Monday, December 05, 2011

Krypto!

This afternoon, Andrew, Natalie and Shauna are working with our Math Coach, Joanne. We are coming up with exciting new ideas to incorporate into our Math programs.

We will all be introducing you to a new Math game called Krypto. If you want to try it, there is an online verion. Give it a try!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Spelling List #6

Room 920 got together and brainstormed an awesome list of contractions. They're some of the best words we've come up with yet. You should've heard all the ideas. We could've gone on for hours, but we didn't. 'Tis a shame.

Check them out! Practice including a very special punctuation mark into your spelling!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dance!

Today, all of the Junior Division is watching some crazy dances that were selected by Andrew. Last time, Andrew picked a ballet, so we were all expecting something very traditional. Instead, he picked some really cool contortionist breakdancers to show us. The reactions as all of us were sitting together in one room were amazing.

Check out David Elsewhere:

We talked about how David really needed to think about the shapes that his body took, including both robotic and organic movements between controlled shapes.

We are getting much better at communicating about dance now, as we've seen so many different types and we can compare them to one another and use our dance vocabulary effectively.

Talk at home about body, timing, space, movement, energy and relationship in dance.

Spelling List #5 is up

Two thirds of Room 920 got together and came up with a colossal list of words that have the "oo" sound in them. We were amazed at how many letter combinations worked to make that sound.

Check out the list on Spelling City.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Spelling List #4

Today, 920 got together and practiced our song for Group Share tomorrow (Owen's 1/2s joined us too!). Then, we brainstormed words with a silent letter.

Heather Earl whipped up our new Spelling City list from those words. Here it is! We'd love to see you using these words in your writing and looking for other words that have silent letters.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Room 920 and MPs at Parliament

The students of Room 920 got to meet Bob Zimmer and get a "behind the scenes" tour of the House of Commons.
Then we got to chat with Laurin Liu!
On our trip to Parliament last week, we got to meet two MPs, Bob Zimmer took us to the floor of the House of Commons just before Question Period. We felt like VIPs! Laurin Liu is the youngest female MP at only 20 years old! We posed for a photo with her after Question Period.

It was a pretty special day for us!

Thank you to all the parent volunteers who came along and thank you especially to Lauren and Aaron's grandma Jean for introducing us to Mr. Zimmer and and to Sarah C's dad for introducing us to Ms. Liu!




Friday, October 14, 2011

Spelling List #3

We have brainstormed words with the /k/ sound. Practice them on Spelling City!

Try to use some of your new /k/ sounds in class discussions and your creative writing!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Calendar Updates

Hello families of students in Room 920,

  We hope that you are checking in often and that you're keeping track of upcoming dates on the tab on the top of the blog. We are doing our best to keep you updated.

  Feel free to leave comments or questions on the blog, someone is checking it daily and will approve your comments as soon as they're read!

Have a happy Friday!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Your Principal, The Hot Dog




To celebrate our Terry Fox fundraising, and get a last boost of about $300 for cancer research, Megan dressed as a hot dog on Friday and allowed all the students (and teachers) to spray her with ketchup. It got pretty messy and smelly.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

So You Think You Can Dance

For the past several weeks, room 920 has joined room 310 to watch amazing dancers doing their thing on the show "So You Think You Can Dance".

Students are digging deep into their abilities to interpret dance, the moves, the music and the story the dancers are telling.

We have been speaking about body, relationships, space, time and energy.

Take some time to watch the video below and ask your child to tell you what he or she notices in this dance. This is one of the ones we have watched and spoken about in class.


We are getting great exposure to different dance styles and students are quickly developing their dance vocabulary and keep amazing us with their insights.

Science FunFest Invitation!

The Science FunFest, part of National Science and Technology Week activities taking place across Canada, is an open house at Natural Resources Canada’s Booth Street Complex, where kids and their families can enjoy exciting exhibits and free activities from several government departments and partners. They can explore energy-efficient cars, go on a chocolate chip cookie mining expedition, bring rocks and fossils for identification, and much more. There’s lots to see and do. It’s fun, educational and inspiring.
 
WHAT: Science FunFest in celebration of National Science and Technology Week
WHERE: Natural Resources Canada’s Booth Street Complex (at Carling
Avenue) in Ottawa
WHEN: Sunday, October 16, 2011 - 11:00 am to 4:00 pm


To view the calendar of events in Ottawa and across the country, please visit www.science.gc.ca/nstw.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
613-992-4447

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Room 920 Class Meeting

Thank you to all the parents who came out tonight to the room 920 class meeting. It went very well. It was great to have an opportunity to see familiar faces and meet some new people! We are so looking forward to working with your families this year!

It was funny to see the classrooms we've gotten used to seeing full of students full of parents. The parents seemed to love seeing the members of 920 sing "You and Me are Gonna Be Friends" and gave you all a big round of applause!

Now it feels like the year has really, officially started!

Spelling List #2

Check out Spelling City, the second spelling list is up and ready for you to explore, practice, play games and test your knowledge!

There is also a link on the right-hand side of the page so you can always come back and try each of our spelling lists.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Purposeful Talk Tips #2

Purposeful Talk Tips #2

Hopefully, you will be able to use this information to have interesting, in-depth conversations with your child about what is going on in his or her classroom.

What follows below reflects what your child has on display in his or her classroom.

Over the coming weeks, ask your child about the information you see below.

Vocabulary: longevity, benign, innocuous, covert, interminable

Joke: There once was a cross-eyed teacher. She couldn't control her pupils!

Riddle: Q. The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?          

A. ????


Read Aloud: The Elephant and the Tree, Jin Pyn Lee

Musical Genre: Orchestral

Class Debate: Should zoos exist?

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! Class Meeting Time Changed

Hello parents of students in Room 920 (Andrew, Natalie and Shauna's classes),

  Last week, we sent home a notice that incorrectly said our class meeting would be Monday, September 26th. In fact, the meeting will be on Tuesday, September 27th from 7-8 p.m. Please come right up to your child's classroom (Andrew - Room 312, Natalie - Room 303, Shauna - Room 305) at 7 p.m. You will have an opportunity to look around before going downstairs to the Gym for a brief presentation. Please remember that this is an opportunity to learn about your child's classroom and not a time for interviews about any individual child's progress.

  See you on Tuesday, September 27th at 7 p.m.!

Spelling List #2

Andrew and Natalie's classes have come up with twenty exciting spelling words based on the long o sound. They will be posted on Spelling City later tomorrow, but for now, here they are:

1. covert
2. toad
3. Jello
4. toe
5. yoga
6. comb
7. explode
8. video
9. episode
10. gecko
11. o'clock
12. opal
13. ocean
14. Ontario
15. radio
16. automobile
17. quote
18. shadow
19. stereo
20. soap

  Aroud the dinner table, challenge your family to come up with a sentence containing as many long o sound words as possible!
Why did we put this image on this blog post?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Room 920 - Class Pictures

While we wait to figure out media permissions and whether we can include students faces, names and/or work on our blog (stay tuned for the Class Meeting!), we still wanted to include a picture of our giant class - Room 920. We did an outdoor photo shoot on Friday and made sure all faces were hidden.

Check out our rainbow ordered class shot...

 ...and a collaborative created 920...


This was an energetic end to our first week back at school!

We hope you're enjoying the blog so far, feel free to leave comments below!

Thursday, September 08, 2011

The Song We're Singing

Spelling - List #1

We are very excited about our sensational spelling program in room 902!

The 4/5 team has decided to have the students generate their own spelling lists around phonemes (the sounds that make up words) and various spelling rules. This makes our spelling program more meaningful for students as they have taken responsibility for creating the lists.

Once lists are developed, they will be posted on spellingcity.com. Students can go onto the website and practise using the words and play games with them. This is an opportunity for students to extend their learning at home so they can use these words in their written work.

Our first list is up! Check out words with a long-e sound!

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Purposeful Talk Tips #1

Occasionally, we will be posting information about some of the themes and ideas we have been discussing in class.

Hopefully, you will be able to use this information to have interesting, in-depth conversations with your child about what is going on in his or her classroom.

What follows below reflects what your child has on display in his or her classroom. These items will change over the course of the year, some weekly, some bi-weekly, some monthly, some by term.

Over the coming weeks, ask your child about the information you see below.

Peaceful Person: Jack Layton
Article from "Teach Kids News" about Layton

Quote: "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." - Jack Layton, 2011

Vocabulary: commence, values, community, culture

Joke: Q. Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?
         A. ????

Riddle: Q. You can keep it only after giving it to someone else?
           A. ????

Science Stumper: Q. Why is the sky blue?
           A. ????



Read Aloud: The Three Questions, Jon J. Muth

Musical Genre: Pop music!!!

Welcome Back Reminders!

Hello parents and students of 920!

The first day has come to an end and we're all excited about the upcoming school year.

Here are a few bits of information we want to pass on to you:
-Your child brought home a school agenda tonight. Please take some time to go through the white pages in the front together. There is a spot for both parents and student to sign.
-Cross Country forms are coming home this week for interested students.
-Students will be bringing home a parent questionnaire this week.
-Beginning next Monday, the entire school will be beginning the day with a 1 kilometre walk in the neighbourhood. Forms will come home this week. This will last throughout the month of September.
-Please remember to pack lunches and snacks that do not contain nuts, as we have children with severe allergies at Churchill.
-Ensure that your child has appropriate footwear for Gym class.

Looking forward to a fantastic first week!
-Andrew, Heather, Natalie and Shauna

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Welcome and a Little Tour!

Hello Room 920 community members,

  We're so happy you found our online classroom! Please take some time to look around and familiarize yourself with the features of our blog.


Features:

In the blog:
-periodically, new blog posts will be added, the newest ones will always rise to the top, but the older ones will be safely tucked in below
-when you see text in a different colour in a blog post, you can click on it and it will take you to a new website
 -you can leave comments under any blog post by clicking on the word "comments". The teacher moderators of the blog (Andrew, Natalie and Shauna) will see them and respond if necessary

Right side of site:
 -blog posts will be archived on the site and listed in chronological order on the right hand side of the page (you can search by month)
-there are some links to explore on the right hand side of the page

Top of site:
-there are some tabs that lead to other pages on the top of the blog

  This blog is a collaborative work in progress and will be the go-to place for news about the activities in room 920 in 2011-2012!

  We hope that you come back often to read news about what's been going on in the three classes that make up room 920, see what's coming up, enhance your home conversations about school and explore interesting links, articles and resources. Please feel free to get involved by leaving comments!