Ruth King Division 2

Hello!

Two months in and we have covered so much already.

In math this week we continued looking at estimates. Its been tricky so far, but with all of our practice we are becoming experts.  Next week we will be getting close to the end of our while numbers unit, and start preparing for the test.

During language arts we worked on finishing our good copies of our horror stories; some of them are really spooky! We also looked at readers theatre, and practices two of them in preparation for next week’s Remembrance day assembly. There were a lot of volunteers wanting to perform, so it should make for a great presentation.

In social studies we have started finalizing our Natural Resource booklets. So far they look fantastic, filled with a lot of informative opinions about the positives and negatives of each of the resources we looked at. They should be ready for display just in time for parent teacher conferences. In Friday we also looked at how paper is recycled, and how it can be turned back into more paper.

First we took recycled paper and ripped it into smaller pieces.

Then we added it to our blender, with water, to make our paper pulp slury mix.

Next we strained the water out, removing as much liquid as possible.

And finally we let it dry over the weekend. Hopefully by Monday we will have some home made paper! All depends if the students were able to flatten theirs enough.

We started our investigation into simple machines this week in science, by designing and making catapults! It started off slowly, but students started learning from their mistakes, and adapting their designs to improve their catapult.

By the end of the week the students were able to report what worked, what didn’t,  and what they needed to do improve their design.

Next week we will be nearing the end of whole numbers, place value, and estimation unit. We will be practicing our readers theatre, as well as starting to create our own stories and scripts. Going further into simple machines, looking at what the 6 simple machines are, and where we find them in our environment. Finishing off our natural resources unit with a game of Jeopardy and a unit test. Interviewing a partner in french, asking about their mood and preferences. Finish our study of Georgia O’keefe in art. And finally performing our readers theatre for the school on Friday. Sounds like it’s going to be a busy week!

Hello!

We started off this week with a little bit of French. So far we have covered basic conversation and masculine/feminine concepts. We have started looking at stating preferences using words such as ‘aimer’ (to like) , ‘adorer’ (to love), and ‘deteste’ (to hate).

In Language Arts, we prepared for our grammar test by making silly sentences about animals using verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Our test on Thursday went well, gave me a good look at which area some students need to review.

Math took a little longer this week to understand. We looked at place value by exploring standard form, expanded form, and written form. At first, there were too many numbers to pay attention to, but one we were able to organise and put each digit into their place value, the students were able to grasp the concept.

During science, we challenged each other to a solutions separation, where each group would make a solution mixutre, and another groups would have to try and separate the ingredients.

Eventually groups figured out faster methods to separating their solution, filtering it as much as possible before trying to evaporate.

Hopefully next week we will see some evaporated crystals.

In social studies this week, we looked at the forestry industry of BC, primarily focusing on clear cutting, discussing the pros and cons. So far out resource booklets are coming together nicely.

And finally in art, we are also finished our Picasso self portraits. About 8 of them are up, I will post a picture when more are completed.

Next week, we will be looking at rounding and estimating on math, scary story writing in language arts, the fishing industry and aqua farming of BC in Social studies, and finishing our solutions unit in science, with a Jepordy Game to review for our test on Thursday.

Hello!

We finished our pattern unit in math this week. Using student created questions, most of the students did really well with the test, and all students have shown some improvement!

We practiced our words their way spelling unit, learning about the different activities we can do with our spelling words. We also looked at subject, predicate, and nouns this week in grammar.

This week we focused on the different energy resources we use in British Columbia. Groups researched a specific energy, looking at what we use it for, and any environmental impacts they may have.

We also started our resource booklets, working on some minor energy projects.

In science we investigated solutions further, looking into the scientific definitions of solute, solvent, and the process of concentration levels. We looked at dissolving levers of salt and water, and at what point it becomes fully saturated, no longer dissolving.

At the end we set our salt water aside in different size containers, hoping to look at how it will affect evaporation.

For September in French we have been practicing our beginning conversations, looking into masculine and feminine work, and finally started using pronouns.

And finally for art we began looking at the work of Vincent Van Gogh, each creating our own take on the sunflower and starry night using chalk pastels.

Next week we will be starting our whole numbers unit, looking into place value. Start our words their way unit in spelling. Look at verbs and adverbs in language arts. Investigate super saturation levels in science. Research mining and minerals in social studies. And start our Picasso self portraits for art.

Have a good long weekend!

Hello!

As we moved into our second week, we started working with patterns in math. It was a slow start, but with some practice we were doing well by the end of the week.

In language arts we looked at how to design and write a paragraph, how it includes a topic sentence, 3 to 5 supporting ideas, and a closing sentence. We discussed how a paragraph resembles a burger, the intro top bun, the meat and veggies middle, and the bottom bun closing sentence. If one piece is missing, the burger/paragraph falls apart.

This week in science we looked at the different densities of liquids. We started with observing and hypothesizing the density of five liquids, if they would mix, and which liquid they thought would be more dense.

After mixing our liquids they created a rainbow in a bottle, showing purple, blue, green, and orange (red and yellow mixed). After they shook the bottles, and some of the liquids mixed further…

Later in the week we used our scientific method to hypothesize about oil and water. A fun little experiment were everyone was able to make a home made lava lamp.

In social studies we reviewed our Canadian Regions, and using ipads researched a specific region in a group. Once finished the groups broke up and shared their funding with each other.

I

Next week we will continue with our math patterns (looking at real life scenerios), language arts adjectives and synonyms, start our reading synopsis, dive into social studies natural resources, and look at different ways to filter and clean dirty water in science. Should be a lot of fun!

Hello students and parents of Ruth King Elementary.

Welcome to our classroom website. Here you will find weekly updates about what our class is learning about.

This first week we will be focusing on reviewing what we know from Grade 4, learning about our schedule and daily routines, and coming together as a class, learning from each other, and building a classroom community.

We have a lot of fun and engaging lessons planned for this year.