We made it! What a fun and happy last week of term, I wish everyone a wonderful two week break and hope we all come back refreshed and eager to learn.

In math we did a lot of review; we used the Cambridge Assessment questions from last year to explore the types of questions and practice our test taking skills. Students were very well versed in the math, it is just a matter of carefully reading all instructions and knowing where and how to answer.

In English we did the same; review of the grammar concepts and the main topics of the last two terms in preparation for the term 3 Cambridge assessments. We were able to revisit punctuation, speech marks, proper nouns, adjectives, adverbs, sentence types, and paragraph writing. We focused a bit on summary writing as well; students have been keeping an independent read log to be accountable for their in class reading. Upon review I could see many still struggled with the idea of retelling a story concisely in their own words. I sent all reading logs home as we will be doing novel study next term. I told everyone that if they completed their reading logs during spring break they could bring it in a get a small prize. 🙂

Also, I sent home word study journals, English notebooks, spelling test books, and IPC notebooks. Feel free to look over them and discard (hopefully recycle) when finished.

In IPC we finished our unit on matter. Monday we explored saturation by dissolving as mush soluble material as possible in water. We compared the amount of sugar and sat the same amount of liquid to observe and record our findings. On Wednesday we took a review quiz and checked out the science units related to our topic on EducationCity and then popped popcorn with and air popper to demonstrate the ability to use heat energy to change matter! The change was a chemical change of course since it was irreversible.

Friday was the big day; we enjoyed our pizza prize for fantastic class behavior and had the PTA dance party where everyone stuffed their faces with snacks, drank mocktails, and danced away! Thank you so much to the parents who helped plan, set up, bake, DJ, Host games, and clean up – we all really appreciate it.

I will send parents an email with how to log into some of our classroom used program for math and reading. I didn’t send any homework, just the optional completing the Reading Log, but feel free to practice your skills paper free during the break.

Everyone enjoy your break and see you in Term 3,

Mrs. Leah

What a fast and fun week; with a field trip on Wednesday and our normal routine was interrupted making the week seem so short. We had a lot of fun at the Busan Science Museum as we got to explore the exhibits, throw paper planes in the Children’s Museum, watch a show at the planetarium, and slide down the long slide! Thank you to the parents who volunteered to come along, I appreciate your time and attention to the students. We should have some pictures next week thanks to Mr. Green.

In English we have started to review some of the grammar concepts we’ve focused on including conjunctions, adverbs, and using speech in text. For reading we started to preview the reading comprehension type questions that will be on the Cambridge Assessments in term 3. We have been focusing on reading instructions thoroughly, using the accompanying text to its maximum potential, finding kep words in questions and text, and reviewing finding the subject and main idea of a paragraph. I included a short reading comprehension passage in the homework just to keep up the practice – it is about eating bugs. Mrs. Leah does not condone eating bugs, it’s for practice purposes only 😀

For math we finally finished our addition and subtraction review unit. Everyone is working very confidently with three digit numbers and able to make estimates to check their work against. We will also be practicing with the types of questions found on the Cambridge assessment all next week, but I think everyone will do just fine if they take their time and read instructions thoroughly.

In IPC on Monday we looked at dissolving solids into liquids. We investigated the differences between soluble and insoluble materials and experimented in class. We checked to see if the temperature of the liquid affected how quickly a material (sugar) would dissolve, and we trialed many different materials to determine if they were soluble or not. Wednesday we were in Busan, but we will do some more science next Monday!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend and gets lots of rest and quality time with family. Take care,

Mrs. Leah

Has Spring sprung? It sure feels like it! The heater and the jackets are off, and there have been some amazing days! Everyone is feeling restless; sure glad Spring break is coming soon. We still have our field trip to the Busan Science museum next Wednesday, as well as end an en of term party!

In math we have been working with estimation for multi digit addition and subtraction, as well as complements of multiples of 100 and 1000. Year 4’s have been adding and subtracting mixed fractions with different denominators.

This week we wrapped up our English unit on writing letters by writing our own letters of complaint. We were able to write both traditional and email letters in our unit, but the final complaint was a formally structured email in response to a prompt with a problem to be addressed. It was very amusing reading such angry emails from year 3 and 4!

In IPC we had a lot of fun further messing with dairy products to explore the properties of matter and how they can change as well as using scientific methods to observe and measure changes. Monday we experimented with how quickly we could melt butter to change from a solid a liquid. Wednesday we used ice and energy to change liquid milk into ice cream! It was definitely everyone’s favorite day.

As we head into the weekend, I encourage everyone to take some time to play outside in the fair weather and recharge. I look forward to seeing you all back in class next week,

Mrs. Leah

Our term 2 class trip is approaching and the students have decided they would like a visit to the Busan Children’s Science Museum!

We just started out science unit ‘Shake It!’ in IPC where we are learning about the states of matter and chemical changes so I think we are all in a scientific state of mind.

When: Wednesday March 15th, departing the school at 9:10am and returning on or before 4:20pm.

Where: The Busan Children’s Science Museum

How Much: FREE

What to Bring: A pack lunch, 2 snacks (morning and afternoon), a water bottle, a jacket.

We have a few parent volunteers so this trip should be a lot of fun!

Please complete this permission form by Friday March 10th.

– Mrs. Leah

A wonky week with a happy day-off Wednesday made for a short but sweet schedule. The highlight of the week was definitely the butter in IPC:

In math we continued to work with three digit addition and subtraction using estimation to check our answers. Year 4s also started adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominators.

In English we looked at letters of complaint and how to address an issue clearly and intentfully. We also looked at different types of sentences and the punctuation they entail. While everyone is working diligently in their word study books for spelling, the test this Friday had some not so hot results. Is everyone studying their words at home? The activities we do in class should supplement home study, and pay attention to the weekly theme – remembering the vowel blends that make each week’s sound will help immensely. (ie, this week it was short oo, long oo and vowel teams that make an ‘oo’ sound… and yet, lots of spellings with mistaken ‘oo’ sound spellings.)

In IPC we are looking at three states of matter and how matter changes. By adding energy or pressure we can change matter. We shook up some creme milk to demonstrate this. The cream went through a physical change; the fat globules clumped together causing the liquid to be squeezed out of the solid mass. The solid is butter, and the liquid butter milk! It was lot’s of fun and very delicious. It takes about 15 minutes of vigirous shaking so we put on some music and it made for some very entertaining photos!

After shaking everyone scooped out their butter and strained it in cheese cloth. Then every tried the fruit of their labors on a bit of saltine cracker; seems like everyone enjoyed it very much.

In Digital Literacy we did a little web quest to review what we’ve learned about states of matter. Since we didn’t have school on Wednesday, we didn’t have a second day of IPC, so it was a good way to keep our knowledge fresh while honing our web navigation and research skills.

The field trip form will be coming out soon, so be sure to sign up! Special thanks to the parents who volunteered to come help!

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. Leah

For our next field trip we are looking to go to the Busan Children’s Science Museum.

We will need 3-4 parent volunteers to help chaperone. Parents will accompany us on the bus to and from Busan.

The trip is slated to happen week 10 on Wednesday March 15th from 9am – 4:20pm. (Back in time for the second bus, but parent pick-up is also encouraged.)

If you are interested in assisting on the trip, please email Mrs. Leah by Friday March 3rd.

Thank you!

Mrs. Leah

Can anyone else believe that week 7 of this term is already gone? Winter seems to be dragging on, but somehow the time flies… we had a couple of nice days this week and I think everyone is ready for that springtime air!

In math we did some review with time telling as many students showed some difficulties on out Time Unit test. Telling the time is something that takes practice, so parents please continue to encourage and ask the time on analog clocks! Most of us carry digital devices now, but it will always be a useful skill to read a good old fashioned clock face.

In English we continue to look at format and informal letters and how to format them. We also focused on homophones (words that are spelled different and mean different things but sound the same) and synonyms (different words that mean the same things). Students had a lot of practice writing out word meanings and sentences during our tech free week, but I am really pleased at how determined students have been with their work – such nice hand writing and strong spelling shining through!

For IPC we started a science unit on the states of matter and using the scientific method. Monday we focused on three states of matter and became familiar with their properties. We used our bodies to wiggle around and mimic the molecular energy of each state! On Wednesday we looked at formulating questions and making observations to form hypothetizes. We studied the proprieties of various types of milks to determine which milk was which; it was really fun to watch students smell, touch, whisk, weigh, and make notes about their findings. We got a little silly at the end of our in class lab, but hopefully we can enjoy more experiments for this unit responsibly.

On Friday we took some time to crack open the computers and restage our devices for learning. With our inboxes emptied and desktops cleared we are ready to use our digital devices for learning come next Monday. After all the writing we’ve done in English, I am sure everyone is looking forward to the gamified fun of Education City for grammar and math practice!

Lastly, this week we said good bye to a dear friend and wished him well on his new adventure. Thank you for the gifts, snack, and memories 🙂

Remember next week there is no school on Wednesday and there will be information on our class field trip the next few weeks!

Mrs. Leah

We had a lot of excitement this past week! Tuesday the PTA handed out cards and chocolates to every student for a happy Valentines Day. A couple of students brought treats to share as well; this made everyone very happy and sugared up! Wednesday we had weather that *attempted* to snow. Everyone was so excited, but disappointed that they couldn’t go out into the cold and wet pitch (sorry guys!)

In math we focused on reading the time from both analogue and digital clocks. Using our fresh knowledge of fractions, we were ale to see the clock as parts of a whole – especially helpful for the English use of ‘quarter past/to’ and ‘half past’ verbiage. Year 4 students also looked at time tables figuring out the difference of minutes and hours between different time sets.

For English we finished up out unit on Myths and Legends. On Monday students focused hard and wrote out their final drafts of their stories. We will continue to build up our writing stamina while working on grammar skills in our new unit on letter writing. We will also continue developing our paragraph writing skills while we read and respond to a variety of letters and scenarios requiring both formal and informal responses.

The end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age finished out unit on prehistory. We took a close look at how the changing materials of tool and weapons affected early civilizations and finished with the collapse of the mega city states of Mesopotamia and the rise of Celtic culture. To make things fun we crafted our own iron swords to symbolize the end of the metal ages.

In digital literacy we had some problems. Unfortunately some students are abusing the privilege of using technology while in school. This week there were some issues with bullying and sending unproductive messages to each other during class time. We talked a good deal about what bullying entails on Friday during PSHE so I expect all students to be more aware and proactive about the subject if they witness or experience it again.

I also hope that everyone comes to value the computer as a useful tool in learning rather than a vessel of socialization after a tech free week this coming week. We use our laptops and tablets for various learning activities, research projects, and creative presentation making. Talking with friends is wonderful and encouraged, but not during class time and not when there is work that needs to be finished. Not all students misbehaved in this manner, but a screen free week might do everyone a bit of good.

On a positive note, since Mr. Green was out this week I was able to do PE with the class and I was so very pleased with how well everyone did! A nice day and an open field can be an invitation for chaos, but everyone was very mindful, attentive, and cooperative. We had a lot of fun!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend,

Mrs. Leah

It has been so great to see everyone’s faces in class!

This week in Math we finished our short unit on fractions as pieces of a whole. Year 4 students looked at reducing fractions, improper fractions, and finding a fraction of a whole number.

English saw everyone write their short stories inspired by myths and legends we’ve read the last few weeks. Using our story maps and planners from the week prior, students are working on crafting paragraphs to tell their tales. We will create our final draft this coming week to complete the unit.

We also discussed the legend of the Lochness Monster and debated if it could be true or not. All my reading groups had strong opinions regarding a legend that still is talked about today. After looking at some pictures and analyzing the claims and theories of others, we still are on the fence if Nessie is real or not.

For IPC we have transitioned from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Students looked at a forgotten civilization from Varna, Bulgaria where archeologists discovered some of the earliest evidence of gold smiting, a ruler of higher status from others, and ornate burials full of treasure. For fun we decorated our own kings with plenty of gold jewelry and trinkets. On Wednesday students were split into groups and conducted some research on more bronze age civilizations. It is great to see everyone get more comfortable using the internet for study and collaborating with teams to break down otherwise big tasks!

We also finished up our home country presentations in Digital Literacy and I was very impressed with everyone’s work. I will try and share them with families soon.

Thanks to all the parents who attended a parent teacher conference, and I still have a few to see this coming week. Mr. Green is out on business week 6 so my availability is not as usual; please email me if you would still like to arrange a meeting time and I would be happy to see you!

Take care everyone,

Mrs. Leah

In maths we started our unit on fractions. We reviewed what we knew about parts of whole shapes, dividing shapes into equal parts, and identifying numerators and denominators.

In English we started planning our stories by drawing a story board. Some students finished writing a story planner in class, but most took it home to complete over the weekend. Please bring it back Monday as we will be hashing out our plans into full paragraphs. By now everyone is well versed in a story arch, characters, settings, and building a climax so we will focus on writing our best sentences and forming paragraphs next week.

In reading students read and discussed the legend of Wawell Hill and used their analytical minds to discuss and answer questions about the text. We are focusing on the importance of using our resources such as texts to their fullest potential; reading directions carefully, answering questions fully with evidence from the text, and writing full sentence answers with accurate spelling.

In IPC we took a close look at Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement in Scotland. Using the internet as a tool, students accessed a BBC Website all about the amazing archeological find and how it gives us a very clear picture of how stone aged people lived and were starting to change from hunter-gatherers into settlers. We also did some serious note taking with out review of the Neolithic Era as next week we will step into the Bronze Age!

Speaking of Internet research, in Digital Literacy students continued working with the information they located online last week and started making a presentation about their home countries. We are utilizing our typing skills and formatting skills with Google Slides. We will continue to work on them this coming week; everyone really seems to enjoy getting creative and showcases their countries digitally.

Next week there are many times to meet for student conferences, so please see the previous post to schedule. Again, if anyone needs an alternate schedule please email me and we can arrange something.

See y’all Monday!

Mrs. Leah