In humanities this week, we continued to look at the fur trade and more specifically at the voyageurs. Voyageurs were typically Canadiens (Francophones who were born in Canada) and were employed by the fur-trading companies to paddle the canoes filled with items to trade for furs. Their days were long, exhausting, and filled with adventures! Students learned all about the voyageurs through class discussions, visuals, and group work. They read “A Day in the Life of a Voyageur” in small groups and answered questions based on the reading. We also watched a Canadian Film Board presentation about the voyageurs that detailed their daily life and the grueling work of portaging between waterways. Students ended the week by putting themselves in the role of a voyageur and writing a journal entry from their point of view. They needed to demonstrate their understanding by including specific information about the voyageur experience. The point of view writing will be due on the Friday back from break, although some students took it home to work on. Hopefully, students came away with a greater knowledge and appreciation of these brave men who helped shape our nation. Some students also shared their legendary stories this week and we really enjoyed listening to their animal legends! The stories and artwork are now up on the classroom bulletin boards for everyone to enjoy.
Have a wonderful Spring Break and I’ll see you back in class on Monday, April 1st! —Ms. Jagger
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In humanities this week, students continued to work on completing their legendary story and typing up their final copy. They also worked on a complimentary art component to illustrate their story. Students will have the opportunity to share their story with their peers next week. We also started discussing the beginning of the fur trade in Alberta. First Nations had been trading with each other for many years. Around the middle of the 1700s, people from eastern Canada and Europe were also coming to trade. The resources they wanted were furs from animals such as mink, marten, muskrat and especially the beaver. Beaver hats had become very fashionable in Europe, therefore traders made long dangerous journeys across land and sea to get as many furs as they could. The traders would meet with the First Nations people who knew where to find and trap the animals. In exchange for the furs, they offered First Nations people goods such as kettles, cloth, metal tools, and weapons. The journey out West was long and hard, and the rivers became the highways of the 1700s. We will continue with this topic next week. Have a great weekend! —Ms. Jagger In humanities this week, we read two more legends together “Bison’s Humped Shoulder” and “How Mouse Saved the Sun.” These First Nations legends explained how the bison got his hump and how the mouse became the smallest animal. The students were tasked with creating their own legendary story about an animal and how it got a particular trait. Students came up with a wide range of story ideas to write about like how the tiger got his stripes, how the jellyfish got its tentacles, and how the polar bear became white to name a few. Students filled in a story planner with their title, characters, setting, problem, attempts to solve the problem that didn’t work, and finally the solution & ending of their story. They then used their story planner to help them craft a rough copy of their story in their writing journals. Students were encouraged to refer to the checklist on the whiteboard as they were writing. When students were finished, they self-edited and then partnered up with another student to read each other’s stories to help them further edit for errors and give constructive feedback on how to further improve their writing. Next week we’ll continue the writing process and type up and illustrate our legendary stories. Early in the week students did some more descriptive writing exercises in anticipation of writing their own stories. Students also learned and practiced how to properly use quotation marks when including dialogue in their writing. We also finished the final chapter of “Owls in the Family” which was a bit of a sad ending as Billy had to move to Toronto and leave his owls behind. We like to think that he was able to visit them again soon! Students will also be having a quiz next Tuesday on the First Nations of Alberta. A study guide was sent home on Thursday which we went over in class. I’ve attached it below in case the paper was misplaced. Students worked hard on Friday building their inclusive playground structures. The final product was really well done and was able to include a wide range of components to make their playground appeal to all ages and ability levels. Well done 4C!
Enjoy your weekend—remember that clocks move ahead this Sunday! —Ms. Jagger It was a great week full of SPIRIT with fun daily activities with the highlight being the Hitmen hockey game on Wednesday. Students and staff enjoyed an exciting game with guest speakers between each period discussing their own experiences around bullying. The message of kindness and respect toward others was a good one and well-received by the cheering sea of pink! In humanities this week, students shared their oral stories with each other on Monday as we sat in a circle to listen. For First Nations, storytelling has always been a communal experience. Stories brought people together to share a past, to explain the seemingly inexplicable in creation, or to instruct. In First Nation cultures the circle is everywhere – the medicine wheel, meetings and gatherings are held in circles, dances go in circles, drums are round, as are sweat lodges and teepees. The circle is the symbol of the cycle of all forms of life. Students did a great job recounting their family stories and I was impressed how well practiced they were! We also read the book “The Loon’s Necklace” and watched a short video about the origins of oral traditions.
We have also been working on targeted practice to improve our story writing skills. Students learned and practiced how to start a story in a more entertaining way for a reader. These included starting with an action, an exclamation, a thought or feeling, or a sound. They also worked on adding descriptive details by “painting a picture” in a reader’s mind through strong vocabulary choices. They practiced using their senses and writing a descriptive passage for a winter forest scene and then a tropical beach. Students ended the week by spending some time improving their reading comprehension skills on the “ReadTheory” website. Happy March—it definitely came in like a lion today! —Ms. Jagger |
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June 2019
CategoriesResources for Practice
Reading: ReadTheory TumbleBooks Word Activities: Sight Word Bingo Sight Word Game Letter Blocks Bookworm TextTwist Coconut Vowels Word Toss Spelling: Spelling Practice Spelling Spree Story Writing: Story Writing Game Create your own Comic Storyboard Creator Poetry: Poetry Tools Rhyming Dictionary |