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January 19th to January 23rd

This week, we began learning about area ! The students learned that area is the amount of space inside a shape, exploring this idea using hands-on materials and visual models. To start, students measured area by using square units and tiling . They covered shapes completely with squares and counted how many squares were needed to fill the space. This helped students understand that area is measured in square units and that there should be no gaps or overlaps when measuring. Students compared different shapes and discovered that shapes can have the same area even if they look very different. Using tiles allowed students to explain their thinking and see how area stays the same even when shapes are rearranged. Next, we will connect this concrete learning to a more efficient strategy by introducing the formula base × height for finding the area of rectangles. This will help students move from counting individual squares to using multiplication as a faster and more accurate way to c...
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Recent posts

January 12th to January 19th

Our zoo field trip on Monday was a huge success, and we were lucky to have perfect weather for the day! Students had a great time touring the zoo and learning more about animals in real-life habitats. One of the highlights was examining owl pellets, which was a fun and engaging way to wrap up our learning about animals. This activity helped students apply what we’ve been studying in class about animals’ sensory organs and special structures, and how these features help them survive. Students were able to make strong connections between their classroom learning and what they observed during the trip, making the experience both exciting and meaningful. We are now moving on to our next science unit on Earth’s spheres. In this unit, students will learn about how the Earth’s different spheres work together to support various environments, as well as the plants and animals that live within them. A big thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers who helped make the day run so smoothly — y...
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January 5th to January 9th

  Our Grade 4 students are beginning a creative writing project inspired by the picture book . This story helped us talk about big ideas like belonging, kindness, and how being different can be a good thing. Students connected with Barnabus and his journey, and it encouraged them to think about what it really means to be “perfect.” Using the book as inspiration, students are creating and writing about their own . Each student is designing a made-up creature that may look unusual or have surprising features, but is special in its own way. Just like Barnabus, these pets might not be perfect, but they are lovable and important. In their writing, students are describing their pet’s body parts and explaining how they move and what they help the creature do. They are also choosing strong describing words to show the pet’s personality. Next week, the students will work to write their ideas into clear, organized paragraphs, adding details so their reader can really picture their creature. ...
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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...
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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!
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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...
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