Week ending Feb 24

This week at school...

    

Science: We continued our investigation into sound by building musical devices. Our challenge was to find ways to change the loudness and pitch of our creations. We know that sound can be reflected and absorbed, so it will be interesting to see what alterations are made as we continue this inquiry on Monday. 

The students are developing a deep understanding of the experiences of Black Canadians in the past, as well as the achievements of so many Black Canadians today. We understand that learning about the history and contributions of the Black community goes beyond the month of February. Using this knowledge and their own schema, the students wrote amazing reflections to express why they think it is important to have a Black History Month. We will continue our learning by looking more closely at specific people, past and present, who have made contributions to the Canada we live in today.

 Many thanks for returning your trip forms for Vivian Outdoor Resource Centre (Tuesday, March 7th), as well as report card envelopes that are to be used again for Term 2 report cards.

Spelling Bee finals are Monday, February 27th from 11:20-12:20 in the Gymnasium. All are welcome to attend as we cheer on (quietly!) our classmates and friends in grades 3 and 4. Good luck to all!

Winter Activity Day has been re-scheduled for Monday, March 6th. If the cold weather and snow holds up, tubing at Lakeridge Ski Resort and activities at school will take place on this day. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Mrs. McIntosh

Week ending Feb 17

My wish is that all families get the opportunity to spend time together this Family Day. Remember there is no school on Monday, Feb. 20th. Enjoy!

This week at school we...

- built 3D skeletons, not for Science class but for Math! The students listed all the attributes of their skeleton/solid and had a partner guess what solid it was.

                 


- performed our Lip Sync presentations in Drama. The students used gestures, facial expression and body movement to express the mood of their chosen song. In addition, they coordinated dance steps in their performance while moving their lips silently in synchronization with the music. Singing, acting and dancing - a true triple threat. Ask your child to see their amazing performance posted on Google Classroom!


- put on our lab coats and conducted two experiments in Science related to sound. We learned that sound is caused by vibrations after banging a metal tray next to rice grains sitting on top of plastic wrapped over a glass jar. Some jumped more than others but we could definitely "see" the effect of the vibrating air pushing the rice grains around!
   
 
The second experiment demonstrated wine glass resonance. The children were all pleasantly surprised to see, feel and hear the vibrations turn into sound waves at a frequency that they could hear! I suspect they will soon be asking you to borrow a wine glass to conduct their own experiment at home.


- created Kind Hearts for our Secret Valen-toshian exchange for Random Acts of Kindness Week. We will exchange our kind words with each other on Tuesday. We also created Cootie Catchers with our Learning Buddies with many examples of kind acts written inside. Each pair of buddies were challenged with completing the act of kindness that they landed on such as - tell the office secretary or a caretaker thank you, high five someone new, smile at 3 people, give someone a compliment. It was wonderful to see the positive energy created from this activity!



A permission form was sent home on Thursday for our upcoming trip to Vivian Outdoor Education Centre on Tuesday, March 7th. This is a YRDSB centre that focuses on cooperative learning in the outdoors. Thank you for returning the permission forms promptly. Please indicate if you are able to volunteer to supervise on this day. 

Reminder - Friday, Feb. 24th is Winter Elective Day. Students will be going tubing or staying at school to enjoy many fun activities. 

Thanks as always, for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Mrs. McIntosh

Week ending Feb 10

These past 2 weeks have been busy! We ended first term with the first of our tubing trips to Lakeridge Ski Resort. It was a cold day however, filled with lots of thrills to go with the chills! Our second Winter Elective Day will be on Friday, Feb. 24th. 

This past week, we investigated the properties of light by conducting experiments on how light travels. We learned how to ask a question, state a hypothesis, follow a procedure, and record the results and the conclusion of what we learned. Ask your child what they learned about how light travels. 

Observing light as it travels in a straight line

Observing light bend as it passes through water

        

Is light being reflected or absorbed?
 Is this material opaque, translucent, or transparent?

We will continue our study into Light and begin its connections with Sound this week in Science.

In Math, we are going to investigate three-dimensional shapes as we continue our unit in Geometry. 

In Language, we have begun to practise the strategy of Inferring, using clues from texts and our own schemas to make inferences about what we read. We are examining the elements of stories, beginning with a close look at Viola Desmond in the book Viola Desmond won't be Budged. Ask your child about this important person in Canadian history. Who is she and why might we be learning about her?
Upcoming this week:

       Choose KIND.       

In our class, we choose kind! This week is Random Acts of Kindness Week. We will be generating ideas of as many kind words, acts and thoughts as we can and putting them into action. The hope is to carry this on in our daily lives, beyond this week. Ask your child, what act of kindness did you do today?

On Valentine's Day, students will have the opportunity to share cards and treats if they wish, as this is voluntary. My only request from students who are giving out Valentine's cards, is to ensure that all 25 students in the class receive them. Thank you for supporting a positive and inclusive climate in our class. We will also be making Kind Words to give to each other.

Thank you once again for signing all assessments sent home. I truly appreciate your continued support, especially writing back to your child and responding to their requests in their persuasive letters to you. It was apparent that many students were extremely persuasive, at least in convincing you to think more about their ideas and opinions. Thank you for participating! I wish you a cozy and comfortable week ahead!

Sincerely,

Mrs. McIntosh

   

Tubing Trip - Feb 2

Tubing Trip at Lakeridge Ski Resort
Tomorrow is our winter elective day! A reminder to all those students who are tubing tomorrow that you must arrive at school promptly at 8:00a.m.  The buses will be leaving at 8:15 sharp! Please meet in the Gymnasium where we will take attendance and assemble into groups.

Don't forget:
- Dress warmly (layers are best - you can always take off if you are too hot)
- Wear a warm jacket, snowpants, boots, hat, gloves
- Bring extra socks, pants, gloves
- Bring a healthy lunch, or money to buy lunch

School will begin at its regular time, 9:10a.m. for all those students who are staying at school.