Recycling to Start and Dancing to Finish

We started the week with a presentation on the proper way to recycle. We have revamped our recycling program at Amherstview and all the classes have new bins. Each student is responsible for recycling properly within the class. 

Monday afternoon was a break from routine when M. Choquette's entire class joined us for the last 100 minutes of the day. His wife was in labour and he needed to leave in a hurry. The class enjoyed showing his students how to play Prodigy. Many of them went home and signed up that evening as they enjoyed playing it so much. 

In Language, we read "La sorcière Mirador" for our shared reading. We continued our Reading and Writing Daily 5 centres. I also began doing GB+ Reading Assessments with the class. 

In Math, we continued to look at 2-D shapes. The students practised using Miras and completing symmetrical drawings using grids. 

In Science, the students completed the write-ups about their solid and stable structures. They were able to see their projects on the blog in order to draw and describe them since they had already taken them home. It was great review of "schémas" which they had learned in writing back in the fall. 

In Social Studies, the students continued to learn about Ontario. We had a great discussion about resources and the connection between provinces, countries, and continents based on climate and availability of resources.  

We finished the week with the school Dance-a-thon. Bellica won a Tim Hortons gift card in a draw during the dance. Our class did not win any of the big prizes for collecting the most money but we definitely helped contribute to the great total that the school council collected of around $3600. Way to go, Amherstview! The students danced to several songs, would take a scheduled break by watching a video, then repeat. 

Have a great weekend!

Structures and Snowflakes

It's been a very busy first week back from our holidays. We spent the first few days finishing up some work from before the holiday. Those who were done had a choice of reading and writing activities while the others finished up. 

On Wednesday, we got back to our Daily 5 Centres. Our shared reading this week was "Bernard le canard bavard" which focused on the "ar" sound. At the guided reading centre, the students are working on narrative texts. They are using the skills learned in the fall to answer a variety of multiple choice and short answer questions. They continue to listen to reading on a variety of websites, read with a partner, and read to self. They are currently playing a reading game to match subjects with verbs. 

In guided writing, they are looking at examples of descriptive writing (both table and paragraph format) and will be writing several of their own. In other activities, they are still working on word activities, playing a grammar game on identifying the parts of sentences (subject, verb, adjective), and writing independently in their journals or the class journals. They are still working through the alphabet in cursive.  

Early in the week, we looked at a really fun math website mathisfun.com, where the students were able to input information from their own graphs and then print them out. The site is in English but the graph can be done in French. Students who didn't have any work to finish up brainstormed ideas for surveys, completed the survey, and then made their own bar graphs on graph paper. They then used either the desktops or iPads to put in their graph information on the site and we printed off their completed graphs. They really enjoyed this. 

As in Language, we went back to our Math centres on Wednesday. They are doing a unit on 2-D shapes. They immediately needed to put what they learned in the data management unit to use because they had to make a tally chart and a bar graph for the very first activity. The problem-solving centre focuses on identifying shapes and symmetry. In the numeration centre, they are reviewing rounding numbers to the nearest ten and hundred as some students are still having some difficulty with this. In another centre, they are playing "Pige dans le lac", a version of "Go Fish". 

In Science, the students worked on building solid and stable structures in small groups. We discussed the criteria and the building materials they were allowed to use and they all got to work on their structures. They did great! All of the structures were able to hold a running shoe and all stood up to the blow test. The class looked pretty cluttered for a few days but the students really enjoyed it. It was noisy during Science but such great French conversations going on about Science and so much enthusiasm. 

In Art, the class continued our art project from December. They are drawing snowflakes with fine-tipped markers, focusing on filling the space. They will be then using watercolour paints to add dimension and colour to each snowflake. 

There will be a lot going on over the next few weeks. Please check agendas regularly and check the upcoming events from the January newsletter I sent home or at the link to upcoming events at the top of the blog. 

On Tuesday, our class will be going swimming. Scholastic orders are due Wednesday. The Dance-a-thon will be on Friday and students will need to return their pledge sheets by then. 

Have a great weekend!