Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Data Collecting




In Math our current focus is on Data Management. Over the past few weeks we've reviewed different kinds of charts and graphs must have. We've talked about what Tally Charts should look like and how information on a Tally Chart can help us explain the shape of our data. We've also converted Tally Chart information into Bar Graphs. Students are very comfortable using graph paper to draw their own Bar Graphs, following a must have checklist to keep on track.

As a class, we created our own survey questions with 4 options. We then went into the Grade 4/5 class to ask them our survey questions. We put their answers into a Tally Chart. Later, we converted the tally information into our Bar Graphs.
We are focusing on using comparative language to describe the shape of our data. Students came up with many ways to describe comparative words such as most and least. We are using these words to help us describe our survey results. Students are also role playing, having math talks and playing games to describe data results. Ask your child about it! We are also using scales to help us read and understand Pictographs better. For fun at home, students can create their own surveys. They can use our Must Have lists to pick a graph or chart to track their results. Ask your child all about our Data unit in Math.


Friday, December 11, 2015

Literacy Centers This Week

This week students became more independent as they explored their interests during our Literacy Centers. Students are getting the opportunity to chose a center that they are interested in and practising a skill or an activity that we are doing in class. Many students mailed letters to Santa this week. They went to the Writing Center to write a friendly letter to Santa telling him what they want for Christmas. They learned how to address an envelope so that he receives it in the North Pole. We are hoping to receive a reply back before we go for holidays. 

Using Tagul, a few students in our room created Word Collages. They are interested in making pretty collages with words that describe Christmas.  A few friends used the Tech Club to work with some Grade 4 friends to create Christmas Word Collages for our upcoming Birthday  Party for Baby Jesus.
Our elf Tallulah kept us busy with many silly antics this week. The students love coming into the classroom each day to find her hiding somewhere in our room. Tallulah inspires our students at the Word Center. We played a making words game using letters in her name. We are writing letters to her and imagining what it would be like if we had an elf of our own. Students got to design their own elf and write about what they would do if they were an elf. 
We help our friends with questions about their KidBlog accounts
Finally, students are really enjoying being experts at using KidBlog. We are blogging from home and during our Literacy Center time. Students are learning how to navigate the website. They are creating blog posts and sharing them with their friends. We are also learning about the comments feature. This week, many students wondered how to comment on a friend's blog. We are currently teaching our friends how to comment and how to write an appropriate response to a friend's post. I am encouraging students to offer effective feedback with a follow-up question. The follow-up questions are meant to encourage more dialogue and authentic conversations. We will continue to work on this in the new year. 

Thank you to all families who blog from home with their child! It is wonderful to see your child excited to blog..and also for you to write together AND comment on your child's writing. This is wonderful for their learning!!


Tallulah made us laugh this week. 




Tuesday, December 08, 2015

KidBlog!



Great news! Over the past few weeks we have been writing on our Student Blogs. We are using the KidBlog website for our student blogging. You can find a link to our Class Kidblog on the magnet that you received at the start of the year.

Today, a Blogging Etiquette contract was sent home. Students and families are welcome to blog and write together for homework each night. It is very important that you read over the Blogging rules and guidelines before posting. We are encouraging our students to post kind messages that support and follow digital citizenship guidelines. Students understand that they are in charge of their own digital footprint. We never post anything inappropriate. We are using avatars for safety purposes. And, we encourage students to have conversations on their blogs through the comments section.

Over the next few months we will continue to focus on blogging to increase our writing interest, practice the skills we learn in class and focus on promoting conversation skills. We hope you follow our blogging adventures!!

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Writing Fun at the Writing Center


This week we've had a lot of fun with our new Elf friend Tallulah. Tallulah made her return to our Grade 3 class this week. Each day she's written us letters, moved from place to place in our room and inspired us in our writing. One day she asked us to think of words that describe her. We used this list to write a descriptive paragraph about her. Ask your child about it.

Today she wrote us a letter with a special message about our Writing Center. The Writing Center has been quiet over the past few weeks. She gave us some great writing ideas and reminded us that we could write a letter to Santa. Some students were very eager to write a wish list for Santa. We put our letters into envelopes and addressed them to the North Pole.
One student wondered how to seal an envelope. We taught her that we need to lick it to seal it shut. She was amazed and excited because she'd never done this before. She wondered how Santa would receive her letter so we told her we need to put it in a mailbox to send to the North Pole. She'd never heard of a mailbox either! We spent some time this morning googling mailboxes to show her what happens to mail when it gets sent out. It was a fun morning of learning.

We created a new I-Can checklist for our Writing Center. Students were happy about the writing gifts we got from Tallulah. So many were excited to use our KidBlog accounts to Blog about Tallulah this week. We are practising our writing goals on the Blog. We are aiming to write at least 5 sentences and adding adjectives to our sentences to make them more detailed. Soon, student logins and Blogger Etiquette forms will be sent home so students can regularly access and Blog from home. In the mean time, please have peak at what your child has been doing with their Blogs this week: https://kidblog.org/class/MrsCiampa/posts