Taking care of the environment.

Dear Parents,

I've been struggling to post regularly, but I'm very happy with the work that we're doing together as a class.

In language, we've been working on writing our own fairy tales that we hope to turn into books.

In math, we focused in on word problems for a couple of weeks and have moved on to 3D shapes.

Display outside Rm 105

We've finished our science focus on Living Things, with a visit from the Great Lakes programme from the Toronto Zoo and we reflected on why it's important to protect water.

"So the animals could live, to drink, to water flowers"

"Because animals and plants will die, and people. So snail shells don't break"

"So animals can live in the world and so fish can breathe"

I also asked students to take their "Big Idea" questions from the beginning of the unit and do their best to answer them. Although I'm not marking them for their reports per se, I feel like these show students' curiosity and engagement in learning.


 

I'm currently introducing our last Science focus and have sent home a bird house project due May 16th.

In class, we reviewed google images of bird houses made out of recycled materials and the purpose of the proposed bird house. The following were some of their favourites.





Students are asked to complete their projects at home, with parents helping to cut and supervise construction. We hope to hang our finished bird houses in the side yard by the parenting centre.

I'm looking forward to our last trip to High Park Nature Centre on April 23rd. Thank you for your volunteerism and your prompt return of forms! :)

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

Reading feedback/Field Trip photos

Dear Parents,

It was good to meet with many of you over the February reports. A number of parents asked about reading levels for each grade, so I thought I've post a link showing the connection between the letter levels, DRA levels, and what each grade is expecting, more or less.

When we talk reading, there are two main components: Decoding and Comprehension. At first, we want to make sure that decoding is happening and build fluency, but particularly as students go up the grade levels, more often we're asking them to prove their understanding of a text, and that can be trickier to quantify.

So as students begin to approach end grade 1 level decoding skills, I'm really shifting my focus to building their ability to write about their reading and express their understanding.

Here's the chart I'm talking about:
http://rsd407.org/curric/elemglance/readingbenchmark/DRA-BookLevelChart.pdf

I also had a great conversations about sharing resources and was really excited to have these books come in from Carver's family to support our literacy program. We've read a number of books about jazz and blues artists this month and listened to at least one song from each artist. Muddy Water's Mannish Boy has been the favourite, I think, which is interesting because Nina Simone's Feeling Good was way more polarizing last week. 

We also had a field trip this week at HPNC. Last time, we learned about squirrels. This time students speculated that we'd learn about another animal and my favourite guess was mountain lion. What we really learned about was noticing animal clues, like food clues, footprints, scat, or bits of fur and feathers. Students explored these inside, then we took our birdfeeders outside and went for a hike to notice some of these things.

 So that's what we've been up to this week. I'm looking forward to seeing all the animal projects coming in on Monday. Students have been excited to share.

Best,
Ms. Goegan

What's inside an animal?

Dear Parents, 

We're working on a unit called Living Things, where we're exploring different things that are alive. Students are working on a shoebox diorama of an animal at home, and at school, we're exploring what we know and what we want to know about these things in general. 

Today, we reviewed the 7 things that all Living Things do

1. Take in food

2. Get rid of waste

3. Move

4. React 

5. Grow

6. Reproduce

7. Breathe

Then I gave students an outline of an animal and asked them to show me how they do those things. Here are the results

One elephant has a tube straight through. The other has bones in its legs, a stomach with food in it and somewhere to excrete waste.

On the left, there's a backbone, a heart, a "tummy tube" and some bones in a complicated geometric arrangement. On the right, there's a brain, a heart, a "pee tube", a "butt tube" and a muscle. 

On the left, the crow has eyes and a heart. On the left, it has blood flowing around the crow. 

"Moves with feet. It grows when it eat good thing. Eat with mouth. Breathe with its gills"

The fish on the left has a heart and eyes and a brain. There are tubes that could indicate gills or circulation or digestion. On the right, there's a brain, eyes and a clear digestive system (the arrow pointing to the stomach is cut off).

There are little fish inside the bigger fish, but I'm not sure whether those are baby fish or things it's eaten. The fish on the right has taken a more descriptive route: "Food makes growth. It moves with its flippers.It gets energy from food. It makes waste by giving bad food."

Both Octopuses have brains and suckers on their tentacles. One has bones and is also giving off waste. 

This camel has lungs, a heart, food in its hump, bones in its legs, and a bum...but no real connection between the parts.

I hope you find their drawings as fascinating as I do. It's always interesting to know how what we know starting out, so we can make connections. 

I also had students ask some big questions they want to know the answers to:

How does a fish move in water?/How do octopus suckers work?/How do rabbits ears work?/ Do animals breathe at different speeds?/Can an elephant's tusk crack?/Can fish tails bend?/How do trees reproduce?/Why do people have toes?

How do plants know to react?/What do muscles look like?/How do elephants have babies? /Does everything reproduce? /How do bones move?/ Do worms see? /Why do flowers have petals?/Does grass ever stop growing? /Can a bird's beak crack?

I love these questions and I look forward to answering them with students over the coming weeks. 

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

The next two weeks will be busy

Dear Parents,

We will be having a Valentine's party next week. Students are invited to wear pj's or onesies and to bring a stuffie. Snacks are welcome. We would love the loan of a boombox and CDs as the wifi reception in the room is not ideal. Someone also suggested they would bring a pinata (which I am okay with, if it happens, and also okay, if it does not). Several parents have also asked if students can bring in pets: this came up during our brainstorming session, but unfortunately, no. Stuffies will have to suffice.

If students bring Valentines, they need to ensure they are not excluding students, and bring one for the entire class. I can provide a list of first names. ***See bottom of post***

Next week is very busy. Here's a break down for you:

1. Monday is the 100th day of school. Themed "100 day" activities are planned, but there will not be a party.

2. Tuesday is "Sharing Music from Home" day in Music.

3. On Wednesday, reports will go home.


4. Thursday we will also have a school performance from Red Sky Productions (which introduces students to some of the issues in reconciliation) in the afternoon.

5. Thursday is also Valentine's Day, as outlined above.

6. On Thursday and Friday, report card interviews will occur.I prefer to meet with all parents every term where possible. I can also set up phone interviews if regular interview times do not work for your family. You can sign up online for your preferred slot. Here are the links:

Thursday night:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/selfsched?sstoken=UU5RM3RFdlRBWTR0fGRlZmF1bHR8NWFhNzhlOTEyMmUzYTc5ODI3NjFlYmU1NjBiMzc1OTg

Friday morning:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/selfsched?sstoken=UU5RM3RFdlRBWTR0fGRlZmF1bHR8NWFhNzhlOTEyMmUzYTc5ODI3NjFlYmU1NjBiMzc1OTg

Please feel free to email, if you have difficulty booking.

7. Upcoming events: February 21 is our class trip. I still need parent volunteers.

8. Upcoming events: February 25 is our habitat project due date. Please let me know if more information or resources are needed.

Please let me know if there's anything else I may have forgotten.

Thanks and regards,

Ms. Goegan

***Here's a list of the first names of students for Valentine Cards:

Lauren
Desmond
Jaheem
Cameron
Sabriel
Lukas
Brandi
Leif
Carver
Elora
Noel
Izabelle
Miles
Adriano
Alyssa
Leah
Lila
Lachlan
Eddie

Jumping right back in

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school! It's a quick transition, as this Friday is TDSB's  P.A. Day for reporting, so there are a number of things to alert you about regarding that, and we also have a primary concert on Thursday night.

First things first, students are asked to arrive around 5:30 on Thursday to be here for our 6 pm concert. Our class will be housed in Room 109, as Room 105 is busy with daycare. Students should dress like mimes and a list of different costume ideas went home before the break. Don't worry too much if you don't have the exact costume, but do send your child in a white shirt and black pants, if you can. After the concert, you'll need to pick up students from Room 109.

Next, I've sent home an animal research project due at the end of February (February 25th).  Some marks from this Science strand will be included on the first term report, but the project will be due afterwards. Students got the project outline today and chose a habitat that they'll pick their animal from. I'll help them pick a book from our school library to support their research later this week.

Here's a link to the pdf we've used to help choose our habitats. It's got some helpful suggestions for which animals suit each habitat. Animal Habitat pdf

We'll also be doing a field trip to High Park Nature Centre on February 21st to support our Science curriculum. Please pay with Cash Online and return forms as soon as possible.

Please let me know if you need another project outline or trip form, sooner rather than later.

We've completed math units on Number Sense and Numeration, Patterning, and Data Management. Marks and worksheets have been sent home, for those so hopefully there are no surprises on report cards. We're working on Measurement now, looking at telling time on analog clocks, linear measurement, and money. Next we'll move on to 2D Geometry, as I need to have marks for all 5 strands before reporting. It's always a fine balance to report on all strands, but still give the time and rehearsal needed to learn these new skills. Using Prodigy to support at home is helpful, particularly if Math was a concern on the progress report.

Finally, I'm always astonished at the leaps and bounds that happen with reading over the Winter Break. We've reformed our reading groups to reflect this and now have 4 groups: Scorpions (A), Tigers (D), Gorillas (H) and Tarantulas (I). Scorpions and Tigers continue to focus on building decoding skills, while Gorillas and Tarantulas are working on building their writing chops. Staying focused and practicing reading and writing daily are important for all students. We continue to have RAZkids available to support reading practice online and at home.

If you are available to read with students, we are always happy to have extra adults in the room. Thank you to Tiffany for starting us off this term already!

Have a great long weekend. I look forward to seeing all of you on Thursday evening.

Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan


 

Holiday post

Dear Parents,

Just a quick update before I close up shop for the holidays.

First, thank you for your contributions to our party and your kind gifts to me. I hope you enjoy the ornaments students sewed and decorated, with more or less help as needed and that the letters to Santa regarding employment as an elf are enjoyed by all.

Here are three students with their ornaments.

A variety of stars and gingerbread men. Students sewed around the edges and stuffed them, then decorated with jewels and stars.

A more detailed look at some of the bling.

Here are the elves hanging on our clothesline.

"I can help drive the sleigh"

"I will be nice every day"

"I would bring the presents to the houses"

"I like delivering presents"

"I can share at the workshop"

I'd also like to share this photo of our science projects. You can see some elastic planes, some marble ramps, so wind powered toys and a solar powered car.

Finally, I've heard that my letter about mime costumes was over-ambitious and the goal is NOT uniformity, so pick and choose from the mime accoutrements as you're able. Low pressure.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a great New Years.
Sincerely,

Ms. Goegan

It's been a minute...

Dear Parents,

It's been tremendously busy these past few weeks, both in and out of the classroom. In good news, I've found my final volunteer for tomorrow's Scientist in Schools. Many thanks to Adriano's mum, Cameron's dad, Lauren's dad, and Lila's grandmum, for their help tomorrow afternoon!

Science projects have been a big hit between kids this week. On Tuesday, students did mini-presentations to each other and we've been doling out the more formal presentations in small chunks. I'll do my best to take some photos of projects before the end of the week, so you can get a sense of the range students have come up with. It's always a delight.

Speaking of photos, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Here's a random collection of bits and bobs from the last few weeks in the class:

Our Field trip to High Park Nature Centre, where we learned about the habits of squirrels

The Taiko Drumming Performance

Afterwards, we were excited to discover this big book in the library.

Then I managed to take a whole series of photos, documenting our beginnings of Data Management, where students sorted buttons by a variety of criteria:

Holes vs. No holes

Big vs. Little

Light vs. Dark

2 holes vs. 4 holes

No holes vs. 2 holes vs. 4 holes

Colour

Pattern vs. No pattern

Some are still finishing up our final piece from the patterning unit, but the evaluations should be coming home soon. Meanwhile, graphing and surveying are big hits in the classroom. 

In the new year, we've got a Winter Concert to gather costumes for and two more trips to the High Park Nature Centre planned. Please look for a newsletter coming home soon to outline what student costumes might look like. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Goegan