Posts

January 30, 2021

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Just a little reminder about Valentines day: All Valentines intended to be given out will need to be brought to the school no later than Monday February 8th so that we can have time to quarantine them until Wednesday (When they will be opened/go home).  I have posted a class list of on the Google classroom (because it is only accessibly by our class) rather than sending home a list with everyone.   This week we have continued our work on persuasive writing.  Be prepared for your child to test out some of the persuasive techniques we are learning about for our writing.  It seems like quite a few of them might be inquiring about a later bedtime or a new pet in the near future. Now that the new term begins on Monday, we are able to get started with our new science unit.  This unit will be focusing on two topics: Wheels and Levers, and Building Devices that and Vehicles that Move.  At the beginning of the year at meet the teacher night we mentione
Post a Comment
Read more

January 22 2021

Image
 This past week of school the grade 4s wrote both a math and a science test.  Overall, both tests were incredibly successful.  Those that reviewed their multiplication over the weekend definitely benefitted from the extra practice.  Those who feel like they could improve on these tests will be given the opportunity to answers some additional questions in the next week or two, they just have to let me know that they would like to, and we will arrange a date. There was a large focus this week in social studies.  As we continue to explore the Blackfoot People's history on this land, we have been looking more into perspective taking.  The students took part in an activity based on the book "Seven Blind Mice" by Ed Young. The Grade 4s were tasked with combining the perspectives of the 7 blind mice to try to determine what it was that the mice had found.  Ask your child how it went! They also took part in an activity that involved them completing a picture that they had about 1
Post a Comment
Read more

December 18th

  Congratulations to everyone for making it to Winter break!  This week was filled with seasonal activities.  The grade 4s did a wonderful job of creating their cookie jars, and are starting to show a solid understanding of fractions (even adding fractions!). Here are the directions for finishing the cookie recipe at home, in case they get misplaced:  In a large bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of melted and  cooled  unsalted butter, 1 large egg, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Add the contents of the jar and gently stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined (dough will be crumbly). Chill for 30 minutes.  Form golf ball sized portions of dough, pressing firmly as you form the ball. Place the dough balls onto lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are set and the centres of the cookies are still slightly underdone. Place baking sheets on a rack to cool. In Science we explored how light interacts with mirrors, including concave and convex mirrors.  When w
Post a Comment
Read more

December 4th

Image
This week in science we explored what opaque, translucent, and transparent mean.  The grade 4s searched for items around the classroom that would allow all light through, some light, and no light at all.  Next week they will explore how light is absorbed and reflected.  We also looked at what happens when we mix different coloured light using glow sticks. In social studies we continued to learn about the Blackfoot community and how they lived on this land many years ago.  We have also started to learn about how oral history is passed down, and why stories are told.  This week we will continue to learn about what function these stories served, and look at the connection that the Blackfoot people have to the land. The letters to the seniors at the senior centre have been completed and are currently being quarantined before being delivered.  The students are also learning how to develop similes and metaphors for their descriptive writing.  They have been using two steps to help them creat
Post a Comment
Read more
 This week the grade 4s got to experience a virtual field trip on light and shadows.  They performed experiments that allowed them to discover how light travels, how it can be reflected, and how water affects it.  Your child was able to take home their kits from the virtual field trip today, ask them to demonstrate some of the experiments. As I was away for three days this week, we were fortunate enough to have a guest teacher in, Ms. Pitcher.  With an absolute ton of teaching experience, the grade 4s were lucky to have her share her expertise in Art.  They completed winter scene water colour paintings that will be coming home with them before the winter break.  They learned new technique for making a more realistic painting. In math they continued working on their multiplication strategies, with focus on strategies for multiplying by 2 (doubling), 4 (doubling twice), and 8(doubling three times).  They also learned some new math games that allow them to have some fun while utilizing th
Post a Comment
Read more

November 13th

 It was quite the interesting week here in our classroom.  I just wanted to thank everyone for being so flexible with the last minute isolation Thursday.  I was able to speak with most of the students throughout the day, so if your child was unable to get onto the Google Classroom, IXL math, or getepic books, please let me know as soon as possible and we will make sure your child has everything they need to log in to those sites at home. This week we had our digital Remembrance Day assembly.  It was an experiment to see if we could do a life assembly for the students in the school and the students who are working from the hub.  There were a few hiccups with the platform used, but we hope to have video of our students who participated in the assembly to their family as soon as possible. In Science we are about to move on to our unit on light and shadows.  Over the next couple months the grade 4s will explore the interaction of light and different materials. They will learn about light s
Post a Comment
Read more

November 6

Image
 I hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend!  The student’s costumes were wonderful! Science We have built our worm bin to explore the decomposers doing their thing! Vermicomposting is supposed to be a wonderful and relatively smell-free way to dispose of scraps from our lunches.  Your child may ask if they can bring egg-shells from hard boiled eggs into class.  This is to help neutralize the pH of the soil from all of the food scraps in order to keep the worms happy and healthy.  We have wrapped up the bulk of the Waste in Our World unit, although it will still be incorporated throughout many points of the year. We are now moving on to our Light and Shadow unit. Art The students worked on their shading skills using chalk pastels, while doing their best to create the illusion of depth through strategic placing of their pumpkins and using different sizes.  I hope we managed to send your students home without too much chalk pastel on their clothing! Social Studies In Social Studies we
Post a Comment
Read more