Ms. Kooner's Grade 3/4 Class

Here is our learning for the week of March 2: In-line skating: - we had so much fun with our first time in-line skating this year - remember to bring your helmet if you want - we are skating next week on Monday and Wednesday - we learned "sit, scissors, break" for stopping - we learned you have to pick up your feet to move forward Writing: - we learned about sentence fluency this week - in a piece of writing, you should have short and long sentences, your sentences should begin in different ways and when you read your writing it should flow and have good rhythm Math: - the grade 3s played a multiplication board game - we started and finished a task about estimating how much money we collected for the Water for South Sudan donations - we collected $432.60!!! Art: - we started an art investigation this week - students got to rank their top choice for which artist they wanted to study and then got mixed up into groups across all the gr. 3/4 teachers - we stu...

Here is our learning for the week of February 24: Exhibit: - last night we had our exhibit for the year! - everyone did such a great job with their presentations. The parents learned a lot about journalling and the students had fun being the teachers. - everyone really enjoyed playing our cardboard arcade in the gym and looking at our Alberta regions/natural resources as well. - students enjoyed showing their parents all of their learning on the bulletin boards too! - thank you for coming and thank you for donating to Water for South Sudan! - we got to play our games again on Friday morning! Pink Shirt Day: - on Feb. 26 it was Pink Shirt Day. The theme was "lift each other up". We talked about kindness, bullying, caring for others and creating a supportive community French: - we did a word search about French words about classroom objects Gym: - we played outside this week and had to get with a group and use a ball to create our own game Social Studies: - ...

Here is our learning for the past 2 weeks: Gym: - we have finished up our gymnastics unit in gym with Mission Impossible! We moved through an obstacle course while our peers watched us. We had many rules we had to follow and it was very difficult to make it to the end! Science: - we finished making our cardboard arcade games. We got to try them out today! There are really cool and lots of fun to play! Parents will be able to play our games on our exhibit night, Feb. 27. We are asking for a suggested $2 donation to enter the arcade. The money we raise will be sent to Water for South Sudan . Exhibit: - we finished our posters that we will use for our presentations on exhibit night. We will be teaching parents and families how to create a "6 Room Poem"! Math: - we did a fun "threepeat" problem. Ask me about it! - we had an array scavenger hunt French/Math: - gr. 4s completed a survey about the school - gr. 3s played multiplication Bingo and multiplicat...

Here is our learning for the week of Feb. 3 Science: - we started building our arcade games for the cardboard challenge - we had to make a plan before we got to build - next week we will start testing our games French: - we are learning the names of classroom items Gym: - we started gymnastics - we have worked through 7 different stations focusing on levels, balances, control and creativity - next week will still be gymnastics but we will start Mission Impossible Handwriting: - we learned how to write e, l, i, t, u and w Exhibit: - our exhibit of learning is on Feb. 27. Parents and families are invited to come! We will be teaching the parents how to journal. Our class will be teaching the technique, 6 Room Poetry, and each group will need to create a poster about this technique. We started some of the poster work this week. The exhibit will be from 6pm to 8pm that night Math: - we were working on the Penny Project for almost 3 classes - What is the number of pen...

Social Studies: - we are almost finished our models! - we have worked so hard to start putting together all the pieces and adding the finishing touches to our projects Gym: - we finished up with floor hockey with a few days of games - we played bench ball and Dr. Dodgeball! Math: - we tried to define what division means - we practicing writing the matching multiplication and division facts that go together. Ex. 18 / 3 = 6, 18 / 6 = 3, 3 x 6 = 18, 6 x 3 = 18 Writing/Reading: - we have practiced describing a character in narrative writing - we tried using our 5 senses and "show don't tell" to add interesting details - we created "feelings posters" that listed ways to show an emotion instead of telling  what a character is feeling - we have continued with our partner novel study and will do the second activity on Monday REMINDERS: - Literacy week, Jan. 27 to Jan. 30. Monday: Read My Shirt Day, Thursday: Dress As My Favourite Character - No schoo...

Here is our learning for the first 2 weeks back after Winter break: Printing: - we finished our last printing class with the OT Rose. We learned a lot and our printing has got a bit neater. - we will be learning how to do cursive writing very soon Language Arts: - we've started a partner novel study. We are in groups of 2 or 3 and we are reading a novel with our group and writing about each section as we go - Narrative Writing - we are learning how to be better story writers. So far we have learned how to write an entertaining story beginning. There are 4 techniques: action, dialogue, sound, thought/question. Ask me about each one! - we made word lists to hang up in the classroom to help us with action words, dialogue words and sound words Social Studies: - we have stopped working on our google slide show and now are creating a model to go with the slide show - the model explains how our natural resource works Science: - we did some more experimenting and learning a...

Here is our learning for the week of December 16. Winter Fun! - we had 2 days of caroling in the gym where we sang Christmas songs and danced - all of the grade 3/4 classes got to go to 4 different holiday activities like buddy reading, crafts, reader's theatre and a winter booklet Social Studies - we are almost done our google slide presentations - In January, we will start creating the models of our natural resources to go with our presentations Printing - we had another visit from the OT and we learned about spacing, margins, reversals and size of letters Math - more subtraction learning and we had a second subtraction quiz to see how much we've learned Writing - we wrote about the book A Long Walk to Water. We tried writing in paragraphs again and tried to write a conclusion UPDATES/REMINDERS - Today is Mr. Landra's last day with the grade 3/4s. In January their teacher will be Mrs. McLean - Mr. Landra got a pie to the face from Ms. Seaman on his la...

Here is our learning for the week of Dec. 9: Math: - continued with subtraction - solved some problems where we had to organize our work - solved some problems where we had to use our answer from the previous question to answer the next question Social Studies: - every group is now working on their presentation - each group has chosen to create a Google Slides presentation A Long Walk to Water: - we finished the story! - it had a surprise ending! - we watched Salva's TED talk and Linda Sue Park's TED talk Linda Sue Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=40xz0afCjnM&feature=emb_title Salva: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWlNdnFicLE&feature=emb_title Winter Market: - we had the market last night and the school raised over $1700 to help support families and people in need. Thank you to everyone who came and donated! French: - the grade 4s played French Bingo with colours, numbers and phrases Gym: - we have continued with curl...

December 2019: The curricular areas we are currently studying are: Social Studies: Resources and Natural Regions of Alberta Science:  - Waste in Our World Math: - Number Sense: operations, place value, composing/decomposing numbers - Patterns: noticing/discovering patterns while solving problems - Space & Shape: measurement (calendars, linear measuring) Language Arts: - Novel Study: A Long Walk to Water ~ Linda Sue Park - Story writing - Response to discussions, reading, viewing Art: - drawing what we see - facial features - looking closely at objects, nature, art Physical Education: - Games using rackets, scoops, paddles: hand-eye coordination - volleyball, curling - Elements of games - cooperative activities For more specific details about these areas, please go to the Learn Alberta site. http://www.learnalberta.ca/ProgramsOfStudy.aspx?lang=en

Here is our learning for the week of Dec. 2 Gym - we started curling - we have the curling equipment for 2 weeks! A Long Walk to Water - we are continuing to read this exciting story - we did a journal page about Salva's time living in a refugee camp for 6 years Music - we watched the movie Mary Poppins French - the Gr. 4s had a quiz - today we learned numbers in French - we played a memory matching game with numbers Printing - we have had an occupational therapist visit our classroom twice this week to teach us about neat printing and help us develop good printing habits Social Studies - some groups have started their presentations on natural resources and regions of Alberta - we created a checklist of criteria that each group needs to have in their presentation Art - we worked a bit more on our mural from 2School Math - we are focused on subtraction for the next few weeks - we are working with equations that require regrouping of the tens and hundred...

Monday, November 25 - Sketching artifacts from the old classroom in the Dr. Carl Safran building - Tour of the old building that was Calgary's first high school - learned about Calgary's past with wood, sandstone and brick buildings - Up to the 8th floor to view the downtown skyline and we saw the Cougar mural - walked to Cassie Suche's mural. Cassie spent about 30 minutes with us answering our questions - walked back to 2School and Cassie helped us create our very own mural that had "the city" as it's theme Tuesday, November 26 - Interviewed Mr. Usih, the Chief Superintendent - Watched a board meeting with the trustees - Walked to Thomson Family Park and played on the playground and learned about the history of the park. It is at 1236 16th Ave SW - Journaled about the park Wednesday, November 27 - Started our morning at the Central Library - we had a special room booked just for us - toured the library and journaled about art, architecture an...

Here is our learning for the week of Nov. 12. In gym we started learning volley ball skills. We have learned how to "bump" and "volley". We got to try carrying large buckets of full water bottles across the field to experience what life is like for Nya from A Long Walk To Water. In social studies we have started learning about the natural resources in Alberta. We are researching solar power, hydro power, oil, natural gas, coal, agriculture and forestry. We are going to become an expert in one of these areas and then we will present our findings to our classmates. In music, we discovered a different instrument. It is called a gamalon and it's from Indonesia. It's sort of like a metal drum. We also wrote a 3 section story based on the feelings and rhythm from a song. In French, the grade 4s are learning colour names. The grade 3s learning a new math game called Achi. We started using the website readtheory.org to improve our reading comprehension....

Here is our learning for the week of November 4. Today we had our Remembrance Day assembly. The grade 5/6s sang songs and read poetry. We created a visual journal page about remembering those who have fought for our freedom and those that have lost their lives doing so. We also made poppy art this week that was displayed in the gym for the ceremony. We also read a story called "The Promise" about 2 sisters that were prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp.  For literacy centres we finished writing a letter to a character and we got to start a new task. We picked a different character from a book we have read and pretended we were a journalist interviewing that character. We had to write interview questions and answers. In science, we presented our recycled materials projects. We had time to practice as a group and then we presented to different groups of peers. In math we started to solve multiplication problems by using either repeated addition or drawing an array. We...

Here is our learning for the week of Oct. 28. In science we are going to create a project out of only recycled materials. We created criteria to follow while we build. Today we are making a plan and then we will get to build next week. PLEASE BRING RECYCLING MATERIALS TO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK FOR OUR PROJECTS! We started guided reading groups. Every Tuesday and Thursday we work on our reading and writing skills and some of us work with a different grade 3/4 teacher during these times. On Tuesday, we got to choose a book, pick a character from the book and write a letter to the character. Ask me what I did today for guided reading! In math, we are focusing on multiplication. We are drawing arrays of different math facts. For example, 5 x 4, we can say 5 rows of 4, which is 20. In music, we are practicing making our own beat. We are playing a beat on the "jambay" drums. We are also working in groups on "sol fej" (we know that is spelled wrong!) with hand signals. ...

Here is our learning for the week of Oct.21.      On Tuesday, we had our field trip to Ralph Klein Park and the Shepard Landfill. When we first arrived, we got a tour of the building there. The building walls were made out of rocks and wire cages. It seemed like we were on a floating structure over the water. We did some learning in one of the classrooms where we learned about animals and how sometimes they eat plastic. We investigated more about plastic and how it impacts the environment. Next, we got back on the bus and toured around the landfill and composting facility. We learned about the different layers in the ground and how garbage is packed with dirt to make a garbage hill that is eventually covered in grass. It takes 5 years to fill one cell of the landfill! After that, we went back to the classroom and created our own action plan for how we could each take care of the environment.      We had our last day of swimming on Wednesday! Some of us ...

Here is our learning for the week of Oct. 15. We had picture day on Thursday. Order forms will be sent home soon and you can order prints if you like. In science, we used Google Slides on the laptops to create a flow chart that explains how a product is made. We got to choose our own product and learned how to search for images on the web to add to our slides. In our visual journals we learned how to journal about architecture - we went outside and observed buildings and structures like the school, houses, the geo-dome and the playground.. On our walk to Confederation Park we focused on journalling about nature. We went swimming on Wednesday! REMEMBER: We have swimming on Monday and Wednesday next week! We started reading "A Long Walk to Water". We have read 3 chapters and had lots of discussions and reflecting after each chapter. We learned that the author Linda Sue Park wrote a haiku poem when she was only 9 years old and got it published in a children's magaz...

Here is our learning for the week of Oct. 7! In science we tried creating flow charts that charted the process of how certain objects were made. For example, a pencil crayon is made up from wood, lead, pigment, wax, water and paint. We thought about what waste was produced from making a pencil crayon. Then we tried this with many different objects. In gym we have been using scoops and balls. We practiced tricks, passing and today created our own games. On Monday we went swimming! It was so much fun!! Today we had Fun Lunch! You can click here if you want to order for upcoming Fun Lunch day! We started a novel study this week. Ms. Kooner will be reading "A Long Walk to Water" to the class. We have not read a chapter yet but we completed some questions to get us thinking about the story. We will read the book chapter by chapter and complete learning tasks after each chapter. Today we got to look at 3 different sketches of old buildings in Calgary. We followed a jou...

Learning Update Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 In math we started creating our own classroom calendar. We noticed that a lot of us were not sure how to use a calendar so we decided to create our own. The grade 4s learned about decimals this week while the grade 3s finished their SLAs. The grade 3s learned how to play Roll to 100 with a 10-sided die. All students worked on a math task that involved adding 3 consecutive numbers and looking at a pattern between the middle number and the sum. All students also learned how to play Cannibal Fish! Ask us how to play! We have continued with solving "Question of the Day" puzzles that wake up our brains! They are quick puzzles that take 5 - 10 minutes to solve and involve critical thinking. On Monday it was Orange Shirt Day. We learned about residential schools, what happened to First Nations children and we reflected on what we could learn from this part of our past. We got to log in to our Gmail accounts and compose a document that liste...

Here is our learning for the week of September 23! Yesterday we participated in the Terry Fox Run! We ran around in the field in the freezing cold rain but we still had fun. We collected money for the Terry Fox Foundation. As a school we ran a total distance that would have taken us from Thunder Bay to Medicine Hat!  We started the Student Learning Assessments for the grade 3s this week. All students wrote about "If I Could Be A Teacher For A Day" and just the grade 3s answered literacy and math questions on an iPad while the grade 4s.........started FRENCH! Bonjour!  We used laptops a lot this week! We practiced logging in and we started to learn how to properly type by using www.typing.com. Students will be sent home with their login information to this website next week.  We read some more updates from our 2School teacher Margeaux and learned about native plants to Alberta as well as the event Doors Open YYC happening this weekend.  We finished...