Thursday, March 22, 2018

Today was our last day of school before our spring break! We tried to get some things finished up, or at least close to finished. This morning we worked on finish our All About Me fact bubbles. Many of us were able to finish but a few of us are still working. We will have some time to finish these when we get back to school. *If you have some free time on the holiday and want to finish these at home you are more than welcome to do that. They are in google docs. Our google email addresses are on the red log-in cards we brought home and we all know our passwords.

After recess we had one more day to work on our Mathlympics events. We worked to see how many more medals we could earn. Quite a few of us finished and got to try the closing ceremonies. When we come back from our holiday we will do one final medal tally and then we will be moving on to some new activities in math.

After lunch we worked on our animal research. We started by going through the pages we had already completed to make sure we had included all the "must have" items. If we realized we were missing something our job was to go back and add in the details we needed.

Our helper on April 4 is: Liam

Have a great spring break!

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

This morning we worked on our All About Me writing. Before we started Cedar and Leander showed us their finished bubbles that were all coloured and ready to go in a pocket. Then, Mika from room 1 came over and showed us a final piece she added to her work. Mika and her mom printed out some pictures of Mika and she added them as a border on her page. Some of the pictures were baby pictures, some were from pre-school, and some were of Mika doing her hobbies. Ms. Boyer said that we are also welcome to add this extra detail if we would like.

Today in Mathlympics some people went to the closing ceremonies and some people went back to have a second try at some of the stations. We were trying to get at least one medal at each station before we went to the closing ceremonies. Some people were able to finish the closing ceremonies and then they became coaches! We will have another day to work on this tomorrow. 

After lunch we did animal research. Today Ms. Boyer talked to us about some "Must Have" items we needed on each page. An example of a must do on the diet page was that you had to say if your animal was a herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, or insectivore.

If you have not returned the permission form that came home yesterday, please try to return it tomorrow. 

Our helper tomorrow is: Lawrence




Tuesday, March 20, 2018

This morning we worked on our All About Me writing. As a class we talked about how many facts would be reasonable and decided that you need to have the same number of facts as your age. So, if you are 8, you need to have 8 facts. If you are 6, you need to have 6 facts. Some of us are finished and are ready to start creating the pocket for our facts. 

After recess we went to our final Mathlympics stations! Tomorrow we will have a chance to re-visit the stations we weren't able to finish to try again. Then we will be off to the closing ceremonies!

This afternoon we worked on our animal research. We are working hard to complete our research so we can move on to our final project about our animals!

After our research time we went to gym and did Jungle Safari. Senna and Aksel volunteered to be Ms. Boyer's spies and helped to make sure everyone was following the jungle safari rules and completing the course properly.

Then we had music. Mr. O'Reilly was away today so we had a guest teacher.

Our helper tomorrow is: Joachim

We are bringing home a permission form today. Please try to return it by Thursday. 

Monday, March 19, 2018

This morning we did journals. Before we started our journals we read an old folktale called Ming-Lo Moves the Mountain. From this story we learned a lesson about taking responsibility for ourselves and our own actions rather than worrying about what other people are doing.  This really came in handy when we started working on our journals. Many of us were much more focused and did a great job hitting the center of our journal target.

Today in Mathlympics we did our eighth center.  We only have one center left! 

This afternoon we added the chalk colour to the aspen tree landscapes we sketched on Friday. We used some of the same techniques we learned with our zoomed-in aspen trees.


Today in gym we did jungle safari. In jungle safari we have to stay on the green lines between stations because those are the jungle vines.

Our helper tomorrow is: Cedar

Don't forget tomorrow is treat day!

Friday, March 16, 2018

Landscapes

This morning we started with big buddies. We chose books to share with our buddies and then did some drawing if we finished our books early.

After big buddies we talked about the sketching we did last week. Last week we focused on sketching one aspen tree and tried to really pay close attention to the details in the tree. Today we tried to take that learning and apply it to a landscape sketch of the Whispering Woods. Before we went outside to start sketching we talked about some techniques to help us show perspective in our drawing. We looked at some landscape paintings and observed that objects in the painting that were closer to the bottom of the page and that were bigger appeared closer to us. Objects that were further up the page (closer to the horizon line) and that are smaller appear further away. Then we went outside to sketch.



When our sketches were finished we had our indoor recess break and then did our Mathlympics medal tally for this week. So far our class has earned a total of: 94 bronze, 76 silver, and 68 gold. All together that is 238 medals!!

Once our medal count was finished we went outside and finished the day with a game of camouflage in the Whispering Woods. Some of us are getting very good at being camouflaged even though we have very bright coats!

Our helper on Monday is: Reid

Thursday, March 15, 2018

This morning we continued working on our All About Me writing. Before we went on the computers we shared some of the categories we have written about so far and made a list. This list will help us when we get stuck and can't think of our next category. Here is our list:


After recess it was time for Mathlympics. We are really getting the hang of the sports and we are getting more confident with our counting patterns and our adding strategies. That means we are starting to earn a lot more gold medals! Here are a few pictures of our work, just so you can see what our recording pages look like:


This afternoon we worked on our animal research. Before we started we talked about setting a research goal for ourselves and then trying to stay focused and on-task until we had met that goal. For example, we might want to find 3 facts about our animal's habitat today.

After that we went to gym. We did four stations: traverse climbing wall, step-ups/bench dips, planks/crabwalk course, and sit up throws. We are really enjoying the new traverse climbing wall!

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be working in the Whispering Woods. Please make sure you are dressed for the weather. Snowpants will be mandatory for tomorrow's work. 

Our helper on Monday is: Reid

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

New Climbing Wall!

Today we worked on our All About Me writing. We used the computers to create bubbles and in the bubbles we typed our favourite foods, hobbies, and friends.

In mathlympics we went to our sixth stations. We are getting better at using the adding strategies we have learned like counting-on, using a hundreds chart, and using counting patterns.

After lunch we worked on our animal research. Before we went off to begin each person shared a fact about their animal with the class. A few of the facts were very interesting and might become "Nose Hill Notables" next week!
In gym we started using the new climbing wall!  This climbing wall is special because it is a traverse wall. That means climb from side to side, instead of up and down. It feels really weird and it smells funny! It smells like Home Depot.  While half of the class was on the climbing wall, the other half practiced their hand-eye coordination with the paddle ball rackets.
After gym we did sharing and then had finish up time. Almost all of us are now finished our family writing!

Our helper tomorrow is: Ashton

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

This morning we worked on our All About Me writing. We went on the computers and started writing our fact bubbles about ourselves. We are using Google Docs to do out writing. We can access our writing at home for you to see by logging in to google using our educbe.ca email addresses that are on our red log-in cards.

In mathlympics we went to our fifth station. Before we started we talked about a new counting pattern: counting by 25's! We call this our treat day pattern because 25 cents is the same as a quarter.

In the afternoon we worked on our animal research. Most of us are working on learning about our animal's diet and some of us are working on appearance. Did you know that a lynx has big furry paws that work like snowshoes? Did you know that a bat's wings are really like webbed hands? Before we got started Ms. Boyer told us about a new challenge we are going to start. It is called "Nose Hill Notables".

Here is the challenge: During your research time or at home keep your eyes open for extra interesting facts about your animal. These would be facts about your animal that not very many people would know. If you find a very interesting fact memorize it and then tell it to Ms. Boyer. If she agrees that it is very interesting you will be invited to share it with the school over the PA system as a "Nose Hill Notable"!

After that we had gym. We worked on our badminton skills again today. Then we went to music. We are learning how to read and write musical notes!

Our helper tomorrow is: Aiden


Monday, March 12, 2018

Look at our beautiful aspen trees!

This morning we started with journals. We took a look at our journal target to see what we needed to be aiming for today. Now that we are in getting ready for grade 2 and getting ready for grade 3 mode we need to be aiming for the center of the target each time we work on our journal writing.  Here is a reminder of our target:


Today in Mathlympics we went to our fourth station. Before we started we practiced our counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's patterns and discussed a smart strategy for the cross country skiing.  It is the hardest station. Before today and our new smart strategy no one had earned a cross country ski gold medal. Today after learning the new strategy some of the competitors won gold!

This afternoon we worked on our Aspen Tree sketches from Friday. Today we added chalk to the sketches. We used rubbing and smudging to mix and blend the colours.


In gym we played badminton. We practiced hitting underhand shots and hitting overhead smashes!  We also tried to have some rallies with a partner.

Our helper tomorrow is: Addison

If you have not returned your yellow form about your plans for next year, please do so ASAP. If this form has been lost please ask Ms. Boyer for a new one or send Mrs. Rennie an email letting us know if you plan to attend Dr. Coffin school next year. 

Friday, March 9, 2018

Observing

This morning we started by working with Ms. Douglas. Today was our last day of re-telling The Mitten. Today we worked in groups of 4 and got to use instruments to help us act out the story. When we were in our groups we had to decide who would be the narrator and who would be the actors and the sound effect creators. Some of us chose to split up all the jobs and some of us decided to share the jobs. When we had finished practicing each group had a chance to perform for the class.



After that we started our Fresh Air Friday work for the day. Today we worked on sketching the aspen trees. We focused on looking for the real details of the bark and the branches so that our trees looked realistic and were an accurate sketch of tree we chose to sketch. Being able to noticed details and represent them in a drawing or diagram is an important skills for artists and for scientists.


At the end of the day we got together with our Mathlympics country teams to tally up our medals for the week. We recorded our medal totals on our graphs. Then, we came together as a whole class and totaled up all our medals. So far our class has earned 36 bronze medals, 31 silver medals, and 21 gold medals!

Our helper on Monday is: Aksel

Thursday, March 8, 2018

This morning we started with our usual guided reading and centers. Then, we had library. Normally our library time is on Wednesdays, but Ms. Douglas was teaching us yesterday so we rescheduled our library time for today. A few of us have chosen to sign out the "battle bunny project" books created by the grade 5-6 classes. These books are very special and can only be borrowed for one night, instead of the usual week. If you borrowed one of those books please be sure to treat it with extra care and return it tomorrow.

After recess was Mathlympics. Before we began we practiced our counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's patterns and also talked about an adding strategy called counting-on. For counting-on we used a hundreds chart to help us keep track of our numbers.  If you are interested in practicing some math skills at home, these counting patterns and the counting-on strategy would be a great idea to practice.

After lunch we watched a story called Bear Has a Story to Tell and then it was time to work on our animal research. Some of us have finished our research about our animal's appearance and were ready to begin researching its diet.

Then it was time for gym. In gym we practiced hitting the tennis balls against the wall and then practiced our serves with a drill called "serve and return plus one".  Next week we will try badminton!

Our helper on Monday is: Aksel
Our new sharing category is favourite photo! Feel free to bring a hard copy or email a digital photo to Ms. Boyer

Tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday! We are going to be doing some sketching outdoors. Please remember to wear your snowpants because we will probably be sitting in the snow for a least part of our outdoor time. 


Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Lots of animals and some Mathletes.

This morning, after guided reading Ms. Douglas was our teacher. We practiced re-telling the story "The Mitten" in our own words using our mitten and our animals. At the end we came back to the carpet and some groups performed their own version of the story for our class.  Next time, Ms. Douglas said we are going to use instruments to add sound effects and music to the story.

In mathlympics we had our second day of competition. Before we started Ms. Boyer talked to us about a problem she noticed yesterday. She noticed that a lot of us were forgetting to read the competition instructions before we began and it meant we were making silly mistakes and were missing out on getting our medals. Our goal for today was to make sure we read all the instructions before we started.

This afternoon we did our animal research. We worked on our appearance research about our animals. Some of us worked in groups with other people who are studying the same animal. Other people chose to work by themselves. Before we started, Ms. Boyer talked to us about using the table of contents and the index to help us find pages in our books that would teach us about appearance.

In gym Mrs. Wilkens was our teacher because Ms. Boyer had a meeting. We practiced some more tennis. We practiced our underhand serves and we practiced controlling the ball on our racquet to improve our hand-eye coordination.

Our helper tomorrow is: Lawrence

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

A Musical Day!

Today was our field trip to the Bella Concert Hall at Mount Royal University. We got to see a military band perform songs from the movies! They performed songs from Moana, Star Wars, E.T, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter. Then also played Oh Canada.  We were surprised that they were all wearing their combat uniforms!

This afternoon Ms. Douglas (our student teacher) taught us for a bit and then we continued with our animal research. We are working on the appearance section of our books. Tomorrow morning Ms. Douglas will be teaching us again and her teacher will be coming to watch! We should all try to get an extra good sleep and eat an extra healthy breakfast so we are ready to be amazing students for Ms. Douglas!

At the end of the day we came back from music and Ms. Boyer surprised us with new desk spots. She was very generous with the spots this time and we are excited to sit with our friends. BUT, she says that we have to show that we can be really focused learners in these spots or we will lose the privilege of sitting with our friends and we will have to move.

Tomorrow our helper is: Josie

Monday, March 5, 2018

Form Due Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we are going to the Bella Concert Hall at Mount Royal University. Everyone in our class has returned their forms BUT there was a mistake when the forms were sent home and we need to bring back another signed form tomorrow. 

Today we did not have journals because our student teacher Ms. Douglas was teaching us this morning.  Ms. Douglas read us a story called "The Mitten".  It was about animals who crawled into a mitten that a boy had lost in the woods. Then we each made our own mitten out of paper and we decorated it. Next time we are going to get to make the animals for the mitten so we can re-tell the story.

Today in math we started the Mathlympics! Today was the first day where we actually started competing. We went to the events with our team and we had to record our work and our answers in our competition books. Team Netherlands went to curling today. Team Germany went to figure skating. Team Norway went to ski jumping. Team China went to cross country skiing. Ask me about my event today!

This afternoon we started our animal research. We started by researching our animal's appearance. Today we began by drawing a diagram of our animal. A diagram is different from a picture because it has labels that give information about the picture. We worked on add labels that had lots of detail. For example: Instead of justing writing ears for the label on a lynx, we might put pointy ears with black tips. 

After that we went to gym. We are learning racquet sports. Then we had our finish up time. We had to work to finish our family page in our All About Me books. If we were finished we could choose drawing, books, or computers. Ask me if I have finished my family page.

For our field trip tomorrow please wear your green Dr. Coffin t-shirt or hoodie if you have one and don't forget to bring back the form!


Friday, March 2, 2018

Today we started off our day with guided reading. Please remember our guided reading starts right at 8:40 so it is really important to be on-time for school.  After that we worked on our All About Me books. Today some students were ready to start working on their page about themselves. For this page we are writing facts on the computer using Google Docs.

In math we did Mathlympics. Today was our second day of test events. We had a chance to try out some more of the events so we will know what to do when the really Mathlympics start next week.

This afternoon we worked on our Nose Hill Evidence books. Today we tried to get all the photos glued in and started adding in our notes.

After that we had gymnastics and music. Please remember to return your music field trip forms tomorrow. 

Please remember tomorrow is Fresh Air Friday. We will be staying close to the school but will be working in the snow. Snowpants etc. will be necessary.