Monthly Math Games

Math games are a great way to practice math skills like counting, recognizing numbers, adding, and subtracting. All you need is a gameboard, dice, and/or cards. Each month we'll be sending home a simple game that you can play as a family.
Students will be given the explanation in class and then bring the gameboard home in their communication folder. If you require dice and/or cards just send us a note/email and we'll send them home as well.
Have fun playing!

Winter Walk and Liquids!

Students in Room 2 and 3 made lots of observations about winter today during our winter walk.  Children noticed evidence that our temperatures have been high recently, noticing that the snow was melted off of the roofs and from the ice on the ground.  We saw evidence of salt and sand on the sidewalks used to prevent people from tripping.  In the snow we saw some tracks of animals, people and even a few bikes.  We also noticed what we didn't see.  For example, the bike rakes were almost empty and no one was sitting out at Starbucks on the patio. We saw several birds, and noted that there were some berry trees with fruit still on them by the mall.  We saw empty feeders in Discovery Gardens and wondered why they were empty.  We may investigate that further.
Most of us, uploaded a picture and a sentence to iris after our walk.

At the end of the day, we did an experiment to compare the viscosity of 7 different liquids.  Organized like a race, we lined up: Ketchup, mustard vegetable oil, corn syrup, liquid soap, liquid tempera paint and water(with green food colour) to see which would flow the fastest.  Children made predictions before the race.  Children wondered if they would turn directions, other predicted some liquids would be "zippy fast" and others would be slow depending on how thick(high viscosity) or thin they were.  Water was the clear winner, with oil slowly coming in second.  It took another 10 mins for the liquid soap to hit the finish line.  Right now, corn syrup is almost there....will it finish?

The children noted how interesting the shapes of the streams were.  Water branched into two streams, the corn syrup got thinner and thinner, the oil continued to spread out sideways and the mustard stayed in a blob.  Compare some liquids at home and think about how they move and flow.

Reminders: 
Look in your child's folder for a Valentine's Day notice with the students' names. I checked and the school board wishes that food treats are not given out.  (Stickers, erasers and tattoos are great alternatives to candies if you want to send something along with a card.)
School finishes early tomorrow for conferences.  See you tomorrow!

Experimenting!

Today we explored the qualities of different materials and how they interacted with water.  We started by gathering knowledge, by painting thin and thick paints on a variety of types of paper:

-glossy magazines

-journal paper

-tin foil

-newspaper

-wax paper

We observed how these different kinds of paper absorbed our paints. 

We noted that the wax paper, magazine and tin foil were all smooth and shiny and that the watery paint beaded on top of the paper and did not absorb into it.   The thick paint stuck better than the watery paint to these surfaces. 

Next we did an experiment with 4 different fabrics to see which would be best to clean up milk that my very messy toddlers spill.   The children recorded information in a chart to help them organize their observations and made a prediction before we started our test.   The children compared the different fabric squares to the papers we used and to materials they have used at home.  For example, Nathaniel compared the blue fabric squares to towels he has at home.  To make it a fair test, we used measuring cups to "spill" the same amount of water and made sure our fabric squares were the same size.  

Children squeezed the fabric to see how much was absorbed, they noted how the fabric changed after wiping up spill (heavier, darker, dripping, water beading on outside) and many used their measuring cup to measure how much water was left over on our plates.  

I was so proud of the teamwork, collaboration and science discussion I heard!  

Tomorrow we will be doing a community walk to look for evidence of winter after lunch.  

Rubrics and Exemplars

In our classroom we talk alot about success criteria - the expectations to be successful in a lesson/activity.  We've been working on instructional writing - writing instructions about a specific topic. Today we reviewed the rubrics and exemplars for each level of writing. Students now understand what they need to do to receive a 1, 2, 3, 4-star on their writing. We began writing steps on how to complete a Montessori math material.
Next week at conferences, students will be able to show you their writing and you can look to the rubrics and exemplars to see the next steps.  If you ever have questions about your child's learning and the expectations in our class, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Canada

As we learn more about Canadian geography, we continue to add more features to our map. This week we talked about the important symbol of the maple leaf and our Canadian Flag. Students then did tear art to create a flag, which is now posted around our map. We've also learned about the prairie provinces - we live in one of them! Students are starting to create a farmers field to add to our map.

We'd like to go on a winter walk next week *Wednesday*. If you're available to help us out, please send us an email as we require some volunteers for this walk.

Student-Led Conferences - NEXT WEEK!

Your child has been working hard to learn new concepts and skills. We are so excited to share our learning with you next week at student-led conferences.

If you have questions about your child’s learning and/or the activities, we will both be in attendance but remember this is your child’s time to share. If you would like a sit-down meeting to discuss the report card or anything else at length, please contact us to book another time!

Don't forget to go onto your CBE account to book a time to come and share in our learning!

Important Info session about kids and technology

An Evening for Parents with Paul Davis

Simon Fraser School
5215 - 33 Street NW
January 23, 2019
6:30 PM

Topics Include

• SnapChat
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Smartphones
• Digital Trails
• Cyberbulling
• Textingt
• Sexting
• Onling Gaming & Online Security
• Accountability & Reponsibility in a Digital World

Moving Mountains

Today we worked more on our map of Canada. We talked about the differences between a country/province/city and worked through these vocabulary terms. Students identified different provinces and territories and we labelled our map.
Afterwards we watched a video showcasing the mountains; many students were making personal connections to the mountains - activities, vacations etc. We then looked at the shapes of the mountains and compared them to different 3D figures we've been working on during Montessori work period. Students then worked on their own and with their older buddy to use 3D nets to create pyramids and cones to add to our map, as mountains.

CALL FOR SCIENCE FAIR JUDGES

 Since October, students in Captain John Palliser's Science Fair Club have shown great enthusiasm and hard work in researching or conducting experiments! On February 5th we are requesting judges to assess the final projects in order to determine which students will represent our school at City Finals.  Judges will be viewing student work and presentations on the morning of Tuesday, February 5, from 9:40 - 12:30.  

We welcome all volunteers with a volunteer clearance, judges do not need to have a background in Science or Education. They need to listen to student presentations and ask questions about their learning and research in order to fill out the Science Fair judging sheet.  We will be looking for 6 - 10 adults from the community or within the school whose children/students are not participating in the science fair this year.

Please spread the word and contact us with the emails below to express your interest. We look forward to seeing you!
rsyong@cbe.ab.ca
ajbetty@cbe.ab.ca

Yours in Learning,
Ms. Betty & Ms. Yong 

Canada and Student-Led Conferences

We're learning about Canada! Today started painting our giant map of Canada - choosing to paint each province a different colour. As the weeks go on, we'll be adding geographical features to our map. You'll be able to see our work in progress when you come to our Student-Led conferences on January 31.

Please remember that these conferences are student-led; therefore, there will be no sit down meeting with the teachers. If you have questions/concerns regarding the report card that went home this week, please contact us to set up an alternative time to meet.

Gymnastics

We have started exploring gynmastics!  Focusing on  balances, 

we have practiced creating high, medium and low body positions.

We balanced on different body parts such as feet, hands,

bottoms and toes.  We are also using our math vocabulary, symmetrical and asymmetrical to describe our balances.

Here are just a few of our creative balances!

How many water drops will fit on a penny?

Today we discovered some interesting characteristics of water through an experiment to see how many drops of water would fit on a penny. 

We used a number line to record some of our predictions and results and worked in partners to use the droppers and to record the drops with tally marks. 

We recorded our observations and discovered that most groups fit between 10-30 drops on their penny, but that close to 20 drops was the most prevalent result.

We talked about why it was helpful to do this experiment many times. 

We discussed what could cause the variation in number of drops (a wobbly table, different sized drops, how soft or hard the drops were added)

We also explored how the water behaved on the coin.  We noticed that the water made round drops or beads, that connected together when they touched.  We also noticed that when we looked at the side view of our penny, the water overhung the edges. This gave us an opportunity to talk about the surface tension of water and how the droplets like to "stick together". 

Tomorrow we will compare water to some different liquids.

We also completed our exploration of patterns by reading a Mathology book about First Nations Beading.    

We found it interesting that BEAD can mean a thing (plastic bead), it can be an action word (to bead) like in the title of our book, and it can be a term in science for how water behaves!!!

We had a very nice collection of beads, but discussed how you may need to problem solve if there are fewer numbers of some beads.  Since there were only some big beads, we discussed and brainstormed ways to create our bracelets so everyone would be able to get enough big beads to complete their pattern.  Children chose to sit in a circle, to select the big beads first and plan out their bracelets on the carpet so that everyone was able to have enough.  Good problem solving! 

Liquids!!!

We have started into our science exploration of liquids. We kicked off our first day with an exploration of water - the most important liquid in our world.  To start our thinking, we moved around the room looking at photographs of where we find water in our world.  

We looked at pictures of water in:

-bodies of water (lakes, swamps, oceans, rivers, hot springs)

-buildings (baths, taps, toilets, heating systems)

-our bodies (tears, blood, saliva)

-food (tea, milk, fruit)

-plants 

-community (water parks, slides, pools, fire hydrants, water fountains, factories)

Kids had interesting discussions and connections: 

-Water helps to transport.  Kids made connections about shipping food from hot climates to Canada using boats like we discussed in our seasons unit

-Water is important for habitat for animals

-Water can be changed to steam or ice

-Water is important for cleaning things

-Without water we can't survive

The children were encouraged to look at home and see how water was used.

Next we got our hands wet and explored the nature of water in small groups using a variety of tools such as funnels, sponges, strainers, cups and straws to explore the nature and characteristics of water.  

Children stirred, poured, measured, transferred and made amazing observations. 

After we made an awesome list of water verbs  like: splash, drip, run, spill, splosh....

Today we used blow art to create some crazy hair using liquid paint and straws.  This helped us start a conversation about how different liquids have different qualities.  We decided that "thin" paint would flow better than thick paint, starting a beginning understanding that liquids have differing viscosities. 

Work Period

Students have been working really hard the past 3 days to get back into the routine of Montessori work period. Many have learned new lessons and are working hard to master their skills.

Pictured above (left to right):
Ordering colours by shade (darkest to lightest); making words with the moveable alphabet; writing research reports about Canadian animals; placing the provinces correctly on a map of Canada

Ask your child about the new lessons they've learned - often talking about lessons and explaining to another person helps solidify their understanding of the skills taught.