April 12th

Hi Parents,

This week in writing we read the story "Tell me a Dragon" by Jackie Morris and started to create our very own dragons. We first brainstormed together different kind of dragons we could do, everyone had really creative ideas. Students then went and drew a picture of their dragon. Students were told they would be writing a character description about their dragon. The first day students used their pictures to help them brainstorm ideas for their writing, they also thought about where their dragon would live, what they like, etc.  Then we wrote a character desciption describing our dragons, we focused on adding details to our writing to help the reader visualize the dragon.  The last step of our writing was the final draft where students wrote our their description of their dragon as neat as they could on a fancy piece of paper. Their dragon writing will be on display during student-led conferences.
We also continued to work on our literacy skills through literacy centers.

In Math this week we continued to work on subtraction, we learned how to use a number line and hundreds chart to help us subtract. We also played the game "Number Crash" to help us practice our subtraction skills.

Our words of the week this week were: because, could, much, when
Our words of the week next week are: must, next, only, very

We continued our building unit in Science this week. We worked in groups to build a variety of structures using recycled materials such as cardboard, toilet paper roles, cereal boxes, yarn, milk caps, straws, and Popsicle sticks. Students had to work together to make a plan before they started making their structure. Once they started building they tested throughout and changed their plan if it wasn't working. On Monday the students created old fashioned toys, like we saw at Fort Calgary. On Tuesday they built a car and tested it on a ramp to see if it would move. One Wednesday they built builds, which they had to test if a toy train would be able to cross it. On Thursday they made a boat, which they had to test to see if it would float and if it would move with wind.  Each day students took apart their structures so we could reuse the materials. The last day of our building unit will be students building their very own house, which they will get to show off at student-led conferences before they take them home. We will be finishing our building unit on Monday.

Reminders:

Monday April 15th -Spring Picture Day/Class Photo Day

Wednesday April 17th and Thursday April 18th- Student-led Conferences.  Wednesday: 4:00pm-7:00pm. Thursday: 8:00am-12:00pm. The time you book will be the time to meet with me. You can come before your time (unless you are booked in for your meeting in the first session) to have your child show you their work or you can have them show you their work after our meeting time( unless your meeting time is the last session). Other parents and students may be in the room during your time.

Thursday April 18th- PD Day. No School

Friday April 19th- Good Friday. No School

Monday April 22nd-PD Day. No School