MR. Brewer
HUMANITIES - SOCIAL STUDIES/LANGUAGE ARTS
Students discussed oil sands development and began writing a short opinion piece in the form of a letter to the C.E.O. of an oil company. They wrote this letter from either the point of view of:
John and Mildred Ware - Early Ranchers: Homework assigned on Fri. April 26, 2019. Due on Monday April 29:
Swimming forms are due: April 23.
4B will go swimming at Vivo - May 6 ~ May 10. We will go to the pool Monday through Thurs.: 12:45 ~ 1:30 P.M. Friday - 9:45 ~ 10:45 Students will need the following: a swimsuit, a towel, clean change of underwear, water, plastic bag to put wet clothes into, & comb. Many students wear swim goggles as well, so these can be sent along. For walking to and from Vivo sun screen and a hat is recommended and an umbrella if it's a rainy day. On Monday this week students had a spelling quiz. Results from the test came back on Thursday. Students took time in class to edit their spelling sentences and receive feedback on them from Mr. Brewer. This week's spelling list was challenging as it contained difficult to spell words like: environmentalist, resources and agriculture. When using words ending in 'er', many students were challenged to write comparative sentences. A very common error was to use 'then' versus 'than'. On the same day, 4B students were able to log into computers and do some reading practice using the readtheory.org/ site. With ReadTheory, students read texts that are aimed at their reading level. All students in 4A and 4B can log into ReadTheory whenever they wish to practice. 4A's default password is Kodiaks2 and 4B's default password is Kodiaks1 All students have their own usernames that were generated when they first logged into the site. These are in the back of their agendas. The program selects texts of a general nature. As students answer comprehension questions more efficiently and correctly the reading rate and complexity of texts rises. Using this program along with reading of self-selected books every night for around 20 minutes is a good means of increasing reading comprehension skills. When adults read with children they can monitor understanding by asking good questions. Many grade 4 students can easily decode words (i.e. sound out most of the words), and use phrasing (i.e. they read with expression). Often though, when asked what something means, they may not be able to fully answer. In grade 4 we work on higher comprehension skills like confirming or revising inferences and predictions based on information in a text. So, it is a good idea to ask children what they think will happen next in a story, why a character did something or whether or not they agree with something in a story. Following up with 'wh' questions: who, what, where, when, why and how is a good idea. When adults do this, they can find out a lot about how much children read between the lines and how well they truly understand the nuances of texts.
This week Book Talks ended. Students were filmed while delivering these presentations. Mr. Brewer will mark students on how well they could be heard, whether or not they were facing the audience, using gestures and if there were miscues or instances of indecision. Students created presentations with content that explained about their chosen books and included a beginning, middle and end. Many students were keen to present in front of the class and some even asked if they can do another book talk. In Social Studies, we discussed how the Alberta oil sands are an integral part of the economy of our province. Students reflected on the benefits of this resource as well as the controversies surrounding its ongoing development. We learned that much of the infrastructure around extracting and upgrading bitumen is located near Fort McMurray in northeast Alberta. In class, students were exposed to viewpoints sympathetic to oil sands development as well as those of environmentalists who are critical about the effects of the extraction and refining of bitumen on nature and global warming. In grade 4 we analyze how Albertans interact with their environment by exploring and reflecting upon how natural resources are used by Albertans and how we deal with competing demands on land use (e.g., conservation, solar and wind power, recreation, agriculture, oil exploration, forestry). We also noted the timeliness of our classroom lecture and discussion as it was a very important topic for all candidates in the provincial election that took place this week: I e-mailed all parents about Health class for 4B next week: April 15 ~ April 18. The majority of students in 4B will be studying aspects of the Health curriculum related to puberty changes. Please view my e-mail to you on this subject for further information
Thank you, This week in class we continued to talk about natural resources. Resources are things found in nature that are useful to humans. We spoke in class about renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are resources which can be used repeatedly and replaced naturally. Examples of these types of resources are solar energy, livestock and crops. Non-renewable resources like coal, gas, or oil, once used, cannot be replaced. In class we talked about both types of resources. We categorized a variety of resources found in our province into two categories (above). We also talked about sustainability of resources. While we may think of resources like water and trees as being bountiful and virtually unlimited they ideally should be used in a way so that we do not deplete them. In regard to sustainability, we talked about the example of Easter Island. It is a very small remote island in the Pacific. During my lecture and classroom discussion with 4A, I was quite surprised to learn that one of my students has actually visited this island. He is one of only two people that I know personally who have been to Easter Island. Easter Island was once completely forested. After people arrived on the island, they began to use the trees for various purposes. As the population on this tiny island grew, more and more trees were cut down until there were almost no trees left. To this day, Easter Island is mostly grassy with very few trees growing. At a certain point a resource can no longer recover if it is over-used. Agriculture (the raising of crops and livestock) is extremely important in Alberta. There are more than 43,000 farms and ranches in Alberta and some of the northernmost agricultural lands in the world are found here. Albertan canola, wheat, and beef are exported to other countries. Other crops like sugar beets, corn and potatoes are also important to our economy. In parts of southern Alberta irrigation (supplying water to land or crops using channels and sprinkler systems) helps the growing of crops. This week we continued to have book talks in class on a daily basis. Most students selected and used visuals that enhanced their presentation in order to make them informative and entertaining. All students are who present are encouraged to be aware of speed, volume and clarity as they speak. Adding interest to presentations through the use of props has been a feature of some presentations. Many students understood that a good hook was important in their presentation and that they should not give away the ending of a book so that students take interest in the book and consider reading it. On Monday we will have a spelling test. Students are encouraged to study their spelling words this weekend. Writing sentences using curricular terms from this week's list like irrigation, agriculture, environmentalist & resources is a great idea. From Monday through Wednesday next week nine more students will be presenting their book talks. Good luck! I am looking forward to hearing about the books you read and enjoy so much.
This week's list consists of curricular words + words ending in the suffix -er. The suffix has two or three potential meanings:
All curricular words relate to our ongoing study of Alberta's natural resources.
This week we began with a spelling quiz on Monday. Before the test, students used helpful routines such as studying individually or with a partner. They looked at the words, said the words, check the spelling and repeated the process. When students received back their spelling test results they worked on capitalization, using quotation marks correctly or remembering to add end punctuation. They have shown personal growth in the ability to edit their own work. Students in 4A and 4B often will try several different spellings or consult a dictionary to attempt to get the correct spellings of words. With this week's list students could recall words by breaking them down into syllables and using their knowledge of base words and the suffix -ful to spell their words properly in their spelling sentences. Our next spelling list will include many more curricular terms related to natural resources. On Thursday a new topic was introduced in social studies. Natural resources are things found in nature that are useful to us such as air, water, soil, oil, gas, minerals and animals. Alberta is rich in natural resources. Oil and gas were first discovered in Alberta before 1947 and continue to be important natural resources for Albertans. Alberta is sometimes called "Cowboy Country" because ranchers in Alberta raise more beef cattle than any other province. Almost half of Canada's beef is produced in Alberta. Some agricultural products that come from Alberta are grains such as wheat, oats and barley, canola for cooking or salad oil and vegetables like corn, sugar beets and potatoes. Wheat is so vitally important because it is used for bread, pasta and so forth. Alberta grain exported through the port of Vancouver is sent to the countries of East Asia. In class, students identified some of these natural resources, then began to place them onto a map of Alberta. Mr. Brewer will look over these maps and assign a mark. The assignment is important as the maps will be used as a study aid. Book Talks: This week we began our first book talks in language arts class. I praise the students who have already presented their books. It took a lot of self-confidence to be some of the first students to present! All students who are scheduled to present in the next two weeks are encouraged to bring home their dark blue Language Arts duo tangs to practice from and make sure they know how and what they will present. There is a checklist in your duo tang to guide you. Students can reflect about what was good about the book talks they've already seen in class, think about the two sample book talks Mr. Brewer did in class and read over the pointers given for doing a great book talk. Some of these engaging techniques are: I was very pleased at how students could add interest to presentations through use of props, such as pictures, movie trailers and by reading excerpts from their books. It was also significant so many could give constructive feedback, ask relevant questions, and express interest in these oral and visual presentations.
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