Week 19

We started using scooters in gym for sledge hockey! We also played ringette in gym this week.

We had baby visits this week, the babies looked very healthy, happy and adorable! They are looking stronger every time we see them. Baby Michael has a new nick name, his family calls him "fart factory." Lena also has a new nick name, we call her "Super Lena!" because she is getting so good at tummy time! Baby Michael and Baby Lena are so cute that their real super power is "Super Cuteness!" The babies are almost 6 months now and they are going to start eating solid food soon. We also learned that Baby Lena is going swimming for the first time today, good luck!

  

In science we got to use the computers to start researching about simple machines. We started thinking about levers, pulleys, gears, and wheels. When we were researching on the computer we had to fill out a scavenger hunt all together using google docs! It was confusing at first because we were all on different computers but using the same document, we quickly got the hang of it though! We then had Mrs. Craig come into the classroom and we filled out a big chart about what we think we know about simple machines and what we wonder about. We will be using this living document as we learn more about simple machines.

  

  

Next week we will be starting a maker challenge! My homework over the weekend is to research levers and how to make an effective catapult! Watch this Bill Nye the Science Guy video to get some ideas about simple machines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RUH__B8Os

We had a math test this week about addition and subtraction.

We had a Birthday Boy this week! Happy Birthday L!

In social studies we learned more about the First Nations and treaties. Ask me what a treaty is and why they are important for the preservation of our land and natural resources.

In writing this week we watched a short video called "Dot" we didn't get to see the ending right away. We watched part of the video and then we got to create our own endings. We were so creative and really blew our teachers socks off! Then we got to watch the end of the video and find out how the story actually ended. If you want to try this activity on your own pause the video at 1:09 and then come up with your own cool idea! The link for the video is below!

https://vimeo.com/15323909https://vimeo.com/15323909

  

Yesterday everyone was here! So we played a game called "Heads up 7 up!" it was pretty fun!

Next week Scientists in Schools are coming to explore simple machines with us. Room 7 meets with the scientists on Tuesday morning and Room 8 meets with them on Wednesday morning! We are so excited.

On MondayJanuary 30th we are getting our Report Cards!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Love,

Room 7 & 8

Week Eighteen

We have some sad news. Our beloved Frederick has passed on. He left us sometime between 8:30am and 9:45am on Monday morning. He was sunken at the bottom of his tank, which was surprising because we thought that when fish died they floated. This is not the case for Betas. Sadly Frederick took an adventure through the plumbing of Colonel J Fred Scott School. He left us with a quick, loud and smelly flush of the toilet (PS. Miss Kolb would like to thank Ms. Greaves for helping her with this step). He will be sorely missed. RIP.

Now we have a pet water plant. We are in the process of giving our pet plant a name. We will talk sweetly to our pet plant so that it stays alive and well. If you have a great name idea for our beautiful water plant please comment on the blog with your suggestion!

This week in gym we got to go snow shoeing! We played tag games and British Bulldog and next week we are going to play soccer with the snowshoes (pending there is still snow since the weather has been so fantastic!)

Yesterday, in math, we got to make up anything we wanted to survey our classmates about. People had to count how much they had in total and put it into a bar graph. Ask me what a survey is and how to do one!

Our dearest teachers were sick yesterday. Because of this there were TWO guest teachers in our classroom yesterday. Our substitute teachers were Ms. Philips and Ms. Nelson. Please make sure you are washing your hands, dressing for the weather, eating right and getting lots of sleep!

  

This week a friend has his birthday in the classroom - Happy Birthday D!

 

In writing we wrote about the book The Balloon Tree, it was about a princess whose dad was going on a competition and she had to stay with her evil uncle the Archduke who tried to pop all of the balloons in the kingdom. Ask me what else happened in this fantastic book.

We also read The Librarian of Basra, it was about a librarian in Iraq. She worked at a library in Iraq and when a war broke out she wanted to save the books. First she asked the Governor if he would save the books and he said no. So she decided to ask all of her friends if they could hide them in their houses around the town and she saved the books! She saved 30,000 books. We learned about what a protagonist is and what an antagonist is. A protagonist is a hero in a story and often a main character. An antagonist is the villain in a story and usually a negative character. The Librarian of Basra is based on a true story.  During the war the Library burned down but when the war ended a new Library was built and she was able to collect all of the books again and have a new Library.

Here is more information about this phenomenal woman!

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/2013/03/17/Basra-librarian-saved-30-000-books-during-2003-invasion.html

This week we also worked on some word work about Nouns.

We started our next read aloud together, we are reading The Hobbit! So far we have met Gandalf, a lot of dwarves, and the main character Bilbo Baggins (a very boring hobbit).

The weather was so beautiful that we got to go outside for every recess and lunch! Our fabulous teachers even took us outside for an extra recess on Wednesday when it was +10 outside!

In February we are going to be going on a very exciting field trip to the Jack Singer Concert Hall to meet and listen to a National Geographic Explorer of the Year, Kenny Broad. He explores the "Blue Holes" in the Bahamas and finds new discoveries by cave diving!

Here is some more information about our upcoming field trip:

https://www.artscommons.ca/WhatsOn/ShowDetails.aspx?show_id=372CD807-1C22-4CE0-897C-B69930A033C3 

Happy Friday! It is free choice and free writing day, it is also Friday Funday in gym! Yay!

Until next time,

Love Room 7 & 8

Week seventeen

In gym this week we continued practicing our hockey skills. Some of the skills we learned for shooting were wrist shot and backhand, No slap shots though, because they are not safe! We got to play hockey games this week too! It was super fun!

  

Next week in gym we have the opportunity to learn snowshoeing! After we learn the basic skills, we will get to play games using them.

For snowshoeing it is very important that we wear all of the proper gear! I need to wear proper winter boots so I can put on the snowshoes, I need a winter coat, mittens and a toque. It has been very cold in Calgary the last few weeks and even though the weather is supposed to be nice next week we need to be prepared! 

Room 7 will be going snowshoeing Tuesday and Thursday
Room 8 will be going snowshoeing Monday and Wednesday

We named our class fish.. Fredrick! (His nickname is Fred) Fredrick Peter Mannerings is his whole name. He likes to sleep most of the day and hide in his leaves. His favourite food is bloodworms and he loves one on one conversations. He gets shy in big groups. 

This week in Language Arts we read a book called "Unspoken." This was a wordless story. After we read the book, using the one page with an eye showing, we used this as a picture prompt to imagine and draw who we thought was behind the wall. This book was about the underground railroad. It was about the olden days. This book also gave us an opportunity to talk about what freedom is and how important it is for us to learn about peace, respect and showing kindness to everyone.

      

  

Yesterday EVERYONE WAS HERE!!!! ALL 53 students and 2 teachers... soooooo we had a dance party. It was so exciting and one of our friends danced SO HARD that his glasses FLEW off!! Wow.. it was fun!

Room 7 got to see baby Lena this week. She sure is getting big! She's gained 2 pounds since the last time we saw her! She just keeps getting cuter with every visit!

This week we started subtraction in math. We got into partners, we worked together to see what strategies we already use for subtraction. Next we will teach each other the strategies we know for solving subtraction problems.

Also, this week was a big week for us in the technology department. On Tuesday we got to use the iPads again to record our addition strategies using the Explain Everything app. Then, on Thursday we worked together to put these videos up on IRIS. Make sure to check it out! Because we were so great with the technology and helping each other to upload to Iris our super teachers let us play some math games together online.

Check out my Iris post, I can log into Iris any time at home to show off the work I have uploaded! All I have to do is put in my student number as my log in and then put in my password.

https://iris.cbe.ab.ca/Account/LogIn?ReturnUrl=%2F

Here are some great websites for practicing math skills at home!

http://www.coolmath-games.com/

Basic Addition and Subtraction

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/murb/murb.html

http://www.arcademics.com/games/ducky-race/ducky-race.html

http://www.arcademics.com/games/jet-ski/jet-ski.html

http://www.arcademics.com/games/alien/alien.html

http://www.arcademics.com/games/island-chase/island-chase.html

http://www.arcademics.com/games/kitten-match/kitten-match.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/popup/popup_addition.htm

Multi Digit Addition and Subtraction

http://www.math-play.com/soccer-math-adding-two-digit-whole-numbers/adding-two-digit-numbers.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fruitshoot/fruitshoot_subtraction.htm

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fruitshoot/fruitshoot_addition.htm

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/addition-and-subtraction

http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm

CJFS is making the library into a space where children can learn and explore different things. The "library" is now transforming into a space called the Learning Commons. Some of the new gadgets and learning tools we got were some coding LEGO, new iPads, LEGO with motors and Ms. Luzzi came into all of the classroom to ask for our input and suggestions of how we can make this learning space better. The questions she asked us were How do you like to read?  and What space do you like to read in? 

This week we got to go the Learning Commons with Mrs. Craig and explore the new LEGO kits. We worked in small groups and collaborated to build with the LEGO to try and make a device that moves. Within our groups, we worked in pairs, one of the pairs got an A book and the other got a B book. Once each of the pairs were done their book, we put the two parts together to create the device. This was a fun and challenging activity!

    

    

    

After a week of all our recesses and lunches being inside Miss Klem and Miss Kolb were very impressed with how tidy we kept our coat racks! They looked amazing all week! They were also very glad to see everyone coming to school prepared for the cold weather! Keep it up Room 7 & 8! 

  

Until next week,

Love, Room 7 & 8