Grade four students begun their first week back after the fall break by reviewing their ongoing Writers Workshop projects. We also spent some time sharing and reflecting on what they enjoyed doing over our break. It sounds like everyone had a terrific break!
This week we introduced our new inquiry focus on Alberta's natural environments. We started by asking the students to fill out a "CSI" chart. "CSI" is an acronym for Colour, Symbol and Image. This activity accesses students first thoughts about our topic and gives us, as teachers, an idea of where the students are in terms of background knowledge of our province. The students will revisit this activity near the end of our study to see if their thinking has changed.
Throughout Friday morning, while our Innovate West participants toured, students engaged in another activity designed to gage their prior knowledge. They were given various photos of landscapes, resources and climates and asked to sort the pictures into 3 categories: Alberta, Not Alberta and Unsure. They used their laptops to take a photo of their charts to document their initial thoughts. Students were then asked to share in small groups and were able to make changes to their initial guesses. We will continue to use their "CSI" chart, as well as a picture of their initial picture sort to document their growth within this unit.
Reminder: Students have been asked to bring in one photo of themselves enjoying Alberta's natural environment(s) for Monday. Please ensure that your child's picture is labeled with a name and the location of where in Alberta it was taken.
This week we introduced our new inquiry focus on Alberta's natural environments. We started by asking the students to fill out a "CSI" chart. "CSI" is an acronym for Colour, Symbol and Image. This activity accesses students first thoughts about our topic and gives us, as teachers, an idea of where the students are in terms of background knowledge of our province. The students will revisit this activity near the end of our study to see if their thinking has changed.
Throughout Friday morning, while our Innovate West participants toured, students engaged in another activity designed to gage their prior knowledge. They were given various photos of landscapes, resources and climates and asked to sort the pictures into 3 categories: Alberta, Not Alberta and Unsure. They used their laptops to take a photo of their charts to document their initial thoughts. Students were then asked to share in small groups and were able to make changes to their initial guesses. We will continue to use their "CSI" chart, as well as a picture of their initial picture sort to document their growth within this unit.
Reminder: Students have been asked to bring in one photo of themselves enjoying Alberta's natural environment(s) for Monday. Please ensure that your child's picture is labeled with a name and the location of where in Alberta it was taken.