Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Happy New Year!
Assignments for the Week:
Upcoming Events:
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Assignments for the Week:
Calendar: Here are some important dates as we look in to spring.
Science Fair: I don’t know that I have fully made clear to the students how impressed I was with their work for the Science Fair. I will first mention planning skills because this was difficult! Adjusting for the unexpected research and experimental challenges was an important part of their learning. Some students had to majorly redesign their experiments. Some students had to draw conclusions from limited data (and plants that didn’t grow as much as they hoped!). Some students had experiments that were weather dependent and they had to wait for a sunny day (in February!). Some students didn’t love their original topic and chose to change it at the last minute. All of these are “expected unexpecteds” with designing a project, and they problem-solved their way through the rough patches–or at least came up with good ideas for what they would do next time. Also impressive were the creative and nuanced ideas they pursued and the solid, evidence-based reasoning behind their work. Listening to them explain their processes and conclusions during in-class presentations made me so proud!
The projects:
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Presentations:
The Science Fair:
Drama with Magee Leaders: Students presented tableaux inspired by superheroes.
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Art: Still Life: On Friday we practiced techniques for drawing still lines in proportion.
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar: Here are some important dates as we look in to spring.
Problem-solving in Chemistry: Mix sugar and tea leaves together. Now, separate them. How do you do it? That was one of several tasks students tried last week when we looked at types of mixtures (heterogeneous and homogeneous) and how to separate them. Students showed impressive problem-solving and group work.
Pink Shirt Day: Students were spirited and thoughtful about Pink Shirt Day. Students proudly wore their pink, surprised our assembly crowd as part of a flashmob, and critiqued the way we talk about Pink Shirt Day. In the morning we debated, “Resolved: Every day is Pink Shirt Day–so we don’t need a designated day for it. Students resoundingly urged the importance of keeping Pink Day, in part, because it is so important to share the story of its origins again and again, passing it on to the next generation.
Zen Maker Space: This was our last week with doing STEAM work with Zen Maker Labs. Students quickly learned and applied their new skills. We are thankful to Arion, the animator, and Zach, the engineer.
Drama with Magee Leaders: Students worked on the tableaux that they will be presenting next week.
Class Meetings: Class meetings continue to be an important part of our week. In addition to talking about how to make sure our classroom is running well, we often share what we know about current events. Right now, grade 4s are running our meetings.
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar:
Science with Ingrid: Scientist, Ingrid Sulston, visited our class last Tuesday. Ingrid set up explorations with crystallization and acids and bases, and pushed students to play, observe, submit data, question, and make sense of what we noticed. In short time, students gained deep experience and understanding of the chemistry concepts.
More Hands-on Science: I am grateful to Montessori PAC funds that help me provide more hands-on chemistry explorations to students in the classroom.
Drama with Magee Leaders:On Friday, the leaders put students in to small groups that will work together for the next few weeks.
Capture the Flag with Division 16: We had a blast playing with Div. 16 last Friday. We will have to do it again!
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar: During this week, UBC researchers will survey only those students whose parents have signed and consented to their child’s participation in the truthfulness study.
Field Trip to “Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish”: We had a smooth trip to see this retelling of a Kwantlen First Nations story. Students were excellent audience members, possibly due to the active, sunshiney play they had before and after the performance. We are thankful to the parent chaperones who joined us.
Zen Maker Labs: On Tuesday, students began the first of three sessions in a pixel animation workshop.
Chocolate Sales and Grade 6 Camp: Boxes of Purdy chocolates were distributed to grade 6s to sell as a fundraiser for Grade 6 Camp. (This effort has helped to decrease the cost of camp by $50 in the past.) Grade 4s and 5s who are interested may also sell chocolates if they have permission–just send me an email letting me know. (A couple parents already have.) If you get a chance, send a thank you to Tammy Chang, parent of Charlotte and ___. She is running the fundraising by herself–and she doesn’t even have children in grade 6! I am not involved in running the chocolate sales, but will pass on any questions or requests students have to Tammy. While we’re at it, Grade 6 Camp is scheduled for June 3-5.
Assignments for the Week:
Forms: Please see the notice and consent form that went home with students last week related to a UBC study on truth telling. Students with signed consent forms will be interviewed by UBC researchers during the week of February 18.
Calendar:
Field trip to Science World: We had a busy day at Science World last week, including an adventurous day with hands-on chemistry explorations,
…a screening of an Omnibus film, “Arctic Wonder,” and lots of time for free exploration:
We are grateful to the parent chaperones who kept up with our active class.
Chemistry: Last week we explored buoyancy–which materials were buoyant and how to make them more or less buoyant.
Art: Students have worked for a month on their sketchbooks drawing contours and parts of objects and practicing techniques for shading. I hope you appreciate the uniqueness and care in their work.
The Writing Process: Students have taken the time to carefully work through the Writing Process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, drafting again, editing and publishing), resulting in well-crafted writing pieces.
Drama with Magee Leaders: This week students practiced improv and movement with “Last One to…” and “Where have my fingers been?”.
Here is the WODB (Which One Doesn’t Belong) from last week:
Assignments for the Week:
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Calendar:
Words, Words, Words: With the cold weather outside, this is a great time of year to dive into our books and really focus on our writing. In both Reading and Writing we are focusing on specific ideas and clear, accurate and vibrant words and phrases. We are building a community where students share ideas and feedback on their books and their creative writing. Here are some photos of students’ deep concentration:
Which One Doesn’t Belong?: During January 21st Professional Day, Janice Novakowski, a math specialist from the Richmond School District, showed our staff creative ways to teach math. The Which One Doesn’t Belong? activity is one that we have all taken to. Each number has one or more reasons why it might not fit with the others.
Chemistry: We had fun messing around with measurement last week. We even found out who had the heaviest backpack.
Art: Stay tuned to see work from our sketchbooks. Talk about deep concentration!
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar:
Chemistry: Students drew conclusions about how thermometers work based on what they know about he behaviour of liquids in various temperatures. We took extra precautions and practiced what we learned about safety in the lab the previous week (in part, with this humorous video.
Health: Students presented strategies for achieving positive consequences from emotional triggers.
Drama with Magee Leaders: We began our first of many sessions of drama activities lead by the Magee leaders (including some MG and Div 17 alumni).
Math Games: We continue to devote time on Thursday mornings to learning new games that involve mathematical thinking. This week we looked at a classic (and a great one for using math facts): cribbage.
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar
Chemistry: We have been working on asking questions, observing closely, and drawing reasonable conclusions about matter–such as, the speed to which molecules move in hot and cold water. In other words, carefully walking through the Scientific Method is an important part of our science unit.
Health: Last week we scenarios to help us identify 1) comfortable and uncomfortable feelings and 2) appropriate and inappropriate ways of responding to them.
Snow(y) Day: Students were busy last week in class…and in the snow!
Assignments for the Week:
Calendar
Writers Workshop: We have begun Writers Workshop which follows a basic format of : lesson, prompt + extended writing time and sharing. Right now we are looking for and generating written ideas. In the weeks to come we will look at how to make ideas colourful and specific, organize the body of writing, and choose precise words and phrases.
Exploring with Matter: This week, to launch our chemistry unit, we “played” with matter, shared our observations and then “played” again with more focus, allowing us to go deeper in our understanding. We talked about how all humans every day ask questions and observe their environment to make sense of it–and that scientists take it a step further with more discipline and control to make conclusions. We also looked at the the scale of matter in our universe before considering the behaviour of matter at the molecular level.
Games for Learning: Thanks to the Montessori PAC funding, our class has a rich and well-curated library of games that involve strategy, patterning and sequencing, and logic. We spent some time learning games and will spend more time in the future building our community (and our brains) by playing them. Thanks to the students who helped to teach them!
Our First Snow: We had a surprise and adventure Friday morning with a romp in the snow. With more snow predicted, please assure that your child is dressed for Friday morning walks–rain, shine, or snow. It is also a great idea to pack an extra pair of dry (!) socks each day.