Gymnastics!

Dear parents,

Thanks for helping your gymnast remember what they needed to wear for Monday! I got to watch the end of their first session and they were having so much fun climbing, swinging, jumping, stretching and balancing. We have one more class with Mary Ann this Friday, so please again remind your gymnast to come prepared with their shorts and t-shirt under their normal clothes. Mary Ann appreciates that we wear our masks in the gym. I will provide these to anyone who needs.

We are working on a multi-step art project. We first talked about texture and looked for interesting textures around our classroom. The brick walls and the holes on the filter were particularly great for our project. Using these, and my (heavily recycled) collection of different items with texture, we filled 3 big pages with texture rubbings in lots of colours. The next day, we used these pages to cut out the pieces for a collage. Many are animals - lots of dinosaurs - which look great with a variety of textures and colours. We might do a little writing about our collages as a final step.

In Science, we are continuing with some deeper looks into different kinds of energy. We know that the Sun is our most important source of energy, and that in addition to it's role in creating wind (see previous post), it provides us with light and heat energy. We did a little experiment warming and cooling the air in an otherwise empty bottle and watching a soap bubble grow or shrink, showing how heat can make things move. Stay tuned for another cool heat energy experiment! We've also looked at several solar-powered toys which the kids were really interested in. The kit to build them was purchased at Dollarama a while ago, but maybe they are still available, if you'd like to build one at home.

We've also talked about how the Sun can be dangerous. We brainstormed ways that we can protect our skin, as demonstrated below. I also gave each student a UV bead bracelet, which they surely showed you immediately. These cool beads start out clear and change colours when exposed to ultraviolet light. We wore our bracelets out to recess yesterday and they immediately went blue, purple and yellow. The kids screamed with excitement, and then promptly ran back into the safety of the shade! It would be neat to wear this bead outside on a cloudy day and prove whether you can still get a sunburn on a cloudy day.

In math, we have been doing some problem solving every day. We have continued to develop and share helpful strategies for showing our mathematical thinking. These have included drawing a neat picture or diagram of the problem, labelling with numbers, crossing off, circling groups, adding numbers one at a time using facts that we know and most recently, we learned how to turn a repeated addition into a multiplication. That strategy is pretty advanced, so it is to be used with caution (I've joked that it is hot to touch, which the kids think is funny).

Before we complete this unit and I do a final check-up, I thought you might like to see how problem solving is going, in case you'd like to practice similar stuff at home. Soon, I will send home a math problem we did that I've marked using a rubric. The rubric explains in detail what I am looking for, and what we've been focusing on. It's important to remember that it's not just about how high we can add, even though those computational skills are excellent to have. 

During literacy centre time, I've been able to read a short book with each child, which gives me a good idea of what we need to focus on next. I'm so happy that many readers are using strategies such as looking for words or phrases that repeat, and sounding out parts of words. I hope the words of the week are making it home, and that RAZ-kids isn't getting boring. It really is so helpful to review just a little French regularly at home. Please let me know if you would like hard-copies of books, or some different books to read.

Despite some chilly weather, we've been having lots of fun at recess and enjoying all the space we have to run and play. For a few days, a big group from our class was working hard near the baseball diamond to create a "chocolate river", which they managed to extend all the way to the fence. Thanks for sending rain pants to help make recess fun in the dreary weather!

See you soon,

Tamara

Freedom!

Happy Spring! What perfect weather for the first 2 days back at school!

I hope you had a wonderful week off from school. I got in lots of cuddles with my little guy, who turned 2 on Saturday! Time flies!

Monday was very exciting as it was the first time in 2 years that students did not have to stay in their zones during recess. What a thrill to watch everyone running across the entire field, playing with long lost friends and just having a ball! It was like the gum commercial (know the one?).

I want to recap a few of the lifted regulations and what this means for us.

1) No more papers in the morning - so easy! We assume, as has always been the case, that if you are at school you are well. Please continue to check-in with your child in the morning about how they are feeling before coming to school and continue to follow isolation guidelines.

2) Masks are no longer mandatory. I've been asking students to have a conversation with you about what feels right for your family. Many of us are still choosing to wear our masks inside, as I am (though I am enjoying some lovely fresh air on my face outside sometimes now). If you would like your child to continue wearing their mask indoors, and would like me to remind them of this, please let me know. Otherwise I am trusting that they are doing what you've discussed at home.

3) During recess, we can play anywhere in the school yard, and with friends from other classes! Students must meet me back in our home zone promptly at the end of recess. This means stopping something that might have been fun, but it's important as we are all spread out across the school yard, so it would take me forever to go find everyone. Having SO many new options at recess has brought up a couple issues which we have been discussing as a class. First, it's super hard to find people once you get separated outside! In order to not feel alone in the school yard, I have suggested making a plan in advance. We can talk to people at the end of one recess, or once dressed and in line to go out. Make a plan for what you want to play, and where to meet. Another tip I have shared is to set boundaries for your game. For instance, if playing hide and go seek, decide to only play in the woodchips area. This will make the game quicker and easier (if that's what you want). A second problem that I noticed is that we no longer have a really safe place to leave belongings outside. Many of us have been leaving bags and lunches in our home zone when they go off to play elsewhere. This is a good plan, so long as we remember that the teachers on duty are watching people, not bags! Please make sure that there is nothing of value (home toys, money) in backpacks... just in case. 

Parents, I would really appreciate you asking your student how this new recess routine is going for them. Review these expectations and tips, or perhaps you have some other advice that could help your child have a great recess. It's been super fun, but we are working out the kinks!

We had a nice windy day to test homemade pinwheels yesterday. We were talking about wind energy and learned how the sun helps create wind by warming the air and acted this out with our arms, showing warm air rising and then falling with cool air rushing in. The scientists were so excited to make their own moulin and test it outside. Many of them were spinning SO quickly in the wind, and it got even more exciting when all the pinwheels that had been returned to the bin suddenly flew away and we had to chase them down!

Yesterday, more of our students also got to recite poems on the morning announcements. I will get those audio clips onto Google Classroom for you!

We've jumped right back into problem solving in math and are learning some more advanced strategies, such as doubles+1 and turning repeated addition into a multiplication (some students are ready). Students are also showing me their own strategies for clearly explaining their thinking, such as circling groups. Great work!

One last reminder for now - you have received an email about Dewson's gymnastics unit, which is in progress. This is SUCH a fun unit - the gym is set up with climbing equipment, tumbling mats, balance beams and more, and our former gym teacher, Mary Ann, is back to lead these classes. Our 2 periods are next Monday the 28th and Friday April 1st. Please mark these days so that you can remind your student to dress for this. We need some bare skin to properly grip the equipment. Shorts and a t-shirt is ideal and having it under our regular clothes will allow us to change quickly in the gym. Long hair must also be tied back. Can't wait!

Happy March Break!

Dear families,

Happy March break! I've been hearing about all the fun activities you have planned! Before we left, we made sure to tidy up our desks and cubbies, and almost everyone brought their indoor shoes home in case they need them. It's also a good time to make sure they still fit!

Below is some light reading and pictures to enjoy over the break!

In French recently, we have been working through some language centres. Currently, these include listening to reading, word work (magnets and stamps), learning to type, assembling a story and reading with Madame. We have one more rotation to do after the break and then we will likely do one more set of centres, so that I have time to read with everyone individually. Many students have been excited to get their turn on the laptops. If they liked the learn to type game, it can be found linked to our Google Classroom, so they can continue working through the levels. 

(ancient but fun technology!)

Another fun thing in language is that we have continued to learn more and more poems, and we have been given the opportunity to recite some on the morning announcements!! Several groups from our class have, or will be doing this, and have been practicing in class and even at recess. The first two groups that presented this week did a fabulous job, and I will put the audio recording on Google Classroom. Bravo mes amis!!!

In math, we have been working communicating our thinking during problemn solving. Sometimes we can do the math in our head, but our math curriculum is not only about how high we can add, but also how we can communicate our mathematical thinking. We have been sharing strategies for doing this and are naming them after people that use them extra effectively! Some of our strategies are to draw a picture, show the numbers that go with the picture, cross off for subtraction, and add numbers that make 10 first.

In science, we worked on sorting all kinds of things that move or turn on into categories based on where they get their energy. The kids really had fun sorting some of Wales' funny toys!

Now we are taking a look at some energy sources in more detail. We started out talking about ourselves, and where humans get energy. We created energy chains to track our food sources right back to the sun, and we learned that the sun is the most important source of energy that we have. We created our own energy chains in our science duotang showing what we learned.

In visual art, I was impressed yet again with the plasticine art we did. We watched some tutorials by artist Barbara Reid, who has made incredible plasticine illustrations for many books (one of which we read in class), and written how-to book about it. We talked about her techniques and the order of steps that she follows. I also cut out some animal outlines in case students wanted to try her technique of tracing an animal shape into their background. 

Our artists were inspired by all the examples they saw her make, and did their versions of animals in nature, outer space pictures, even the Northern Lights! They are SO well done, and I will do my best to get them home without damage. Our thumbs were so sore after all the smearing required to create the background!

Mr. Lee has been busy with our class too! He has been working through a health unit on the human body, and I've gotten to be around to see the kids building skeletons, learning about their brain and doing some cool experiments with Mr. Lee. Of course, he even took them to the park this week, with the help of one of Dewson's former (outstanding) gym teacher Mary Ann. Merci!

this skeleton has a baby

This week, the Ontario Science Centre offered a livestream about insects. We got to see live stick insects, silk worms, huge cockroaches and others. We learned about where they live, their characteristics, what an exoskeleton is, and lots more!

We finished our week with an optional PJ or green day and some free choice centres!

See you all on Monday the 21st! Have a fabulous week!