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

A New Thinking Adventures

Mathematical Thinking

    This past week has been full of exploration and deep thinking. As a class we have joined Mrs. Matikainen's class throughout the week to explore mathematics. We posed mathematical questions and wonderings to help students make conceptual connections within their own understanding of mathematical terms. Within our number inquiry, we have been developing an increased awareness of what whole numbers and natural numbers are, with side investigations into integers and fractions. The goal is to develop an integration of how these ideas and terms are all connected and nested within each other. It has been interesting and challenging to have students explore their own mathematical thinking, and to push perspectives, attitudes, and assumptions of what mathematics really is and can be.

    Through a series of Ted Talks, we have explored how learning is based on having questions, spending time struggling, playing with ideas and concepts while trying to understand the views, ideas, and perspectives of others. We explored how learning is not the pursuit of the right answer but rather a journey of explaining one's understanding/thinking. We even posed the idea that no one is an answer key, meaning that mathematical conversations is where the real magic of learning takes place.

    Within the learning this week, we challenged students to work in small groups and partners, and to use a new technology application - Jamboard. Some partnerships work beautifully and some did not. As a class we have discussed the importance of following up on our commitments to each other, but to also be communicative with each other. However, we have also acknowledge that students need further support in group work. This means that we will be building partner and group work in our regular Class Meetings.

Group Work

    As many Learning Coaches are aware, our Class Meetings have been slowly expanding and taking more time to get through. Please know that Mrs. Matikainen and I are very aware of this, and are trying to shift some of our practices to accommodate for the need to help support group work more fully. We are also planning to try using different different technology formats for students to work on during class. Your patience with us we try some new approaches to our classroom work, is deeply appreciated.

    This past week, students worked on collaborating how they have come to know/make sense of  mathematical terms, and in using figurative language to craft a free verse poem. We also had students present their Indigenous Veterans research projects during class. My goal with having students present and share their work is to help students become more open to different ideas (perspectives) and to challenge their own work quality. Many students are stepping outside of their comfort zones, and are doing a fabulous job.

Science

    We have a couple more weeks left in our Forest and Tree investigations, then we will transition into Sky Science. While we have explored moon phases within mathematical conceptualization of patterning. But we will begin to look at the constellations from both the traditional Greek perspectives in conjunction with many Indigenous traditional stories. 

Social Studies

    We are continuing our work in democracy by learning about the four pillars (justice, equity, representation, and freedom) of democracy. It has been a challenge to not compare to what is happening in the United States, but as a class we are exploring some very interesting ideas and current events. In fact, as we explored ways people can stay active and engaged with those who have been elected, a group of students began a petition to raise awareness of how single use plastic bottles are impacting our oceans. We are super excited to continue to learn through this adventure and experience.

Music and Physical Education

    The students crafted a mathematical patterned movement sequence using ascending and descending conceptualization. They have also begun to explore dance in connection to a figurative language activity involving super hero's. This coming week, students will be assigned various dance routines to explore and have fun moving. Following our week of dance, students will be designing their own dance routine. If you feel comfortable in your roles of Learning Coach, please feel free to enjoy in the fun of movement.

    Being that I am not a musical, but rather a very keen observer and enjoyer of music, my approach to music this year is to also connect with other learning activities we are engaged in. We are exploring the power of figurative language with word choice order, alliterations, metaphors, similes, and onomatopoeias. Students have been asked to create lyrics to a song used in advertising using word patterns.

Upcoming Events

• December 3rd and 4th will be Student Learning Conferences, more information will be shared with you as the details are finalized.
• December 18th is the last day of classes as we begin Winter Break.
• January 4th is when classes resume in the New Year.

    Thank you for all that you are doing! It is a true privilege to work and associate with your children. Thank you for sharing them with me!

Building Student Capacity

    Thank you to all the hard work and time spent on developing our own personal Remembrance Day Ceremony! It was a treat to have everyone involved in some way. Thank you for doing the extra work and for your participation in the ceremony itself.

    We have been focusing on Indigenous Veterans this last week, to continue to develop that history has multiple perspectives, but that all people have an active part within our democratic society. As a class we have begun to explore how to be active and continue to participate in our levels of government after the act of voting. It has been super exciting to watch and listen to student perspectives and understanding of what equality and equity mean, as well as freedom, justice and representation: especially in light of reading "Iqbal". 

    This next week, we will begin a mathematical inquiry into what number actually means. The goal of this definitional work and co-construction of understanding is to help make our work within fractions, mixed numbers, factors, percentage, and ratio more meaningful: rather than concepts in isolation. Please check-in with your child as to what they are beginning to connect and appreciate about number.

    Thank you for all that you do and for all of your support in your child's learning journey!

    Sincerely,

    Mrs. Easton

Learning this Past Week

     This last week, as a class we have been reading our novel study book, Iqbal. The discussions we are starting to have connecting the Rights of A Child with what democracy is, have been fabulous! Students are reading the book to each other, as I help support language and vocabulary use by the author. Students are doing an outstanding job articulating, reading to understand, and backing up to re-read when word order is different or when clarification is needed. Some students are starting to ask really complex questions, in relation to the dynamics and topics within the book. Students were asked to practice using visualization skills to understand a particular scene more fully, and to use actions of a character to begin inferring character traits. It has been outstanding to hear every students voice, and to discuss topics that help everyone to understand the complex world around us.

      We explored Romero Britto this week. Here are couple of examples of the work we accomplished this week partially in class, and as homework.

   

    This coming week, we will begin exploring place value and building our understanding for our work with integers and then into ratios and percents. In science we have been building further knowledge about trees and forests, and this week we are connecting trees and forests to the oxygen and water cycles. We will also be moving forward with our Graphing Our Health activities, and end up having students using Google Sheets to chart and graph their findings. Being that we are heading into Remembrance Day, we will also be furthering our art skills this week, and learning more about citizen participation in democracy.

    Thank you, once again for all that you do to support and foster learning at home. I sincerely appreciate you!

    Warmest regards,

    Mrs. Easton

Layered Learning

     Over the last couple of weeks, we have been delve more deeply into forests, and into our mathematical thinking or reading graphs and creating tables to record data. This last week, we began exploring government and society, while we have continued to explore and read Iqbal. We have also asked students to play around with musically recording their personal version of "Purple Stew", and have been increasing their technological skills of embedding audio recordings of their own thinking within their assignments. It has been fun and challenging as we all push our learning and technology skills, together.

   

 

Mathematics

    This last week we began to explore patterns and how to explain and record pattern rules using tables. Students we asked to design and create patterns using manipulatives before trying to explain what their pattern is. The Problem of the Week is a patterning problem as well, were students we asked to explore symmetry and creating combinations of patterns with increasing growth. The goal was for students to not only create and find possible solutions, but to also begin to see relationships and patterns within how odd and even numbers work.

    We have also begun and health and mathematically investigation. For the last week, students have been asked to record how much sleep they have been getting, how much fluid intake they have throughout the day, how much screen time (game playing, tv or movie watching), as well as how much physical activity they are getting each day. Our next step this week is to reflect on what we have noticed or are beginning to notice, as well as what the data is telling. After students reflect on their data and the process of recoding data, students will be asked to begin to explore which graphs they would like to use to show relationships and highlight what they have learned about their health.

    This week, students will also continue to explore patterns using formulas to explain and describe the patterns they are decoding.

Literacy

    Students are thoroughly enjoying our investigations and reading of Iqbal. So far we have been working on our summarizing skills, and visualization skills. This coming week, we will conclude our introduction into visualization and move into characterizations.

Our School Survey

    On Monday we will be using class time to review and go over what to expect for the Our School Survey. Being that not every student within our class at this time have access to the survey, we will meet in small groups to complete the actual survey. This way students are supported throughout the process, should any questions arise.

    This means that on Monday, October 26th from 11:30 - 12:30 students from Buchanan School, Cambrian Heights Schoo, and Catherine Nichols Gunn School will be meeting to go through the survey. Capitol Hill School and Beddington Heights School, are in the process of finalizing their specific school questions. As their access becomes available, I will communicate the smaller Meet times to support all students through the survey.

    Everyone will receive an email with a specific username and password prior to the survey date. Please watch your emails.

Halloween & PD Day on Friday

    On Thursday, our class will be having a small celebration with a class photo of all those who desire to dress up (in Google Meet) and a movie which we have been using to model and collect data and how to interpret the collected data. There will only be a morning class on Thursday, October 29th. Following our class, I will be available for students to connect with for any learning activity assignments questions and support.

    There is no school on Friday, as it is a Professional Development (PD) Day. No student assignments are set to be released on Friday.

Remembrance Day

    The books we asked students to design and create based on What Does Peace Feel Like?, were lovely and heart felt. Thank you for supporting their efforts. Please make sure that you ask your child to share with you their finished product. For our upcoming Remembrance Day ceremony, we will have students share their favourite page (artistically) and chose one line to read out loud, to celebrate their thoughtfulness and creativity. Our Remembrance Day ceremony will be a virtual ceremony, and as details are finalized, I will share how we will be inviting parents and families to join us in our solemn assembly. The due date I have for submitting our classes work, is November 5th. If your child has not yet completed their book creation, please encourage them to complete this learning activity.

Here is a combined preview of what students created:

What does PEACE smell like?

It smells like a blooming Marigold flowers under the sun.

Like a vanilla ice cream in the air.

Like a new washed clothes from washing machine.

Like the breeze of the ocean at the beach.

Like the leaves of the pine trees at Banff National Park.

What does peace feel like?

Like when the sunlight wakes you up.

Like when you master a new skill

Like a cold bed on a hot day.

Like when you feel refreshed after a nap.

Like when you finish a book.   

What does Peace sound like?

Like birds chirping outside my window.

Like my sister screaming because she’s happy. 

Like the sound of popcorn popping. 

Like the sound of crunching cereal in the morning. 

Like a song that I like. 

What does Peace taste like? 

Like a yummy chocolate fondue with my family.

Like the fresh homemade cinnamon buns grandma makes early in the morning.

Like the yummy ice cream shop that grandpa takes us too.

Like the homemade cookies I make with grandma.

Like the homemade pizza we all make together for our fun movie nights.

What does Peace look like?

Like looking at trees outside.

Like watching animals in nature.

Like seeing a friend after a long time.

Like tree leaves falling down from trees.

Like me coding a python program and sending it to space.

Student Feedback from Google Classroom

    Parents/Guardians and Learning Coaches, could you please check in with your student to ask if they are responding to the feedback they are receiving?  Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a increase in empty files being submitted. Therefore, learning assignments have been returned and are being moved into the missing category. I will repost video supports for uploading into Google Classroom. 

    Please have a discussion about planning on how to stay on top of assigned learning activities daily. Please do not worry about going back to missed assignments right away, complete the new activities that are currently assigned, and then go back and add in one or two older assignments. To help support students in this, please connect with me and I can help direct students to keep assignments and help to outline sequences for layered learning. Please let me know how I can help, as I truly do want everyone to feel successful and that they are accomplishing within their learning.

    This last week, we discussed as a class how some assignments have been broken down to help ease students into work expectations and to keep elements separated. While it may appear that there are several assignments, some parts are vocabulary work, background knowledge, and then quizzes and/or student submission portions. I have also been adding audio within assignments to help review expectations and processes within the assignments.

Abstract Art

This last week, during one of our classes, we worked on creating an abstract art piece based on our ability to listen to instructions. Here are few examples of student creativity:

 

Thank you!

    Thank you for all that you are doing! I appreciate your Learning Coach role and support, sincerely. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help support you in your Learning Coach role, your child within their learning, and if you stand in need of anything.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Easton

A Week in Review

    Thank you parents for taking the time last week to meet with me for Parent-Teacher Conferences. I deeply value and appreciate your input, knowledge, and wisdom of how to best support your child in their learning journey this year. Thank you! It was a true pleasure to speak with you and get to know your family better.

Science:

    In our learning last week, time was spent in reading moon charts and researching historical weather data to try and see if there is a pattern within the phases of the moon that will help predict when the cold weather will really set in for the winter. All of this hard work, is to connect to the Blackfoot moon phase knowledge and how the First Nations peoples used the moon to help them predict and understand weather changes. There is a lot of information that students began to explore and investigate within this learning activity. As a class we will continue to deepen our understanding and knowledge together. If you could please support your child in asking questions, and recording their ideas, that will be most helpful as we go deeper into Trees and Forests and Sky Science.

Mathematics:

    In mathematics we continued to analyze and interpret graphs this last week. This coming week, we will be asking students to continue to explore and interpret line graphs. We will also begin a health and math investigation. Students will be asked to create four charts to record their sleeping habits, fluid intake habits, physical activity habits, and screen time habits. The goal is to record data for a week, and then we will reflect upon the data collected before we begin to make charts and graphs to explore how to represent the data and connections students make. 

Literacy:

    We have begun to explore reading strategies to help with comprehension. Students began to explore this using sketchnote taking methodology. This is a practice where students use key words and connect the words to an icon (small image), to help increase their memory. To help students study these strategies, please support your child to go back and colour their visual journal page, add more details (banners, dividers, connectors), as this will also help increase their visual spatial memory and help them rehearse the information.

    This week, we will begin our first novel study of the year, Iqbal. Students are going to be asked to read to the class, as I will share my screen with the novel for all students to read along. As we work through the novel study, we will also be practicing the reading comprehension strategies, re-introducing other literacy skills, and encouraging students to get back into the habit of reading regularly. We will also be engaging in online collaborate work with partners.

    On Friday, students will be given a literacy task to help them get into the fun make-believe world of Halloween, where they will be creating a ballad, poem, or song. This will be templated for students to follow along, but they are being asked to be highly creative and selective with word choices and meaning making.

Social Studies:

    We will continue to explore and examine the Rights of a Child as we read Iqbal, but also within our Class Meetings. This is going to help us transition into our work with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mrs. Matikainen and myself are hoping to help engage in this transition around the same time as the American election. We will begin with the levels of government first, but the tie into what is happening in the world around us.

Music and Physical Education:

    The literacy activity students will be engaging in on Friday is connected to exploring a familiar folk song, and our hope is that charting how active students are will also heighten our awareness of the need to give ourselves physical breaks during the day. I will be going over some strategies this week, to help us with out Online Learning and developing healthy habits in our work areas and within our work spaces. We will be begin using movement breaks as a strategy to transition from one learning activity to another, and to move when one starts to become frustrated to give the body and brain a break. Sorry this is taking us time to develop, we are still trying to find resources and build our own capacities in these areas. Thank you for your patience, we are very mindful of these two areas and are trying to find ways we can all incorporate learning.

    Once again, I cannot thank you enough for all of your time, efforts, and Learning Coach support. Please know that if you need any suggestions or support that you can also connect with me, I am happy to help in any way that I can!

Sincerely,

Dianna

dleaston@cbe.ab.ca

dleaston@educbe.ca