Hello parents! I've created a padlet link on the side bar for students to use as a tool to share their home project. We have already talked about it in class. However they are free to use a different tool or medium to share their favorite piece and the thinking behind it. Have a lovely weekend!
It's that time of year again! Grades 1, 2 and 3 will be dismissed in the courtyard as of this TUESDAY at 2.45pm. The children will be brought down to the courtyard for this time where you can pick them up from there.
Thanks for your cooperation. Dear Parents, This week we will commence our new unit with the following central idea: Artists create pieces in different mediums that an audience may interpret. Lines of inquiry:
In previous years, the focus was on visual art. This year we are expanding that to include dance, music, performance, poetry and visual arts as a form of self expression and communication. I look forward to discovering the children's interesting and seeing where our inquiry leads us! This week we will begin our pre-assessment and tuning-in activities to discover what students think art actually means and how they might interpret some unconventional art e.g. surrealism by Salvador Dali. Alongside the art department, we will be looking into how the 7 elements of art can be combined and used to create emotion and abstract concepts. Reading - a reminder as previously stated these are easy level books and the instructional/guided reading books are at a higher level. The purpose is that you are not intended to teach your child but have them read for fluency, enjoyment and practice. Although you feel they may be easy, that is the point. Yes your child may read chapter books, then do so - that is absolutely fine - but remember, we are looking at understanding for many students - not just being able to work out what the words are. Attached is a photo of strategies students can use to help them make sense of what they are reading. We are looking for understanding at a deeper level, not just the literal understanding of text. We are also looking at a student's ability to retell a story independently and clearly without prompts. Writing - As we shift our focus away from recounts for now, students will transfer their knowledge of some features learned in recounts to other text types. For instance, a strong introduction can still include details of who, what, when, where and why to engage the reader. Our new unit lends itself to descriptive writing, and we will begin by exploring creative ways to express ourselves e.g. similes and metaphors. As we conclude George's Marvelous Medicine as a class, we use Roald Dahl's familiar book to introduce similes and metaphors within context. Maths - We continue to practice and develop mastery of place values and fast recall of number bonds up to 20. With place value we have worked on expanded form up to the thousands place value and will now use that to understand addition and subtraction - especially important when we get into re-grouping. In addition to IXL practice, here is a fun independent practice site for your child to play a place value game: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/placevalue/mathman_place_digit.htm Announcements and Reminders:
As always, your continued support at home is much appreciated. Warm regards, Bhavna I would like to recognize Hammoody, Cyrus, Salma, Sergej, Liam, and Samay for being risk-takers and for taking the initiative to run for Class Student Council Representative. Speaking in front of a large group of students is no easy task, and I’m so proud of all our candidates. It was a great opportunity to practice public speaking and thinking on their toes when having to answer questions posed by their peers.
We had a class vote, including teacher input, and our Student Council representative for the year will be Salma Dajani. Congratulations! Dear Parents,
I will try to keep our update short and sweet this week. If you were unable to view the post from Ms. Betty, our librarian, about World Book Week, please scroll down and try again. I've reposted the details so it should hopefully work. It's another short week! Our learning focus will be on the following: Math We continue to develop our understanding of place value through games and manipulating base-10 blocks. We will extend our understanding to include various forms in which numbers are represented - word form, standard form, expanded form, base-10 form, etc. and understand how to represent them interchangeably using thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones place values. We will also focus on vertical addition. Language We continue our Daily 3 literacy blocks with Word Work, Reading, and Writing. This week most students will be further editing their written recounts before publishing. We will also be looking at how good readers make connections. This week our focus will be on text-to-self connections. Unit of Inquiry As we wrap up our unit of inquiry, students will be applying their understanding about problem solving strategies and concepts of peace and conflict to revisit their pre-assessment ladders. Looking at their initial ideas at the beginning of the unit, students can add new ideas, replace old ideas, and rerank ideas in order of most to least important in "having a successful and peaceful classroom community." We will use our success criteria to reflect on our original ideas and determine what changes should be made to truly support a peaceful learning community. We will also start practicing for our assembly. I will discuss this with the class tomorrow. Bits and Bobs
Warm regards, Bhavna |
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June 2017
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