I promised last week that I would gather some photos of the marble run students are creating on the class wall. I am amazed with the problem solving discussions that are shared among students. For example . . . "We have a problem . . . I need to speak to ______ so we can get our run to match up" "This wall is falling. How can we stabilize it? "Why is he putting his marble run over there?" "So I can test it before putting it up on the actual wall." "We need to build three more ramps before we can tape it to the wall." In Math students were introduced to a new Math game. This new game combines addition with place value. The tools you will need are a deck of cards, some kind of counters, paper and pencil and a calculator to double check your work. See if your child remembers how to play.
Tomorrow is halloween. We have gone over as a class the expectations and rules for costumes and candy in the classroom. Students are most welcome to bring a snack to share with classmates, but I have asked that no candy be shared among the students. I shared with students that school is not the best place to be eating candy and should I see them eating it in the classroom, I will throw it away. However a small treat at lunch is acceptable.
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I would like to first apologize for not posting earlier this week. No excuses . . just time slipped away from me.
Students have been reviewing basic adding strategies. On Tuesday we brainstormed different strategies we could use to add two digit numbers together. Some ideas students came up with were stacking, base ten blocks, breaking apart numbers, adding on, a hundreds chart, and number lines. On Wednesday students had an opportunity to practice some of the strategies. They were asked to use a deck of cards to create two 2-digit numbers and then add them together. For example if the student pulled a 6, 4, 5, 9 they could create the question 64 + 59. To double check their work, students used a different strategy and then compared their answers. If the answers resulted in different numbers, students had to find where they made the mistakes. This could be an activity that students practice at home to solidify their understandings. In the afternoons, we are continuing to share our plant creations. Students were asked to create a device to meet one or more of a plants basic needs. Most students have had the opportunity to share now and only a couple remain. Our biggest effort has been working towards out vertical marble run. Every group is now in the process of creating their part of the display. It is like seeing a puzzle form before your eyes as students connect their ideas with other group members and test their designs to see if the design is successful. I will try to remember to post some pictures next week! Yesterday was a cool day on our fingers and toes, but an over all success in understanding how the actions of one person, created a large reaction for a whole city. We learned that William Reader who was the superintendent of parks in Calgary, planted approximately 11 trees a day to around 40 000 in his time as superintendent. We also learned that the actions of other individuals who are part of Calgary's history also played important rolls creating Calgary what it is today. Ask your child about A.E. Cross, Peter Lougheed, and couple who survived the Titanic. Reminders: Tuesday students can wear halloween costumes. Please be mindful of younger students and their reactions to scarier costumes. Please no masks. There will not be a class party. Thursday is our community walk to Sue Higgins Bridge. The weather is not looking the best at this point but we are going to continue with our plans. If things should change we will notify parents through email. Students will be expected to dress for the weather and can expect to be outside from 12 - 3. This morning students were introduced to their new poem about curiosity. They highlighted key words on the poem such as "ponder" " wonder" "how" and "why". This poem was a great sage-way to Writers Workshop,
In writers workshop students participate in a cycle of writing. They begin by CHOOSING a topic of interest, CREATING questions to guide their research, EXPLORING the topic and DOCUMENTING their understandings. Finally, students CAPTURE their learning and then SHARE their work with others. We started the process as a class when we looked at mealworms and sunflowers. Students are beginning to start the the process on their own topic now. For example one student is looking deeply into understanding geckos, where as another is looking at the solar system. The ideas are endless! To help assess students writing, as a class we are creating a checklist of what elements our writers workshops needs. We agreed today that when we choose a topic, it must be a topic that we are interested in and appropriate. When we create questions we need to try to create GREAT questions. This is where we are working right now. How do we create GREAT questions? We spoke about level 1, level 2 and level 3 questions. Ask your child what the different leveled questions means. Stay tuned to the blog for more information on the checklist that we are creating. Reminders: Please watch the weather for Thursday. Our field study will be mostly outside. We are in need of toilet paper roles as we complete the marble run. I still need volunteers for the walk to the Sue Higgins Bridge. Please let me know if you are available. I have assigned a lesson in Mathletics to review some of the concepts we are covering in class. Please take some time to review this. In Math students are working on determining how much their labyrinths are worth. There are three options students can choose from. We are working towards planning how we want to solve a multi-step mathematical problem. A strategy some students tried was first . . ., then . . . . next . . . and finally to explain how they wanted to attempt the problem. For example some students wrote "First I will add 25 for the base and 20 for the platform together. Next I will figure out how much my walls cost, next I will add my walls and base together and finally I will take away my holes" Reminders:
Field study Next Thursday to Reader Rock - please send in forms. Volunteers are needed for our walk to Sue Higgins Bridge on Nov. 2nd. I would like to have at least two volunteers - one in the middle of the group and one at the end of the group, especially as we walk across over Deerfoot on Southland Drive. Please contact me right away if you are available. Although we didn't work on this today, students are very excited to share some of the progress they have made on their vertical marble run. We began by brainstorming all the verbs we could think of. Students were then randomly placed with a partner and together they had to choose two verbs they would use for their section of the marble run. Planning and feedback loops have been happening every day to ensure they are meeting criteria.
The criteria established by the students: 1. It must either perform two verbs (roll, drop, spin) or create a reaction that demonstrates the verb. 2. The starting and finishing point of their section must match the other group members. 3. They must used recyclable or reusable materials. 4. It must work (students should be testing as they create) 5. Plan must be real size, labeled, and have a supply list Planning is still going on, but some groups are ready to begin the construction part of the plan. Today we were introduced to ozobots. Ozobots are mini robots that are coded through lights and colors. In Math we explored how they work, how to create codes and how to problem solve when the ozobot stopped moving. BUT the BIG question posed to the students was HOW ARE OZOBOTS MATH? Ask your child this question and see how they respond. We will be exploring this question as we dive deeper into using these tools. Reminders:
Field trip forms for Reader Rock were sent yesterday. Please send them back to school ASAP. I am still in need of one more volunteer for this field study. Fee forms were also sent home yesterday, These are all the field studies that will require a bus or a fee to participate. Additional field studies are marked in the Volunteer Calendar on the side of the blog. Please let me know if you are available for any of these field studies. November 2nd - walking field study to Sue Higgins Bridge (1/2) day - 2 + volunteers needed November 16th - St. Patricks Island (3/4 day) - 4 or 5 volunteers needed December 4 - Calgary Zoo (full day) - 4 or 5 volunteers needed Dec. 19th - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (3/4 day) - 4 or 5 volunteers needed Students were able to use their marble labyrinths to solve some Mathematical problems. The question was "If you added the length of all your walls together, how long would your wall be?" To solve this problem students first had to understand how to use a ruler properly. (You need to start at zero and count up). Then we had to figure out a strategy to record our information, add up all the numbers and write a solution sentence. The solution sentence was a bit hard to understand as many students just wrote "the answer is . . . ". We had to explain that the solution sentence needs to directly answer the problem. For example, the total length of the wall would be . . . ". It is important to include words from the question as this demonstrates understanding of the problem.
We also discovered that each group member may have had a different answer. We discussed why that may be and how do we know which answer may be the "right" one. Our next steps will be to determine how much our labyrinth is worth and if we sold it, what would our profit be? Reminders: I am still looking for 2 more volunteers for the Reader Rock field study on October 26th. Please email me if you are available. If you have not completed your security clearance, the parent teacher interviews would be a great opportunity to start the process. Tomorrow is early dismissal. Wow . . . .design challenges here we come!
The first design challenge that students will be developing is the creation of a device that supports the need of plants. Students have determined that plants need water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and nutrients to survive. Using this information, students will be working with a partner to design a creation that will help meet the need of a plant. The second design challenge that students are starting to think about is to create PART of a vertical marble contraption. Students will be placed with a partner, determine an action they want the marble to perform and then create their part of the design. The challenging part is students will have to know the path of the marble prior to entering their design. Together as a class we should be able to come up with an amazing design! The third design is only for the grade 4's. Working with Mrs. Ramsey, students have started plans to build a bridge that a small toy car can travel underneath. The challenge is they can only use supplies that come from nature. Today they went out to gather their possible supplies. While the grade 4's were working on this mini-project the grade 3's have been working on their digital part of the SLA's. Some students have completed this part, and others are still working on them. Our field study has been rebooked for October 26th. Forms will be sent home soon. |