Grade 2- Term 1 Week 1 Who We Are

We had a great first week of school! We started the week learning the classroom routines and getting to know our new classmates, teacher, classroom, and school. The students made their essential agreements for the year. We did a lot of writing the first week and started to focus on punctuation and capitalization. In math, we played some math games to brush up on our basic skills.

Grade 4 - Essential Agreements and Building Challenge

Grade 4 had a nice first week getting back into the school routine and getting to know some new students in our class.  One important activity at the beginning of the year is the creation of the classroom essential agreements.  For this, all the students participated in sharing ideas for what they think the rules should be for everyone to follow.  We compiled the list and then analyzed them looking for themes and similarities that could be grouped into a broader wording of the rule.  Here is the first list they came up with, along side color coded stars that matched similarities.  

And here is the final result.  I'd say they are great agreements to abide by for a fantastic year!

We also did an activity where the students worked together and tried to remember some of the things they learned about building structures from their 2nd Grade inquiry unit about buildings and construction, if they were at our school then. Their task was to use marshmallows for joints and spaghetti sticks for beams and build the tallest structure they could.  If proved to be a tough challenge and not too many groups were able to get higher than two stories until we learned that following a triangular pattern would be the strongest method after looking at how Tokyo Sky Tree was built.  Here they are in action!

 

Grade 6 Who We Are Term 1 Week 1

We have been doing Words Their Way in our Spelling.  This week, we sorted the words into categories to help us remember how to spell them. For example, some of us sorted words with the (VCE) Vowel Consonant E pattern.  

These boys used the Smart Board for  their sorting. 

The children generated a crossword puzzles on the computer with their spelling words too.  We printed them out and had our neighbor do our sheet. 

We made an Essential Agreement with classroom rules and signed it.

Our class looked into Hammurabi's Code of Law. This king was the person who gave us our common law in our court systems of today. 

There were over 282 laws that people had to obey. We did case studies and decided how we would make the law code. The students also reacted to the laws of 1754 BC.  Hammurabi is famous for "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." 

We have started to read "Yoko's Diary." We will relate this book to human rights. 

The students have been learning the "ins and outs" of  5th and 6th Grade such as not keeping a water bottle on our desks.

We played the "I Have a Secret" game as an ice breaker. 

Our classes have been experimenting with 3-D lettering using a flat sheet of paper.  We took the one initial of our name and made it stand out.  Leyla's created this "L" and the teacher put a real ball beside it and lined paper behind the letter.  

Diego  and Eren did this "E" to create an obstacle illusion. 

Sana, Sumire and Sean drew this "S."

Jin made this "J." 

Grade 5 Who We Are Week 1 Term 1

We have been doing Words Their Way in our Spelling.  This week, we sorted the words into categories to help us remember how to spell them. For example, some of us sorted words with the (VCE) Vowel Consonant E pattern.  

These boys used the Smart Board for  their sorting. 

The children generated a crossword puzzles on the computer with their spelling words too.  We printed them out and had our neighbor do our sheet. 

We made an Essential Agreement with classroom rules and signed it.

Our class looked into Hammurabi's Code of Law. This king was the person who gave us our common law in our court systems of today. 

There were over 282 laws that people had to obey. We did case studies and decided how we would make the law code. The students also reacted to the laws of 1754 BC.  Hammurabi is famous for "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." 

We have started to read "Yoko's Diary." We will relate this book to human rights. 

The students have been learning the "ins and outs" of  5th and 6th Grade such as not keeping a water bottle on our desks.

We played the "I Have a Secret" game as an ice breaker. 

Our classes have been experimenting with 3-D lettering using a flat sheet of paper.  We took the one initial of our name and made it stand out.  Leyla's created this "L" and the teacher put a real ball beside it and lined paper behind the letter.  

Diego  and Eren did this "E" to create an obstacle illusion. 

Sana, Sumire and Sean drew this "S."

Jin made this "J."