Science - Testing with Materials and DesignsStudents are busy working in centers to test the strength of materials and to experiment with techniques for joining in connection with our Testing Materials unit. They have learned what a fair test is and continue to use this scientific thinking throughout their work. Science - Hearing and Sound
Novel Study - CrenshawAs part of our learning to read for detail, students were asked to find specific description of the main character's imaginary friend - a cat named Crenshaw. They then were challenged to draw what he might look like based upon the descriptions that they found. Culture of EPSAs we observed our school through our investigations of quality of life and the culture here at Elbow Park School, students developed some ideas of what we could do to make our school even better.
Their work as anthropologists, observing and analyzing the data they collected, led students to believe that there are three areas where they, as grade 3/4 students, could help to improve our school: Physical Safety, Emotional Safety, and Trust. They are currently working on ways to share their message with other students throughout our school. Students are working by themselves or in small groups to create posters, slide shows, podcasts, and videos to share what they have noticed and what we all could do to improve. Although these posters are not totally completed, we have shared some below.
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Welcome back! Hopefully this week, our full class will be back from their extended holidays. Last week we enjoyed an opportunity to work with Three Left Feet to learn some specific dances from different cultures. This connected perfectly to our investigation of quality of life and what it means to be human. As we complete our study of the Elbow Park School culture over the next few weeks we will transition to looking at the ways that people of different countries meet their needs and what influences their quality of life. We have two University of Calgary student teachers, Ms. Brewer and Ms. Birkey, who will be with us for the first four weeks after Spring Break. As they are in their first year of the education program, they will be teaching one or two lessons per day during their time with us. Our next field trip is on Tuesday, April 25. Ms. Montanaro's class will be going to Telus Spark for the Junior Architects program and Mr. Messer's class will be participating in the Soup Sisters program at a new venue, the culinary arts program kitchen at Lord Shaughnessy High School at 2336 – 53 Ave. S.W. CrenshawWe have recently begun a read-aloud entitled Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate. As we explore our inquiry question, “What Does It Mean to be Human?” and look at ideas of quality of life, this book provides us with an example of a family’s story that might be different than ours. In this book, Jackson and his family are having a difficult time with paying their rent and getting enough food. A large imaginary cat comes into Jackson’s life to help him. This story about family, friendship and developing resilience provides us with a window into the lives of those less fortunate. As we continue to reflect on factors that influence quality of life and ways people can make a difference to others, the themes in this novel allow students to reflect upon concepts we have been studying in social studies. Using the adjectives describing the characters from the novel, students created plasticine models of Crenshaw and Jackson. Math FactsStudents have set a weekly goal for learning their basic facts. They have chosen a fact family (example: the -7s or the x8s) to learn through games at school and by practicing at home. We have suggested that spending a few minutes a day, for example, in the car on the way to an activity, will help students to learn a few new facts each week. Studies show that learning just a few facts at a time leads to greater retention. By the end of grade 3, students should be able to understand and recall their addition facts up to and including 9 + 9 and the related subtraction facts to 18 - 9. They should also understand and recall their multiplication facts to 5 x 5 and the related division facts. Grade 4 students' goal is to recall their addition and subtraction facts as well as the multiplication and related division facts up to and including 7 × 7. Many students are practicing up to 10 for each fact family. Traffic Safety Presentation - March 7Representatives from the Calgary Police Department (Constable Steve) and the Alberta Motor Association (Karen) came to talk to us about traffic safety and taking steps to keep ourselves safe. Important safety information that they reviewed included: Where are safe places to cross the road?
How do you safely cross the road at a flashing pedestrian light?
New understandings have resulted in understanding that looking both ways is not good enough because we don't check around corners or behind us. The last place to look, after all the other places cars might come from, take a last look left because that is the traffic lane is closest. A distracted pedestrian is the most common reason for traffic fatalities of young people - usually they were using their phones or wearing ear buds. Students were reminded that habits they develop now as they are young will continue throughout their lives. Look for the safe gap in traffic Ask, does that car have enough time to stop?
Use the 3P's when crossing the road (after looking and ensuring you have a safe gap)
Students were reminded that they should be educating their parents when they are not being safe! ;-) We watched this commercial, as a reminder, "Heads up, phones down" Jeanette McCurdy's Chicken Commercial Soup Sisters Field TripOn February 28, students in Ms. Montanaro's class went to the Cookbook Company to make soup with an organization called Soup Sisters for needy youths in Calgary. Connecting to our social studies inquiry around quality of life and how kids can make a difference for others, students fundraised and made 190 servings or 3 meals for the Cornerstone Youth Centre. Mr. Messer's class will be going to make soup on Thursday, April 25. Some student reflections about the program follow here: ~ "Cornerstone Youth Centre is an organization that gives children that have trouble in life food, technology, and proper care... We went to the Cookbook Co to give children in need a healthy meal and we made them feel better How could you enjoy anything if you didn't eat?" ~ Robin ~ "Today we went on a field trip and it wasn't like any old field trip and we went there for fun. Today was different." ~ Sophia ~ "We went to Soup Sisters because in social studies we learned about kids making a difference and I think our teachers wanted us to make a difference in kid's lives. Also because it is nice to do something nice for someone in need." ~ Sophia ~ "We went because we are studying quality of life and how we can make a difference for people. So we made soup to help and learn how we can make a difference. We want kids and families to have a good quality of life and food. We wan them to meet their basic needs." ~ Lauren ~ "We went to that club to make a difference. At school we were reading articles of kids who told that kids can't make a difference but the people in our articles were only kids and they made a difference and that encouraged us that not only adults and grownups can make a difference but kids can, too! ~ Carlos ~ "We went because we are talking about human needs in social studies and we want to help kids in need so they have the life and education they need. Also we went to learn how to cook and have fun while being safe, too!" ~ Davis ~ "The Cornerstone Youth Centre is a small little home not in the most friendliest area. What they do is they make healthy food and give it to the kids. Also, they welcome kids in that area to come and make them feel safe and happy." ~ Rylee ~ "I went because I thought that it was going to be fun and as soon as they send the soup to the kids I would think to myself and say I helped kids in need." ~ Allegra ~ " We went to help kids in need and everybody in my class are very lucky and those type of kids are not. So we made soup for them as a healthy dinner." ~ Frances ~ " We went because we have been learning about children making differences in the world. So we wanted to do the same thing by making food for children in need." ~ Jack ~" Since we were studying about kids making a big difference and we wanted a chance to make a big difference ourselves. Then a parent brought up Souper Kids, a program where kids come in to kitchens to cook soup for locations that support kids with their homework, let them come home at lunch time and have the soup that we made, and support them after school." ~ Cole Telus Spark Field Trip - Junior Architects ProgramMr. Messer's class went to the Telus Spark on the morning of February 28 to explore the facility and to participate in the Junior Architects program. As a team, students decided on a structure that might be needed in their community and created their design with PVC pipe. Please read some of the students' reflections about their experiences. Note that some photos only show one part of the student's work.
On our first day at the new building on 38 Ave., students reflected upon the new building. Here are some of their perspectives.
On our last full day at our temporary site at Earl Grey School, students noted that although they were excited to move to our new school, back in the Elbow Park community, there were a few apprehensions as well. A few students mentioned that they were worried that they might get lost in the new school and others noted that they were a bit nervous about the changes that would take place. Students have been asked to bring home all of their personal belongings, and bring back just their indoor shoes and a water bottle, if they wish, when they return to school next Wednesday, February 1. All of our school supplies and materials that will be needed will be moved over the weekend and staff will unpack with a few volunteers, on Monday and Tuesday. Open House - Tuesday, January 31If you are able, please join us at our Open House from 3 - 4pm on Tuesday, January 31 so that you and your children can view our new school before we start on Wednesday morning at the usual time of 8:20am. Architect Visit
Quality of LifeAs we explore ideas of 'quality of life' in Social Studies, and how spaces might influence this, students thought about the question, "If an anthropologist came to our school, what would they see that would show them that Elbow Park is a good school? Their thinking included: We followed that conversation with students thinking about what would provide us evidence of this based upon the question, What would you, as an anthropologist, feel is interesting/important to observe at EPS? Students conducted observations, collected field study notes and began to analyze their data. When we get settled into our new building, we will continuing our cultural study by using this data to help us answer the question, "How has the culture of Elbow Park School stayed the same, or changed as we moved to our new building?" Our Last Moments on Hillcrest Avenue
Mathematics Data InvestigationStudents are settling back into our routines and have been finishing some topics of study started before the break. In Math, we have been exploring the idea of collecting and interpreting data from the James Short Memorial School(JSM) Hampers program that we were all involved with before Christmas. Students were given the information about the families that each of the classes purchased items for and were asked to respond to the following two questions: What do you notice about this data? What questions do you have about the data? Some of the interesting observations and questions that the students developed include:
Questions:
After exploring the data, we asked the students to develop a question that they would like to explore from this data. Their investigations were to involve comparisons of something (that they could graph) and some calculations. Students have been learning to create bar graphs, with a many to one scale, to identify what they graphs show, and to develop questions about what their data shows. We will continue to develop the skills of one-to-many correspondence through our next math investigation as we explore area and perimeter through creating floor plans of our current classroom and comparing it to our new classroom in the rebuilt school. Questions From the Data These examples of student work demonstrate initial inquiry questions that can be answered directly from the data. Some students asked questions that involved creating more complex graphs. Skills they developed included developing a graph with a range of sizes, using double bar graphs to show a comparison between two groups, or comparing several characteristics such as age, size and gender. Other students asked deeper questions that expected them to go beyond the actual data collected to investigate other data. Over the next few weeks, as we transition to our new school, we will be exploring:
What do we need for a good quality of life? Concepts include: - what are our most important needs? using Maslow's hierarchy - how is our quality of life influenced by our environment - what makes our school great? - what will we need to think about as we move to our new school, to continue to have a great school? How does the size of our current classroom compare to the one in our new school? - creating a floor plan - accurate measurement with meters and centimeters - creating a scale (one-to-many relationship) - area - perimeter Physical Models of SubtractionCarrying on from out last week's 'AHA' moment, where we realized we needed to support our students understanding of the concept of subtraction, even if they could already use the algorithm (how we were taught to subtract - or the stacking method as the students call it). From the book, Solving for Why: Understanding, Assessing, and Teaching Students Who Struggle With Math, by John Tapper, we know that we want our students to develop a broad conceptual understanding of mathematics as well as a procedural understanding. "Mathematical models are mental constructions that we all use to understand complex ideas (Schoenfeld 1994), Without models on which to ground our mathematical thinking, we may only attain the kind of knowledge that comes from practicing every kind of mathematical procedure we ever need. This understanding is not flexible; rather, it is bound to particular contexts. We can see this with our students when they are only able to solve problems that are matches for the instruction they've just received. They can, for example, solve problems with multi-digit multiplication, but only after they've just practiced it. Without a model to ground mathematical understanding, students are unlikely to generalize what they know (Ryan and Williams, 2007)." from Tapper, J. 2012. Solving For Why. Math Solutions; Sausalito, CA. As we explored physical models to represent the subtraction situation, 82 - 57, we realized that some models were just re-writing the numbers using manipulatives, for example playing cards. So, we worked on ways to represent the actual number of objects. We then realized it was important to organize our objects so that people could easily see the numbers we were subtracting. Various strategies were developed including; Grouping by 5s or 10s, colour-coding, using other manipulatives as dividers. Our next challenge was for students to use the manipulatives to show the regrouping required to solve this problem. A couple of groups demonstrated their thinking by using colour-coding and a series of steps. They were able to verbally explain what was happening in each step of the subtraction process. This group explained their process on video. Our next step was to have students demonstrate their thinking in a different context; by using representational or drawn models of the subtraction process. Several models showed the students clearly understood and could visually represent the process of subtracting 26 from 53.
Satisfying Story EndingsWe started by asking the students if they'd ever read a book or watched a movie that they hadn't like the ending of and why. Some of their responses included: - it was predictable - you knew what was going to happen throughout - it was left as a cliff-hanger - you wanted to know what would happen next - the problem was solved but then it just kept going; another event was added, and another, and another, and.. - the ending doesn't connect to the story - everyone died or everyone moved away - "They woke up. It had all been a dream." - "They lived happily ever after." -"To be continued..." Students looked at different picture books, for ideas of what makes a satisfy story ending and have been exploring Barbara Mariconda's "Extended Ending" techniques as one way to create satisfying endings. Her idea is that in most narrative stories, the character usually experiences something significant - they have solved a problem, had an adventure, or been involved in a significant experience of some kind. As a result of their experience the character has changed in some way. An extended ending reveals what the story is about and how the main character has grown or changed as a result of their experience. It has a natural sense of closure. Techniques that can be used to create a satisfying or extending include: Decision - something the character decided to do as a result of their experience in the story. Wish or hope - something that the character remembers most about the main event. Feeling - how the main character feels about what happened in the story. Memory - the main character reflects back and remembers something about the main event. After several opportunities to identify these techniques in extended story endings, students are working together to develop extended endings for "How to Catch a Star" by Oliver Jeffers. Here are some of our initial, unedited attempts: "The boy remembered how lonely he was when he didn’t have a star. That was then. Now he had a star, right then the boy made a decision he decided it would always be his star. The boy hoped the star would never leave him, and they would be friends forever." ~Claire M~ "He decided one star is enough, for now. He hoped the star would be his friend forever. He felt amazing when he finally touched the star’s delicate body. He thought back to when he longed for a star and now he had one of his very own." ~ Payton, Saviero, Claire ~ "He remembered how he was so sad and lonely when he didn’t have a star but now he hoped that the star would play with him. If not he would decided he would not be sad." ~Brooke, Jamie, Adam ~ "He remembered when he was trying to catch a star. He remembered the joyfulness, the loneliness, and the sadness, So he decided that he always wanted do challenging things." ~Clive, Ryan, Lachlan~ Subtraction StrategiesWhen we asked our students, as a pre-assessment, to show us all of the subtraction strategies they could find for a given problem, we noticed some patterns to their thinking. Some students were able to represent their thinking using tallies. Some tried this strategy but quickly tired of the process of drawing so many tallies. Some students drew pictures of their thinking and used a "code" such as colours to represent the different amounts. But most of our students, went right to the numbers and used various number strategies to develop a solution. Some examples include: We know how important using manipulatives and making models are to developing a conceptual understanding of mathematics so we embarked on a journey to have our students represent the concept of subtraction with models. Check back next week for images of their models.
Elk Interaction Picture In our continued look into 'How Does Human Interaction Change and Identity,' the kids were given a photograph of a group of people standing near an elk. They were asked to consider all of our previous learning including the wildlife interaction rules that they had created. We decided to assume that all of the characters in the picture, including the baby and the elk, new the rules. The thought bubbles that the kids created show what each character might be thinking about when being so close to a wild animal. NumeracyWe continue to develop numeracy strategies through exploring different ways to add by developing reasoning skills through strategy games, and working towards clear explanations of our mathematical thinking. Front end addition is a useful strategy that can be used to add 3-digit numbers. In this strategy, and these examples, numbers are partitioned into hundreds, tens, and ones and added. This is called front end addition, because you start with the front end of the numbers or the hundreds. Students find most success with this strategy when they carefully line up their addition into columns as would be found on the place value chart, either by physically drawing lines, or by carefully lining up their numbers as they record them. Closest to 100 or Closest to 1000 Students have working with a partner, using two decks of playing cards to develop estimation and mathematical reasoning skills. If playing to 100, students draw 6 cards and choose 4; if playing to 1000, students draw 8 cards and choose 6. With the cards they have chosen, students combine their cards to make 2 two-digit numbers (Close to 100) or 2 three-digit numbers (Close to 1000). So What Are the Best Numbers To Make? When mathematicians prove their thinking, they often use a similar problem with smaller numbers to explain their thinking. After playing this game over a few days, we wanted to get a sense of our students strategies and reasoning. We provided the students with a situation in which they had flipped over these 6 cards when playing Closest to 100 6, 3, 1, 4, 8, 7 They were asked to make the best number possible, just like they would do if they were playing the game. Some of their thinking and strategies are listed below. Trial and Error: Clive's notebook demonstrating his process of testing possibilities. Trial and Error and Thinking About Other Possibilities: The best number you could make would be 13 + 87. I looked at a few and they weren't far from 100 so I knew that I could find a better answer. I looked over the numbers and saw that some were closer. I found 87 and 14 and saw that was 101 so it was pretty close. Then I found 87 and 13 and that was 100 so I knew it was the best number. There might be others that make 100 also. ~ Finn~ Trial and Error, with evidence of thinking: "61 and 48 because when you add them up they make 109 and its only 9 away from 100. It's an Ok answer but not the best. I was too big, so next time I would choose 47 and 63 ... oops, that's too much. 63 and 37... I looked at 47 and decided that I needed smaller numbers. This time I got 100." ~Adam~ Comparing sizes: I think 13 + 87 because 13 is way lower than all of the other numbers and also 87 is really close to 100. If you add them up then you get 100. If you split them into expanded form then you would have 80 + 7 and 10 + 3. Then you add 3 + 7 = 10, then 80 + 1- = 90 then add 90 + 10 = 100. Expanded form is a great strategy that helps me a lot. ~ Chloe~ Considering Probability: 87 and 13 would be the best numbers because 87 + 13 + 100 and we are going for Closest to 100 and my answer is exactly 100 and if I was playing against someone I have a high likelihood of winning. ~ Mayan~ 86 and 14 = 100 I decided to keep this number because it is either equal to the others or better than the others. ~Georgia~ Developing a Strategy (although not all of the following responses resulted in the best solution at this time, these strategies demonstrate examples of strong student reasoning throughout our investigation): I would put 8 and 1 in the tens because it make at 90 and I would be close. ~Saviero~ I thought 80 + 10 = 90 so I knew it was close. If I had 2 large numbers I knew it would be waaay too high so I chose 18 ... a small number. ~ Lachlan~ 14 and 86 ... These are the best numbers because we're trying to get to 100 and all the other cards are too high or too low. ~ Payton~ I chose 13 and 78 because I knew that if I added 80 with 10 I would be getting close. If I added 10 more from the ones I'd be there.... I wanted to get close to 100 but not over. ~Sofie~ 13 and 87 because the rest of the numbers are not as close to 100 like 63 + 18 = 99 but you can get 100 a different way 83 + 17 = 100. ~Jamie~ Addition Strategies - Revisited The following example demonstrates a sound strategy for the game - finding ways to combine two cards that equal 90 and then finding two additional cards that total to 10, so that the sum will be 100. On the surface, this student appears to understand addition using the traditional algorithm, the strategy most of us as adults were taught in school. By observing the student's explanation, we notice misconceptions about number that may be fostered using this strategy. The student does not articulate that they are, in fact, adding 80 and 10 together to get 90. This becomes problematic for some students, who when taught this strategy, do not fully understand the place value inherent in addition. I looked for what equals 9. 8 + 1 equals nine. Now I need something that equals 10. I could do 6 + 4 = 10. (This student is really looking for what equals 90) Both expanded form addition (see examples on our last blog post) and front end addition (examples above) are addition strategies that support students with developing a strong understanding of the place value of addition. Students who are fluent with using either of these strategies may not use the traditional algorithm and are often quicker at solving these addition situations mentally. We have had a busy five day week, delving deeper into our science inquiry, "How does human interaction with animals change an identity?", focusing on utilizing addition strategies to solve a problem, reflecting on the decisions we made to create our Kandinsky inspired art, and introducing our social studies investigations around quality of life, global interactions, and global citizenship. Science InquiryAn Oct. 11 article in the Calgary Herald, "Banff National Park trying to help ESL visitors understand wildlife rules" prompted us to explore rules that might be appropriate for interactions with animals. Our rules include:
Students have been asked to have a conversation with parents and bring in or email an image or story about their family's interaction with wild animals. This will support our continued conversation about interactions between animals and humans and how these interactions influence identity. In math, we have continued to explore expanded form and place value through a problem about palindromes. Students were asked to select a 3 digit number, reverse it and and the two numbers together. If the sum was not a palindrome, students would repeat steps 1 and 2, reversing the sum and adding, until they reached a palindrome. They were asked to look for patterns so they could predict which 3-digit numbers would create a palindrome in 1 step? in 2 steps? in 3 steps? The energy in our rooms has been amazing as some students are now working in the ten millions, and even after 10 steps still have not found a palindrome in their number. Students finished their Kandinsky inspired paintings and are working towards completing written reflections around the decisions they made as an artist. They have been thinking about including specific examples from their work and making connections to other art works or ideas. One part of my painting that I am proud of is my background and the lines. I like the top background because it is dark turquoise. I like the way that I made a gold colour from brown and yellow. I was trying to make this kind of look like a lollipop but then I thought that there would be too many circles so I made one circle on the side. On some parts of the bottom background it is more red than orangish-yellow. I chose my background because it is dark and light. I was really just trying to make a light turquoise but it ended up dark.I tried to use all the colours but black. I kind of thought that I should have made one part of the rectangle yellow to match the background but now I realize that would just make it a blank space of background. ~ Eddie ~ When I made my painting I really thought about spacing out my shapes. For example, if I put a triangle at the far end of my page, I would not put another triangle right beside it. I also really thought about spacing out my colours. That way my painting does not have too much of the same colour too close to each other. I made my painting like a mosaic by connecting everything with lines. I really liked the way that in Kandinsky’s painting he sometimes put groups of lines in circles so that’s what I did. Those are the parts of my painting I am proud of. ~ Robin~ As we investigate the ideas around quality of life and being global citizens in Social Studies, students were given a choice to take up one of the following ideas: Why do we fight? What is Peace? Peacemakers in the World. Ideas that students explore will be presented at our Remembrance Day Assembly along with our ceremony to honour our Canadian soldiers on November 10th. Symbols of peace that the students have identified: |
AuthorsMrs. Montanaro, Mr. Messer and Mrs. Austman teach grades 3/4 at Elbow Park School in Calgary AB. Archives
April 2017
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