Friday, September 21, 2018

We just finished week three in portable two and here is a bit of what’s been going on:

Meet the Teacher Night – Thursday night was Meet the Teacher Night. Unfortunately, the teacher couldn’t be there. I was on a field trip in Toronto with the Me to We club from Waterford Public School. The field trip was a huge event at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (known as: We Day) where thousands of people come together and celebrate those who are making a difference in our country and the world. It was booked a long time ago and I couldn’t change the date. Nonetheless, the classroom was open and thanks for coming. I hope you enjoyed the tour of our classroom from your personal tour guide. The students were excited to show you our classroom and what they’ve been up to.

Math – We have been focusing on Big Numbers in math. In grade 4, we work with numbers up to ten thousand. We’ve been doing a lot of things in class with Big Numbers like: reading them, counting them, saying them out loud, listening to other people say them out loud, writing them in words, writing them in digits, building them, drawing them, taking them apart, putting them back together, organizing them on a place value chart, and so much more.

Reading –  Reading is just one part of our language program at school. So far, we have been developing our independent reading skills, listening to read alouds, and setting up our classroom library. Our classroom library is in the process of being set up and it will be filled with books on topics that we’re studying and books that we’re interested in. We’re organizing our classroom library into three basic categories: fiction books (books made up by an author), non-fiction books (books that contain true, factual information), and poetry.

Working with Words – There are many activities that we do in class to develop our knowledge of words and improve our spelling. One activity that we do is called, How Many Words Can You Make? You can see a sample of the activity below this paragraph. Each student gets some wooden letter blocks and moves each block around to make words using a variety of strategies (consonant blends, vowels, spelling rules, word endings, words within words, building on, etc.). There is always at least one word that can be made using all of the letters.

Writing –  Students were introduced to part of our writing program this week called, Independent Writing. During Independent Writing, students can write their own books. They can choose between writing fiction, non-fiction, or poetry books. They can also choose between writing chapter books, picture books, graphic novels, comic books, scripts for plays, journals, diaries, and a lot more. The possibilities are endless. It’s exciting for me to watch their excitement come alive as young authors.

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

Friday, September 14, 2018

We just finished week two in portable two and here is a glimpse of what we’ve been up to:

Music and Art – We have continued to work on composing our bucket drumming performance to the song, Gang of Rhythm by Walk off the Earth. We really want to add in a part where we use our own hand-made shakers. The students have been asked to collect small Pringles containers (the 68g size). We will design the outside of them and put something inside to “shake it up” during our performance.

Math and Drama – Jo Boaler has been teaching us about what it means to be mathematical and that math is so much more than calculating. Who is Jo Boaler? Jo Boaler is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford. One thing she is teaching us is the importance of explaining our math thinking to others. This helps us to make sense of what we’re doing and determine whether we are on the right track or not. One thing that we do in class to practice this concept is, Math Court with Judge Julie. In math court, students act as lawyers to state their case and explain their thinking. Judge Julie and the members of the jury may question them and ask them to provide evidence. It’s a fun way to work on this essential skill.

Social Studies – We have started to learn about Canada (the land, water, provinces, and territories) and doing our part to take care of it. One thing our class is doing to take care of our land is setting up and taking care of the compost at our school. Our class will be in charge of all the composting at Waterford Public School. So far, we are learning about what can be composted and what can’t be. The class is pumped to take on this job for the whole school.

Language – We have been busy writing and reading in our back to school activity booklets. Some of what the students have been sharing is their favourite books, their favourite songs, what they did in the summer, and what they do in their spare time.

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

September 7, 2018

It has been a great first week and I am very proud of how hard the students are working to learn the expectations in Portable Two! We have also been getting to know each other and what it means to be part of a learning community. After four days with this crew, I can tell you that it’s going to be a great year!

One thing we spent some time working on was designing a hot air balloon for our classroom mural. The title of the mural is, Let’s Soar to New Heights in Grade Four!!!! Each student got their picture taken and came up with a way to make it look like they were floating in the sky with their hot air balloon. I’m really impressed with all of the creative ideas in this classroom. Some students put their picture in the basket while others decided to make it look like they were hanging off the edge or by a string. The mural is going to look amazing and it will represent a team effort. Each balloon is very unique just like each student is. I can’t wait for you to see them at Meet the Teacher Night.

Another thing we participated in was bucket drumming. Each student got their own bucket drum (thanks to Harveys for donating their pickle buckets) and a pair of drumsticks. We have started to compose a drumming performance to the song, Gang of Rhythm (by Walk Off the Earth). It’s sounding really good so far. Someday, we’ll perform it for you. For now, we will practice and keep composing.

I hope you have a great weekend!!! Talk to you soon.

-Mrs. Julie Pragnell

September 4, 2018

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for joining me! My name is Mrs. Pragnell and I am excited to be teaching grade 4 this year at Waterford Public School. There will be lots of learning going on in our portable and I will write news updates for you on this blog.

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Sincerely Yours, Mrs. Pragnell