This week we dove into some new topics and continued our learning on some old ones! On Monday morning, we started our day with a brief discussion about Remembrance Day and the students enjoyed a Remembrance Day word search as their calm morning work. After our morning meeting, we finished off our unit on addition by playing some addition games while I called up students one at a time to show me what they knew about this concept.
After recess and snack, we did a spelling test to see which words students already know how to spell. This helped me place students in groups for a new sight word program that we will begin next week! Next, we had the vice principal, Mr. Malo, join our class to read us a book titled "A Poppy to Remember" and discuss the importance of Remembrance Day. The class really enjoyed this and they asked some very insightful questions about this important day.
After lunch and silent reading, we had a fun science lesson to continue our learning about ecosystems. I told the class we were going to be REAL scientists and go discover some facts about an ecosystem. First, we made a scientific claim about ecosystems. We chose: "Living and non-living things in an ecosystem work together". Then, we set off to gather some evidence to see if we could scientifically prove our claim. We went for a walk on the school grounds to the "swamp". Here we saw a puddle/pond ecosystem and the students shared so many scientific observations that I recorded on our sheet. Once we returned to the class, we reviewed our observations and determined that our scientific claim was true! The class really enjoyed this hands-on experience with science!
Finally, we ended our day with a new spelling packet and a visit to the library. I always enjoy seeing the class browse for books and read them together!
On Tuesday, I explained to the class that this year, Canada wanted to also say thank you to the many Indigenous soldiers who fought in the war to protect Canada and that it was National Indigenous Veterans Day. So, our calm morning work was an Indigenous-designed drawing of a poppy. The class enjoyed this activity.
After our morning meeting, we started to look at the concept of subtraction in math. We all sat in a circle on the carpet and practiced sharing number stories and creating subtraction questions using objects. This was a great way to introduce the topic of subtraction as the concrete nature of the objects makes subtraction more tangible.
After snack and recess, we began an interesting picture book about World War I from the perspective of a teddy bear who goes to keep his "dad" company overseas. It was a nice way to approach this topic and that of Remembrance Day from an age-appropriate perspective. Next, the principal, Mr. Trattle, along with Ms. Sahota's class, joined us in our classroom for a Remembrance Day presentation. The class was respectful and attentive - I was proud of them!
Next, we had P.E. where we played some warm-up running games and then the class got to have some fun of rolling boards. At the end of P.E., we even helped Mr. Trattle set up chairs in the gym for the secondary students' Remembrance Day celebration. Since we all did such a great job helping, each student earned a "Caught Being Kind" coupon to be entered in the school draw!
After lunch and silent reading, we did a Remembrance Day-themed art and writing activity. We created beautiful poppies with tissue paper and, after a discussion about the importance of Remembrance Day, students wrote in the vases of the poppies they created. I was very impressed by how serious the students took this task. This art and writing activity turned out beautifully and I am proud to showcase it on our bulletin board in the hallway!
We had a great week and I am looking forward to the next!
Comments