Hello parents, students and other loved ones!
As you could probably tell from the thunderstorms and the 10 degree mornings, June has finally come. There's still lots going on at LKS and in the classroom.
This Saturday is Springfest! Please come check it out all day. Our parent volunteers have been working very long and hard to make sure that this year is the best one ever. There's lots of games to play, things to see, treats to consume, and prizes to win. If you haven't heard of a TOMBOLA, please check out one of the many posters around the school. You want to win one. You just might not know it yet.
Our grade trip to Medieval Times is next week! The students have been learning about knights, castles and kingdoms in social studies, and are very eager to see it come to life in front of them. We have also begun speeches! Students are writing about topics THEY are interested in, in order to present them to the class. Public speaking is something that doesn't come easily to many of us, so getting a taste at this age is perfect for building a tolerance down the road.
Report cards CANNOT go home early, If your family is going to be leaving before the end of the school year, please make arrangements with the office.
Friday 2 June 2017
Tuesday 2 May 2017
May we see the end of rain?
With May our class has been very busy!
I'd like to thank our Classroom Artist for coming in right at the top of the month. Students are going to get to work with paint and different canvas materials than they are used to, and we'll be celebrating spring, nature and the new season's energy by painting in the style of Georgia O'Keefe!
Our class has a fierce appreciation of nature, and Georgia O'Keefe was monumental in showing the beauty of North American plant life. If your child is in love with art OR nature, please consider the upcoming Georgia O'Keefe retrospective gallery at the Art Gallery of Ontario:
http://www.ago.net/art-gallery-of-ontario-partners-with-tate-modern-to-present-georgia-okeeffe-retrospective-in-summer-2017
A big thanks to all of our parents that came to the Inquiry Fair! Our students were so PROUD to show off the research and learning that they performed themselves. We saw such creativity and insight, I know it was a lot to take in all at once.
Finally, thanks to all parents who have already submitted permission forms and online-payments to Medieval Times. It's truly a unique experience that the students will always remember, and a very exciting way to bring the social studies curriculum to life. PLEASE SUBMIT FORMS AND PAYMENT ASAP, as numbers will be finalized ahead of time, and late additions will not be possible.
I'd like to thank our Classroom Artist for coming in right at the top of the month. Students are going to get to work with paint and different canvas materials than they are used to, and we'll be celebrating spring, nature and the new season's energy by painting in the style of Georgia O'Keefe!
Our class has a fierce appreciation of nature, and Georgia O'Keefe was monumental in showing the beauty of North American plant life. If your child is in love with art OR nature, please consider the upcoming Georgia O'Keefe retrospective gallery at the Art Gallery of Ontario:
http://www.ago.net/art-gallery-of-ontario-partners-with-tate-modern-to-present-georgia-okeeffe-retrospective-in-summer-2017
A big thanks to all of our parents that came to the Inquiry Fair! Our students were so PROUD to show off the research and learning that they performed themselves. We saw such creativity and insight, I know it was a lot to take in all at once.
Finally, thanks to all parents who have already submitted permission forms and online-payments to Medieval Times. It's truly a unique experience that the students will always remember, and a very exciting way to bring the social studies curriculum to life. PLEASE SUBMIT FORMS AND PAYMENT ASAP, as numbers will be finalized ahead of time, and late additions will not be possible.
Monday 3 April 2017
Storytelling: Drama and Conferences
Our students have been learning new ways to interpret stories. First through our Literature Circles! We have started our first week of conferences in our cycle. Parents will recall seeing the Literature Circle package that went home 2 weeks ago, and students are responsible for doing their readings and completing their job ready for the due date.
On that due date we go around the table sharing our contributions for our different jobs designed to analyze the reading for different qualities.
Capable Connectors write reflections making connections between their readings and themselves, current events in the world, and other stories they have read.
Word wizard looks through our reading for new or interesting vocabulary, documenting and defining the use of those words and what it means.
Artful Artist recreates any important aspect of the story as visual art. The medium is up to them (hand-drawing, painting, sculpture, lego diorama, even decorating a cake!) and they must write a reflection on their piece explaining the choices they made.
Super Summarizer has to condense and summarize the main events characters and settings of their reading, and recap the last weeks events for the group.
The Discussion Director organizes our group meeting and generates thoughtful discussion questions to probe the opinions and understanding of the group on the most recent material.
On top of this, we have drama class where we practice telling our own stories through Tableaus (still scenes using our bodies to represent different objects and scenes.) We've already warmed up with a series of random topics (mountains, scissors) and are now moving on to recreating and retelling fairytale picture books. We're very excited to see all the students work and maybe show our reading buddies even more of our dramatic interpretations.
On that due date we go around the table sharing our contributions for our different jobs designed to analyze the reading for different qualities.
Capable Connectors write reflections making connections between their readings and themselves, current events in the world, and other stories they have read.
Word wizard looks through our reading for new or interesting vocabulary, documenting and defining the use of those words and what it means.
Artful Artist recreates any important aspect of the story as visual art. The medium is up to them (hand-drawing, painting, sculpture, lego diorama, even decorating a cake!) and they must write a reflection on their piece explaining the choices they made.
Super Summarizer has to condense and summarize the main events characters and settings of their reading, and recap the last weeks events for the group.
The Discussion Director organizes our group meeting and generates thoughtful discussion questions to probe the opinions and understanding of the group on the most recent material.
On top of this, we have drama class where we practice telling our own stories through Tableaus (still scenes using our bodies to represent different objects and scenes.) We've already warmed up with a series of random topics (mountains, scissors) and are now moving on to recreating and retelling fairytale picture books. We're very excited to see all the students work and maybe show our reading buddies even more of our dramatic interpretations.
Thursday 2 March 2017
MARCHing Towards our Inquiry Fair
Hello Parents,
I hope everyone is enjoying the weather as winter starts to retreat. We have a LOT coming up to look forward to in the school and the class.
First, we were treated to a very special presentation from the Toronto ARGOS! As part of the Huddle Up program, LKS has joined forces to create an anti-bullying program within the school. We were very happy to see the efforts and contributions of the team through out the school. From school-wide homeroom activities to showcase Kindness and Caring, to our Pink Shirt Day celebration coming up in April, Huddle Up is making efforts to prove the students here are One Team, sharing One Dream.
Forms have gone home for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Please remember to make your payment online at the address listed on the form. We need TWO parent volunteers, so if you've checked the volunteer box it is greatly appreciated.
Inquiry projects will be starting in Science class for our Habitats and Adaptations unit, with a fair in April to show off the final displays. Currently that means they are working to research the habitat that captures their interests, and designing a new creature adapted to survive there! Once we move from rough copy to final work, students will be creating science fair styled displays with information and visual component. Students will be required to bring in a cardboard tri-fold display board, but we'll send a reminder home when the time comes.
I hope everyone is enjoying the weather as winter starts to retreat. We have a LOT coming up to look forward to in the school and the class.
First, we were treated to a very special presentation from the Toronto ARGOS! As part of the Huddle Up program, LKS has joined forces to create an anti-bullying program within the school. We were very happy to see the efforts and contributions of the team through out the school. From school-wide homeroom activities to showcase Kindness and Caring, to our Pink Shirt Day celebration coming up in April, Huddle Up is making efforts to prove the students here are One Team, sharing One Dream.
Forms have gone home for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Please remember to make your payment online at the address listed on the form. We need TWO parent volunteers, so if you've checked the volunteer box it is greatly appreciated.
Inquiry projects will be starting in Science class for our Habitats and Adaptations unit, with a fair in April to show off the final displays. Currently that means they are working to research the habitat that captures their interests, and designing a new creature adapted to survive there! Once we move from rough copy to final work, students will be creating science fair styled displays with information and visual component. Students will be required to bring in a cardboard tri-fold display board, but we'll send a reminder home when the time comes.
Tuesday 31 January 2017
Parent Teacher Interviews
A quick reminder about parent teacher interviews, you can book an interview at schoolinterviews.ca as per the school newsletter. Generally, the interviews in Term 1 are for addressing specific concerns, so don't feel pressure to book one if it isn't convenient, and I haven't contacted you already. As timing gets quite busy during that week, and the variety of schedules of different families, parents are quite welcome to contact me for an interview, or phone conference any time throughout the year.
Gong Hei Fat Choy!
Happy Lunar New Year, and Gong xi fa cai to our mandarin speaking friends!
At the end of the month we celebrated the new year, sharing stories about the Zodiac, (our grade 4s informed me happily that they are Golden Pigs, and I am just a normal old snake), the story of Nian, and made our own Dragon Mask puppets, and decorated a lot of things in Red and Gold!
This week is the Science Fair at LKS, and our students are already excited to go check it out. As a judge, I must stay impartial but I can say that any parents who want to bring ANY students to the OPEN HOUSE house tomorrow night (Feb 1st) are in for a treat. The intermediate students will be there to showcase, explain and educate all of us on their work.
The science train keeps rolling as we also are lucky enough to get a special lecturer that will be giving a MYSTERY themed science presentation on February 16th. If you're reading this, you know before the students do so fell free to tease it and get them curious! Curious minds ask great questions and great questions lead to great investigations (we will be beginning our inquiry-lead research projects this month on habitats, organisms and adaptations).
Thank you to all our parent volunteers who ferried us to the Mastercard Centre, without you, we'd never have gotten such a great free-skate. Exercise is always a little more rewarding in a fun and different setting.
At the end of the month we celebrated the new year, sharing stories about the Zodiac, (our grade 4s informed me happily that they are Golden Pigs, and I am just a normal old snake), the story of Nian, and made our own Dragon Mask puppets, and decorated a lot of things in Red and Gold!
The science train keeps rolling as we also are lucky enough to get a special lecturer that will be giving a MYSTERY themed science presentation on February 16th. If you're reading this, you know before the students do so fell free to tease it and get them curious! Curious minds ask great questions and great questions lead to great investigations (we will be beginning our inquiry-lead research projects this month on habitats, organisms and adaptations).
Thank you to all our parent volunteers who ferried us to the Mastercard Centre, without you, we'd never have gotten such a great free-skate. Exercise is always a little more rewarding in a fun and different setting.
Sunday 8 January 2017
Generosity at Lambton, and a Happy New Year
Welcome back Students! Also Parents. Also staff.
I hope everyone had a restful break, I'm sure all the Lambton households are full of children begging for the start of school to come again. Well beg no more!
I'd like to start off the New Year by thanking our community. In our Grade 4 class, we always talk about ways to help our fellow Canadians, both in and outside the neighborhood. We were proven right by our parents and family communities many times over.
Our Stonegate family received two of the fullest baskets in the school, stuffed with necessities, treats, not to mention the gift cards and holiday spirit. I feel truly lucky to have such wonderful examples to guide my students, and am inspired by your generosity inside and outside the classroom.
We are excited to share our holiday adventures when we all meet up again in the classroom, and there will be a lot of showing and telling in store, I'm sure. We will also make some New Year Resolutions, (I'm sure the parents will be more than interested in the goals set by their children.)
We will also be starting to build towards our school-wide inquiry fair next month. Grade 4s will be directing their next big science projects about animals and their habitats with their own questions, and researching the answers. Big questions, little questions, all guiding us to investigate the important answers that make an informative projects. It's going to be very exciting, and I look forward to some very proud faces very soon.
I hope everyone had a restful break, I'm sure all the Lambton households are full of children begging for the start of school to come again. Well beg no more!
I'd like to start off the New Year by thanking our community. In our Grade 4 class, we always talk about ways to help our fellow Canadians, both in and outside the neighborhood. We were proven right by our parents and family communities many times over.
Our Stonegate family received two of the fullest baskets in the school, stuffed with necessities, treats, not to mention the gift cards and holiday spirit. I feel truly lucky to have such wonderful examples to guide my students, and am inspired by your generosity inside and outside the classroom.
We are excited to share our holiday adventures when we all meet up again in the classroom, and there will be a lot of showing and telling in store, I'm sure. We will also make some New Year Resolutions, (I'm sure the parents will be more than interested in the goals set by their children.)
We will also be starting to build towards our school-wide inquiry fair next month. Grade 4s will be directing their next big science projects about animals and their habitats with their own questions, and researching the answers. Big questions, little questions, all guiding us to investigate the important answers that make an informative projects. It's going to be very exciting, and I look forward to some very proud faces very soon.
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