Fourth graders were very busy during their time in Humanities this week. Students have been dividing their time between our new First Nations Stories unit and their efforts in Reading, Writing and Inquiry into Spelling.
This week, students were asked to think about what kind of speller they are and to brainstorm strategies for spelling during their creative writing time. Classes will be spending much more time looking into spelling tips, tricks and tools while further developing the strategies they use.
Ms. Glinsbockel and Ms. Perry have been guiding students through their introduction into stories and first nations storytelling. To start our week, fourth graders shared artifacts brought from home that they felt made a connection to first nations people or stories. After sharing these artifacts, students then listened to 2 different stories, "The Drum Calls Softly" and "The Ledger-book of Thomas Blue Eagle". Students took notes and wrote down questions that they had as the stories were being played and read aloud. These questions were then added to a class question bank that will help to further guide our inquiry into First Nations stories.
*4.3 and 4.4 Humanities students were asked to take their binders home over the weekend to organize their pages and to allow parents to browse their work.
In mathematics and science the grade fours have been planning, designing, exploring and reflecting. Their work in mathematics had them relating new facts to existing knowledge through computation. Grade fours worked concretely to visualize multiplication and to work with the language of mathematics, like a mathematician. Students are beginning to explore strategies for multiplication facts and to apply them in their problems of the week.
In science students have reflected on their problems solving and collaboration during the trebuchet construction. The terminology of simple machines supported scientific discussion in their groups and trebuchet troubleshooting reflections. Their critical thinking skills continue to develop through design challenges and it has been impressive to hear how the students are communicating about their learning and problem solving.
We are continuing to document the growth of our tomatoes and have seen some significant changes recently. We are going to research what our next steps are to ensure we can grow tomatoes from space.
This week, students were asked to think about what kind of speller they are and to brainstorm strategies for spelling during their creative writing time. Classes will be spending much more time looking into spelling tips, tricks and tools while further developing the strategies they use.
Ms. Glinsbockel and Ms. Perry have been guiding students through their introduction into stories and first nations storytelling. To start our week, fourth graders shared artifacts brought from home that they felt made a connection to first nations people or stories. After sharing these artifacts, students then listened to 2 different stories, "The Drum Calls Softly" and "The Ledger-book of Thomas Blue Eagle". Students took notes and wrote down questions that they had as the stories were being played and read aloud. These questions were then added to a class question bank that will help to further guide our inquiry into First Nations stories.
*4.3 and 4.4 Humanities students were asked to take their binders home over the weekend to organize their pages and to allow parents to browse their work.
In mathematics and science the grade fours have been planning, designing, exploring and reflecting. Their work in mathematics had them relating new facts to existing knowledge through computation. Grade fours worked concretely to visualize multiplication and to work with the language of mathematics, like a mathematician. Students are beginning to explore strategies for multiplication facts and to apply them in their problems of the week.
In science students have reflected on their problems solving and collaboration during the trebuchet construction. The terminology of simple machines supported scientific discussion in their groups and trebuchet troubleshooting reflections. Their critical thinking skills continue to develop through design challenges and it has been impressive to hear how the students are communicating about their learning and problem solving.
We are continuing to document the growth of our tomatoes and have seen some significant changes recently. We are going to research what our next steps are to ensure we can grow tomatoes from space.