Week #3: Sept. 16th - 20th

Dear Families,

Another mindful and meaningful week for us!  I am very pleased with how my students have smoothly transitioned from summer to school mode :-)

I am also VERY PROUD and DELIGHTED with the students’ efforts and hard work.  It is truly a JOY being back in the classroom and I think I can say for us all, what a gift it is to learn and grow from and with each other :) 

I consider your child a great inspiration to be MY BEST SELF as an educator and human being 💃🏾

Many of the kids look up to me and I take this very seriously.  So I promise to continue putting my best effort to provide the highest standard of education (within and beyond the curriculum) for your child 🙏🏾

We love grade 4 🤗

As you’ve probably gathered from my blog updates thus far, we have been go, Go, GO with our learning in class!  You'll soon read and see how much we’ve accomplished in a mere 3 weeks!

I am looking forward to our continued teaching, learning, and growing as a class family :)

MEET THE TEACHER:

I am really excited to connect with families next week on Thurs. Sept. 26th from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.   😊

By visiting our classroom, I am confident it will provide you with a clearer vision of what it LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE, and FEELS LIKE in our class community.  It is your child's "home away from home."

Pizza may be ordered using school cash online.  Families may order a whole large cheese or pepperoni pizza for $13.00.  It will be available for pick up in the gym the evening of 🍕 

Please note, all orders need to be in by Sept. 20th on school cash online.

Any further questions about this process, please direct them to our principal Mrs. Mortimer mmortimer@scdsb.on.ca 

When you’re done dinner, please come join me in our portable!  

Your child will have many things to share with you such as their desk, mindfulness & math wall, and the other various charts around our classroom that help us be our best selves!  

I will also have some student work placed on desks so you can celebrate some of your child’s achievements in their language, math, and art activities. 

🧘‍♀️ Mindful Minutes 🧘 
Peace 🕊️ Calm 😌 Gratitude 🙏🏾 

We're so excited to share our classroom community with you oh so soon!

KENNEDY'S APPLE ORCHARD:

Prior to coming to Meet the Teacher night, families are welcome to go to our school fundraiser at the Kennedy family's orchard from 4:00 - 5:30PM to pick your own nutritious and delicious apples by donation. It is located at 38 Townley Street in Nottawa.  

Please bring your own bag :)

Please note, all money raised will be put back into our school towards this year’s musical production that will be put on by our talented Nottawa students.

The Kennedy family sure is a model for “LIVING IS GIVING,” always thinking about ways to support and give back to our school family & community :)  

We value and appreciate YOU! 

LANGUAGE:

We have been learning about what 'Good Writers' do in their writing.  Together, we came up with some effective ideas that we will use when we WRITE!  

Students will be provided with and encouraged to using an editing checklist to proof-read their work prior to handing it in and asking themselves:

Please click the image to enlarge it to see the criteria

This school year, we will be focusing on the 4 Writing Forms (see image below) to help build our skills and purpose in writing.  

Over the next several weeks, your child will be learning about writing a Recount.  This style will help build our skills To Describe an event using details and descriptions.  

Below, I have posted the expectations for this (see anchor chart photo).

This week, students had the opportunity to think and write about a special event from their life.  Please ask your child what he or she chose to write about in their Recount.  You will have the opportunity to see these writing pieces at Meet the Teacher next week :)

I'm learning so much about my students from reading their entries!  I am delighted to see everyone has enjoyed spending quality time with their family making special memories at so many amazing venues (cottages, trips away, Wonderland, etc…).

MATH:

This week, our problem of the week focused on a task called 'Counters in the Middle.'

For the task:

• The solver has to recreate the row of counters (created by the designer) by asking as few questions as possible.
• Designer designs a row of 6 counters using 2 or 3 different colours. 
• The solver asks questions to find the correct arrangement!

Before beginning this lesson, we watched and listened to two videos below which helped get our MINDSETS ready to take on challenging math problems.  

These videos foster the notion of developing a growth mindset and to take mistakes as learning opportunities.

Mindset Message - Mistakes

This next video (below) is a story of two seeds – both planted on the same day, in the same soil, in the same garden bed.

One has a growth mindset—with a curious desire to grow and reach the outside world—while the other has a fixed mindset—filled with fear and choosing to remain stagnant in its soil. In class, we have explored the characteristics of a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. We are NEVER striving for perfection, instead I am doing my best to inspire students to honour their mistakes / failures and to LEARN and GROW from them!

Fear is a natural universal emotion, but we must remember that it's the challenges that we face that help us prosper! Tune into the video to learn more :-)

Mindset Message - Developing a Growth Mindset

I always do a modelled lesson first, then allow students to collaborate with a peer to give them the opportunity to 'TALK IT OUT' to build upon their math strategies.

The photo below is a poster which I encourage you to reinforce at home with your child so they continue being well equipped when working with others not only on math tasks, but across all subject areas :)

Below, you will find your child working as a T.E.A.M. (Together Everybody Achieves MORE) to get their brains thinking and communicating in effective ways to solve the math problem entitled 'Counters in the Middle.' :)

Way to go boys and girls! 

SKUNK:

To further reinforce working as an effective team member, I introduced an exciting new math game called SKUNK.  I know, it may not sound like a "math game," but trust me, it is ;)

We had an absolute blast playing it twice this week as a whole class and in partners with a buddy.  I'm sure your child was buzzing about it ;)

Check us out in math action below 👇🏾 

Please have your child explain, model, and play the game with you over the weekend to show you that it's a game of probability, mental math, and communication 😉

EVAN & TEAGAN

Congratulations to Teagan and Evan who won the first game of SKUNK with 60 points! 

Both these students used the G.R.O.U.P.S. strategy very well! So proud of YOU 👏🏾 

G - get along with each other

R - respect each others opinions

O - offer support & ideas

U - use soft voices 

P - participate actively 

S - stay together as a team

4 BLOCK PROBLEM SOLVING:

Throughout the school year, there will be an emphasis on "multi-step word problems" where students will be required to use the 4-Block Problem Solving Method.  See below!  

Remember boys and girls, it's always important when beginning to solve a word problem to ...

🤓 UNDERSTAND (what I know, what needs to be solved)

🧠 MAKE A PLAN (strategies to use) 

✍️ SOLVE (use pictures & number sentences) 

🗣️ EXPLAIN (answer the question in words)

I introduced this math tool today during morning math and the children got to see HOW I used it to solve the Brain Stretch problem. 

We’ll be using this problem solving method throughout the school year 🤓 

As the year goes on, the kids will become more comfortable and confident using it I promise 😃  After all, Practice Makes PROGRESS!” 

MINDFULNESS:

In class, there is a daily emphasis on having an 'ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.'  What does this mean?  

Gratitude is the feeling of being thankful and appreciating the people and world around you.  It's an EMOTION or FEELING, just like happiness, sadness, and anger.  

You feel gratitude when you're thankful for things like your family, friends, your health, and everything else that makes you happy.  

In fact, when you feel grateful for anything - no matter how big or small --> THAT'S GRATITUDE!

I’ve taught the students a catchy saying, it goes like this … “Have an attitude of gratitude and your life will be filled with JOY!” 

Please watch the video below with your child and learn more about this way of living your life :)

My hope is that it will inspire you and your family to continue noticing and appreciating all the things in your life!  

You may wish to discuss it aloud to each other or write it down in your very own gratitude journal :-)  Give it a try!

MINDFUL WALK:

After discussing the importance of gratitude, we went for a mindful walk and I encouraged the children to look, listen, smell, and appreciate the scenery (Mother Earth) around them :)

There were so many things for us to be grateful for while being out in nature walking such as admiring the caterpillars, grasshoppers, milkweed, twigs, cedar bushes, the MANY

towering trees, and so much more!  

We truly live, work, and play in the most stunning community!  #Nottawarocks

I captured a few photos for you to see :)  Here we are seizing and savouring our time outdoors! Ahhhh, BLISS 🥰

So the next time you're out on a wellness walk with your family, I encourage you to reflect upon and give thanks to what you see, hear, smell, and touch on your adventure 🌳 

ETHAN:

Speaking of gratefulness, thank you to Ethan and family for donating MANY tabs for our initiative to support children with accessibility needs (e.g., wheelchairs).

Thank you for making YOUR MARK with your contributions! It’s helping us reach our goal of filling our 5 gallon bottle! 

GROWTH MINDSET:

I really like this one!  This quote means that all people are created equal and we must not discriminate towards anyone.  After all, we're all part of the same species, HUMAN. 

We should all be treated with equality and nobody should be treated otherwise.

If someone's 'below' you (like in the photo), please reach down and give them a helping hand :-)

We all have it in us to give, Give, GIVE.

From my heart to yours DANKE,

Ms. Gill