Here are a few examples of beats that they have made. Check them out on our soundcloud page!
https://soundcloud.com/steps2music
Friday, 4 December 2015
Dec. 4 - Time to make some beats!
Here are a few examples of beats that they have made. Check them out on our soundcloud page!
https://soundcloud.com/steps2music
Thursday, 3 December 2015
Dec. 3 - Media / Art
Language / Google E-mails / Typing
In Language, students have been learning about Media and have been identifying examples for the 3 different types of media. Next week, the students will be creating either persuasive advertisements using print or creating a video advertisement for a product.We also spent some time this week setting up our brand new school board e-mail accounts (expect to see students writing blog posts soon!), exploring Google apps (Google Draw, Google Docs, Read and Write) and some students spent time practicing typing. Considering the amount of time that students are using technology - both in and outside of the classroom - it's incredibly important that they become proficient at typing and using two hands to type their work. We have been using the website BBC Dance Mat to have students practice their typing in a fun manner. We've also been playing some games to practice our typing speed. I highly recommend checking them out if you would like to have a student practice typing at home.
BBC Dance Mat: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr
Free Typing Games: http://www.freetypinggame.net/play.asp
The Junior class has been working on using and differentiating between Warm and Cool colours in our art class this week. After having a discussion about the differences between the two, Mrs. B had the students creating landscapes that differentiated between the landforms and the sky using Warm / Cool colours. They turned out really nice!
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Nov. 18 - Social Skills / Math Update
In Ms. Ayesha's STEAM group today, the students learned about what is waiting for them as they participate in social skills.....
In Math, students are learning about all of the different strategies that can be used to add and subtract. While we still teach the traditional method of placing numbers over one another and regrouping, we also learn about different ways that we can add or subtract that may make it easier for us to solve problems. We have been thinking about subtract as taking away but also the difference in-between two numbers and how that can help us to solve a problem.
Many students like to break number down into their Place Value when they add or subtract and are becoming comfortable mentally breaking them down in our Math talks that start the class.
PIZZA!
After each positive STEAM class, students are able to choose toppings to put onto the pizza. Once the pizza is full, the students will be getting to make their own pizzas for lunch.
In social skills today, students made their own hand fidgets using a balloon and flour and discussed the benefits of using hand fidgets and how to use them properly.
Math
In Math, students are learning about all of the different strategies that can be used to add and subtract. While we still teach the traditional method of placing numbers over one another and regrouping, we also learn about different ways that we can add or subtract that may make it easier for us to solve problems. We have been thinking about subtract as taking away but also the difference in-between two numbers and how that can help us to solve a problem.
Many students like to break number down into their Place Value when they add or subtract and are becoming comfortable mentally breaking them down in our Math talks that start the class.
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Nov. 17 - Predicting!
This week in the Junior class we are working on using the reading strategy of Predicting! We have been reading texts as a class and looking at the context clues to make a prediction about what will happen next.
We started by reading a picture book, The Day the Crayons Quit, to make predictions as to why the crayons would be upset. As an introductory text, students were familiar with ways that the crayons would be used and made some spot-on predictions based on what they know.
We also watched a few clips from a "Good Idea, Bad Idea" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dJOIf4mdus) to use context clues from a "Good Idea" to predict what the "Bad Idea" might be and have looked at how we use specific clues from texts that don't have pictures.
Connected to the idea of predicting, students were asked to choose an animal or character (from a video game, movie, or TV show) that they could provide some context clues so that other students would have the opportunity to predict it. We looked at providing sufficient and precise details when we were doing our writing so that students would have the ability to predict what the object might be. The clues will be hung up with a picture covered of the person / animal so they can check their answer. Here are a few of our classroom examples:
We started by reading a picture book, The Day the Crayons Quit, to make predictions as to why the crayons would be upset. As an introductory text, students were familiar with ways that the crayons would be used and made some spot-on predictions based on what they know.
We also watched a few clips from a "Good Idea, Bad Idea" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dJOIf4mdus) to use context clues from a "Good Idea" to predict what the "Bad Idea" might be and have looked at how we use specific clues from texts that don't have pictures.
Connected to the idea of predicting, students were asked to choose an animal or character (from a video game, movie, or TV show) that they could provide some context clues so that other students would have the opportunity to predict it. We looked at providing sufficient and precise details when we were doing our writing so that students would have the ability to predict what the object might be. The clues will be hung up with a picture covered of the person / animal so they can check their answer. Here are a few of our classroom examples:
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Nov. 10
We've been very busy in the Junior class at Steps the last couple of weeks! Here's a few things that we've gotten up to:
Health
In Health we have been examinig the food that we eat in more detail. After discussing the difference between processed and unprocessed food, we began to look at the actual sugar content in one serving in some of the food that we eat and weighed it out in actual sugar. The results were pretty surprising (and, truth be told, kinda disgusting!). Everyone was pretty grossed out by the amount of sugar that was in a single coke.
Last week we started Procedural Writing and made a list of steps that we needed to do in order to make Pancakes (after we made them in Breakfast Club of course!). This week, we started on Monday with Procedural Writing by creating houses on Minecraft and taking pictures of the various steps. Today, we arranged the pictures in order, added in transition words between the steps and wrote a brief description of what you have to complete in each step. Throughout the week, we will look at including additional details into our writing as students will have the opportunity to describe how to create / do something of their choice.
Here are a few works that students created and their steps:
Health
In Health we have been examinig the food that we eat in more detail. After discussing the difference between processed and unprocessed food, we began to look at the actual sugar content in one serving in some of the food that we eat and weighed it out in actual sugar. The results were pretty surprising (and, truth be told, kinda disgusting!). Everyone was pretty grossed out by the amount of sugar that was in a single coke.
Art
We have been talking about Remembrance Day lately with it coming up tomorrow. Along with reading a book about "Flander's Fields" and discussing reasons why we celebrate Remembrance Day, we have also created some works of art with Ms. B. They are located next to our comprehensive "Wall of Honour" that highlights families at Steps who have had a member serve in the military.
Language - Procedural Writing
Last week we started Procedural Writing and made a list of steps that we needed to do in order to make Pancakes (after we made them in Breakfast Club of course!). This week, we started on Monday with Procedural Writing by creating houses on Minecraft and taking pictures of the various steps. Today, we arranged the pictures in order, added in transition words between the steps and wrote a brief description of what you have to complete in each step. Throughout the week, we will look at including additional details into our writing as students will have the opportunity to describe how to create / do something of their choice.
Here are a few works that students created and their steps:
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Proulx Farms
We had a really fun day at Proulx Farms today! Students really enjoyed checking out the animals, going on the wagon ride, playing on the hay and structures, and going through the mazes. Everyone who came back to school was absolutely exhausted. Very fun and successful first Field Trip!
Monday, 26 October 2015
Oct. 26 - Field trip Reminder, Descriptive Monsters + Pumpkin Inquiry!
Field Trip
Tomorrow will be our Field Trip to Proulx Farms! The students have been asking lots about it and are looking forward to it! Just a heads-up that the weather will be rather chilly in the morning (-2) and eventually warm up in the afternoon (+10) so the students are encouraged to wear layers and dress properly for the weather. They should also pack a lunch for the day as it will not be provided.
Language - Descriptive Writing using Monsters
Last week the students had the opportunity to create haunted houses and do some descriptive writing. They used interesting adjectives to describe their nouns and to provide more detail using their 5 senses. This week we will continue our descriptive writing by creating monsters!
The students today created their monsters and then wrote down a variety of adjectives that could be used to describe their monsters. Over the week, we'll be taking those words and writing a paragraph to describe in more detail how the monsters look. The goal is to be able to read the paragraphs and have other students be able to draw a semi-accurate portrayal of their monster.
Math - Pumpkin Inquiry
Today we also began our pumpkin inquiry. After reading the book How many seeds in a pumpkin?, the students began to inquire into ways that we would be able to estimate the amount of seeds in a pumpkin. Today we filled in this chart and scooped out our pumpkin seeds. We took estimates about the amount of pumpkin seeds and will come up with some strategies to test our estimates and find out how many pumpkin seeds there really are in there!
Tomorrow will be our Field Trip to Proulx Farms! The students have been asking lots about it and are looking forward to it! Just a heads-up that the weather will be rather chilly in the morning (-2) and eventually warm up in the afternoon (+10) so the students are encouraged to wear layers and dress properly for the weather. They should also pack a lunch for the day as it will not be provided.
Language - Descriptive Writing using Monsters
Last week the students had the opportunity to create haunted houses and do some descriptive writing. They used interesting adjectives to describe their nouns and to provide more detail using their 5 senses. This week we will continue our descriptive writing by creating monsters!
The students today created their monsters and then wrote down a variety of adjectives that could be used to describe their monsters. Over the week, we'll be taking those words and writing a paragraph to describe in more detail how the monsters look. The goal is to be able to read the paragraphs and have other students be able to draw a semi-accurate portrayal of their monster.
Today we also began our pumpkin inquiry. After reading the book How many seeds in a pumpkin?, the students began to inquire into ways that we would be able to estimate the amount of seeds in a pumpkin. Today we filled in this chart and scooped out our pumpkin seeds. We took estimates about the amount of pumpkin seeds and will come up with some strategies to test our estimates and find out how many pumpkin seeds there really are in there!
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