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This afternoon, our class participated in "The Hour of Code," an initiative aimed at providing school children, world-wide, with experience writing computer code. Students worked through various tutorials on the code.org/learn website.

Everyone LOVED the opportunity to learn about how computer programs are written, and to change the way characters and components of games behave. Here are some pictures from our Hour of Code experience (click on any photo to enlarge it):

DECEMBER 17 UPDATE:

Here are some comments students made about their Hour of Code experience:

Sam:  "Hour of Code was really exciting because it made you feel like a computer scientist. It was just like building a game online."

Shenice:  It was so fun when I created a Flappy Bird game with Elizabeth! We both took turns and we had so much fun when we were coding!"

Liam:  "I have always wanted to code, and most of the games were so cool! It's like making your own games, so my thanks to the CEO of Hour of Code!"

Elizabeth:  "The coding was very fun! It was really cool to make your own design for the rules. It was also fun to do it on a game you know how to play."

Christine:  "The Hour of Code was awesome because you can make your own Flappy Bird game, and I found the Frozen game like doing math.  I love Hour of Code!"

Ryder:  "Coding is awesome because I learned a lot of the code. It was so fun it blew my mind!"

Clayton:  "I felt very happy! It was so amazing and fun because you will not die on Flappy Bird Level 8. You just change the code!"

Zack B.:  "I loved how you can do what you want to do and you can't die. I love how there was multiple games and you can make the game different. You could type what moves you wanted on this one game."

Madison:  "The best part of Hour of Code was making your own game. My favourite game was the tablet and also the Flappy Bird game. I like the tablet because you can choose Stampy as a car. I like Flappy Bird because when you play it you can get 1,000 points each time you click!"

Rein:  "I felt like I was a real video game maker. It was really fun because I could program a game, so I could get a point every time I clicked. I could also use it to prank other people. Finally, sure it's fun to just play a video game, but programming a game is way better!"

Ben:  "I really liked the Hour of Code because you actually could program everything the way YOU wanted it to go!"

Lily:  "What I loved about the code is that you can play games that you don't always get to play. I felt so happy!  I loved that you also get to program how you get points and play the game. It was like you just made up a new game! I also loved the part where it helps students learn technology."

Aiden:  "I really liked Hour of Code because it challenged me and you had to think about it. It never ends, and it has great games, and it was awesome because you design the game."

Kailem:  "It was fun. The Flappy Birds game was awesome. I really wanted to play even more. It was fun making the game even better!"

Joslyn:  "I thought Hour of Code was awesome because when I went on the Flappy Bird game, it was cool how I could personalize it and earn points. It was fun changing a game someone already made to the way you want it to be."

Kristen:  "I liked the coding because there are really cool things, and because you learned how to make and awesome game. You can also let loose and have some fun!"

 

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

A couple weeks ago, Mrs. Black was contacted by a teacher in an elementary school that is located a three hour drive from our school.  The teacher had found Mrs. Black's listing on the "Digital Human Library" website, and wondered if Mrs Black could speak to her kindergarten class about wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation, via Skype.

The Digital Human Library is a free Ontario-based educational resource (website) that enables teachers and experts in a variety of fields to connect with each other for "virtual" speaking engagements and field trips, via computer.

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http://digitalhumanlibrary.com/

Today, Mrs. Black and two of the students in our class made a "virtual visit" to the other school, during our lunch hour. They answered questions that kindergarten students had prepared in advance of the Skype session, showed them pictures of animals in rehabilitation at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and told them about our wildlife food drive. This is how the session looked:

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After our visit, the kindergarten teacher e-mailed us this note:

Thank you again for a wonderful beginning to our digital learning this year.  The timing was great, the photos were wonderful and the information we gathered was amazing.  The kids couldn't stop talking about everything they learned after we hung up. They were the most interested in the flying squirrels, so that gives us a new direction to explore.  I've attached some of their follow-up writing from today for you to see.

Tell [your students] thank you too--it was fun to see their enthusiasm....my kids are already talking about collecting seeds next year.  (:

Mrs. Black and students had a terrific time sharing their knowledge with the kindergarten class. We plan to invite some experts to visit our class, via Skype, in the near future.

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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As a culminating task in our Pulleys and Gears (Grade 4) and Forces Acting on Structures (Grade 5) science units, students worked together in teams to build bridges out of popsicle sticks, straws, paper clips, toothpicks, string, elastics, paper and tape.

The class worked with Mrs. Black to define the requirements and Success Criteria for these projects.  The goal for Grade 4 students was to build a 30 cm lift bridge and swing bridge, using at least two pulleys. The goal for Grade 5 was to build a 50 cm bridge that could hold at least eight math textbooks.  Students made two attempts, building on the success of their previous attempt to improve their designs.  They kept detailed lab notes explaining their thought and building processes. Their lab reports became their explanatory writing pieces for literacy.

The following photo collage depicts the fun students had with this project. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

With this project, students had a great time learning some principles of design, through trial and error, and by building upon the knowledge they gained in their first trial.  They also learned how to write up detailed explanations using a standard lab report format.

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

Yesterday, a teacher representing the Couchiching Conservancy came to the school and ran three 100-minute workshops, with three different classes. Our "schoolyard safari" met Grade 4 Science expectations re: habitats and communities, and Grade 5 Science expectations re: conservation of energy and resources.

The session began in the classroom, with an introduction to local habitats and the organisms that inhabit them. Steve brought with him some really interesting artifacts that the students were allowed to handle. (Click any photo in this post to enlarge it.)

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Afterwards, we headed out on a guided hike of the schoolyard, during which students looked for signs of human and animal habitation, and noted various plant species that they found.

Then, students played a tag game that illustrated the way in which the balance between predators and prey regulates itself, in nature.

The final activity was a debriefing in the classroom, during which students designed pamphlets illustrating some of the living things they found in the schoolyard.

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We'd like to thank Steve and Couchiching Conservancy for a wonderful workshop. Quote of the day: "Wow, we are seeing things we never knew about on our schoolyard!"

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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After students in our class shared their Science and Social Studies projects with each other, we invited the Grade 2 class to a second Science/Social Studies Fair, to learn about the topics we have been studying. Grade 4 students shared their knowledge of Ancient Civilizations and Grade 5's explained how inventors have used what they know about the properties of matter to create amazing products that we use in our everyday life.

Here are some photos from the fair we put on for younger students (click on any photo to enlarge it):

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Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

Today, we held a Social Studies and Science fair in our classroom.  Students had an opportunity to showcase for other students in our class the research projects they had been working on for the past month. They were also able to browse and learn about the topics that other students studied.

Grade 4 students completed travel posters for Social Studies, enticing people to visit ancient civilizations. Grade 5 students completed posters or Power Point presentations for Science (Matter and Materials), explaining how a variety of products are made and used.  In the next week or so, we will put the fair on again and invite younger students to come and see our class' work.

Here is a gallery of pictures from today's fair (click on any picture to enlarge it):

Click on the bulleted items below to view some of the Grade 5 Power Point presentations. (Note: These links will only work if your computer has the Microsoft Power Point installed on it).

Next step:  We will be inviting the Grade 2 class in to see our work.

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

Overall expectation #1 in Writing, in the Ontario Curriculum, asks students to "generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience." This project provided students with an opportunity to write for two purposes and three different audiences.

We asked the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre (KTTC) to help us turn our persuasive writing unit into something with a real purpose. Staff at the centre told us they would love it if we would write some letters aimed at persuading potential donors (companies and those offering grants) to support KTTC. They said they would also appreciate some kids' thank you letters that they could give to donors.

As you can see from the following pictures, working for a real-world client inspired students to do exemplary work. These are their persuasive letters (click on any photo to enlarge it):

These are samples of their thank you letters to donors:

We also wrote thank you letters to the staff and volunteers at the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre for the amazing work they do!  Here are samples of those letters:

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

This year, our persuasive writing unit fulfills Grade 4 and 5 curriculum expectations in Writing, Grade 4 expectations in the Science strand "Habitats and Communities," and Grade 5 expectations in the Social Studies strand "First Nations Heritage and Identity" (turtle symbolism)... plus, as a bonus, our writing may save the lives of some turtles! In consultation with staff from the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, we are writing letters intended to persuade companies to support the centre.

kttc-logohttp://www.kawarthaturtle.org

The Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, in Peterborough, is a twelve year old Canadian registered charity that rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild over 1,000 turtles per year. The centre also engages in wild and released turtle population research, conservation initiatives such as establishing "eco-passages" that allow turtles to cross under busy roadways, and education outreach.

After students' persuasive letters are graded, and writer strengths and "next steps" identified, the letters will be forwarded to the to the turtle hospital. Staff there will include student-authored letters with applications for support from companies.

We began the project by educating ourselves about Ontario turtles, and the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre. Seven out of eight species of Ontario turtles are at risk!

turtle-species-posterhttp://saveconcordwest.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/ontario_turtles.jpg

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These videos and websites provide a good overview:

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Based on what we learned, we brainstormed information about the role of turtles, why Ontario turtles are at risk, the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre and how people can help. This is what we came up with:

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Next, we discussed the elements that make a good persuasive letter and agreed upon the following success criteria (click on the photo to enlarge it):

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Then, we began planning our letters and authoring first drafts (click on any photo to enlarge it):

After drafts were edited by peers, students began to write good copies of their letters and draw pictures of Ontario turtles on them (click on any photo to enlarge it):

Students are taking great care with this project.  In a future BLOG post, we will share the final products!

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

Today we began to survey the diversity of living and non-living things in the field areas of our schoolyard. This project fulfills expectations for the Grade 4 science strand "habitats and communities" and also teaches and consolidates some important mathematical concepts for both grades. These concepts include estimation, fractions, percent, calculating mean and graphing change over time.

On each of five field observation days, spread ten days apart, students go outside in small groups. They throw a hula hoop, to identify a random sample area, and make a list of the the non-living items (such as sand, pebbles and sticks) and flora (such as grass and small plants) that they find inside their hoop.  Then they estimate how much of each item is present in their sample area, as a fraction and a percentage.

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On a second observation sheet, students make notes or sketches of the fauna (insects, worms, etc.) and unfamiliar flora they notice inside the hoop, so they can look the items up in field guides once they are back in the classroom.

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Afterwards, they repeat the process two more times. After all three of their field observations are complete, groups go inside and calculate the mean percentage for each item observed that day (brown grass, green grass, sand, etc.) and enter these percentages on a line graph.

By the time this project is complete, students will be able to track changes in vegetation that occur over six weeks, during the spring growing season.

Here are some pictures of today's field work and graphing sessions:

Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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On Tuesday, April 22nd, our class participated in three curriculum-based learning activities in celebration of Earth Day.

In the morning, we engaged in an activity about decision making, and discussed how our decisions can impact lives and influence the decisions of others. Mrs. Black modeled these concepts, by "saving a turtle" on Earth Day (making a donation to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, in Peterborough), and inviting her friends to follow suit, via Social Media. She then invited students to focus their next writing project (persuasive letters) on encouraging local businesses to donate supplies to the turtle centre. The class was very excited about the prospect of engaging in persuasive writing that is "for something," instead of just an academic exercise. Kids can and want to make a difference! (More about this project to follow, in a future BLOG post.)

kttc-logohttp://www.kawarthaturtle.org

loraxNext, we read "The Lorax," a book that was published in 1971 and is even more relevant today. We discussed some of the problems that occurred in the story, as a result of one character's decisions, and engaged in a lively class debate. During our debate, half of the class assumed the perspective of the industrialist (The Once-ler) and the other half assumed the perspective of the environmentalist (The Lorax). Students soon discovered that there were no easy answers, and that it was hard enough to get others to consider a different perspective, let alone change their minds.

In the afternoon, students in our class served as role models by assisting Mrs. Turnbull's Grade 1 class with a school yard nature hunt. Students found living and non-living things on the yard that were common and uncommon, interesting and surprising. They also learned the terms "flora" and "fauna." Here are the students in action (click on any photo to enlarge it):

2014-04-22 001Heading out on our Earth Day nature scavenger hunt!

Later in the week, when the yard was dry, we went out to do a big yard clean-up with the other two Junior classes:

It's amazing how much litter accumulates on our schoolyard over the winter!

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Thank you for visiting our class BLOG.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me (Margaret Black):  mblack@scdsb.on.ca or to add a comment to this page.

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