Science

Here are some of the students hard at work during our Science lesson today. They had to label different sounds on a scale ranging from soft to loud. I was really impressed with all the different sounds they were coming up with. Some students managed to fit more than 20 sounds on their scales!

 Travis working diligently.

Serena and Aidan R. raising their hands to ask questions.  

Aiden M. focusing on his work

                             

                             

                                 

Keep up the good work Division 4!

-Ms. Desmarais

Victoria Symphony Field Trip

Yesterday we went on our field trip with the other Grade 4 class to see the Victoria Symphony perform at the University of Victoria. It was quite an impressive show. They played Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and even the theme song from Jurassic Park! The Jurassic Park theme song seemed to be the class' favourite (mine too). There were also dancers performing during some of the songs. We were able to walk across the campus after the show. What a beautiful day it was! We sure lucked out with the weather. Thank you to our volunteers for accompanying us on the field trip (Rebecca, Anne and Opal). Unfortunately, we were only able to take a few chaperones due to limited seating in the theatre. I hope that those who were unable to attend will be able to join us on future field trips. I should have taken more photos. Here are the few snapshots that I managed to take.

-Ms. Desmarais

Spelling, Music, Buddies, Mural and Extra recess.

We began the day with our regular spelling test.  This was followed at 9:10 with music.  The students are preparing for the upcoming assemblies and choir performances, and working on their recorder skills.  Mrs Awalt is very impressed with this class and their dedication to learning the recorder.  Music skills is a life long gift so I hope that many of them continue their love for music and join band in middle school.

After recess we worked with our buddy class to make our poster for next Wednesday's Mural dedication assembly.  We have been given the mink, one of the characters, in the legend painted on our the mural which we are dedicating.

In the afternoon we read for 12 minutes then handed out all the amazing food and chocolate, and cupcakes, and sweets that the students and their families gave us to share.  At 1:45 we had an extra recess because the school has completed 7200 nights of reading.  It was great getting the extra 15 minutes of time to run off some of the sugar buzz. 

Considering the amount of sugar ingested the students ended the day rather calm.  Well calmish.  Have a great weekend everyone and I wish you all a caring Valentines day with friends and family.

See you all next week... Mr. W

How wound up and evil can candy make students... you decide...

Captain Cook, Library, Reading, The Legend of the Raven, Ted Harrison and math.

Notice:

Tomorrow is the last day of school before Valentines day so the students will have time to pass out their valentines and have a few treats.

We began the day with M.E. morning exercise.  The reading today was on Captain Cook.  After reading a page of information on the life and travels of Captain cook the students answered multiple choice questions, and completed a crossword puzzle using the same information.

ME was followed by Library where the students read stories from Saskatchewan on their reading journey across Canada.

After recess the students read for 25 minutes then we wrote Social Studies valentines based on information in the chapter about sailing to the new world.  We looked at ninja turtle valentines, mario brothers valentines and came up with what makes up a valentine.  The students had to review information in the chapter and come up with 4 possible valentines.  Students wrote things like " I love you like a sailer loves his boat," or "Your love takes me to a new world."  It was interesting as the students who are great writers of stories or information often have trouble with this while those students who have trouble writing are often very good at writing little cheesy quotes.

After lunch I read the Coastal First Nations legend of how the raven freed the stars, moon and sun.  We read the legend and looked at the art of the great Canadian artist Ted Harrison. The students then drew a picture of part of the legend in Ted Harrison style. 

We finished the day with multiplication math.

Great day everyone... Yes you can bring in a snack and Valentines. See you all tomorrow...

Pictures will be added later.

Projects, Music, King Arthur, Spelling Buddies and Computers

  Notice: 
Monday is Family Day.  Families can find all types of activities to make family day a thrilling adventure, to relax, or create an educational experience.  Take time to poke around an interesting museum, discover marine life, take a walk or race each other on zip lines high above the forest.

It is Spring Like and the Lice are back.  

Please check your child and tie your child's hair up and watch for itching and scratching.  We have gone over not sharing hats etc but a reminder is good. 

We began the day working on the group project they started yesterday but did not have enough time to complete.  The students went to music at 930 where they continued to work on learning the recorder as well as other musical rhythm, movement and dance.

After recess we had reading responseand  finished reading of the classic novel in children's form, The Sword In the Stone, the legend of king Arthur.  We then watched part of the Disney movie "The Sword and the Stone" until lunch.

After lunch the students did their spelling test. I gave each of the groups their spelling words scrambled.  eersliat, being earliest.  Those students that actually studied their words managed to finish quite quickly, while those that did no stury, struggled.  Study pays off.

After spelling the students went to buddies where we helped our little buddies make a flip book from the writing we did with them last week.

After Buddies we cleaned up and went to the computer lab.  In computers we continued with an extension of the project the students were working on, using Power Point.  The two parts of the project will be counted together.

Have a great weekend everyone.  See you next week.

Happy Birthday T and thank you for the cupcakes

Pictures will be added later  Mr. W

Leprechauns, Little people, Sword in the Stone, Flat Earth and Group project

Notice: 

Next Monday is Family Day.  Families can find all types of activities to make family day a thrilling adventure, to relax, or create an educational experience.  Take time to poke around an interesting museum, discover marine life, take a walk or race each other on zip lines high above the forest.

We began the day with ME  (morning exercise).  A reading, writing and math assignment.  First the students read and answered questions from a two page booklet about Leprechauns.  Many first nations peoples  also believed in little peoples and spirits in nature.  The students then had to design their own little person.  They had to discuss things like where it could be found, how it interacted with nature and men, how to catch one etc.  The students also had a quick review sheet of addition and subtraction.  After ME the students went to library and were read a book on the Metis before taking out reading book.

After recess I continued to read from the Classic series.  We are reading the legend of King Arthur.  Today we read about the myth of the sword in the stone and how, as a boy of 15, he pulled the sword out of the stone by accident, while many strong knights could not.

After reading we talked about when Columbus lived, how people thought that the earth was flat. They believed the Atlantic Ocean to be filled with monsters large enough to devour their ships, and with fearful waterfalls over which their frail vessels would plunge to destruction. Columbus had to fight these foolish beliefs in order to get men to sail with him and before he could get the queen to give him the money he needed to sail to North America .

In the afternoon the students worked on finishing their ME and Socials or Silent read for 25 minutes.  Many of the students impress me with their love of reading.  After reading the students were allowed to pick a partner and do a group report on an animal.  Group work can be an effective method to motivate students, encourage active learning, and develop key critical-thinking, communication, and decision-making skills as well as many social decision making skills.

Great day everyone, see you tomorrow, study your spelling 

New Teacher Introduction

Hello everyone,

I would like to introduce myself as the new Monday/Tuesday teacher in Division 4. My name is Ms. Desmarais (Day-mar-ray) and I am very happy to join Mr. Wilson's class! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the students over the past couple of days. Some of the students already know me, as I have been a Teacher on Call in the school for the past two years. We have many exciting things to look forward to for the duration of the school year. I will update often to keep you informed and to share with you what we are learning in Division 4. Thank you!

Ms. Desmarais