Another Short Week...

In L.A. we started a writing project to sell a Haunted House! We read the story "I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House" and brainstormed a list of nouns that would be found in and around a haunted house. We also created a list of excellent adjectives to describe the nouns. Next week, we are going to begin writing about our haunted houses. The kids are really excited for this project and I can't wait to read their spooky real estate ads.

In Science we decided to sort our garbage to see how much waste we create at school in a week. The students were very mindful of having garbage free lunches and as a result, we had very little garbage at the end of the week. We decided we could sort into 4 different bags: Paper Waste, Foil Waste, Plastic Waste and Organic Waste (which is beneficial to our environment).

Our garbage at the end of the week...

We also looked at the Garbage Cycle to see where our garbage goes. The students then chose a garbage item to breakdown and they completed the cycle for their garbage. 

Our grade 4's are also in charge of all the recycling in the school. They work hard on Fridays to collect the paper recycle and juice boxes/bottles. The money from the juice boxes goes towards lowering the cost of our year end trip to Camp Warwa. 

In Math, we started our new unit Number Sense - Place Value. We began the unit with some review of place value (ones, tens, hundreds and thousands).

The kids worked hard creating their Christmas cards for the school fundraiser. Their handwriting is beautiful and the patterns and placement of their trees all worked out so well. There is such a variety.

P.E. this week was the Mission Impossible obstacle course. The kids had to navigate their way through quietly, with a partner watching their foot/body placement. Mission Impossible is a definite favourite!

Reminders...

Short Week

This week our grammar focus was on adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. Adjectives can tell how many, what a noun looks like, feels like, sounds like or tastes like. 

We also completed an activity where the students wrote a paragraph describing their room to someone who has never been in their room. They then traded their papers with that person, who circled all the adjectives. They were able to see how meaningful adjectives are in creating a vivid picture for the reader. We shared some paragraphs and the adjectives used were fantastic!

We also worked through some task cards, to identify all of the adjectives in given sentences. This is a similar format to what we follow each week for our grammar activities. 

XtraMath is a fantastic program that we use daily in our classroom. Mastery of the basic facts is key and will enable the students to do well in the math units this year. I have sent home a second copy of the login information, please let me know if you are having issues logging in at home.

Congratulations to our addition and subtraction XtraMath Stars!

We have completed our Patterns and Algebra unit and the unit test was done on Friday. We will go over this test at interviews next week. Our next unit is Number Sense - Place Value.

In Science we discussed the different types of Hazardous Waste - Corrosive, Explosive, Flammable and Poisonous. The students were given a variety of cards with different items and had to sort them where they thought each fit best. This led to a discussion on how some items fall into 2 categories and what this means when we dispose of them. 

We also completed a research project on Greenhouse Gases and our Carbon Footprint. The students read/listened to a short article about reducing our carbon footprint. They then had to create a slide on how they could reduce the amount of greenhouse gas created. Some ideas suggested to them in the article include - unplugging electronic gadgets that aren't needing power, dressing warm instead of turning up the thermostat, riding their bikes or walking somewhere instead of getting a ride. 

In P.E., our focus this week was on throwing, catching and striking. 

Way to go girls on your dedication to the RBES Cross Country team!

In Art, we took some time to explore the popular Art Hub site and create some unique drawings. The kids loved having time to explore their favourites and sketch along with Rob Hubs.