January 6th to January 10th

It was a busy first week back to school. The students were excited to complete their perfectly imperfect critter writing project. Inspired by the book, The Baranabus Project, where a creature who was built to be a perfect pet was called a failed project. Half mouse, half elephant, Barnabus was kept out of sight until he learned to love who he was.

First, the students experimented with creating their own perfectly imperfect pets. Next, they selected a favourite and created a visual representation and a three dimensional plasticine model of their critter. We then used our drawings and plasticine creations to help us to add descriptive vocabulary, sensory details and figurative language to best describe the appearance of our pets. We worked to selected specific interesting words. Rather than round, big sharp and students wrote words such as bulbous, enormous and as sharp as a razor.

The students then wrote descriptive paragraphs to reflect their creature's appearance and personality. Finally, we created folders to showcase our work that represented the files on all of the imperfect pets from the book. The student's showed great interest and care in putting their work together.

Learning Outcomes:

I can communicate clearly and accurately using precise alternatives for commonly used words.

I can develop creative expression through a range of sentence beginnings, lengths, and types.

I can reread written texts to identify what could be added or deleted to enhance creative expression.

I can revise texts to enhance clarity or fluency.

I can edit writing for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Questions to ask your child:

What part of the writing and creating process did you enjoy most?

What is your critter's name? Share a little about your critter?

Describe your creatures appearance using some of the descriptive vocabulary you used in your writing.

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March 3rd to March 7th

This week, we were excited to take part in the school's basketball residency. We were so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Coach Dave on a variety of new skills. We learned how to dribble, jab, pivot, guard and shoot. The students were highly engaged as they put the skills into practice. A huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to make this experience possible! Learning Outcomes: I can engage in a variety of physical activities that are enjoyable or rewarding. I can practise offensive and defensive strategies and tactics. I can implement strategies and tactics to improve performace. Questions to ask your child: What was our basketball cheer? What is something new you learned our a skill you worked to improve over the week? Was their a skill that you found challenging?

April 14th to April 17th

In Science, we moved into our next unit of study Earth Systems. We kicked off our unit from an in class learning opportunity. Our guest presenter introduced us to a huge amount of new information as we learned about the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere. We learned all about the Earth’s systems and investigated how their interconnections sustain life on our planet! We discovered how water, sun and air support plants and animals on Earth and the responsibility we share in caring for our resources. We then learned how changes in one system affect or impact the other systems on Earth. The students were excited to create their own three dimensional models showing all four spheres. They cannot wait to bring them home to share with you. A huge thank you to Parent Council for making this presentation possible and to the volunteers who were so generous with their time and energy. We then worked to solidify our learning but taking part in one of the student's favourite activit...

February 3rd to February 7th

In English Language Arts, the students have been engaged in experimenting with words and figurative language as they write a variety of poems. First, we looked at similes and the students wrote poems about themselves. The students showed wonderful creativity in representing themselves with ideas such as: I am as artistic as Vincent Van Gogh, l etting my brush glide across the page. My legs are as long as the tallest tree trunk, still growing to this day. I am as emotional as stormy clouds, crying when someone is mad at me. My imagination is like a tornado, always spinning ideas. Do you recognize your child in any of the similes? Next, we learned about metaphors and wrote poems about our families, capturing the qualities of the people and animals we love. The students had a great time thinking about how they could best represent everyone with a variety of unique ideas such as: My family is a strong tree, w ith roots binding us together. My mom is a wooden spoon, m ixing all kinds o...

Mrs. Pols' Fantastic Fours

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