An Exciting Week

This week we are going to do some great things.  We are writing books.  We will begin a Reader's Theatre play.  We are learning o the 10 Commandments.  We have mastered long division.  And, to top it all off there's the Science Fair project we're working on.

For spelling, I am going to test the students on the Word Wall Words.  They chose which words they wanted to get extra practice on.  That homework is due on Friday.

I am not requiring Raz-Kids this week.  However I will begin assessing the students on their reading this week.

On Friday we made some robots using paint and markers.  Below is the student's work!

Choir Award

Recently, our class won a $25 award for the Port Colborne Music Festival.  They voted to donate the money to Persecution.org.  It is a group that helps those who are persecuted for believing in Jesus Christ.

You may see the website here.

Amalekites Vs. Israelites

Who will win?

Long Division Rap

This Week

We've got a big week planned.

PBL
We are going to be participating in a Science fair.  I have put the instructions in a previous post.  The students will work in groups and they will do the experiment in class.  The experiment is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.  They will need to bring their materials to class.

Math
We are learning to do long division.  They should be great at it by Thursday.

Language
Students are going to get a chance to create their best writing ever.  We will be typing these works onto the computer!

Spelling
Grade 3 Words: useful, quietly, slowly, careful, careless, quickly, useless, worthless, fearful, fearless, joyful, smarter, fastest, funniest, happiest.

Grade 4 Words: leaf, leaves, wolf, wolves, potato, potatoes, roof, roofs, family, families, library, libraries, journey, journeys, hero, heroes, ditch, ditches.

Confederation Park Run

The video for the Confederation park run is here!  See the video after the jump!

Science Fair

Introduction 


     In your PBL groups you will do an experiment (comparison, observational, or test a theory). You will need to present your experiment on a bristol board. You should have descriptions of the purpose, the method, a hypothesis, your observations, and a conclusion. 


     You will be marked on 

•  Whether you have the purpose, method, a hypothesis, observations, and a conclusion 
• The quality of work and writing in your purpose, method, a hypothesis, observations, and conclusion 
• The quality of presentation How well you work with your group 

 The science project will be due Friday June 1.  You will have 9 days to work on the project in class. I am expecting that most of the work can be done in class.

We Watched a Video

We learned about the crossing of the Red Sea in CLC.  This is a video that looks for evidence for the crossing.  In this clip divers see coral that is shaped like chariot wheels and axles.  See for yourself.

CAT 4 Week May 14-17

This week we are going to be doing a lot of CAT 4 tests.  These tests will help us know where we are at academically.

Our grade 3 spelling words are: ghost, neighbour, high, knew, knot, unknown, rewrap, wrong, written, wrapper, unwrap, climb, limb, gnaw, gnat.

Our grade 4 spelling words are: early, earth, search, service, wonder, surface, curly, shirt, thirty, doctor, sailor, shower, bakery, another, barber, collar, worse, world.

We are beginning a unit on the Ten Commandments in CLC, and Geometry in Math.  We will also be learning to do long division this week!

A Week to Remember!

We had a great week last week!  People did really well on the Monday Math Test.  Same for the Tuesday Bible Quiz.  On Wednesday we had grandparents day.  Thursday was parents night.  On Friday we saw the high school displays in the gym and some presentations in the chapel.  On Saturday the running club went to Hamilton to run in the Confederation Park 2K and 5K runs.  

PBL Communities Project

For PBL we wrote letters to people who were thinking of coming to Canada.  To help them, we researched different communities in Ontario and made recommendations to help them decide where to settle.  The people were very glad to get those helpful recommendations and they have decided where they will move to.

Francisco Alvares has decided to move to Fort Erie.

Pastor Youcef has decided to move to Fort Erie.

Husan Lee has decided to move to Fruitland.

Kylee Lewis has decided to move to Huntsville.

Ara Sahar has decided to move to Kitchener-Waterloo.

A Busy Week

There are many things happening this week.  I will try to put them in by days.

Monday
We did a math test today on graphs.  I have not marked them yet, but I am confident that things went well.

Tuesday
We have a Bible Quiz on the plagues in Egypt.  Students have a booklet that they made and a practice test to study from.

Wednesday
This is Grandparents Day!  We will have an open house in the school for grandparents to visit from 1-2pm.  Then we are showing the grandparents a presentation in the chapel.  Students will need to have a green shirt, jeans, and dark socks!

Thursday
Thursday night is the Parents Night.  It begins at 6:30, but we need to be there 15 minutes before to prepare.  Students need to wear a green shirt, jeans, and dark socks!

Friday
On Friday we will have a spelling quiz.  The grade 3 words are: phone, photograph, orphan, alphabet, graph, nephew, enough, father, half, Friday, cough, unhappy, happier, happily, happiness.
The grade 4 words are: cleaner, cleanest, bigger, biggest, earlier, earliest, quicker, quickest, busier, busiest, rougher, roughest, heavier, heaviest, happier, happiest, lazier, laziest.

Hamilton 2k run

The Hamilton run is coming up this Saturday!

Date: Saturday May 12^th,2012

Location: Confederation Park, Hamilton , 680 Van Wagners Beach Road, Hamilton, Ontario.  

Race times:  2k – 9:20 a.m.  5k – 10 a.m.

Race Day Registration and Race Kit Pick up: 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Edge Water pavilion

2k participants please pick up your kits early. At close of kit pick up race kits become the property of In Stride Productions Ltd.

Transportation: We will be leaving the school between 7:45 and 8:00 am.  We will be returning after the 5k race (around 10:45).  We should arrive at the school at 12:00. You have three options:

Option 1 - Drive your child to the race and back home.

Option 2 - Drop your child off at the school to go with the team.

Option 3 - Come with your child and the team to the race!

Supplies: Runners should be dressed for the weather (we will be outside for all of the time.) Runners should have clothing to run in too.  Having some food and drinks would be a great idea too. 

Questions: You can leave a comment on the blog if you have a question, or email Mr. Lee, or send in a note.

Links: The official website.

Google Maps Directions

Recently we had a persuasive writing contest.  The goal was to convince me that you should get the prize.  Below is the winning entry.

Hello fellow students of NCC elementary school.  I am here today to ask you if we deserve the Smartfood popcorn award.  Please think about us, because we have never tasted Smartfood in our lives.  We are hopeless because we aren’t allowed to eat it unless we eat our brussels sprouts and we can’t do that.  REsearch shows that 98% of the class likes us. Research also shows that we are extremely funny.  If we don’t get the award, we will be heartbroken and cry.  We are crying right now because we really want it.  Please, please help us win.  This is your only chance to help us!  We are just like you, kids with parents who won’t let us eat Smartfood.

In conclusion, we say good day and please help us by voting for us.  

Thank you.

Port Colborne Music Festival

I am so proud of how the class sang Wednesday at the music festival.  It was absolutely incredible.  It was an indescribable wonder.  They had to make a new category above the gold standard to describe it.

Wednesday Homework

For students who didn't get their card for Pastor Youcef finished, it is homework.  This is what we discussed about the assignment.

May 4th Spelling Words

Grade 3 Words: colour, odour, store, calendar, dollar, party, liar, after, number, better, doctor, weather, every, forty, sugar.
Grade 4 Words: lived, living, rattled, rattling, studied, studying, traveled, traveling, changed, changing, appeared, appearing, raced, racing, hoped, hoping, wrapped, wrapping.

May is Here!

Bible
This week we will be finishing the plagues in Egypt.  The memory verse is "Today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" Hebrews 3:15b.

Language
This week we have spelling homework that is due on Friday.  The spelling words are on that page.  (I will update the blog with the words.)  Students are expected to do Raz-Kids during the week. (2 read, 2 listen, 2 quizes).

Math
We are continuing to work on graphs and now we are creating surveys.  The next math competition will have a interactive game called Mastermind.  You can play it here.

PBL
Students have been interested in pastor Youcef.  He is currently in prison in Iran for the crime of apostasy.  He has been sentenced to death.  We have found an organization that will help us to write letters to him and to his family to encourage them.  You can find information about him at wikipedia or at Present Truth Ministries. 

Special Days
On Wednesday we will be going to a music competition in Port Colborne.  Please wear a blue shirt and tan pants.

Week at a Glance

Language
Grade 3 Spelling words are: threw, through, thoughtless caught, fault, taught, because, one, once, water, watch, wanted, wonder, wonderful, walk
Grade 4 spelling words are: anyone, however, everything, himself, birthday, herself, somewhere, afternoon, chalkboard, daydream, downstairs, grandparents, breakfast, outfield, scarecrow, nobody, dragonfly, keyboard


This week we'll be writing a final persuasive writing piece.  Students will have a choice to write to an author (Brian Cretney) to persuade him to visit our class, ask Mrs. Vandenhaak to allow us to use the large soccer field once a week at recess, or writing about allowance.

Students need to read/listen/quiz 2 books on Raz-Kids this week.

Math
Congratulations to the top finishers in this month's math contest.
1st - Anthony
2nd - Gabriel
3rd - Brianna
We are going to working on bar graphs this week.

PBL
We are finishing our letters to the 5 people moving to Canada.

Special Days
Wednesday is Tacky Tourist Day.  Friday is Track and Field day.

Week at a Glance

Special Day Friday
We are having a Creation Care day on Friday.  Students are encouraged to bring in clean recycle items to use for activities.


Language
This week we are going to be learning about persuasive writing.  There is homework for Monday night.

There is some spelling homework that is due on Friday.  Students are required to read 2 books on Raz-Kids.

Math
We are continuing to learn about graphs.  We are going to do a Brock Math Contest on Wednesday.

PBL
This week we will be writing letters to the folks who want to come to Canada.  Some may come home for homework if they are not completed in class.
Feel free to talk about the people.  Their profiles are lower on the blog.

Mushroom Boy - A Superhero Story

     Mike was shoved off of the mountain cliff by his furious brother Jack.  He tumbled into an enormous mushroom patch.  The mushrooms sent spores into his cuts and wounds.  The spores gave him life, but he looked like a mushroom.  He also had incredible super strength and an extremely pleasant aroma.

      Back at home Jack was captured by alien Godzilla.  He snatched him and zapped him with a laser beam.  He terrorized the city.  He ripped buildings and flung them at people.  He went around and took buildings apart piece by piece until they were dust.

     Mushroom Boy heard his brother's screams and ran to Godzilla.  Using his super strength, Mushroom Boy punched Godzilla's foot, but he didn't hurt him.  It only made him furious.  Godzilla threw a building at Mushroom Boy, then tried to stomp on him. Quickly, Mushroom Boy zoomed out of the way.

     Godzilla picked up Mushroom Boy and put him in his mouth!  He chewed Mushroom Boy.  Then, he swallowed.  His stomach began to rumble. Godzilla dropped Jack, and spit out Mushroom Boy.  He made a face, whimpered in fear, and ran away.

     When Mushroom Boy saw his brother, he forgave him.  Jack and Mushroom Boy finally liked each other again.  Mushroom vowed to protect his brother Jack.  Soon, he made Jack his sidekick.  For a long time Godzilla was not seen. 

PBL Project - Where to go?

Now that we are familiar with different communities in Ontario we can help others.  Mr. Lee has found five people who would like to come to Canada.  They all come from different countries and have different backgrounds.  It will be your job to advise these people about where they should move to in Ontario.

You will need to write them a letter explaining where you think they should move to and why.

You have a great opportunity to help them in their decision.

Husan Lee

Name: Husan Lee

Gender: M

Age: 36

Country: China

Occupation: Rice Farmer

Family Status: Married with one child

Languages: Mandarin and some English

Description: Husan and his wife have dreamed of coming to Canada to give their children a chance to go to university.  They work hard as rice farmers on a small plot of land.  They have saved up some money to begin a new life in Canada.

Country Information: China has the largest population in the world.  They have some very large cities with factories that make products that are shipped all over the world.  

Kylee Lewis

Name: Kylee Lewis

Gender: F

Age: 23

Country: Australia

Occupation: Chiropractor

Family Status: Married with no kids.

Languages: English

Description: Kylee met her husband at university. Ken had come from Canada to go to university in Australia.  They enjoy adventures in the wilderness, camping, and biking.

Country Information: Australia is an English speaking country  in the South Pacific.  It has a market economy with low unemployment.  Australia has some breathtaking places to see as well as modern cities.

Nadarkhani Yousef

Name: Nadarkhani Yousef

Gender: M

Age: 35

Country: Iran

Occupation: Pastor

Family Status: Nadarkhani has a wife, Tina, and 2 sons, Daniel and Joel.

Languages: Persian

Description: Pastor Yousef was arrested in 2006 on the charge of apostasy (for converting to Christianity) and evangelism.  He has been sentenced to death.  He has been given opportunity to avoid his death sentence by renouncing his Christian faith.  There is pressure on the Iranian government to release Pastor Yousef.  He would like to come to Canada so that he can practice Christianity without being arrested.

Country Information: Iran is located in the Middle East.  It has a very old civilization. They are an oil producing country (the 3rd largest in the world).  The official religion is Islam.  

Ara Sahar

Name: Ara Sahar

Gender: F

Age: 17

Country: Afghanistan

Occupation: None

Family Status: Orphan

Languages: Pashto

Description: Ara lived in a small rural village near the city of Kandahar.  Her parents were killed in an explosion and she has been living in a house for orphan girls.  At that house, she was able to go to school for the first time in her life.  She would like to come to Canada where she can be safe, continue to go to school and have a career.

Country Information: Afghanistan is the world’s most dangerous country.  It has a population of 29 million people.  They have had war in their country for many years.  

Francisco Álvares

Name: Francisco Álvares

Gender: M

Age:  32

Country:  Brazil

Occupation:  Electrician

Family Status: Married with 3 children ages 4, 2, and 3 months.

Languages: Portuguese, some English

Description:  Francisco has worked in the mining industry all his life.  He is a trained electrician.  He wants to come to Canada, to have better opportunities for his children.  He lives in Corumba, a city with 96,000 people.

Country Information:  Brazil is the largest country in South America.  It has a population of 192 million people.  It is the only Portuguese country in the Americas.  It has the world 6th largest economy that is growing quickly.

After Easter

Language
This week our grade 3 spelling words are: catapult, unhappiness, anyone, aren't, partner, warning, father, straight, vacation, against, blame, awful, medal, around, birthday


This week our grade 4 spelling words are: composer, discovery, encouragement, musician, unfriendly, impossible, richest, hopeless, governor, expensive, beautiful, depression, impression, submarine, transportation.


Students are required to only read 1 Raz-Kid book this week.

PBL
We had to push back the date of our presentations for PBL.  They will happen on Wednesday.  The students have done an excellent job on their projects.

Bible
We are going to be learning about the Exodus in CLC.

Math
We have finished learning about time, and now it's time to move on!  There will be a Math Contest next week on April 18.

April is Here!

Bible
This week we are going to learn what the Easter holiday is all about.

Language
This week we will be practicing seeing and explaining cause and effect relationships in stories.  We have new Word Wall Words for spelling.  They are also, always, almost, lovable, whole, hole, thought, independent, impossible, weather, whether.
Students need to read Raz Kids books too.

PBL
This week we will finish our brochures by Thursday so that we can tell our classmates all about the community we chose.  That presentation will take place Thursday morning.  On Thursday afternoon we will be going on a nature hike to experience a rural setting.

Math
We will finish a mini-unit on time with a quiz on Thursday.

Running Club
We are running Monday and Thursday at lunch.  There are 2 students who have committed to go on the 2 km race so far.

The End of March

Language
Grade 3 spelling words are: prank, uplink, rethink, chipmunk, flunk, gang, everything, string, along, wrong, belong, sung, swung, especially, except.
Grade 4 spelling words are: arcade, invade, lemonade, mermaid, serenade, renegade, bridesmaid, marmalade, difference
I will send home a spelling worksheet on Wednesday which is due on Friday.
Reading Homework:  Students need to read, listen to and pass a quiz on two books.

Bible
We are going to have a Bible test on Tuesday.  We did a practice test on Monday, and the test will be very similar.

PBL
We will be learning how to get the information for our brochure projects.  We will be designing them too.  We will present them to our classmates on Monday.

Math
We are learning about time.  I am having the grade 3 students do the grade 4 work for this unit because they can!

What We Are Doing

We are starting community.  We are doing art.  We have been doing PBL.  We have been learning math.  We have been doing bible.  We have been doing jim.  We have been doing reading buddies.  We have been doing music.  We have been doing languages. We have been doing french too.
By CARSON and  RONNIE....      

A New Week

Welcome back!

This week our spelling words are as follows.
Grade 3 words are alphabet, complex, speedy, cartwheel, daydream, weapon, threat, perform, news, bundle, settle, gentle, relax, question, speech.
Grade 4 words are weightless, discontinue, signal, consignment, musical, historian, powerful, overnight, overcast, continual
Students will get a homework page on Tuesday that will go with their spelling words.
Students are expected to read 2 Raz-Kids books during the week too.

Eggstronaut Drops

I've finally uploaded the videos for the eggstronaut drop.

Math in the News

I ran across an article about Math education in Macleans magazine.  It is about how the current trend isn't working.  As I read it, I was reminded of why we've switched to Jump Math.

Click here for the Macleans article.

What we have accomplished together

• We did well on spelling tests
• We did awesome on our eggstronaut experiment
• We did well on our multiplication (math)
• We did well on our space project
• We were great reading buddies
• We did well on our pioneer project
• We did well on our language classes
• We all became a great reader
• We did well on our bible studies
• We did well on our project based learning
• We all rocked at French

Update coming...

I will be putting the video from our Eggstranaut Drop shortly.

One Week to Go!

Language

This week the grade 3's will be working on the different sounds and patterns that e can make.  Their spelling words are: pet, sweet, danger, dew, little, uncle, evil, them, sixteen, each, bread, sweat, brother, cashews, title.

The grade 4's have 7 new Nifty Thrifty Words.  They are: antifreeze, forecast, midnight, overpower, semifinal, supermarkets, underweight.  

Bible

We will be learning about Joseph a little more.  I have a homework assignment for students to complete.  It will come home Tuesday and be due on Thursday.  Essentially the students are going to have to talk about someone who shows godliness and righteousness in their work.  The two memory verses for the unit are:

And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.     Genesis 39:3 (NKJV)

The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.  Genesis 39:23

PBL - Space

We are building some devices to protect our "eggstranauts" from smashing when we throw them off of the roof.  Students have 2 materials to use: newspaper and tape.  

Have a great week and a fabulous March Break

A Day With Two Students

This is what we do when we only have two students: we make movies.  This stop motion animation has about 200 different pictures in it.  Levi and Sebastian worked very hard on it.

Week at a Glance February 27 - March 3

Language
     This week we have new words for the Word Wall.  They are: that's, I'm, it's, we're, its, with, where, wear, threw, through, question, vacation, confusion, another.  Students need to read two books on Raz Kids as usual.  


     For writing we have been writing short pieces based on writing prompts.  Then we read what we've written to each other.  It has been a great way to do a lot of writing.  This week we'll be working on improving our writing by having topic sentences.


Math
     We are continuing to learn about measurement.


PBL
     The next thing that we are going to in PBL is design a way to protect an egg that has been thrown off of the roof.  This is related to Space since NASA has to protect people and rovers from crashing down onto a planet.


Bible
     We are continuing to learn about Joseph.  This week we'll learn about how he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and became the second in command of all Egypt.  There are 2 memory verses.  They are Genesis 39:3 (NKJV), and Genesis 39:23 (NIV).  (I chose the NKJV for the one verse because it makes that verse into a complete sentence.)


Trip
     There was an opportunity for the class to go on a trip on Thursday.  It is a tubing trip.  There are forms sent home on Monday.


Running Club
     Running club is starting again at lunch on Mondays and Thursdays.  Students need to have running shoes and some warmer clothes until Spring really comes.

Thursday Trip Opportunity

There was a last minute opportunity for us to go on a trip.  The trip is on Thursday March 2.  It is a trip to go tubing.  There is a form that was sent home tonight.  It must be filled in by Tuesday.

A Journey Through The Universe

How Big is the Universe

Here's a cool video that compares the sizes of planets and stars.

The Math Contest

Yesterday we wrote a math contest. We did it in the computer lab. It was fun. The last question was a game called Mine Sweeper. Our class did very well on the test.  The highest score was 30. The average score was 13. The last time we did this test in October, the average score was 7. Good job everyone!

Perfidy

God Working Behind the Scenes

We are learning about Joseph from the Bible.  His is a remarkable story of how God works to make things happen.  We talked about a sports player who had some very remarkable "coincidences" happen to give him an opportunity to be an NBA starter.  Last night he made the winning shot against the Raptors.  Here's the interview he did after the game.

This Week's Activities Feb 13-17

Important Events
     There will be a Valentine's Day Party on Tuesday.  Cards should be made for all the students.  There is a separate CandyGram fundraiser that the 7/8's are doing.  Those CandyGrams cost $.50 each.  They are optional.
     We are going to have a Math Test on Thursday covering the Money Unit.  We are also entered in a Brock Math Contest on Tuesday.  There is no studying that needs to be done for that, and the results are not for report cards.  We are trying to memorize the 7 times tables this week.
     We are going to finish our space books this week.  There may be homework for that project.  But, there will not be new spelling words this week.  Instead I'll quiz the students on our word wall words.  I've sent home a page that has those words on it.
     We have a corner of a desk reserved for some food that we might bring to space with us.  We're testing it to see if it will last.  We have some bread, grapes, dehydrated blueberries, a granola bar, pepperoni and a few other items.  Send something in if you think we could take it with us on our trip to another planet.
     It's very important to keep reading.  Students need to listen to, read, and pass a quiz on two books each week on Raz-Kids.  If you don't have internet access, I can give real books instead.  Just ask.

PBL Update

We are doing a space story for a class book. In PBL we are learning about space. There are 3 different
groups. We are looking  for information about our planet.

By; Meera

Space Food

• They dehydrate all of the food.  They add water on board.
• They eat healthy food.
• They need a lot of protein because they have to try to build muscle.
• They need food that will last for months.
• They drink water from plastic containers.  They are like our juice bags with special straws.
• Sometimes they bring special items.
• They eat together.
• They always share.
• The food can float away.
• They can't bring crackers because the crumbs would float everywhere.

This Week's Activities Feb 6-10

Language
     This week we are finishing our space stories.  I'm enjoying them so far.  It will be great when we read them to each other.
     The grade 3 spelling words are: vacation, station, untie, fine, slice, third, skirt, alive, circus, supply, rely, party, worry, multiply, circle.  As you can tell we are focussing in on the i and y sounds.  We are going to be practicing by doing word sorts.
     The grade 4 Nifty Thrifty Fifty words are deodorize, different, employment, international, invasion, prehistoric, and signature.  I will also test the students ability to generalize the patterns by asking them to spell words like absentee on Friday.  It will be tough, but they can do it!
     The homework for the week will be to listen/read/quiz 2 books on Raz-Kids.  The top 2 students last week were Ronnie and Gabriel.  Way to go!  There is also a spelling assignment due on Friday.


Math
     Both grades will be playing with money this week!  We should be ready for a test early next week.


CLC
     We have been studying the life of Jacob this past Month.  There is a test on Wednesday.  I have given them a practice test that they can use to study from.


PBL
     We are learning about what life is like in space as an astronaut.  See if you can find some food that an astronaut could take into space.  The groups should be finishing gathering information about training, life on the shuttle, problems that might happen, and what life would be like on their planet by Tuesday.  Then students will work to write a chapter of a book.


On Friday I did a little demonstration that I should have videotaped, but I didn't.  Ask your child about it.


Guitar and Singing
     I don't know if the class is really interested in singing at school.  I have put a survey on the side for them to vote whether they are interested or not.


Have a great week!

Solar System

We're learning about how astronauts need to prepare to go into space. I think it is really cool that we're learning about the solar system and astronauts. Astronauts need to train to go into space by doing tests, survival on a island, they train underwater they also train in the gym, they learn how to use no gravity and a space shuttle.

by:
Halle-Yolanda and Levi Fokkens

Another Math Test...

Another Math test, and another straight A result!  Consequently, we will have a Math party on Thursday January 26.


I have been thinking a lot about this program.  The way that the concepts are taught, makes it easier to learn.  Students are also getting enough practice to become experts in the skills.  The tests are not asking kids to do things that they haven't already practiced.  With all those things together the kids are finding Math "easy".  But, are they learning?  I think they are.  I think that they are learning in ways that will stick in their brains.  I also think that they are understanding most of what they are doing.  I am looking forward to the Spring when we will take another standardized test.  That will give us an excellent picture of how we're doing. I'm confident that we'll ace that test too.


For some research into Jump Math, you can click here.
For an article on Jump Math from the Vancouver Sun, click here.

A Letter From NASA

Week at a Glance January 23 - 26

Language
This week we will be writing space stories.  Students will write a one page story that can be put together to become a class book.
The grade 3 spelling words are: children, search, teacher, reached, think, together, with, where, everywhere, short, push, finish, sure, who, whole.
The grade 4 spelling words are: strong, wrong, copy, cloth, problem, October, whole, explode, control, shown, bowl, bottom, smoky, coach, throat, toast, doughnut, foe.
Students also need to listen to, read, and do a quiz on 2 Raz-Kids books.  Two students from our class passed their levels last week!  Great job!


Math
This week we will be practicing the 6 times tables.  
We are also ready to do a test on the multiplication that we have done so far.  I noticed today that as a group we are much better at solving word problems.  Great effort everyone!


PBL
NASA sent us a letter saying that they are going to send some kids on the next space mission.  All we have to do is to make a plan for the mission that shows that we understand the challenges involved in space exploration.  See posts below for details.


CLC
We are continuing to learn about Jacob's life.  This week we will learn about his 12 sons, and his escape from Laban.  Students are going to be required to memorize the 12 sons of Jacob.

Exciting Space News!

I found this article today.  I thought it was very interesting since we are going to be studying space.

Simple Machines PBL

Science Centre Trip!

Dear Parents,
On Friday January 20, 2012 we will be travelling to the Ontario Science Centre!
We will be departing at 8:30 AM, and will return in time for the bus at the end of the day.
The cost of the trip is $10, which includes admission as well as transportation.
Students should bring a lunch, but there is food for sale at the Science Centre.
Extra parents are allowed to come, but they need to pay for their own admission which is $10.  Send in a note and monies in advance of the trip please.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me, or you could even leave a comment on this blog.
In Christ,
Mr. Lee

Weekly Update Jan 16-20

This is going to be a great week!


In Language the grade 3's will be going on a word hunt for the week!  They are looking for words that use the letter u.  Their spelling words for the week are: menu, drum, minus, clue, statue, compute, amuse, pollute, return, treasure, creature, picture, rude, urban, turtle.


The grade 4's are going to be reviewing the Nifty Thrifty Fifty words.  On Friday I will choose some random words for them to spell.  I sent a list of all the words that we have learned.


Please note that students will still be required to listen to, read, and do a quiz on two books on Raz-Kids as homework for the week.


In Math we are continuing our lessons on multiplication.  It's going quite well so far.  I will be away on Wednesday for a seminar on how do do a better job in Math.


For PBL we will be finishing up our unit on Simple Machines.  Our final activity will be a trip to the Ontario Science Centre.


Have a great week!

Have You Earned Your White Belt Yet?

Please remember to practice your recorder and bring it to school for Mondays and Thursdays!

Week at a Glance January 9-13

Language

There is reading homework this week.  Students need to listen / read / complete quiz for 2 books on Raz-kids.  For spelling, there is a homework activity page to complete.  The Grade 3 words are: way, these, niece, might, show, float, brain, mean, close, tried cube, uniform, stayed, price, usually.  The Grade 4 Nifty Thrifty Fifty words are: dishonest, illegal, irresponsible, misunderstand, performance, rearrange.

We are doing something new this month.  Each week students will have a book of the week.  That book is a "good fit" book for the student, but all the books have common elements.  This week we are learning about how to read non-fiction books.  We are also practicing how to identify the main idea in paragraphs.

Math

We will be thinking and practicing multiplication this month.  We are practicing the 4 times table this week.  Today the grade 4's learned how to answer 30 x 500 using mental math!

PBL

We are continuing to build our inventions that use simple machines.  On Friday we will have a presentation day!

Music

Each Monday and Wednesday the students will need to bring their recorders.  They'll need to practice their songs at home!

New Week in the New Year

Hello, and Happy New Year!

This week we will not have much homework.  Everyone needs to read two books on Raz-Kids.  There's a spelling quiz to be ready for on Friday.  Grade 3 words are: then, myself, probably, especially, usually, about, what, except, new, knew, know, no.  Grade 4 Nifty Thrifty Words: continuous, valuable, nonliving, conversation, forgotten, swimming, unpleasant.

In PBL we are creating inventions.  Here's the student instructions.

In your PBL groups you must think of a problem that needs to be solved.  Then, you will design an invention that will do the work needed.  This invention will need to use at least 3 simple machines.  Then you will make a model of your invention out of household items like popsicle sticks, glue, fasteners, etc.  Finally you will present your invention to the class.

On Thursday we will begin building the model of our invention.  These will be made in class using materials that the students can build with themselves.