Symmetry and Congruent

If you'd like to really stretch your thinking with a Tangram challenge check out this game on
ABCYA:

http://www.abcya.com/tangrams.htm

In Math we are currently working on 2D Geometry. We have described 2D shapes. We focused on the angles inside of shapes including obtuse, right and acute angles. We found objects in our school and described what shapes and angles we see.

For the past few weeks we have focused on symmetry. We are determing if a shape or object has any lines of symmetry. We are also talking about what the types of lines (horizontal, vertical or diagonal).

Finally we are working on congruent shapes and objects. We are locating shapes that are identical in size and shape. We learned that you can turn or stack a shape to see if it is congruent. We had a fun Tangram activity today. We challenged ourselves to build puzzles using our 7 Tangrams. Students worked together to solve the puzzles. We even figured out how to make one shape with all 7 shapes. We tweeted about it too!

Tomorrow we will have 2D Geometry quiz. Students can review for homework tonight using their symmetry worksheet.

ES says: I made a rabbit! pic.twitter.com/mYOhCjclnl
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

WN:I made a rabbit in class! Check it out I put a photo. pic.twitter.com/oCyQycoos1
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

AB and WN: we made genie lamps! pic.twitter.com/pdfivKuskC
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

BT says: I made a cat. pic.twitter.com/UV6zpktNXA
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

HH and NN: we made cats! pic.twitter.com/KAAfbwpZ0m
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

CW says: I made a raccoon.  pic.twitter.com/oBKvf5dTtG
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

FF ZK and EB: we made fixes and cats n pic.twitter.com/8Jg8QSM0Gj
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 24, 2015

Homework Question February 23 - 27 Making Words

Making Words is a fun word game we enjoy in our classroom. We often put letters on the board and challenge ourselves to see how many different words we can come up with. For homework this week, students are challenged to come make as many words as they can with a series of letters.

1. How many words can you make with the letters:  E G S L T N A R C E
2. Go to your KidBlog and post all of the words that you can make with these letters. Don't forget to copy and paste all of the letters to help you when you post on your Blog!
3. Bonus Sticker if you can unscramble the word to make one word with ALL of the letters!
4. After you posted a Blog, comment on a friend's blog to see if they made the same words too.

Happy Blogging!

Kindness Week

This week we celebrated Kindness Week. As a school and as a class, we took the time this week to highlight the acts of kindness that we do on a regular basis. We also took the time to talk about the things that we can do or say to spread a little more kindness. As a class we helped our school to reach 300 random acts of kindness. For many days, we learned that we were the kindest class in the school. We were very proud of that honour.

We spent time writing about kindness in different ways. One of our big goals is to show better sportsmanship both at recess and in gym. We have been working on how to play fair, how to show respect to our teammates and how to make sure we have fun when playing games together. We made a checklist together and decided that this is what we will work on. The students are recognizing how to show good sportsmanship. They are encouraging their friends when playing games. I am very proud of their efforts to show good sportsmanship - great work friends! Some students even blogged about it. Showing good sportsmanship is a wonderful example of kindness.

We are looking for comments on our blogs...please feel free to add a comment to students who blogged about sportsmanship this week!

Blog Posts About Sportsmanship:
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/1e77f3c8-95fe-4bfd-8147-ae824fd7e6a1/spotsmanship/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/ed3a68a5-b5d4-4f65-b47c-e40e6a70cbe0/sportsmanship/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/ec68fc0a-15e5-4da6-832f-30c395de574d/sportmanship/

We received a delightful surprise in school on Friday. Rabbi Bulka and the organizers of Kindness Week came to our school to acknowledge the kindness of our school! They shared with us that they came to give 3 kindness awards to students at our school. One of the big surprises was that they were awarding a student in OUR CLASS an award for their kindness.

We are so proud and honoured to say that our friend Naisha received the Kindness Award. She is always respectful towards others. She offers her help to any student that needs it. Naisha helps her friends in class and at school. She cares a lot for her friends and is always there for them when they need her. We learn so much from Naisha each day and feel proud that she is in our classroom. Thank you for showing us how to be a caring, sharing and kind friend!!

Below are some blog posts that student's created about kindness this week. We are looking for comments on our Student Blogs. Please feel free to add a comment on a kindness blog post below! The Kid President video below was a huge hit for students in class this week!

Blog Posts About Kindness:
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/337201dc-6133-4745-a135-88e53fc10350/kindness-award/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/e9e0ea3d-be3b-44c3-918e-ac30311b71cc/kindss/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/eaa1bea7-f654-4ebd-bed6-07f4e745145b/kind/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/ec68fc0a-15e5-4da6-832f-30c395de574d/kindness-week/
http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/50a016d8-9775-4543-a137-4f7e938186ae/kindness-video/

SM shares how to show kindness and good sportsmanship! #kindottawa pic.twitter.com/IER47ud6JB
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

 bt: can sorw soptsmanship by not bragging and shake your opponents hand whan the game is over #kindottawa

— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

WN good sportsmanship is,to share with someone and help someone with ANY thing #kindottawa
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

FF says: I showed grit by hinding the soccer ball into the net then I saket hands aftter the game. #kindottawa
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

WN good sportsmanship is,to shake your opponents hand after ANY game #kindottawa
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

sm says:you can show spotsmanship when you don 't give up and don't bragging play fair .
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 19, 2015

5 Sentence Challenge Posts

Here is the link for students who would like to read what others have written on our 5 Sentence Challenge! 

https://fivesc.net/2015/02/05/prompt-8-3-2-2/

Post and Comment away!!

Kindness Week Homework Question February 16 - 20

February 13 - 20 is Kindness Week here in Ottawa. This week we are talking about how we can show kindness towards others. We are reading stories and catching our friends showing kindness. We are a pretty kind class too! We are writing the most Helping Hand Certificates in the whole school. Our school goal is to get to 300!

Today we read a story about kindness and students reflecting on what they can do to be a good friend. For homework this week, students can reflect on kindness in a fun way.

1. Watch this quick video by the Kid President on 20 Things We Should Say More Often: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yCOSHeYn4
2. Go to your KidBlog account and post a paragraph about what Kid President taught you about kindness. What can you say or do to be more kind towards others?
3. What should people say more often?
3. Comment on a friend's Kindness Blog!



 

5 Sentence Challenge!

Students working on peer editing their rough draft of the 5SC!

This week we began a new global project venture. This time it is a Blogging Project known as the "5 Sentence Challenge." This is a global project that challenges student writers to blog about a particular topic using a sentence or picture prompt. This project is available to student bloggers all over the world. We are exciting to begin taking part in it!

This week the prompt focused on a beautiful picture. We brainstormed as a class what we could write about and focused on the details inside of the picture. Students had great ideas to share. We started with a rough draft. Our goal was to be creative, write at least 5 sentences and use our writing checklists to help keep us on track.
Students worked in partners to edit one another's work. They used the editing checklist as their guide. Once rough copies were complete, students wrote their good copies on their KidBlogs!

As a class we have been working on giving effective feedback in the comments we write on the Blogs. I took sample comments from their KidBlogs and together we created a Bump It Up Wall. The bump it up comments will serve as a guide for students to work towards adding more detail in their comments and giving students something to reply back to. This will help to encourage deeper conversations on our Blogs!

The exciting part of this 5 Sentence Challenge is that all students around the world who are participating in this project can read and comment on OUR stories! They are posted and ready for any student to comment on. Students in our class are encouraged to view what other students blogged about the picture. All students and schools participating can be found by following this link: https://fivesc.net/2015/02/05/prompt-8-3-2-2/#gf_22 Students can click on any student's Blog link and comment away!! Remember to bump up your comment with extra details and a question!

To view all stories that our class posted, please view our class blogs and check out our Blog Roll: http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/

New this week...Mr. Thomas is now blogging too!!

Shape Hunt Challenge

In Math we continue to describe the different features of 2D Shapes. We are identifying what makes shapes different and the same. We are also talking about which shapes have right angles and which do not. Students are also describing other angles shapes may have like acute angles (smaller than a right angle) or obtuse angles (bigger than a right angle).

Over the past few days we went on a shape hunt challenge. We had to find shapes in objects around our classroom or school. We described the objects by their shapes and the angles inside of them. We used Pic Collage to gather our data. We posted all of our completed shape hunt challenges on a Padlet. Enjoy!

 

Created with Padlet

Homework February 9th - 13th

An angles poster created at our centers last week!

In Math we continue to work on 2D Shapes. This week we will continue to talk about the features of each 2D shape focusing on what makes the shapes different and the same. We are comparing shapes and determining which 2D shapes have right angles.

For homework this week students can:
1. Play this shape sorting game. http://www.matematicasdivertidas.com/Zonaflash/juegosflash/
clasificacion%20poligonos.swf
2. Students must sort the shapes into 3 categories: all right angles, some right angles and no right angles.
3. Post on your KidBlog: What did you learn about the angles in 2D shapes? Are there any shapes with 2 different angles in them?

Read to Someone

AB saysWe are practicing to do read to someone centre and we are getting better at it and we made a list of them what we can do #studentlife
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 5, 2015

We worked on a brand new center this week at our Literacy Centers. Students have included the Read to Someone Center! We read to ourselves each day during our silent reading time. We have been working towards reading to a buddy for a while. This week we created our I-Can list together as a class. We decided what reading to someone looks like and created a list as our guideline.

The goal of the Read to Someone center is to have students share a book together. Students have a wide variety of books to choose from in our classroom and beyond! We have many authors in our classroom who have written their own books and are excited to share their story with a friend at this center!

They can use the books for shared interest purposes. They can also use the center to practice their reading strategies together. The strategies we've learned in the classroom help us to decode words. We may also use reading strategies that can help us to better comprehend the story (making predictions, asking questions, etc).

After reading the book, we decided that we can share what we've learned by talking about the book with our friend. We can ask questions by playing a game where we use questions sticks or a roll the dice game.

Students also decided that after reading together they'd like to write about their stories online via KidBlog or Twitter. We also said we could create interactive posters or talk about it on AudioBoom. So many great possibilities for our literacy centers!

Shared-Learning with the Grade 4 Class

Today students had the opportunity to participate in a shared-learning activity together with the Grade 4 class.

Our classes worked together this morning to teach one another about their respective writing projects. The Grade 4's completed personal Narrative stories while we recently completed Procedural expert posters. The goal was to have our students work together to read, to teach one another about their respective writing projects and to inform them what the writing pieces must have. After reading students were asked to post a reflection on Padlet on what they learned and what the writing pieces must have.

Our 2 classes had a wonderful time sharing together. We had fun sharing our own writing and expertise with the Grade 4's. They were curious about how we created the posters and how to scan the QR Codes to get on to the Padlet. We even taught Mme. Erskine how to scan the QR Code to get on to Padlet!

 Reading with the Grade 4's taught us about how to write Narratives. When we begin our next writing unit, students will have a better idea what Narratives must have! To demonstrate our learning, we posted our learnings on a shared-Padlet. We will re-visit this Padlet again when we officially begin our unit on Narratives. We also hope to work with the Grade 4's again! They shared a lot of great ideas with us and we hope to have the chance to learn and work with them again soon. Huge thank you to Mme. Erskine and Mrs. Maher!

Created with Padlet

wn says: today i am teaching a grade 4 how to do procedure writing and how to tweet!
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 3, 2015

jn says: wn tought me about procedure writing.
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 3, 2015

DL says. We are telling our partners what procedural writing and narrative story are.
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 3, 2015

Rc today I leand that naterad must have a biggin,mittle and end
— Mrs. Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) February 3, 2015

February Newsletter

Hard to believe we are already into a new month! We welcome February with our latest newsletter. Follow the link below to see what we've been up to in our class AND what we will be learning in February.

https://drive.google.com/a/ocsb.ca/file/d/0B_re1hqN_E-AMXZxWGpTeDBIbms/view?usp=sharing

As always, everyone is welcome to view out student's blogging journey on our student KidBlog accounts... http://kidblog.org/MrsCiampa/ 

Parents, you are welcome to add a comment to your child's Blog at any time! Students may also comment on a friend's blog. We are working on encouraging the students to add constructive feedback to a friend's post.

A friendly reminder, I post a weekly homework question on the Blog that students can complete by posting on their KidBlog accounts. We are in search of Homework SuperStars!!

Homework Question February 2nd - 6th

This week our vocabulary and word wall focus will be on Compound Words. We will be reviewing what compound words mean and we will come up with many different compound words as a class.

For homework this week, students can watch a short video on compound words and then post on their KidBlog accounts!

1. Watch the Compound Words Video
2. Post on your KidBlog. Explain what compound words are. Make a list of some compound words you can think of.
3. You can also write some sentences with compound words!

Here is a link to the online video: 

Expert Posters

This week students completed their expert posters! All students decided to complete their good copy on the Pic Collage app. We followed the procedural writing model to write about what we think we are experts on. Below students came up with what they know very well, and used our procedural checklist to write about what they want to teach people about. We have posted these posters around our school and hope that we can teach others about our expertise!

Students also recorded their reading on the app AudioBoom. We are assessing our own reading and working on our voice. Students can listen to one another's reading and see if they used good expression and a clear voice when reading. Enjoy!

          

    

 

 

Below are our AudioBoom readings. We are working on our clarity and expression - we hope you learned something from us today!

listen to ‘NN Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘JP Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘FMF Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘ZK Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘FF Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘DL Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘CW Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘RC Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘HH Procedural Writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘EB procedural writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘TO procedural writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘BT procedural writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘KI procedural writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘SM procedural writing’ on audioBoom

listen to ‘AO procedural writing’ on audioBoom