Ms Elder's Grade 4/5 Class

Citizenship in Learning: I can think of others and create something that builds community. Science: I can recognize evidence of animals, native plants, and changes in seasons; I can label diagrams accurately. Yesterday's Community Walk took us along the river pathway. Students enjoyed looking for signs that animals had been there, and spotting animals along the way (mallards, mergansers, crows, magpies, chickadees). They documented what they found on a Scavenger Hunt sheet that we will be gifting to Ms Rowland's Grade 1/2 class. The students demonstrated their knowledge of native plants through their detailed drawings and labels. This was a partner task; partners were chosen by Ms Elder. 

French: I can learn vocabulary relating to clothing; I can speak in French with increasingly accurate pronunciation.  We are practicing clothing vocabulary in French in preparation for the Fashion Show ( for more information, see our previous post - click here ).   Today, Ms Elder put us into partners. We sorted these vocabulary words into two piles: colours and clothing words. Then, we drew a person in our journals. We took turns pulling out two slips. Then, we drew the clothing that we picked on to our person and coloured it. We then had to label 5 items and their colours to practice for the fashion show. "I liked being able to pick a random clothing and item and colour and see what it looks like at the end."~ Callie "I liked how we could see other people's creations and let them see ours so we can figure out their French words." ~ Dillon "I liked this activity because it wasn't just a worksheet. It was an activity that was fun." ~ Sadie "I ...

French: I can learn vocabulary relating to clothing; I can speak in French with more accurate pronunciation 

  LA: I can organize my ideas using a chart or table; I can compare different kinds of media (book vs film) We recently finished our class read aloud book, Wonder .  As a follow-up activity, we chose a character in the book to write to and we gifted them a precept. For more info on that assignment, please click here .  Wonder Precept letters have been marked and were handed out today. You can look over them with your child and let me know if you have any questions. We are putting our Precept Faces up on the wall to remind us of those wise "words to live by." On Friday, we watched the movie, Wonder . We discussed different ways to organize our ideas to show what is the same and different about the book. The students mentioned T-Charts and Venn Diagrams, which we have conveniently been studying in Math :) Students could choose the format they used. We paused the movie multiple times throughout to discuss the similarities and differences and added on to our charts. At the en...

Please prepare to welcome our Student Teacher, Ms Morgan Dool. She will drop in tomorrow to meet the class, and will start full-time on Monday. She is from St Mary's University and will be with us for a few weeks now and back again in March.  Let's help her feel welcome and respected! :)

Math: I can explore Area (Gr 4)/Perimeter and Area (Gr 5) by constructing shapes. Math: I can build different rectangles with the same Area. Art: I can use the space on the page well. Students are taking home their Zoo Designs today. Please find some time this week to sit with your child and read through my marks and comments. If you have questions, let me know. Here are a couple of great examples from the class!

We did it! We finished the book. :) Students, this is a friendly reminder that you may want to think over the weekend about your Wonder Letter that you'll start writing on Monday. You need to choose :  Which character you want to write to Which precept (quote, words to live by) you want to gift them Remember, you can choose to make up your own precept, or use a quote you've heard. If you're using a quote you've heard, please include the name of the person who said it. If you're not sure, you can Google It or write "Unknown."  You can choose to connect a precept with a character because you think they lived by it, or because you think they need to live by it (*cough cough*...Julian). We'll start writing on Monday! :) ~ Ms Elder