Easter Cards for Seniors!

NUMBER TALKS

We often begin math class with a 'Number Talk.' I present them with a prompt/question/image and ask them: "What do you see, how do you see it?"

          Below are two examples of recent number talks that we did in class.

They produced a lot of great cross-strand math thinking from the image below. 

Here were some of their math observations: 

          "I see lots of cubes"
          'The white shapes look like hexagons'

          "I see an ABC colour pattern of pink, green blue"
          'The shapes get bigger from left to right"

          "It looks like the inside of a sphere because there is a curve"

          "I see rectangular prisms"

Other times, I will give them the mini whiteboards and ask them to solve a number challange. During Monday's number talk I asked them to produce a three digit number with a given set of digits. Their goal was to use the digits provided only once and to produce number sentences that would equal the three digit number. They could combine digits in any way they wanted and use any operation of their choice (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division).

Easter Cards for Seniors

This week we suspended work on our mystery stories and mystery unit in language in order to create Easter cards for seniors.  A few other classes at the school are doing the same thing.  Writing Easter cards to seniors is a way for us to build intergenerational bridges as well as connect with people in the larger community. In their cards, the students included a friendly letter and an Easter/Spring-themed acrostic poem.  The cards will be delivered to 'The Ravines' retirement residence on Thursday and distributed to the seniors at their Easter luncheon this coming Easter Sunday.

A few Updates..

This past Friday morning we had our school-wide dance-a-thon to wrap up our fundraiser for 'Ok Clean Water.' The junior students danced their hearts out 2nd block (some teachers too) so much so, that I had difficulty taking pictures of them that weren't blurry!

To mark the beginning of Holy Week and acknowledge the solemnity of this week in the Catholic Church, we began our Monday morning with a school-wide 'Praying in Colour' session led by Mr. O'Brien over the audio system. It was amazing how attentive and prayerful the students were throughout the session which lasted 10-15 minutes. We posted their colourful prayers on the whiteboard so that the students could look at them throughout the day and be reminded of whomever they were praying for. Ask your child to tell you all about what 'Praying in Colour' means to them!

St. Augustine School will be attending the 'Peace Festival' mid-May. All students who are interested in attending the festival must write an 'application' letter explaining why they think they should attend the festival.  Only 20 junior students will be selected to attend as representatives of St. Augustine School.  In the letter, students are encouraged to include examples of things they are doing in order to promote peace, resolve conflicts, ways that they are making a difference in the community/world, etc. Students will be provided with a detailed explanation in-class about this process. The deadline for applications/letters is April 26th. 

RECYCLED ART DAY April 23rd !

Just a reminder that our school-wide 'Recycled Art Day' is April 23, following the Easter break. 

We are asking students/families to collect items such as bottle caps, metal lids from frozen juice containers, paper rolls, string, plastic bottles, boxes, egg cartons etc. These items will be used to create beautiful art work! If your child could bring in tape and glue on the day of April 23rd, it would be most appreciated as well. They can start bringing in materials anytime! 

Debate Prompts & Questions

Our morning 'Sharing Circle' is a big part of our daily routine in grade 4/5.  We pass the feather around the circle and share our ideas, being sure to only speak when we are holding the feather. We practise attentive listening and demonstrate our respect for each other by considering the ideas and opinions of others. Lately, we are starting to use the 'Sharing Circle' as an opportunity to debate various ideas and questions.  As the teacher, I present the debate question to the students and any additional relevant facts that I think they will need. I give them a couple of minutes to ponder the question and then the circle begins. I ask that they choose only one side of the debate and provide reasons for their opinion.  If they do not provide reasons, then I interject and prompt them for an extended response. By debating the questions presented we are practising formulating sensible responses with supporting details. This helps them when solving interpersonal issues insomuch as they are learning to clearly articulate their ideas. It also helps to develop the skill of identifying the key ideas of a given topic and outlining the pros and cons of making choices.
Some of the debate questions we have discussed so far have been:

Should we continue to have March Break or would it be better to take the five  school days of the March Break and spread them out over the school year by creating several long weekends?

Should companies be able to bottle and sell water for profit?

Should it be mandatory for students to learn how to play a musical instrument at school before they graduate from high school? 

Do you think it would be better to have a balanced day schedule (2- 45 minute breaks during the day. 25 minutes of each break would be spent outside and the other 20 minutes for eating) OR keep the current school day schedule (two short morning and afternoon recess and a long lunch recess)?

Math Rotation Stations

Last Tuesday, we were lucky enough to host 'Mathletes' at the school. Students in grade 2-6 participated in 'Station Rotations' whereby they visited math centres to tackle a variety of math challenges in a hands-on, collaborative manner. On Thursday and Friday, we did our own version of 'Station Rotations' in the classroom with a focus on angles. Students moved throughout the room at 20-minute intervals. There was a 'Math Antics' angles video, an art related station, a station where they practiced measuring angles using a protractor and a number sense station whereby students used our class number code to add up angle-related math vocabulary words.