REMINDER: Permission forms have been sent home for two more upcoming field trip. (June 19th to Colossus to see Cars 3 with our Little Buddies class, and June 28th to Cultus Lake.) Please review them, and send them home as soon as possible. Also, parent volunteer drivers who have not yet finalized their attendance for our trip to Playland on the 16th, please do so by contacting me at: [email protected] as soon as possible.
We continued to work on our listening skills today, but also worked on our critical thinking skills, as we discussing some of the recent International news between the stressed relationship between the United States and North Korea. I was impressed with the level of conversation and debate around the issue. We went so far as to watch some recent CNN and ABC news stories on the topic. I knew it would be a challenging topic for the students, but they demonstrated some excellent insight and asked thoughtful questions. After lunch, we had silent reading, completed more reading level assessments, and then worked on our letters to Laini. The day was topped off with a visit from Mme. Mulski, who kept the students on the edge of their seats, as she finished off the novel "Because of Mr. Terupt." REMINDER: Permission forms have been sent home for two more upcoming field trip. (June 19th to Colossus to see Cars 3 with our Little Buddies class, and June 28th to Cultus Lake.) Please review them, and send them home as soon as possible. Also, parent volunteer drivers who have not yet finalized their attendance for our trip to Playland on the 16th, please do so by contacting me at: [email protected] as soon as possible.
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Today's focus: listening. Our day kicked off with a storytelling activity based on the stories the students were supposed to complete for homework. The good news is, about 2/3rds of the students had their stories complete, the bad news is, that a third did not. After listening and answering comprehension questions, it was time to put their listening skills to the test, with a trip to the gym for a Science lesson from one the the Planetariums staff. SUPER COOL!! The entire class climbed inside the inflated dome, and took in a half hour lesson about the solar system, constellations, planetary orbits and moons. After recess, it was back to class for some more review of long division, and some student led examples. (Nice work Sol & Blake!) Just before lunch, we took advantage of a break in the rain, to go outside for DPA. After lunch we had an extended silent reading period, and it was probably one of the best ones we had this year. Well done! After silent reading the students paired up for a reflection exercise in which they interviewed one another about their strengths and weaknesses as students, and their thought about what they enjoyed best about their learning journey this year. We had planned to finish the day with a letter writing session, but in light of some poor choices by some students, we instead wrote about how we could be better listeners in class. (PHOTOS ARE BELOW THE HOMEWORK & NOTE)
HOMEWORK: The USA vs North Korea Language Arts/Social Studies work booklet is due tomorrow, as we will review the vocabulary, and information in the text, as well as the answers to the comprehension questions. NOTE: Thank you to all the parents who have offered their time to help us make our year end trip to Playland possible. The response for drivers was so great, that I needed to send the following letter home., ahead of finalizing numbers, and submitting payment later this week. May 30th, 2017 Parents and Guardians of Division 10 students, Thank you very much for your overwhelming response to my request for drivers for our Playland field trip. I really appreciate your willingness to help. For the first time ever, I actually have more drivers than I needed. With that said, I am NOT asking any of our drivers not to come, but would like to offer an opportunity for any parent who may have had a change heart, to withdraw if they want. We budgeted for a total of six or seven drivers, and we are currently sitting at nine interested. With that said, I would prefer to not turn away parents, the only issue we run into is cost. Below is the list of parent volunteer drivers who expressed interest, handed in their forms by the deadline, and the number of seats available in their cars. (Please contact me if any of the information is incorrect, or you would prefer not to attend.) Andrea Basso (Josh’s mom) Josh + 3 Tami Martell (Matthew’s mom) Matthew + 3 Melissa Ferland (Kale’s mom) Kale + 3 Kim Cao (Chloe’s Dad) Chloe + 5 Mike Wise (Erica’s Dad) Erica + 5 Dae Jin Chun (Sol’s Dad) Sol + 3 Daniel Michaud (Justin’s Dad) Justin + 3 Parents who had also expressed interest: Candice Philipson (Charlie’s mom) Charlie + 3 Dan Tubbs (Emily’s Dad) Emily + 2 Whether you would still like to drive, or have had a change of heart, please contact me at: [email protected] to confirm your availability, as I will need to finalize and pre-pay for the Playland tickets later this week. Mr. J. Main Division 10 - Grade 4 / 5 James Kennedy Elementary [email protected] PS - We will also be looking for parent volunteer drivers for our Lil Buddies Movie outing on Monday, June 19th. So if you can drive for that one, please let me know. It was another sunny and glorious start to our day in Division 10. With the sun shining, and the students in high spirits, the first part of our day consisted of the class putting their heads together to play a word association relay. Once the relay was done, we took all of our words and created a grid of random words that would become the basis for the stories they would write. (see below) Following a visit to the music room, it was back to class to brush up on French. In the middle part of the day, the students worked on their TOP 5 lists that we had begun before the weekend. The afternoon was a lot of fun, as the grade 4s and 5s headed to Mrs. Cramer's class to interview their Lil' Buddies. When we finally returned to class, we decompressed and discussed the students' observations about our visit and the activity.
HOMEWORK: Please complete your Word Association short stories, based on the words we came up with in class earlier today. The idea of the activity is to weave seemingly unassociated words into a story. Remember, a story has a start, a middle and an end. It is not a random group of sentences. REMINDER: Please have your USA and North Korea language art booklet completed, as we will go through the article, the vocabulary, and the answers on Wednesday. IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES: June 16th - Playland Field Trip June 19th - Class trip to Movies with Lil' Buddies (Permission forms will be sent out later this week) June 20th - Sports Day (Subject to change based on weather) June 21st - National Aboriginal Day June 28th - Cultus Lake Field Trip (Permission forms will be sent out later this week) I'll start off with an Ooops...I forgot to publish my posting from yesterday, and realized only now that it wasn't there. So today is a blend of both yesterday's and today's classes. In the morning yesterday, we began with some time to continue to work on our art work as part of our letters to Laini, before moving on to more work with our Transition Words. After the recess break, the students returned for music class, then we outlined our latest writing assignment. After lunch we had silent reading, gym class, and then put a cap on the day with more time to work on our reading and comprehension strategies. Today, we began the day with a slideshow, highlighting all the amazing activities we have taken part in over the past 9 months together. It was the lead in to the students working on their "I can" assignment. After recess we watched our second video on Simple Machines (posted on the Science Page), and discussed some of the questions raised in the video. Following a bright and sunny lunch break, we had an abbreviated reading break, before going outside to spend time with our Lil' Buddies. Hot and sweaty, the students headed back indoors to cool down for a few minutes, before leaving for gym class, and an epic game of tag. We finished off our Thursday by reviewing for tomorrow's class/teacher assignment (I will be away at the regional Track Meet), and doing some review trivia for points.
REMINDER: All Track and Field athletes (Kale, Maya, Erica, Chloe S & Jaylin) need to be at school at no later than 8:15am, and need to meet in the gym with the rest of the JKE athletes at 8:20am. The students were put through their paces today in class, as we introduced long division and began work on using transitions in our writing. In the afternoon, following an extended silent reading block, we had a quick body break outside in the beautiful sunshine, and then returned inside to begin to work on letters to Laini.
HOMEWORK: Grade 5s need to complete 25 complete sentences using at least one transition word from each of the 11 categories on pages 1 - 4 of their Transition Words package. Grade 4s need to do the same thing, however, only need to complete 15 sentences. Work should be done in writing journals or a lined piece of paper. REMINDER: Playland forms and payments are due this week. Thank you to all the volunteer drivers, it looks like we are good to go! I turned the responsibility of going swimming with the Grade 5s over to Ms. Choi today, which meant I was lucky enough to get to spend the morning with the Grade 4s from both Division 8 and Division 10. Normally we would begin with a spelling review, but since the students missed their library visit last week, and didn't want to miss again, so we swapped library times with Mrs. Calado's class. Once the class returned, we had a short reading period, and then the Grade 5s left for swimming. Once the bus pulled out, the grade 4s had half an hour to code, or work on their math skills with the iPads. After the recess break, the Grade 4s returned to watch a short video from Hans Rosling called "200 countries in 200 years." (See the video below) which tied into a reading comprehension article. After lunch, we were rejoined by the Grade 5s, and following silent reading, we reviewed how to use transition words to improve the flow of our writing, and highlighted some grade appropriate transition words. Since mother nature cooperated, we opted to take gym class outside where we played a huge game of Capture the Gold with Division 8. HOMEWORK: Please study and review your spelling words for tomorrow's spelling quiz. Also, I have now posted the Simple Machines videos only the Science page, so please watch both videos. Finally, please remember to hand in your Playland Permission forms and $$, and to return your School Supply Order forms if you plan to order through JKE for the Fall. (Deadline is: June 6th) REMINDER: Tomorrow is Mini Sports Day Fun Friday, so please wear athletic clothes, and bring a baseball glove for tomorrow's activities. Also, it is supposed to be hot and sunny, so please have sunscreen on before you leave tomorrow. NOTE: There is no school on Monday, because of the Victoria Day Long Weekend. We divided, then conquered our class work this morning in Division 10. While the grade 5s worked on their Operation Waterproof booklets, the grade 4s brushed up on their spelling, vocabulary comprehension and sentence structure. When the grade 5s headed off for the pool, the grade 4s headed over to spend the morning with Mr. Barkman and Mrs. Gore. After the lunch break, we took some time for silent reading, then played Capture the Gold in the gym, and completed our day with more Language Arts review.
HOMEWORK: Please practice and study for this week's spelling quiz & review the short video on simple machines for Science. REMINDER: Tomorrow is the final day for Operation Waterproof. Please make sure students have all of their swim stuff packed and ready to go. Also, please keep those Playland Permission Slips, drivers forms and $$ coming in. NOTE: We will be having a mini-sports day afternoon for Fun Friday this week. We will spend part of the afternoon, playing a variety of outdoor games, so students should wear appropriate clothing, footwear and sunblock if necessary, for the weather. Also, please bring a baseball glove for one of the games. The grade 4s had a chance to burn off some energy this morning with a trip to the gym for a double block of Bench Ball with Division 8. Grade 5s worked on their Swimming workbooks, and continued with reading level testing. Once the grade 5s returned from learning life saving skills at Al Anderson pool, it was a quick talk about respecting our classmates and staff, and then some quiet reflective time while reading. For the middle part of the afternoon, we visited our Lil' Buddies and did some Lady Bug Artwork. At the end of the day, we had a visit from Ms. Van Bemmel's Grade 7's, who showed us their Borax Crystal Creations, then finished up with time for study this week's spelling words.
HOMEWORK: Please completely copy out this week's spelling list twice, then choose 10 of the words and write 10 sentences using each of hte chosen words as they are written. Ex: He had to consider his options. NOT...She considered buying the black and pink dress. (Click HERE to be redirected to the English page.) REMINDER: Students need to bring a spare pair of pants and a t-shirt for their swimming program. They will get wet, but not ruined. Also, we are still looking for students to return their signed Playland permission forms, and we are on the lookout for parent volunteer drivers. NOTE: In an effort to decide this week's FUN FRIDAY activity, I am enlisting the students' help. If the students have an appropriate suggestion, please click the blue Comments below, and write in your suggestion. Following the Mother's Day weekend festivities, (See all the Amazing Student Mother's Day Artwork on the Student Gallery page) it was back to work this morning, as the students began their day with either work in their OPERATION WATERPROOF workbooks (gr 5), or with a collaborative drawing activities (gr 4). After about 20 minutes with Mr. Barkman, the Grade Fives packed up and got in the school bus and headed for the Al Anderson Pool, for day 2 of their swimming program. Grade 4s stayed behind and began their first day of reading level testing with Mrs. Gore. After lunch, and with all the students back in the fold, the students got together to review school emergency procedures, then do work on sentence structure, and finally topped off their day with reading strategies with Madame Mulski.
REMINDER: Grade 5s, please be sure to bring your swimming gear for tomorrow's third day of Operation Waterproof. Also, all students...please remember to bring our Playland Permission Form, as well as your payment. NOTE: Still haven't received any replies from Parents, to help with driving duties for our Playland Field Trip next month. If you are able to drive, parking will be free, and we have access to a number of free All Day Play Passes for parent chaperones. If you can drive, please email me at: [email protected] , or fill in and return the signed drivers form. It was an incredibly active day for Division 10 students. All students began their day with a quick game of review Bingo, ahead of our spelling quiz this afternoon. At 9:45am the Grade 5s packed up and prepared to jump on the bus for day one of Operation Waterproof at Al Anderson Pool. The weather may have been a bit chilly still, but the Grade 5s seemed to have had a great time, and the instructors were fantastic! While the Grade Fivers swam, the Grade 4s hung out with Ms. Choi and Mrs. Pimentel, and had a chance to code, do robotics or math games. After a McDonald's Hot Lunch, the students had 20 mins to read, write, draw or study for their Spelling Quiz. Following the quiz, the class transitioned back to robotics and the Grade 4s and 5s worked together on their Robot Music Video project. REMINDER: Operation Waterproof takes place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday next week! All Grade 5s should bring their swim suits, towels and goggles. Students should also bring a spare change of clothes on the Thursday. NOTE: Still looking for Playland Volunteer Drivers/Chaperones for our field trip on June 16th. If you are able to drive and would like to volunteer, please contact me at: [email protected] HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! |
AuthorMr. Main is an avid sports fan, a proud father of two extremely active boys, and passionate about building collaborative and inclusive educational environments. Archives
June 2018
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