Working Hard

     This last week, students were highly engaged in mathematical thinking as we completed adding and subtracting integers, and began exploring percentage. Students are conceptually exploring how decimals, fractions and percent are connected through meaning and interpretation, while the forms (way we symbolically represent and write them) are different. Following our winter break we will investigate ratio and then begin to abstractly and concretely work with the conceptions of geometrical transformations. 

    Our investigation into the trees and the levels of a forest also concluded this week, and we are looking forward to learning about sky science after the winter break. This week students were challenged to use a tree cookie to explore their own historical timeline, and connect events to how the experience impacted their 'story' through abstract drawing of tree time rings.

    With regards to social studies, we are still building our background knowledge of the historical events leading up to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As the week progressed we began looking at the seven key areas of the Charter and explored how to apply the four pillars of democracy to various situations currently relevant in our world today. Students are also discussing and finding evidence of the fundamental differences between what a right and freedom mean. This coming week we will be having an MLA join our class on Tuesday, December 15th, to continue to help us explore and understand how connected our actions, living and choices are within our democratic society and processes. Tuesday's class meeting will begin later than usual, at 10:30 am, to accommodate the schedule and visit of our guest MLA.

    In literacy, we have been continuing to explore figurative language, increasing our skills in communicating with group members to collaboratively generate responses to questions and problem solve. This coming week, we will begin our work with narration as we explore the Grinch more closely.

    This coming week, there is a music research and appreciation project we are asking students to engage in. The main goal is to have students interact with their Learning Coaches, and develop a presentation to be shared following winter break. This is the beginning phase to a larger project we have designed to help students learn the principles of music.

    Hopefully you have been watching your child being more active at home through yoga and dance over the last couple of weeks. We will continue with our work in yoga this coming week. This coming week, students will also have some seasonal art choices to work through, and we are hoping that they will be stretching or dancing to background music as they create.

Thank you for all that you do! I value and appreciate your efforts, time, and perspective. Thank you!!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Easton

Thinking Deeply

    Thank you for all of your efforts to meet during Student Conferences this last week. It is an absolute pleasure to be working with your children, and learning along side them. Thank you for your continued efforts and patience as we all learn how to support and work within online learning. Thank you!!

    Thank you for you patience with Mrs. Matikainen and my myself as we recognized the need to help support student partner and small group work, and thus shifted our class meeting times to include only a morning class followed with an afternoon drop-in. The afternoon drop-in has been very successful for partners to get together and collaborate, as well as for students to share their thinking and ideas to get feedback from each other, as well as from me. The afternoon drop-in sessions are also well attended. Thank you for your flexibility and supporting us as we learn the best ways to help engage students, and build student relationships.

Mathematics:

    Over the last couple fo weeks, students have been engaged in learning mathematical concepts through definition work and mind mapping the ideas into each other. As we began our integer work this week, there was ad deeper level of understanding, as the question students asked were more specific and aimed at understanding the idea rather than focusing on the procedure of how to add and subtract integers. I am excited to see how students are able to breakdown and build up numbers this coming week. By the end of this next week, we will begin an investigation into percentages, which will involved fraction and decimal work. As a class we will then explore what ratio means and is, before we revisit multiples, factors, prime and composite numbers before the winter break.

Science:

    Our tree and forest investigations will be wrapping up as well over the course of this coming week. This last week, students explored tree rings and how to find evidence of environmental impacts within tree cookies. We will be exploring the form, function, and variations of leaves this week before we wrap up the unit with a unit test. Students have been researching and learning about the levels of a forest, the interactions between living and non-living members of forests, as well as the processes of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchanges within photosynthesis. Throughout this unit students have worked on developing their scientific drawing skills, observational skills, and how to run small experiments.

Social Studies:

    We have begun, in earnest, to build understanding of the significance of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While some Learning Coaches have observed students losing focus during these discussions, Mrs. Matikainen and myself are trying to build up to a project for students to investigate without their need to research overly complex historical concepts. Thank you for your patience as we work through this background knowledge. We are however, beginning to layer in the reason and need for democracy as we explore conflicts and tensions which led to the Charter's creation. Following the winter break, we will be more thoroughly examining the levels of government.

Literacy:  

    In literacy, we have been playing with parts of speech and figurative language through music lyrics, song writing (from the view of advertising), and poetry. Our students are producing some very complex, highly generative and imaginary pieces of thoughtful word selections. We will begin to explore dialogue and narrative writing as we move into and through the winter break. 

Physical Education:

    Over the last two weeks, students have been learning and exploring movement through dance. This last week, students have been asked to create a dance sequence. I am super excited to see their creations. This coming week, students will be exploring the stretching and muscular strength development offered through yoga. Mrs. Matikainen and myself are also trying to build in movement breaks within our Google Class Meets, to help students explore and build healthy ergonomics and posturing while working online, but to also help refocus student thinking.

Music and Art:

    This last week, students explored the style of Keith Haring, to help draw movement within drawings. Through dancing in gym and our figurative language work, students have been exploring different genres of music and experiencing the effect music can have on movement and thinking.

Thank you, once again, for all that you do!

    Sincerely,

    Mrs. Easton