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Category Archives: writing
My Special Grown Up
Over the past two weeks students have been focusing on making connections while they read to help them with deeper thinking and understanding. They have also been writing to connect-writing in such a way that the reader can connect to the ideas.
Students began this culminating writing project with an interview. They chose an adult at home and conducted a brief interview to gather information. Once back at school, students used sentence stems to write some complex sentences. The next stage was to use a graphic organizer to organize their information into a paragraph structure. The paragraphs were then drafted and published on Google Slides.
Where Would You Prefer To Live?
We have been exploring the various land regions throughout Canada. Students have watched videos, looked at pictures and read articles about the regions. Grade 4’s looked at the whole of Canada and Grade 3’s focused on Ontario. As a culminating project students chose 2 regions to compare. They started with Venn diagrams and then used a T-chart to generate ideas about areas they would enjoy and those that they would not. All of this was then put together in paragraph format and published on Google Slides.
My Imaginary Monster
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!
The Rainbow Fish
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.
Community Agreements
In our classroom we have 4 community agreements:
- Right To Pass
- Attentive Listening
- Appreciation
- Mutual Respect
We have taken a lot of time to establish these rules so that our classroom is a safe and positive place for all to be. Today we completed an art project to “seal the deal”.
We talked a bit about hand shakes and how some people show their agreement to a deal with a handshake. So, we decided to put our hands on our Community Agreement board as a symbol of a handshake.
First students traced their hands. Then they used a variety of lines, shapes, and designs to make their hands unique. We talked about how the designs they used can reflect their personalities and show a variety of feelings. Then, students used markers, water and paintbrushes to paint their hands.
The last step was to reflect on the agreements and think about which ones were the most important. We came to the conclusion that they are all important!
Observing Soils
Over the past 2 days students have had a chance to investigate four different soil samples. They took time to use magnifying glasses to observe closely and record with drawings and words.
Then we came together to share the words we used to describe the samples and students had the opportunity to add more to their own recording sheet.
After that we looked at 4 location pictures and completed a shared writing activity, listing words to describe each location and deciding on a name for each.
The last step was to decide where each soil sample came from. Students used their knowledge of writing complete sentences using the conjunction “because” to record their thoughts.
Abstract Painting and Reflections
For this project students first learned a little about non-objective art. We watched a video about a well known artist, Wassily Kandinsky. We then looked at several of his paintings and identified the lines and shapes he used to create different sounds and feelings.
We talked about these elements of art: line, shape, colour, space.
Students used a variety of lines and shapes to fill their paper space. Then they were given white paint as well as 2 other colours to create tints to fill the spaces on their paper with colour. The last step was to use a sharpie to go over the pencil lines.
The students certainly rose to the challenge of this creative project!
The last step was to write about their art, being sure to use complete sentences. What sounds do they hear when they look at their artwork? What feeling does their piece create? Note: This was our first attempt at writing with the chromebooks. Students were told to focus on their ideas and writing complete sentences. Spelling was to be “Have-a-go”.