Mrs. Pols' Fantastic Fours

This week, we had fantastic walking trip to Fish Creek. We were fortunate to have a beautiful, warm morning in the park. Throughout the year, we have been reading the book, When the Trees Crackle with Cold. The book connects to the moon calendar of the northern Cree. It is written in both English and Plains Cree, introducing the students to the connection between Indigenous ways of knowing and the land. We began our morning with a walk in the park, looking for signs connected to the book, recording our ideas and observations and we explored. We then connected to our learning in science with magnetism. The students learned how to use a compass and worked in small groups, practicing finding different directions and travelling with the support of the compass. Learning Outcomes: I can demonstrate respect when interacting with plants and animals in local environments. I can look for evidence of animals (footprints, fur, trails, etc.) Questions to ask your child: What signs of animals did yo...

In math, we began our work with multiplication. First, we reviewed the process of multiplication and how it relates to addition. The students practiced representing multiplication equations with repeated addition and in pictures showing equal groups. We practiced our multiplication facts by playing a variety of partner dice games. As we move forward, the students will be working on math facts, progressing at their own level. In the upcoming weeks, please look out for mini math check in's in your child's backpack. This will show you how your child is progressing. The 0's and 1's check in was sent home on Friday. We will work through the facts in the following order: 10's, 5's, 2's, 4's, 3's, 6's, 7's, 8's and 9's. Learning Outcomes: I can apply multiplication number facts with factors to 12

The students have been engaged in our new science unit, Energy. First, we learned about gravity and asked the question, Does gravity impact all object the same? The students selected different items in the class to test if they fell at the same rate. They were excited to video items in slow motion to make a more accurate comparison. We then discussed how some objects appeared to fall differently due to air resistance. We then watched a video that showed an experiment were dropped in a space that contained no air. The two fell at the same rate! We then looked at a second type of non-contact force, magnetism. The students investigated different magnets and when North and South repelled and when they were attracted to one another. The students are excited to continue their investigations next week. Learning Outcomes: I can describe and demonstrate how non-contact forces including gravity effect objects. I can conduct an investigation to demonstrate magnetic forces on objects. I can analyz...

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...

Over the past two weeks, the students have been very engaged in The Case of the Greedy Gnome! This exciting math mystery had the students practicing their addition and subtraction skills and applying their knowledge of graphing to solve the mystery of which gnome stole food from the supply room. First, the students identified key information in the graphs and questions, highlighting necessary information. Then, they interpreted different types of graphs with differing scales, including bar graphs, line plots, pictographs and pie charts. After doing this, they answered the questions and eliminated suspects to identify the guilty gnome. Be sure to have your child share who the greedy gnome was!  Learning Outcomes: I can form questions, collect data, represent data, and interpret data.  I can interpret data represented in pictographs, bar graphs, dot plots, and more. I can understand the use of scale to share data in different graphs. Questions to Ask Your Child: Who was the gree...