On Friday, we read "The Legend of the Poinsettia" by Tomie DePaola and from there, we completed our final painting project until the spring.
Throughout the course of our painting unit, the boys and girls have learned the value of persistence, practice and how by breaking tasks down into smaller steps, we can achieve some pretty amazing things.
On Thursday, I gave the kids the heads up that this might be the most challenging (and frustrating!) drawing yet. I told them to pack their patience and be ready to persist.
As you can see, their paintings are stunning, and I'm so very proud of my class. It's been so exciting to watch as my students' skills have grown. We've drawn and painted a fish, a reindeer and now a poinsettia. Throughout the process, students have learned so much more than the "how-to" skills I've taught them.
We have one more project in the spring, and while I certainly don't want to rush my time with my crew, I'm looking forward to seeing those pieces!
We've had some kind of virus going around our room for a few weeks now. Cold, fever, loss of voice and appetite...those seem to be the common symptoms. Needless to say, I haven't had my full crew for some time! If your child is away this week and you're looking to keep them on track, here are a few things they can work on at home. No printer? No problem! Please have students view the various pages and write their responses on a separate piece of paper.
students wrote their Geometry test on Wednesday. Those students who were absent should be prepared to write it upon their return. There are two videos to watch here that will help students prepare for the test.
we're working on our Mrs. Claus paragraphs. Students are to write a paragraph about what she does on Christmas Eve while Santa delivers the gifts. Students must include "sparkly" and memorable details while focusing on using transitional words and effective punctuation. Print the writing page and checklist here.
absent students can print their missed Practice Pages here: Practice Pages 16/17
Our text of the week is pictured below, please have your child read it aloud with lots of expression. We will have our test on Friday and absent students should be prepared to write.
Last week, when learning about adding sparkly details to our work, we watched this commercial. Students were encouraged to choose their favourite funny detail.
Since then, we've had all kinds of camel impressions! I like this one a lot!
We saw the movie Wonder last week and it was such a special way to cap off our 14th week together. When we returned, students broke off into various groups and were given discussion questions about the movie. I enjoyed hearing all of their opinions and ideas. They communicate so respectfully, especially when disagreeing with one another.
We've started our Christmas craft and those students who are absent can look forward to joining the fun when they return to school.
And as you can see, our little tree is filling up with all kinds of goodies for nice girls and boys!
Now that we've written our Math test for Unit 3, we'll spend the rest of our time together focused on learning about multiplication and division. We're pretty good with both concepts, but the extra practice will serve us well. Students are encouraged to memorize their math songs found at the top of the blog page.
When we return in the new year, we'll jump right into data management.
We had a geometry quiz on Wednesday and I wanted to share a few level four samples with blog visitors. This video was made on Wednesday afternoon when we took the quiz up together. The photos are exemplars from 2015.
By sharing these exemplars from my students, parents and fellow classmates can more fully understand why they received the score they did and in the case of my students, use this information to help them self-assess their strengths and needs.
In the last few weeks, the boys and
girls have learned all about parallel lines, hatch marks and the wordcongruent.
I came upon this work of art at the airport a few summers ago and made a
quick recording to show the boys and girls how parallel lines work. Now, although
it will look like it, I assure you I was not doing jumping jacks while filming
it. Perhaps the shakey camera is just matter of too much coffee that
morning? But seriously, can one everreallyhave too much coffee?!
Friday December 1st was "Christmas Kick-off Day" in room 208 and we had a ball! Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wore their jammies! Thank to all the boys and girls for your enthusiastic participation! I loved seeing all your adorable jammy-jams!
A selfie with Santa! What an amazing day!
In addition to adorable jammies, there were fabulous slippers too!
We started our day with a great story about kindness and giving thanks.
Student of the Day, Travis helped me organize the groceries for our big day!
After lunch, we played lots of fun games such as the Christmas Jump Game with Lucky Charms, we set the timer and challenged ourselves to build the longest paper chain with just one piece of construction paper and a metre of tape!
Thank you to Miss Sofia, for helping with the preparations for the afternoon!
This game is always a hit!
Sometimes it helps to play with a friend!
Then, we wrapped our afternoon and enjoyed a modern version of the Christmas story with some hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies!
Thank you to Miss Lea, for her help arranging our cookies!
Lovely job Miss Lea!
Thanks again to all the boys and girls for a very memorable Christmas Kick-off Day! I think it was my favorite Fun Friday so far!
