I was lucky enough to check out the Calgary MakerFaire at the Telus Spark this evening! There was everything from fashion to art to robotics! Check out some work from Le Roi Daniels' students! On another note, Nell is ready for game 7! Go Oilers Go! April has been a busy month in room 6! Mr. Stone from the University of Calgary, joined our classroom. He worked with the students in many capacities. In Science, Mr. Stone taught the students about sustainability and about making better choices for our environment. They also worked on reading and viewing with a critical eye.
In April we also went swimming! Students braved the sun and snow and they seemed to have a great time! Nell wants to give a special thank you for the birthday wishes and cards! May the fourth be with you! Yesterday, Princess Dirt from Okotoks came by with some new friends for our classroom- some red wriggler worms! We will be composting some waste to watch how the worms work to convert garbage into valuable soil. This will help students to learn more about composting and about how to avoid adding garbage to the landfill. No doubt they will have lots of ideas at home too!
Room 6 is looking for a special caretaker of the compost bin over Spring Break. If you think you might be a good caretaker, please chat with your parents and read the instructions for worm care. We want them to be happy and healthy when they return to school! Literature Circles have kicked off this week! The students met in their small groups to divide their novel into manageable weekly reading "chunks", to assign jobs for their first official lit circle next week, and to start reading their book. Parents, here's how you can support your children during literature circles:
Students worked with Jemma from Young Actors' Workshop on bringing emotion and action to simple scenes. They had so much fun using their imaginations to bring characters, spaces and situations to life! Just for fun, here is a picture of Nell with her favourite "ball" which is actually half a ball that she has de-fuzzed!
Today students raced their new, improved race cars. They discussed wheel size and tread, friction, aerodynamics and force to hypothesize which cars would work the best. I was very impressed with their hard work and sportsmanship. Way to go room 6!
Students expanded their understandings of simple machines by building Rube Goldberg machines today in the LRD Makerspace! Although there were many machines that didn't work as expected, students were reminded that it is through our failures that we learn!
It's important to read with your child at home, discussing the text. To get a sense of your child's deeper understandings, try to ask deep questions that go beyond the text, rather than quick (or thin) questions. Here are some examples of questions you can ask. Retrieved from http://www.cambridgecsd.org/webpages/ktoleman/comprehension.cfm?subpage=448286 Retrieved from http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thecurriculumcorner456/wp-content/pdf/closereading/thickthinanchorcolormini.PDF
Tell your parents about Art Felting today! It was such a neat opportunity to learn from a textile artist. Grade fours used dyed wool (called roving) to make a beautiful Alberta landscape!
Check out the following video and have a conversation with your parents about how you can take a stand against bullying! |
AuthorMs. McIntosh is a grade 4 teacher at Le Roi Daniels School in Calgary, Alberta. This is my sixth year teaching grade 4. I'm also a student studying learning commons, literacy and technology at the University of Alberta. Archives
May 2017
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