MR. Brewer
HUMANITIES - SOCIAL STUDIES/LANGUAGE ARTS
On Monday, students went skiing/snowboarding. The next day in class they focused on writing a paragraph about this experience. Students learned that writing a paragraph is like a hamburger. A good paragraph should have a topic sentence (top bun), supporting sentences (condiments and fillings) and a concluding sentence (bottom bun): All agreed that a hamburger that is lacking in one or more of these things wouldn't be a delicious hamburger regardless of the type of hamburger (could be a veggie burger or a chicken burger too!). The supporting sentences must have information relating to the subject sentence. The conclusion sentence re-states the topic, but doesn't offer new information. For practice, students wrote an approximately 100 word paragraph about visiting C.O.P./Winsport. They focused on the content of the paragraph and related all sentences to the topic sentence. In spelling we have been learning how to identify and know the meaning of some frequently used prefixes. In this week's spelling list are the prefixes: 'un', 'sub', & 'pre'. Students discovered that by using their knowledge of the meaning of prefixes, such as pre- (before), un- (not), and sub- (under), they can better read and understand the meaning of new or unknown words: We continued to reflect upon the question of how best to preserve Alberta’s fossil heritage. Students were exposed to a variety of viewpoints on this issue last week. In class we revisited this discussion. One opinion is that fossils are a resource that has scientific value and that experts must look at fossils. Another viewpoint is that collectors should be able to get some fossils and that fossils can be made into jewellery for profit. Students began this week to write a short opinion piece on this subject. They drafted their written piece in writing, then some students typed up their ideas using a computer. We will continue to work on this opinion piece next week, followed by some research on dinosaurs in the month of December. As background to the topic, this weekend's homework assignment is a short reading about Mr. Joseph Tyrrell, who discovered an unknown animal while on a mission to search for coal deposits in the Red Deer River valley in 1884. Tyrrell and his party found a gigantic skull. This made them curious, so they began to dig. They managed to find more bones and arranged to have them taken to Fort Calgary by wagon. The load was so heavy that it broke the axle of the wagon!! The fossils they found were sent to the United States to be identified. The fossil was later named Albertosaurus sarcophagus in honour of the fact that this dinosaur was discovered in our province of Alberta.
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Joseph Tyrrell reading due on Mon. Dec. 3:
This list includes: prefixes, words pertaining to the writing process, words related to dinosaurs: Quiz - Dec. 4
This week in humanities students received back their infographic projects with a colour printout of the infographic itself along with a rubric. The rubric covered 4 different areas that will appear on report cards. The marks students received on each section of the rubric were entered into PowerSchool. In this project work students learned a great deal. They had to decide how language and visuals can work together to communicate meaning and enhance effect. They identified various ways that information can be recorded and presented visually such as use of headings, pictures, varying the size, style and colour of fonts and so on. Students needed to organize all these visual elements on the infographic so that it would look both aesthetically pleasing and be informative. For the project work students needed to use a variety of sources of information. For the most part, they located relevant information online to answer research questions such as what the climate is like in a given region, what types of natural vegetation there are and the types of animals that can be found in the area. Internet sources, showed maps, videos, and charts. Some students also accessed dictionaries and the Social Studies textbook to extend their understanding and confirm meaning. At the end of the project, they used a checklist to go through their work to make sure they had fulfilled all the requirements of the project work. Below is what the project rubric looked like: The class continued to learn about Alberta's fossil heritage this week. We viewed a video on dinosaurs by Bill Nye: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDXAGScBO4 This wide-ranging video discussed current theory on the demise of dinosaurs due to a meteorite impact approximately 65 million years ago. World-wide distribution of iridium (a rare element that is not often found on earth) in strata and the fact that dinosaur fossils are not found after 65 million years in the fossil record were advanced as evidences of the meteorite theory being a plausible explanation of the disappearance of dinosaurs. Students listened to the video and recorded their ideas about the information contained in it:
In class we learned that until 1978 anyone could collect fossils in Alberta and that anyone could sell those fossils or keep them. In 1978 a law was passed in Alberta that says that the province of Alberta owns all fossils found in here and that people can collect fossils lying on the ground, but they must report anything they find. In some special areas only paleontologists are allowed to dig for fossils. The fossils are sent to museums where they are preserved and studied. In class we had a 4 corners debate on this subject. Students were shown statements by different Albertans who have a wide variety of opinions on this law. They had to go to one of 4 corners:
A reminder that on Mon. Nov. 26 students will go skiing/snowboarding at Canada Olympic Park. Please ensure that your child comes to school between 7:45 ~ 8:00 on Monday. Dress for the ski hill please - winter gloves, toques, winter jackets, scarf, snowpants and boots are all highly recommended.
In class, students were engaged in word work, reading from the novel Owls in the Family, using the online program ReadTheory and reviewing the spelling quiz and recent Social Studies unit test. Social Studies Unit I tests went home and marks for the spelling quiz marks were written into student agendas. Most parents viewed paper copies of the Social Studies test, signed the test and returned them to school. For most students the unit tests are now in the Social Studies duo tangs at school. Henceforth, in accordance with the marks set up in PowerSchool, Mr. Brewer will not be giving global grades on tests, quizzes, projects, etc.. I will mark individual sections on tests, rubrics and project work with grades that conform to the specific outcomes that comprise report cards. The first unit test went home with an overall grade and some sections were weighted more heavily than others, though each section did conform to a specific outcome. I will be revising some of my grading in PowerSchool to show specific grades for each section of this particular test as these relate to the specific outcomes outlined in the report cards. In advance of parent/teacher conferences next week I believe that this revision will give parents/guardians a far fuller idea of how their child is doing on each of the individual outcomes. In class this week, students practiced for the spelling test on Monday. They received their Spelling marks on Wednesday. All students were able to edit spelling sentences during class time. Working towards revising and editing their work independently through attending to common spelling rules, knowing when and how to use capital letters, being able to tell whether or not a word looks right and using punctuation correctly are all ongoing goals in Word Work this year. In Social Studies we learned about how fossils are formed. Fossils give a valuable record of the plant and animal life and environmental conditions from millions of years ago in Alberta. Two sites related to this topic: kidsdinos.com/alberta/ www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinofossils/locations/Canada.shtml www.kids-dinosaurs.com Several students from 4B in particular brought in fossils to show the class. We learned that most Albertan fossils were formed when a plant or animal died in a watery environment and was buried in mud and silt. Soft tissues quickly decomposed leaving the hard bones or shells behind. Over time sediment built over the top of these remains as they hardened into rock. A very common fossil found in Alberta is the ammonite. The ammonite resembles a modern day sea creature called a nautilis. Below is an ammonite fossil, an artist's impression of what an ammonite probably looked like long ago side by side with a picture of a nautilis in tropical seas nowadays: We read chapter 4 of Owls in the Family. Students retold the story in the chapter by placing captioned pictures in a sequential order. In this manner students demonstrated ability to listen and respond personally to a print text.
This week on Friday, students went to the Nose Creek School Remembrance Day assembly. Through their solemn participation, students from grade 4 demonstrated their commitment to remembering the role of our military veterans and the sacrifice of our war dead who paid the ultimate price to ensure our freedoms. In Humanities this week, students completed their study of Alberta's natural regions and began to learn about Alberta's fossil heritage. Monday was the infographic project due date and Thursday was the Alberta natural regions unit test. The topic of fossils was introduced on Tuesday. Students discovered that the badlands of Alberta are a place where a great variety of dinosaur species have been found. Fossils are the remains or impressions of prehistoric organisms preserved in rock. Students viewed a powerpoint presentation made by Mr. Brewer on this topic and 4B got to handle real fossils in class on Friday including petrified wood, leaves and trilobites. Many students were fascinated by the question of how dinosaurs became extinct. A popular theory is that the extinction was caused by a large comet or meteorite from outer space impacting the earth. It was explained in class that the size of an object capable of leading to a mass extinction event would have been huge. Our conversation in class led us into a fascinating discussion about meteorites. We watched a video in class about a 2013 event near Chelyabinsk in Russia when a meteor hit earth. We also viewed a meteorite impact site in the Canadian province of Quebec as a means of comparison: The picture above shows the Manicouagan Resevoir. The shape of this lake is circular and it is thought to be the result of the impact of a meteor of 5 km in diameter. This article was published on the National Geographic website. It speculates about the impact of the object from space that it is thought to have led to the mass extinction of dinosaurs: news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/dinosaurs-extinction-asteroid-chicxulub-soot-earth-science/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20171109news-dinoasteroid&utm_campaign=Content&sf157171398=1 Monday Nov. 12, 2018: Spelling test Monday Nov. 12 2018: Homework reading assignment on Albertosaurus due:
Important dates: 4A/4B: Monday Nov. 5 - Infographic computer project due 4A/4B: Thurs. Nov. 7 - Social Studies Unit I - Natural Regions of Alberta quiz Spelling quiz - TBA This week students put final touches on their infographic projects. They used the checklist they were given in class to go through their project work and edit it before it is submitted for evaluation. Students were encouraged to check for capital letters, punctuation at the end of sentences and errors in spelling using the spell-check function of the easel.ly program. Looking at the layout of the infographic, including use of a variety of fonts (colour & size) and choice of images were all listed as areas that students should check. Through using the checklist they identified requirements for the project work and could rate their sense of personal accomplishment. Students enjoyed downloading illustrations from the computer to include in the projects and wrote poems about their region. Quickdraw Animation Society Nose Creek Portable Animation Workshop (PAW)
This week students in 4A and 4B participated in an animation workshop. Animation is one of a variety of strategies for generating and organizing ideas and conveying a story. Students selected and used visuals in order to create interest and engage an audience. Next week, students will make animated shorts based around themes from science and social studies. In these animated stories we will follow a logical sequence, and demonstrate understanding about natural regions in Alberta and the importance of the nutrient cycle. Below are some pictures from the first workshop: Social Studies quiz - Thurs. Nov. 8 - See attached instructions that were handed out on Nov. 1.
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