Literacy in the Junior-Intermediate Grades

Today in my classroom walks, I spent time in our junior and intermediate classes. Specifically, I was in Ms. Brown's, James', Smith's, and Royce's classes. I saw examples of teachers working with small groups, students practicing a skill that they have learned (i.e., summarizing), and working on various language related skills in their literacy centres. Some students were working on the computer while others were working on pencil and paper tasks. I appreciated the focus and direct work of the students and teachers! Take a look at some of the pictures below to get a more clear picture of the tasks that the students were working on.

Winter Concert

Last Thursday, we had our annual Winter Concert. It was a great time. I would like to thank our teachers and students for the great work they put in to make this concert a success. I would like to offer special thanks to Ms. Joo, our music teacher, who put in a great amount of time to prepare our students to perform. I would also like to thank many of our teachers who stayed to supervise their students. Our parent photographers were fully represented! It was a great way to kick off our Holiday Season, and I would like to thank our parents for supporting this event!

Math Learning

As you know, improving our students' ability in math is a focus for us at Boxwood. Today I observed a variety of primary and junior math classes (Ms. Sen, Mr. McQuirter, Ms. Kenwell, Ms. Gardner, and Ms. Malamas). See below to see what they were learning:

In Ms. Sen's Gr. 1/2 class, they were working on shapes and patterning while some other students were working at measuring different items (e.g., a feather) using non-standard units (e.g., paper clip).

In Mr. McQuirter's Gr. 2/3 class, students were working on adding two digit numbers using the strategy of making a number into a friendly number (e.g., instead of adding 54 +49, add 53 + 50). Students tried this on their own and then Mr. Mcquirter led a discussion about different strategies that students used to find the answer. He reinforced the effectiveness of students using this strategy and modelled how to use it.

In Ms. Kenwell's Gr. 3 class, students were working on addition as well. They were practicing using their knowledge of place value to add numbers. She also reviewed some key words that indicate that addition is the required operation in a word problem. To further support the students, she had a place value chart that was available for them to use to organize a number based on place value.

In Ms. Gardner's Gr. 4 class, they were working on deconstructing the different parts of a complete graph (e.g., title, scale, x and y axis...). Students used their background knowledge to identify the different parts and their importance in a graph.

In Ms. Malamas's Gr. 4/5 class, students were engaged in a diagnostic measurement assessment. This is where she is determining the students' skills right now with measurement. Students were asked to draw a line of different lengths and do different conversions.

Learning in Ms. Forth's SK/1 Class

Last Friday, I had an amazing time learning with Ms. Forth's SK/Gr. 1 Class. In language students were learning how to retell a story. Ms. Forth reviewed a story that they read before, The Mitten. They reviewed the success criteria to write an effective retell (e.g., "I can tell the story in the order that I heard it."). They also have success criteria for what makes a good sentence (e.g., "I can start my sentence with an uppercase letter.")

In math, students were working on measuring distances. They learned the importance of having a consistent baseline (i.e., starting point) when comparing distances. Ms. Forth's classroom also demonstrates the learning that has taken place with measuring. The students did a great job!