December 2019

December 6th, 2019

What a week! Ms. Lambert had it wrong with Hour of Code. It's actually next week. That being said, we certainly had a blast connecting coding to our learning in Math and the leadership we have been building in our classroom. From coding in Scratch to using Blockly to code Dash to travel the perimeter of a triangle, we used our knowledge of the properties of triangles to help us accomplish a variety of challenges. This week we also took some time to work with Ms. Goldberg's and Ms. Papadakis' kindergarten class to help them learn some of the basics of coding. Next week is the real Hour of Code and we will have opportunities to continue coding with our reading buddies, another kindergarten class and in collaboration with our peers in the classroom.

In Language, we continued with our "And Then It Happened..." stories. Students completed their graphic organizers which served as their outlines and some started to write their rough copies. Next week we will: complete our rough copies; use our co-created writing checklist to review our work; do some peer-editing; and start our good copies. Lots of work to be done and I have a feeling these stories will be amazing.

As mentioned before, in Math we continued with our triangles. We used technology to help us understand the properties of the 6 types of triangles we have been learning about. Next week, we will be continuing with triangles and starting to look at properties of quadrilaterals. We will also be continuing to work on our Kandinsky inspired works of Art as our rough drafts are almost complete.

In Physical Education, we continued with hockey and had the opportunity to play a couple of games. It's been nice to see how students have been growing in their skill acquisition and becoming more eager to take a few more risks while playing.

In Health, we started important conversations around vaping. Students were given an article, Teen Vaping On The Rise, and there were a lot of questions. It was a short conversation and we didn't have the opportunity to dig into the article as of yet but we will be reading it together and discussing the recent news around vaping.

In Social Studies we are closer than ever to finishing our board games. On Thursday, we sat together to create buzzers for those who needed to add that finishing touch to their games. It was a lot of fun learning together about circuits. We're hoping to get playing early next week.

The week was jam-packed as we had our PA Day on Friday. There are 2 more weeks left before the winter break and we're trying to get as much into them as we can. Next week we have our Sloane Celebration and I hope that you can join us for an evening of activities all facilitated by the Grade 4 and 5 students. It's going to be a fantastic evening. Be sure to stay up-to-date with what's going on by visiting out What's On At Sloane page.

December 13th, 2019

What a week! With our Sloane Celebrations on Thursday night, this week was busy and fun-filled. Yesterday was a fantastic evening where students facilitated activities related to the various holidays coming up. I was so proud of all the students who spent lunch hours planning and organizing, as well as those who were able to facilitate last night's event. The students really rose to the occasion. Congratulations on a successful event! This morning in the halls I even overheard some asking what was next. My thoughts? A nice winter break and we can talk once we're back!

In Language we continued with our And Then It Happened stories. Students are learning that in writing, it takes time to build the story. We can't just jump into the action but characters and the plot both need to be developed. Next week, we will continue our stories and take some time for peer reviews.

In Math, we continued our work on Geometry, focusing on sorting triangles and quadrilaterals. It was interesting to see the different ways in which students sort shapes. While some groups used the classifications of the triangles we have been learning about to sort into tables, others focused on angles and parallel lines using Venn Diagrams. Next week, we'll continue to investigate characteristics of shapes and lines and continue our Art pieces; using our understanding of Geometric concepts. Today, we started the good copies of our Art today and it's coming together nicely!

In Physical Education, we continued with hockey and also had an impromptu volleyball session as our facilitators were out of commision for part of the week. We will hopefully finish off with hockey this coming week and there are already requests for basketball and volleyball, which are coming up next.

We're almost finished creating our board games and today we had the opportunity to just play. It's taken us a really long time to get them completed and it was well worth it because so many of the games are really creative.

This week we worked with Mr. Dei's and Ms. Bond's class and it was fantastic. Students created mazes and helped the kindergarten students code their way through. They also worked with the kindergarten students to do online activities for Hour of Code. It's been refreshing to see the Grade 4s and 5s engaging with kindergarten students and growing in empathy as they learn to teach and work with younger students.

Today we had our MADD (Mother's Against Drunk Driving) presentation from October that was postponed. Through this interactive presentation, students were able to reflect on the impacts of alcohol and drugs as it relates to driving and also consider what they might do in challenging situations where they are passengers. Students also participated in a simulation of the impairment effects when driving under the influence and heard directly from a victim. It was a powerful session and it directly relates to the work we have been doing in Health. Please have a conversation with your child about today's session as I'm certain that they may have additional questions that may arise. We will continue these discussions in the classroom also.

Next week is the last week before the break! Can't believe that 2019 is almost over. Next week we will start goal setting as we look to 2020.

December 20th, 2019

It's the last week before the break and there is so much going on! From assemblies to sing-alongs, there's lots of winter cheer in the building. Today we even had the opportunity to learn about the history of the Talking Drum from our very own, Mr. Dei. He joined us for a portion of our party and drummed.

In Language, we continued with our And Then It Happened... stories. They are coming along slowly and after the break, we will be working on our good copies to share online with each other.

In Math, we continued with our Kandinsky Art and using the Dash robots to code the path of mazes and 2D shapes. In the new year, we will be starting a unit on measurement as students put the finishing touches on their Art.

In Physical Education, we are almost finished our Hockey unit. We'll have one more period in the new year for an epic match. In January, we are starting Basketball.

In Health, students worked on Public Service Announcements on the dangers of vaping. They had the opportunity to use the information that we have been learning about so far to create messages that would cause peers to think twice about even starting. In the new year, we will continue to work on these PSAs and record them.

It's been a great few months so far. I'm so grateful for all of the amazing students that I get to work with on a daily basis. Wishing all families a happy, healthy and safe winter break and I look forward to collaborating again in 2020!