LITERACY
The students were super pumped to jump back into Wonder when I returned! I wouldn't let Mrs. Cross read it to them because I didn't want to miss out on a page of this awesome book! They had a great time over the past three weeks reading fractured fairy tales and a bunch of other favourite picture books...but they were ready for Wonder on Tuesday! Our read aloud time with Wonder is going very well! The students are participating in some great conversations, making thoughtful predictions and making several connections to the book! There are so many times in reading this book each year that students engage in some higher level thinking...it really pushes them. One of the occasions that offers this opportunity is when Mr. Browne's precepts are introduced. Mr. Browne is the fifth grade English teacher and he introduces a new precept each month to his students. A precept is a quote or saying that is important in shaping who we are.
The September precept was:
The September precept was:
When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.
The students and I discussed examples of when we are put in the situation to make this choice and how we can or should handle it. One example that came up that is relevant for student life was a student claiming to be the fastest runner in the school. We talked about how if that person is not the fastest runner, you could tell them that they are wrong and maybe engage in an argument with them. That would be choosing being right. On the other hand, you could ask yourself, "Does it really matter that they think that they are the fastest, even though I know that they aren't?" Asking yourself this question might lead you to reply with, "You sure are a fast runner!" and letting it go. That would be choosing to be kind.
The October precept was:
Your deeds are your monuments.
This was a tricky one...we had to take apart the words first to figure out what it meant. I asked the students what a deed was. Many of them mentioned the phrase, "doing a good deed," and from this we figured out that a deed was an action/thing that someone does. Then we started discussing monuments. We talked about the monuments for the soldiers that have died in the wars and a Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay. We figured out that a monument was something that people remember you for. From this discussion we decided that Your deeds are your monuments means that people remember you by your actions towards them. This lead to an amazing discussion about how you want people to remember you. What actions do you want to be remembered for?
These mindful discussions are EXACTLY why I feel the need to share this book with my class each year! They are at the perfect age to start thinking more deeply about what they read. We are at the time in their literacy development that they can start reading to learn instead of just focusing on learning to read.
The students are also making some strong connections to the different characters in the book. They have strong feelings about Jack, Summer, Julian, Charlotte and August. I ask them to consider who they would want to be more like? What character traits do you value in each character?
This book is told from various perspectives. Our first narrator is August (the main character). From hearing his voice, we get to know him very well, very quickly. The students instantly feel very protective over August and want his new life at school to go smoothly.
Our second narrator was Via, August's older sister. She's in Grade Ten and our class would describe her as extremely smart and independent. Having the opportunity to hear her voice leads to so many great discussions at our carpet. We talked about:
- how it feels when our siblings seem to be getting more attention that we are
- how hard it is for parents when they are trying to give each of their children what they need and that sometimes, we as parents, miss things and forget things...and how this makes us really sad and feel torn sometimes
- how when our parents are busy with our sibling, it's an opportunity for us to practice independence (when appropriate) and patience
Writing time is also very exciting right now! We are diving into the wonderful world of JoAnne Moore's sentence writing! I love this time of year! The students really start seeing the power of word choice and how they can be the authors of the most amazing sentences! JoAnne Moore focuses on two main components with sentence writing:
1) Specific Verbs - using the perfect verb to describe an action
- Instead of just plunking in went into a sentence, students have brainstormed specific verbs for how a specific noun moves. For example, a bear may have trudged, charged or lumbered, while a mouse may have zipped, pitter pattered or scrambled.
- (What) The young mouse zoomed behind the fridge to get away from the cat!
- (Where) Behind the fridge, the mouse zoomed to get away from the cat!
- (When) In a flash, the mouse zoomed behind the fridge to get away from the cat!
- (How - ly) Quickly, the mouse zoomed behind the fridge to get away from the cat!
- (How - ing) Sprinting, the mouse zoomed behind the fridge to get away from the cat!
- (Who) Benjamin the mouse zoomed behind the fridge to get away from the cat!
So far, we have learned how to write what, when and how - ly sentences.
NUMERACY
In math, we have continued our work with division. The students have learned how to:
- write a division sentence for a picture
- write a division sentence based on the information that they are given
- write a repeated addition sentence to math a division sentence and picture
- write related multiplication and division sentences (fact families)
- determine whether or not they need to use multiplication or division, based on the information that they have
SOCIAL STUDIES
We started learning about Ukraine this week! The students were excited to start learning about a country in Europe!
We've discussed how the flag symbolizes the blue sky and the yellow fields of grain.
We discussed the money, official languages, population, size and location of Ukraine. It's so great, by our third country, how you see students really starting to put things together. After comparing the populations of Canada and Ukraine and their size on the map, a hand shot up in the air. I called on the student and they said, "That's a lot of people in a small area...they're going to be crowded!" We then launched into what they already know about countries or cities with "high population density"...expensive housing, more than one generation of families living together, small housing, only the richest of the rich would have a big house with a big yard. I love teaching Social Studies in grade three and watching the students truly turn into global thinkers and global citizens!
