Week Thirty One

We had our last days of swimming on Monday and Tuesday. On the last day of swimming we got to go in the waves! It was so much fun!

We played a quiet game on the bus and it was sooooooooooo quiet! Miss Kolb and Miss Klem think it might have been the quietest we've been all year!

In Social Studies this week we learned about the traditions and celebrations in India. We made our own henna designs on paper hands this week! Friday is the last day to finish our henna designs before we move on to Tunisia next week! We were on the computers this week researching about henna and the different symbols that are used. We looked up what the symbols mean, what henna is made from and what traditions and uses it has. We are hoping to have someone experienced in applying henna come into the classroom to do some henna designs on our hands! A pink form was sent home and is due back on Tuesday May 1st.

We are such amazing researchers! We always impress Miss Kolb and Miss Klem with how focused we can be when researching and how much we find out!

We not only learned about henna but also about the history of India. We learned that they have only had their independence for 71 years. They used to be ruled by Britain and Britain had a trading company called the East India Company that would trade lots of India's goods such as spices. In June of 1947 Britain agreed to give them their land back. We also learned that Pakistan used to be a part of India! Lots of what is done in India happens because of the religious practices there. There was a large Muslim population in India and when Britain came in to rule a lot of them moved to the top part of India and stayed together there where they could practice their religion. When Britain gave India back to the Indian people that live there it was agreed that the Muslim population could keep the land they had moved to and so Pakistan was created. Check out the maps below!

We learned about the instruments and celebrations as well. It was neat for us to learn about the traditions in India because it was easy for a lot of us to relate to them! Some of us are from India and the surrounding countries and celebrate a lot of the same holidays like Diwali, Holi, Ramadan and Eid. 

Fun Fact: India has over 22 official languages! Pretty wild compared to Canada's 2 official languages!

In Science we are learning about hearing and sound. We have learned how sound works by vibrations and we can hear it by the sound waves in the air. We learned about the two different types of sound waves, longitudinal waves and transverse waves. We watched some really neat videos! Check them out below to learn more:

Our chick eggs went into the incubator, Mother Hen Macleod has been taking very good care of the eggs while they have been warming up in the incubator.

On Friday we had a Jump Rope for Heart assembly. Donation envelopes have been sent home, check out the website below for more information:

Jump Rope for Heart Website

In math we had an assessment on what we know about decimals. We also started learning more about fractions. At first it was pretty hard and we are still figuring out how to do them. We learned what equivalent fractions are and had homework for extra practice!

This week we finally had our pencil check-in! Some of us took really good care of our pencil and got extra tickets for the draw!

Ms. Gunderson was a rock star and had both classes together for music! We are practicing the songs for Music Monday coming up on Monday May 7th.

We Are One

Sing it Together

Is Somebody Singing

We had free choice today, yay! Half days are busy and fun! 

We had a friend from last year that's now in grade 5 come visit us to tell us all about the hard work and research they have been doing in grade 5/6 about the homeless in Calgary. The grade 5/6's are asking for donations to bring to the drop in center. Here is a list of some of the items that they are asking for:

Toiletries 

-razors

-shampoo

-sun screen

-Tums and Vitamin C

-Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen

-non-alcoholic wipes

Food Items

-Coffee

-Sugar and Coffee Creamer

Used Clothing

-mens’ work boots

-Men’s bottoms (jeans, shorts, sweats)

-mens and womens socks (new or used)

-ball caps

Used Electronics

-Computers 

-TVs, printers, phones

Other

-re-useable water bottles

-sunglasses

-blankets (new and used)

-full sized towels (new and used)

Now that the weather is incredible we are starting to have outside gym! The sun is hot and bright and we should consider bringing sunscreen and hats for when we go outside at recess, lunch and now sometimes gym!

Next week we will be starting guided reading! Every single student in room 7/8 will get to read with an adult at least once a week. We will be learning and practicing reading strategies so we can continue to get better at reading. We have some wonderful parent volunteers that have been coming in to read with us and some of us will be starting novel studies as well.

Until next week,

Love,

Room 7 & 8

PS. Last weekend some of us went to the Young Writers Conference with Miss Kolb and Miss Klem and some grade 5/6s. We had such a fun day at the conference and got to attend such great sessions led by real authors and illustrators! It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

We even got to get some of the authors and illustrators autographs! It was such a fun day!