Week Twenty-Five: It Smells Like Spring


Posted by Savannah Barker on April 08, 2019 at 2:45 PM

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We are back from March Break and so excited that it is spring and ready to get into many new learning opportunities this term. Some exciting things to look forward to are diving deeper into learning about plants and designing a living window for the library, practicing addition and subtraction strategies, becoming more independent readers and writers, preparing art pieces for the Art Show, getting ready for Drama Night and more! Here is a glance of what the girls were up to during our first week back this term.

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O measures the length of the classroom, right out to the lockers, using a variety of math materials - some are standard measuring tools and some are non-standard ones.

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A writes a story during Writer's Workshop about her and a friend having a baby together in the future. She is feeling very confident with writing independently and has started writing longer stories.

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This morning we started to brainstorm things that we already know about plants. Discussing our prior knowledge helps the students think more about what they want to learn throughout an inquiry, while also helping the teacher plan for instruction and learning experiences that further develop the students' understandings about the topic. The girls were excited to think about plants they know, things that plants need to survive, how plants are used, and more.

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This term in math we are going to start focusing more specifically on addition and subtraction strategies and becoming familiar with how numbers can be combined or broken down. This afternoon's math investigation, inspired my my trip over March Break, challenged the girls to think about the different ways that we can make 5. Looking at the addition sentences after our learning, O observes that all of the sums are 5. 

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During art class, O and N experiment with watercolour techniques before making their art pieces for the Art Show.

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A practices using a rekenrek to help solve different addition problems. 

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N is making a play house for her favourite doll, Chelsea. Realizing that the cardboard box is a good shape already, she chooses to add some paint to make it more interesting.

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Building with the magnatiles continues to be one of A's favourite things to do in the classroom. Each time, she tests out different building techniques and structural shapes. Lately, she has been blending castles and houses together to make new structures.

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A measured the length of the classroom as well this week. It is interesting to watch her space out the different materials to cover the length of the room.

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O is excited about the addition fact that she completed using the math manipulatives.

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N and O love inventing games and creative stories to play during recess.

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O is on a spring vocabulary scavenger hunt during French class. The girls love moving around the classroom while they are learning to keep their bodies busy, as well as their minds. 

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N and O are building collaboratively this morning and are excited to share their plan with me. Both girls used images of castles as inspiration, and then they worked together to connect both structures.

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It sure smells like spring in the ravine this afternoon!

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It is a beautiful afternoon for sketching in the ravine. It's been a great first week back, and even better to end the week off with a warm and sunny ravine visit.