March Break!

Wow, what a busy week! We were trying desperately to finish our work in many different units so that we can start fresh after the break, as well as squeeze in some fun stuff! Here's some of what happened...

In Science, we wrapped up our unit on materials and structures by designing our own unique structures that serve a purpose. Ask your engineer what they designed. We also did some maintenance work on the stools we had made with Scientist Kathy and did another test to see if they could support the weight of a person. We discussed that testing each stool with a different person would not be a fair test since we are not all the same weight. Therefore, we chose one tester to sit on all 5 stools. Thankfully, all the stools were quite strong and she never fell to the floor! Ask your scientist why the one stool that didn't look as strong ended up working just fine (what shape was used to help support the legs?).

In math, we finished up our unit on adding and subtracting with our epic garage sale. We took turns selecting items and putting them in our shopping bags until everyone had all they wanted (or could afford). Then, students completed a worksheet outlining the money they were starting with, the items they had selected and their prices, what the total cost was and how much change they would receive, if any.

After the break we will probably do a few more open-ended adding and subtracting tasks to challenge students even a bit further before we move on to measurement. Our new math games are all centered around adding and subtracting and will be available for use during free time, or centre time, so long as we take care of them. Please do continue to play your own adding, subtracting and money games at home. This is something that we are really never done practicing, and these skills carry through every math unit and are super applicable to every day life.

In French, we have worked hard on our instructions this week and most of us completed the project, including making some corrections to our writing.

Even though some of us need to finish up after the break, we did our cookie decorating activity today. The decorators were instructed to bring home their cookie and eat it only with your permission since it's quite large and covered in sugar.

Next week is March break. I hope you have a great time and are able to relax a bit. Please try to keep up your reading routine, just like you don't take a break from brushing your teeth. I encouraged students to take a few extra books today, but there are also many links on this blog that will take you to French stories online. The public library is also a great place to visit! If you'd like to do a little more review and practice with your student, here are a few ideas:
- keep a journal of your daily activities
- review past words of the week
- write stories
- invent a new game and write instructions for it
- practice following a recipe
- work on your lines in the play
- work with coins (e.g., how many different ways can you make 20 cents?)
- give some adding and subtracting challenges (e.g., There are 5 people in our family, if we each eat 3 strawberries, how many will that be? - challenge your student to show you their strategy for completing the problem)
- talk about the changing seasons (What are some signs that spring is coming? What are the animals doing right now?)

Future Dates:
March 26th, the first Thursday back, is Junior Music Night. If you have siblings or friends in junior grades, they will likely be involved in the performance. I will also be playing the violin with the junior choir for one of their songs. Hope to see you there!
April 30, as you know, is our concert. Here we are in choir today!

We will have a special field trip on Friday, May 15th. Please keep that morning free of appointments if at all possible. I'd love to have everyone along. Details will follow closer to the date.

I hope you all have a wonderful March break. See you in a week!

Tamara