Weekly Update: April 21st - 25th

Happy Friday!

Here is one of the activities we have been working on this week: Completing Story Maps for Short Stories!

 Learning Intentions:

• Examine the structure of a variety of narrative texts.
• Examine elements within a variety of fictional texts.
• Examine major characters in fictional texts.
• Use and develop organizational processes, methods, or tools to support the creation of written texts.
• Persevere through challenges that may arise in the creative expression of ideas.

This week we read three different short stories and completed story maps for each.  We reviewed the terms setting, characters, problem/conflict, solution and main events. Students listened to the stories and worked on identifying each of these story elements. Next week, students will be asked to start planning and drafting their own version of one of these stories, changing only one or two elements from the original. We will work on the writing process and slowly move from pre-writing/planning to drafting to editing and revising and eventually publishing their story in a small book.

Check out the stories we listened to this week below, and ask your child which story they would like to make their own version of!

Reminders:

• We will begin our Yellow Steps residency next week, which will have students outside walking throughout our community. We are currently scheduled to walk to the Shouldice Accessible Park on Monday, April 28th from 10:00 - 11:45am and to Hextall Park on Thursday, May 1st from 10:30 - 12:00pm. Please make sure that students come to school on time in appropriate outdoor walking shoes and dressed for the weather. You may also want to pack additional snacks for your child.
• We will have our Algebra Test on Tuesday next week. Students will be asked to determine if each side of an equation is balanced, create equations that have a value of specific target numbers, solve for unknown variables, solve equations according to the order of operations and solve word problems. You may want to take some time to practice these skills over the weekend. On Monday we will post new Pixel Art Mysteries and students will bring home a Math Mystery that they can review before the test.

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ms. Mostaghel 😁

Weekly Update: April 14th - 17th

Happy Thursday!

Here is one of the activities the Grade 4's have been working on this week: Creating Artifacts!

Learning Intentions:

• Artifacts are objects or products made by humans, machines, or computers through the process of design. 

• Design can produce many artifacts, including: algorithms, models, prototypes, blueprints, programs, experiments, objects
• Design involves processes that can transform ideas into artifacts that meet needs.
• Plan and create an artifact to meet a need.

The Grade 4's have been talking about artifacts as part of their unit on Computer Science. Students discovered that artifacts are objects or products that are created by humans, machines or computers through the design process. Some examples of artifacts include algorithms, models, prototypes, blueprints, programs, experiments and objects. Students were tasked with creating a physical blueprint of their ideal bedroom. We discussed what blueprints are and what they include, and students were able to creatively display their ideal bedroom floor plans. We then created a digital model of our ideal bedrooms on Google Slides, as students used the shape tool and text boxes to create digital representations of their ideal bedroom plan. Students were excited to create two different artifacts and share them with their peers! We will now move into talking about algorithms and then Grade 4's will have a quiz next week to wrap up our Earth Systems & Computer Science units. 

Take a look at some of the artifacts below!

Here is an activity the Grade 3's have been working on in Social Studies: Ukraine food tasting and Tunisia mapping!

Learning Intentions:

• Demonstrate an awareness of and interest in the beliefs, traditions and customs of groups and communities other than their own Culture and Community
• How is identify reflected in traditions, celebrations, stories and customs in the communities?
• Where, on a globe and/or map, are the communities in relation to Canada?
• Create and use a simple map to locate communities studied

We are in the midst of transitioning from our unit about Ukraine to our new unit about Tunisia.  To end our studies of Ukraine, students got to learn about various festivals that Ukrainians celebrate and taste some foods from Ukraine.  Students were able to compare these with foods the festivals that they are familiar with and hence get a better understanding and appreciation of Ukrainian culture.  

As we are starting our unit about Tunisia, students had the chance to learn about the flag and some Tunisian symbols that represent important parts of their culture.  Next week, students will work on finding Tunisia on a map of the world and learn about the nearby countries and physical features.

Reminders:

- Hopefully you have had the opportunity to look over your child's Multiplication & Division test and Assessment Reflection. 

Have a wonderful long weekend!
-Ms. Mostaghel 😁

Weekly Update: April 7 - 11

Happy Friday!

Here is one of the activities we have been working on this week: Algebra!

Learning Intentions:

• Write equations that represent equality between a number and an expression or between two different expressions of the same number.
• Model equations that include an unknown value, including with a balance.
• Determine an unknown value on the left or right side of an equation, limited to equations with one operation.
• Solve problems using equations, limited to equations with one operation.
• Evaluate expressions according to the order of operations (Grade 4).

This week in Math we concluded our Multiplication & Division unit, and began our new mini-unit on Algebra! We reviewed important vocabulary and concepts such as 'equal,' 'balanced' and 'equation.' Students also practiced solving various algebra equations where they had to determine an unknown number on either side of the equal sign. We practiced different strategies for solving unknown numbers such as using known facts or using the opposite operation (For example, if you are trying to solve x + 6 = 10, we could subtract 6 from 10 to figure out what number x represents). Next week we will work with balance scales to ensure both sides of equal signs are truly equal, and we will discuss the order of operations.

Have your child show off their developing algebra skills by solving the problem below:

*Because we have to wait for a few students to complete their tests, students will take home their Multiplication & Division unit test next week. Please keep an eye out for their folders & assessment reflections.

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ms. Mostaghel 😁

Weekly Update: March 31st - April 4th

Happy Friday!

Here is one of the activities we have been working on this week: Informative Writing (body paragraphs and editing).

Learning Intentions:

• Include a variety of text features to organize, clarify, or enhance information.
• Investigate ways that non-fiction texts can be organized to support sharing of information.
• Develop a logical order by grouping ideas into paragraphs.
• Write paragraphs with topic and concluding sentences.
• Reread and revise written texts to identify what could be added or deleted to enhance creative expression.
• Edit writing for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Incorporate images, charts, graphs, or other text features when publishing selected pieces to support a purpose or connect with an audience.

We started our informative writing a few weeks ago and we are now getting to the end of this unit.  Students have been working hard on organizing their work, writing research notes on their chosen topic, and then writing body paragraphs on their 2-3 subtopics.  Most students are moving towards editing now.  Editing is a process that requires students to re-read their writing and look for words to correct, grammar edits they can make, and opportunities to add transition words or phrases. Next week, students will be working on using these edits to write their final copies which will also include images or other text features that will make their writing more engaging and appealing to the reader.

Reminder:

- Grade 4's took home a small quiz this week. Please review it with your child and practice 3-digit multiplication or division, if needed. The videos where different multiplication and division strategies are explained are in the previous blog post.

- We have our unit test on Multiplication and Division for all students on Monday, April 7th. Remember there are opportunities to practice on Google Classroom (Pixel Art Mysteries), Knowledgehook, and here are a few fun websites you could use:

Multiplication.com

Arcademics
Word Problems

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ms. Mostaghel 😁