Rules and Laws?
As we move into our social unit on government, we had a great conversation about the importance of rules and laws. Why do we need rules? What would our life be like if we didn't have rules or laws? We talked about everything from rules of the road, pollution and its effects on the environment, a variety of safety rules involving many more scenarios. We decided our community would be very chaotic and unsafe if we didn't have certain laws and rules. We came come to the realization that we need rules and laws to live, work and play together safely.

Science Centre and Imax Field Trip
We had a blast at the Science Centre on Tuesday. The Imax Movie, Journey to the South Pacific 3D was fantastic. We ate lunch in the park and had an afternoon of fun in the Science Centre and enjoyed a few minutes on the playground before heading back to school. Here is just a glimpse of our fun!

Science Fair
On Wednesday, we took our buddies into the gym to visit the grade 7/8 Science Fair presentations. Students learned about volcanoes, tornadoes, tsunamis among other natural disasters. Great job grade 7/8's!

Have a great long weekend!
Ms. Cameron

Important Dates and Reminders:

Friday, May 15: P.D Day - No School
Monday, May 18: Victoria Day Holiday - No School

Monday, May 25: GMS Track Meet
Friday, June 5: Douglas Park Track Meet
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

May 8, 2015

Compare and Contrast Activity: Holes by Louis Sachar
Now that we have finished reading the novel "Holes" we were able to watch the movie! We were so excited to see it as we absolutely loved the book! Students had the task of comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the book and movie.

This week we also started a new novel that was the winner of last years Willow Awards, called "Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes!" by Jonathan Auxier.  It is the story of a blind orphan named Peter, who has been forced into a life of crime. One afternoon he steals a mysterious box that contains three magical pairs of eyes. When he tries on the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he meets the maker of the eyes, Professor Cake. We are excited to continue reading about Peter's magical adventures!

May Book Orders
New book orders were sent home on Wednesday! Please have your orders handed in by next Wednesday, May 13, if you would like to order.

New Reader's Theatre 
This week we started new funny read-aloud Theatre Plays. Our class is working on 3 different plays and have been assigned their own role. At the beginning of the year we did a Reader's Theatre Plasys and it was a big hit - even reluctant readers loved it! As you know, fluency is an important aspect of reading. When a student can read text quickly, and accurately with meaning and expression, they can be said to read fluently. Fluency also involves being able to comprehend the text and research shows that repeated reading helps improve word recognition, speed and fluency.

Our three plays are called "Will Erin Win the Third Annual French Fry Eating Contest?", "A People Story", and "Gwen, the Cranky Sorceress".

Field Trip Reminder: Permission, Fees and Cold Lunch
Please remember that students must bring a cold lunch to the Science Centre Field Trip on Tuesday, May 12. There are still a few students who need to hand in their permission forms and pay for the trip. Please check your child's agenda for a reminder regarding permission and payment if it is still required. It is important that students pay the admission and transportation fees before the trip on Tuesday. Thank you!

Flashlight Friday is Back!

Happy Mother's Day to all of our GMS Moms!! We hope you have an amazing weekend!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Tuesday, May 12: Science Centre and IMAX Field Trip
Wednesday, May 13: May Scholastic Book Orders are Due

Friday, May 15: P.D Day - No School
Monday, May 18: Victoria Day Holiday - No School

Monday, May 25: GMS Track Meet
Friday, June 5: Douglas Park Track Meet
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

May 1, 2015

Procedural Writing
We had quite a giggle together during Writer's Workshop on Tuesday afternoon when I asked the students to teach me how to crack an egg. I followed each instruction exactly as it was said, and the kids were howling with laughter after my first attempt. The instructions... "Mrs. Cameron, you have to hit the egg on the table." This is the result. The students all ran up to crowd around the table once they realized I had only done that one instruction, completely missing the bowl! I wish you could have seen the look on their faces! The students quickly realized there was much more detail needed to properly explain to someone how to crack an egg, and by the third or fourth egg the students were thinking of every little step in great detail.

"First you will need an egg and a bowl. After gathering your materials, pick up the egg and GENTLY (emphasis on gently!) crack the egg on the edge of the bowl. Hold the egg above the bowl as you push both thumbs into the crack of the egg..."

The students decided I got an "Egg +" (A+) on the final attempt, but only because their instructions became much clearer! Students then returned to their desks to create their own step by step instructions in writing. I think it's safe to say that these students will always remember how to crack an egg!

Having Fun in the Sun!
On Monday the weather was so beautiful we decided to take our Phys. Ed class outdoors! Many of our students had never played kick ball before and it was the perfect day to learn!

Science Centre Field Trip and Upcoming Events
This week a permission for was sent home for our upcoming class field trip to the Science Centre on Tuesday, May 12. Please sign and return the permission form at your earliest convenience. The cost of the trip is $9.40 and payments can be made online using "School Cash". This fee covers your child's admission to the Science Centre, the 3D IMAX Movie, Journey to the South Pacific, and bus transportation.

**Please Note: I have also sent home several field trip and event permission forms for the remainder of the school year. We will attending a play at the U of R called "New Canadian Kid" (Cost is covered by the SCC), Track and Field Permission form, and our year end school swim at Regent Park Pool ($1.00). Please see the permission forms for more information about these events and return at your earliest convenience. We have lots to look forward to in Learning Centre 4!

Holes by Louis Sachar
On Tuesday we finished reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar. What an AWESOME book! I have never seen a class so drawn into a read aloud like this class with the book Holes. We were left in suspense at the end of almost every chapter and the students would beg me to keep reading! We had such great conversations throughout this novel, trying to put the pieces together, and I feel a bit sad that it's already over! It also served as an excellent mentor text to share our thinking, learn about different literary elements used in good writing, and model various reading strategies. The students can't wait to watch the movie next week, where they will have to compare what was the same and different between the book and the movie.

Oratory at the Huda School
On Friday morning we walked over to the Huda School for our annual Oratory. Our class recited the poem "I Never Want to Go to Bed" by Kenn Nesbitt. This week we added some actions to our poem and our class did a wonderful job reciting the poem!

Expanding Our Vocabulary in Word Work
Check out how Abiha and Micaela have challenged themselves with their independent word work this week! WOW!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Tuesday, May 12: Science Centre and IMAX Field Trip

Friday, May 15: P.D Day - No School
Monday, May 18: Victoria Day Holiday - No School

Monday, May 25: GMS Track Meet
Friday, June 5: Douglas Park Track Meet
Thursday, June 18: U of R Theatre "New Canadian Kid" in AM
Monday, June 22: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Thursday, June 25: Last Day of School & Final Report Card Day

April 24, 2015

Congratulations to Our April Virtue Winners!
Congratulations to Anthony and Abdullah K. who received the virtue award for Fairness at Friday's assembly! Great job boys!

In Learning Centre 4, we take ownership of our learning! Check out these independent rockstars working towards their individual goals!

Creating a "Pocket Book of Change"
As students rotate through various experiments about the Properties and Changes of Materials, they document their learning in a book they each created called a "Pocket-book of Change". Here are a few of our stations this week.

Combining Our Love for Music and Movement with "STOMP"

This week we have also started a "STOMP" routine in Arts. Ed. Stomp is a style of dance that involves creating a rhythm using only your body through a series of stomps and claps. The routine is fairly challenging, but our class are true professionals! They have been practicing so hard, it amazes me how far they have come with following a challenging beat, in just two classes!

Such Powerful, Positive Messages in Our Classroom This Week!

With these positive attitudes, I have no doubt that our students will achieve their dreams by not let excuses stand in their way!

Important Dates and Reminders:

Friday, May 1: Oratory at the Huda School in AM
Friday, May 15: P.D Day - No School
Monday, May 18: Victoria Day Holiday - No School

April 17, 2015

It's Official! We've Reached Our "100 Book Challenge" Goal

Oratory Practice
We are currently practicing our poem "I Never Want to Go To Bed" by Kenn Nesbitt for Oratory at the Huda School.

I Never Want to Go to Bed 

--Kenn Nesbitt

I never want to go to bed. I like to stay up late. I'm bouncing off the bedroom walls and, frankly, feeling great! I'm dancing like a maniac instead of counting sheep. My mom says, "Time for bed." My dad yells, "Get your butt to sleep!" I'm not sure what my bottom has to do with anything, but that's okay because I'd rather jump around and sing. I don't know what it was that made me feel so wide awake. Could it have been the Red Bull and the double-chocolate cake? I wonder if the seven cups of coffee plus dessert of Hershey bars and Skittles are what left me this alert? Whatever it turns out to be that made me feel this right, I hope I track it down so I can stay up every... ZZZzzzzz Properties of Matter: Hands on Learning Stations In Science, students were very busy rotating through several hands on learning stations.The stations allowed students to explore the properties of materials, as well as concepts such as condensation,  evaporation and changes in materials when exposed to different temperatures or substances.

Flashlight Friday

This week I introduced FLASH LIGHT FRIDAY to our classroom! This was a fun and exciting way to mix up our regular routine. The students were so motivated to use every possible minute of their time to get cozy, settle in with a good book and read by the light of their flashlight! It was a huge hit and I anticipate a few more Flashlight Fridays to come again before the end of the school year!

Never Miss a Chance to Dance!

Here's a sneak peak of our class learning a new song and dance in Arts Ed called "I Let Her Go". This dance involves working with a new partner each verse as we move around the circle. Ask your child to teach it to you! It's one song you might not be able to get out of your head anytime soon! (Can't say I didn't warn you!)

Important Dates and Reminders:

Thursday, April 23: Spring Carnival 5:30-7:30

Friday, April 24: GMS Assembly 2:30 - 3:30 

April 2, 2015

Day of Pink
This week we wore pink on Wednesday and revisited some past conversations we've had about what it really means to "Stand up for bullying". On Tuesday, students grade 5 and up attended the Day of Pink Rally at the University of Regina and shared with us their experience. Students listened to a speaker Travis Price, the Day of Pink co-founder, share his story about bullying. Travis and his friend asked students to wear pink in their home town in Nova Scotia, after a student from his school was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. This sparked some good conversations within our classroom about how to recognize bullying and what we can do about it to make a difference.

New April Reading Logs
New April reading logs went home on Wednesday. These new reading logs require students to name the date, book title, minutes read, and collect a parent signature to verify they are putting in the time at home! Don't forget to read up a storm over the break and include your minutes on your reading log!

Easter Egg Fun
Things got a little messy on Wednesday as we had a crafty end to our day while making Easter Eggs with a "sweet surprise" inside! We can't wait for them to dry so we can pop our balloons and admire the finished product!

Have a fun & safe break!
Ms. Cameron

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, April 3-10: No School - Holidays
Monday, April 13: First day back to school after week long break
Tuesday, April 14: Spring Picture Day
Friday, April 24: Achievers Assembly at 2:30

March 27, 2015

Congratulations Virtue Winners!
Congratulations to Callyn and Abiha, who won the Tolerance Virtue award at Thursdays Achiever's Assembly. These two students show respect and kindness to everyone in our classroom, despite the differences between them. These students don't let differences stand in their way of friendship with others. Great job!

Sportsmanship 
This week students have started writing their own scripts teaching others about sportsmanship. We have been working on being positive, inclusive team members all year and this month we have really focused on being a good sport within Phys. Ed. We have been having many conversations about being a good sport rather than being a sore winner or a sore loser. I'm proud of the increase of respect and post game handshakes in the last few weeks, and we will continue to work on demonstrating good sportsmanship skills in the weeks to come.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Tuesday, March 31: Grade 5's Day of Pink Rally at the U of R (PM)
Wednesday, April 1: Day of Pink
Friday April 3 - April 10: Holidays - No School

March 20, 2015

Point of View

We are currently learning about point of view, voice and perspective in our reading and in our writing. We have been reading stories told from different points of view, writing from different points of view and even rapping about different points of view! Here is a link to a very catchy rap about point of view from flowcabulary.com. https://www.flocabulary.com/point-of-view/

Students have started writing about a fiction character Mr. Jones, a substitute teacher who was being heckled by the students during his lesson when his pants ripped! Some students were assigned to write about the situation from Mr. Jones perspective, some students wrote from the students perspective, and the rest of the students wrote from the perspective of Mr. Jones' pants! As you can imagine, the students went straight to work, giggling with glee about their new writing assignment!

As a follow activity on Friday, students analyzed a movie clip and 3 written descriptions from Toy Story 3. They were asked to identify the different points of view and perspectives from each 3 characters in the same situation and discuss how different perspectives effect how each story is being told.

Battle of the Books Tournament
Congratulations to all of our Battle of the Books teams who participated in the tournament on Wednesday. 13 teams participated from 3 different schools including Gladys McDonald, Walker and Coldwell. Battle has been an exciting way to work as a team while developing our skills as readers. It has been a fun season and I'm looking forward to next years Battle of the Books already!

Report Cards and Conference Times **Important** 
Report cards were sent home on Friday. Inside the report card envelope is your child's conference time. Please sign and return the conference time slip to school with your child on Monday, indicating whether or not you will be attending your assigned conference time. Our classroom population has grown since our last conference day and we now have 29 students in learning centre 4!  With this larger class size, I have less flexibility with moving conference times on that day because every time slot for that day has been filled at this time. If you are unable to make it to your child's conference but would still like to meet with me please indicate so on your time sheet and we can arrange a  meeting after school on a different day.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, March 20: Report Cards are Sent Home
Friday, March 27: Three-Way Conferences - No School but students are expected to attend their                                        conference.
Tuesday, March 31: Day of Pink Rally at the U of R for Grade 5 and up.
Wednesday, April 1:Day of Pink and March Reading Logs are Due

March 13, 2015

March is Rider Reading Month!
Our class is participating in Rider Reader Month! If our class reads for 15 minutes everyday for the month of March, we will be entered to win a classroom visit from a Roughrider Football Player! We are already big readers in Learning Centre 4, but we have tried to squeeze in more reading minutes into our day whenever possible to challenge ourselves to read even more than before!

Battle of the Books Final Tournament
We have had so much fun with Battle of the Books over the last few months. All teams have done a fabulous job working together to answer questions about the 8 books each team is responsible for reading. We were lucky enough to have many teams interested in Battle of the Books this year that we held 2 separate meeting each week! Unfortunately, there are so many teams, not all teams can advance to the finals! Congratulations to the Rainbow Readers, The Black and Red Ninjas, Puppy Purrfect, The Marshmallows and Warriors of Readerville who will represent GMS at the final tournament at GMS after school on Wednesday, March 18.  If your child is advancing to the finals, please sign and return the permission form that was sent home this week at your earliest convenience.

First Nations Art Inquiry Projects
Students have been busy working on their group inquiry projects, researching First Nations Art. The students will soon use the information they found to create a a large group poster and present their information to the class. Students are researching all types of art work including birch bark biting, quilt-work, powwow dancing and bead-work.

Day of Pink: Stand for Respect!
Day of Pink is just around the corner! On April 1st, students are invited to wear pink shirts in solidarity to show that bullying is unacceptable and to stand for respect. An order form has been sent home this week with more information. If you choose to order a pink shirt, wrist bands or hats please hand in your orders before the deadline on Monday, March 16. 

Grade 5 Students: On March 31st Grade 5 and up students have the opportunity to attend the Day of Pink Rally at the University on Regina. If you allow your child to attend, they return the signed permission form that was sent on on Thursday.

Reading IS exciting!
Parents, please remind your child to continue their 15 minutes of home reading each night! Students, please don't forget to fill out your reading log. Reading logs are due April 1st!

On Friday afternoon during our Rider Reading, students who reached their February home reading goal enjoyed a special treat to celebrate... Ice Cream Sundaes with ALL the toppings!! We are hoping more students will take part in the home reading program so we can reach one of our goals based on our class participating as a whole team. If 80% of students reaching their home reading goal, the whole class will earn a tech-party! We can do it! Each month we are getting closer and closer to meeting this goal as a team!Of course, we will continue to celebrate meeting personal reading goals with a fun treat each month as we work towards encouraging each other to make home reading a habit!

As you've probably noticed, I don't often send homework home, as I feel reading is a much more valuable use of time with benefits that extend far beyond those of worksheets for homework. Make home reading your child's nightly "homework" and the best part is most of our students don't consider reading work! Make it fun and read together, visit the library on a regular basis, and talk about your child's reading with them! Does your child have a particular movie they love or are they looking forward to seeing a movie based on a popular novel? Consider reading the book with your child, then watching the movie with the whole family afterwards! Reading can be so much fun and it's important we help our kids realize this without it being "homework" they have to complete before they can do an enjoyable hobby. Help make reading their enjoyable hobby and model this for your child at home.
In the words of our wise classmate Micaela,  "Reading is exciting, isn't it?!"

Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Cameron

Important Dates:
Monday, March 16: Day of Pink Ordering Deadline
Wednesday, March 18: Battle of the Books Tournament at GMS
Friday, March 20: KFC Special Lunch
Friday, March 20: Report Cards are Sent Home
Friday, March 27: Three - Way Conferences
Wednesday, April 1: Day of Pink and March Reading Logs are Due