Bowling

Our last day of school began with a convocation. Students were recognised for displaying the attribute of a thinker. Congratulations to Titus for being selected by he classmates as a student who is a thinker. Theta house leaders treated the school to a fun house game. The challenge was to decorate one of the house leaders as a snowman. This game was enjoyed by all as the covered Mr. Monaghan, Mr. Browning, and Mr. Murphy in toilet paper and cotton balls. Well done to Kappa for winning this game. We also heard the result of this year's competition thus far. Zeta is in the lead, followed by kappa in second place, and Theta in third place.

Grade 4s were then off to Streetsville Bowl for an hour of bowling. We discovered is a terrible bowler, with the preferred technique of hitting one pin at a time. We observed that the more force you apply to the ball, the more force is transferred to the pins. The lanes were very slippery with reduced friction to help the balls move more. It was a great way to spend the morning and reflect on what we have learned about forces.

 

Back in class students wrote their list 19 spelling test. This test is coming home today. We continued with our language lesson about using the writing process to write a report about Newton or Galileo. Students continued with step 3 - Write and Rewrite. Students read the rough draft they wrote yesterday and used a checklist to evaluate and revise their work. Some had to do further research to find missing information. Some students have begun work on their second draft.

Students went off to their last gym class for the year with Mr. Browning.

We ended the day enjoying how the force if gravity  reduced friction because of the snow allowed us to speed down the hills on toboggans.

 Homework & Reminders

• Sign spelling tests coming home today
• School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
• Look out for a student newsletter coming home today

Have a wonderful break. See you in January

Christmas Concert

Our day ran quite a bit differently than usual today. We began the day with our language lesson. We are continuing with the steps in the writing process. Today we did step 2 - Think and Plan. Students took time to think about the purpose of their report. They put themselves in their reader's place and imagined a report they would enjoy reading. They then began step 3 - Write and Rewrite. Students were challenged to write a rough draft of their report. The focus was not on perfect spelling or paragraph, but just to get the report done quickly in one sitting. Students wrote on every second line of their pages, to allow space for revisions later.

At lunch time, we had a special delivery of cheese pizza right to our portable door. Several other students also brought treats to share. It was a yummy lunch time. Thanks to Carter and to all who contributed.

We then joined the rest of the school in the gym for our Christmas Concert rehearsal.

Students attended French class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Review list 19 spelling words for tomorrow's test
• Tomorrow is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert tonight
• Christmas Concert is tonight at 7 pm. Students are meeting me at 6:45 pm at the Kindergarten classrooms. After the concert they can be picked up from the kindergarten classrooms
• Thursday is a Spirit Day - wear green, red, and white
• Find our what your shoe size is for tomorrow's bowling trip
• Bring a toboggan and snow pants tomorrow (provided the snow doesn't all melt)

Slow Down!

Students wrote their unit test on Measurement in our math time this morning. In arithmetic they also wrote a test. There is no math or arithmetic homework assigned today.

In our forces unit, students were challenged to design and build something to slow the movement of a ping pong ball when it is dropped from a height. Students completed their design drawings and supply list. A few groups completed the construction of their design, building of the design, and testing. One of the groups had to come up with a new design when their original design did not slow down the ball's movement. Other groups ran into trouble with time management and could not attend gym class. This is all part of learning.

 

We were treated to a Bill Nye DVD about  friction which helped us further understand this force.

In language, students worked on their list 19 spelling words. Students who did not complete their spelling in class, will be bringing their spelling home. Students continued working on their report on Sir Isaac Newton or Galileo Galilei. Yesterday students completed their reading. Today their task was to use their reading to make jot notes. We discussed how writing fragments in our jot notes helps prevent us from plagiarising. We have now completed the first step of the writing process - read and gather.

Students attended French and gym class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Carter is treating the class to a pizza lunch tomorrow
• Review list 19 spelling words
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert is on Wed. Dec. 18 at 7 pm.
• Tomorrow is Casual Day
• Thursday is a Spirit Day - wear green, red, and white

Speed and Direction

We spent our math lesson time working on reviewing measurement concepts in preparation for tomorrow's unit test. Students are bringing home the review package in their test Duo-tangs today.

In arithmetic, we reviewed finding the common factor for two or more numbers. We also reviewed how to measure objects to the nearest inch. Students are asked to correct this question from last Friday's lesson as many had difficulty with this concept.

In our forces time, students worked in groups to list all the speed and direction words that they could think of that are caused by forces. Students also worked together to categorise all the forces we have learned about as being able to cause movement with or without direct contact with an object. They generated real-life examples for each force they categorised. We used the last few minutes of our lesson, to consider an experiment that students will be working on tomorrow. They have been challenged to slow down the movement of a ping pong ball when dropped from a certain height. Students have chosen a partner to work with. They got together to brainstorm ideas for their design. They may want internet time to do some research tonight to gather ideas and materials for their design.

In language, students worked on their list 19 spelling words. We plan to write this week's spelling test on Thursday. Students chose a person to write a report on today. They had the option of writing a report on Sir Isaac Newton or Galileo Galilei. Students had to complete the first step of the writing process today, by reading information from an encyclopaedia to gather facts. We had to look up some phrases we did not understand on the internet. We learned that q.v. stands quod vide and means go see. We also watched a YouTube clip about Isochronism and pendulums to help us understand what we were reading. Students found the text challenging and had to have a dictionary handy to look up words they did not understand.

Students attended French and art class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Review list 19 spelling words
• MMS p. Review for tomorrow's unit test
• Arithmetic p. 105 & 106
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert is on Wed. Dec. 18 at 7 pm.
• Wednesday is Casual Day
• Return trip letter and payment if you haven't  already. Bowling trip is on Thursday, Dec. 19
• Thursday is a Spirit Day - wear green, red, and white

Balancing Balances

We had our last measurement lesson this morning. This lesson was about measuring mass. Ask your student to define mass for you and to say which unit that they would use for a heavy or light mass. Students held various masses to help them estimate the mass of an object. They then used a balance to find the actual weight of an object.

In arithmetic, we reviewed measuring lengths to the nearest centimetre.

Our forces lesson tied in with our math lesson. We reviewed how movement results when forces are unbalanced. We found this to be true when using the balances. The heavier side of the balances dropped lower. Before we could use the balances, we had to ensure that the baskets were level, meaning that the forces on either side were equal. Students were given 6 objects. They estimated the order of the objects from lightest to heaviest. They then checked their predictions by using the balances.

 

 

In language, students wrote their list 17 spelling tests. These tests are coming home today. We finished up reading about the writing process today. Students will use this skill next week to write a report on someone who has expanded our knowledge about forces and movement.

We ended the day reading with our SK Reading Buddies.

 

Students attended French and gym class today.

 Homework & Reminders

• Sign spelling tests coming home today
• MMS p. 102 & 103. Review for the unit test on Dec. 17
• Arithmetic p. 103 & 104
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert is on Wed. Dec. 18 at 7 pm
• Return trip letter and payment if you haven't  already. Bowling trip is on Thursday, Dec. 19
• After-School Programs letters are coming home today

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Our math lesson began in the kitchen today. We learned that capacity is a measure of how much a container can hold. Ask your child to tell you the definition of capacity. Ask them which standard metric unit of measurement they would use for a large volume or a small volume. Students were given 4 containers of different sizes. They selected an appropriate unit of measurement and estimated the capacity of the container. They then filled the container and measured it using a measuring jug. We did practice questions later in the day.

In arithmetic, students learned that a common factor is factor that belongs to 2 or more products. Students practiced listing all the factors for two given products and circling factors that are in both lists to find common factors.

In language, we continued reading about the writing process. Students will be using these skills to write a report soon.

In our inquiry unit, we began our lesson watching a Bill Nye DVD called Gravity. The children enjoyed the humour in the DVD. It also helped us better understand how gravity works. After we watched the DVD, we discussed the hypotheses we made about the chicken and the truck yesterday and the hypotheses we made about the basketball, tennis ball, and ping pong ball. We already thought we had a problem with our experiment being a fair test. Ask your child what they learned today. Does gravity make heavier or lighter objects fall faster? What other forces are at play that influence the speed at which an object falls? We discussed how movement is dependent on whether the forces involved are balanced or unbalanced. To demonstrate this, we had a couple of rounds of tug-o-war. We noted that movement occurred in the direction of the stronger force. If the forces were balanced, there would be no movement and the tug-o-war would be tied. Students used scientific terms to describe what they observed.

Students attended French, art, and gym class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Review list 17 spelling words for tomorrow's test
• MMS p. 100 & 101. Review for the unit test on Dec. 17
• Arithmetic p. 101 & 102
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert is on Wed. Dec. 18 at 7 pm
• Return trip letter and payment if you haven't  already. Bowling trip is on Thursday, Dec. 19

 

The Truck and the Chicken

As usual we began our day with a math lesson. Today's lesson was about practising a strategy called "Make an organised list". We used a T-chart to help us stay organised. We used this strategy to solve problems involving money amounts. No MMS homework was assigned today.

In arithmetic we reviewed time concepts from minutes to a millennium. We continued working on finding factors for a product.

In language, students finished up their work on list 17 & 18 spelling words. We also continued reading about the writing process. Today we read a rough copy of a report on Cyrus McCormick. Students found places where information had been recorded incorrectly. They also found examples of plagiarism and came up with a way of relaying the information without copying the author's words.

In our inquiry into forces unit, we examined gravity and muscular forces. Students hypothesised whether a heavier or a lighter object would fall faster if released at the same time. We used the example if a chicken and a truck. Most thought the truck would fall faster because it is heavier. Others thought the chicken would fall faster because it is lighter. A few thought they would fall at the same speed. We tried to design an experiment to test our hypotheses using a basketball, a tennis ball, and a ping pong ball. It was hard to make the experiment a fair test. Students recorded their results, but we are not sure if our results can be trusted. Ask your child why this is. We next hypothesised which ball could be thrown further using a muscular force. Students worked in groups to test their hypothesis by throwing the balls and measuring the distance for their first bounce. Look our for a trip letter coming home today.

Students attended French and gym class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Review list 17 spelling words
• MMS: Review for the unit test on Dec. 17
• Arithmetic p. 99 & 100
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert
• Look out for a trip letter coming home today
• Sign all tests coming home today

Changig Shape, Speed, and Direction

We continued learning about money in our math measurement unit. Today's lesson was about making change. Students practiced making purchases and giving change using play money. They used place value subtraction and counting on to find the change. Students used estimation to check their work. Students then used these skills on practice questions.

 

In arithmetic we reviewed finding factors for a given product. Students have practised finding all the pairs of factors for a given product using skip counting and known multiplication facts.

In language, we continued working on list 17 and 18 spelling  words. We began a new language unit on the writing process. As a class we read about the writing process and reflected on how we used this process in our storytelling unit.

In our forces unit, students observed that a force can be used to increase and decrease the speed of an object, change the direction of an object, and change the shape of an object. We used a balloon to demonstrate this. Students worked in groups to change the shape of an object, make a toy car move faster, slower, and change direction. We ended our forces lesson by watching a DVD about forces.

Students attended French, art, and gym class today.

Homework & Reminders

• Review list 17 spelling words
• MMS p. 98 & 99, unit test on Dec. 17
• Arithmetic p. 97 & 98
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale now till Wed. Nov 18 ($.25-$5)
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last and full day of school. School begins on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)
• Food Drive continues till the Christmas Concert
• Christmas Concert

Magnetism

We started learning about money in our math measurement unit. Today's lesson was about estimating and counting money. We discovered that this is a skill we all need to improve on. Students looked at a collection of bills and coins (up to $50) and estimated the amount they thought was there. They then counted to find the actual amount. Students should begin by counting the biggest denomination working to the smallest. They played a banker game to practice these skills before working on practice questions.

In arithmetic we learned about factors for a given product. Students have practised finding all the pairs of factors for a given product using skip counting and known multiplication facts.

In language, we began working on list 17 spelling words and a review of the last few spelling lists. Students also wrote their language test on encyclopaedia use.

In our forces unit, students were challenged to use their knowledge of magnetism to separate paper clips from an assortment of objects in a cup. Students had to do this in 2 ways: by allowing the magnets to touch the paper clips and by not allowing the magnets to touch the paper clips. They showed their procedure and observations using labelled diagrams. We ended our forces lesson by reading a book called What does a magnet do?

Students attended French and gym class today.

 Homework & Reminders

• Review list 17 spelling words
• MMS p. 96 & 97, unit test on Dec. 17
• Arithmetic p. 95 & 96
• Study forces for tomorrow's test
• Support the grade 6 bake and toy sale this week
• Thursday, Dec. 19 is the last day of school
• Gala tickets are on sale after school ($10 for a child, $65 for an adult)

Magnetic and Static Electric Forces

We are making good progress with our measurement unit. Today we worked on finding elapsed time. Students chose 5 activities that they could do at an amusement park. They stated the start and end time, elapsed time, and traveling time between activities before beginning practice questions to show their understanding.

In arithmetic, students wrote a quiz. There is no arithmetic homework assigned for today.

In language, we completed our unit on how to use encyclopaedias. We also did review work on correcting run-together sentences, kinds of sentences, and conventions, Students will be writing a language test on Monday, Dec. 9. Language books are coming home with those who would like to review over the weekend. Students wrote their list 16 spelling test today. Tests are coming home today.

In our inquiry into forces unit, we learned about magnetic and electrostatic forces that push and pull. Ask your child to describe the fun activities we did in class to investigate these forces. Students completed a review sheet to prepare for Tuesday's test on forces.

 

The Annual SJA Gala takes places on Saturday, February 22. Be sure to record this date in your calendars. Tickets are on sale each day after school. Child tickets are $ and adult tickets are $75. If you purchase your ticket before the holidays, adult tickets are $65.

Students attended French and gym class today.

 Homework & Reminders       

·         Sign spelling tests

·         MMS p. 94 & 95

·         Language test on Monday

·         Forces test on Tuesday

Estimating Time

We continued with our measurement unit in math this morning. We took the first part of our math lesson time to complete yesterday's practice questions. We then began today's lesson on estimating time. Students sat for a minute to appreciate how long a minute was. Most said that a minute felt longer than they thought it would. Students came up with 5 activities we could complete in class. They estimated how long the activities would take to the nearest minute. They then completed the activities and compared the actual times taken to the estimates that were made.

In arithmetic, students worked on general review pages.

In language, we continued working on how to use encyclopaedias to gather information. Students worked from a sample to locate information such as: guide words, when  or where a person was born, cross references, and other information.

In our inquiry unit on forces, we reviewed the 4 types of forces we learned about in class yesterday. We then explored the forces that cause movement in our school. Students used a chart to record the movement that they observed and the forces that caused the movement. Students are getting more comfortable at identifying when there is more than one force acting on an object. We ended our lesson by reading What is a Force? by Jacqui Baily.

Students attended French and gym class today.

 Homework & Reminder

• Review list 16 spelling words
• MMS p. 92 & 93
• Arithmetic p. 93 & 94
• SJA Holiday Food Drive continues till Dec. 18
• SJA Annual Gala Tickets are for sale after school

Four Types of Forces

We continued with our measurement unit in math this morning. We reviewed all the time measures we discussed yesterday and finished off practice questions we did not get to in class. Today's lesson was about telling time. We reviewed the hands on an analog clock, and how long it takes them to move from one point to another on the clock face. We practiced telling time in different ways, example, 10:15 and quarter past 10.

In arithmetic, students continued with review work around linear metric measures.

In language, we continued learning about using encyclopaedias as a source of information. In today's lesson, we learned that headings help us to skim through text to find the information we need. Students practiced naming the appropriate heading for the information they needed. They also worked on list 16 spelling words.

In our inquiry unit on forces, we reviewed the definitions for a force and movement. We then read about 4 different types of force: gravity, muscular, buoyancy, and friction. We discussed these forces in further detail and students shared what they know about these forces. Students learned that there is more than one type of force acting on an object at one time. We read a book called Forces Make Things Move which helped us understand forces further. Students answered questions to show their understanding of the types of forces.

 Homework & Reminder

• Review list 16 spelling words
• MMS p. 90 & 91
• Arithmetic p. 91 & 92
• Child-Care Statements are coming home with some students today
• SJA Holiday Food Drive continues till Dec. 18
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are tomorrow
• SJA Annual Gala Tickets are for sale after school

Force & Movement

 

We began a new unit on Measurement in math today. We reviewed measurement concepts learned in grade 3. We focused on units of time today. We discussed seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, and millennia. Quiz your child on their understanding of these concepts. For example, ask, how many seconds in a minute? minutes in an hour? hours in a day? days in a week? days in a month? days in a year? days in a leap year? weeks in a month? weeks in a year? months in a year? years in a decade? years in a century? years in a millennium? decades in a century? decades in a millennium? centuries in a millennium?

In arithmetic, we continued reviewing metric measures of length.

In language, we began learning how to use an encyclopaedia as a source of information. Students learned that encyclopaedias are made up of volumes arranged alphabetically by topics. They also worked on their list 16 spelling words.

In our inquiry unit, we reviewed what we thought a force was yesterday. Students were challenged to use a force to move a box without touching the box. After some thought, students came up with various ways to do this. Ask your child to explain what some students did. We realised that a force is a push or a pull. We reviewed the pictures we looked at yesterday, and described each force we observed as pushing or pulling force. Students used their new knowledge to come up with a better definition for a force and for movement. Ask your child to define force and movement for you.

 Homework & Reminders

• Review list 16 spelling words
• MMS p. 88 & 89
• Arithmetic p. 89 & 90
• Return report card comments if you haven't already done so
• SJA Holiday Food Drive is ongoing till holidays begin
•  Thursday is Parent-Teacher Conference Day
• Thursday, Nov. 19 is the last day of school before the holidays
• SJA Annual Gala tickets are being sold daily after school

How the World Works

Our day began with a unit test on data management. In arithmetic, we learned about the metric measures of length. Students are starting to understand the relationships between mm, cm, dm, m, dam, hm, and km. We are also working on having students understand the size of these linear measures.

In language, students practiced spelling words in which the base words which ends in y changes when adding ed, es or ing: tries, carried, worries, buying, satisfied, relying, denies, copied, emptied, hurrying, cries, buries, multiplied, replies, supplied, drying, petrified, frying, applied, scurrying. Also in language we learned about maxims. Ask your child to explain what a maxim is to you. We read and discussed a number of maxims. Ask your child which one was their favourite and what it teaches us.

We began a new inquiry unit today. This unit falls under the transdisciplinary theme How the World Works. Our central idea for this unit is Forces causing and changing movement can have a significant impact on humans and the environment. We will examine this idea through the lenses of function and connection. Our lines of inquiry are:

 ·          Types of forces and their effects

·          How we can protect ourselves from harmful forces

We began this unit with a KWL chart to show what we already know about forces and questions we have about forces. Students worked with a partner to write and share their knowledge and questions with the class. Students then examined a number of images where forces were at work. They listed the consequences of forces that they observed. Once they saw what forces could do, students came up with a definition for force. These included:

• forces can make things move
• Forces can hold things up
• forces are invisible
• a force is a push or a pull
• gravity, friction, magnetism are forces

Students used this knowledge to generate questions to drive this inquiry unit: How do forces work? Is DNA a force? How were forces discovered? How do forces help people? How do forces harm people? Where were forces found? Who was the first person to discover forces? Why can't we see forces?

We look forward to learning more about forces tomorrow.

The SJA Holiday Food Drive is going to be running from Dec 2nd to the night of the Christmas Concert on Dec 18th.  We are collecting non perishable food items for donation to the Eden Food Bank.

After Tuesday's author visit, SJA raised $150 for our school library.  Thank you to all who purchased a book!

Students attended French, gym, and art class today.

 Homework & Reminders

·         Review list 16 spelling words

·         Arithmetic p. 87 & 88

·         Return report cards with parent comments - I will make a copy and return them to you

·         Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Thursday, Dec. 5

·         Food Drive  is on now till Dec. 19

·         Please note, the last day of school is Dec. 19. This is a full day of school. There is no school on Dec. 20. There is a Karate Camp option available on that day (Dec, 20) for those interested - contact Mr. Monaghan