Room 54

My apologizes to everyone in room 54. I was just given the updated cost of the bus that is taking us to Ann and Sandy Cross on Oct. 8. Due to this trip being classified as outside of city limits, the cost of bussing is slightly higher. The original cost was based on bussing within city limits for all the students going and was given at $12.00. With this new cost of bussing, the cost per student is now $13.25. This means the cost per student for this trip is up $1.25. When you use your MYCBE account to pay for this, the updated cost will show $13.25. This is the easiest and quickest way to make payment. Cash is accepted as well. Unfortunately, the school is no longer permitted to accept cheques to pay for trips, so if you have given a cheque to pay for this, I will return it to your child on Monday. Sorry for the miscommunication regarding cost, however Cathy just found out herself. I hope you all understand and will accept this slight increase. Sincerely, Shawn Mori

We shared our Thank You's this morning to classmates we saw being kind and respectful or helping others over the past week and a bit. It was nice to hear some genuine thanks towards others. Hopefully the "catch you being kind and good" will grow and more students will have someone or something to be thankful for. Then our class joined with Ms. Jenn and Ms. Tanya's class to work on the scripts for Orange Shirt Day. The groups had time to finish and have their scripts checked, then it was off to a classroom to present their information to spread the word. After a chilly recess we worked on a Who Am I? riddle to go along with their portraits. Just another way to help identify ourselves. Reminders: - field trip forms need to be returned next week - Tuesday Oct. 1 is the school's Orange Shirt day...normally it is acknowledged on Sept. 30 - We are still in need of parent volunteers for our field trip Oct. 8

The day began with a math question challenge about if six cars travelled 125 km each how far did they travel altogether? Keeping with math, the class then worked on a math assessment. This assessment was completed much quicker than the other one, but still based on the concepts learned last year for each grade. This took us to gym time and if students completed it early they could work on their Orange Shirt Day posters. Just before special lunch, we read more from Refugee .  In the afternoon, we watched a short video about Terry Fox and then ran outside. The run was cold, but the more you ran, or at least walked, the warmer you felt. The school was flexible about when we ran and the decision to run before the assembly, was a good one. We missed the really cold and wet weather because of this! After the run, the assembly in the gym was full of energy. The school goal is to raise $800 for cancer research and our class so far has generously donated $32 so far. At the end of the day ...

The challenge this morning was to think of something you would change if you could go back in time. It could have been something very personal to do with you, or it might be something more worldly to make our community or planet a better place to live. The day was very different after this. The class had music and gym as normal but the rest of the day was working cooperatively with room 53 and 53 to learn more about Phyllis Webstad and Orange Shirt Day. Together the classes heard a story book about the origins of Orange Shirt day and what happened to Phyllis when she was only 6 years old. The students made posters to display and advertise the importance of this recognition.  In the afternoon the classes were together again and had to make a group of 3 students, one from each class so students had a chance to work with new people. The afternoon task was to create a script of information to share with other classes. The whole group discussed what information was important to includ...

The challenge this morning was if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? Why would you change this? The class had music in the room today because the gym was being used for pictures. After this we learned or reviewed expanded form of numbers and then added numbers together using this strategy. This is a good beginning to reviewing place value and the procedures of addition. Gym was in the music room today, for obvious reasons, and then the class had their pictures taken. A bit more time to practice and work on the adding questions was available before lunch. In the afternoon the challenge was a kenken math puzzle. Then the students worked on a reading comprehension activity about Terry Fox. This was based from a Canadian Reader resource and the expectations are to read as many times as needed, then respond to the questions and underline the information in the reading to show where the answer was given. This is a strategy that helps slow the students who like to re...

Our challenge question this morning was explaining what kind of chores or responsibilities you have at home and explaining why it is important. Then we worked on brainstorming what ecosystem means. Students worked in table groups to share ideas then we shared with whole class. After this brainstorming we created a meaning of ecosystem and made a chart in our SS books. Ecosystems include everything that interacts and makes a community of life in an area, both living and non-living. Also in the morning, we tried to log onto computers for the first time. There were some bumps with this as the student numbers given were incorrect and a lot of students forgot their passwords from last year. This year new passwords will be made. In the afternoon, the challenge was to choose one animal that you would want as a pet and explain why this animal would be so great. Using the learning from the morning about ecosystems we then created a T chart in our visual journals with the headings Biotic (livi...

Challenge this morning was to think and write about ways students can support new students in your classroom. Then we worked on different ways to represent a number. This is the flexible thinking and review from last year about ways that numbers can be shown. It is not just in a single number form. Even with review before the activity, some students were really challenged. After this we learned a math game called Oh No 99! This is an excellent game that uses mental math and a deck of cards. The face cards have special powers and the Ace is worth 1. The goal is to force your opponent to go over 99. If you do that, you win. Also in the morning we read more of Refugee and wrote a response about what was happening in this part of the book. The class went to gym and played bench ball, with different rules to the way we played last week. After lunch the challenge was to write about the rules Bridlewood School has towards bikes and scooters. We reviewed the rules after the writing time, jus...

Challenge this morning was adding amounts from a word problem. Reading and understanding the problem and then knowing what operation was needed to solve the question was tricky for some. Obviously more practice at solving word problems is required this year. After this the class learned a new math game. This game is called Race to 1000. The game requires knowledge of place values and adding values together using base ten blocks and a place value mat. As an added skill, one that all students are required to know by know, is multiplying. Students were to multiply two dice when rolled, so 6x6 were the highest multiplying factors in this game. Each student was required to record each roll and equation on a chart that was glued into their books. Some rules may be tweaked in the future so larger numbers are used and the goal of reaching 1000 is attainable more quickly. The class had music and gym during this time as well. Also the grade 5s who wanted to be a patroller had the training sessio...

Challenge this morning was about what students would do if they were super rich and had more money than they needed. A lot of them wrote that they would help the homeless by giving them money along with buying really expensive things for themselves. A question asked after the writing time was would just giving homeless people money really help them? After this the students went to music and then learned how to play Place Value Yahtzee. This is a game that reinforces place value up to 4 and 6 digits, depending on the grade. Players must try to make the biggest number they can for each roll that fits certain rules on the game board. Students played until gym time then after this we read more of Refugee and began to respond to a question related to the reading. In the afternoon students finished their responses and then continued working on their self portraits. Most were able to almost get finished the painting portion today. This took the rest of the afternoon and are looking pretty g...

The challenge this morning was a math question that stumped a lot of people. It was flexible thinking around using certain numbers to create a given total using any operation. After this challenge the students had a math puzzle to put together. The pieces were full of numbers that they had to cut out following the shapes they were in. Figuring out the pattern and how the numbers fit together was key to piecing the puzzle together on the grid. Some figured it out that the puzzle was actually creating the multiplication table up to 10 x 10. Then the class worked on a new form of journaling called 6 Room Poetry. Students copied the layout in their visual journals with the six rooms labeled Image, Light, Sound, Questions, Feelings and Repeated words. We used a picture of a Calgary pond as our image for the first example. Once jot notes were made in each category, students chose which ideas to use in a poem. It really didn't matter what order the ideas were put in, but trying to have a ...

The first full week is under the belt....congratulations! We had a good Thank You Friday circle today. Almost everyone had something to be thankful for this week. After this we read the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry and watched a short video about the Amazon Rainforest and what is happening to it. The class then had to think about how the environment is impacted by humans. This could be in positive ways and negative ways. There were 4 questions laid out on tables that each student was asked to respond to. They were: What activities do you do that impact the environment? What activities do you do that increase or decrease pollution? What can be done to decrease human impact on environment? How will the earth be different in 100 years if we DO NOT decrease human impact? As a class we discussed what the students wrote on the sheets. The class worked on math puzzles to end the day.

The day began with a re-do of the writing activity yesterday. As a class we discussed and were shown different ways to plan a writing. A story board, or a web were a couple of examples. Time was given for each table to discuss any ideas and share ideas about the picture. When this time was over it was quiet work time to begin writing their stories. This was the very first story writing activity of the year, and used for instructional purposes to see what writing skills students already have. Also in the morning we learned and worked on a journal activity called SEE, THINK, WONDER, CONNECT. The class observed a picture in this introductory activity. As a class we shared ideas for each of these categories to help model what the expectation is. The class had gym as well in the morning. The afternoon was spent at Bridlewood Pond making observations and completing an individual SEE, THINK, WONDER, CONNECT in their visual journals. The focus could be on anything at the pond or the whole po...

In the morning the class worked on a math challenge question about patterning. We also had music and gym in the morning. After a quick snack the class worked on and then we went over the math assessment as a class. The grade 5s worked with a partner and the grade 4s worked with the teacher. It was good for everyone to be able to correct any errors they had. In the afternoon there was a fire drill. The first of the year and it was a success. Being quiet on the way back in the school is part of the drill. Also in the afternoon the class worked on responding to the question from yesterday about the new novel Refugee. Time was a little crunched near the end of the day, but the class began to write a story or at least jot some ideas down about a picture prompt. There will be more lead up and writing time tomorrow so do not worry. Reminders: - patrol forms need to be returned by Monday

We began a new routine this week, Challenge Book. Every morning and afternoon there is a quick individual challenge question to respond to that wakes up their brain and gives focus. The class had their music class this morning as well as their first gym class with room 55. They practiced the dance Git Up for later in the month. Also in the morning the class worked to complete the math assessment.  In the afternoon the class was introduced to the novel Refugee by Alan Gatz. We worked on making a prediction based on some images that relate to the story and the characters. After this we began reading the first section that introduces the characters and situations each character is in. The students began to make a graffiti wall for this book in their visual journals. A graffiti wall is a like a doodle page where students can draw or write things from the book that are important or they don't want to forget. Every time we read from the book, students will add more to their graffiti wa...

Congratulations and welcome to the end of the first week!!!! You made it! It was a quick day as most early dismissal Fridays are. The class was introduced to Thank You Friday, which is an activity where the students have an opportunity to say thank you to anyone in the class for pretty much anything. We sit in a circle so we are facing each other, and the person with the feather is the one who is able share. Sharing something could be as small as someone saying hi to them or inviting to play because it made the person feel wanted, or just made them feel good inside to be acknowledged. The idea is to have students be observant about what other people are doing or saying that is a positive help to someone or the environment. We want our class to understand that small gestures have big impacts, even if we don't think so. It's always nice to be recognized for the things we do, so this is one way. After Thank You Friday we worked on finishing our visual art cover. Most students were...

Almost finished our first week! Today the class worked on a challenge activity in the morning. In this activity students worked either in pairs or by themselves. There were 10 bins and each bin had 10 items.  The challenge was to figure out and find which bin Charlie sat at last.  Charlie would take one item out and replace it with a new item at every new table bin. Charlie started at bin A and then moved to bin E. This information was given. This activity took until our first music class. After a recess break we discussed the solution and shared the findings.  In the afternoon, the class worked on a reading comprehension activity. Students were given a short reading passage, which they could read as many times as they wanted. When ready for the questions, students traded in the reading passage for the question page and used their understanding of the passage to respond to the questions. When done this, the class worked on completing their visual journal cover art. R...

Day one flew by so quickly, I didn't have time to make the blog! So.....day two! Happy to say that everyone is beginning to settle back in to routine, after a nice break from school. Today we created the September calendar in visual journals. This is a great activity that integrates measuring, some calculating and using a ruler correctly. We added in the important dates that matter to the class. This is something that we will do every month so that students have an idea of what is coming up in the month. For example, this month there are school photos and special snack. All the information is from the school calendar that is emailed out. Also in the morning the class worked on writing a little about themselves. Students had to answer 5 questions in complete sentences that told something about them. Some examples were, what are you looking forward to this year? What do you love about learning? What is something that you want your teacher or classmates to know about you? The cla...