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

Hello parents, next week (week 5) I will start scheduling parent teacher conferences to talk about student progress. Please find linked my Google Appointment Page to reserve a time.

As there are many parents to see, please let me know if the time you may need is not available. I would be happy to meet up week 6 or by special arrangement.

Thank you and see you soon!

Mrs. Leah

Schedule Here!

Short and sweet week! On Wednesday we all were confused it was Monday, but we found our stride a picked up where we left of last week.

In math we practiced with finding the perimeter of shapes and introduced area. Everyone faired well on the mini questionnaire about the properties of 2D shapes and calculating perimeter; we need some review on rounding so expect such exercises this coming week.

In English we focused on our word study and went over how to put the most into our time to study our spelling words. Everyone did fantastic on the spelling test Friday! I hope to see this energy and effort continue. We reviewed a story from the legend of Sinbad and explored how character choices can change our plot line dramatically. There should be some pretty interesting stories happening in the next two weeks at we start the writing process to create our own myths!

Everyone became a detective for our IPC lesson. Students analyzed photos of the belongings of the body of a man murdered in the Italian mountains and speculated how he could have gotten there, have been killed, and why… but come to find this man is 5,300 years old. Ötzi ‘the ice man’ is the perfect case study of a life from the late Stone Age, or, the Neolithic era. Everyone was very focused and engrossed in the activity – it was great fun to watch.

We also did some guided internet research in Digital Literacy to brush us up on using websites to find information. Next week there will be some research done on Neolithic settlements, but everyone proved that they are much more comfortable and capable with the computer than earlier this school year.

For PE we messed about in the Hall as it is so freezing outside. Some rackets and a pack of balloons proved enough fun and aerobic activity for everyone 😀

Hope everyone has a great weekend and see you all next week for another full(!) week of learning!

Mrs. Leah

This past week has been an exciting one, and I must comment how well everyone has been getting on.

In math year 3 students looked at measurement and using centimeters, meters, and kilo meters for length. We looked at 2D shapes and determined regular and irregular polygons, and then started finding perimeters of such shapes. Year 4 students explored 2D shapes as well and looked into tessellations and lines of symmetry. We reviewed perimeter and started finding area using grids.

In English everyone has been devoting 15 minutes each day to their word study, which is time to work with the week’s spelling list. Then we jump into our Cambridge lesson where we are continuing with myths and legends, and focusing on preparing to write our own myth using compound sentences with conjunctions, and paragraphs with adverbial opening sentences.

In reading we looked at the classic myth of King Midas and the Golden Touch. Students read the story and then analyze it with th teacher, and complete tasks with their reading group independently. It is very rewarding to hear student thoughts and ideas about the value of money, the importance of life and family, and practice shifting their mindset by arguing alternate opinions than their own! Our EAL students are doing awesome as well, hearing them read so fluently and continue to build vocabulary is very motivating.

For IPC we went out on a nature walk Monday to scavenge for supplies for our Stone Age dioramas. We learned about life in the stone age, primarily the Paleolithic era, and how humans would find shelter, food, cook, what they wore, and how their communities worked. Then on Wednesday we build our models of a dwelling using our boxes (thank you for sending them in!), paint, paper, scissors, glue, and our bobs and bits from outside. The results are fantastic and I look forward to doing more crafty projects in the near future.

We have a four day weekend for Lunar New Year, so everyone enjoy the mini break and I will see everyone Wednesday!

Mrs. Leah

It’s been three whole weeks since we’ve seen each other last, but our return on Monday showed that everyone was well rested and excited to continue on with school!

We switched things up a bit now having math class first thing in the morning and English after break time. In math 3rd year students are using centimeters and meters to measure lengths and 4th year students are exploring the properties of shapes. Week 1 was about finding our current abilities and reorganizing to optimize our learning as we get into perimeter and area the next few weeks.

English we are looking at myths and legends and in our small groups we were able to read and discuss the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. We revisited the story arch from our very first English unit back in September and were able to plot the myth on a story arch. We will continue to read and analyze various myths through out this unit. English language learners continue to show amazing progress through their reading books as well; as we gain fluency the stories will become more and more challenging – keep it up!

Students also jumped right into their word study building up familiarity and confidence with the spelling list. This coming week’s spelling list is long, but the words are not too difficult. The important feature is that all the words share the same long vowel sounds. Focusing on the different vowel teams that make the same sounds is the key.

In IPC we started our unit on the Stone Age. We studied history before back in the start of term 1, but now we are looking much further back into the beginning of human history. This week we focused on understanding the timeline of this era of our history and how we today can study humans from such a distant past. Everyone was keen to discover the roles of archeologists and anthropologists and how their discoveries unlock the clues to how we lived from 3 million years ago. Next week we will do some diorama building so please bring in a shoe box or small parcel box by WEDNESDAY of next week.

In Digital Literacy we started our unit on exploring the concept of coding using Scratch Pad. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun while getting a hang of it so I hope we can continue to play and learn with this program.

Have a wonderful weekend and see everyone Monday!

Mrs. Leah

We made it!

Everyone have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and fantastic winter break! Keep warm, stay safe, and enjoy your time with your family!

This past week was really fun; at the Winter Show everyone performed beautifully and did an amazing job. We still managed to squeeze in some winter themed math and English, but otherwise focused on practicing for the show and finishing up our units before the break. Friday was our class party and thanks to the wonderful contributions of parents everyone was stuffed with treats!

There is no assigned homework but I advise all students to read, read, read, then read some more. Then, learn to cook or bake something with mom or dad, take some nice long walks (all bundled up) as a family, and call everyone you know and remind them how special they are. Clean your room really good, play with all the toys that were lost in the closet or under the bed, draw and color a few pictures, and be rested and ready to meet again in 2023.

Take care and I wish everyone a wonderful break and amazing new year!

Mrs. Leah

Second to the last week down! As we creep closer to winter break everyone has been so focused and engaged in their learning, good job class on staying on track this past week. We finished our units on multiplication and the human body, we are finishing our poetry unit this coming week, and practiced our winter show performance!

In English we took a look at onomatopoeia, or words that indicate the sound something makes. We also learned about Haiku poetry and spend Friday writing our own. Students are still doing word study every morning, reading and writing in their reading journals, and using Education City to bolster their knowledge in English grammar topics and poetry.

We finished our look at multiplication for the time being; students reviewed what we covered with a fun review board game with Ms. Mary and broke down word problems with me. Word problems can be tricky for anyone, but with so many English language learners they proved extra challenging. We will be reviewing multiplication again after the break along side division, so everyone will get even more chances to practice their skills and those pesky word problems.

Our unit on the human body came to a close with a look at the nervous system. Students revisited the brain (which we touched on in our very first IPC unit ‘Brainwave’ at the beginning of the year!) We looked at the central and peripheral nervous systems and the parts of the brain and what each controls. We will do a few activities this coming week to close our unit and finish our Human Body Research Books – but well done class on such a long and intensive look at the rather complex system of ourselves.

In Digital Literacy we did some more touch typing and did an internet scavenger hunt. Students practiced finding information in search engines and recording the URL of where they found information. We used our PSHE time to work together perfecting our song for winter show; there are quite a few of us so moving in synch and getting it all down takes some work!

I will see everyone Monday for our last week of the term!

Mrs. Leah

This week we kept busy with the digestive system, similes and metaphors, algorithmic multiplication, filling up each other’s buckets with kindness, and practicing our class performance for the Winter Show.

IPC was full of action as students traced each other and filled up the outlines with the organs of the digestive system. We learned abut the major parts and how the digestive system functions.

As we scoot closer towards winter break the class is experiencing a bit of social turmoil. Years 3 and 4 are a time of great social development and friendships at this age truly matter. Many of us are feeling a bit frustrated with one another and both in-class and break time disputes are at an all time high. For PSHE we took some time to write some kind words for every member of the class. School, peers, friends, life can take it’s toll on us sometimes and we all needed to refill our buckets with reminders of kindness.

Back in IPC, on Thursday we did an experiment with recreating the process of digestion with a plastic bag and some old crackers. Students mashed the crackers with their teeth (knuckles), mixed it with saliva (water) to make mush, and after we swallowed the cracker it reached our stomachs where it mixed with stomach acid (baking soda and vinegar) and really dissolved. Then the cracker found itself in the small intestines which absorbed all the nutrients (a sponge), leaving a thicker waste product to venture through the large intestines. After snipping a hole in the corner of the bag, the cracker waste exited our bodies into the toilet (trash can!) – Everyone loved it and it was a lot of fun!

We will finish up with our units on multiplication and poetry this week, as well as complete our last body system unit of study. As we get close to closing out term one, lets keep working hard and be kind to one another.

Mrs. Leah