Mme Jacques's Class: February 2016

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Skating and Snow Days

This week in Language, we read "Le loup qui voulait être un artiste" as a shared reading. We ran out of time to complete the follow-up questions but we will continue with them on Tuesday. The students have really come far this year with the amount of writing they do regularly in their journals.

Playing a harder level of the reading game

Guided reading

Writing

Making words

Cursive writing

In Math, we looked at the differences between prisms and pyramids. We also discussed the name patterns (prefix/suffix) in 2-D shapes to help them better identify bases.

A group math game

In Science, we looked at what forces do: move an object, stop an object, and change the speed or direction of an object. We looked at gravitational force again and discussed how gravity affected each of the 4 things that forces do. We looked specifically of the example of the students going down a slide.

In Social Studies, we looked at mining in Ontario. We discussed why mining primary happens in the north of the province. We discussed the difference between the fertile lands along the St. Laurence River and around the Great Lakes and contrasted this to the mineral laden rockiness of the Canadian Shield (le bouclier canadien) We spent some time discussing mining in relation to the important cities we had previously seen. We will look a bit more at mining in those cities next week, as well as begin discussing the Tourism industry.

On Tuesday, our class went skating for the final time this year. We will be going swimming on Tuesday, March 8. Swim to Survive will take place in April. Look for more information and permission forms to come home soon.

Wednesday's cancelled buses gave those who did come lots of opportunity to complete unfinished work. Mme MacKenzie's class also joined us for a block to practise using Explain Everything. As there were enough iPads for everyone to each use their own, they got to try everything we have learned about.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Friday 19 February 2016

Snowstorms and Primary Winter Play Day

With Tuesday's snowstorm right after Family Day, we had a very short week. I had to leave very early when my son's daycare closed and I hope everyone made it home safely and accident-free.

In Language, we read "Arthur visite Irma" for our shared reading. We continued to finish up our cycles in reading and writing.

In Math, the class spent some more time trying out "Explain Everything" on the iPads. They continued with math centres and we began a new cycle yesterday with some new activities. We also had a lesson on how to compare objects and then discussed how this skill applied to real life and not just as an abstract math concept.

Finding solids in everyday objects in Explain Everything

Using images, numbers, and words to make comparisons

In Social Studies, we began looking at different industries in Ontario. We discussed forestry and fishing and made connections to what we had already learned about Ontario's geography, regions, and important cities.

In Science, the students worked in their table groups to come up with examples of gravitational force. We then discussed all of the examples together. They then completed a drawing of what earth would be like with no gravity.

Today was Retro Day and our Primary Winter Play Day. The class went around to each station with some helpers from grade 5. I stayed inside with some great grade 6 helpers from M. Manolakas's class who did a fantastic job of preparing and handing out hot chocolate to students from the 10 primary classes. With hot chocolate for the students participating and all of the grade 5 helpers and staff, they made over 200 hot chocolates!

This week we started a contest for a prize of a pass to Playtrium. The students earn a ticket each day by keeping an amount of their three popsicle sticks. The amount of required popsicle sticks will get higher as we approach the date of the draw, which is the Friday before March Break. It is based on responsibility and hard work over the next few weeks.

We have skating coming up again next Tuesday. Please be aware that should buses be cancelled on a day we are supposed to skate or swim, that the activity is also cancelled.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday 13 February 2016

Ending a Busy Week on a Cold But Fun Note

It was another busy week. In Language, we continued with our Daily 5 centres. The students also completed a short reading and writing assessment, completing each short section over 4 days in between centres. The class also read "Le loup qui cherchait une amoureuse".

Playing a reading comprehension game

In Math, we continued centres on 3-D solids, focusing on accurately naming solids, and counting faces, edges, and vertices. (les faces, les arètes et les sommets) We also spent some time reviewing coordinates and how to use grids to complete drawings symmetrically.

Building 3-D solids

In Social Studies, we finished an activity on identifying important cities in Ontario. Some students began to research why those cities are important.

Researching a city

More research

In Science, we began our unit on Forces by looking at images and trying to identify the type of force. The students then completed an activity to identify whether a force was a push or a pull.

A bird's nest that Ewan shared with the class this week.

On Thursday, Mark Ryan joined our class to help me teach the class how to use "Explain Everything" on the iPads. This is part of a Collaborative Inquiry that I'm doing with Mme Deloughery and Mme McKenzie, who also joined our class for the lesson. The students were very enthusiastic and learned many aspects of the application quickly as we did math activities on 2-D shapes and 3-D solids. They were given opportunities to try everything out themselves and we will use it some more over the next few weeks for various math activities.

We also celebrated Valentines Day on Thursday because of our trip on Friday. Thank you to all the families who sent in treats for the class!

On Friday, we went to Gould Lake. It was beautiful and sunny in the morning when we went on our hike. It clouded over and the wind picked up when we stopped for lunch. The students really enjoyed learning about making fires and collecting their own wood. We had four small fires going for the class on which they cooked their hotdogs and s'mores. With the windchill picking up and the snow starting, we came back to school a bit early. It was a good thing though, the roads became snow packed quickly and the students were glad to get inside and warm up.