January 31, 2017- Shopping at the "Buffalo" Market

Agenda:

Read 30 min
Report cards sent home today- please bring back envelope signed

Homework: math mystery due Thursday, practice multiplication facts
Wear good gymnastic clothes for the week
Winter Walk tomorrow- be dressed to go outside

What did we do today?

• In math, Ms. Jones read us a book called Moira's Birthday.  While she was reading, we had to listen to where there could be fractions.  After, we had to work on an activity where we had to draw fractions using different shapes.  Some of us continued to work on a heptathlon project we started a few weeks ago.
• In gym, the gymnastic equipment was set up.  We explored the box horse, benches, the ramp and the ladders.
• After recess, we were able to continue working on our art from yesterday.  Mr. O also showed us how to do shading to make our hands and arms look more 3D and realistic.
• In Daily 5, Ms. Jones is keeping track of our work in a different way.  We have a chart to put stickers on when we are working on and when we have finished an activity.  We also had book exchange.
• At the end of the day in social studies, we got to label the parts of a buffalo that the Blackfoot people used, and what they made out of each one.

Questions:
1. What will we be doing in gymnastics tomorrow?
2. What other animals did the Blackfoot use?

January 30, 2017-Artistic Illusions

Agenda:

Read 30 min
Report cards go home tomorrow

Homework: math mystery due Thursday, practice multiplication facts
Wear good gymnastic clothes for the week
Winter Walk Wednesday- be dressed to go outside
Library tomorrow

What did we do today?

• In math, we finished our brain stretch which we have to estimate first before answering the question.  Then we practiced our ninja skills and Ms. Jones introduced us to our math case.  We have to CUBES the problem, draw a picture, solve it and write a sentence answer to get full marks.
• In gym, we set up the mats, then we practiced different balances, weight transfer movements, partner tricks and jumping and landing skills.  At the end, everyone was assigned a jump to do on the jumping and landing station.
• In science, we continued to work on our Great Trash Bash journal.  Ms. Jones showed us how to write in paragraphs and did an example to show us what we need to have in our work.
• After science, Mrs. Wilkens talked about the Space Invader villain and instead of pushing through people, you should look at people's faces to see if you are too close.
• In Daily 5, Ms. Jones showed us what she is expecting with our word work.  Then we started a choice if we were not in guided reading.
• At the end of the day in art, we got to start an illusion art project.  Tracing our hand, we had to add lines to it to make it look 3D.  We also have to choose a cool or warm colour scheme.

Questions:
1. How will our art projects turn out?
2. When will we change table groups?  Will any of our group members stay the same?

January 26, 2017- Learning in our pjs!

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: practice multiplication facts
Fresh Air Friday tomorrow- please dress to be outside.

What did we do today?

• It was another social studies morning. When we finished the centers we would go over our work to make sure we documented all the details.  We then got a picture of a buffalo.  We had to read what the Blackfoot used the buffalo for and where it came from.
• In gym, we continued practicing different weight transfer, jumping and landing and balancing skills.  This time we added partner tricks to every station except the jump and land one.  One partner trick was called the piggy back, another was the partner push up.
• In music, continued doing what we started yesterday.  At the end of the class, we played The Wheels on the Bus as a whole class.
• For computer lab, we went back onto IRIS and we wrote why what we took a picture about was our favourite work.  After that, we went onto a site called Dance Mat Typing.
• In Daily 5, today was our last day to finish our activities.
• Today in science, Mrs. Wilkens read us a book called The Great Trash Bash.  While she was reading, we had to think of ways we can reduce garbage at school and at home.  We also started to write some stuff in our journals about the book.

Questions:
1. What type of stuff will we do on the equipment next week?

January 25, 2017- Do you want it or need it?

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: Daily 5 activities, no math mystery this week, practice multiplication facts
Fun lunch and pajama day tomorrow- wear your pjs to school!

What did we do today?

• We did social, social and more social studies. Traveling to different artifact centers, we decided whether each artifact was a want or need to the Blackfoot.  Then on a lined piece of paper, we had to draw a sketch, record the name of the item, write down what it was made of, and listed the uses for them.  
• In gym, we continued practicing different weight transfer and balancing skills.  This time we added a jumping and landing station, where we got to jump from a height onto the crash mat safely.
• During health, we had to finish our Glassman moments, and we had to go back and check if we had a strategy to use if it happened again.  Then we shared some strategies in the learning commons.
• In music, we had to learn a two or three chord song like The Wheels On the Bus.  Once we mastered it, we had to record it as a video and put it in Ms. Stephure's dropbox.  We then as a class played Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• At the end of the day in Daily 5, we worked to complete our Daily 5 activities for the week.  Ms. Jones went over her expectations of what she would like to see for the Work on Writing activity.

Questions:
1. How many of the artifacts will be considered a need or a want?

January 24, 2017- Special Artifacts

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: no math mystery this week, practice multiplication facts
Wear good gymnastic clothes for the week
Fun lunch and pajama day Thursday

What did we do today?

• In math, we finished our estimation activities and our brain stretch from yesterday.  If we finished those, we went on Mathletics.
• For gym, we practiced our Daily Dozen warmup to stretch and strengthen.  Then we moved around the gym to try a number of balancing and weight transfer centers.
• For buddies, we helped them get onto IRIS.  We helped them with typing out a goal. If they were done, we could go onto Starfall.
• After buddies, we logged into IRIS and we imported a picture showing our favourite piece of work this term.
• To start the afternoon we worked on our Daily 5/ language arts centers.
• At the end of the day in social studies, we got to check out special Blackfoot artifacts from Fort Calgary.  We have them for two weeks!  We started to discuss wants and needs and pretending we were a Blackfoot, we had to decide if each artifact was a want or need to survive.

Questions:
1. No time today.

January 20, 2017- Blackfoot Plant Hunt

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: practice multiplication facts


What did we do today?

• We had the opportunity to read while we waited for everyone to get in and be ready.
• Today we went out into the Whispering Woods as ethnobotanists!  With a folder with plant pictures and information, we were tasked with matching the plant with symptoms we were given on a separate card.  We then had to do a sketch in our journals and write three things it would help cure or do.  We also had to map where we found each plant on our Whispering Woods map.
• We learned that most of the plants, such as buckbrush and the wild rose, helped with a sore throat and can be made into teas. We can use buckbrush berries to create soap to wash clothes and you can use the powder off of a trembling aspen as a natural sunscreen. The pulp inside a trembling aspen can be used to cure snow blindness.  

Questions:
1. What other plants could be used to cure a sore throat?
2. Which plant can you use to make a canoe waterproof?
3. How many different indigenous groups live in Alberta?
4. Will we do this again next Friday?  Will it be done differently?
5. What is the most common plant or tree in the Whispering Woods?
6. Will we be making any of the remedies from these plants?

January 19, 2017- Math Marathon

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: practice multiplication facts
Dress to be outside tomorrow in the Whispering Woods

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we worked on our estimation skills by estimating on given word problems.  If we finished, we got to go on Mathletics.  We had math before and after gym, as well as for 20 minutes after recess.
• In gym, we played two games.  First we played a mini game of volleyball.  Then we played a game called bump ball, where we were only allowed to bump the ball after it was served over.
• In music, we kept practicing our ukelele songs.  Then we got into groups and we practiced a new way to strum the strings.
• During Daily 5, we had an extension of time, because we did not get much time yesterday.  We had time to finish our art, and to work on our weekly activities.  We have to have six done by next week.
• At the end of the day in social, we had to answer two questions about non-renewable and renewable resources.  We learned about different energy sources that do not use fossil fuels.  One Hudderite colony in Viking uses methane gas from pigs...talk about piggy power!

Questions:
1. What other energy sources do people use in Alberta?
2. Which natural cleaning product was used the most in class when we were creating our cleaners?

January 18, 2017- Rainbow Ukeleles

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due tomorrow, estimation sheet due tomorrow, practice multiplication facts

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we worked to finish our estimation sheets.  Grade 3's had to estimate addition and subtraction problems while the grade 4's had to finish multiplication and division equations.  After gym, we got to try out the estimation soccer game if we finished our work in class.
• For gym, we had to get a partner and we had to set and bump against the wall.  We also played a volleyball game and we had to choose whether we were going to bump it back over the net or to catch and set up a play.
• After recess we had science.  We went over to room 5 and Ms. Cowdy showed us some pictures she took from the Whispering Woods last Fresh Air Friday during our producer, consumer and decomposer scavenger hunt.  After we got to add a fact to our title pages about what we learned from Green Calgary yesterday.
• In health, we got back into our groups from the previous health class and we worked on our Superflex vs the Glassman assignment.
• Because we didn't finish our art projects on Monday, we continued working on our food chain collages.  The ones that got finished today are now up on our bulletin board.  We continued our art class into our Daily 5 time as well.  If we finished early, we worked on a Daily 5 choice.
• During music, we practiced our C, F and G chords.  We also learned and practiced a song called Alice the Camel Had Five Humps.  The school has bought some new ukeleles and they are very colourful!  

Questions:
1. Which environmentally friendly household cleaner will we make in class?
2. What animals did we miss from our food chain collages?

January 17, 2017- Nature Friendly Chemistry

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due Thursday, practice multiplication facts
We have a special visitor coming from Green Calgary tomorrow afternoon
Treat Day tomorrow- bring 25¢

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we worked on our division brain stretches.  Then we worked on an activity where we had to estimate to solve about how much a given operation should be.  After gym, we got to try out the estimation soccer game Ms. Jones showed us last week.
• For gym, we practiced settting and bumping by doing ten of each against the wall.  We also played a game called fish in the sea, where we had to serve over the net.  If your ball didn't go over, you would sit on the other side and try to catch a ball.  Lastly, we played a mini game of volleyball.
• After recess we had buddies.  We helped them get onto Photobooth and take pictures. Then we helped them save the pictures onto our buddies' Network Drive.
• In social studies, we finished a point of view activity on whether fossils should be protected or should they be collected and sold for money.
• A special visitor from Green Calgary came today and she talked to us about how some cleaning products we find at the grocery store can be dangerous to our health and the environment.  She gave us ingredients that we could mix together to clean a number of items.  These included a toothpaste splattered mirror, a dirty piece of hardwood, a piece of carpet with a coffee stain and a dirty cookie pan.  Some ingredients we used were: vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, baking soda, castile soap, hot water, cold water and borax.
• At the end of the day in Daily 5 we worked on our activities.  We also cleaned out our book boxes and had library.

Questions:
1. How many people will make a different cleaning spray at home?  Will their parents use them?
2. Did you know that Windex tested itself for being environmentally friendly?

January 16, 2017- The Art of the Food Chain

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due Thursday, practice multiplication facts
We have a special visitor coming from Green Calgary tomorrow afternoon
Treat Day tomorrow- bring 25¢

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we worked on achieving our Multiplication Ninja Belts.  We also went over last week's Math Mystery and were shown this week's.  It is about a camp cookout.
• For gym, we practiced setting against the wall.  After, we did a game, where we had the first person to catch it had to set it to a team member.  They would pass it to another teammate who would have to bump it over the net.
• After recess in science, we finished our biodegradability graph and Ms. Jones checked to see if we finished our home garbage audit.
• During health, we watched a Superflex video about Glassman, and how Superflex can defeat him/her.  We also partnered up and we talked about when we have had a Glassman moment.
• To start the afternoon in Daily 5/ language arts, we were introduced to our new work on writing center, which is on describing a setting and "painting a picture" the reader can see.
• At the end of the day in art we planned out a food chain of Canadian animals that included a producer and at least two consumers.  Once we showed Ms. Jones, we were allowed to collect construction paper to create our collage and we started to cut out our animals.

Questions:
1. What will our special guest talk about with us tomorrow?
2. What job title is our specialist?  Are they an environmental scientist or a chemist?

January 13, 2017- A Walk on the Wild Side.

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: science garbage audit due Monday, practice multiplication facts

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we did math.  We did an activity called Four Square.  We had to circle four numbers that were together on a grid that would add up to 200 and 500.
• After that, we went outside on a Waste in Nature scavenger hunt.  We had to find different types of producers, consumers and decomposers.  Some groups found garbage while others found natural waste.  Some of the things we saw and found were: rabbit tracks and poop, coyote footprints, mushrooms growing on trees, lichen on tree trunks, willow trees, a bird's nests, a Manitoba Maple and the Alberta Wild Rose.
• Lastly, we played the nutrient tag game again, but this time we added ominvores and the teachers were humans.  The humans would "chop down the trees" by taking away hoops with nutrients in them, so there wasn't as many to recycle.  They also made the space smaller to play in.  Because of this more animals died in the game.  We also learned how hard it is to live as an animal near humans. 

Questions:

1. Next Friday if we play this again, will the humans still be in the game, or are there more players to be introduced?
2. Which animal found it the hardest to survive?

January 12, 2017- Snowshoe madness!

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: science garbage audit due Monday, practice multiplication facts

Be dressed to go outside tomorrow to learn, as it will be Fresh Air Friday

http://www.abcya.com/estimating.htm

What did we do today?

• This morning in language arts, we finished our Too Good to Waste journals, so that Ms. Jones could look at them.
• In gym, we got back into our teams from yesterday and played a game of volleyball, focusing on controlling our bump passes.
• In math, we worked on deciding whether situations needed an estimate or an exact answer.  We were also introduced to a estimation soccer game, that we can practice at home.
• Today we tried out the new school snowshoes!  When we were running with them, the snow would fly up.  We walked around the field and naturegrounds and we looked at the grade 1/2 ice village.
• In music we kept on practicing with the ukelele, and we played a new song called Drip Drop, drip drop, splash!  We also had time to practice Row Row Row Your Boat.
• At the end of the day in science, we had to use a chart of biodegradability to estimate how long it would take a leftover hamburger, a t-shirt and a toy figurine.

Questions:

1. We ran out of time...

January 11, 2017- Is it biodegradable?

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due tomorrow, science garbage audit due Monday, practice multiplication facts

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQCz3Ygs568 (Too good to waste)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhv-Dv9h3J4  (how recycling is sorted)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4tEbAm3cCA (what is biodegradable)
We will be trying out the new snowshoes tomorrow, please be dressed to go outside.

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we were given a newspaper and we had to highlight numbers in two colours. One colour was for an estimated number and the other was for an exact number.  We shared some of the numbers we found. After gym, we were given different situations and we had to figure out if it needed an estimate or an exact answer.
• In gym, we practiced our setting and bumping passes in groups in a game called Countdown.  After that we played a mini game of volleyball, where we had to serve the ball over the net and the other team got to catch it and pass it two times before bumping it over.
• In science, we re-watched the videos we saw yesterday and we watched a new one about what is biodegradable.  Someone dug a hole and put different materials such as, glass, styrofoam, lettuce, aluminum foil, cotton cloth, an apple, paper and cardboard inside before covering it up.  After two weeks they returned to see what was breaking down.  We then got more time to work on our Too Good to Waste journals.
• Mrs. Wilkens put us in partners in health and we shared our Unthinkable situations with each other.
• In music we learned a song called Kookaburra on the ukulele.  We also learned two new notes on the ukulele- F and G.
• During Daily 5, we are working hard to finish our tasks for the week.

Questions:

1. What is our next word work and work on writing tasks going to be next week?

January 10, 2017- Too Good to Waste!

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due Thursday, science garbage audit due Monday, practice multiplication facts

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQCz3Ygs568
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhv-Dv9h3J4

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we were given a number in the hundreds on our backs.  We had to figure the number by asking questions.  Using that number, we then put ourselves around the room near the nearest hundred.  This was our introduction to rounding.
• In gym, we learned how to set, which is an overhead pass.  We played a game called SET, where we had to set to the wall and they had to return it.  We also learned how to serve underhand.  At the end we had a serving "shower", where we all served the ball at the same time.
• During buddies, we helped them get onto the computer to a site called Make A Flake.  They got to make a number of snowflake designs using scissors.
• In read aloud/ language arts, Ms. Jones read us two books, Little Red Gliding Hood and Stanley's Party.  We had to identify the story starters as an action, dialogue, a thought or sound.
• During Daily 5, we are working hard to finish our tasks for the week.
• At the end of the day in science, we watched two videos from the City of Calgary.  One was about the landfill and composting, and the other was about how the recycling is sorted. We started to journal about what we learned.

January 9, 2017- Curling Champions!

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: math mystery case due Thursday, science garbage audit due Monday, social timeline picture due tomorrow, practice multiplication facts


What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we had 20 minutes of reading because of the bad roads.  Then we worked on our multiplication ninja tests.
• In gym, we had a special guest, Leona from Rocks & Rings, to teach us how to curl.  We learned how to throw a rock and sweep.  We learned about the house, which has the button, the 4th, 8th and 12th, which are the rings we throw the rocks to.  Curlers sweep to clean the ice, to make the rocks go faster, to heat the ice to make the ice pebbles melt and develops a path for the rock to travel on. 
• In science, we did a classroom audit of our class garbage.  We sorted it into recycling, compost, refundables, landfill and paper towel compost.  Then we completed a chart with estimated percentages of how much those categories were of our garbage.  We will be doing one of these audits at home too.  We also got a poster sheet of what we can and cannot recycle at home.  If a plastic container has the number 1-7 on it, it can be recycled.
• In language arts, we finished our nutrient tag journals that we started on Friday.  We also worked on finishing our story starter activity for Daily 5.
• At the end of the day, we had time to finish our 50-200 million years ago timeline art.  We have to finish it at home for homework if we did not finish.

Questions:
1. Will we have another curling day? Next week or next year?
2. When are we going to start reading our next read aloud novel?
3. What will the results of the home garbage audit be?

January 6, 2017- We are environmental scientists!

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Curling residency Monday

What did we do today?

• As environmental scientists, we were given pieces of paper that we had to sequence to figure out the nutrient cycle in nature.  This is how natural waste in nature is recycled.
• After that, we had to play a game called Nutrient Tag.  We were assigned as either a producer, a herbivore consumer, a carnivore consumer or a decomposer.  The producers had a "nutrient" ball, which the herbivores needed.  The carnivores could take a nutrient ball away from a herbivore and a decomposer could take the nutrient ball away from a producer, herbivore or carnivore.  If a decomposer got a ball, they would put the nutrient ball in a hoop, representing that the nutrients went back into the soil.  They could then be picked up by the producers.
• When we came in, we wrote in our Fresh Air Friday journals about our part in the game.  We needed to make sure we used the proper science terms and sentence starters.

Questions:

1. Will our Fresh Air Friday next week be science related?
2. How many animals and plants survived, other than the decomposers?

January 5, 2017

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: science definition pictures, practice multiplication facts
Fresh Air Friday tomorrow- be dressed and ready to go outside to learn.

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, in math, we continued to work on and finish the math assessment we started yesterday.
• In gym, we played PASS back and forth to warm up.  Then we played a game called Forearm 21 where we had to bump to each successfully.  We got 1 point if we bumped after a bounce and 3 points if we were able to bump off the pass.
• After recess, we continued to work on our 50-200 million years ago timeline picture of Alberta.
• Today in music, we played the ukelele and we learned the g note.  We also had to answer questions about the ukelele.
• During our computer lab time, we had to delete old files and pictures and make sure our files were in our network drive, as our school server will be changing at the end of January.
• We chose an activity to complete on our passports during Daily 5.
• At the end of the day, we had to match five words to the definitions and draw a picture to help us remember the meaning.  The words were: garbage, decomposer, natural waste, producer, and consumer.

Questions:
We ran out of time today.

January 4, 2017

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: no math mystery this week, practice multiplication facts

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we worked on our first brainstretch of 2017 and we reviewed our math skills by working on a math assessment.
• In gym, we started our volleyball unit.  We played a game called Pass, where we had to bump the ball back to your partner against the wall.  If you let it bounce twice, your partner earned a letter.
• In math, we reviewed our addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills by playing ATTACK.
• After recess, we got a rubric to help us with our title pages for our new unit in science. We started writing what we already know in our KWHLAQ charts.(what you know, what I want to know, how am I going to find out, what I learned, what action will I take and what further questions do I have).
• In health, we wrote about our Topic Twistermeister moment.  We also watched the video Meet Doug.
• Today in music, Ms. Stephure introduced us to an instrument called the ukelele. She taught us different strings and how to play them.  We played the tune "Row, row row your boat" after.
• During Daily 5, Ms. Jones introduced us to another word work activity and went over her expectations for story beginnings.  They are action beginnings, using thoughts and feelings, exclamations and what the character might hear.  Then we worked on choice activities.  

Questions:
1. What was the most popular story starter chosen to revise in four new ways?
2. When will we play our first game in volleyball?
3. How many people will bring ukeleles to music?  What other songs will we play?

Happy New Year! (January 3, 2017)

Agenda:

Read 30 min

Homework: no math mystery this week, practice multiplication facts

What did we do today?

• At the start of the day, we had a class meeting where we were able to share what we did over the winter break.  Some of us skied, watched movies and a few were sick.
• In gym, we split the gym into two sections.  One half played hockey while the other half played a ringette game.
• In math, we practiced and tested our multiplication ninja skills, since we were not in school on Monday.
• After recess, we made our second timeline picture for Alberta, which is 50-200 million years ago.  We have to include a dinosaur found in Alberta, sand, water and animal/plant remains.  We also found out that the water during this time were becoming more shallow.
• Ms. Jones read a book called Bone Poems.  We also found out that we are born with 270 bones but some of those fuse together as we become an adult, so as a grown up, we will have 206.
• During Daily 5, Ms. Jones introduced how we can start our stories better.  We went over action beginnings, using thoughts and feelings, exclamations and what the character might hear.  Then we worked on choice activities.  
• At the end of the day in science, we were introduced to our new unit, Waste In Our World.  Ms. Cowdy showed us the different types of bins we should be using at the school- compost, paper towel compost, recycling paper and plastic and refundables, which is for juice boxes.

Questions:
1. What book will Ms. Jones read next for read aloud?
2. What drills will we be doing for our volleyball unit?
3. What will we learn about in our Waste in Our World unit?  What do we need to Rethink about   our garbage?