In Japanese class, we learned about the lifestyles of Maiko and Rikishi.
Maiko is a girl who is studying in Kyoto to be a geisha and Rikishi is a sumo wrestler.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Maiko and Sumo kids
Grade 4 kids have been learning about different lifestyles around the world which is their classroom inquiry.
In Japanese class, we learned about the lifestyles of Maiko and Rikishi.
Maiko is a girl who is studying in Kyoto to be a geisha and Rikishi is a sumo wrestler.
We also practiced how to take some important notes effectively.
In Japanese class, we learned about the lifestyles of Maiko and Rikishi.
Maiko is a girl who is studying in Kyoto to be a geisha and Rikishi is a sumo wrestler.
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Friday Weekly Reflection 28
Hello Grade 4 Families,
I hope you all had a refreshing spring break.
Grade 4 came back to school with enthusiasm about the final school term.
In Mathematics, we revisited shapes, however this time, we turned our attention to 3D figures. Students worked in groups during rotation time on Wednesday and Thursday, investigating, identifying, modelling, drawing and classifying 3D shapes. The group have been particularly committed to the activities this week and have demonstrated that they are curious to find out more.
In Language time, we revisited past tense, something that still proves to be tricky at times. Students also began a new reflective activity that we will do in lieu of the weekly reflection homework. From this week, students will spend time each week reflecting on one of the Learner Profile attributes that they feel they have demonstrated. This is an activity we will follow through until the end of term as there are 10 weeks of school, along with 10 attributes. The attributes chosen by students this week were: caring and reflective.
Inquiry has been incredibly interesting and thought provoking. The central idea we are working on is: Children encounter different challenges and opportunities. After discussing the central idea with students, I gave them a selection of photographs taken from a series about children around the world and where they sleep. The photographs were very provoking for students, who were eager to find out more about the children and their experiences.
All students have selected one of the students to do do a comparative project on titled "A Day in the Life". They will explore the experiences of the child through research about the country and area that they are from and then compare it with their own experiences. I foresee this to be a very thought-provoking investigation and from conversations with the students, I feel a great sense of compassion from them towards the children who experience great challenges in their lives.
To compliment this unit, grade 4 are undertaking a "30 Day Appreciation Challenge". Each student is going to attempt to document the things they appreciate in their lives by taking a photograph a day for 30 days. I want to thank grade 4 families for your support with this endeavor.
Next week (Saturday 18th April) is International Children's day and I hope that all families can make it. As you know, it is a compulsory day for teachers and students. We encourage you to come and enjoy the day and share in your child's learning as it will be on display in our room. There will be a bake sale and interactive activities around the school!
Until next week,
- Miss Raciti
I hope you all had a refreshing spring break.
Grade 4 came back to school with enthusiasm about the final school term.
In Mathematics, we revisited shapes, however this time, we turned our attention to 3D figures. Students worked in groups during rotation time on Wednesday and Thursday, investigating, identifying, modelling, drawing and classifying 3D shapes. The group have been particularly committed to the activities this week and have demonstrated that they are curious to find out more.
In Language time, we revisited past tense, something that still proves to be tricky at times. Students also began a new reflective activity that we will do in lieu of the weekly reflection homework. From this week, students will spend time each week reflecting on one of the Learner Profile attributes that they feel they have demonstrated. This is an activity we will follow through until the end of term as there are 10 weeks of school, along with 10 attributes. The attributes chosen by students this week were: caring and reflective.
Inquiry has been incredibly interesting and thought provoking. The central idea we are working on is: Children encounter different challenges and opportunities. After discussing the central idea with students, I gave them a selection of photographs taken from a series about children around the world and where they sleep. The photographs were very provoking for students, who were eager to find out more about the children and their experiences.
All students have selected one of the students to do do a comparative project on titled "A Day in the Life". They will explore the experiences of the child through research about the country and area that they are from and then compare it with their own experiences. I foresee this to be a very thought-provoking investigation and from conversations with the students, I feel a great sense of compassion from them towards the children who experience great challenges in their lives.
To compliment this unit, grade 4 are undertaking a "30 Day Appreciation Challenge". Each student is going to attempt to document the things they appreciate in their lives by taking a photograph a day for 30 days. I want to thank grade 4 families for your support with this endeavor.
Next week (Saturday 18th April) is International Children's day and I hope that all families can make it. As you know, it is a compulsory day for teachers and students. We encourage you to come and enjoy the day and share in your child's learning as it will be on display in our room. There will be a bake sale and interactive activities around the school!
Until next week,
- Miss Raciti
Thursday, 19 March 2015
Japanese conjunction
Grade4 students have been learning how to use some Japanese conjunctions.
It is from their Kokugo textbook "文と文をつなぐ言葉”.
On Parents' morning, each student introduced one conjunction and how to use them in a sentence.
They understand that some conjunctions like しかし or ところがonly lead to negative sentences.
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Friday Weekly Reflection 26
Hello Grade 4 families,
I hope you have had an excellent week. A big thank you to the families who made it to Parents' Day!
This week has been a big week for grade 4. Most students polished and published their stories for the Grade 1 students about energy. Some students presented them on Thursday and received medals and missions from their target audience!
Unfortunately, we still have not recorded our summative task, "The Grade 4 Evening News Program" but hopefully will be able to complete this next week.
We are also hoping that the weather is bright and sunny so that we can finally begin planting our vegetables and flowers in our garden!
This will be the last blog post of Term 2. Thank you once again for your support this term and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed after spring break.
- Miss Raciti
I hope you have had an excellent week. A big thank you to the families who made it to Parents' Day!
This week has been a big week for grade 4. Most students polished and published their stories for the Grade 1 students about energy. Some students presented them on Thursday and received medals and missions from their target audience!
Unfortunately, we still have not recorded our summative task, "The Grade 4 Evening News Program" but hopefully will be able to complete this next week.
We are also hoping that the weather is bright and sunny so that we can finally begin planting our vegetables and flowers in our garden!
This will be the last blog post of Term 2. Thank you once again for your support this term and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed after spring break.
- Miss Raciti
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Friday Weekly Reflection 25
Hello Grade 4 Families,
I hope you have had a fantastic week. Finally it seems that the weather is beginning to warm up!
Grade 4 have printed their very own newspaper this week during inquiry. In small groups, they explored various class inquiries with many groups choosing to write about the impacts of energy use on the environment as well as on our health. One group also reflected on the visit we had on Monday. Kinou San had some great information about Japan's energy use and practical suggestions for us to do our part to save energy.
I have included images of the newspaper pages below, however I am sure the class will be more than keen to share them with you next week at the celebration of learning. We are now focusing on the news panel presentation that we will film and show next week. Then, if the sun continues to shine, we will get back into the garden and start planting!
When we discussed the 3rd line of inquiry "how people communicate about energy use", we discovered that the newspaper and presentation may not be able to reach some of our audience. The class identified that young students may not understand and took action to rectify this. They decided to use their writing process structure to create a book for the younger student that helps to teach them about environmental issues. Each student is working on their own publication and the stories are so far fantastic. I can definitely see progress in the group's ability to write independently and with confidence, showing the development of their own voice and style!
This week during mathematics, students tried math rotations, a structure similar to centres. They focused on key learning outcomes relevant to our current math unit as well as essential revision from previous units. Each group was given a large task card with a simplified version on the learning outcome at the top, along with instructions on how to complete the task. I was so pleased with the way the students worked together and independently, dependent on the station and demonstrated a great ability to work through problems and stay focused. This approach proved great for me too, as I was able to monitor students, assist and facilitate questions where needed. After discussing with the students, we decided that this is a system we would like to continue!
That is all for this week,
Have a great weekend,
- Miss Raciti
I hope you have had a fantastic week. Finally it seems that the weather is beginning to warm up!
Grade 4 have printed their very own newspaper this week during inquiry. In small groups, they explored various class inquiries with many groups choosing to write about the impacts of energy use on the environment as well as on our health. One group also reflected on the visit we had on Monday. Kinou San had some great information about Japan's energy use and practical suggestions for us to do our part to save energy.
I have included images of the newspaper pages below, however I am sure the class will be more than keen to share them with you next week at the celebration of learning. We are now focusing on the news panel presentation that we will film and show next week. Then, if the sun continues to shine, we will get back into the garden and start planting!
When we discussed the 3rd line of inquiry "how people communicate about energy use", we discovered that the newspaper and presentation may not be able to reach some of our audience. The class identified that young students may not understand and took action to rectify this. They decided to use their writing process structure to create a book for the younger student that helps to teach them about environmental issues. Each student is working on their own publication and the stories are so far fantastic. I can definitely see progress in the group's ability to write independently and with confidence, showing the development of their own voice and style!
This week during mathematics, students tried math rotations, a structure similar to centres. They focused on key learning outcomes relevant to our current math unit as well as essential revision from previous units. Each group was given a large task card with a simplified version on the learning outcome at the top, along with instructions on how to complete the task. I was so pleased with the way the students worked together and independently, dependent on the station and demonstrated a great ability to work through problems and stay focused. This approach proved great for me too, as I was able to monitor students, assist and facilitate questions where needed. After discussing with the students, we decided that this is a system we would like to continue!
That is all for this week,
Have a great weekend,
- Miss Raciti
Sunday, 8 March 2015
Friday Weekly Reflection 24
Hello Grade 4 Families,
Grade 4 thoroughly enjoyed the activities that were arranged throughout the week for Science and Numeracy Week! There were chemicals mixed, balloons popped, slime, rockets, a paper airplane contest and more.
During inquiry, students discussed the second line of inquiry and investigated the negative impacts of human energy use. We looked at different kinds of pollution and the impact pollution has on the environment and our bodies. Students then selected an area of interest and with a partner collaboratively wrote a news article. We are going to compile these news articles into a class newspaper, relating to energy use and its impacts. This will nicely transition into our third line of inquiry which is about how people communicate about energy use.
On Monday we will welcome a guest speaker from the Asia Energy Efficiency and Conservation Collaboration Center who will be talking to the students about energy conservation and deepening their already growing knowledge of energy and its uses.
During Mathematics, students have begun using the formula for finding an area of a rectangle in various situations. We have investigated perimeter by attempting to measure the garden bed outside. Students were not happy with their results from the first measurement as there was some inaccuracies with the measurements, so they have decided they need to take a second measurement of the space.
In language, we explicitly tackled newspaper reports and the various features a newspaper has, in order to help guide students with their newspaper articles. I have also set up a student blog, which is shared among students. They have been contributing their ideas and reflections about the unit so far. I hope there are more contributions this week! I will hopefully be able to send you out a link to this student blog at some point next week.
That is all for now,
Have a wonderful weekend,
-Miss Raciti
Grade 4 thoroughly enjoyed the activities that were arranged throughout the week for Science and Numeracy Week! There were chemicals mixed, balloons popped, slime, rockets, a paper airplane contest and more.
During inquiry, students discussed the second line of inquiry and investigated the negative impacts of human energy use. We looked at different kinds of pollution and the impact pollution has on the environment and our bodies. Students then selected an area of interest and with a partner collaboratively wrote a news article. We are going to compile these news articles into a class newspaper, relating to energy use and its impacts. This will nicely transition into our third line of inquiry which is about how people communicate about energy use.
On Monday we will welcome a guest speaker from the Asia Energy Efficiency and Conservation Collaboration Center who will be talking to the students about energy conservation and deepening their already growing knowledge of energy and its uses.
During Mathematics, students have begun using the formula for finding an area of a rectangle in various situations. We have investigated perimeter by attempting to measure the garden bed outside. Students were not happy with their results from the first measurement as there was some inaccuracies with the measurements, so they have decided they need to take a second measurement of the space.
In language, we explicitly tackled newspaper reports and the various features a newspaper has, in order to help guide students with their newspaper articles. I have also set up a student blog, which is shared among students. They have been contributing their ideas and reflections about the unit so far. I hope there are more contributions this week! I will hopefully be able to send you out a link to this student blog at some point next week.
That is all for now,
Have a wonderful weekend,
-Miss Raciti
Thursday, 5 March 2015
3 wishes
Grade 4 students have been reading "Mittsu no onegai" from Kokugo textbook.
The story is really cute and students enjoyed reading.
They also practiced making sentences with conjunction.(文と文をつなぐ言葉）
The story is really cute and students enjoyed reading.
They also practiced making sentences with conjunction.(文と文をつなぐ言葉）
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