In addition to robust instruction and learning activities, home communication has a positive impact on student achievement. It is also our commitment and obligation to parents to inform them of the concepts and skills their child is learning and their level achievement of them. It is important that the parent has a clear indication of their child’s success throughout the weeks, months and year.. Our monthly messages are one way to allow you to ask both your child and your child’s teacher questions about their learning and achievement.
We post the messages on our website at the beginning of each month. Following us on twitter is another great way to see the many school and class learning activities and lessons.
Literacy and Reading Comprehension
We are moving on from making connections to books (text-to-self and text-to-text) and will now do some inferring in our reading responses. Inferring is when you combine your schema (what you already know) from the words or pictures, and “read between the lines” either your own ideas or what you think the author means without saying. We did this on Friday with The Mitten by Jan Brett as we analyzed the last picture of “baba” wondering what happened to the mitten, remembering that she had reminded the boy to not lose his mitten in the snow.
Math – Measurement and Number Sense
We have been exploring length, width and height and learning how to measure precisely following measurement rules. Ask your child how to be a good measurement mathematician when using units (i.e. end to end, no spaces or overlaps, comparing size using the same unit, measure straight, use a number and a unit). Next we will once again explore addition and subtraction to build and develop our number sense competencies and strategies. We began this on Friday by following this success criteria:
✅ I can make 2 colour trains that are in a row and the two colours have to stay together.
✅ I can make sure all trains start with the same colour.
✅ I can make as many different trains as I can for the number I pick (5-20).
✅ I can write number sentences to describe each of my trains.
We are learning about Jesus’ adult life and the many miracles he performed. Have a discussion with your child about some of Jesus’ miracles.
Mrs. Hurren – Portable One
It is hard to believe we are bringing term one to a close already – Report Cards will be sent home on February 13th. Please take some time to chat with son/daughter about all of the awesome learning that happened in first term and about their goals for growing success in term two! I am excited to see where we go from here!
In Math, we will be spending the month doing some serious exploring, connecting, computing and representing with fractions, decimals and percents. We will be working hard to eliminate the fear and dislike associated with fractions – what a convenient month to remind us that fractions, decimals and percents need love too! Our Language focus for the month is identifying text features and elements of style. Have your son or daughter share with you about our class novel “Refugee” and the many different ways we are discussing, thinking and writing about our understanding. We have Scientists in the Schools joining us on February 13th for ‘Close Encounters of a Chemical Kind’. During this fun-filled afternoon our class will get to experiment with concepts and new ideas that were presented during our Pure Substances and Mixtures unit. Make sure to have your ‘Young Einstein’ tell you all about it! This month the Umbrella Project focus is purpose. We will be taking time to think about the values we live by and how these values help us to explore our purpose.
We are excited for our trip to Laurel Creek on February 6th! This is a great opportunity for us to see parts of our Science unit on Heat in action, and to experience the fun of cross country skiing!
Portable One Shout Outs: High Five’s to all grade 7 students for a successful term one!
Math Challenge: How many ways can you see ⅓ in the following image? What about ⅕? List other fractions you can find and their equivalents.