October 9th Newsletter

​Dear parents,
 
I hope you all had a great long weekend with family and friends! This week, the grade 4 students are starting the Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA). For some of the FSA activities, the grade 4 students who are doing the FSA will join grade 4 students from other classes while the rest of the class is working on other activities. Other FSA activities, such as writing and math, will be integrated in our daily routines until the end of October.
 
Over the last few weeks, students have worked hard on their art cards and on the “Meaning of Home” English writing project. In math, we are learning to visualize simple multiplications (groupings and arrays) in order to develop mental math strategies for our multiplication tables. 

Art Cards

For our Art Cards this year, we looked at the art of Victoria artist Gwen Monnet, who makes fun art cards featuring local animals in a cartoonish and colorful style. For two weeks, students worked on many drafts of their art cards, getting feedback from their peers in order to improve their drawings. They showed enthusiasm, they worked very hard on their projects, and the results are fabulous. The Art Cards are an ECH annual fundraiser. You will be given the opportunity to order sets of your child's Art Card in a few weeks. 

Otterly Content, by Gwen Monnet

Violet, by Gwen Monnet

Gwen Monnet inspired Art Cards, by Division 5

Gwen Monnet inspired Art Cards, by Division 5

Gwen Monnet inspired Art Cards, by Division 5

​Meaning of Home Writing Project 

​Last week, for English writing, we worked on the Meaning of Home in the context of an optional writing contest organized annually by Habitat for Humanity. As a class, we discussed the difference between a house and a home, discussed how we feel in our home and the things that we can see, hear, smell and do at home. We also talked about the housing crisis and learned that some families are not able to afford a home. We read several texts written by the winners of the contest in previous years and established criteria for powerful writing.

On Thursday and Friday, students wrote a short text expressing what home means to them. Some chose to write a poem and others wrote their thoughts as an essay.  There are many fantastic authors in this class! Over the next few weeks, students will get teacher and peer feedback and improve their text before typing a final copy that they can submit for the Habitat for Humanity “Meaning of Home” writing contest in January (submission is optional).

Math: Visualizing multiplication and developing fluency

Over the last two weeks, I have used visual multiplication flashcards showing groupings and encouraged students to find the total of dots using mental math strategies. Today, I taught 2 dice games that use arrays to illustrate multiplications. The math homework for this week is to play the games at home with a sibling, parent, or other caregiver (see homework duotang). Extra templates for the games can be downloaded and printed at home for more practice (or simply make 10X10 grids on graph paper). 
How many rows? How many in each Row? Handout
How close to 100? Handout
 
In order to develop multiplicative thinking and build fluency with the multiplication facts, I encourage students to play these games frequently and to use the visual multiplication flashcards for daily practice.  You can download and print them at home if you have a printer. Please visit the Math Resources section of this website to download two different sets of visual multiplication cards (groupings and arrays) and to find suggestions on how to use them.  If you don’t have a printer, students can also make their own cards illustrating multiplications with index cards (they could draw the groupings on one side and the array on the other).

French writing... Using LEGO!

​In French, we are about to start learning about the elements of a story (characters, setting, plot) in order to write an interesting comic or short story in French. Students will have the option to work with LEGO mini-figures in order to create interesting fictional characters. Then, students can build a setting for their story using LEGO bricks (or draw their setting if they prefer). Students will have the option to illustrate their book or comic using LEGO and apps that are available on the school Ipads (Comic Life or Book Creator). We should start working with the mini-figures next week, and continue this project throughout the month. 

I will bring a good selection of mini-figures and LEGO bricks to school from my sons' collection for this project. If your child wants to bring their own mini-figures or LEGO bricks for this project, there are two options: 

• Bring extra LEGO to donate to the class that will be added to our existing collection and won't be returned home after. 
• Bring LEGO mini-figures/bricks in a ziploc bag/box that is labelled with your child's name to store when we are not working on the project. There is a possibility that LEGO might be lost, so do not send LEGO that your child is very attached to...

Since school rules forbid students to bring toys to school, any LEGO brought to school for this purpose will be stored in the assigned spot when students are not working on the project (no LEGO outside at recess or in the desks).

Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time! Have a great week!

Nathalie