January 29, 2015

GMS Achiever's Assembly
On Monday we attended our monthly Achiever's Assembly. Congratulations to William and Ishmal who received the "Empathy" virtue award!  

Light
This week we have started a new Science unit on light. In the pictures below, students are exploring how light travels. We have also spent some time this week comparing natural vs. artificial light sources and examined the concept of shadows. Students learned some new terms including "translucent, transparent and opaque" while sorting variety of items into one of these three categories. Have some fun and ask your child to determine whether items around your house are translucent, transparent or opaque when exposed to light!

Sneak Peak of the Week
I strongly believe in learning through movement and using teaching strategies that are based on how our brains work! Here is a sneak peak of our "Mirrors" - an engagement strategy that combines key learning ideas with actions. Not only does it make it easier for students to remember the important "take away" information from our lessons, but it involves full participation from the class and it's FUN! Here students are "mirroring" my words and actions while reviewing a comprehension strategy called inferring.

 "Schema (what we already know), plus clues from the text = inferring!"

Important Dates and Reminders:
Friday, January 30: P.D Day - No School
Monday, February 2: January Reading Logs are Due
                                      Science Healthy Living Action Plans are Due

January 23, 2015

Our Kindness Quilt
We have been talking about Kindness with our Kindergarten Buddies. After reading "The Kindness Quilt" by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace to our Reading Buddies, we decided to create a "quilt" of our own together. We look forward to seeing the completed project come together, as it is still a work in progress!

Mission Kindness
Our class was also given a "Secret Mission" this week to do one kind thing each day. The challenge is doing it without "blowing their cover" and the kindness recipient finding out! Our "Secret Agents" will report back on Monday with their assignment!

U of R Student Presentations
Friday was an exciting morning as the students enjoyed learning about a variety of information from  University of Regina students. We had a blast learning about different countries including words, phrases and numbers in Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. We also learned a variety of children's games and songs, made origami and learned about the Japanese Kimono. The students were thrilled to learn how to write their name in Japanese! It was a very cool experience.

Healthy Living Action Plans
To wrap up our Science unit on the Human Body, students were asked to evaluate their current health and make one small change for better health. Students are required to describe their goal, how they are going to achieve it and document their results for at least 5 days using a chart or calendar. Students will also write a conclusion about what they noticed after making the change. We have students who are making changes to better both their physical health and mental health. Some students are making changes to their diets (No junk food), while others are focusing on getting more sleep and exercise. Students have complete choice as to how they create their action plans. Many are using computer programs such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, and others are creating posters

Sneak Peek of the Week: 
Here the students are working on a shared piece of writing with a partner during Writer's Workshop. We love collaborating with our peers to create original and interesting pieces!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday January 26: GMS Achiever's Assembly 9:15-10:15 & Kindness Project is Due
Friday, January 30: No School - P.D Day
Monday, February 2: January Reading Logs are Due

January 16, 2015

Kindness: Pay It Forward!
Our virtue for the month of January is Kindness. We will be doing small activities each week that focus around this theme. This week we started a "Kindness Book" in our classroom. Students use this book to write positive messages to their classmates. Once a student receives the Kindness Book on their desk, they can read their positive note and pay it forward by passing the book along to another classmate after writing their own personal, positive and supportive message inside. There is a checklist in the front of the books for students to see who has not received a message yet to ensure everyone experiences the kindness book once. When the Kindness Book has made one complete rotation through all of the students, we will discuss whether it is something we want to continue doing. So far this activity has been a big hit spreading kindness and smiles throughout our classroom.

Pearson e-Text Portal
Our School Division has purchased e-text resources through Pearson Saskatchewan Portal as an additional support for teachers and students. Students can access the Pearson e-Text Portal by clicking on the link on Gladys McDonald Home Page. Your child's username and password have been glued into the front cover of their agenda so they can access the textbooks for Math, Science and Social online at home.

Junior Achievement Guest Speakers
On Wednesday morning, 2 speakers from the Junior Achievement Program join our classroom to teach us about Technology and Innovation. Junior Achievement is the largest youth business achievement organization in Canada. The program connects volunteers within the business community with youth to work towards "Inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy." Our guest speakers were Susan and Breanne from Scotia Bank and they did an excellent job teaching our class about changes in technological from past to present. One of the activities involved students working with a partner to come up with their own inventions to solve a variety of problems.

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday January 26: GMS Achiever's Assembly 9:15-10:15 

January 9, 2015

Welcome Back!
Our first week back to school flew by! Our class seemed very relaxed, refreshed and ready to learn this week. The kids loved to joke about having the best "Daily 5" class of 2015 as each day passed. I love that my students are so committed to doing their best each and every day!

Poetry
This week we have been taking a closer look at poetry while tuning into aspects of repetition, rhyme, organization (lines and stanzas), rhythm and imagery. I'm really impressed with the amount of students who have taken initiative to practice writing their own poems during the "Work on Writing" component of our Daily 5. Different styles of poetry have also been introduced to students this week and they have been letting their creative juices flow while writing their own poems during Writer's Workshop. We have amazing poets in learning Centre 4!

2 fun poetry sites students can use at home are:
http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
http://www.poetry4kids.com/

Science: The Human Body
In Science we continue to explore the Human Body while learning about the digestive system, excretory system, circulatory system, respiratory system, and nervous system. Students worked together to create their own diagram of the human body and its organs.

French
In December, our class wrapped up our Pizza unit, including our final project where students created a French Pizza Menu for their very own restaurant. This week we started our next unit on "Family". Students are beginning to learn many new terms and are in the process of creating their own family portrait called "C'est Ma Famille" (It Is My Family), with the appropriate descriptions (Ma Mere = Mother, Mon Pere = Father etc.). This portrait, specific to their own family, will act as a helpful guide for students throughout the unit.

Sneak Peek of the Week
We call this activity a "Graffiti Board". This is quick, fun way to remind students of what they have learned about Metis Leaders, Louis Riel and Sitting Bull, before our two week break!

Important Dates and Reminders:
Monday January 26: GMS Achiever's Assembly 9:15-10:15