Friday, January 18, 2019
We just finished week 18 in portable 2. Here is a bit of what we were up to:
Math – We continued to organize and display different types of data on a stem and leaf plot. One set of data that we organized and displayed was the length of some insects. We pretended that we were scientists who study insects (entomologists) and we had found 20 insects (of the same species) in the woods. In order to determine how old the insects were, we had to measure the length of them in centimetres. Some insects were the same length and some insects were different lengths. For example, some were 1.4 cm while others were 2.5 cm or 0.8 cm. This activity sparked up some learning about the decimal place, the tenths place, ordering decimals, and counting by tenths. It also sparked up some learning about how many millimetres are in a centimetre and representing the same length in different ways (e.g., 1.4 cm can also be represented as: 1 and 4/10 cm or 14 mm).
Talent Show Performance – We performed our bucket drumming routine for a large audience (about 400 people) on Tuesday and the students did a fabulous job. We opened up the show with a bang and we got to watch many other talented acts (i.e., tap dancing, singing, guitar, trumpet, jazz dancing, piano, violin, Elvis, and interactive storytelling). A special mention goes out to Lily, Gracie, and Sophie from our class who did a jazz dance. They performed to the song, Great Balls of Fire. Their costumes were amazing and their moves were awesome. The trio worked really hard (in their spare time) to practice leading up to the event. Over six hundred dollars was raised for the Norfolk Association for Community Living. It felt good to raise money for a good cause and perform for a supportive audience. Everyone in the audience really loved the Talent Show. Some of the students even got their picture in the paper:
Speech Writing – We continue to work on writing speeches for homework and we just finished week two of our speech writing homework. I hand out the weekly homework each Monday and it’s due the following Friday or Monday. Students will be expected to say their speech in front of the classroom in February.
Stitching Club – A lot of the students (over half) in our class joined the stitching club at school. The stitching club runs every Wednesday at First Break in the library (until March Break). Club members can learn how to knit, crochet, or cross stitch. They learn from an expert, Mrs. Crowhurst (an Educational Assistant that works at WPS). If your child still wants to join, there is room in the club and still time to join. Let me know by emailing me: julie.pragnell@granderie.ca.
Basketball Intramurals – A lot of the students in our class have signed up to participate in basketball intramurals. There are four teams that play against each other and games are held during recess (a few times a week). A big thanks to Mrs. Smart for organizing this. If your child wants to join, there is still room and still time to join. Let me know by emailing me: julie.pragnell@granderie.ca.
Creating Media – As part of our studies in Media Literacy, we are creating a video that will be shared at the Waterford Lion’s Skate-a-Thon Assemblies. Each January, the Waterford Lions (Lion Al, Lion Bob, and Lion Bordan) travel around to five local schools (Waterford Public School, Teeterville, Bloomsburg, Boston, and St. Bernard’s) to inform students about the Skate-a-thon and motivate them to raise money for this great cause. This year, our class is helping the Waterford Lions by creating a video that will be shown to students at all five schools. We hope the video will add a fresh feel to the assemblies and better motivate students to participate. Half of the money raised from the Skate-a-thon comes back to our school and half of the money raised goes to build the skate park in Waterford. It is definitely a worthwhile cause. Projects like this give students a real-life reason for working/learning which can be more motivating/engaging. On Friday, we walked to the future location of the Waterford skate park to do some on-site filming and take some photographs. In the picture below, we are standing at the site of the future Waterford skate park (which will be built beside the Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum):
Waterford Food Cupboard – On our way to the future skate park in Waterford, we stopped by the Waterford Food Cupboard so that students could see where it is. Our school donated a lot of food to the Waterford Food Cupboard at Christmas time and I think it’s good for students to see it. It’s an important part of our community and many volunteers work together to make it happen. It wasn’t open, we just stopped on the outside of the building and took a picture. Here are some pictures of our stop:
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me at julie.pragnell@granderie.ca OR call me at school: 519-443-8942.
-Mrs. Julie Pragnell
The Pragnell Press 