"We are like lego blocks - always building upon each other" - Junior Student.
Thursday, 19 May 2016
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Junior Class Infographics
We have been looking at and creating some of our Infographics this week. It's been a combination of media, literacy and math. Students had the opportunity to either create one on the topic of their choice or an Infographic about themselves. One student even used a Google Form to survey all the classes at Steps about their calming strategies and then created an Infograph about it. They turned out very well!
Click on the Infographics to see it in better resolution.
Click on the Infographics to see it in better resolution.
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Wonder Wall Findings
Today we conquered a few more of our Wonder Wall Questions with the help of the Senior Class!
We are looking at different ways to present what we know. Students decided to link to ideas and find information in different ways.
For the question What would have happened if the Titanic did not sink?, some students linked to a video that helped them to explain a few of the ideas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4S9QFIfIY
Some students found it helpful to link to websites that would have their information. To answer the question Why is a Blue Whale called a Blue Whale?, some students created a QR code to link to a useful website:
Some students decided to write down their answers in a Google Doc. To answer Why did people climb to the top of Mount Everest, two students researched on the internet and then wrote: "People went to the top of mount everest because they want to go mountain climbing and feel good that they did something hard."
Others decided to show the answers to their questions using Google Slides:
All in all, some very interesting and diverse ways to show what they have learned!
We are looking at different ways to present what we know. Students decided to link to ideas and find information in different ways.
For the question What would have happened if the Titanic did not sink?, some students linked to a video that helped them to explain a few of the ideas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4S9QFIfIY
Some students found it helpful to link to websites that would have their information. To answer the question Why is a Blue Whale called a Blue Whale?, some students created a QR code to link to a useful website:
Some students decided to write down their answers in a Google Doc. To answer Why did people climb to the top of Mount Everest, two students researched on the internet and then wrote: "People went to the top of mount everest because they want to go mountain climbing and feel good that they did something hard."
Others decided to show the answers to their questions using Google Slides:
All in all, some very interesting and diverse ways to show what they have learned!
Thursday, 21 April 2016
wonder wall questions
these are all the wonder wall questions we have click a link for a question
how come people went to the top of mt. everest
how do Egyptians make their cloths
how come bees pollinate flowers
do pirates still exist
how long would people live in ancient egypt
do slaves and other people go to the next world in ancient egypt
what if Lego wasn't invented until 2014
why are bow head whales called bow head whales
how come people went to the top of mt. everest
how do Egyptians make their cloths
how come bees pollinate flowers
do pirates still exist
how long would people live in ancient egypt
do slaves and other people go to the next world in ancient egypt
what if Lego wasn't invented until 2014
why are bow head whales called bow head whales
Friday, 1 April 2016
my week end.
I enjoyed playing pinball dogeball. I go to my nana to day. I would like to learn more about knights.
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Feb. 11 - Starting our Stable Structures / Pulleys and Gears Unit
This week, the Grade 3s in our class started the Strong and Stable Structures Unit (The Grade 4s will be beginning their work on Pulleys and Gears with Ms. B next week).
We started by looking at a picture and attempting to find out how many structures we could notice. We also circled them with green if they were stable or strong and red if they were not (unfortunately, these do not show up on the picture):
There was a bit of a debate in class regarding the man and his son and whether he was a structure or not. By looking at the other examples, we realized as a class that a structure is anything that can support something else (which we call a "load") - therefore, the man acts as a structure for his child!
Students were then given a challenge - using 20 spaghetti sticks, a metre of tape, and a handful of mini marshmallows, they were to work with a partner to make the highest structure they could. We'll be completing this at the start and the end of the unit to see if we can make a better design!
A lot of students noticed the triangles in the above picture and came up with their own designs that used triangles. Here are some of their designs:
We started by looking at a picture and attempting to find out how many structures we could notice. We also circled them with green if they were stable or strong and red if they were not (unfortunately, these do not show up on the picture):
There was a bit of a debate in class regarding the man and his son and whether he was a structure or not. By looking at the other examples, we realized as a class that a structure is anything that can support something else (which we call a "load") - therefore, the man acts as a structure for his child!
Students were then given a challenge - using 20 spaghetti sticks, a metre of tape, and a handful of mini marshmallows, they were to work with a partner to make the highest structure they could. We'll be completing this at the start and the end of the unit to see if we can make a better design!
A lot of students noticed the triangles in the above picture and came up with their own designs that used triangles. Here are some of their designs:
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Feb. 9 - Line of Symmetry
We continue our investigation into 2D Shapes this week by looking into lines of symmetry. We started by looking into lines of symmetry that we can find in our environment:
We then used a ruler as a line of symmetry to create our own designs that showed symmetry:
We'll be creating some art later this week that shows symmetry as well!
We then used a ruler as a line of symmetry to create our own designs that showed symmetry:
We'll be creating some art later this week that shows symmetry as well!
Monday, 8 February 2016
Feb. 8 - Spirit Week / Fractured Fairy Tales
Spirit Week / PD Day Friday
This week is Spirit Week! Please send in permission forms and money for the Tuesday trip bowling if you have not yet already. Also, please note that this Friday is a PD Day so there is no school.
Our Spirit Day Activities are as follows:
Monday - Crazy Hair / Wacky Hat Dag + Little Ray's Repitles
Tuesday - Sports Day + Bowling
Wednesday - Superhero Day + Magician
Thursday - Wear Red or Pink or Both + Outdoor Fun Day
It's going to be a fun week!
Fractured Fairy Tales
We have been learning a bit about Fractured Fairy Tales in class and are just in the process of creating our own!
Fractured Fairy Tales share a lot of similarities to their original story but they often change an aspect in a key way. Here are some of the ways that they can be changed:
This week is Spirit Week! Please send in permission forms and money for the Tuesday trip bowling if you have not yet already. Also, please note that this Friday is a PD Day so there is no school.
Our Spirit Day Activities are as follows:
Monday - Crazy Hair / Wacky Hat Dag + Little Ray's Repitles
Tuesday - Sports Day + Bowling
Wednesday - Superhero Day + Magician
Thursday - Wear Red or Pink or Both + Outdoor Fun Day
It's going to be a fun week!
Fractured Fairy Tales
We have been learning a bit about Fractured Fairy Tales in class and are just in the process of creating our own!
Fractured Fairy Tales share a lot of similarities to their original story but they often change an aspect in a key way. Here are some of the ways that they can be changed:
We have been reading some fractured fairy tales (The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs) and have seen some Youtube videos about them.
As a class, we decided to make up our own ending to the classic Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and added a not so happy after all ending.
Students are either writing up and then drawing their fairy tales (Grade 4s) or creating Bitstrips about them (Grade 3s).
Friday, 5 February 2016
Art catch-up!
I haven't posted some of the art that we have been working on in a while. Here's a bunch of the art that we have been working on in January with Ms. B!
Math / Art - In math, we created images using boxes in graph paper. Some students created their own designs while others decided to go for a neat 8-bit, old school video-game choice. They eventually replicated their work on the wall using post-it notes and found the area / perimeter of their work.
Monochromatic colour scene - Students did a great job with this piece, using darker tones on the outside and making the colour lighter as it went towards the middle. They then painted animals over it the following week. Here's our beautiful display board with them!
Textures - Students also learned about how to create different perceived textures in their drawing. Using crayons, they traced various design patterns and coloured over designs in the classroom. There were some very interesting choices used for texture (the agenda, the classroom speakers, and the "in" bin were all used).
Math / Art - In math, we created images using boxes in graph paper. Some students created their own designs while others decided to go for a neat 8-bit, old school video-game choice. They eventually replicated their work on the wall using post-it notes and found the area / perimeter of their work.
Monochromatic colour scene - Students did a great job with this piece, using darker tones on the outside and making the colour lighter as it went towards the middle. They then painted animals over it the following week. Here's our beautiful display board with them!
Textures - Students also learned about how to create different perceived textures in their drawing. Using crayons, they traced various design patterns and coloured over designs in the classroom. There were some very interesting choices used for texture (the agenda, the classroom speakers, and the "in" bin were all used).
Thursday, 4 February 2016
Math - Geometry Start / Reviewing Right Angles
We have started a new unit in geometry! We started Tuesday with learning about the different ways that we can classify shapes.
We opened up with the following question:
From there, students recognized that we could sort them by their sides and points. We looked at six different types of families (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, and octagon!) along with a few common quadrilaterals.
Today we were learning all about angles inside shapes. Students worked with partners and went on an angle hunt in the classroom to find different types of angles. They needed to find at least 6 angles in total and 1/2 for each grouping. Here's what they found, differentiated by grade level:
We opened up with the following question:
From there, students recognized that we could sort them by their sides and points. We looked at six different types of families (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, and octagon!) along with a few common quadrilaterals.
Today we were learning all about angles inside shapes. Students worked with partners and went on an angle hunt in the classroom to find different types of angles. They needed to find at least 6 angles in total and 1/2 for each grouping. Here's what they found, differentiated by grade level:
Sunday, 17 January 2016
January 17 - January Update + Half-day Wednesday
Hey there! We are back! January has been quite busy in the Junior class as we've readjusted back to school after the winter break. Here's a few things that we've been working on in class and that we have coming up.
Reminder - Half-Day (Wednesday, January 20)
Wednesday will be a half-day for students as the 2nd half of the day is a PD day. School ends at noon on that day.
Social Studies
We have started into our new Social Studies units! Grade 3s are working on Living and Working in Ontario while the Grade 4s are working with Ms. B on Political and Physical Regions of Canada. We started the unit by looking at coordinates and practiced by playing a few whole-class games of Battleship. Students worked together to help figure out and guess coordinates against the other team.
Language / Math
Upon returning to school we set some new academic and personal goals for the rest of the school year. Students have been working on using visualization strategies while reading to picture what they are reading. We have been reading books and drawing images as a class to help us to picture what a scene looks like. In math, we have started area and perimeter. Students are measuring using standard units of measurement (millimetres, centimeters, meters) and non-standard units of measurement (lego pieces, cards, popsicle sticks). Tomorrow we will begin some math art by making our own drawings using post-it notes and finding the area / perimeter of the drawing.
There will be more updates tomorrow that will include photos of what we have been working on as well! Stay tuned!
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