Math – This week in math, students were busy learning about measurement concepts and skills. They enjoyed participating in a scavenger hunt which had them locating, measuring and comparing various objects' lengths and widths in both the classroom and hallway. Students are becoming much more proficient at converting millimeters, centimeters, meters and kilometers as a result of our lessons and activities (see photos posted below). In our upcoming classes, students will learn about area of regular and irregular 2-D shapes by: • recognizing that area is measured in square units • selecting and justifying referents for the units cm2 or m2 • estimating area, using referents for cm2 or m2 • determining and recording area (cm2 or m2) • constructing different rectangles for a given area (cm2 or m2) in order to demonstrate that many different rectangles may have the same area. Math in a Flash - Students are currently working in their eighth Math in a Flash book! Book #7 was graded and sent home with students this past week. I am very pleased with the progress students have made this year in terms of their mental math abilities. Overall, students' personal bar graphs for these Math in a Flash books and results show an increase in achievements and understanding of concepts since September! Prodigy – I have set up a measurement task for students to complete online. Please ensure your child is logging into Prodigy regularly. Problem of the Week – As the school year begins to wind down, we will wrap up our Problem of the Week challenges in a couple weeks. This week's problem focuses on patterning and algebra concepts, as well as measurement. Good luck, Kodiaks!
Science – The students have been really engaged in our Plants unit! They are eager to come into class each day to observe the growth and changes of their bean plants, and are quick to identify their specific plants' needs. Students have been taking great care of their plants by watering them, adding soil or draining out excess water! They have also been putting their measurement skills from math to the test in science as they've been measuring and recording the growth of their plants almost daily. 4E and 4F students participated in a seed dissection lab yesterday. The dissection had them comparing dry and soaked lima beans (24 hours in water). Students formed a hypothesis about what they thought was inside the bean and then followed steps to dissect and observe the insides using a hand lens (see photos posted below). They were able to form valid conclusions for this lab after the dissection. 4E and 4F were also intrigued about our lesson on carnivorous plants this week, including the venus flytrap. They enjoyed listening to a story, as well as watching and discussing this video: Flex – We have one more week ahead of students sharing their favourite childhood stories during Flex time. M.S, S.S, H.W, L.W. and I.W. in 4F - a reminder that you are sharing your stories this coming week, so please have your book at school on Monday! 4F Swim Lessons - 4F will be swimming at Vivo from 12:00-12:45 P.M. (Monday to Thursday), and from 9:45-10:45 A.M. on Friday. Students are reminded to bring a swimsuit and towel in a plastic bag to school each day next week. They should be taking their swimsuits and towels home at the end of each day. You may want to consider packing an extra snack for your child to eat after their lesson as students are usually quite hungry after all the swim activities! If you are interested and available to walk with us to and from the pool (and stay for the duration of the lesson), I could definitely use your help! Please send me an email if you are free on any or all days next week. 4F will leave the school at 11:25 A.M (Monday-Thursday) and at 9:10 A.M. on Friday. We will return to the school about 45 minutes after the lessons wrap up. To volunteer for this trip, you must have an approved CBE volunteer form on file at the school. Calgary Reads Challenge - Thank you for all the books you donated to Calgary Reads, Kodiak Families. As a school, we donated over 1500 books and as a 4F class, we donated 198... and WON the book drive challenge! Well done! Here is a photo of all the wonderful books 4F donated: Upcoming Events and Important Due Dates – May 7 to May 11 - 4F Swim Lessons run 12:00-12:45 P.M. (Mon.-Thurs.) and 9:45-10:45 A.M. (Fri.) May 9 - Spring Photos May 9 - Grade 4 Drama Club (3:00-4:00 P.M. in the Foods Room) May 14 – Hats on for Mental Health May 15 - School Dance and Activity Afternoon Wednesday May 16 – Mindfulness and Wellness Wednesday (Details T.B.A.) May 16 - Grade 4 Drama Club (3:00-4:00 P.M. in the Foods Room) May 17 - NCS PJ Day May 17 - 4E and 4F Pysanky Eggs Workshop May 18 - PD Day (NCS is closed for students) May 23 - Healthy Hunger Lunch (Tim Hortons) May 23 - Grade 4 Drama Club (3:00-4:00 P.M. in the Foods Room) May 26 to June 4 - Japan Homestay students are at NCS May 30 - Grade 4 Drama Club (3:00-4:00 P.M. in the Foods Room) Measuring in math...Lima Bean dissection lab...Our hearty bean plants...
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What is distance?
Distance measures length. For example, the distance of a snake is how long the snake is. In the metric system of measurement, the most common units of distance are millimetres, centimetres, metres, and kilometres. How big are metric units of distance? A paper clip is about 1 millimetre thick. A fingernail is about 1 centimetre wide. The length of a guitar is about 1 metre. A kilometre is equal to 1000 metres. (It is a little over half of a mile!) Want to learn more about metric units of distance? Watch this video! Math – This week, students learned how to read/write the time to the minute on both analog and digital clocks. We also discussed how to say and record the time in different ways. For example, for 8:15, we can say: "fifteen minutes after eight", "quarter-after eight", or "forty-five minutes to nine." Students found the elapsed time concepts a bit more challenging, and they should continue to explore the amount of time that passes in both hours and minutes. For example, if it is 4:30pm now, what time will it be in 8 hours and 10 minutes? The 24-hour clock was an interesting concept for students, and one that they seemed to understand. Students are reminded that when we use the 24-h clock, we use 4-digits to write the time (i.e. 6:30 A.M. is written 06:30 and 6:30 P.M. is written 18:30). Both 4E and 4F classes will write their Telling Time quiz on Monday and should review the notes in their red math duotangs over the weekend! Prodigy – Many 4E and 4F students have still not completed the Telling Time assignment posted in Prodigy. When students log in, it will automatically run so students can read and answer the assigned questions. This Telling Time assignment will help students prepare for Monday's quiz! Estimation Station – There were 444 cm of yarn in our Estimation Station jar this week. Congratulations to C.B. in 4F who came closest with an estimate of 439 cm. That was an incredible estimate! Problem of the Week – This week's math problem is posted below. It involves calculating area. Good luck, 4E and 4F students!
Science – 4E and 4F students began the final unit of the year in Science: Plant Growth and Changes. They enjoyed planting bean seeds on Monday and have been busy observing and monitoring their cups each day (see photos posted below). Today we saw our first sprout in D.O's cup! Students also spent time setting up their bean plant observation log in their Creative Journals, and will continue to observe and record changes to their plant over time. Task Design Challenge #2 - Today, grade four students were all split up into new classrooms to take on a task design challenge. This challenge had students collaborating to design and then build a carnival ride or game fit for little critters. The carnival projects had to incorporate simple machines studied in our previous science unit, with at least one moving part. Grade fours worked really well with their new classmates and teachers, and were able to construct some pretty neat games and rides in just two hours! Please see the photos posted below from the "Critter Carnival" projects built in my classroom today. Great job, Kodiaks! Monthly Letters – April's monthly letter will be written and sent home with students on Monday. We had such a busy day today with the task design challenge that we ran out of time for it! Flex – Students continue to share their favourite childhood stories during our flex time. Next week, we'll look forward to hearing stories from: R.G, S.H, S.P, O.Q, M.S. and B.S. in 4F! Miscellaneous – We had a wonderful time on our field trip yesterday. The students learned a lot about the waste disposal systems in Calgary and had fun too! A big thank you to our parent volunteers - Ms. Bennett, Ms. Birkett, Ms. Luhning, Ms. MacIntyre, Ms. Orr, Ms. Siemens, and Ms. Sturtevant. We REALLY appreciated your time and support! I took some photos during the trip and have posted them below. 4F's swim lesson permission forms were sent home with students on Thursday. Please complete/return the forms to me by Tuesday. The students are really looking forward to swimming at Vivo in the coming weeks! We have a few more opportunities for parents to volunteer with various events happening at Nose Creek in the next couple months! If you are interested and available on the following dates, we'd love to have you support our students. Please connect with your child's homeroom teacher if you'd like to volunteer for any of the events posted below... - April 30-May 4 (4E's Swim Lessons at Vivo ) - May 7-11 (4F's Swim Lessons at Vivo) - May 17 (4E/4F Pysanky Eggs Workshop) - June 6 (4E/4F Heritage Park trip) Please remember to send a water bottle to school each day for students to drink and keep in our classroom. Our classroom can get very warm at this time of the year and students need to stay hydrated! 4E and 4F's should also have a pair of indoor shoes to wear at school each and every day. These also need to be kept at school on our shoe shelf. Finally, if students are riding their bike or scooter to school, they are highly encouraged to lock it up; students should not share their lock combinations with their peers. Food trucks are coming to Nose Creek School on Friday, May 4th! Students will get their truck bucks that day, and other students are welcome to bring cash. One truck buck equals $1 cash. Grade four students will access the food trucks from 8:30-9:30 A.M. on Friday. Drama Club begins next week for grade four students! We will meet in the Foods Room after school on Wednesday from 3-4pm. See you then! As always, if you have any questions, please ask. Thank you for continuing to support your children at school... we only have nine more weeks together until Summer Break! - Mrs. Ross Planting our bean seeds...Task Design Challenge #2 - "Critter Carnival"4E and 4F's field trip to the Composting Facility and Shepard Landfill...4E and 4F students will be heading to Shepard Landfill and the Composting Facility on Thursday this week. Here is a list of things that will help prepare our students for the trip:
4E and 4F students received this copy of vocabulary terms for our new unit in Science. Students should make a good effort to learn and memorize each of these terms.
Math – Students continued to work through "Telling Time" concepts and skills in math this week. They discussed and worked through various Calendar Time activities, including metric notation and reading/recording dates in both words and numbers. We also debated the different ways that dates can be interpreted, such as 03/04/79. As well, Students began to explore telling time to the hour (5:00), quarter after hour (5:15), half hour (5:30) and quarter to hour (5:45). They are learning to read both analog and digital clocks much more fluently now, but should continue to read and tell time daily for practice. Students enjoyed playing a game of Telling Time BINGO yesterday, which had them reading clocks and placing chips on their cards in hopes of winning a prize from the Ross Box! Science – In Science, students had an eventful week as we wrapped up our Simple Machines unit. After spending time researching catapults last week, students were able to put their understanding to the test as they constructed their own unique marshmallow catapults! Students loved using their catapults to complete in our five "Catapult Olympics" events. I was extremely pleased with students' catapult projects and also how they supported and cheered on their classmates through each of the events! Rubrics with grades for the Marshmallow Catapult Project will be sent home next week. Our next unit in science will be: Plant Growth and Changes. Upcoming Events and Important Dates - - 4F Swim Ability Forms are due on Monday. If I don't have your form, I have emailed you! - NCS's Earth Week is next week, including the homeroom Door Decorating Contest! - 4E/4F Composting and Shepard Landfill Field Trip is on Thursday. #tellingtimebingoHere are some photos from our Marshmallow Catapult Project and Olympics! |
Mrs. Ross[email protected] Archives
June 2018
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