Terry Fox Run

What a beautiful day for the Terry Fox run! I was really impressed with the efforts of Division 7 students as they kept moving the entire 45 minutes.

Thank you to those who have completed and returned the Parent 3-2-1 about your child. I am finding them incredibly helpful in getting to know and understand your child better. Let me know if you would like another form!

Many thanks to John for helping us out with tab dividers, binders and dry erase pens. What an amazing, supportive group of parents in our school. Today we spent about 45 minutes setting up our binders and sorting papers into the correct sections. The goal is 'no loose papers' inside our desks.

Well, we have had another busy week in our classroom. Here are just a few things that we have been working on:

• Science - We began our unit on the Human Body with an introduction to the learning intentions for this unit. They are to name the six systems of the human body, to describe the functions of these systems, and to understand how these systems are connected. 

• Social Studies - We began a new unit this week as well called "Me and My World". Our learning intention with our first lesson was to be able to define "culture" and to understand how learning about other cultures helps us to get along. 

•  Art - Our second visual art project of the year was a fall tree in perspective. They look amazing! I will try posting some photos later.

• Word Work - Our spelling program is a strategy based approach that focuses on working with words through both reading and writing. This week we focused on the strategy of using words we know to spell other words that rhyme. We used products that students easily identified with (Snack Pack, Slim Jim, Shake 'n Bake) to focus on the chunks of letters that create the rhyme. Students then were asked to read or write words containing these chunks, starting with easier words, and building to larger words.

• Writing - We have completed two lessons this week in writing. The first lesson was on where writers get their ideas from. We learned that the brain is so full of good ideas that it helps to think of the brain in three sections (of course, there could be many more). After putting at least 2 ideas into each pocket, students were given a choice of any pocket and asked to write. Our second lesson was about using details. We learned that after giving a fact, a good writer will elaborate, explain, describe or give an example.