Thursday, March 31, 2022

 Today we: had a much easier time with the phonics routine change. It happened to be the day I do not have any lessons in the word work rotation, so I was able to circulate the groups and help them with their tasks. Having chapter books made the word hunt task much easier! 

In literacy block, many students chose to do word ladders for either literacy games group or as a task when they were done their job. It was great to see the collaboration and teamwork with the ladders, and how many new words they either know already or get to learn. 

After recess, the picture pies were finally finished and they calculated how many pieces of each color pie were used to make their picture. Check out some creative ones below! 

We read some more of the Jumbies before lunch and things are really getting dramatic as Corinne pretends to be a mythical goddess to fool the new islanders they meet by wearing snakes around her neck! 

The class always has 20 minutes of silent reading after lunch, and they went to music after. Unfortunately, the amazing Mr. Newton was needed elsewhere, so Ms. Gadbois and I taught gym. Instead of games like yesterday, we continued the jump-rope and skipping lessons based on the short tutorial Mr. Newton gave me just before school started this morning. Everyone gave their best effort and the energy was hard to tune down when we got back to class. 

We learned about another newcomer today, Alfred Waddell. He was a black man in Nova Scotia who provided medical care to the town of Africville - a town where black residents were given minimal to no amenities. 

The class has earned 11 of their allotted 12 Minecraft points so it is looking promising to play for the full hour tomorrow! 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

 Today we: Started a new unit in phonics. We've been practicing playing with the sounds at the beginning of words. Today we looked at the ending sounds. The routine was hard to change as the students were so used to listening for the beginning sound so it took a few repeats to get into the groove. 

After recess, we finished our fraction pie art! The pictures were very clever and well done. We still have to do our calculations for the fractions, but I will post a picture of them once the students have completed the assignment. Those who finished first practiced more equivalent fraction comparisons with a few more problems. I went over the problems as a class when everyone was done.  

Before lunch, we read another chapter of the Jumbies. Since we have decided to start reading every day, this time the students were expected to only listen, not do any writing. Based on how that went, students will be expected to record in their visual journals every time from now on to limit distractions. 

The class had music after lunch, and then used the chromebooks to complete a social assignment. Learning about newcomers that created the multicultural Canada, they watched a video about Martha Black, an American who came to Canada for the Gold Rush in 1897. She ended up being a member of the House of Commons and advocated for the people of Yukon. After completing their comprehension questions, they had time on prodigy before going to P.E. for revenge dodgeball. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

 Today we: did the usual morning Literacy routine - Phonics, Word Work, and then Literacy Block rotations. 

In math, we continued to practice fractions by looking at the rules for comparing and ordering smallest to largest. We learned that if the numerator (top) is the same, the one with the larger denominator (bottom) is the smaller fraction because the portions are smaller. But, if the denominator is the same, the one with the larger numerator is greater because there are more portions of the same size. Once they finished their practice questions they were able to use the extra time to finish their Picture Pie art. Tomorrow we will be calculating the fractions used in the pictures. 

After lunch, we read more of the Jumbies. We had to have a discussion to remember where we left off before the break. We decided to start reading a little every day instead of just on day 2 & 4. We will just do prediction writing on those days. 

We had our Learning Commons visit today and they were told they had to check out one chapter book if they get a graphic novel. It is important for them to challenge their reading skills and not just interpret pictures. It is also helpful to have a novel for the Word Hunt in Word Work - more words means more to hunt through and they will be more familiar with their word categories. 

To end the day, we reviewed the science electricity lab we did before the break. Using an electricity breadboard, batteries, wires and a lightbulb, we were able to make circuits that would turn on a tiny lightbulb. They had a Science worksheet to record their findings so we did one experiment to solidify some answers. 

Remember, your children need to have jackets at school, it is colder in the mornings, even if the afternoon is warm. 

Monday, March 28, 2022

 Welcome back 5A!! It was so lovely to see everyone again after a week-long break. It sure is bittersweet to be back; we had some very sleepy children this morning! 

Today we: picked up where we left off with phonics, word work and Literacy Block. The mornings are always spent on literacy because it seems to be the calmest part of our days. The class was very focused on their tasks and getting back into routine was actually pretty easy! 

We are experiencing more weather changes now that it is Spring, so it is very important that students layer up in warmer clothing for these cold mornings. Recess was a lot colder than we expected, and some students were only in sweaters while I was wearing my winter jacket and gloves. Please make sure your child has a jacket at school - they can always take it off if the temperature goes up, but being without one when it's cold outside is not fun. Always be prepared!  

After recess, we did a review of the equivalent fractions lessons we learned before the break. The class was given an assignment on prodigy and they were able to practice some fraction problems in a fun way to ease back into the learning on this gloomy Monday. We will move onto ordering fractions now that they have had their memories jogged! 

Using fraction pies, we began an art project in the afternoon. Students colored twelve different circles that represent a fraction (i.e. 1/4 would have 4 equal pieces of pie) and then used the colors to make a color-coded key in their math books. When the key was completed and all circles colored in neatly, they cut out all of the pie pieces. Still having vacation brain, we did not finish the project today, so tomorrow we will use those cut-out pie pieces to make a picture. 

The day ended with P.E. and Mr. Newton started a new unit for their return - jump rope lessons! They practiced being spacially aware in their jump-rope space, how to jump over the rope in different ways (double hop, side-to-side, etc.) and then tried to see how many jumps they could get while swinging forwards and backwards. 

Hope everyone had a great Monday! 

Friday, March 18, 2022

 Happy Friday!! 

Today we: chose new groups for our literacy block, new chores for end-of-day clean-up, and our new helpers for the week we return will be Hurley and Rehan. We did our usual word work and then daily 5 for literacy. 

The students did some hockey challenges in P.E. with Mr. Newton, and we spent some time outside playing soccer. 

We read a book about being a purple person by Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna in Frozen. Ask your child what it means to be a purple person - hint, it means being totally yourself! 

The class collectively earned 10 Minecraft points, so we ended the day with some Chromebook time - some students chose to draw instead. 

Enjoy the time off, the rest and free time to play and explore. We will see you on March 28 to kick back into gear with fractions, book studies, Canada settlers tasks and electricity experiments. Wishing everyone a wonderful Spring Break!

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We hope you wore green today!  

Today we: rotated our literacy groups and some students got a chance to finish work from the last week and some. They've been warned that I will be marking all of their working journals over Spring Break and that sparked some effort! 

In math, we continued to explore equivalent fractions with the use of group work and imagining cakes and pies. Students were given problems to solve in their table groups and asked to draw a visual representation of two fractions that were equivalent and show how they are the same. After exploring the answers as a class, we utilized a number line as well for some of the higher values. We will be moving onto ordering fractions from smallest to largest when we get back from break. 

After lunch, we shared a few of our Jumbies predictions before continuing to read a couple chapters. New predictions were written and then we did some DPA. Being Numeracy Week, we have a Pi workout! 

We ended the day with a science experiment. Students got to explore electricity using what is called a "bread board" where they can make circuits with multiple wires and they have to connect them on a grid to light the lightbulb. 

Tomorrow is multiples spirit day, so remind your kiddos to pick outfits with their friends. Us teachers will be wearing the NLS T-shirts. Also, please be sure to sign and return the permission form for health. One more day until Spring Break! 

See the memo below:

K-5 parents: Please put extra pants and socks in your child's backpack

Children frequently get wet and/or muddy when playing outside, or they have unexpected bathroom accidents.   To help with this, please put an extra pair of pants and socks in your child’s backpack.   (These pants and socks will always stay in the backpack.) We do not have spare clothes at the school for children to use. This will help us to help children make a change out of their dirty clothing without needing to call parents to have someone bring clean clothes.  Even if your child says they don’t need them, tell them that Mrs. Brinson said they need to be in there anyway.  If they use the spare clothes in their backpacks, please put in clean clothes to replace them.  We will send dirty clothes home in a  plastic bag to be washed. Thanks for your help!

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

 Today we: are wearing patterns for today's Numeracy week Spirit Day. Our usual morning routine starts with 5 minutes of mindfulness to get into the green zone and be ready for learning. Phonics sounds are progressing well, the students are starting to know what to expect. Word work has changed since the classroom layout is different, so some groups have a new location to perform their tasks. There will be an assessment after the break as we look at who is progressing and what groups may need to be rearranged now that we have gone through a couple units of word sorts. 

In math, we explored equivalent fractions. They each got a colorful handout of a fraction tower to cut out and glue into their math books and we will be referring to them plenty as we go through the topic. Visual representations are a great way to understand fractions, and the students seem to love my references to pies and cakes! Some lightbulbs certainly went off today when we discussed how to make equivalent fractions using our times table charts. Now they know why we spent so much time learning them! 

After lunch, students had music and P.E. again. When they returned to the classroom, we watched another video for the settlers of Canada. This one was about the large population of Ukrainian people who immigrated before the first world war, and how they were drawn by the vast amount of land and lack of landlords. 

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, so remind your kiddos to wear green! Again, be sure to return the signed permission form so we can begin a health unit at the end of April. Only 2 days left and we are on Spring Break, yay!