Lots of New Books!

Well, not really lots of new books but it seems that way! Lately, many of our students have been discovering new books and authors that they love. The best part is that they are talking about these new books they love and the demand for them is spreading like wild fire! I must say, I am very happy to see something other than "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" floating around here!
We were talking at the end of the day about how we could share our new titles with our virtual audience using a web tool. A simple blog post is fine but a list we could add to continuously with our favourites is even better. As we were scrolling through the blog looking for a tool we had used in the past that would work for this, there it was, at the bottom of our page - our Shelfari! Of course! What better way than our Shelfari!
Mrs. Tresoor and I have been scheming about some "not a boring book report" tasks the kids could do when they are finished reading a book. I found this blog post that got me thinking about the cool ways students could respond to their reading. We want our students to be more accountable for what they are reading. We also want them to share what they are reading with their peers, just like they have been today, because we know how powerful peer opinion is when it comes to choosing a book. We both started with a "Now I am Reading..." chart in the room where students put a sticky note of the book they are reading. When they finish it, they give me that sticky note and put a new one with their title. Today alone, 11 sticky noes were handed in for new ones! Awesome.



The pile of sticky notes from TODAY alone!

 One of the "not a boring book report" tasks we have been planning to introduce was to write a book review on Shelfari (or chapters.ca or amazon.ca etc). Previously I have used our Shelfari myself, adding books that I read with my students, that my students read, that I read professionally and personally. This is probably why it sits there at the bottom of our blog, lonely and ignored. Now that I have used it with my students, they are more aware of it and will be much more likely to scroll allllll the way down there!
You can check out our Shelfari by scrolling down, all the way down (perhaps I should move it???) to the bottom of our blog. Or, you can click here. You will notice not all the books are children's books. I also post some of the personal reading I do here. I think it is important for my students to see me as a reader and see the books that I read when I am at home.
Stay tuned for the book reviews coming soon to our Shelfari!

Awesome 100/10 000 Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Friday we had our 100/10 000 day!!!! We had lots of fun choises like...
Wordle with 100 WOW words in it.
Clip together 10 000 paperclips.
Blog post with10 000 words in it.
Make your own costom made 10 000 dollar bill.
Find out the length of 10 000 pencils.

On peices of paper there were activities like.....

Where would you like to vist in the world?

Draw 10 000 tally marks.

Ways to write 10 000 using only number problems (Ricky only did it)

10 000 questions you have about the world.

How far would 10 000 steps take you?

Make up word problems for which the answer is 10 000

That was the best 100/10 000 day EVER!!!!!!!

P.S It was also dress up as your fav book character!

-Ash

2 by 2 Digit Multiplication

I have discovered a new app for the iPad that I think is pretty neat. It is called ShowMe and it allows me to create a little lesson with sound that is recorded. I could send this lesson to all the kids in my class, their families and even post it here on the blog for them to refer to when they are working at home. Awesome!

Expert Projects

We have recently introduced a new element to our Daily Five called Expert Projects. Students can use one of their choices each day during Daily Five to work on a topic of their choice. They may choose to share knowledge from personal experiences or research using books, the internet or other people. These expert projects will be presented to the class as they are complete. Some have been shared here on our Expert Projects page as well as on the student's personal blogs. Students have to set up a plan, follow the expectations set out and work towards the rubric we created.

Daily Five is by far a favorite in our class, primarily because of the choice it gives students. When expert projects were introduced, at least 95% of the students jumped right in to a project. The freedom and variety that these projects offers is very appealing to them. Some students have already completed more than one!

While working on an expert project, students are covering a gigantic range of skills including reading/scanning for information, recording information in jot notes, organizing information, tracking resources, using a variety of resources, writing information in sentences using their own words, publishing work using a HUGE variety of tools (web 2.0 and good old marker and paper!) and speaking to an audience. Phewf, sounds like a lot of hard work. But they love it and have fun doing it so it doesn't feel like a lot of hard work.

It's a win-win for us all :)

NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY (Louis Riel Day)

We have no school on Monday because it is Louis Riel Day!!!!! Louis Riel is the founder of Manitoba and the leader of Metis people. That is why Louis Reil Day is sooo important!!
-Ash

Resources
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&safe=active&sa=X&tbas=0&biw=1366&bih=587&tbm=isch&tbnid=caq_70e_aILgeM:&imgrefurl=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/louis-riel&docid=wh6br2dE6pvVbM&imgurl=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/media/riel-louis-4345.jpg&w=280&h=353&ei=hIA-T4bQMsecgwfKtIyLAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=88&vpy=114&dur=4509&hovh=252&hovw=200&tx=200&ty=156&sig=111801459200747202416&page=1&tbnh=125&tbnw=100&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=0CEQQrQMwAA

Amazing AAA (Triple A)

In AAA we were talking with Elder Jewels and Mr. Cer. Mr. Cers spirit name was Wawa Tay which meant sound of coming thunder. First we all sat in a circle, then Mr.Cer had an eagle wing that he passed around and you can only talk when you are holding it.  First we passed it in a circle to say our names. Elder Jewels speaks 5 different langueges. He is 70 years old, he has 6 sons, 6 daughters and 27 grandchildren. He said the the women were the leaders. He said when people get sick mostly because of fear. Next Elder Jewels sang a song and we had to close our eyes and think about a wolf. After we all opened our eyes and said what our wolves were doing, mostly everyone etheir said dancing or bringing them back home. Then we fished just in time for recess!!!
-Ash

Groundhog Day Eve

Last week the students blogged on their blogs about what they are learning about the digestive system. We had a discussion today comparing some of their blog posts (without any names of course) to see which ones had exceeded, met or not met expectations. I think seeing posts side by side made it very obvious what they need to do to meet or exceed expectations!
To practice what we have just discussed, today they are posting about Groundhog Day. They have been asked to include:
• What is it?
• Where did it originate from?
• Who celebrates it?
• When is it celebrated/acknowledged?
• Why is it celebrated?
• What do you predict will be the outcome this year? WHY?

Check out their posts later today to see how they make out. Of course we always appreciate feedback and comments.

As a side note, on this Groundhog Day Eve we were treated to a beautiful view of fog and frost this morning. I remember this happening sometime last winter too. That time I happened to have my camera with me but not today. Luckily I had my handy-dandy iPhone with it's fantastic little camera!

-Mrs. Dent Scarcello :)