This lesson started out in the library with Mrs. Randall, our librarian, reading a story, Be A Bridge by Irene Latham and Charles Waters.
After a short discussion, students thought about what they could do, today, to be a bridge. They recorded their ideas.
Next, students engaged in a STEM activity in which they needed to use the provided materials to build a bridge that would span the river.
We have begun a new social studies unit: People and Environments. While we are learning together and blending the two programs, the grade 4’s are focusing on The Political and Physical Regions of Canada and the grade 3’s are focusing on Living and Working in Ontario.
Over this past week we have been looking at how Canada is divided, first by provinces and territories and then by physical regions.
Students worked on looking critically at pictures and describing the land.
Our student teacher, Miss Moss, engaged the students in a mini-unit about descriptive writing. She began with identifying nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Students then engaged in a reading of “I Need My Monster”. This mentor text is rich in descriptive sentences, using interesting adjectives and verbs.
Then, it was time for students to write. They began the writing process with a brainstorm web of ideas of their own imaginary monster. Next, they organized their ideas using a graphic organizer. Then, they drafted their paragraphs on a Google slide and used the success criteria to revise and edit.
The last step was to use AI technology to generate a photo of their monsters based on their writing.
Thanks, Miss Moss, for this fun, engaging writing project!
On Monday we had the opportunity to go to the local high school to watch a production of “The Rainbow Fish” put on by the grade 11/12 drama production class. For many students it was the first time that they were in a theatre watching a live play. We all loved it!
When we got back we used that experience as inspiration for some paragraph writing. Together we constructed a topic sentence, brainstormed ideas for the middle, and a concluding sentence. Students then got to work writing their paragraphs independently.