It was wonderful to see everyone at the EXPO/ BBQ event, and we are so grateful you could join us to celebrate learning! This week in humanities, grade 4s continued to work on their final writing projects. We focused on composing complete sentences and conjoining two simple sentences to make a compound. Next week we will finish these projects by paying close attention to organization and CAPS; a skill all grade 4s can be working on moving into grade 5! This week we also had the privilege of watching the band concert dress rehearsal on Thursday before the EXPO. This week in science, with many students finished their bike design proposals, they began to take their ideas into the real world. Students began to use their bike maintenance skills to prepare for control testing. Next week they will modify their bike, and test it again. In doing so they will be testing their design to see if their modification was a success.
In our study of fractions, students used pool noodle fraction manipulatives to explore mathematical concepts. Students made connects regarding fraction size, equivalency, and how to order fractions from least to greatest.
0 Comments
This week in humanities, fourth graders continued to work on the "Story of my Year" writing project. We wrapped up using word play, and began to look at sentence structure, comma usage, and extending our writing using the 5 W's. Next week we will be working on part 2 of our writing! Students in 4.2 had a chance to paint their fossil casts, and students in 4.1 visited the Calgary Public Library's Book Truck!
Important upcoming dates: Thursday, June 15th - Connect EXPO Event 3:30 - 6:30pm In humanities, students have been working on their camp reflections! They were given a blank page to fill up using a set of 7 instructions. The purpose was to have students reflect creatively and combine different aspects of the trip using text and drawings on one page. We are very excited to showcase some of the finished products at our school wide EXPO event, June 15th. Grade 4s are also starting a final writing project to "Tell the story of their grade 4 year!" The assignment will be broken down into 3 parts or terms highlighting big moments from grade 4, and focusing on specific writing skills. Students will be given a set of checklists to accompany the mini writing lessons as we go along to help them use each skill in their writing. Please note, we have set due dates but are always open and flexible to the pace of each group. We hope to finish this project by June 16. Here is the criteria students will follow for this assignment. We are currently using word play in our writing to describe term one. Term One Rough Copy Due End of Class Monday June 5 In the term one portion of my story I have...
In the term two portion of my story I have…
In the term three portion of my story I have…
In math/science the grade 4's have been working to understand the different forces and simple machines at work within the complex machine of the bicycle. Students have worked with tension and come to new understandings regarding how friction is manipulated. Bike design was also explored as we noted the differences between road bikes and mountain bikes. Students noted the different aspects of each and how simple machines aided in each design's performance.
Students also studied how rollers were utilized to move objects over distances, when they were too heavy to carry. Hands-on science and exploration have been an integral part of our bike study. Students are using the drive trains of bicycles to explore gear ratio and the transfer of energy needed when riding. In mathematics, students have applied their strategies for multiplication fact retrieval and multiplication algorithms to complete their recent assessment. The grade 4's are using inventive strategies in solving division problems and have been introduced to a number of algorithms to divide larger totals. Manipulatives and models aided students in understanding the relationship between multiplication and division and sharing. In humanities this week students started a new unit exploring how events from Alberta's past have shaped our present identity. We started by analyzing posters from the early 1900's to discuss how we believe things have changed or stayed the same. Students were then each assigned an event to investigate using the 5 W's: Who, What, Where, When, Why. Each pod has continued to work on writing and completes weekly writing challenges. 4.3/4.4 did some work with homophones and 4.1/4.2 explored affixes. This week in math/science students continued to practiced their fact recall strategies with math games and digital versions of mental flash cards. Students were to use the facts that they knew to build their understanding of facts they presently struggle with. In science, students went on a scavenger hunt to look for devices that met three criteria. The devices had to have few or no moving parts, save energy by making work easier, and had to change the amount of force acting on an object or change the direction of the force. Students took pictures and discussed as a class if the items met our criteria. This classification will support students in their future work in scientific exploration.
During humanities this week, students in 4.1/4.2 worked towards completing their TED Talks discussing what Albertans can learn from our First Nations people. We are very excited about this project, and with student consent, hope to publish them on a YouTube channel created by the teacher so students can parents can be invited to view them! Students in 4.3/4.4 this week worked on concluding their elder interviews. Thank you to all parents, partners, friends, and others who participated in these interviews! The benefits of this activity hugely impacted our understanding. These assignments wrap up our Indigenous studies and mark the start of our final unit "Past to Present," beginning Monday April 24th. Students have also been doing "free writing" challenges with a provided topic to focus on specific writing skills. This will continue for the duration of term 3. This week in math/sci students continued to practice their inventive strategies in multiplication based on the work they had done with grouping and arrays. Recall strategies were practiced and students teamed up to help each other with their basic multiplication facts. In science students finished up their light and shadow study with an assessment that saw students making movies to explain how shadows change throughout the day and how the sun appears to move across the sky. Students referenced their research to make a quick movie to show what they know. Important Updates: - Parents interested in volunteering for the SAHT must complete their sign up form by May 1st. - SAHT information night on May 2nd at 6pm in the Gym - First Nations One Act Play - Saakokoto/Ksistsikoom (based on the graphic novels Randy Bottle gave to us) will take place on Wednesday April 26th and Thursday April 27th at 7pm. Admission by donation. Location: Sir John Franklin School Parent Summit Committee presents Saturday April 29th, 2017 (note revised date) Resilient Youth Workshop by Kimberly Eckert, Executive Director of Eckert Psychology & Education Connect Charter School 9:00am-12:00pm (doors open 8:30am) Parent Networking & Community Building facilitated by Adora Nwofor, Actor and Comedian Coffee & Light Breakfast included in registration fee Tickets: $10 for Connect parents, $15 for Guests/Community Tickets and additional information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-april-parent-summit-connect-charter-school-tickets-32791790127 Agenda: 8:30 – Doors Open, Coffee, Light Breakfast 9:00 – Welcome, Parent Networking & Community Building facilitated by Adora Nwofor, Actor and Comedian 9:30 – 11:30 Raising a Resilient and Resourceful Youth, Kimberly Eckert, Executive Director, Eckert Psychology & Education Centre 11:30 – Promoting Resilience at Connect Charter School, Dr. Phil Butterfield, Principal 12:00pm – Closing Raising a Resilient and Resourceful Youth Raising a Resilient and Resourceful Youth focuses on helping parents of youth in Grades 4-9 understand what social science research has uncovered regarding the key protective factors necessary to develop their positive capacity to cope with stress and adversity. Participants will discover what the four key protective factors are, and four critical moves parents can make to build resiliency and resourcefulness within their youth. What resilient-boosting schools look like will be reviewed. The session includes 10 important resiliency skills presented with an opportunity for parents to set goals so they leave the workshop with a clear steps to build resiliency within their family. The format of the workshop includes a presentation, video clips, small break out group exercises, and large group discussions. Feedback from parents about this workshop include that they have a greater sense of hope and a clearer understanding of the action steps required to support their youth’s mental wellness through resiliency building. Kimberly Eckert Kimberly Eckert is a Registered Psychologist and the Founder and Executive Director of Eckert Psychology & Education Centre. She hold a B.A. Honors Psychology degree and a M.Sc. School/Community Psychology degree. She has over 17 years of experience working as a psychologist. At the beginning of her career, Kimberly primarily provided psychoeducational assessments and learning intervention services to children, teens, and adults through the public school system and nonprofit sector. She then broadened her focus to include counselling services for children and teens, along with parenting support and education. Kimberly is a certified facilitator of Circle of Security – Parenting, which is a well-researched relationship-based parenting program. She authored the parenting seminar series The Successful Parent’s Toolbox™, which includes the DVD/Workbook, Raising a Confident Child: Preparing our kids for true greatness, and the DVD, Raising an Assertive Child: Arming our kids against bullying. You can tune in every Wednesday morning on 88.9 Shine FM for Parenting Moments with Kimberly. Over the past 2 weeks, students have been busy busy busy! In our study of light and shadow grade 4's have been noticing how light travels in a straight line, and how the position of the sun affects shadow formation. The students made pinhole cameras and witnessed how an image can be formed.
On our EXPO week, students went to the Weaselhead Park to see how shadows can be used to indicate the position of the sun and how they change throughout the day. In mathematics, students shared their inventive strategies for multiplication of two digits by one digit. "Math talks" were an important part of our weekly math classes. In humanities we have continued our study of indigenous culture. Students in 4.1 and 4.2... Students in 4.3 and 4.4 completed and shared their oral stories, based on the lessons we can learn from the history of indigenous peoples in Alberta. This was a large part of our EXPO week, and the students enjoyed sharing their stories with the grade 8's at the Weaselhead on Wednesday afternoon. The activities on the final day of EXPO week allowed students with an authentic view of today's indigenous culture in Alberta. Students have now begun to enter the exciting world of multiplication in Math! Students were challenged to show their understanding of multiplication in variety of forms such as visually as groups or in an array. They also looked at the connection between addition and multiplication by writing various multiplication problems in their longer addition forms. Students also began reading the book Each Orange Had 8 Slices. This book has multiplication word problems. The video of someone reading this book can be found below. This week in science students continued their exploration of light and shadows. Students had the amazing opportunity to explore and experiment with light, when they worked with ray boxes. Some pictures of these experiments can be found below! Check it out! Students used the experiments to learn about reflection, refraction, and the properties of light. Over the past few weeks in 4.1 and 4.2 humanities, students have continued studying stories and teachings of indigenous people. We looked at what characteristics make up an Elder and the 3 key indicators: someone who IMPACTS, makes CHANGE, and is RECOGNIZED in any given community. Students compared two pretend people to determine from their bio who would most likely be considered an Elder. In preparation for interviewing an elder in their own life, students answered 3 reflection questions in their google doc journals and then began planning 10 thick interview questions. We are excited to interview and learn from our Elders! Students also co-created a rubric for this assignment, check it out on the Freshgrade assignment! Elder interviews are due by Tuesday March. 14th, and students have the freedom to choose how to show their learning. If you need an extension or have questions, please contact Miss. Glinsbockel ([email protected]). In 4.3 and 4.4 students are also looking at stories and history. They are currently planning stories that reflect their learning of Alberta's past, answering the question What could we learn from the stories of Alberta's indigenous people? Students are excited to share their stories with our grade 8's at the Weaselhead during EXPO week. This week all 104 grade fours also got to participate in something called “The Blanket Exercise.” This activity was led by one of Mount Royal’s Elders, Dion Simon. We learned about the history of cultural contact in Canada, indigenous language, general and specific challenges, and current steps taken moving forward today. This was an enriching, hands on experience for students to begin understanding perspectives and develop empathy for Canada’s past hardships.
Reminders
EOEP UPDATE! A MESSAGE FROM DR. PHIL BUTTERFIELD: * Please also see attachment in Important Links/Docs for information concerning: What is place based education and why does it matter? Good afternoon Connect parents; During the staff retreat last week, we explored many dimensions of the Experiential and Outdoor Education Program plan. Feedback from across the school community - parents, students, staff, and Board members, has been carefully processed, considered, and factored into the planning process. Among the comments that were often repeated were the desire to maintain strong, positive relationships between teachers and students, maintain the pod structure of specialist teachers, and consider a pilot project that does not add more classes to the school. The Experiential and Outdoor Education Program provides students with opportunities to enrich learning by making meaningful and relevant connections between classroom learning and the community in which we live, work, and play. The EOEP builds on our pre-existing foundation of inquiry, outdoor education, and technology by introducing real world applications of knowledge and skills, while also exploring a sense of each individuals’ place within the community and their development as an extraordinary citizen. The feedback provided by all stakeholders has had a direct and profound impact on the evolution of the EOEP plan. We are now developing a comprehensive plan for EOEP (that will include a new name and acronym) that has addressed the following considerations:
Thank you, Dr. Phil Butterfield 4.1 & 4.2 Humanities, Health & Learning StrategiesThis week in humanities 4.1 and 4.2 students finished up their First Nations research from the textbook and moved deeper into exploring stories! We practiced one together "The Ojibway Creation Story" and then students used our scholastic collection of Trickster Tales to independently work. For each story students are following a template found on Google Docs: Title & Author, Story Summary, Author's Message (including evidence from the story), 2 Reading Strategies, and Connections/Thoughts/Responses. Fourth graders have put together an interactive question wall to use throughout our study! We also worked on our personal spelling lists this week and added our Mastered Lists to Freshgrade... check it out! In Health/Learning Strats, 4.2 learned about the "Thinkables" and how they can be used in different ways to defeat our SuperFlex Unthinkables in challenging moments. We played 3 card games that helped us understand applying strategies in different situations and to remember each SuperFlex character. 4.3 & 4.4 Humanities, Health & Learning StrategiesStudents in 4.3 and 4.4 are also investigating Alberta's history and considering what lessons we can learn from the encounters between indigenous and European peoples in our province. We have been challenging the students to use a variety of resources, both fiction and non, to develop their understanding and to think critically. On Friday we also reaffirmed our historian pledges, thinking more about the attitudes we all want to bring to our historical inquiry. Check out the display showcasing our pledges, and our tipi constructed to symbolize our community values, next time you are in the school! In the coming weeks we will be engaged in a variety of activities to deepen our understanding of perspectives, the history of Alberta, and the lessons we could learn from various indigenous communities. In health we have been continuing to explore the Unthinkables and think critically about our own behaviour and how it affects those around us. Students have been working on an interdisciplinary challenge in Learning Strategies, combining their knowledge of stories and storytelling with their understanding of Light & Shadow. We are excited to see their performances next week! In Other News...Grade 4 students participated in 2 important assemblies this week! On Wednesday we celebrated PINK SHIRT DAY and focused on steps we can take as a community to defeat bullying and stand up for ourselves and others. Students learned about accessing Kids Help Phone, and were inspired by Caleb Hart (a musician and public speaker) to stick together as a community and support each other! Students in 4.1 / 4.2 wrote letters to their future selves about how to be a better friend! On Thursday we had a representative from Right 2 Play come in and talk to us about how we can "do your part" in contributing through play! We learned about opportunities taking place all over the world, and how positive play can impact our lives everyday. Right 2 Play is an organization that uses play to educate and empower children and youth to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict and disease in disadvantaged communities. Check it out! http://www.righttoplay.com/Pages/default.aspx YOU ARE INVITED! Connect Charter School presents "The Audition" a play by Don Zolidis. We are presenting this production as a dessert cafe. Please come out and support the grade 8 and 9 actors and enjoy coffee and dessert. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family. Just follow the link below to reserve your seats. Hope to see you there! "A new theater teacher is bringing a production of A Chorus Line to the high school. Though the hopefuls range from shy to outrageous, and from diva-like to determined, everyone has a chance to step into the spotlight. A hilarious and heartbreaking look at the madness of auditioning and the actors who brave the process for that perfect part." March 8 and 9th 2017 7:00 PM Shows @Connect Charter School Reserve tickets: http://tinyurl.com/hk5jubh Thank you! Heather Melville 4.2 Welcomes back Tortuga, our class pet turtle! Math & ScienceThis week in Math/Sci, students completed their up cycling projects and reflected on the importance of this creative reuse movement. Below is one example of a project and one student's reflection. Also this week, students began to explore light by challenging previous beliefs regarding how we see objects. Ask the students in grade 4 if they can see an apple in the dark. In mathematics, students continued to represent their mathematical understanding both symbolically and concretely. Students used arrays to represent their understanding of multiplication. Students have demonstrated how multiplication is fast addition of the same group of numbers. Students shared inventive strategies for multiplication equations and the group saw that there is more than one way to solve an equation.. Upcycling reflection by Jaxson But why not just buy a coat hanger?
My project is a utensil coat hanger it looks cool on your wall and it saves the environment. But why not just buy a coat hanger? This week in math students began to take a look at mental math strategies for addition and subtraction. Students also began to look at comparing and ordering numbers. Coming down the pipes next week we will have review and then an assessment of place value as well as ordering numbers. Continuing with our Waste and Our World exploration, this week students were challenged to research and design an up cycling project that they will be creating in class next week. Students also applied their knowledge to create a mixed recycling and compost pilot program for the school. This program will start in the grade 4 classrooms, with the hope that we will be able to work out the kinks and then start it in the rest of the school. Students were challenged to examine their lunches and create both a tally chart and graph to display how much of their lunch could be recycled, composted, or had to be thrown in the garbage. In humanities this week, students have continued to think historically and begin thoughtful questioning. We are working on learning more about Alberta's First Nations People through exploring various resources. As we learn about stories and what they can teach us, students viewed "The Drum Calls Softly" as an example of our third type of story, Words & Pictures. We used observations and questioning to brainstorm different categories and deepen our understanding of the First Nations People's 1. Tradition 2. Lifestyle 3. Family 4. The Land 5. Animals 6. Spirituality This week students will take a closer look at how First Nations People lived with the land in our 6 regions. Check your child's google doc to see new work! Upcoming:
- This week is a short week, extending into Family Day. No school Feb. 16th - 20th - Bake Sale @ noon Feb. 13 & 14th supporting Kid's Help Phone - Pink Shirt Day Wednesday Feb. 22nd http://pinkshirtday.ca In humanities this week we have started exploring what being a historian means, and what kind of characteristics historians have! Students in 4.3 and 4.4 have started to create their historian journals and work inside of them exploring connections with the land we previously researched. We started writing some stories about those lands and are excited about the interesting ideas the kids have, and the insight they have shown already in their connections! Students also continued working on their Free Reading Challenges, and are making excellent progress recording their use of our active reading strategies. Students in 4.1 & 4.2 humanities brought in artifacts that represent First Nations people to them. With the incredible variety of artifacts brought in, we turned our room into a museum for a gallery walk. Students were asked to analyze the artifacts by looking closely and try thinking like a historian. We decided that asking questions along the way will deepen our understanding and be an important part of our learning. Students concluded the gallery walk by sharing questions and exploring new ideas that came about in our conversations. Lastly, to kick off our First Nations unit students used an app called Pic Collage to create a cover page for their writing journals! Alongside our First Nations studies, students will be exploring "what is a story?" and "Why might people write or tell stories?" We read "The Book With No Pictures" and watched "The Arrival" as demonstrations of two different types of stories (no words, no pictures). Students brainstormed some pros and cons for each, and next week we will discover another type of story. In grade 4 math/science students continued to practice their basic addition and subtraction facts through quick math games at the beginning of class. Place value continued to be a focus, as students ordered numbers from least to greatest and practiced correctly saying numbers up to the millions.
In science, students calculated how long their lunch would last in landfill and weight the waste our classrooms produced per day. Students also researched and brainstormed ideas to initiate a composting system in the grade four classrooms. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2017
Categories |