Friday, March 12, 2021

 Wow!  What a day!  The kids were kept busy but they are sure ready for a break:)

We started with a short St. Patrick's Day story on Youtube, with most students remembering to wear green today.  Then, I showed them the following making / recording of the theme song from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". It's worth a watch and listen to. 

St. Patrick's Day Book Read Aloud:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQyvfYho9Ns

 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Danish National Symphony Orchestra   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enuOArEfqGo

We also finished adding the 'spelling rules' notes we started yesterday to our Interactive Notebooks.  [change the "y" to an "i" and add "-es";  adding just -s or -es to words ending with an "o".  Example: pianos, tomatoes, heroes.]

Next, we sorted out our Working Binders and cleaned out cubbies before the break.  

Finally, students had some time to work on their Landforms project on Book Creator.  When we come back from break, we will finish them up.

After snack and recess, students returned and did eight questions about perimeter; they did this independently so that I can assess their understanding thus far. 

Following that, they finished their pastel landscapes while I finished reading My Side of the Mountain. 

Pat's class made tacos for those students who wanted one, and then it was time to collect the compost and sort the recycling.  

At 1:30, Isaiah and Latisha walked us down to the stream to release the young fry.  Lyam joined us, and the two sang a prayer, the salmon song, and a song of gratitude.  The following photos and a video hopefully captured this special event. 

Have a wonderful spring break, everyone! 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

 Happy Pink Shirt Day!  

What a busy day... I forgot to get a picture of all the kids in their pink shirts.  Darn!  

I was very proud of the students today.  I announced this morning that we were going to do a reading of a script to match a Power Point presentation of a book: The Seeds of Compassion.  We had two hours before the 11:00 presentation time to get it all together.  Students, once they were signed up for their paragraphs, practiced reading their lines.  Then we had a time run-through, and a final go again before 11:00.  They also had time for a quick run around in the gym and a special snack prepared by Carol, our wonderful cook.  Students read well and all went smoothly! 

David Shepherd and Travis Price, co-founders of Pink Shirt Day

After the presentation, we also had time to look at a couple of Pink Shirt Day videos / news clips and created an Acrostic poem together as a class.  Our word was: BE KIND.  

In the afternoon, we had a few minutes to work on our Moon Phases flip books before going to culture.  

*Students went home with gift bags today, filled with goodies and a game for family game night tomorrow!  Remember to check in on Zoom or send a photo to Miss Pehgee for your pizza and pool booking coupons. 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

 Gilakas'la

Another very busy day here in Grade 3-4-5!

We started our day doing a 3-minute MAZE assignment, then read about how a solar eclipse happens in an article entitled The Greatest Show on Earth.  Students had some multiple choice questions to answer, then 'translated' the meanings of words using prefixes: un-, bi-, and semi-.

Next we glued our Parts of Speech pages into our Interactive Notebooks, but did not have time to add the notes yet.  (see yesterday's post for the set up)

During Math, we did the usual multiplication drill, then some more X100 and X1000 practice.  Following that, students continued to work on multiplication problems using the Area Model.  

After lunch, we watched a couple of short videos (three to be exact) about days, seasons, and years; and lunar cycles and the phases of the moon.  [see below]  We completed another page for our Circle Book about the Lunar phases, and started to create a flip booklet.  We will complete the latter tomorrow. 

Earth's Rotation and Revolution: Crash Course Kids [4:00]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l64YwNl1wr0

Phases of Moon explained using an orrery [3:19]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sj2otIjZfM

Lunar Cycle, Why the Moon Changes Shapes, 8 Phases of the Moon [6:58]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCweccNOaqo&list=PLurjkZV1ykGb--lyDmxrjn_h8yGwoT1zv

All this kept us pretty busy, with eating and recreational breaks throughout the day. 

*Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day!  The school has purchased shirts for everyone; they will be waiting for the students tomorrow:)  A huge thank you to Wagalus School!

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

 Gilakas'la!

We had a very busy day indeed.  *Please note that there will be a Literary Devices quiz tomorrow.

First thing this morning, we wrote poems using words that sound the same but may be spelled differently.  Then, one had to think of something that was similar or connected in some way to the rhyming word, and use the "I'd rather... than... " format.  

For example: sound = ē  (long e sound)      Words: tea, tree, see, sea, me, flee, flea, knee, wee, bee...

I'd rather be a carrot than a pea.                                                                                                                      I'd rather be a shrub than a tree.                                                                                                                      I'd rather be you than me.                                                                                                                                  I'd rather be an ocean than the sea.

This took us all pre-snack time, as kids chose a sound to use, then brainstorm rhyming words.  Next, was putting them into the format noted above.  We will have to continue this for a bit tomorrow. 

After snack and recess break, the Time practice quizzes were returned.  Students will write the real quiz on Friday, so they have something to practice with and focus on.  It will be very similar.

Then, students were introduced to multiplication of 2-digit numbers using the area model.  We watched a wonderful video by NumberRock a couple of times, then worked through the first part of a package together.  This we will also continue tomorrow.  Check out the video, though! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYJsQo7ZTC4

After lunch and a brief reading of My Side of the Mountain, we went to the airport to see the wonder panels that have been installed, the totem and canoe carving, and to check out the new building.  It really is lovely and very special for Port Hardy travellers. 

Upon our return, Lyam led the kids with a couple of dances; not everyone participated.  There are several photos below.

Remember to click on each picture to enlarge it!

Friday, February 12, 2021

 Happy Lunar New Year and early Valentine's Day!

I worked the kids hard today, just to keep things even keel.  They wrote a math quiz about Time, and worked hard to finish up their snow globes.  We had made pouches for our Valentines yesterday so students went around handing out their homemade hearts.  A little bit of candy came in, although it had been discouraged.  

In the afternoon, we watched a movie "Nadeli" about a baby elephant's life and some of her struggles at an early age.  The film was also about protecting the African elephants from poachers which are causing the elephant population to greatly decrease.  Although owning ivory is still legal, many countries are opposed.  

Enjoy the long weekend - family day!  

Thursday, February 11, 2021

 Welcome to Thursday!  I didn't post yesterday - my apologies.  I hope that today's photos will make up for it:)

Notice: Tomorrow is hot lunch (chow mein) and Valentines Day.  Students can dress up if they wish, or simply wear something red or pink. In our class, we have been making our own Valentines to give out, and will celebrate without candy.  Devina is baking cupcakes and we will have some popcorn and a "love story" themed movie in the afternoon.

We continued practicing onomatopoeia this morning, identifying words and creating some short stories using onomatopoeia.  Students were given time to work on their snow globe for this literary device.  Several students are at the cutting out stage and two students have now glued all of theirs together!  

During math, we finished colour-coding the 9X (yesterday), 10X, 11X, and 12X in our multiplication booklets.  After drills, students attempted to play "I have... Who has...?" to practice elapsed time.  Many students are still struggling with this.  I showed them a short video to help them some more with telling time (see link below).  I strongly recommend that students continue to watch Time videos for kids and to keep practicing on IXL.  Please them at home by "testing" them often.  

How to tell the time (video for kids)   https://youtu.be/HrxZWNu72WI

They are enjoying My Side of the Mountain, which I read while they are still eating their lunch.  

P.E. this afternoon was all about Jump Rope for Heart.  I took lots of photos of the kids skipping, hoola hooping, and Chinese Jump Roping.  (Are those real verbs?)

Remember, you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them!

We also made pouches for our Valentines tomorrow, and worked on colouring the Valentines they made.