Wow! What generous students!!

I am so, so, so, proud of all of the students in our class! In keeping with our discussions about empathy and in the spirit of giving, rather than having a class auction this month, students agreed to donate some of their class cash to help others! I told the students that for every $100 of class cash donated, I will donate $10 (real cash) to Toys for Tots in our Community. Their donations were anonymous and completely voluntary in any amount, and together they donated a whopping $535.00!!! In turn, I will be donating $53.50 worth of toys to the community toy drive this weekend on their behalf. Way to go, grade 4's!!!

Baby Avery Visit #3

The students noticed Baby Avery is much stronger now. She can hold her head up high on her own, and tighten her core muscles to reach for things and almost roll! This week, students discussed the pros and cons of cloth and disposable diapers, and observed a diaper change (over clothing) with particular focus on safety and the bond between mother and baby. We sang for Avery and she loved it! Our class made Avery a beautiful holiday card with a variety of textures and sounds for her to play with. 

Our Gingerbread Houses!

The students had a blast creating these amazing houses! And I think they learned some math along the way!

December News!

Hello December! It's hard to believe that there are only a few weeks left until the holidays! I hope everyone enjoys a well-deserved rest, and some wonderful holiday fun! The following is an overview of what we're working on this month:


Math

Number Sense & Numeration:

• multiply to 9 x 9 and divide to 81 ÷  9
• explore multiplication by 10, 100, 1000
• add & subtract two-digit numbers using mental strategies
• add & subtract 4-digit numbers using algorithms
• solve problems involving all of the above

Ask your child to sing their 6 or 7 times table to you!

We will also be designing and building gingerbread houses! This will include some measurement, and the addition and subtraction of money amounts as students will be given a budget (completely separate from our class cash) to work within as they choose their building / decoration supplies. More details will follow soon. 

Language

• Reading Workshop continues (guided reading and language centres)
• Writing "Holiday" narratives
• Media: finishing our anti-bullying posters

Social Studies

• Canada's 7 physical regions: location, description of land features & natural resources
• Province / Territory project: students will research and create a pamphlet about their assigned province or territory. Some criteria they will need to include are its region, physical features of the land, natural resources, climate, capital city, tourism, recreation, cultural groups, and any other information they wish to provide.

The Arts

• Music: Singing holiday favourites
• 2-part songs to create harmony
• Dance: A Hanukkah Dance / song
• Art: Stain-glass windows & other festive crafts

Congratulations to Lily, Chantal, Sean, and Lukas who have finished Reading Across Canada and have begun again! Keep up the great home reading everyone! 

Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Hale

Fun with Baby Avery!

Our last Roots of Empathy lesson was a visit from Baby Avery and her mom Lisa. The students enjoyed observing how Avery has grown and changed over the past three weeks. She can now hold her head up on her own quite well! She also loved watching the students' faces and their black and white name tags!