April 17 - 21

Weekly Curriculum Update

Language Arts

During writing workshop this week the students began drafts of their fairy tales. We focused on writing strong beginning and making our characters come to life in our writing.

Math

This week we started our Measurement unit. The following goals were covered:

• Estimate measurements in centimetres.
• Take measurements in centimetres on a ruler.

Science

This week in science we focused on testing the strength of difference methods of joining. The first challenge the students faced was to answer the testable question "Will straw cubes, joined with different connectors, support the same mass?" The connectors used to answer this question were paper clips, pipe cleaners and plasticine. The students concluded that cubes joined with plasticine where stronger and held more mass that those made with paper clips or pipe cleaners. The students also completed a second challenge that involved making cubes with toothpicks and using marshmallows, puffed wheat and plasticine as connectors.

Art

This week we worked on a school wide art project that will be displayed during Education Week. We read a book called "Only One You" by Lind Kranz. This is an excellent book for celebrating individuality and appreciating the diversity of the world around us. The book focuses on Adri, a small fish whose parents decide that the time has come for them to share some wisdom with him. Alongside each wise message on every page are the gorgeously painted rockfish which perfectly depict the text. The book offers a plethora of helpful advice such as; "Find your own way, you don't have to follow the crowd. Blend in when you need to. Standout when you have the chance." At the end of the book Adri's parents remind him just how unique he is, & encourage him to swim off & make a difference in the world.

After reading this book we created our own pebble fish using acrylic paint. Next week we will use a sharpie to outline the patterns on the fish.