Week in Review: March 13 - 17

Twas an excellent week in grade four as the excitement of St. Patrick's Day filled the class. This week we completed numerous "St. Paddy's" related activities including some reading comprehension, composing limericks, some leprechaun math, as well some art activities and of course our class celebration that included a viewing of James and the Giant Peach as a wrap up activity to our novel study unit.  In conclusion, thank you to those parents who were able to come out for our student-led conferences last Tuesday, the kids were excited to have to you visit and also for the opportunity to show you many of the wonderful things they have done.

In terms of curriculum this past week...

In Math the students are continuing to build confidence in their understanding of long division.  This past week saw many of the students make the needed connections and begin working through the in-class problems independently or with little guidance.  As their confidence continues to grow so will their independence.  Next week we will having a quick division review quiz just to assess every one's comprehension of the division concept. The quiz will be assessing that the students know the needed steps and can apply them accurately when needed without assistance. 

In Language Arts we tackled the fun and creativity of limerick poetry!  Through the use of their words we were able to explore the fun of Irish poetry and iambic pentameter. In addition we wrapped up our study of James and the Giant Peach.  As you are sitting around the supper table ask your son or daughter about the novel and what happened in the story - retelling story events is a great way to increase story comprehension; not to mention the fact it allows your child the opportunity to share a little about their day at school.

In Science we have nearly concluded our study involving the Building of Movable Devices. Our activities this week looked at the use of wind power as a means of generating energy to produce movement.  Throughout the week the students had a chance to construct a vehicle, test it, and then take it home to retool and redesign for a second test.  With the tests the vehicles had to travel a distance of two meters solely powered by wind in order to receive the full five point score.  The scores from the various construction project tests all serve to generate an overall unit project grade.  Check with your daughter or son to see how their car scored in the testing.  

As a concluding activity for our constructing movable devices unit we had the folks from Learn and Create come into the school to work with the kids on creating a couple of different moving Lego projects - a dune buggy and a swinging boat amusement ride.  It was great seeing the teamwork and cooperation among the various groups.  Everyone successfully built their projects, and as was pointed out "Everyone had such a good time playing we didn't even know we were learning something".  Here are a few pics from the day's fun...

Next week everyone will be busy constructing our final project, a box crane capable of lifting a small load.  Look for information coming home in everyone's agendas.  The crane project will allow us to integrate our knowledge of pulleys, levers, and mechanical advantage.  Our concluding unit exam will be held next week.

In Social Studies we continued to look at the early settlers in Alberta, initially the native Cree people who first settled the region and then the European settlers who established trading posts like the Hudson Bay Company within the province.  By studying these groups we are drawing connections between past and present life in Alberta.

Thank you
Thank you to those families that provided snacks for the class St. Patrick's Day party. Everything was delicious, as evident from the vacuumed cleaned platters and smiling faces.

St. Patrick's Day Fun
We had some fun playing around with this activity on Friday...have some fun and find out your "official" Leprechaun Name.

Upcoming Calendar of Events

Tuesday, March 21 - Math Unit Quiz: Long Division
Wednesday, March 22 - Science Unit Exam: Building Movable Devices
Friday, March 24 - PD Day: No School
Monday, March 27 - Sunday, April 2 - Spring Break: No School
Monday, April 3 - 1st day back after Spring Break
Wednesday, April 5 - Early Dismissal @ 2:30

Week in Review: February 27 - March 2

Though a quick week we still managed to pack a lot into it!  Between online division skills, creative story writing, vehicle testing, "sticky" art projects and the fun of Random Acts of Kindness...we definitely stayed busy!  

In reflecting upon the last couple weeks of Health instruction regarding bullying and respect towards others, this week's learning built nicely upon our base knowledge in that throughout this last week we focused on the topic of kindness. With the kids we talked about what it means to be a kind person, and how our actions are a direct reflection of how we are viewed by other people.  I tried to really emphasize that kindness is not only something which is shared with others but is also something which can make them also feel good about themselves. When talking with your children about the week remind them that far too often people forget that its the little things that people do for each that really do have a tremendous impact.

In terms of curriculum...

In Math we continued to build upon our comprehension with division concepts and have now transitioned in "long division".  For some the transition was easy as it blended seamlessly into their comprehension of multiplication facts.  For those still building their automaticity with their basic multiplication facts the process has undoubtedly been more challenging.  As I have told the class all along the way, everything we learn builds upon the previous concepts so it is important that they are practising and building their fluency at home as well as at school.  With both multiplication and division skills the students have access to several Google docs on their school Google Drive accounts chalk full of website links designed to make the recall and reinforcing of concepts more "entertaining", i.e. they'll be learning and practising while still having fun. These Google drive accounts can be accessed as follows:

• Visit the Black Gold student ICT website: http://engagingstudents.blackgold.ca/
• Click on the Google drive icon
• Login with using their school email address:  firstnamelastinitial(four #s)@gshare.blackgold.ca
• Password they should know
• Once onto the site - click on the shared with me folder and the documents will be listed

In Language Arts this week we tackled some more creative writing - this week really focusing on the use of descriptive language within the context of an adventure story as a means of including specific details about size, colour, textures, moods, times, setting locations, perspectives, and problems/solutions.   In planning our stories we talked about how including these descriptive elements allows us, as authors, to paint a better picture and thereby hook our readers and keep them interested in reading our stories right through till the end.  With our compositions we are also using them work on editing for clarity and the use of writing conventions such as capitalization and punctuation.

In Science we wrapped up our first construction project, gravity powered vehicles.  It was great seeing the class working to apply their knowledge to first construct their vehicles and then take what they had learned from their first tests to retool and rebuild their vehicles to gain improved performance - ie. need more clearance to lessen friction with the ground

 or need to change my tires so they roll better.  Come next week the vehicles will be getting modified to become balloon and sail/wind powered.

With Social Studies this week we continued to discuss the fur trade and began looking at individual explorers who had an impact on the development of Alberta as a province.  Explorers such as Anthony Henday, Henry Kelsey, Alexander Mackenzie,  and David Thompson who worked with both the Hudson Bay Company and Northwest Trading Company to map and explore much of what is now Alberta.  Our study of traders, explorers, and trading forts will continue next week as well before we begin looking at the role of European immigration and how settlers new traditions and beliefs had a role in forming Alberta.

Upcoming Events and Activities

St. Patrick's Day Party - March 17th

As was communicated by our class's parent reps, we are having a class St. Patrick's Day party on Friday, March 17th.  With the party the following students are asked to supply the treats:

Korbin  - something sweet example: cupcakes, cookies...

Mackenzie  - meat tray

Zachary  - cheese tray

Damien  - cracker tray

Chance  - juice

Mohib  - veggie tray

Joshua  - fruit tray

Our class has 22 students and 2 teachers.

Student Led Conferences: March 14th

With our parent conferences this second term we will be holding student-led conferences versus the traditional 15 minutes sit-down interviews.  The use of student-led conferences allows for students to better physically demonstrate their understanding of concepts, thereby confirming what is often times contained in report cards.  

Our evening conferences will run from 4PM through until 8PM on Tuesday, March 14th.  With the evening's scheduled activities in Math, Science, Language Arts and Technology please allow at least 30 minutes to work through the various activities with your child.  With the conferences you may stay for as long or little time as needed as the evening's schedule is open house and people may attend as their personal schedule allows.

Calendar

Friday, March 3 - PD Day: No School

Sunday, March 5 - Deadline to register for March 8th Ski Club trip

Wednesday, March 8 - Alberta Recycling Corp. "Recyclers" presentation (no fee)

Wednesday, March 8 - Bake Sale - 50 cents per item

Wednesday, March 8th - Ski Club trip @ Rabbit Hill Ski Resort

Friday, March 10 - Term 2 Report Cards sent home
Friday/Saturday, March 10/11 - Girls Floor Hockey Tournament in Devon 

Tuesday, March 14 - Student-led Conferences 4-8PM (open house style, no set times)

Friday, March 17 - In-school Lego field trip (activity fee currently payable on Powerschool)

Friday, March 17 - School Spirit Day: Irish Day - Wear Green

Friday, March 17 - St. Patrick's Day Party 

Week in Review: February 20 - 24

And it's another month in the books with more exciting learning and school events having taken place.   This week was filled with fun of descriptive writing, science experiments, and the wonderful world of long division...which was more wonderful for some than others!  This week some of you may have noticed some Math homework focusing on division - at present we have two very diverse groups in class, one for whom the concept has clicked and another where we are still developing that "ah ha" moment and are working to reinforce the concept, especially in relation to long division.  In order to provide some extra practice and allow the kids extra time to hone their skills I will be sending home homework packs for the next couple weeks.  The packs are NOT due the next day and are typically meant to be completed over a few days, Please check the agendas and check with your child as there's nothing better than finding homework the day it's due and then having your child scramble to try and complete it on time.  Additionally, much like the earlier multiplication documents (which are still available to everyone), I have shared a Google document with all the students highlighting links to online resources which they can use at home to practice and build their fluency with division.


In class this week...

In Math you may have heard that we have shifted our focus to long division and are now working hard to develop fluency and confidence with the division of larger numbers.  In past weeks we had focused on numbers that were easily divided as basic multiplication facts; with the newer concepts the quotients are not as recognizable.  Here are a couple quick clips explaining the concept of long division - helpful for reviewing at home when the concepts may seem a tad blurry and hard to explain:

Introduction to Long Division

Long Division Example




In Language Arts we continued working with descriptive language and the building of mental visualizations based off our writing.  In getting the students to address descriptors such as size, shape, colour, sounds, smells, textures, moods, time, and perspective in their writing, they will be better able to generate writing that is not only descriptive but also more interesting to the reading audience.

This last week we also continued our novel study of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.  Check in your son or daughter about Jame's latest adventures and test their recall of the story events - great strategy for developing comprehension and getting them to pay close attention to details while they are reading.

This upcoming week will mark the start of our poetry unit. Over the next few weeks and into March the students will be studying several different forms of poetry.  Through our work in class the kids will be composing examples of all the different styles including haikus, cinquains, word art, limericks, acrostics, and couplets.  Thus we have found numerous poets who didn't know it(s).our cinquain poetry and all had the opportunity to compose several poems before choosing their favourite to compose and illustrate for display.  Again the students were given free range as to their topics and once again the students' creativity did not disappoint with poems paying homage to everything from chocolate and candy to unicorns and tanks!  This coming week we will tap into our Irish sides and begin working with limericks.

In Science the fun of Building Movable Devices continues with the students having had the opportunity to see how the mechanical advantage of wheels and axles and gravity can be used to reduce surface friction and the amount of effort needed to create motion.  This coming week we will working further with wheels and axles and designing a variety of moving objects that use wind power to generate motion.  Next week's Science homework will be to take home their current wheeled vehicle and fine tune them so that they can be used successfully in two different experiments.  Stay tuned to see what contraptions were created!

In Health this week we continued our discussion on Pink Shirt Day, bullying and the various forms in which this can take place.  During class discussions everyone was familiar with the physical and verbal forms of bullying but were less aware of social/emotional bullying and cyber-bullying.  Social/emotional bullying is behaviours that include gossiping, note passing, and excluding people from activities; whereas cyber-bullying is bullying behaviour that involves the use of technology, including things such as text messages, social media, email, blog posts, message boards etc.  This week has been eye opening, for instance when we researched the topic pf social/emotional bullying we were surprised to find that girls were 43% more likely to engage in social/emotional bullying than were boys.  When asked to explain the percentage the girls cited girl drama as being the main reason behind the higher rate, to which I then asked, "Okay, so how do we change that number?"  

This coming week we continue on with the discussion of interpersonal relationships and will be focusing on the idea of Random Acts of Kindness, and the spreading of kindness without the need for reward or recognition.

Upcoming events

Wednesday, March 1st - Early Dismissal @ 2:30PM
Wednesday, March 1st - School spirit day: Colour Day - all grade four students wear BLUE
Friday, March 3rd - PD Day: No School
Wednesday, March 8th - Alberta Recycling Corporation "Recyclers" Presentation
Friday, March 10 - Saturday, March 11 - Grade 3/4 Girls Floor Hockey Tournament in 
               Devon (for those girls on the team.  Tournament fee payable online)
Friday. March 17th - In-class Lego Science Fieldtrip (fee payable online on Powerschool)
Friday, March 17th - School spirit day: Dress in Green
Friday, March 17th - St. Patrick's party (information to follow)

Week in Review: January 30 - February 3

Reflecting back on the week the word I would choose to best describe it would be efficient.  Everyone used their time to their best advantage, and the amount of time spent having to back track and repeat directions was minimal - consequently it was a very productive week, even with the one day off in the middle!  It is great to see everyone practicing what we always "preach" in class, that ability to hunker down and get the work done when we are suppose to.  We work hard and we play hard, which is always a great combination!

Curriculum wise this week...

In Math we continue to build that fluency and accuracy with multi-digit multiplication.  This week we had several more students gain mastery of the instructed concept and were excited to tackle some of the more challenging extension question - 5-6 digits.  Our unit quiz on this concept is scheduled for next week.  Continue to use the Google doc sites to practice and reinforce the needed skills.

In Language Arts we continue to talk about the development of expressive writing and reading as a meaning of generating mental imagery.  In talking to the students about their writing we talk about how their stories can and should give the reader specific information - what do things look like?  What size, shape, colour?  What are things made of?  Where would you find these things? How can you use them?  How do they make you feel? Is there anything in the background?  Any sounds you might be able to hear?  What else does the reader need to know?  
Our creative writing continues to improve and with continued focus on our audience and expanding our ideas it'll only better.

In Science we wrapped up the last few activities in our Wheels and Levers: Simple Machines unit, and then set about prepping and reviewing for the unit exam.  If the first batch of test scores is any indication, everyone took some time to review their study guides as most are doing quite well on the exam.  Our next unit commencing next week, Building Machines that Move, builds upon the knowledge gained in this unit.  Again there will be a mix of pencil/paper tasks and hands-on construction projects.

In Health this week we had the opportunity to use some of the new physical literacy equipment that arrived at the school.  The equipment was a lot of fun and it allowed us to get even more creative in how we can incorporate physical activity into all subjects areas versus simply getting active in phys. ed class.  By getting the students up and moving during math class, for example, we not only give everyone a bit of a mental break but also get the benefits of increased energy, greater focus, and typically increased positive emotions - which are all good things when we transition back into the curricular activities.

Our Class Events Calendar

Tuesday, February 7 - Math Unit Quiz: Multi-digit Multiplication

Wednesday, February 8 - Winter Carnival Day

Wednesday, February 8 - WHPS Ski Club trip @ Rabbit Hill Snow Resort

Thursday, February 9 - Teacher Conference: No School

Friday, February 10 -  Teacher Conference: No School

Monday, February 20 - Family Day: No School

Wednesday, February 22 - PINK SHIRT Day: Anti-Bullying Awareness Day

Friday, February 24 - WHPS Ski Club trip @ Rabbit Hill Snow Resort

Week in Review: January 23 - 27

And just like that January is a blur in the books and it's full steam ahead and into February.  Reflecting back on the month we had, we hit the ground running after the break and the momentum never seemed to stop.  Our week's were jam packed with events, activities, guest speakers, assemblies, and lots of collaborative opportunities to reinforce and expand everyone's learning of concepts!  For myself I was able to attend a few extra days of professional development outside the division and attended the Ever Active School's Shaping the Future 2017 conference.  The conference brought together teachers, administrators, school trustees, and health and wellness professionals from around Canada and the United States.  Many of the sessions I attended provided me with new ideas and strategies on how to better tie physical literacy and student leadership development into not only our classroom instruction, but also the entire West Haven school community as well. Watch some fun ideas popping up around the school during the next few weeks!

Curriculum wise this last week...

In Math we continued to build accuracy and fluency with multi-digit multiplication.  It is great to see that many students have gained fluency to the point of mastery, which has allowed me the luxury of "sending these folks on" to more challenging assignments designed to expand their zones of proximal development - i.e. keep them thinking, learning and challenged versus feeling like their bored.  With those folks still building that level of fluency we have begun working in a smaller focus group which provides more focused guidance and reinforcement.  

We will be having a short sub-unit quiz on multi-digit multiplication on February 7th, after which our focus in Math will shift to the inverse function of multiplication -> division.  By the end of February the hope is to have the full unit test covering both multiplication and division concepts.

In Language Arts we continued working with our novel study, Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and using the text as a way of studying expressive language, parts of language, character development, and of course reading fluency and comprehension. It has been fun watching the kids work through the adventures with James, and seeing them actively drawing information from the story and then applying it to their assignments successfully.

In Science we are nearing the end of our Simple Machines unit and wrapped up another machine last week, levers.  With the unit I will be sending home a study guide next week to allow student so better prepare for the final unit exam.  The study guide will basically provide the information they need to know.  

With the unit test it was originally scheduled for Wednesday, February 1st but in consideration of the fact I was away last week, and next week we miss another instructional day with the January 31st PD day, I will be shifting the Simple Machines unit exam to Friday, February 3rd to allow for further material review and at-home studying.

In Health this last week we continued our study of the MindUp curriculum and discussed ways that we can regulate our emotions and maintain our focus and attention in class.  We also revisited our earlier discussions on friendships skills and what it means to be a friend to someone.  We discussed how friends are people who build others up and strengthen them through their comments and actions, whether they are with that person or not.

In School News...our school's Winter Carnival Day is fast approaching and will be held on Wednesday, February 8th at the school. During our Winter Carnival day students will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of Canadian winter outdoor and indoor activities promoting physical activity, team building, cooperation and leadership skills, including some traditional games from our French Canadian and Inuit cultures.
 
In designing the day's events we would, if at all possible, appreciate some donations to make our planned activities a success. If you are able, please send to school with your child any of the following materials.   Listed below are some of the items we are in need of. 

• Large Appliance boxes (stove, refrigerator)
• 4 L  empty milk jugs and lids *** rinsed with soapy water
• Empty tissue boxes
• Shoe boxes
• **We also need strong and sturdy sleds we could borrow for dog sled races

Our Class Events Calendar

Tuesday, January 31 - PD Day: No School

Wednesday, February 1 - Wacky Hair Theme Day

Wednesday, February 1 - Early Dismissal @ 2:30

Friday, February 3 - Science Unit Exam: Simple Machines

Tuesday, February 7 - Math Unit Quiz: Multi-digit Multiplication

Wednesday, February 8 - Winter Carnival Day

Wednesday, February 8 - WHPS Ski Club trip @ Rabbit Hill Snow Resort

Thursday, February 9 - Teacher Conference: No School

Friday, February 10 -  Teacher Conference: No School

Monday, February 20 - Family Day: No School

Friday, February 24 - WHPS Ski Club trip @ Rabbit Hill Snow Resort

Week in Review: January 9 - 13

Welcome to back the wonderful world of grade four...it is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun, as I hope everyone was over the Christmas break.  I managed to get in a few of the important "S" events over the break - some snowboarding, skating, several suppers, and even some sleeping!   In listening to the kids this week it is clear that the break was busy for them, and a lot of fun was had for many of you.  Our week this week has been nothing short of great - everyone hit the ground running and we had virtually no change in learning pace as is sometimes the case after longer breaks.  We introduced new concepts and covered further ground with existing topics - all in all a productive start to the new year! 

And now the curricular news...

In Math we will continue with multiplication and are now working with the concept of multiple digit times multiple digit, i.e. 23 x 36 or 367 x 59.  These types of equations will draw on the students' knowledge of not only multiplication facts but also place value and the regrouping of facts.  Please encourage your child to take advantage of the shared Google docs containing links to "Double digit multiplication" sites where they can continue to practice their skills and gain increased fluency and accuracy with problems.

In Language Arts the focus will has again shifted towards active word attack strategies and using word features to decode unknown vocabulary and assist with phonetic spelling patterns.  Currently we are working our way through James and the Giant Peach and we have been applying our strategies in deciphering unknown words within the novel but chunking the unknown words into pieces including prefixes and suffixes. In working with prefixes and suffixes the students will begin expanding their own working vocabularies and better recognize spelling patterns within words which can assist them in reading and understanding the words.  

The weekly spelling words will continue to be introduced each Monday, used throughout the week in various activities and then tested on the Friday - continue to use the Spelling City website to assist with spelling practice.

In Science we are continuing to explore Simple Machines and have begun working with levers.  This week we worked on identifying the various parts of the lever - the fulcrum, the load, and the effort/force.  In working with these three parts we discussed how their location on the lever bar would help determine what class the lever is.  With our study of levers we will be looking at: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 levers.

In Social Studies we are continuing our study of the First Nations Cree people of Alberta.  Lesson activities are now beginning the transition into European settlers arriving in Alberta. Our class discussion topics this week are now looking at the Hudsons Bay Company and the impact of European hunters/traders on Native lifestyles within Alberta.  With the arrival of trading posts Native life was changed and their roles within the province were also changed.

In Music, Mrs. Ausman is excited to announce that it's "recorder time"!  Students who have recorders are asked to please bring them to school on Monday as recorder lessons kick off next week.  Those students who had placed orders for a recorder will have them delivered to them next week in music class.

Important Upcoming Dates/Events

Thursday, January 19 - Library: Book Exchange

Friday, January 20 - Spelling Test: List #18

Thursday, January 25 - School Bake Sale:  50 cents per item

Thursday, January 26 - WHPS Ski Club Trip to Rabbit Hill (forms/fees available online)

Tuesday, January 31 - PD Day: School

Week in Review: December 19 - 23

This has been a fantastic week - despite the numerous challenges to our daily routines and schedule we managed to have a very productive week!  This week we completed three writing assignments, a social studies project, a math unit quiz, an art project, 2 Science experiments plus we threw in some Christmas concert practices, two full concert performances, and our class Christmas party!

At this time I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and trust that everyone will have some time to relax and be with family over the break while enjoying the start of a New Year!

In terms of classroom activities and curriculum here's a quick run down on what we were up to this week...

In Math this week we concentrated hard and continued to build on our fluency and accuracy with basic multiplication facts.  We held a unit quiz to assess everyone's understanding of basic multiplication and everyone did really well.  Our class average on the exam was roughly 89%, with a large number of students scoring in the 90-95% range!  Upon our return in January we will be taking the next step and beginning to look at multiple digit X multiple digit equations, ie. 472 X 39  or   593  X  863.

In Language Arts we continued on with our routine language activities, and shifted our writing focus this week  to all about Elves!  Building on our role as elves in our Christmas concert we played around with an online elf name generator and all gave ourselves elf names to use in our various writing assignments.  With one task we wrote about what our daily routines would be; in another we wrote about what we did for work for Santa; and with another we wrote about how Santa got his elves.

This month's home reading Laser City winner is Jenna!  
Congratulations on your win and congratulations for continuing to read at home in the evenings.

In Social Studies we continued to work with the topics of Native pictographs and petroglyphs.  Our study of Writing on Stone provincial park here in Southern Alberta lead us to the creation of our native "picture" tales (see above). Using our "hides" we created adventure tales using both English and native picture symbols.  Our study of the people of Alberta and how they influenced our province's development will continue into the new year as we expand into the fur trade and the arrival of European settlers.

 Events News

Christmas Concert 
What a fantastic night!  The kids are hard work definitely played off as they managed to perform two fantastic shows!  Throughout the entire rehearsal process our class has received rave reviews for how hard they work and how well they listen and sing - which only affirms everything I see on a day to day basis in class.  

Super work Singing Elves!

Wolverine Ski Club
Our first Wolverine ski club field trip to Rabbit Hill was held on Thursday, December 22nd...and from all student accounts it was a great kick off event for our school's ski/snowboard club!

For those students who are interested the next club trip to Rabbit Hill is Scheduled for Wednesday, January 11th.  The required permission forms and fee information is available now on-line.  The required forms and fees must be received no later than January 6th in order to be eligible to attend the trip.  If you missed the first trip you are still most definitely welcome to attend any or all of the remaining trips - the more, the merrier!

Upcoming Events

Friday, January 6 - Deadline to submit payment and permission slips for 2nd Ski Club trip
Monday, January 9 - First day back to classes
Wednesday, January 11 - Early dismissal at 2:30PM
Wednesday, January 11 - Wolverine Ski Club trip to Rabbit Hill (3:30PM -9:00PM)
Thursday, January 12 - Library: Book Exchange
Thursday, January 12 - Bake Sale: 50 cents/item


That's everything for this week, thank you and have a great holiday break!