The Classroom Connection

Today in 4WS, we had another timed test with mixed multiplication up to 9X9 and the related division facts. Below is the newest round of students welcomed into the 12+ Club. Congratulations, everyone. Keep up the good work!

The 12+ Club: This is club that a student can become a part of each time he or she gets 12 or more multiplication/division questions correct on the weekly timed tests. The goal is that by the end of grade four, students should be able to do 15 questions in 2 minutes.  To be a “Just Got it” with their facts and to join the 12+ Club, the student must get at least 12 questions correct on the timed test.

~Please give a BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSES to the SECOND GROUP of students that are now a part of the 4WS 12+ CLUB:~

1. BARRETT

2. CHLOE

3. DESTINY

4. JESSE

5. ZAC

6. THOMAS

7. COLE

8. RACHEL

9. AUSTIN R.

Thanks to Jesse’s Mom, we have decided to make The 12+ Club a little more interesting….We will be tracking how many consecutive weeks (weeks in a row) students can stay in The 12+ Club. There will be top prizes for the most consecutive weeks at the end of the term.

Good luck, everyone!

While Mrs. Webb-Scheers was visiting another classroom this week, she noticed that they had a poster up that read “The 15 Club” with a bunch of student names posted on it. She was curious as to what this was all about, so she asked their teachers, Miss Shannon and Mrs. Green, to explain. They told Mrs. Webb-Scheers that it was a MATH CLUB…and that it was all about learning MATH FACTS. Well, this got Mrs. Webb-Scheers thinking…4WS would LOVE to do something like that.

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The 12+ Club: This is club that a student can become a part of each time he or she gets 12 or more multiplication/division questions correct on the weekly timed tests. The goal is that by the end of grade four, students should be able to do 15 questions in 2 minutes.  To be a “Just Got it” with their facts and to join the 12+ Club, the student must get at least 12 questions correct on the timed test.

~Please give a BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSES to the FIRST GROUP of students that are now a part of the 4WS 12+ CLUB:~

1. BARRETT

2. NATHAN

3. DESTINY

4. JESSE

5. ZAC

6. THOMAS

7. COLE

8. RACHEL

9. ROBERT

Do you think having the 12+ Club is a good idea for the 4WS classroom? Why or why not?

How do you practice your facts to make sure you are getting better at them?

A BIG congratulations goes out to COLE, BARRETT and CAMERON from the 4WS classroom. These three boys have worked very hard this year to meet ALL of the student blogging challenges and as a result they have earned the privilege of having their OWN STUDENT BLOG.

COLE’S BLOG

http://colerk2.edublogs.org

BARRETT’S BLOG

http://barrett88.edublogs.org

CAMERON’S BLOG

http://cpg17.edublogs.org

Please head on over to these student blogs and leave them a comment. They would LOVE to hear from you.

What are somethings that you think are important to remember as a STUDENT BLOGGER?

For the past number of weeks, the students of 4WS (along with Miss Campbell and Mrs. Webb-Scheers) have been working extremely hard to learn a class song (and create a movie to go with it) that we feel shows others what learning in the 21st century is all about. We have finally finished the movie and we wanted to share it with our family and blogging buddy friends. 

The song and video talk about/show our class blog and they represents how the 4WS class try to learn each day. We work very hard to learn the things needed in grade four and we try to learn those things while having fun and by using a number of different “techie tools“.

Please check out our movie below and let us know what you think.  

Have you ever made a class song or movie before?If so,what did you find was the BEST thing about doing it?

What is your favorite part of our movie/song and why?

Take a look at the LIVESTREAM video below to watch the chicks in 2C as they hatch into the world. They are due to hatch May 8th, 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: UStream is a free program that allows you to livestream your events online. At the beginning of each viewing, there will be a 15-20 second random commercial played. These commercials are not able to be selected or previewed by the account owner ahead of time.

What are some things you know about baby chicks?

Have you ever seen a baby chick hatch before? What did you think?

April marked the beginning of our third term in 4WS. In Literacy, the students are revisiting how to write Personal Narratives.  

Personal Narrative: A TRUE story about the author that includes a bold beginning, a mighty middle and an excellent ending. It uses all of the wonderful writing traits that make up a good story. These are:

1. Content
2. Organization 
3. Word Choice
4.  Voice
5.  Sentence Structure
6.  Conventions and
7.  Presentaton

If you want to take  closer look at the marking criteria for third term writing, please check out the CRITERIA PAGE  located at the top of our blog. It specifically goes over all of the traits and what each ones means for a writer in grade four.  

Take a listen below at some of the terrific stories that the children have been working on so far in the classroom. Please stay tuned for more to come. I think we have a super class of writers in 4WS! I am very proud of each and every one of you! Keep up the good work.

A section from McKenna’s  Personal Narrative called, “Opps!” 

 
Voice Recorder >>

A Section from Maci’s Personal Narrative called, “The Loss of Grammy”

 
Voice Recorder >>

A Section from Chloe’s Personal Narrative called, “Poop!”

 
Voice Recorder >>

What style of writing do you like best and why?

What are some positive things that you heard from the girls’ stories. How did it help their writing?

The month of April is off to a great start for the students of 4WS because…we started SWIMMING LESSONS.

Every Tuesday from 1:20-2:10 we swim at a local Civic Center. We are having SO MUCH FUN. There is a half hour of lessons and then a half hour of free swim. We are learning so much!

We noticed that one of our blogging buddies, 3FI (Join the Adventure) have also started their swimming lesson, so we thought it would be cool to present them with a SWIMMING CHALLENGE.

Check out our swimming movie below to see what we have been up to in our lessons, as well as read the chllenge.

What is your FAVORITE PART of swimming lessons? Why?

Do you think it is important to learn to swim? Why or  why not?

Barrett was one of the four Family Blogging month winners in February and as a result he won the prize of being featured in a blog post. Barrett worked with  me (Mrs. Webb-Scheers) and learned about creating movies and how to write a blog post.

Below is Barrett’s post and his pictures on a topic of his choice. Congratulations Barrett, 4WS is very proud of you!

Hey Barrett here,  Today I’m going to give you some tips on how you can live the rest of your life in peace with your little brother.

TIP # 1:

Tip #1 is since younglings aren’t very coorinated you might have to brush there hair in the morning and teach them how to tie there shoes.  In the morning when he wakes up, his hair is wild so I’m teaching him how to wet his hair down and brush it. My brother Parker has not mastered how to tie his shoes but he has come a long ways.

TIP # 2:

 Tip #2 is after a long day of hard work at school make sure you have lots of brotherly bonding time. As you can see from the picture above Parker and I like to play wii and bike.

Tip #3:

One final tip is for all you big brothers out there before your little bro goes to bed they might want a bed time story. Parkers favorite is Doctor Suess  The Penguin that hated the cold.

P.S  Be sure to let them pick the book because… well you don’t want to know what happens if you pick a book they don’t like.

What tips do you have on being a good big brother?

Do you have any advice for when/if  I get my own blog? Hint Hint Wink Wink Mom

AVATAR:A digital representation of yourself that shows up online when you leave comments on blogs or in voice threads. It helps to stay SMART and keep you safe while using 21st century technology.

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BLOGGING CHALLENGE: Each student in 4WS is going to create at least ONE avartar using the programs below. To complete the challenge, students need to email their avatar to Mrs. Webb-Scheers.  To do this, they will need to take a picture of it using the snipping tool and save in to their computer. Finally, they will have to attach it to an email and send it off to Mrs. Webb-Scheers.  Those who have met ALL THREE of the student challenges by the end of April will be given the opportunity to have their OWN STUDENT BLOG!

Below are the two programs we used in class to create our blog avatars. You may also use the Voki program that we learned how to use earlier in the school year.  

Build Your Wild Self

Build Your Wild Self can be used to create funny animal avatars. You can add different animal parts to various areas of your avatar’s body giving you a very WILD and FUNNY looking creature at the end. This site is my absolute FAVORITE site. www.buildyourwildself.com

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1. Go to the Build Your Wild Self site

Step 2. Create your wild avatar

Step 3. Click on the I’m Done box

Step 4. Now click on the Print Your Wild Self box

Step 5. Use the snipping tool (using Windows 7) found by clicking the start button in the left hand corner of your computer screen and take a picture of your avatar and save it to your computer or simply right click and select “save image“. This will save the avatar picture to your computer.

Simpsons Avatar

The Simpsons avatar is a funny site that allows you to visit the Simpsons world and you get to do so as a Simpsons character. It allows you to create yourself as a Simpsons character by selecting your hair, eyes, nose, clothing…even the color of your shoes! www.simpsonmovie.com

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1. Go to the Simpsons Movie Site

Step 2. Create your avatar

Step 3. Use the snipping tool (using Windows 7) found by clicking the start button in the left hand corner of your computer screen or right click and select “save as” and take a picture of your avatar and save it to your computer.

What was your favorite thing about creating a personal avatar?

Which program did you like best…why?

Cole was one of the four Family Blogging month winners in February and as a result he won the prize of being featured in a blog post. Cole stayed after school with me (Mrs. Webb-Scheers) and learned about creating movies and how to write a blog post.

Below is Cole’s post and his pictures on a topic of his choice. Congratulations Cole, 4WS is very proud of you!

Hi it’s Cole and read the following post to get to learn a little bit about my favourite hockey player …….Sidney Crosby!

This is my room!As you can see I’m the ultamite Crosby/Pittsburgh Penguins fan!

On the left what the Penguins symbol looks like and on the right is what Sidney Crosby looks like and how they beame Stanley Cup Champions!

It is stickered to my wall I read it quite abit!

In my basement we have this jersey framed!In our house everyone has a jersey.His number is really special because he was born in the 8th month the 7th day 1987 so that’s why the number 87 is special to him.

        Have you ever heard of Sidney Crosby?

    Who is your favourite hockey player?