Saturday, March 14, 2020

March 9th - 13th

March 9th - 13th

Brain Waves

On Monday the Grade 4 students were given a Brain Waves presentation by the local public health centre. This informative and fun half-day neuroscience presentation was sponsored by a national charity called Parachute. The aim of the charity is bring attention to the issue of preventable injury and to help Canadians reduce their risks of injury so they can enjoy life to the fullest.

During the presentation the students learned about different parts of the brain, basic neuroscience vocabulary, and how and why it's important to protect their brain and spinal cord. They participated in hands-on science lessons that allowed the students to see the connection between the brain and our senses. The presentation really helped to instill the brain and spinal cord prevention message. 



Internet Awareness Presentation

This week the students were also given a presentation by the Saffron Centre on Internet Awareness. In this presentation, they discussed current trends, games and apps and how they impact us. The students were also given valuable information regarding online boundaries and how to stay safe on the internet.


Language Arts

Our Kidblog writing schedule this week included:

Journal Writing Monday - Weekend Post

Talk About it Tuesday - Would You Rather Cross-Country Ski or Downhill Ski

WeSearch Wednesday - Cross-Country Skiing

3, 2, 1 Thursday - Week in Review


Limericks

This week we read "The Luckiest Leprechaun" by Justine Korman. When a leprechaun reluctantly lets a dog befriend him, he finds out what it's like to care about someone. We used this book as a mentor text to help us generate ideas for writing Irish Limericks.


A limerick is a poem with humour and a strong rhythm. These poems originated in Ireland and follow a AABBA pattern. Each line of a limerick also follows a syllable rule. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines of a limerick be between 7-10 syllables and the 3rd and 4th lines must be between 5-7 syllables.


We continued to practice our Spell-a-thon words this week. Please be sure to practice at home and to collect pledges. The pledge forms are due on March 18th.



Math

We are continuing to work through our Fractions Unit and our focus this week was on ordering and comparing fractions. We watched a really good fraction video that explained this concept well. We will continue comparing fractions next week, looking at fractions with different denominators. 


We also spent time practicing concepts taught on Mathletics.


Science

Our TTT Marble Tracks are near completion and will be tested on Monday. We will have the tracks set up for Student Led Conferences and you will be able to watch your child demonstrate their completed toy. We will begin Task #2 this week and your child may need to bring in a few more items for this project. They were so eager with their first design that many of the supplies were used already. 



Toy Design Task #2 is:

Twisted Trio Toy customers have been asking for an alternative to remote controlled vehicles. Customers have expressed concern that throwing away so many used batteries is bad for the environment, and they would like an eco-friendly alternative.

To address customer concerns, TTT executives have asked you to design a self-propelled toy vehicle that moves forward at least 2 meters and does not use batteries or electricity.


P.E.

This week we worked on our hockey skills. The students focused on proper hockey stance, wall and partner passing, dribbling, offence and defense positioning and game play.


The students really enjoyed taking some shots on their TEACHER!



Art

For art this week, we created leprechauns to go with our Limericks. Their limericks were published, attached to their leprechauns and are on display for you to see on Tuesday at Student Led Conferences. 




Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!


Sunday, March 8, 2020

March 2nd - 6th

March 2nd - 6th

Language Arts

Our Kidblog writing schedule this week included:
Journal Writing Monday - Weekend Post
Talk About it Tuesday - Superpowers
WeSearch Wednesday - Simple Machines
3, 2, 1 Thursday - Week in Review

Suffixes

This week we focused on suffixes. A suffix is a group of letters that are added to the end of a word. The letters change the meaning of the word. The students were specifically assessed on their ability to identify the meaning of the suffixes ful, less, er, and ly.



Spell-a-thon

The students completed a spell-a-thon pretest this week. This was marked and has been used to study for the test on March 19th. We will be completing various activities to practice these words at school over the next couple weeks. Please make sure to practice with your child at home as well and collect pledges. This is such an important fundraiser for our school.



Math

We have started a new unit on Fractions and Decimals. The students were introduced to the naming of fractions. The numerator tells you how many parts are counted. The denominator tells you how many parts are in a whole. We also explored equal parts and models of fractions. The students wrote fraction statements to explain various pictures. 


The students also enjoyed playing KAHOOT to practice their multiplication and division facts.

Congrats to our XtraMath Super Star!


Science

This week we began our Building Devices and Things That Move unit. The students have been hired by the Twisted Trio Toy company to create innovative and creative toys out of recycled materials which do not require batteries or electricity. 

As employees of the TTT, the students are required to:

1. Provide a detailed proposal outlining their toy designs.

2. Make thoughtful and creative design choices to meet the criteria of each task.

3. Contribute co-operatively and enthusiastically to their group’s toy development.

Task #1

Twisted Trio Toys has noticed that marbles are making a big come-back – they are becoming very popular because they are affordable toys that can be used for many different games.
As part of its new Summer Toy Series, TTT has asked its employees to design a marble track that moves marbles from its beginning to end without any human intervention. The students were placed in groups of three to work with for the duration of this unit. They are very engaged and are enjoying using their creativity to come up with the designs for their marble tracks. 




P.E.

This week, 4B was fitted with cross country ski boots and spent time outside, learning how to cross country ski. They started out learning how to fall, how to get up, and how to turn. They then progressed to basic forward movement, high knees, and gliding. After learning the basics, the students were given poles and started playing various games and making tracks. We had SO much fun!




Art


This week’s art project was inspired by the book “In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb” by Marion Dane Bauer. The author conveys the changeable nature of spring weather, as the lion makes way for the lamb, with a huge sneeze, as the trees and flowers spring into bloom. Rattling windows with the roar of a late-winter storm, March shows up like a lion-- wild and messy, muddy and wet. 

After reading the book, the students were given a directed drawing lesson of a lion. Oil pastels were used to fill in the lion’s mane. The students loved this project and the lions are now on display in the hallway.




Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!





March 9th - 13th

March 9th - 13th Brain Waves On Monday the Grade 4 students were given a Brain Waves presentation by the local public health centre...