Math:
Grade 4's have been working on multiplication. They should be continuing to memorize the basic facts that they still don't know (up to 9x9). We have been learning how to regroup in two- and three-digit times one-digit multiplication problems. Students should be reminding themselves of the steps: multiply then regroup (if necessary) or multiply, add (if they have carried a number), then regroup (if necessary). For fun, I have given them a really long problem to practice repeatedly going through the steps:7923465291403 x 4 =
Social Studies:
Grade 3 students have been learning about their own community. We have discussed everyday and emergency services. A week ago, we did a little neighborhood walk to see for ourselves some of the different services provided in our community - shops, restaurants, banks, community centres, schools, libraries, road and park maintenance, as well as transportation. We are now beginning to learn about making history (the STORY of the past). Students will be learning about Vancouver's history as well as completing a time order presentation of their own. More details to follow.Science:
We completed a fun experiment to understand how clouds form. In small groups, students had a clear plastic bottle filled with warm water and the lid on. They squeezed the bottle and released it and noticed that little drops of condensation and a bit of steam began to appear at the top of the bottle. Then we removed the lid, I lit a match and held it over the opening of the bottle for a few seconds, dropped the match inside and replaced the lid. This time, when the students squeezed and released the bottle, a 'cloud' appeared inside.Word Work:
Our word wall has ten new high-frequency spelling words: again, could, excited, favourite, into, really, to, two, too, and was. This week we will be adding seven more words to our Nifty Thrifty Fifty as well: expensive, independence, governor, submarine, unfinished, impression, transportation. We are continuing to practice strategies that good spellers use: using words they know to spell other new words, using a visual checking strategy to see what looks right and proving it with a dictionary, using prefixes and suffixes to spell larger words.Writing:
In our continued focus on the trait of organization, students have been learning about transition words. These are words or phrases that go at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence to connect ideas together.- in the morning
- the next day
- meanwhile
- suddenly
- first
- later
- and, because, or, so, but or since
Reading:
Our comprehension focus is currently on inferring. This is when readers take information from the text and put it together with information they already know to fill in the blanks. Readers need to be able to infer how characters are feeling as well as the meaning of words using the context of a sentence. Predicting is another form of inferring because we make predictions based on information we have from the story and our own background knowledge.
Physical Education:
We are getting close to wrapping up our basketball unit. Unfortunately, we lose both our gym periods this week so we will be looking for alternatives for physical activity. Students have enjoyed several different games in the gym allowing them to practice the proper shooting technique. We have learned three passes: chest pass, bounce pass, and overhead pass. We have practiced dribbling and shooting. The last skills will be taught as students learn some of the basic rules in modified basketball games.Health & Career Education:
Students are learning about joining a group. We will be practising steps they can take to join in with other kids as well as what to do if joining in isn't possible. I will send home a letter this week outlining the concepts covered in the first three lessons of our program - Steps to Respect. The next few lessons will begin to focus more on defining what bullying is and identifying ways to prevent it.
No comments:
Post a Comment