Friday's News

Happy gobble gobble to our friends and followers in the US. As you recover from your Turkey hangover, or as you prepare to stand inline for when Target opens, I entrust that you had a great, short week in the classroom.

Back here we've had a fun and exciting week. There was a full moon and well I don't think you need me to get too in depth as to how that worked out in the classroom. One of the great ways to get out those bursts of energy is through Go Noodle. Jeff's class was learning to Pop See Kow!

Jeff's class also concluded their Habitats and Communities unit and wrote their quiz. He added a bonus questions and apparently his kids think he might be part Yeti. 

His class is also working on a passion project which you can follow here.

We are currently working on completing a health unit for grade 4 based on the new Ontario health curriculum. Jeff was testing it out with his students. Here is a sample photo of the kids using it. 

So how when you stopped eating turkey and finally got that new laptop you waited in line for tell us how your weekend went. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday News

I hope everyone had a great week like us. One of my students had a brush with greatness which was very exciting to be a part of. So let's take a look at some of the stuff that took place this week.

So I teach three different sections of grade 4 science. I was looking for some new ways to get some assessments for the classes. I came across a great site called EDpuzzle. On this site you can set up a classroom very similar to Google Classroom. Then you can place a video where the class and students can go in and watch them and then answer questions you make up for them on the video. The best part is that you can totally alter the video so you can make it shorter or even add your own voice over videos that might not be in english. It's a clever little site that I am excited to explore some more. 

Back in January I challenged my students to write a letter to someone who inspired them. It was a great way to practice the skill of letter writing. Many of my students picked a variety of people and of course we saw the typical selections like Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Demi Lovato. Some of the kids are starting to get responses from the people they selected. One of our students got a package from author Robert Munch two weeks ago. However, this week we got one of the coolest packages in our classroom from our famous people. In my mail slot I had this really long envelope that clearly stated not to bend. I wasn't sure what was in their but I flipped it over to be stunned at who it was from. I took it up to the classroom immediately and showed the student who it was addressed to. Instantly, there was a grin from ear to ear and course an excessive amount of jumping. Which is funny because the person she wrote to is known for his jumping ability. Her famous person was NBA great Michael Jordan. Well here is the picture of what his "Airness" sent to my grade 3 student. 

Yeah that is signed!!! So cool!!! I was one extremely jealous teacher. 

Finally I've been working on Non-Fiction writing with my students for the past few weeks and created an assignment around the great "I Survived" book series. The series is based on real historical events but tells a fictional story in relation to the real events. My students have been absolutely hooked. They have no finished reading their selected books which they partner read. Now they are working on researching the actual event then creating an interactive Google Slides presentation. Here are some great photos of them working together. 

How did your week go?

An InLinkz Link-up

Review time!

Let's admit it we've all picked up or received a book and have wondered how on earth we could use it in the classroom. At Christmas our little one received this beauty "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt from her Aunt. Of course, right away we had to read it. Then we read it again, and again, and well again, I think you are starting to see where I am going with this. It quickly became a household favourite not just with her, but with us as well.

The message is great for a classroom setting. It teaches us that we all need to get along even if we aren't exactly thrilled with what's going on. As each crayon writes a poignant letter to their owner Duncan they explain their point of view and beg him to unleash their beautiful colours onto the pages he's working on. This book has multiple uses no matter what grade your in as Jeff experienced this past year when he took it in with him for both his Kindergarten kids and with his Grade 4's.

In Kindergarten, a few of the classes that Jeff visited where discussing cooperation and also primary colours. He used the book as a fun story to read and also for a chance to explore colours through a funny story. The kids got the message has his office wall was quickly decorated with colourful pictures they would be drawn over the following week.

With his Grade 4's he tied it into a final assessment piece for the Rocks and Minerals unit he was teaching. He read the book to the class and then handed out their final assessment piece. They were given the choice to create sports trading cards of rocks and minerals OR to create their own version of the book. He got many different responses as you can see from the pictures below. If you are interested in the assessment you can find it here on our Teachers Pay Teachers site with the rubric to match.

Some of the different cards with book

 

One of the several stories that students wrote

This book is one that you can link to language, social skills, and just about anything else you can come up with.  We give this book an RclassroomsRus salute!