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December 8th to December 12th

This week in Grade 4 math, students extended their understanding of decimals by learning about hundredths . Using a variety of hands-on tools, they explored how decimals represent parts of a whole in meaningful ways. We learned about how tenths and hundredths fit together and how small changes affect the value of a number. We looked at real like examples of decimals in action including watching short clips of timed sports. The students had a chance to see this in action as they timed one another as they ran across the gym. They were excited to see how their times were measured to the hundredth. From there, students practiced showing decimal values in multiple forms, including: as a decimal, a fraction, on a number line and in words . This helped strengthen their number sense and understanding that numbers can be represented in different but equivalent ways. You can support learning at home by talking about decimals you see in everyday life, such as prices, measurements, or distances. A...
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December 1st to December 5th

It is hard to believe that we are already into the month of December! We started our week with a great deal of excitement as we opened our mystery package. It was a special delivery connected to our Greedy Gnome math mystery. Inside, were gnomes for each table group. The groups were excited to work together to use the gnome naming chart to create the gnome name that best reflected their group. We were also very excited to partner with our Grade 2 buddies for a shared literacy activity focused on winter stories and collaborative creation. The grade fours were so excited to be back with their buddies! Each Grade 4 student selected a winter-themed story to read aloud to their Grade 2 partner. The reading time gave older students an opportunity to practise fluency and expression. After the reading, each pair chose one meaningful part of the story to recreate together using loose parts. The students demonstrated creativity as they used a wide variety of materials to design their chosen scen...

November 24th to November 27th

Thank you so much for coming out to conferences! It was wonderful to celebrate your children’s hard work, growth, and learning with you. We truly appreciate the time you took to connect with us and share in the excitement of their accomplishments. Your support makes such a difference! This week, our class wrapped up our math work on representing larger numbers in a variety of ways. The students practiced using standard form, expanded form, word form, place-value models, and number lines. They showed great confidence  in demonstrating their understanding. Next week, we will begin our work on decimals . Students will explore tenths and hundredths and learn how decimals connect to fractions and real-life situations. It should be an exciting new challenge!
This week, we continued with our work in Social Studies with how focus, How Canada became a country. We learned about the Seven Years’ War and how it helped shape the early story of Canada. We explored the causes of the war, the key events, and the important outcomes, such as how New France was taken over by Britain. As the students developed their understanding, they collaborated with one another and organized information into groups. This helped the students to better understand how these events in the war affected the people living in North America at the time and helped shape the country we know today. Next week, we will extend this understanding by exploring different perspectives from the past. Using loose parts, the students will work in groups to build models that represented the wants, concerns, and viewpoints of French settlers, British officials, Indigenous Nations, and British merchants. Learning Outcome: I can demonstrate an understanding of how Canada became a country by...

November 13th and 14th

Our Grade 4 students have begun an exciting new research project! Last week, we modeled the full process together as a class—reading a nonfiction text about wolves, taking clear point-form notes, and planning and writing a well-organized paragraph. Students are now moving into independent practice, applying these skills to research an animal of their choice. As they read, students are working toward the outcomes: “discuss a variety of facts expressed in nonfiction text and explain how animals use their senses to respond to their environments.”   You’ll see them exploring how different animals use sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing to survive and meet their needs. Students will be proud to share their work with you during conferences at the end of the month. You’ll be able to see their note-taking, planning, and writing progress firsthand. We’re excited to see the creativity and curiosity coming through in their research!

November 2nd to November 3rd

Over the past weeks, the students have been very engaged in The Case of the Greedy Gnome! This exciting math mystery has the students practicing their addition and subtraction skills and applying their knowledge of graphing to solve the mystery of which gnome stole food from the supply room. First, the students identified key information in the graphs and questions, highlighting necessary information. Then, they interpreted different types of graphs with differing scales, including bar graphs, line plots, pictographs and pie charts. After doing this, they answered the questions and eliminated suspects to identify the guilty gnome. We are very excited to solve our final clue next week to finally reveal the identity of the greedy gnome!  Learning Outcomes: I can interpret data represented in pictographs, bar graphs, dot plots, and more. I can understand the use of scale to share data in different graphs.
It was so  great to be back with our students — their energy and enthusiasm make every day wonderful! The Halloween parade was a highlight of the week, with so many creative and fun costumes on display. As we settle back in, we’ll be picking up right where we left off: Math: Representing numbers up to the hundred thousands Science: Exploring animal senses and habitats Language Arts: Developing strong paragraph writing skills Social Studies: Learning about how Canada became a country Thank you for your ongoing support at home. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween — and as always, Go Blue Jays Go! 💙🍁