Decision Making in Learning Centre 3!

This week we have been learning about how people make decisions in the local community. The students took part in a role play scenario where our local classroom community has $10,000 to spend on improving our community. The real challenge - deciding how to spend the money as a group! The students each came up with their own ideas with support and shared these ideas with the class.  They then agreed to settle their opposing views with a vote. The students discussed why they felt a vote was best and the meaning of a democracy. I was so proud at how seriously they considered all of the options and how respectful they were towards ideas that were different from their own! Students were learning how to resolve conflict and make decisions with a large group of people.  Some of the ideas included...

• A school nurse because we have a lot of kids who get hurt at recess or sick at school. 
• A new playground and pool so that kids have a way to stay active during the summer. 
• Putting the money towards a hospital to have more room for people who need care.
• A class pet to gain responsibility. 

After discussing the options the students were given voting ballots and cast their vote.

Now that we have explored the process, the students will soon do a similar activity to decide the details of our year end class party! They are very excited  to get the process started!


Voracious Reading & Book Share: We Can Become Better Readers by Reading Everyday!

The end of our school year is just around the corner and now is the time to start thinking about ways to keep your child engaged in reading over the summer months! I have asked the students to bring one of their favorite good fit books to share with the class next week. Students will create a list of recommended "Summer Reading Picks" that they would like to add to their "reading wish list".

 Please consider visiting the public library with your child or making it part of your weekly routine. Regular visits to the library will help give students access to a wide variety of books they are interested in and encourage them to keep reading over the summer. Experts agree that children who read during the summer gain reading skills, while those who do not often slide backward and lose some of the reading skills they have gained during the last school year. It is my hope that all of our students will continue the same reading habits during the summer months as they have all school year to avoid the "Summer Slide".

Important Dates:
Wednesday, June 11: Track at Douglas Park (Grade 4 and up) *Please hand in permission forms
Thursday, June 12: Spring School BBQ
Friday, June 13: No School (PD Day)
Thursday, June 19: School Swim at Regent Park Pool
Monday, June 23: Play Day (Morning)
Thursday, June 26:  Last Day of School (Early Dismissal 2:30), Achievers Assembly & Report Cards Go Home

Plants and Soils

We have sprouts! The students were jumping with joy on Monday morning when they noticed their tomato plants and sunflowers have both sprouted over the weekend! We have been watching them very closely and comparing their growth each day. We are also keeping a chart of day to day observations.

GMS Achievers Assembly
On Wednesday morning we had our monthly assembly. Congratulations to Micaela and Ishmal who each received a certificate for this months virtue, conscience. We are so proud of these two girls for consistently making good choices, even when no one is watching!

Last Create Dance Class
On Wednesday we also had our last Create Dance Class and the students performed the dances they have been working on!

Watercolor Silhouette Art
Artists: Braeden, Micaela, Joshua and Kate

Track and Field
On Thursday the Grade 4 students participated in the School Track Meet. The students did an amazing job participating in the events and cheering each other on!

Important Dates:
Friday June 6: June Book Orders are Due
Wednesday, June 11: Track Meet at Douglas Park
Friday, June 13: No School - PD Day
Thursday, June 26: Last Day of School (Report Cards Go Home)

Tomatosphere!

Our class is very excited to take part in the Tomatosphere project to kick off our plants and soils unit in Science. We are planting two different sets of tomato seeds. One set of seeds is our control group that has NOT been in space, and the other group has spent 22 months in space on board the International Space Station! They were taken to the ISS by the last US shuttle leaving on July 8th, 2011 and were returned to Earth with Commander Chris Hadfield on May 15, 2013. The only thing is - we have no idea which seeds are which (at least not until we send in our results!). At first the kids didn't believe me that our tomato seeds have actually been in space until I provided some evidence! We are very excited to see our tomatoes grow (Or our "Spacematoes" as we have been calling them!). In addition to our tomatoes, we also planted some sunflower seeds as well.

Marshmallow Structure Challenge
We are currently learning about structures in Science. The students experimented with shapes to create a strong base for their structure using only marshmallows and toothpicks!

We had only 2 rules for this challenge:
1) It must be a multi-storey structure
2) It must be stable on the table!

CREATE: Dance and Movement
We also had another visit from our Create Artist, Krista, this week. The students are beginning to explore movement while composing their own sequence involving their choice of choreographed "moves" or movement improvisation. It was such a beautiful day on Wednesday we decided to our dance moves outside for the second half of the class!

Literacy Night Coffeehouse
Big thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the Literacy Night Coffee House on Thursday. It was great to see families reading and writing together!

Important Dates:
Wednesday, May 28: GMS Achievers Assembly
Thursday, May 29: School Track Meet at GMS (Grade 4 and Up)

I hope your weekend is filled with fun in the sun! Enjoy this beautiful weather!

Ms. Cameron

Oratory

On Wednesday morning the students from Learning Centre 3 performed the poem "Pet Shopping" by Kenn Nesbitt during our annual Oratory. The Huda school also joined us and presented some amazing poems as well! Our class has worked so hard memorizing our poem while reading in a clear voice with expression. I'm so proud of their performance and how hard they have worked to bring their poem to life on stage! Good job team!

Movement and Dance
This week we had a special guest visitor in our classroom! Krista, from the "Create" program joined us for our first session of dance. We learned how different parts of our body move and explored movement through a variety of dance activities. Krista specializes in contemporary and modern dance. We had an absolute blast dancing together and look forward to next week's session!

Important Dates:
Friday, May 16: No School - PD Day
Monday, May 19: No School - Victoria Day
Thursday, May 22: Love of Literacy Coffee House
Wednesday, May 28: GMS Achievers Assembly

Have a bright and sunny long weekend!

- Ms. Cameron

Oratory

Oratory is fast approaching and will be held in our school gymnasium on Wednesday, May 14th from 9:30-10:30. Students are given the option to take part in oratory and we have a large group of students from our classroom involved. The students read several poems and voted on presenting a humorous poem called "Pet Shopping" by Ken Nesbitt at the oratory. Students who are participating have a copy of the poem to take home and practice. I've also included a copy of the poem below.

  

Pet Shopping

While shopping at the pet store
I got my fondest wish.
I bought myself a fish bowl
and then a pair of fish.
And since I was already
out shopping at the store
I thought I ought to purchase
another smidgen more.

And so I got a rabbit, 

a hamster and a frog,
a gerbil and a turtle, 

a parrot and a dog.

I purchased an iguana,
a tortoise and a rat,
an eight-foot anaconda,
a monkey and a cat.

A guinea pig, a gecko,
a ferret and a mouse,
and had them all delivered,
directly to my house.

My sister went berzerko!
She's now installing locks,
because I said her bedroom
would be their litter box!

-- Kenn Nesbitt

Our Classroom Twitter Feed!
This week we used our twitter board to reflect on our learning. Our "Trending Topic" was "What 'Stuck' With You This Week?" Here is a closer glimpse of what a few of our students had to say! 

"I learned that our heart is protected by our rib cage" - Joshua

"I learned how to write an ESSAY and what I learned in essay is, below the topic sentence you write your support and details." #essay - Maham

"I learned how to work with decimals" #math - Muhammad

"In Phys. Ed I learned that the heart and lungs are an organ" #organ - Chloe

"I learned about rounds and harmony. Rounds are singing the same song, but everyone starts at a different time. Harmony is singing the same song but everyone sings differently." #music  - Carys

"I learned about symbols used in the treaty signings like the British flag" #social - Zaid

"I learned new words from our phenominal word jar. For example: wilt, discontented, fantasy, advantageous" #interesting  -Ishmal

"In math I learned how to write a fraction in decimal form like 7/10 and 0.1 #decimals -Tyler

Important Dates:

Wednesday, May 14: Oratory 

Friday, May 16: PD Day - No School

Monday, May 19: Victoria Day - No School

Wednesday, May 28: GMS Achievers Assembly

GMS Achievers Assembly

On Wednesday we had our monthly achievers assembly. Our virtue for the month of April was fairness. We have been talking about what fairness looks like and sounds like. At the end of the month, our class chose two students who they thought demonstrated fairness. The winners of this month's virtue award goes to Khadija and Zaid! Congratulations!

Daily 5 Assembly
On Tuesday we teamed up with the primary classes for Daily 5 in the gym! The students in our class were great leaders and read with the Grade 1/2 students.

Happy Blogging!
Our blog has really taken off over the last 2 weeks! The class is having so much fun reading, writing and commenting on eachother's blog posts. I'm so happy to see such excitement about writing and I'm so proud of how positive and encouraging the kids are in the comments they leave! We have also added "blogging" as one of our daily 5 rounds this week! If you wish to check out your child's blog page and comment on their writing, please sign in as a guest using the password "noexcuses".  The blog is a great way for students to develop their writing at home!

Writing with Phenomenal Words
This week we have started a "Phenomenal Word Jar" to help expand our vocabulary.  During Daily 5, students can add any interesting words they come across in their reading by writing the word and definition out on a post it note and placing it "in the jar". We are encouraging each other to use phenomenal words during their work on writing. The jar has been bursting with interesting words - I have a feeling we will need to get a bigger "jar" soon!

Important Dates:
Friday, May 16: PD Day - No School
Monday, May 19: Victoria Day - No School

Kid Blog

This week I introduced our classroom to an online program called Kid Blog. Have you been trying to think of new ways to get your child writing at home? Ask them to sign into Kid Blog to read/comment on their classmate’s posts and create a blog post of their own! Students can develop voice by writing about topics that interest them, share stories, and provide positive feedback to others about their writing. Occasionally I will post topics for students to respond to. For example, our class homework over spring break is to log into Kid Blog, read their classmates posts and write at least one blog post of their own about their Spring Break or a topic of their choice. The students are provided with their own individual blog in a safe classroom blogging community.

Students are aware of the responsibility that comes along with having their own blog. We have discussed clear expectations about internet safety and using kind, and respectful language. Only first names will be used on the blog and all comments have to be approved by me before it will show up on the blog. This allows me to moderate every comment and ensure each student is using the blog safely and appropriately. Kid Blog allows me to maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts. Only our class can view the blog as it is password protected.

How to Log In:

Students can access our Kid Blog by clicking on a link found on our classroom blog.  The link can be found under the “Kid Blog” tab along the top of the home page.
Here is a quick link to the log-in page: Ms. Cameron's Class Kid Blog

·         The students will log-in to their account using the password “Cameron”.

·         Parents and Family Members:
I have created a "Guest" account where parents and family members can log in to read and leave a special comment on their child's blog. The guest log-in password is “noexcuses”. Please sign each post with your name so the students know who the “guest” comment was from.

Our class has been buzzing about their blogs this week! This is a great opportunity for all writers to develop their literacy skills through different mediums. I can already see a positive change in how motivated our class is to practice their writing at home. The blog will also help students create classroom discussions, learn digital citizenship, practice writing skills and reflect on their learning.  If you have any further questions or concerns regarding Kid Blog, please let me know.

The Great Canadian Mail Race 
We are still receiving letters of reply from the Great Canadian Mail Race! This week, Sierra received a letter from her namesake Ciera, a Grade 4 student from Edmonton, Alberta!

Friends for Life Party
On Tuesday the class took part in the final Friends for Life session. The instructors ended the program with a class party! The students made their own friendship bracelets while enjoying some snacks. They also received a F.R.I.E.N.D.S for Life certificate and treat bag.

Tweet Tweet!
Our Twitter Board continues to be a big hit in our classroom. This week our "Trending Topic" was related to our monthly virtue, "What does fairness mean to you?" It's inspiring to see our students reflect on their learning, set new goals and motivate each other by adding a new tweet to the board.

Pointillism-Palooza! 
This week we have been working on a technique called pointillism. Pointillism was created by a famous painter named George Seurat in the late 1800's.  The technique involves creating pictures using only small dots, which we made using Q-tips! These paintings look so cool!

Spring School Photos:School photo proofs were sent home this week for those students who had their pictures taken. If you would like to order photos, the order deadline is due back to the school by Monday, April 28th.

Important Dates:
Friday, April 18: No School
April 21-25: Spring Break - No School
Monday, April 28: School Photo Order Deadline (Portrait Payment is Due Back)
Wednesday April 30: GMS Achievers Assembly 9:30 AM

Have a wonderful long weekend and spring break with your family!

Ms. Cameron