Thoughts of the day- February 29 (a leap day!)

What did we do today?

• In word work, the big word was perseverance.
• Today in gym we started mini-tennis.
• In math, we started multiplication by talking about strategies.  The grade 4's reviewed their skills through card games while the grade 3's learned a few strategies such as using your hands, showed a trick for the 9's and repeat addition/ skip counting.
• This afternoon we worked hard to finish our India centers as we will start Tunisia next week with Clay 4 Kids.  Those students working on Alberta had to read maps and identify national parks.

What questions do we have after today?

• What activity will we do tomorrow for multiplication?
• What are some of the books we will be reading during D5 guided reading?
• Is the movie and the book the City of Ember similar or quite different? When are we going to watch it?
• Will we finish our India centers on time?
• What will our next racquet sport be? 

Agenda: February 29

Read 30 min
Treat day Thursday- bring 25¢
Guest speaker tomorrow
Fun lunch Thurs
Our learning celebration is on Thursday @ 2:15pm, is running to classes at 9:30am and 10:55am
Spelling and POW due Friday
Book orders due March 10th- cheque only

Thoughts of the day- February 26

What did we do today?

• For Fresh Air Friday, we fixed up our stools and some groups started to paper mache them to make them sturdier.
• In Daily 5, we had our free read and spelling test.
• We worked on our learning celebration stuff- still top secret until Thursday!

What questions do we have after today?

• Will the paper mache/ plaster of paris harden and make the stools sturdier?
• Will the stools get heavier because we are using plaster of paris?
• For our learning celebration, will our parents enjoy what ideas and "stuff" we will be presenting?

Thoughts of the day- February 25

What did we do today?

• We finished the book!  Today Lina and Doon found a hole and they could see Ember underneath.  They sent a message down and it was found by Mrs. Murdo.  We also got a sneak peek of the second book, where we found that the people of Ember found the way out and we were introduced to a character named Torren.
• Today we had a special guest who is a civil engineer.  He showed us some of the modern engineering structures from around the world. 
• In social we worked on completing all six of the centers plus the suitcase and flag.  Others started a diorama to show our understanding of the Rocky Mountain region.
• Today in math, some of us played capture caper for FACTS, while others did Kakooma on the ipad or fun4thebrain on the computer.
• In music, we played our recorders.  One of our peers translated a Japanese song into English.

What questions do we have after today?

• What book will we read next?
• Will the new people welcome the people of Ember to their village?
• Will we read the People of Sparks next?
• What other games will we learn in math?

Thoughts of the day- February 24

What did we do today?

• Students from Simon Fraser came to visit us for anti-bullying day.  We played knights, horses and cavaliers, a game called infection tag and British bulldog.  We also did a pink t-shirt craft and we read with them too.
• In social, we continued to finish our India centers.  During this time we got some props for our learning celebration.
• We started games in badminton and we learned a new serve.
• Today in the City of Ember Lina, Doon and Poppy emerged to the surface and discovered birds, the moon, trees, the sun, the grass and an important book which tells of how Ember came to be.

What questions do we have after today?

• Will Lina and Doon travel back home to tell the others and will they find any more interesting things?
• What book will we read after this book?
• Will they find any people above ground?
• If people went into the city of Ember, so where is the city they came from? 
• Will they find a city?
• Will the other people in Ember discover the passage and will Doon's father get his message?

Thoughts of the day- February 23

What did we do today?

• In gym we started badminton.
• For buddies, we went and looked at their 100 days of school projects.
• This morning in health, we continued to add our interests to our hearts, and coloured them.  We will be trading parts of our hearts next week.
• In math, we finished phrase 3 of our math mysteries and some of us worked on the game activities from yesterday.
• We continued to use the OREO writing technique to improve our journal writing.
• In music, we had a sub today and we played a song called Lucy Lockett on our recorders.
• In the City of Ember, Lina and Doon set out onto the river with Poppy not knowing what the paddles are for.  One theory Lina had was that they were weapons to fight off hostile creatures.  During the singing, the citizens sand the Song of Darkness in the dark, as the lights went out.

What questions do we have after today?

• What will happen to Doon when the boat shoots forward?  Will one of them fall off the boat?
• Will the lights turn off for good in Ember?
• Will there be anyone to help them outside of Ember? A city?  Food?
• What will they use the paddles for?
• Will Poppy enjoy the ride?
• Will there be a next person to leave Ember?  Who will it be?
• Is there anything in the river?
• Why did they have to build the city underground?

Thoughts of the day- February 22

What did we do today?

• In the City of Ember, Lina got caught by the guards and was taken to the mayor.  There was a blackout and luckily Lina was able to run out and escape.
• This morning in math, we worked on phrase three of the math mysteries and we learned two new games.  One was Long Train Running and the other was called Seeing Doubles.
• We played dodgeball on the first day of the racquet sport unit because we had Mrs. Armour as a sub.
• For word work the big word was bewilderment.
• We worked on our top secret learning celebration.
• In writing, we learned the OREO trick to writing better journal entries and we got to eat double stuffed OREOs to help us work.  OREO stands for opinion, reason, examples and back to stating your opinion.

What questions do we have after today?

• Will the lights turn back on or are they out forever?
• Where will Lina run to?
• Did Doon turn off the lights?  Did he finally figure out the generator?
• Where is Doon, and what is he doing to try and help Lina?
• What will the guards do to find Lina in the dark?

Agenda- February 22-26

Read 30 min
Planning letter due this Fri
POW and spelling test Fri
Fun lunch forms due tomorrow
Wear pink Wednesday for anti-bullying day
Simon Fraser student visit Wed
Library Thursday
Class speaker Thursday

Thoughts of day- February 19

What did we do today?

• We went outside and we used the survivalist skills we learned yesterday. We made shelters with what we had with us. Some of us tried our best to make teepees, while others used their jackets as tarps.We journaled about the nine steps if we were stranded out in the "back country" Whispering Country overnight. (the Whispering Woods).  
• We continued to work on our top secret learning celebration.
• We started our morning with smorgasbord, where are choices were to finish our mystery math and Ember journals or to work on Daily 5 activities.

What questions do we have after today?

• Will we have another opportunity to be a survivalist and work on our shelters?
• Will the lights run out before Lina and Doon evacuate the citizens?
• How will our celebration of learning turn out?  What will it be like?
• When will the Tiny Tim Engineers start building our project to do on our surveyed areas?  Where will we build?

Thoughts of the day- February 18

What did we do today?

• Today a survivalist came to talk about the back country and how to survive in it.  The steps to consider are make a plan, manage the adventure, deal with the dangers, first aid, shelter, make contact, make a fire, water, and food.
• In the City of Ember, Lina and Doon found another room with hundreds of boats to move everyone.  Doon's worm turned into a moth.  They also found out the guards were in on the mayor's secret and had made wanted signs for their whereabouts.  Lina was being chased and then Ms. Jones stopped reading for the day.
• In math, some students played different Math games to practice their adding and subtracting and the grade 4's completed a survey about the school.
• We did more work on our top secret celebration.

What questions do we have after today?

• What will the guards do to Lina if they catch her?
• What will Lina and Doon do with the boats? Will they leave without telling anyone?
• What will Clary think about the note if she receives it?
• Will any of us ever get to use the wilderness skills we learned today?
• How big will our beans grow?  How long will it take to grow the beans?
• Will Doon do anything to help Lina?  Will he announce the information at the Singing?

Thoughts of the day- February 17

What did we do today?

• Today in the City of Ember, they found what was inside the door: a box of matches, a box of candles, paddles,  and ropes attached to a boat.  The river is the way out of Ember!
• In science, we did an experiment to see which shape of pillar would hold the most weight.  The shapes were triangular, rectangular and cylindrical. The cylindrical one held the most weight because there was no corners and the weight was distributed evenly. 
• We led our buddies through the grade 5/6 science fair.  Some neat ones were on building stress, knee compression, research on the solar system, one on chewing gum, composting, demystifying wi-fi, best laundry detergent pods, science with sugar, radio antennas and what pop does to your teeth.
• In math, we did our first FACTS session, where you could activate your brain with a friend or assigned computer games on addition and subtraction.
• We worked on our celebration of learning but it is top secret!
• We worked on more social centers.  The students in Ms. Lee's group finished their article on the Banff housing crisis.
• Lots of students conquered the jungle today in gym and were challenged to do it backwards.

What questions do we have after today?

• How will they fit everyone in the boat in the City of Ember?  What will they do with the candles and matches?
• How will they explain what they found? Will the people believe them?
• What will it look like outside of Ember?
• How deep are they underground?
• What will their reaction be when they get out?
• How will they get out?
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Thoughts of the day- February 16

What did we do today?

• We started our Jungle Safari today in gym.
• In the City of Ember, Lina and Doon were able to find some clues in the Instructions for Egress, which means exit.
• Today in math, we were introduced to FACTS and we solved the second addition and subtraction mystery sheets.
• Instead of science and social, we started to plan what we will do in our assembly/ learning celebration.
• In music, some people were sent home with the Star Wars theme for their recorders.
• In health, we wrote down eight interests which we will share with someone else as part of how to be a friend.

What questions do we have after today?

• Will they find the way out through the Pipeworks in the story?
• Where will the door lead? Will the mayor get arrested?
• What will the Unknown regions look like?

Agenda February 16-19

Read 30 min
Survival presentation for grades 3-6 on Thurs @1:45
Library tomorrow
Noon supervision receipt
Fun lunch form due Feb. 25

Thoughts of the day- February 10

What did we do today?

• In the City of Ember, we found Looper was the stranger and he was delivering supplies to the mayor in a secret stash room.  They found all sorts of food and lightbulbs.  Doon saw the mayor in the room and he and Lina told the guards he was stealing.
• This afternoon, some of us handed out Valentine cards.
• In math, we learned a new game called Farkle and you have to roll six dice. It is like Yahtzee because you can get points based on what you roll.  You subtract those points from 1 000 and the winner is the person who gets to zero first.
• Four students were chosen as volunteers to go to the Kindergarten class to help them with Valentine activities.
• Today was our last day with the centers before we start Jungle Safari next week.
• It was Ms. Jones' actual birthday today.

What questions do we have after today?

• Will the guards tell everyone about the mayor keeping everything to himself?
• Will the guards take their news seriously?  Will they arrest the mayor?  Will they arrest anyone else?
• Are the guards working with the mayor?
• What announcement are the guards going to make?
• Will the mayor get mad at Lina and Doon?
• Since Lizzie is Looper's girlfriend, has she been part of helping the mayor?

Thoughts of the day- February 9

What did we do today?

• In social, we got three new centers, one was about weddings and henna, one was about natural disasters and the last one was about climate.
• This morning in math, we did an I spy game where we looked around the room for addition and subtraction questions.  There were 28 in total.
• Today in the City of Ember we found out Looper is Lizzie's boyfriend and that he has been lurking the storerooms.  We think he is the stranger.
• In health we made signs for Random Acts of Kindness that were put up in the school.  We also finished our Unthinkable comics.
• We continued our climber centers in gym.
• In music, we learned another song called G and A Blues and Sidestep on the recorders.  We also sang a pirate song.  We also showed what we have practiced.
• Today in LA, most of us finished our journaling and some of us started to compare a character from the City of Ember with another character from a different book.

What questions do we have after today?

• What classroom will have the most hearts for student nominations at the end of the month?
• Is Looper the stranger with the key?
• How many "good" things are still in the storerooms and how much has Looper taken?

Thoughts of the day: February 8

What did we do today?

• In the City of Ember, Lina found that Lizzie had a bag of canned peaches, applesauce and creamed corn- all things that had supposably ran out.  We also found out Lizzie has a boyfriend and Lina's granny passed away.
• We finished our Kandinsky abstract out and it will be put up in the school this week.
• Today in gym we started the climber, ropes, ramp and box horse.
• Mrs. Polski came to class to read a story for Random Acts of Kindness month.  It was about people filling your bucket.  We brainstormed some Random Acts of Kindness so that we know what they are.
• In math, we played two games, one called Climb the Ladder to 1 000 and Countdown to Zero.
• For journal writing this week, we have the choice of writing about Lina and Doon or what our Chinese zodiac animal personality is. Some of us our similar, but some of us are different animals like the monkey.

What questions do we have after today?

• Is Lizzie the stranger from the tunnel?
• Who is Lizzie's boyfriend?
• Will everyone have done an act of kindness by the end of the month?
• What does everyone's Kandinsky art look like?
• Did Lizzie get the cans from her boyfriend?  Did she steal them?

Agenda: February 8-10

Read 30 min
No school Feb 11-15th
No POW or spelling this week
Bring Valentines tomorrow
Math and Journal homework
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/chinese-horoscopes/

Thoughts of the day- February 5

What did we do today?

• For science, we worked on supporting our Friday Air Friday stools more.
• We finally did our winter walk outside.  We were supposed to do it Wednesday, but we were away on our field trip.
• Today was our last day with Karen.  We played a game outside where we acted out parts from stories we had heard, and we shared our own with someone else.
• When we came back from outside, we found balloons in the classroom for Ms. Jones' early birthday.

What questions do we have after today?

• How will the stools turn out after they are paper mached?
• What other surprises will there be?
• What will Lina and Doon do in the next chapter?
• Will there be a different "heavy" stool?

Thoughts of the day- February 4

What did we do today?

• We read the City of Ember first thing this morning.  Lina talked to Doon about the instructions.  They went to check the door Doon found in the Pipeworks and they found someone sneaking in.  We think it could be Looper, the Mayor, Doon's dad or the old man who works on the generator.
• With Room 4, we brainstormed what our upcoming assembly March 3rd will be about.
• Today we wrote our own story about a curious girl or boy, based on the stories Karen Gummo has shared with us.  If we finished early, we practiced telling them to each other.
• In gym, we had a lockdown.  After, we worked on our centers, but only got to practice on one.
• In music, we played our recorders for the second time.  Mrs. Lim complimented us for being a self controlled class! 

What questions do we have after today?

• Who is the stranger going into the locked door?
• What will everyone's stories be like?
• Will we learn the Star Wars theme in music?
• How did the stranger get the key to the door? 

Thoughts of the day- February 3

What did we do today?

• We went to Mount Royal University to watch the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.  They played some music, one called Tico Tico and the other the Mambo.  The story was about a boy named Alfie who got lost in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil.  He met a mysterious man who gave him a book.  Alfie, had to unlock the score using rhythm, melody and "the key."  
• After that, we came back and journaled about our visit.  We drew a visualization of the songs and talk about the most memorable part of the performance.  We also had to express the feelings the music made us feel. We could not help but notice that the woman singing had extremely pointed shoes and wore a pretty dress.
• Before the field trip, we started our addition and subtraction unit in math by solving problems to show what we know.

What questions do we have after today?

• What were the other classes' favourite part of the field trip?
• When will we start multiplication and division?
• Does the orchestra do presentations about other countries?

Thoughts of the day- February 2

What did we do today?

• Karen Gummo came to our class today and she told us a story by the brothers Grimm called The Curious Girl.  
• In music, we started recorders today.
• We had buddies today and we showed them how to go on PhotoBooth and take a picture.
• The big word in word work is predicament, which means a problem.  This word is from our book The City of Ember.
• In social, some of us completed a center called the The Rumour, which is about a bunny who is afraid of everything, especially loud noises.  She starts a rumour that the world is ending.
• This morning we read a story called Groundhog Gets A Say and if he sees his shadow, we get 6 more weeks of winter.
• Today in science, we gave our stools some TLC and are fixing them up so that they are even more durable and light weight.
• We started centers with equipment in gymnastics.

What questions do we have after today?

• If Lina and Doon are part of the predicament, will they find the solution?
• What will our next song be for the recorders?
• Did the groundhog see it's shadow?
• Will Doon and Lina find out what the message says?

Agenda- February 2-5

Read 30 min
Field trip tomorrow to CPO- bring a lunch
POW and spelling test Friday
Winter walk Friday
Library Thursday
Report card envelopes need to be signed and returned by Friday
Lockdown practice tomorrow
Book orders due Feb 17th
Story map due Fri