End of January Update

Wow, another month almost gone!

• Unique Me day rescheduled to tomorrow - along with our assembly and the Junkyard Symphony! (I can't wait!)
• P.A. Day this Friday
• No spelling words this week! (but quiz from last week on Wednesday)
• Monday Mission will be a Tuesday Mission because we ran out of time at the end of the day
• As we are working on WORD CHOICE in language, everyone is to find their own Dinner Dazzle word to share with the class this week and use at home.

In math, we have some new learning goals that involve working with numbers that have decimals.
Here is a site that has some games that you can play to practice addition and subtraction with decimals:

http://www.math-play.com/decimal-math-games.html

Also, on the last snow day, the students introduced me to a site that has some fun strategy and math games which everyone seemed to enjoy.

http://hoodamath.com/

In reading we are still reading The City of Ember as a class. We are going to be trying to solve a puzzle that is in the book by using inferencing. Today we also looked at text features in non-fiction books and found that there are many! Try looking at some books at home to see if you can find the text features we talked about such as:
- table of contents
- index
- glossary
- pictures
- photographs
- captions
- diagrams
- labels
- titles/headings
- subtitles/subheadings
- bold print
- italic print
- maps
- lists
- bulleted points
- about the author
- book description
 .. . . phew!
Books could have all of these things, or maybe only a few. They are all designed to help us understand what we are reading.

This week we are practicing for the public service announcements that we are making that warn of the hazards that light and sound can have and how we can protect ourselves. There will be a review about light and sound on Tuesday and Wednesday and the Quiz for this unit will be on Thursday, Feb 2nd.
The public service announcements that we looked at to see the characteristics of good ones can be found at:

http://www.cca-kids.ca/psas/media_literacy.html

In health we are using our media awareness to design and make healthy eating posters. Today we developed the success criteria for them and worked hard in class to make them. For those who are not done yet, they are due on Wednesday, Feb 1st.
If you want to learn more about healthy eating you can visit:

http://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health.aspx

For online activities and games:
http://www.themedifastplan.com/feature-articles/nutrition-for-kids-activities-webquests/
(I recomend "Drop and Catch" and "Dinning Decisions" but some of the webquests, the virtual grocery store don't work)

Looking forward to another fun week :)

Unique Me Day

Unique Me Day is coming up on Friday, Jan 27th. This is a chance to dress to show how unique you are by wearing things that describe you, your personality and what you like to do. This should be a fun day - so mark it on your calendars!

Our geometry unit in math is complete and I'm happy to say that everyone got a level 3 or higher! Great job class - you really know all about you spatial sense!

We are now working with decimals and will soon move onto fractions.

In science we are combining our knowledge of media literacy and we will be developing public service announcements that warn of the dangers of light and sound and how we can protect ourselves from the hazards they cause.

In language we are continuing to read The City of Ember and we have done a few reading responses which require us to use our inferencing skills. We will soon be looking at text features as well.

Finally, here are some websites that you can check out to practice conventions (like nouns, verbs, etc)

http://www.toonuniversity.com/aol/4l_parts.html

http://rbeaudoin333.homestead.com/partsofspeech_1.html

Also, dinner dazzle, Monday missions and spelling are due on Friday :)

Healthy Eating Goals

Today we were looking at making a healthy eating goal for ourselves.
Below is the succes criteria that the class developed to help us create these goals:

          Success Criteria:
- is a healthy choice
- doesn't involve junk food
- follow Canada's food guide
- is something new to try
- is an appropriate goal for you
- is specific
   
If you want to check out Canada's Food Guide, you can online at:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php
Tomorrow we will be making up our own individualized food guides in the computer lab

Also, tomorrow we will be working on review in Math and a review will be sent home that is due on Monday for us to correct together as a class. The math text for Geometry will be on Tudesday, Jan 24.

Snow Day Blues

Now is a great time if you are at home to check out some of the activities on the sites that are posted on here. We are still learning things even when it is a snow day, but it all is just review. So if you want some extra review and to keep from being bored at home, or watching that "Wretched Stone" all day . . . go online and keep that mind fresh!

Here is a site with some interactive activities for all subjects - look for titles of the things that we have studied like "Pattern Generator" or "Area Explorer" and even the "Simple Coordinates Game"
http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/interact-math.htm

Hope to see you all soon! We still have lots of learning to do before the end of Term 1!

Back in the swing of things

We had a great week back at school.

You probably haven't noticed any math homework - that's because there hasn't been any! We have spent the week working at math centers that allow us to use discovery to investigate reflection, lines of symmetry and plotting points on a grid. Also, we have been working on problem solving as always.
Mad Minutes continues and many are going strong still! Good work everyone!
Next week we will continue looking at geometry and we will be doing some work from the text book again as well as a new math assessment called "PRIME" that the class will be taking part in next week. No need to study for this one though.

Another co-ordinate pair game you can try at home is:
http://hotmath.com/hotmath_help/games/ctf/ctf_hotmath.swf

We have been continuing to read The City of Ember and have been looking at the character traits of the two main characters so far. To figure these out, we need to use our inferring skills which are getting sharper all the time.

If you'd like to quiz yourself at home, below is a link to some questions about the book. We have read chapters 1 and 2 so far
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading52/city_of_ember.htm

Our science unit of light and sound is going to lead us into looking at the different parts of the eye and ear and how they work. Then I hope we can make some kalidoscopes and instruments using all the knowledge we have learned.

Here is a site you can visit:
http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources/oceanodyssey/oceanodysseylink.htm

So far, the properties of light that we should know are:
- light travels in straight lines
- light is a wave
- light can be reflected off of shiney surfaces
- light can be bent (slowed down) as it passes through different things like water
- light can be absorbed - which is how we see all our colours

We have also looked at natural and artificial light sources and things that do not give off their own light, but reflect it.
We have learned that almost anything can make sound, as long as we can get it to make a vibration.

Welcome Back!

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome back to school! I hope everyone is ready to learn and have fun!

Today we did a little switcheroo with our seating arrangement. Some people have moved up, back, side to side and some are in the same spot. I hope that the new seating helps everyone to learn the best they can and still allow collaboration with others.

Also, our behaviour chart is fresh and new - erasing all the old "x's" from last year, but keeping all the "checks". Now is a good time to set your sights on having a clean record.

We will be experimenting with more light and sound. Discuss at home all of the things you have that give off light or sound.

In math we are working on Geometry as well as continuing with problem solving in Number Sense and Numeration with a focus in adding and subtracting decimals, including money amounts. I feel being able to estimate the total cost of things and make change is an essential life skill which we will be working with.

Here is a list of activities that you can do at home or in your neighborhood to help understand symmetry.

• Symmetry at the Supermarket
  • Go to the supermarket and identify symmetrical boxes, containers, and packages. 
  • Look at the different fruits and vegetables.  Which are symmetrical and which are not?  What is more likely to be symmetrical-fruit or veggies?
• Symmetry in Nature
  • Examine flowers, trees, leaves for symmetry
  • Take a picture of an insect-where is the line of symmetry?
• Symmetry in Your Bedroom
  • Identify lines of symmetry on your bed, TV, video game system, computer and closet door.
  • Who has more symmetrical figures in the bedroom-you or your sibling?  How many more symmetrical figures do you see?
• Kitchen Symmetry
  • Use boxes or containers from the kitchen cupboards to create a symmetrical figure on either side of a line of symmetry (you can use a meter stick or a long piece of tape as the line of symmetry).
• Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt
• Look for examples of symmetry by simply walking around your neighborhood.
• Record drawings or pictures of figures that are symmetrical.

In language, we are continuing with making inferences and I have started a Read Aloud novel with them: "The City of Ember". It is one of my favourites and we will be able to watch the movie as well when we are all done.
We missed our last spelling test, but new words will be given out this week for the quiz on Friday.
Dinner Dazzle word will be sent home, but I hope to slowly transition to a "word of the day".
No Monday Mission this week, as I need to make up some more activities for students.

A reminder that signed Canada and Measurement tests still need to come back.

Hope we can settle back into all our routines with ease!

A look ahead in math

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is enjoying their time with family and friends.

When we get back next week we will be starting looking at some geometry in math. Below are links to a some geometry games that you can try if you're already bored with all the toys Santa bought you!

http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/geometry.html

Some of these are a bit harder (I don't recomend the co-ordinates one) http://gamequarium.com/geometry.html

Also break out the old battleship game and play with someone at home. It invovles using paired coordinates!