September- November Newsletter

Government: What questions or puzzles do you have about government?

To launch our first Social Studies units of thinking about Government and Government Relations, we used the Thinking Routine Think, Puzzle, Explore from Making Thinking Visible with our talk partner to activate our thinking about:

What do we think we know about government?

What questions or puzzles do you know about government?

How can we explore these puzzles or questions?

Here are our questions and puzzles we have about government to start driving our learning Government Popplet: What questions or puzzles do you have about government?

Math in the Real World

Today as a class we discussed and brainstormed some ideas in response to the question: What real life situation might the number 25 000 describe? 

Here are our ideas: 

-how much taxes you might need to pay (VV)

-how much miles your car has driven (AG)

-the number of stars (AR)

-relics at the museum (AC)

-number of green apples in 100 trees (NT)

-number of items in a shop (JS)

-an item that is 25 000 years old in a museum (SK)

-the number of germs in someone’s body (LH)

-how many people they have served at a restaurant (NK)

-volunteer hours (VV)

-how much garbage is in a dump, how many pieces (AG)

-the number of millimetres is the same as 2500 cm (LH)

-Youtube Subscribers (NK)

-25 000 pieces of Lego (SK)
-number of toonies produced in a factory a day (EB)

-25 000 views on a Youtube video (XL)

-how much feet a plane is in the air (AG)

-25 000 books in a library (JP)

-when you’re buying land or paying rent (AR)

-how much home loan you can get (VV)
-the price of a car (NK)
-number of people watching a leafs game in the stands or on television (LH)
- the population of a place, a small place or a community (LL)
-chili peppers for a chili pepper eating contest (AC)
- the weight of a car or truck in pounds (EB)
- the square foot of a mansion (AC)
- number of plants in a farm (MS)
-the winnings of a Lotto Max ticket (AV)

Reading: What is the Importance of Reading and How Can We Get Better?

As a class, we discussed why reading is important to us and how can we get better at reading. 

Here are our ideas! 

Importance: What is the importance of reading?

-expand your vocabulary (L and A) -helps you understand (S and F) - so you can get smarter (E and R) - to learn new languages and words (L and X) - to become a hobby and make you happy (E and A) - to improve your grammar (N and M) -to help you write better (V and H) -reading ingredients so that you’re safe (N and A) -read to help figure out the answers to daily problems (K and A) -to do book reports in school, to complete assignments (N and C) -to keep your brain active and working (A and J) -for your job when you grow up (L and A)

Getting Better: How can we get better at reading?

-visualize the book to help you understand better (N and M) - read a diverse range of genres (E and A, L and X)   - reread if you don’t understand something (E and R) - try to sound out and understand unknown words (A and L) - make predictions while you read (F and S) - read more challenging books (A and J) with guidance -read just right books for you so that you aren’t overchallenged (J and V) - use a dictionary to search up unknown words (N and C) - if you don’t know a word, you can ask for help (N and A) - by practising reading a lot (H and V) - if you don’t know what a sentence means, you can ask others to understand better (A and K) - read daily (C and K) - you can get better at reading through going to school (L and X) - by practicing connections, inferences and other reading strategies (L and A) -read longer books (E and A) -reading books above your level (N and M) -be alert and think while you’re reading (H) -ask questions while you’re reading so that you understand it more (R and E)

Thank You!

Thank you to the families who have completed and sent in their completed questionnaires and Welcome Packages this week.

To the families who have not had a chance to send them back to school, please complete them and send back to school ASAP.

Looking forward to Week Two!

-Ms. Stuart

September Welcome Back Newsletter

Welcome Back to School!

I am excited to get to know you and work with you this school year.
Please sign up to follow our Classroom Blog by email in the top right hand corner of the page to keep in the loop of events in our classroom and at CVPS.

September 2018 Welcome Letter 

Bittersweet Butterfly Goodbyes

Last week we had to say goodbye to our Painted Lady butterflies. We set them free in the park by the school. Our class had such mixed feelings on saying goodbye to them. Overheard while we were at the park, "Why do they have to go?" "We are like their moms and dads!" We learned that releasing the  butterflies will help to replenish butterflies in our community. They will find a habitat that is suited for them, find the nectar they need from the flowers and plants in the wildlife, and in turn create more butterflies! Thank you to Ms. Maunder for organizing this wonderful learning experience and arranging the kits from Lucy's Butterfly Farm in Apsley, Ontario, www.lucysbutterflyfarm.com

June Learning Goals

It's almost the end of the the school year! Check out what we will be focusing our learning in our classroom this month.

June Calendar

Fossil Hill Fun Fair!

May Calendar!

The Amazing Race Returrns to FHPS!

April Calendar

April Learning Goals!

April Learning Goals

Language:

• read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning

• identify and order main ideas and supporting details, using graphic organizers (e.g., characters, setting, problem, solution; a sequential chart: first, then, next, finally) and organizational patterns (e.g., orientation, complication and resolution)
• spell unfamiliar words using a variety of strategies that involve understanding sound-symbol relationships, word structures, word meanings, and generalizations about spelling
• use some appropriate elements of effective presentation in the finished product, including print, different fonts, graphics, and layout)

Math:

• solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of whole numbers to 18, using a variety of mental strategies (e.g.,“To add 6 + 8, I could double 6 and get 12 and then add 2 more to get 14.”)
• represent and explain, through investigation using concrete materials and drawings, division as the sharing of a quantity equally (e.g.,“I can share 12 carrot sticks equally among 4 friends by giving each person 3 carrot sticks.”)
• describe probability as a measure of the likelihood that an event will occur, using mathematical language (i.e., impossible, unlikely, less likely, equally likely, more likely, certain)
• describe the probability that an event will occur (e.g., getting heads when tossing a coin, landing on red when spinning a spinner), through investigation with simple games and probability experiments and using mathematical language

Social Studies:

• compare selected communities from around the world, including their own community, in terms of the lifestyles of people in those communities and some ways in which the people meet their needs (e.g., in northern Europe, people have homes that are heated and insulated, while in the Caribbean, houses do not need to be insulated and may have rooms that are open to the outdoors)
• describe some of the ways in which two or more distinct communities have adapted to their location, climate, and physical features (e.g., in Arctic Canada, where it is cold, people wear warm clothes made with fur and hide or insulated with down or fleece)

Dance:

• apply the creative process to the composition of simple dance phrases, using elements of dance to communicate feelings and ideas
• demonstrate an understanding of a variety of dance forms and styles from the past present, and their social and/or community contexts

Physical Education:

• using rolling and passing to send balls of different shapes and sizes to partners and to aim at different targets

March Learning Goals

March is already here! Click the link below to find out what we will be focusing our learning on in Room 109 this month.

What does it mean to be global?

We are starting our new Social Studies Inquiry Unit of "Global Communities". We will be revisiting the book "What Does it Mean to be Global?" written by Rana DiOrio. 

Let's Fly Jiya to Ecuador!

Former student and model global citizen Jiya Mehta presented at the February 28th assembly about

her upcoming Me to We Women's' Empowerment Volunteer trip to Ecuador. As a school, we will be fundraising to help her raise money for her trip. Our goal is to raise $1000 to fly Jiya to Ecuador. 

Members of the spirit committee will coming by daily after lunch to collect donations from students.  The students can then decorate their planes, put their names on them and put them up in the hallway outside of your classroom flying towards the world map at the front of the school.    

The fundraiser will run throughout the month of March. 

Students are asked for donations of $2.00, $5.00 or $10.00. 

Together we can fly Jiya to Ecuador FHPS! 

Scientists in the School Cancellation

Unfortunately the presenter for Scientists in the School was cancelled for today. We will let you know when the workshop has been rescheduled for. 

Thank you for your understanding! 

Ms. Stuart 

February Learning Goals

We have an exciting month up ahead in our classroom! 

Mixing Liquids and Solids Experiment

On Friday, we did an experiment to see what would happen to water when we mixed it with different liquids and solids. We mixed water with: soil, salt, oil and food colouring and observed what happened.