December 2

UPower

Inspired by motivational speaker and singer extraordinaire, Sara Westbrook, who has visited our school in the past, our class is embracing the challenge of creating our own UPower maps!

So, what is a UPower Map?

  • it’s like a GPS for our life. It gives us direction and helps us visualize the person we want to be, our dreams, ambitions, character traits

This week, we are asked to gather ideas, magazine clippings, stickers, pictures, and anything else we can use to help us create our maps. We begin assembling our maps next Tuesday. Mrs. Sullivan shared her own UPower map with us so we could see a finished example.

We are excited to see the finished products!

Check out Sara’s music video where you can see her creating her very own UPower map.

Category: 2020-2021, Health & Physical Education, Teacher Talk, The Arts | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 11

Lest We Forget

 This week, we’ve been spending quality time using literature to help guide us through what Remembrance Day truly means. We began by reading a gorgeous book called A Bear in War by Harry Endrulat and Stephanie Innes. I truly LOVE this book and read it every year (and it always chokes me up!). It is told from the perspective of a teddy bear that belongs to a little girl named Aileen. Her dad goes off to War and she ends up mailing him the teddy bear to keep him company and remind him of home.

There are wonderful illustrations mixed with photographs of real life items as this is a true Canadian story! Students are always amazed that you can actually visit the real teddy bear at the National War Museum in Ottawa!

 

On Wednesday, we read a wonderfully colourful book called The Peace Book by Todd Parr. In simple ways, it shares different ways that we can think about what peace is. We then brainstormed some of our own thoughts about what peace means and created our own page in our Religion notebook. Students were encouraged to be inspired by Todd Parr’s illustration style, too!

We had some good discussion around whether Remembrance Day should be a national holiday.

What do you think and why?

Finally, check out our Remembrance Day artwork and our thoughts on what we think peace means.

 

Category: 2020-2021, Reading Workshop, Religion & Family Life, Teacher Talk, The Arts | 3 Comments on Lest We Forget
November 7

November Musings

It’s hard to believe November is well underway! We are a class of hard workers who are excited to learn new things. We are finishing or last week of our math unit in Data with our next unit focusing on patterns! We have become accustomed to our SMATH centres which we rotate through the week. Our 2 favourite stations are: Teacher Time and Skill Practice.

Have a look at what our learning looks like in our classroom!

 

Category: 2020-2021, Teacher Talk | 1 Comment on November Musings
October 11

Off to the Races!

After weeks of preparing and training for our Cross Country Meet, the day finally arrived. We gathered outside and ran for the final time. Everyone received a completion certificate. A special congratulations goes out to Lila and Min-A for placing in the top 10 for their age group! Congratulations to Davi and Enrique for earning the Team Player ribbons. 

Well done Grade 3/4s! You were amazing.

Category: 2020-2021, Health & Physical Education, Teacher Talk | 1 Comment on Off to the Races!
October 5

Let’s Give a Shout Out

It feels good to receive recognition for good things we do. In our class, we are working towards recognizing each other’s positive actions by giving a Shout Out to that person. No positive action is too small! 

How do YOU show someone they did something helpful or kind to you? Do you give them a smile? Do you say “thank you”? Do you make them a card?

How do you FEEL when someone recognizes something positive that YOU did?

 

Category: 2020-2021, Teacher Talk | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 29

Try Like Terry

Yesterday, we celebrated the life and accomplishments of Terry Fox–a hero to so many people around the world. His story and journey with cancer touches our lives and we run in honour of him and all those who battle cancer or have passed away from cancer. 

The Terry Fox Run takes place not just in Canada, but in Thailand, Australia, and around the globe!

Each student was able to write the name of someone who has been affected by cancer in some way and wear it in honour of this person.  As we completed our run, we were thinking of Terry and hope we were making him proud!

 

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September 29

September Musings

As we approach the end of September, our classroom is feeling more like ‘home’ and our class family has learned routines and how things flow in our room. 

It’s been a long while since we’ve all been in an actual classroom so there’s a lot we are still practicing and remembering to do. Practice, practice, practice!

I’ve seen so many examples of leadership, friendship, kindness, chivalry, determination, pride…I could go on.

Ask your child what is going on in each of the photos. 🙂 Feel free to leave a comment on something you see.

Cheers to a great first month!

Category: 2020-2021, Teacher Talk | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 15

It’s Dot Day!

Every September the 15th ish, we celebrate Dot Day–a day where we celebrate how we can make our mark in the world. It is based on the book called The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.

Today, students wore dots on their masks, in their hair, on their clothing, in their lunch pales, and so on. They looked awesome!

We drew dots outside with chalk, were challenged with Connect-the-dots pictures, made dot headbands, and much more.

You can listen to this short story here:

 

All in all, it was a great day! Until next year…

 

Category: 2020-2021, Teacher Talk | 10 Comments on It’s Dot Day!
September 7

Happy New Year Grade 3/4!

It’s 3:45pm after the first day back at school, and I’m reflecting back on the day. It feels wonderful to be back where we all should be…together, in a class, learning and laughing…in person!

Sure, it’s different again this year. There’s no doubt about it. However, behind those masks, I know kids were smiling, and behind those eyes they were hopefully feeling safe and secure within our 4 walls.

Cheers to a new year! We’ve got this!

 

Category: 2020-2021, Teacher Talk | 4 Comments on Happy New Year Grade 3/4!