Night of the Nations and International Day

 It was a short week for us, but we did a lot to prepare for Night of the Nations.  After being home for 2 days, (our mini break), the children came in and ready to get things done.  There were posters to finish, a door to decorate, tri-folds to complete and much more.  The children stood up to the challenge and got it all done for Thursday night. 





As you can see, our students worked hard and got the job done.  It was a successful night.

 The children were very attentive to the work that had to be done.  Everyone was focused and participating in one way or other.

The students even made table top ice hockey rinks so that they could be enjoyed by all who visited the classroom.

 As you can see, it all turned out fantastic.  All of the classrooms were dedicated to a particular country.  There was a procession of the various countries, activities in the rooms and a variety of foods from all over the world.  A successful night that all should be proud of.

 The students loved marching in and displaying all the work they did.  It takes a village to take on such an event, but it was all made possible with determination and effort.  This was our 2nd annual Night of the Nations and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it.

 

 As you can see to the left, I hauled in more books to read to the children.  I just love the assortment of books that I found.  Some are specific to teaching lessons, others for specific days like Earth Day and St. Patrick's Day, and others are for pure fun.  I believe that reading should be fun and I just love to read to the children.

 Our 4th graders have also been working on Informational text and created posters based on a topic they chose.  I am really pleased with the way they turned out.









Our 5th graders are continuing to work on the Summit Platform and receiving feedback as to how they are progressing along.  In English class, they are working on Different Perspectives and Point of View.  They are reading various articles about the pros and cons of particular topics.  This week they will begin to take a stand on the topic and interview classmates about how they feel.

 







                                                Here's a sneak peek into what will be happening this week in 4th grade.

 Have a wonderful week everyone.

Our Week in Review

The 4th graders are working hard to put together the posters, flags and travel brochures for International Night.  They are looking forward to displaying all their work and showing parents all that they have been learning.  International Night is going to be a night filled with many activities and displays from various parts of the world.  There will also be a showcase of many foods and delicacies from the countries being studied.

Here is a sneak peak of the many things the students have been working on.  They are very excited to be part of such a wonderful night.  They are learning words in French, the foods that the Canadians eat, and fun facts about the country.

Miss Lopez did a wonderful lesson about comparing and contrasting.  She read 2 versions of the Three Little Pigs and the children had to find similarities and differences among the texts.  They worked in groups and even had a brain break, which they got into.






 Once they finished in their group, they presented what they came up with.  Nice job working together and presenting.

 Valentine's day was a day filled with many fun and engaging activities.  The children decorated their bags which were filled with many treats and cards from their classmates.  There was an estimation jar in which they got to earn chances to see how many cinnamon candies were inside.  Our winner was Emma, who guessed 203 and there were 227 inside the jar.

The Academy teachers gave all 4 classes special valentine treats.  The deserve the smarties for being such smarties.

Our writing this trimester includes informational writing.  The children are working on posters.  They were able to choose a topic of their choice, take notes on it and put together a poster.

The students are doing a great job with this.  They are focused and motivated.  They even help each other out.  I enjoy watching the collaboration and cooperation.

Our Sticker Stampede was a success.  The children were very excited to bring in stickers.  Our class collected over 30 packages.

Hope everyone enjoys their mini break.

100+ Days Smarter

 On Wednesday we celebrated the 100th Day of School.  The students participated in many fun activities.  They brought in 100 of the same items, displayed in sandwich bags.  They created a design with the number 100, and built a structure with 100 purple cups.

I loved seeing the creations from the number 100.  They came up with ninjas, dogs, turtles, giraffes, a smiley face and even Mickey Mouse.

They also worked on a writing assignment in which they had to write about when they are 100 years old. 

The students worked cooperatively and helped one another out.






You can see how proud they were once their structure came together.  They had to strategically place the cups in a particular order for them to stand on their own.  The discussions around this were great to hear.  Even though some groups had to keep trying, they were finally able to get the job done.

 This week we have also been doing a lot of work on getting ready for International Night, which is quickly approaching.  They are working on travel brochures and posters and they even found 100 facts about Canada. 

The students have been practicing for RICAS during enrichment times.  They are reading passages and answering the questions by going back into the text to locate the answer.  Team work is really a big part of all that we have going on in fourth grade.

Fourth graders are also making Informational Posters based on a non-fiction book they read.  I cannot wait to display these in the hallways for everyone to see.

It is great to see the students helping each other out, whether it is on their chrome book, spelling a word or just giving suggestions for what works best.  Cooperation is the key word.  They are learning from each other and seeing what works and what needs improving. 

Our conversations lend themselves to more discovery and learning.  As students discuss what needs to be done, they are learning life skills for meeting dead lines, working together for a common goal or even learning basic listening and speaking skills.

 This week we also began putting together our Kindness Tree.  We have had great discussions of acts of kindness and things we can do for each other.  Circle time has been about random acts of kindness and paying each other compliments.











One activity involved writing a compliment on each other's heart.  The paper hearts, with the child's name on it, were passed around to one another and  had to write a nice compliment for each class member.  Some of the positive lines were, "you have a nice smile," "you help me when I get stuck on math," or "you help me carry my things around."

Over the course of the month, when someone is doing a random act of kindness, they will receive a paper heart in which they fill out with what they did and it will be added to our "tree."  Our goal is to make it to 100 acts, I know we can achieve that. 

Finally, our fifth graders have also been working in class.  We are finished with reading the novel, Crash, by Jerry Spinelli and are reviewing for the novel test.  They are helping one another with comprehension questions and making sure they understand what the main ideas of the book are. 

Also, in Summit, they are working on Different Perspectives. They are learning about Bias and Points of View.  They read articles, and view videos while taking notes on the resources.  This will help them with their final project in which they will interview classmates about a particular topic and get their views and reflect on it. 

They are celebrating their successes by filling up our bulletin board with paper snowflakes for every focus area they are passing.  Although, there hasn't been much snow this winter, our 5th graders are piling it up inside.

                 

Have a great week everyone!!!