Christmas Break Countdown

Hello everyone.  These next two weeks are a very busy time at East Elementary.  This Thursday will be our last library class before the break.  If your child is into reading lengthier books, may I suggest picking out an easy or short chapter book that can be read over the break.  They will have the book for a whole 4 weeks.  It may be a great opportunity for them to challenge themselves.

This Friday, Dec 11, we have our Christmas dress up day.  Feel free to wear reds and greens, Christmas hats, reindeer antlers, or whatever festive outfits you can think of.  It is all in good fun and celebrating. By no means is it mandatory.

Anyone that ordered Scholastic products, the order has been placed and I hope it will arrive in time to send home before the break.

Next week we have the annual East Elementary Christmas concert.  The students will be doing rehearsals Mon., Tues., and Wed. afternoons.  The first concert is at 1:00pm on Thursday Dec. 17th. The evening show will begin at 7:00pm, with the doors to East Elementary opening at 6:30pm.  The annual grade 6 fundraiser, the cake raffle, will also be taking place.  

The Grade 2's are asked to wear jeans and a western shirt for their concert "costumes".  

Friday, Dec. 18th, the last day before the break is going to be pajama dress up day.  The students will be watching a movie in the gym all together in the afternoon, kinda like a big pajama party. We will also be having our "Christmas" potluck.  I ask that everyone still brings their regular snacks and their regular but "light" lunch.  We will have some parents bring in cheese & crackers, a veggie platter, as well as a dessert/treat.  I will supply hot chocolate for the class as well.

We do have a spelling test this week, as well as next week, even though it is a very busy week with the concert, we still need to have one to stay on track with our spelling lessons.

There is no hot lunch on Friday December 18th.

I hope that everyone can have a wonderful and relaxing Christmas break.  I look forward to spending time with my family and friends as well as celebrating my birthday on New Years Eve.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Mr. Aasen

Book Orders

I have handed out the December book order forms today.  If your child would like to place an order, please have them returned to me by Tuesday December 1st, in order for them to arrive before Christmas break.  Thank you.

Mr. Aasen

Nov 23 - 26

Good evening.  This week there is no school for the students on Friday (Nov 27) as the teachers have a P.D day.  Other than that it is business as usual.  If you ordered Christmas cards they should be here by next week (December... Crazy!).  

Writing

This week in writing we will be looking at adding descriptive detail to our writing.  Writing in journals today, we talked about the 5 W's and how you can incorporate these questions into your writing to make it more detailed.  (Who did you go with?  What did you do/play/get/eat/watch? Where did you go?  Why did you do that/go there/like it?  When did you go?)

Math

This week in math we will be looking at estimation, and estimating numbers up to 100.  This is a difficult task for many students.  It is difficult to distinguish a pile of objects from being 30 or 100 for some and we will spend ample time on strategies and estimating skills.

Science

We continue our hot and cold temperatures unit.  Any opportunity you get to read a thermometer with your child at home will be beneficial in mastering the skills of reading thermometers and telling temperature.  Students will continue to struggle with the concept of having zero in the middle and getting bigger whether you go up or down from zero.  Emphasize with them the idea that any number with a minus in front of it is below zero and any number without a minus is above zero. (-4°C is 4 "ticks" below zero. 4°C is 4 "ticks" above zero).  We also are looking at the concepts of "warmer than" and "colder than" as well as freezing/melting/cooking/burning and how objects are affected by changes in temperature.

Social Studies

In social, we will be looking at the history of Iqaluit and why people have settled there.  We will discuss the cold climate and how it affects living there.  We will then do the same thing for Saskatoon and Meteghan.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Mr. Aasen

Nov 16 - Nov 20

Good day parents.  I hope everyone had an amazing Remembrance Day and "long" weekend. Just a few reminders.  If you want to order Christmas cards, the green form that was sent home last week must be returned by Wednesday with payment.  Also, another form is being sent home tomorrow regarding yearbooks.  If you are interested in ordering a yearbook, please return it by the stated date letting us know if you plan on ordering a yearbook so we can get an idea of numbers. As usual, Wednesday is popcorn day, Thursday is library, and Friday is hot lunch for those who ordered.

Language Arts

Writing:

We are continuing to look at the different types of writing, narrative and expository/informative.  We are going into detail about how to write a narrative piece versus an expository/informative piece of writing.  During writing exercises, we still focus on proper conventions and sentence structure, making sure to include beginning capital letters, as well as punctuation, regardless of the type of writing we are doing.

Reading:

I just wanted to quickly touch on the home reading.  When your child has completed any number of hours of reading, send in their red duotang so I can record their reading hours.  We are now recording how many hours we can read as a class throughout the school year.  I am challenging the students to see if we can reach a specific goal of combined reading hours.  

Math

We are continuing our unit in Math, Numbers to 100.  We will continue a lesson we started last week on odd and even numbers and finish up the week talking about ordinal numbers (ex. 1st (first), 2nd (second), and so on). 

Science

We have begun our second science unit, Hot and Cold temperatures.  Some of the things we will be discovering in this unit will be; reading thermometers (measuring temperature in degrees Celsius, using terms such as hotter than, colder than), how to change temperatures in homes and buildings, insulation and insulating properties, how buildings are heated, safe practices for handling hot and cold materials, how heating and cooling materials can change them (freezing, melting, cooking, burning), and the human body and how temperature changes can affect us.

Social

In social, we will be looking at the geography of the 3 communities we are studying, Iqaluit, Meteghan, and Saskatoon.  We are looking at things like climate, land formations, and natural resources we might find.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Oct 26-30

Happy Halloween week everyone.  First off I just want to say I hope you all have a safe and fun evening trick or treating this Saturday.  This week at East, we have our picture retakes taking place on Wednesday, Oct 28th.  If you have sent in your form, make sure your child is dressed to your liking.  We will do our best to make sure your concerns for pictures are taken care of.  Also our popcorn Wednesday is beginning.  If your child brings 50 cents they can have a bag of popcorn at snack time.

We will also be doing our Halloween parade through Salem Manor on Friday afternoon.  Send your child dressed in their Halloween costume so we can show it off.  We will be having our potluck lunch as well with a wonderful Halloween dessert treat.  I will be sending out the sign up sheet shortly to sign up for either Juice Boxes, Cheese and Crackers, and a fruit/veggie platter.  Please still send a protein with your child for lunch to eat as the potluck items are considered sides for them to eat with whatever they bring.

Math

This week in math we are starting our Numbers to 100 unit.   The outcomes we will be covering in this unit are as follows;

I Can:

• Say the number sequence 0 to 100 by:
• 2s, 5s and 10s, forward and backward, using starting points that are multiples of 2, 5 and 10 respectively
• 10s, using starting points from 1 to 9 
• 2s, starting from 1.
• Demonstrate if a number (up to 100) is even or odd.
• Describe order or relative position, using ordinal numbers (up to tenth).
• Represent and describe numbers to 100, concretely, pictorially and symbolically.
• Compare and order numbers up to 100.
• Estimate quantities to 100.
• Illustrate, concretely and pictorially, the meaning of place value for numerals to 100.
• Demonstrate and explain the effect of adding zero to, or subtracting zero from, any number

Science

This week we will be finishing up our unit on magnetism and writing our unit test.

Social Studies

In social we are looking at the 3 different communities we will be studying.  So far we have introduced a prairie community (Saskatoon) and an Inuit community (Iqaluit).  The final community we will introduce is an Acadian community (Meteghan).  We have looked at the three areas of Canada that have the prairie provinces, the Inuit provinces/territories, as well as the Acadian provinces.  

I hope everyone has a great week ahead and a great Halloween Weekend.

Mr. Aasen

Parent Teacher Interviews

Good evening parents.  Just a reminder that if you have not yet signed up for parent teacher interviews, to do so.  They take place next Wednesday or Thursday, Oct 21 or 22. Use the link below to sign up.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0C44A4A629A6FD0-parent

Week of Oct 5-9

Good evening parents.  A few reminders this week.  We have picture day on Tuesday, October 6th.  Also, for anyone returning book orders from Scholastic, please have them returned by Friday, Oct 9th, as I would like to make sure the order gets put in this weekend.  I want the books to arrive in time for Halloween.  Also, Thanksgiving Monday, Oct 12th is a holiday, as well as Tuesday, Oct 13th, a PD day, there is no school.

Tuesday I am also sending home reading logs for home reading.  All the info that you need will be in the duotangs.  The reading logs stay at home until 1 hour of reading has been completed. I will check it off and return it home.

When I send home the spelling test booklets, please return them as soon as possible as we need them to write the next spelling test.

Language Arts

Writing:

Our focus this week on writing is making sure we are writing a complete sentence.  Sentences must have 4 things to be considered complete. 1. An upper case letter at the beginning. 2. Punctuation (A period) at the end.  3. A subject (Who/What) 4. A predicate (doing/describing).  When I look at the students writing I am looking for punctuation and capitalization, as well. do they have a subject and a predicate.  I let the students look for those things if I ask them if they are missing something from their sentence so they can first attempt to self correct.  

Math

We are looking at increasing patterns this week in math.  An increasing pattern is a pattern that grows.  In order for it to be considered a pattern it must follow a "Pattern rule"  The rule must be followed each time you ad a new element.  2   5   8   11   14   is an increasing pattern.  The pattern rule is "add 3".     O        O        O         O           This is also an increasing pattern. The rule is to add

                                   OO      OO       OO            a row underneath the previous row that is 1 more.

                                             OOO    OOO

                                                       OOOO

Social Studies

We will be writing our mapping test this week and beginning Unit 1, Looking at places.  We will be looking at 3 different communities in Canada that are all different in their own way.  We will look at things like geography, climate/weather, natural resources, and location. 

I hope everyone has a great week and a fantastic Thanksgiving break!

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 21-25

A few reminders this week.  If you have not got your Terry Fox run permission forms in yet, please do so by Wednesday.  We run on Friday afternoon.  There is some information coming home today with your child.  Also, you will notice there are three tabs  above the current post.  One of them is Agenda.  You can click this link to view all of the previous agenda messages.  The other important tab is Spelling Words.  This tab takes you to the weekly spelling words.  I am going to post them there instead of on the main blog.


Language Arts

Writing:

In addition to our weekly independent journal writing, we have started our first unit in our writing program. In this unit we are introducing the difference between Expository/Informative writing and Narrative writing.  Expository/Informative writing is a form of writing where the purpose is to inform the reader, giving them some specific information about a topic.  The purpose of Narrative writing is to entertain the writer.  Typically we use non-fiction as informative, and fiction as narrative.  We will be learning how to effectively write using both types, learning strategies and techniques no make our writing original and detailed.

Math

This week our focus will be on predicting elements of a repeating patters. We will be finding missing elements as well as repeating pattern cores. These are some of the math terms your children need to know in this unit.

Pattern Core - The pattern core is the part of the pattern that repeats. ex. if the pattern is ABACABACABAC, the pattern core is ABAC.

Elements - An element is any part of the pattern.  ex. ABCABCABC has a core of 3 elements and if we extended the pattern the 10th element would be an A.

Attributes - Pattern attributes are the different ways we can describe the elements in the pattern. ex. The pattern attributes of the following pattern (↓←↓←↓←↓←↓←↓←) are colour and arrow direction. This pattern has a core of ABCD. Red arrow down, Red arrow Left, Blue arrow down, Blue arrow left.

Social Studies

In social this week we will be finishing up our mapping review unit. Our focus has labeling a compass rose, as well as reading a map using a legend and symbols.  The students need to be able to find places on a map using directions and the legend.

Science

In science this week, we will be experiencing and experimenting with properties of magnets.  We will be creating our own magnets and testing how strong we can make them.  Some of the types of magnets we have learned about are temporary magnets, electromagnets, natural magnets and man made magnets.  We have also learned that magnets have two "poles", a north and a south pole.  Opposite poles attract and like poles repel.  Poles, attract, and repel are terms that we will be using lots in this unit.


The students already know, but I will not be here on Wednesday this week as I am attending a PD session.  I hope everyone has a great week. Happy first day of Autumn on Wednesday, Sept 23.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 14-18

Good afternoon  everyone. I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  We have another short week this week (meaning the students) as there is no school this Friday, Sept 18, for students. Also a reminder that our library day is Thursdays, so if you could make sure that if your child wants new books they must return their old books on Thursday.


Language Arts:

Spelling

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

let   his   had   ask   old   took   also   sat   fell   get

Also as there is no school Friday, we will be writing our spelling test on Thursday.

Reading

We are going to be implementing the Daily 5 program in many of the classroom here at East Elementary.  Essentially this means that every day, students will engage in 5 different activities each day.  One of these activities is called "Read to Self".  Reading every day helps us to build reading stamina.

Math:

We just started our unit on patterns.  A note from our math program went home regarding the learning goals for this unit.  They are as follows;

• I can describe, extend, compare, and draw repeating and increasing patterns.
• I can create new patterns.
• I can sort a set of objects, using 2 attributes, and explain the sorting rule.

Science:

We have begun to look at the properties of magnets.  We started talking about how magnets have 2 poles and that when you put 2 poles together they either attract or repel, depending on which 2 poles you put together.  We have also looked into what materials magnets are attracted to.  Students will be getting some more opportunities to work with magnets and explore their properties in more detail.

Social:

We are working towards finishing up our mapping review unit.  The students have been working on directions (a compass rose) as well as symbols we may find on a map or in real life (a legend) that will give us information about a place.

I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful "3 day" weekend.

Mr. Aasen

Week of Sept 8-11

Good day everyone.  Welcome to another school year at East Elementary. It has been an exciting time here in Classroom 2A getting pumped up for a great year of learning.  There is lots to take in for the students and these first couple of short weeks there will be lots of working on routines and getting back onto positive habits.


There have been a couple of forms to go home already.  A welcome back letter stating lots of important info regarding class 2A.  There was a package with many forms that needed to be signed regarding things like FOIP and being able to share information and post pictures of students.  This needs to be returned as soon as possible.  Also, hot lunch will begin in October every Friday.  The form informing you how to order hot lunch went home today.

Language Arts:

Spelling

 This weeks spelling words are as follows;

fox   cut   hill   wind   put   all   moon   saw   tell   new

The spelling tests will be conducted every Friday.  I encourage you to practice the spelling words with your child as often as you can.

Reading and Writing

Reading and writing are very important skills to have as you grow.  I have already began to assess where each students reading and writing abilities are.  I will be conducting some more assessment  this week and in the coming weeks to gauge what our focus needs to be on.

Math:

This week in math we will be doing addition and subtraction review.  Your child may come home with some questions that need to be completed.

Science:

We have started our first unit in Science, Magnetism.  The students got to explore the classroom, "sticking" magnets to things, to get an idea of some of the properties of magnets.  We will be getting into more details this week.

Social:

We are starting a review unit in mapping, to get the students more comfortable using maps before we delve into our first unit, Exploring Places.



I hope you have a wonderful week.  Do not hesitate to phone or email if you have any issues or need anything.

Mr. Aasen

Week of June 8-12

Good day to everyone.  Just a reminder that the permission forms for our field trip to Devonian Botanical Garden need to be returned with money by this Friday.  We are wrapping up any unfinished core curriculum and will soon be winding down for the year.

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are homonyms.  These are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean something different.  They are as follows;

hole   whole   no   know   not   knot   ate   eight   to   too   two   right   write   one   won


Writing:

For writing, we will be finishing up our Goldilocks stories that are being written by the students, with new characters.  These are their own made up stories that follow the story line of the original Goldilocks and the Three Bears story.  They got to make their own new characters and ideas to make it their own. We have had a continued focus on including exciting detail, forming complete sentences and using proper punctuation and capitalization.


Math

In math we have finished up addition and subtraction and will be writing our unit test this week.  We have already began looking at 2D shapes and 3D objects, classifying them, naming them, and grouping them, based on attributes.  For example what two objects fit in this group;  They must have round faces, and they can slide.  The answer would be a cone and a cylinder, as they both have a round face and can slide.  This is the mathematical terminology I would like the students using when describing shapes and objects;  Faces (flat or round), edges (straight or curved), vertices, rolls, slides.


Science

In science we finished up our buoyancy and boats unit.  We have started our small crawling and flying animals unit, which we will be supplemented by our field trip to the botanical gardens.

Spelling Words

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

call   wall   draw   fall   ball   paw   crawl   talk   because   walk

Spelling Words

It is a short week this week with there being no school this past Monday, as well as our field trip to Fort Edmonton on Tuesday.  We will still have a spelling test on Friday.  The word list is as follows.

sound   frown   soil   mouth   now   toy   oil  spoil   noise   owl

Spelling Words

Our spelling words for this week are double "o" words.  They are as follows;

foot   food   soon   good   hood   noon   room   wood   boot   tooth

Education week.

What a great week we have had at East Elementary for education week.  On Monday the kids got to experience Drum Fit.  What a great experience for everyone.

On Thursday, we got to experience a Zumba class. Another fantastic period of activity.

A bust week of activity also included "Hats on for Mental Health" day.  There were varying types of hats to support and acknowledge mental health and its prevalence in society.

Language Arts

Writing:

We began this week our Unit on fairy tales.  We read a few different fairy tales, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella.  We are now focusing on Goldilocks.  The students are now going to re-tell the story in their own words.  We are using a picture sequence to go through the story part by part so they can focus on including as much detail as possible on one part before we move on to the next.  As always, there is a focus on conventions and sentence structure in their writing.

Math

In math we have been working really hard on addition and subtraction of 2 digit numbers.  The students are working with many different strategies to solve 2 digit equations. Writing equations vertically is a good way to help distinguish the ones and the tens place and help with more accurate solutions.

Odds & Ends

Today a second field trip form was sent home.  This one is for the annual Track and Field day in Devon.  We are again doing a hot lunch order form for that day.  The permission form as well as the lunch order form and payments need to be returned by next Thursday, May 14th.  The forms for Fort Edmonton with payment, if you have not done so already, need to be returned by next Wednesday, May 13th.

Swimming has been great!

Grade 2A has had a wonderful time swimming this year.  Everybody is geared up on the bus of our second last day!

April 13-17

Good day everyone.  I hope you all had a great weekend. A couple of things to note this week.  We are swimming today, Wednesday and Thursday.  Thursday is our last day of swimming.  The students have done a great job listening, following directions, and getting changed quickly following to ensure we arrive back to school for dismissal at the end of the day.

A reminder that Wednesday is popcorn day.  Bring 50 cents and get a bag of popcorn for snack.
This Friday at East elementary we are hosting pool D of the Grade 5-6 floor hockey tournament.  The Eagles play their first game at 4pm in the gym.  There will be a concession put on by EEPA, with funds being returned back into East Elementary Programs.  If you have children or siblings playing come out and cheer them on.

One last important reminder, our class pictures will take place next Monday, April 20th.

Language Arts

Spelling:

This week our spelling words continued to work on adding endings.  This week all the words are "short" vowel words that you have to double the last consonant before you add the ending.  For example, map would become mapping.  The exception to this rule is a word ending in x.  You do not double the x.  The spelling words for this week are as follows;

jogging   running   trimming   skipping   shopped   sadder   gladdest   hopped   winning   mixed


Writing:

We continue to look at informative/expository writing versus narrative writing.  We have been comparing strong paragraphs of writing to weak paragraphs.  The students are really starting to grasp the kind of detail required to capture and captivate the reader.  Identifying why a paragraph is strong or weak is very important to being able to write yourself.


Math

The last few weeks we have had a strong focus on 2 digit addition.  Mastering basic math facts (1 digit addition like 8+6) is a great skill and the foundation for 2 digit addition.  The students have been learning many different strategies for doing 2 digit addition.  They have been using hundreds charts (counting by tens and counting by ones), using base 10 blocks, using snap cubes, and we have just started doing vertical addition.  In vertical addition we like to begin with adding the ones together, then add the 10's together. The ones are red, the tens are green.  In the end, this will probably be the easiest and quickest strategy, especially when they eventually get up to 3 digit addition and higher.

   32
+ 46
   78

We will continue with addition and later on subtraction of numbers to 100, into May.


I hope everyone has a great week and weekend ahead.

Mr. Aasen

April 7-10

Happy April.  I hope everyone had a great spring break.  Just some reminders about swimming.  This week we are swimming on Thursday, the 9th, in the afternoon.  Next week we are swimming Monday the 13th, Wednesday the 15th, and Thursday the 16th.  Thursday the 16th is our last day of swimming.  Please don't forget to send a swimsuit on those days.

Spelling

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

worked   sending   wants   glasses   sees   burning   reached   boxes   wishes   opening

March 23-26

It is our last week of school in March and before spring break begins.  Just a reminder that there is no school beginning Friday, March 27 up until Monday, April 6th, which is Easter Monday.  School resumes Tuesday, April 7th.  Also if your child could have their swimming wear and towels dried every evening so they do not have to use wet clothes and towels, that would be excellent.

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

world   girl   skirt   her   first   worth   word   sir   turn   were

March 9-13

Odds and Ends

A couple things to talk about this week.  If you have not returned your permission forms for swimming, or the money, both are due on Friday, March 13th.  We start our swimming on Monday, March, 23rd.  Also, this Friday is a theme day.  It is dress like your favorite celebrity day.  Come dressed as your favorite athlete, singer, actor, etc.

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words this week are all contractions.  A contraction is two words combined together with an apostrophe to make one word.  The 10 words are as follows;

you'll   they're   it's   we're   isn't   let's   aren't   I'm   can't   we're   

Math

This week we are finishing up out unit on Measurement.  We have covered how to read calendars, days of the week, months of the year, length, mass, size, and volume.  Our unit test will be on Thursday.

Science

We will continue with our unit on exploring liquids.  We have looked at different kinds of liquids, properties of them (freezing, melting, thickness, flow), states of matter (Water can be solid, liquid, and gas), as well as dissolving a solid in a liquid and evaporation.  Over the next couple of weeks we will be exploring different materials and how they absorb water and materials that are waterproof.

Health

With the start of our Tutti Fruitti Tuesdays, where we are having a contest to see which class has the most students that bring in a fresh fruit or vegetable for snack, we will be exploring Canada's Food Guide and healthy eating habits.


I hope everyone has a great week ahead (Minus the 1 hour of lost sleep).

Mr. Aasen

Feb 23-27

There are a few important things for this week.  Wednesday is "wear pink day" to combat bullying in our schools. Also sent home in the students agendas are the permission forms for swimming.  These forms need to be returned by March 13th, along with payment (cash, cheque, or online) if you haven't done so already. 

Language Arts

Spelling:

Our spelling words for this week are as follows;

race   stick   color   kick   quick   back   became   neck   cent   city

Writing:

In writing, we are continuing to work on adding detail to our work.  We are using narrative and informative examples to emphasize how to write details. We are using strategies to make our writing more entertaining for the reader.  Our introductions can include a sound, a dialogue, an action, or a thought.  We are working on getting away from beginnings such as "Once upon a time" or "One day there was a...".  We have also been working on including opinions in our writing.  We talked about what "pro's and con's" are and how we can argue our own opinions. 

Math  

In math we are continuing in our measurement unit.  We are looking at measuring different items around the classroom and the hallway, using different "non-standard" units of measurement.  An example of a "standard" unit of measurement would be a centimeter. A "non-standard" unit could be anything they find to measure with, such as an eraser.  "My desk is 14 "erasers" long.  We are then comparing length and finding things that are shorter and longer.  The students love being hands on going around and measuring things that they can find.

Science

We have started our exploring liquids unit.  Some of the things the students will be learning in this unit are as follows; 

• Recognize and describe the following characteristics of a liquid: flow, shape of drop, surface of calm water
• Compare water to other liquids based on colour, flow, shape of drop, reaction with solids
• Show understanding that liquid can change to a solid or gas, and back again.

We started our unit by exploring some different liquids and how they were affected by being put in a freezer as well as left out on a counter for the weekend.  We had some pretty interesting results that I'm sure your children would be happy to tell you about.

I hope everyone has had a great February.  Hard to believe it is almost over and we'll be into March next week.  Have a great rest of the week.

Mr. Aasen

Feb 9-13

The spelling words for this week are as follows;

shout   shut  crash  then   thin   math   think   together   nothing   anything

Week of Jan 19-23

A few odds and ends.  The students can now start bringing their LEGO creations for the LEGO building contest.  They have until Jan 29 to submit an entry.  Also for those students who have not returned their permission forms for Telus World of Science, those need to be back by Jan 27th.  We have enough volunteers so thank you to those of you who filled out the purple form.


Language Arts

Spelling:

The spelling words for this week are "le" ending words and are as follows;

apple   handle   able   bottle   table   uncle   candle   purple   turtle   people

Writing:

This unit our focus in writing has been on creating suspense.  We are using a strategy called the "Magic of 3".  This consists of including a "red flag phrase, followed by a "hint" and a "reaction" by the character.  A red flag phrase is a word or phrase that immediately leads to a hint.  Examples are phrases such as "All of a sudden" and "Just then".  The hint is what the character hears or sees.  "All of a sudden I heard a loud crack."  The reaction is what the character does in response to the hint.  "All of a sudden I heard a loud crack.  I rushed to see what made the sound."  We can use the magic of 3 a number of times in a passage before we reveal what created the suspense.  It is not revealed until the end of the passage.


Math

In math we will be introducing our next unit this week, Measurement.  the specific outcomes we will be measure are;

Specific Outcomes
1. Relate the number of days to a week and the number of months to a year in a problem-solving context.

2. Relate the size of a unit of measure to the number of units (limited to nonstandard units) used to measure length and mass (weight).

3. Compare and order objects by length, height, distance around and mass (weight), using nonstandard units, and make statements of comparison.

4. Measure length to the nearest nonstandard unit by:
• using multiple copies of a unit
• using a single copy of a unit (iteration process).

5. Demonstrate that changing the orientation of an object does not alter the measurements of its attributes.

Science

We have been talking about insulators in our Hot and Cold unit.  We will be finishing up this unit as soon as possible, followed by starting the next unit, Exploring Liquids.

Social Studies

In social, we have just finished up our unit called Looking at Places and we will begin Looking at People.