December 20, 2017- Elf-tastic earnings!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, finish work for the movie tomorrow
• It's Polar Express Day tomorrow- wear comfy/ Christmas pajamas.  Make sure they are clean and that you keep your stuffy friends at home!
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school tomorrow afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Learned and Did Today:

• In gym, room 4 & 5 played snowball fight.  We used gym mats as forts which we tried to knock down while playing a revenge dodgeball type game.
• In music, we watched a video.  The video was about a song and we had to do the beat box noises the guy was doing.  Then we had to figure out the parts that the other group members in the video played.  We lastly played a Stella-Ella-Ola game.
• We finished the Great Elf Game today.  We were allowed to buy elves to help us collect trees and we had two opportunities to win the lottery.  We had to use mental math to figure out how much you made in a day and we used calculators to solve the sum of how much we made in the month of December.

December 19, 2017- Brought to you by The Polar Express...

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring settings page in if it is still at home
• Dress Like an Elf Day tomorrow- wear red, green, and white.  Or something shiny!
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school Thursday afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Learned and Did Today:

• Today we had our first day of Christmas Caroling!  We sang: We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Six White Boomers, I Want a Hippopotamus and Jingle Bells.
• In music, we watched a cartoon called a Garfield Christmas.  While we watched the movie, we had to journal about our favorite instrument and what the instrument we would invent.
• At the end of the day in Daily 5, we learned about what a simile and a metaphor is.  A simile compares two things using "like" or "as", while a metaphor tends to use the word "is".  Ask me about a simile or metaphor from the book The Polar Express.  We will need to write one of our own for our Polar Express re-write.

December 18, 2017- Happy Christmas Cards

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, finish settings pictures for tomorrow
• Christmas Hat Day tomorrow- wear a hat related for Christmas
• Caroling starts tomorrow at 9:00am. You are most welcome to join us!
• No school Thursday afternoon or Friday

The Top Three Things We Did Today:

• Today we helped our buddies make Christmas cards.  We guided them as they made thumbprint snowmen, we helped them with their writing inside their card and we helped them draw hats and arms.
• During computer lab, we had to nominate students who we think should be recognized at the next Coffin Cares assembly.
• In math, we played the Great Elf Game.  We had 12 elves we had to send to the nearby woods and the far away forest.  Depending on the weather, the elves brought the trees home.  This was determined by the roll of the dice.

December 15, 2017- A House Sparrow in a Wooden Hedge

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week: on Tuesday wear your Christmas Hats
• Christmas caroling Tues-Thurs morning from 9:00-9:30am.  You are most welcome to join us!

What We Did Today On Fresh Air Friday 

• Today we were citizen scientists and we went to Barrett Park and the green space by the school listening and looking for birds that are in the area.  We were able to observe three magpies, six black capped chickadees, two crows and one house sparrow.  We then recorded these on our e-bird accounts, which helps scientists know how many birds are living in the area and if their habitat is healthy or endangered.
• We also had a lesson on friendship, where we thought about what we need in a friend and how we could make that friend.  Some important qualities we are looking for are: respecting my space while I am working, someone that I can trust and someone who will help me when I need it.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We need to get our best elf selves ready for the Great Elf Game next week!

December 14, 2017- Guiding the little ones on the Polar Express

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• Fresh Air Friday tomorrow- please dress to be outside
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting until tomorrow
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• During Daily 5, we read The Polar Express again, this time listening for unfamiliar and juicy words.  After we got a sheet with some of those words and we had to find out the definitions for each one.
• We had buddies today, and we got to go the computer lab and guide them into logging into Mathletics.
• In math, we did our number of the day and then we solved some addition and subtraction problems to show Ms. Jones how well our skills have improved.  We also solved a couple of word problems.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We have to finish our word problems and Christmas Lights before the holidays!

December 13, 2017- Three important parts of music.

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• Library tomorrow- bring your books back
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In music, Mr. O'Reilly introduced three important parts all music should have.  They are pitch, melody and rhythm.  We had to make up songs that had all three parts to them and perform them to the class.
• After music, we had time to finish up our Grinch centers.  We learned what new words mean by looking at the clues around them.  These words included sneer, ramshackled and slunk.
• In gym, we started playing mini-games in hockey.  We had to pass and shoot the puck into our opponents nets.  The team names were: the Santas, The Green Trees, the Blue Elves and the Shooting Stars.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

We have to learn more about pitch, melody and rhythm so we can be more fascinated and understand a variety of music.

December 12, 2017- Welcome to the Polar Express

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, math (group a-pg. 70-71; group b-pg. 118)
• Treat day tomorrow- bring 25¢
• Spirit Days next week on Tues, Wed and Thurs
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In the afternoon, Ms. Jones read us the story The Polar Express.  We discussed what everyone would ask for if they were to receive the first gift of Christmas.
• Today in math, once we finished our subtraction work we got to work on an activity where we had to round numbers in Christmas lights to the nearest tens and hundreds.
• In science, we got to work on our light and shadow stations.  We learned that if you put something straight in water, it looks like it is bent because of refraction.  Refraction is what happens when light bends or turns.  When you point a laser at a mirror, it reflects in another direction.

What Do We Need to Do Next?

In science, we need to finish all our centers so we can finish our science unit.

December 11, 2017- Light and Shadow

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, math (group a-pg. 67; group b-pg. 112)
• Treat day tomorrow- bring 25¢
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• In gym, we started stations where we did different activities to practice our dribbling skills around objects, passing, face off and shooting skills.
• This afternoon in science, Ms. Cowdy introduced centers which we will be doing to complete our light and shadow centers before the break.  There are six centers: shadow puppets, learning about refraction, concave and convex lens, re-directing the path of light, breaking light through a prism and testing items to see if they reflect.
• In math, we learned how to subtract with 0's and how to borrow.  Ms. Jones showed us a way to subtract a number like 200 by subtracting one away from both numbers.  We also learned a new card game for subtraction called Take It Away.

December 7, 2017- It's SHOWTIME!!!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min
• Festive Evening tonight 6-8pm; make sure you are wearing brown if you are a caribou or moose, brown/ black/ grey if you are a squirrel, Flames jerseys if you are a hockey player and black/white if you are a puffin.
• PD day Friday- no school
• WE club campaign- Fill a Sock for the Drop In Center: we are collecting 
  • Gloves, mitts and hats
  • Lip balm and travel size toiletries
  • Cough drops
  • Travel mugs
  • Deodorant (non-alcohol based)
  • Brush and combs
  • Socks
  • Gift certificates (i.e. Tim Horton’s or McDonalds)
  • Chocolates and candy

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We had buddy time with our kindergarten friends today.  We helped them log into Mathletics.
• We watched the cartoon movie of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  We learned that the movie is not the same as the book.  Some differences we noticed were: the string to tie the antler on Max's head was black in the movie but red in the book, in the book the Grinch was going to dump the sleigh over the mountain top, and in the movie they meantion the Grinch's strength "grew 10 grinches plus two."
• In math, we worked on our subtraction skills and had to remember our borrowing skills plus what to do if the number beside was a zero.

December 6, 2017- How The Grinch Despised the Porcupine in a Pine Tree.

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test, practice song
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance, that includes: stuffies for cubs, squirrels need to bring headbands, puffins need recorders, Flames need jerseys
• Spelling test tomorrow
• Festive Evening tomorrow night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school
• Lunch Lady forms

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We had time to practice our math fact or reading skills on either Mathletics or Raz-Kids during our computer lab time.
• During Daily 5, we listened to the story How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  After that, Ms. Jones explained the centers we will be doing with the book.  We then organized our journals so that we can start them tomorrow.  One center is matching the verb tense with a certain word.  The word knows is a present tense verb.
• In gym, we played a game called Recycle where we had to dribble ball hockey balls away from our team's hoop.  We had to learn to work as a team to achieve the main goal.  The other we played was Hockey Hoopla, where we wanted to get as many of the ball hockey balls for points.

What do we need to do next?

We need to start our centers about the Grinch to develop our learning about verbs, rhyming words, and how to use context clues when reading unfamiliar words.

December 5, 2017- Loco for Coconuts!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test, practice song
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance
• Spelling test Thursday
• Festive Evening Thursday night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school
• Lunch Lady forms

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• We practiced our song for the Festive Evening and we also made props for our characters.  We learned that we still need to practice!
• In science, we stared into a classmate's eyes and saw how their pupils changed in the light and dark.  The iris will get bigger in the dark to let more light in to see, and it will get smaller when enough light is in the room.
• In gym, we played a game called Keep Away, where we had to practice having control of the puck/ floor hockey ball.  If we didn't, it would get knocked away.

December 4, 2017- Deck the halls with sounds of hockey sticks, fa la la la la!

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, study spelling words for spelling test
• Bring props for Festive Evening performance
• Spelling test Thursday
• Festive Evening Thursday night 6-8pm
• PD day Friday- no school

Top Three Things We Learned Today 

• Today in gym, we started our floor hockey unit.  We practiced ball handling skills and dribbling.  We also played a game at the end where we followed a leader.  If Ms. Jones yelled freeze and the follower could touch the leader's puck, they got a point.
• At the end of the day in art, we started Christmas Light piece using chalk pastels.  We smudged the colour to make the lights "glow".
• We brainstormed costume ideas for our performance Thursday.  We learned we can make animal masks using foam paper.

What do we need to do next?

We have to make our props for the Festive Evening celebration and practice our song.  In art, we are going to put our artwork up in time for Thursday night!

December 1, 2017- Partly Cloudy With a Good Chance of Chickadees

Agenda:

• Homework: Read 20 min, bring green spelling duo tang to school, please check with your parents to see if you are going to Festive Evening. 
• Festive Evening forms due Monday

What We Learned Today On Fresh Air Friday

• We went outside for a walk around the Whispering Woods and the school looking and listening for birds. We saw house sparrows, chickadees and magpies.  We also saw a flicker and a finch.
• Ms. Jones read us the book The Elf on the Shelf.  After that the Smartboard stopped working.
• We watched a five minute movie called Partly Cloudy.  It was to start a lesson about how to make friends.  We then went back to our desks and wrote about what we need in a friend.

What do we need to do next?

We have to talk about how I can make a good friend plus we have to enter our bird tallies into our e-bird accounts.