February 28 2020

Date: February 28 2020

A Look Ahead: Upcoming dates and due dates: Due Dates: ·      Conteo de Invierno good copy with art element: March 5 ·      Story robe with math questions: March 6 ·      City of Ember Scroll & Designs: March 5 ·      City of Ember Chart 6 squares complete: March 5 ·      Social Studies Journals taken in every Friday (requirements under social studies section) ·      Math Test on all 4 operations and word problems: March 5 ·      Student Led Conferences on March 19 & 20

In Science & English, we have started an English/Science flexible group where we have groups and we are working on a project related to the novel, City of Ember. We have been writing our own version of “The Instructions” with our assigned groups.  We are making a scroll with instructions that we make that lead us out of Ember. We will be building a machine to get out of Ember. For our vehicle, we received envelopes with a list of materials that we could use to build our machine. Our vehicle has to use three types of energy and our scroll has to have 5 vocabulary words related to science and the simple machines.

In Social Studies, we have learned about the fur trade. We played a game about the fur trade and there were Europeans and they would speak different languages. The materials that the Indigenous people and the Europeans would trade are fur, canoes, berries, meat, blankets, tools, and metal tools. We realized that not all the trading was fair. The Europeans often chose the currency which caused it to be unfair for the Indigenous Peoples.  Sometimes it was fair as the Europeans got what they needed and the Indigenous peoples got what they needed. Some of us got to experience what the Indigenous people felt like when the Europeans came. Students should have written about the following themes in their notebooks regarding the fur trade: By February 28 -Coureur de bois -Hudson’s Bay Company -Rupert’s Land -Anthony Henday -Trading Goods Aboriginal Contributions By March 6 -Northwest Company -The Voyageurs -Metis Sash -David Thompson -Joining together of forts -Fort Edmonton -Trading at Fort Edmonton -Workers in Trading Posts

In English Language Arts, we have also been working on the City of Ember. Just like the literacy circles we have to do responses to the novel. Each week we have to do 2 or more responses to show our understanding of the novel.

In Spanish Language Arts, we have been finishing our good copies of the Winter Counts (conteos de invierno). We wrote about a memorable event that happened each year of our lives. We are writing in past tense. We wrote them in order from our birth to 2020. We drew the winter count to represent the memorable events in our lives.

In Math, we are learning how to divide by multiple digits. We have been focusing on word problems. We have to create multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division word problems and they have to relate to our First Nations People as we are creating a story robe to represent the word problems.  We will be having a math test on Thursday March 5th which has addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division equations and word problems.

In Music we… We continue working on the recorder.  The notes that are a focus of the Grade 4 recorder unit are the B, A, and G (above middle C).  With these notes, we play a variety of pieces where we explore the beat and rhythm as well as begin a more in-depth focus on reading music notation. We have begun preparing the repertoire for our Spring concert.  The following is one of the songs that we will be learning to sing and play. Naranja Dulce Naranja dulce, limón partido. Dame un abrazo que yo te pido. Si fueran falsos mis juramentos, En otros tiempos se olvidarán. Toca la marcha, mi pecho llora, Adiós señora, yo ya me voy A mi casita de sololoy, Compro manzana y no te doy.

Please Celebrate Although kindness month has come to a close we are still focusing on lifting each other up and filling our buckets. As it should be kindness day everyday!

You Can Help Your Child By: -Ensuring they read daily. (If you are not reading on Raz Kids please write how long your child is reading at home in their agenda. -Practicing long division

Overheard in grade 4: -I have enjoyed making the story robes-M -I am excited for the math test-N -I am enjoying making the conteo de invierno-A -I really enjoyed working on Science/English –K -I am excited for Scholastics to come-R

February 14 2020

Date: February 14 2020

A Look Ahead: Upcoming dates and due dates: Due Dates: ·      Social Studies Journal: Feb 21 ·      Conteo de Invierno Rough Copy: February 28th ·      Piel de Bufalo Rough Copy: March 11th ·      February 13Th & 14th: Teacher’s Convention (No School) ·      February 17th:  Family Day (No School) ·      February 26th: Pink Shirt Day

In Science, we have been learning about energy and how the vehicles move. We have been doing challenges in which we have a cup and an elastic and we have to stack the cups using the elastic and the string. In the latest challenge, we have to stack the cups with one person blindfolded. Through these challenges we have been learning how to better communicate in a group. We have learned how much energy it takes. We learned how to use teamwork more often and how we synergize. Synergize is the sixth habit we have learned and it means to work together and communicate differently. Synergizing is using other peoples’ differences and making them work.

In Social Studies, The journals should include: -       Medicine wheels -       Relationships with nature -       Hunting and gathering -       Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump -       Parts of the Buffalo -       Tipis -       Communication -       Winter counts -       Oral storytelling -       Web quest (under social studies resources) In social studies, we have been learning about winter counts and story robes and they are both ways to tell stories or information. We have also been learning about First Nations and their ways of life and how they use oral storytelling and how they communicate.

In English Language Arts, we have been doing activities based on the book we are reading in class, titled the City of Ember. We have created tableaus based on the book. Tableaus are frozen pictures and we have been creating them based on the book and the order of events. When reading the book, we have been examining how the author writes about the critical setting. The author also helps the reader understand the critical characters and objects. As good readers, we can have a picture in our minds of the setting, characters, and objects.

In Spanish Language Arts, we have been writing pen pal letters to other students at a different school and at this point all we know is their names and that they speak Spanish. We have also been practicing our conjugation of regular AR ER and IR verbs. On Thursdays, we have been reading the book Bufalos Antes de Desayuno. We chose this book because it ties into our social studies unit on First Nations and tells the story of the Lakota tribe. We have also been working on our rough copies of our Winter Counts. We have been checking them with one another. The rough copies are due on February 28th!

In Math we have been learning about long division and how to divide two and three digit numbers. We also had a test on Tuesday which included division word problems. We are also working on creating our own word problems.

In Music we… We continue working on the recorder.  The notes that are a focus of the Grade 4 recorder unit are the B, A, and G (above middle C).  With these notes, we play a variety of pieces where we explore the beat and rhythm as well as begin a more in-depth focus on reading music notation. We are also going to begin working on the concept of harmonization through the singing of rounds.  The song below is a translation from the popular “row, row, row, your boat” round. Voy, voy, a remar, En mi barco voy. Alegre, alegre, alegre, alegre, Remando estoy.

Please Celebrate February 26: Pink Shirt Day Kindness Month

You Can Help Your Child By: - Reading on Raz Kids -Practicing long division (kahn academy video is under math resources) -Asking about my social studies journal and what I have been learning about First Nations and the Fur Trade. -Asking about the novel City of Ember

Overheard in grade 4: - I really enjoy learning about long division E -Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you S -I really like the synergizing activity we are doing in the makerspace-M