It is hard to believe that we are entering our 9th week of distance learning. I hope that everyone had a good Victoria Day Weekend and holiday Monday. It was unusual for my family to stay at home on this annual holiday weekend but due to social distancing we were not able to get together with our extended family as we traditionally do. We made the best of it by going on big bike rides, family walks and playing games together. With warmer weather on the horizon, I expect many of us will be taking to our backyards in the coming days!
Here is the link to the current slide deck which outlines daily learning goals:
Gr.4 Weekly Work (May)
This document has also been uploaded into student Drives (within the Language folder). The April Google slide deck continues to be available as well for your reference.
Many students had the chance to record their speeches on Flip Grid. If you still need to record your speech, the link can be found on slide #52 (Friday, May 15th Language slide). I want to congratulate everyone for an excellent effort on their speeches - I have been truly impressed!
In Language this week students will read an article about a zoo chef from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio and take a virtual field trip to the Sand Tiger Shark Tank at Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. Students will also read an article and consider both sides of the debate about social media use and kids.
In Math our focus has shifted to the Measurement of Mass, Capacity and Volume. The learning goals are: to estimate and measure mass using both grams and kilograms; to estimate and measure capacity using both millilitres and litres; to recognize that the volume of the object tells how much space the object takes up.
We had another fun and productive Google Hang Out last Wednesday. We had fifteen students attend which was awesome! Mrs. OBrien dropped in again at the beginning of our Hang Out so that she could say hello to the students. We are usually greeted by her each morning when we enter the school, so it was really nice to begin our meeting with a visit from her - it was almost as good as her in-person greeting!
Following her visit, we shared our news highlights with eachother. Here are this week's updates: Ms. Carisa's wasp problem seems to be dying down; Jessica has built the walls for her garden; Julia's baby sister is navigating the stairs on her own now but still needs to be supervised; Layla celebrated her uncle's birthday on Mother's Day; Maryam has two wiggly molars; Mila's dog Maddy had her first trip to the vet as did Remi's dog Loki; Nicky continues to have on-line visits with his cousins each week; Sarah has been doing a lot of colouring and playing outside more in order to get fresh air; Jacob got a new scooter from his grandparents and continues to build lots of things; Iviya and her family are visiting her new house once per week in order to prepare it for their move; Austin has been biking each day with his mum on his new bike; Daniella went for an early morning excurstion for an hour with her mum; Danayit's brother's birthday gift of LED lights finally arrived in the mail after a long delay; Kristen DID get the new puppy she mentioned last week and her name is Camilla (she is really cute); and Naomi is excited about her cookie dough ice cream birthday cake from Baskin Robins!
After we shared our news for the week we debated the issue of the schools reopening in Quebec. I presented the students with some key issues and ideas on both sides of the debate, gave them a minute to think and gather their thoughts, and then asked them to provide their opinion. Three out of fifteen students agreed with the reopening of elementary schools and they were able to provide some very interesting ideas to back up their opinion such as reducing the number of students who attend, alternating days or half days to reduce the number of kids at school each day, etc. The majority thought it wasn't a good idea to return to school at this time mainly because they felt social distancing would be difficult to maintain and the risk of spreading the virus is still just too high. It was certainly an interesting and timely discussion that we could all relate to and in which everybody was able to provide an opinion!
The last part of our Google Hang Out was devoted to a math 'Number Talk.' This was our second Number Talk and it worked quite well. We will continue to do this each week during our hangouts. Students are reminded to bring paper & pencil, or a mini whiteboard/chalkbaord to the meeting! Invitations for this week's hangout were sent out on Friday. Students are asked to show up for the hangout no more than five minutes prior to the start time of 10:00 a.m.
Please remember to continue share photos with me so that I can put them on our class blog! It's a wonderful way to share all of the interesting things that are happening at home!
Another sincere reminder that the health and well-being of everyone is an on-going priority for everyone. Families must make decisions about daily schedules and distance learning that suit their individual needs. I continue to work each morning. If there is any way that I am able to support learning from home, please send me an email: ruth.stratford@ocsb.ca
Cheers,
Mrs. Stratford
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