As students used a graphic organizer to gather information on their own Olympian, they selected criteria from our list that described their Olympian and provided specific reasons or examples that supported that choice. The final newspaper articles describing these great Olympians are very well written and show students making connections. Another gold-medal project!
I saw some great critical thinking from students with our Olympic biography project. Students were very motivated as they picked their own Olympian to write about. As a class, we decided on criteria for what makes a good Olympian (thinking beyond physical talent). We then evaluated 2 Olympians against our criteria to determine as a class whether or not they were truly good Olympians. As students used a graphic organizer to gather information on their own Olympian, they selected criteria from our list that described their Olympian and provided specific reasons or examples that supported that choice. The final newspaper articles describing these great Olympians are very well written and show students making connections. Another gold-medal project!
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Today we had our very own Hopewell Olympics! It was SUCH a fun day! All grade 1-5 students were divided into 24 countries, each with grade 6 team leaders. Teams made up a cheer as well as flags for their countries. At noon, we had the opening ceremonies, during which each country’s national anthem played and the team went on the stage to say their cheer. We heard a lot of enthusiasm! After lunch, we had 8 outdoor Olympic events and 4 indoor. From luge, to biathlon, to curling, to the crowd-favourite tug-o-war, students cheered on their countries and worked as a team to have fun and show off their skills. The icing on the cake was that Ms. Bastas had the women’s gold medal hockey game projected in the atrium while we were rotating between stations. The school ERUPTED with cheers when Canada won with an overtime goal. What a fun and memorable day! This week we studied the impressionist style of the Canadian group of 7 artists, as well as Tom Thompson. Students chose works of art to imitate and used oil pastels to recreate the oil paints used in the original. Check out the artwork of our very own Canadian artists!
On this lovely day, we started off by giving our reading buddies Valentine’s Day cards. They were very appreciative of the homemade French notes. We waited (wisely!) until the end of the day to exchange cards and treats in the class. We had fun playing Valentine’s Day heart airplane target toss and finishing up our valentine’s day artwork.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I walked back into our classroom after walking the students downstairs - it was like walking into a wall of sugar! I hope your kids weren’t too hyper! :) Our rocks and minerals unit is in full swing, and this week students are putting rocks to the test in our very own Rock Olympics! Students tested the physical properties of various rocks and minerals to see which rock would win the gold at each station. We tested for hardness using the Moh’s Scale, examined the impact of water on colour, studied the weight of rocks, and determined which rocks or minerals are the most useful. Students showed gold-medal teamwork as they judged our “rock-star athletes!”
To start off our rocks and minerals science unit, we had Carleton University professor Dr. Quentin Gall come in and share his amazing rock collection and expertise with our class. Dr. Gall showed his original rock collection that he started when he was in grade 4 and then the larger collection of amazing fossils and all types of rocks and minerals that he has collected over his lifetime. He was very generous and let students hold and see the rocks close up. He also gave a detailed presentation that provided us with a thorough foundation for the unit. I think he spiked the curiosity of many students! Happy New Year! On our first day back today, we talked about setting realistic goals for things we want to work on this year. After writing in their notebooks, I handed out puzzle pieces. Each student chose 1 resolution to write on the puzzle piece, and then everyone worked together to solve the puzzle. You can see our 2014 new year’s resolutions puzzle result on the window in the photo. It’s the last day before the holidays, so of course we had to celebrate with some fun holiday games! During the last period, we exchanged snacks, finished up our family holiday gifts, and then played some very competitive Minute to Win It style holiday games. Games included “Snowball Head” - the team captain stood with a cup on their head, and teammates threw cotton balls from behind a line, earning a point for each one that lands in the cup; it was MUCH harder than it looks! We also created toilet-paper snowmen by wrapping the team captain up! Finally, we had a few snowball races by blowing cotton balls. It was a very fun start to the holidays!
Happy holidays and Happy New Year! We had a LOT of fun celebrating the holiday season with a whole school sing-a-long in the gym today. The absolute best part was when each grade got to stand-up and sing loud and proud for their grade for each of the numbered days in the 12 Days of Christmas. Everyone was SO excited and had a great time!
We had lots of fun skating at Brewer Arena this month. Thank you to our parent volunteers for making these trips possible! Half the class really enjoyed playing handball on skates. We also had a local figure skater come in and some of the girls choreographed a routine with her. Finally, we had 2 local hockey players come in and do some fun drills with the kids. It was a great way to be active and enjoy one of Canada’s famous physical activities! What a fun week we've had in drama!
In groups, students planned, scripted, and performed mysteries set at the North Pole! Each skit had a detective, a victim of theft, and 2 or 3 suspects. The class had fun watching and listening for clues to try and solve the case before the detective! Watch these entertaining skits here! https://vimeo.com/99390465 The password is our English & Math teacher's last name. Enjoy! This week, I took on the role of the Prime Minister of Canada and students became provincial representatives of one of their main industries. I had an extra $1 million dollars (and 10 group points!) lying around for the group who could prove that they had a plan that was environmentally sustainable for their industry, as well as a clear explanation of the importance of their industry.
Students did research on 3 sectors within their industry, prepared a poster, and then presented using persuasive language. In the end, Heidi, Kenzie, Alice, and Sukie won with their fantastic and convincing presentation on forestry in Quebec. As we have started discussing the 4 sectors of industry, students worked in pairs to invent a new store for Bank St. They had to describe which sector their store fell into and why, as well as detailed plans of the primary and secondary sector industries that contribute to their store product. Presentations were enthusiastic and convincing as students pitched their store to us.
In the end, Thomas and Rowan won with their very detailed explanation the the industries involved in creating products at their Oogly Boogly restaurant. Check out the eye-catching store fronts or product designs below! Students showed off their creativity and knowledge as they represented the natural resources of Canada visually on on a map. Students worked together to cover the whole country, doing research and sharing their findings to accurately depict natural resources across our country. Check out their work in progress below! They even free-handed Canada!
We are beginning our exploration of the natural resources of Canada, so today students in pairs chose a province or territory to represent in a national resource trading (cards) event. Students researched which natural resources belong to their province and created 3 trading cards per resource. To win the trading event, students had to end up with the highest variety of resources (not necessarily the most cards).
After intense negotiations and trading, Elizabeth and Emma ended up with the largest variety of resources for Ontario. As we start our social studies unit of the Political and Physical Regions of Canada, students came up with songs to help us remember the order and names of the provinces and territories of Canada.
Check out their creativity! Congrats to Alice & Sukie who won the most votes for their Harry Potter inspired song! The password is our English & Math teacher's last name. https://vimeo.com/99305507 Our first research project of the year was a big success! To end our unit on Habitats and Communities, students chose an endangered animal to research. They had to consider the impact (positive or negative) of human activity on their animal’s habitat and existence. After completing their report, students worked on visually representing the 5 needs of their animal within their natural habitat, as well as the human impact. Finally, students interviewed each other about their projects.
I was very impressed with everyone’s hard work! Check out your amazing children with their dioramas! We had a great time participating in the school-wide Terry Fox run! Students from JK to grade 8 all took part in raising awareness and funds for cancer research. We headed over to Brewer Park and walked/ran for 42 minutes - 1 minute for every kilometer that Terry ran each DAY! He was an inspiring man and a fantastic role model.
After having fun with persuasive tone and expression, in drama we worked on controlling our facial expressions and tone to do more serious performances - such as news reports! Students reported and were interviewed on very serious events, and we had some very convincing actors!
Watch the news here: https://vimeo.com/99390466 The password is our English & Math teacher's las name. The weather was PERFECT for our nature walk! To wrap up our Science unit on Habitats and Communities, we had a great time observing living things in their natural habitats in our own community. Students sketched and observed the living things they saw around Old Ottawa South as we stopped in 4 different parks. Back at school, students completed a report to share their findings about local habitats and human impact on the environment. Check out some of their great work! It was so nice to meet many of you last night at meet the teacher! I gained many important insights into your children from your comments. Thank you!
If you have any remaining questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail at [email protected] Looking forward to chatting with you We've been studying the positive and negative impact that human activity can have on animals, plants, and local habitats. We decided that while we may not be able to completely stop the problem, we can contribute to finding a solution by creating awareness. Keep an eye out for these powerful posters around the school and community!
As we link our Habitats science unit with music, we are discovering rhythms and patterns found in nature.
As a class, we worked together to re-create a rainstorm with rhythms. Students had to carefully follow the leader and concentrate to transition between rhythms. Listen to the result at the link below! Grade 4 Rainstorm audio file |