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, letting 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, with roots binding us together.

My mom is a wooden spoon, mixing all kinds of foods to make delicious meals.

My family is a colourful garden, helping each other grow.

My mom is a butterfly, always fun and taking us on adventures.

Do you see yourself, your family or any of your family members in any of the metaphors?

Next week, we will be learning about personification and creating poems to represent a favourite or important place. The students will be putting their poems together to create a personal book of poetry, creating illustrations to represent their poems.

Learning Outcomes:

I can investigate figurative language used in imaginative ways.

I can examine how a variety of poetic structures contribute to the creative expression of ideas.

I can experiment with creating verse and free verse.

I can vary my word choice to appeal to an audience.

Questions to ask your child:

How are similes different from metaphors? Can you share an example?

What are some of the similes and metaphors you included in your poem?

What poem are you most proud of so far?

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June 16th to June 20th

It is heard to believe that this was our final week week of the school year. The time has definitely flown past. Despite how close we are to the end of the year, the students have been working incredibly hard his week. We finished up our work in angles in math and the students completed their social studies research on The North West Mounted Police and early settlement in Alberta. Then, they worked to represent their learning in a Google Slideshow. This was a perfect connection to our Western Heritage Day where we enjoyed a pancake breakfast and afternoon of Western themes games with our buddies. We were also incredibly to learn about hoop dancing through a fantastic performance by Jay Genaille.

May 26th to May 30th

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May 12th to May 15th

This week, the students continued with their work on their food trucks. The students have been so excited and engaged with this project, many sharing that it is their favourite part of the day. The students worked to apply their understanding of area by designing the interior floor plan of their truck. First, we looked at what items would be necessary to drive, prepare their menu items, store supplies and run their business. Some students needed deep fryers, others grills and some needed ice cream machines. Next, we the students planned out the interiors and designed their floor plans. Students were challenged to design their plans to scale with 1 square cm on the grid paper equivalent to 1 dm in real life. This challenge brought about wonderful critical thinking as the students measured and planned, imagining the amount of space needed to travel within their workspace or how much space was needed in the front of their truck so they would have enough space to sit and reach the gas pedd...

Mrs. Pols' Fantastic Fours

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