Native Homes

Below you will find links to view videos about various peoples and their homes. Native homes, similar to those in Canada, were also in the United States.
 
People of the Longhouse   click here

People of the Woodlands  click here

What types of Houses Did Native Americans Live In During Colonial Times?  click here

How to Build A Teepee (Tipi) click here   (Present-day people try to build a tipi.)

Social Studies

 

Communities in Canada  1780 - 1850

We are starting to learn about various communities that existed in Canada between 1780 and 1850. We will be learning about the Aboriginal people of Canada, including First Nations, and Inuit people. First Nations and Inuit people are considered to be the First Peoples of Canada. We will also be learning about the Metis people and European settlers. 

The following website has an abundance of information about the First Nations people. We will be reading from this site and discussing what we discover. My students are encouraged to read and research from this site and share their findings with the class. Click here to read about First Nations and Inuit people.

                          Khan Academy

All of my students have a Khan Academy username and password. You should try to complete a few skills every week. I am your coach, when I look at your progress, I will make recommendations about skills you should complete or practice. Please follow my suggestions and do at least 5 questions in each skill. If you are not sure about a skill, keep practising and watch the instructional videos.

Have fun learning!

                  Remembrance Day                  November 11th

In Flanders Fields is a famous poem written in 1915 by John McCrae, a Canadian military doctor. We read this poem every Remembrance Day, and try to understand the picture John McCrae paints with his words.

                Please click on the link below so that you can practice reading this poem fluently.

                  Try reading along with the presenter.You need to practice the poem many times.

Place Value 

In math we are studying place value to understand numbers and their values. This will also help us when we add or subtract larger two-digit numbers. Two of the main tools we use to understand place value are Base Ten Blocks and Ten Frames.

To learn more about Ten Frames, please watch the following video. Click here to watch the video.

Ask your child to teach you how to play Trash Can, a great place value game that is fun to play with the whole family. If they have forgotten how to play, they can watch the following video which shows how one teacher plays Trash Can, & 101 and Out. Click here to watch.

Earth Hour

Our Environment

On Friday, March 27th, all TDSB schools will be joining in for our own Earth Hour to help the environment and save precious energy. This is our practice run for the REAL Earth Hour which is on Saturday, March 28th between 8:30 and 9:30 pm. when everyone at home (or at a business) should try to turn off as many energy consuming appliances, TVs, computers, and lights as possible.
The World Wildlife Federation explains Earth Hour like this - Earth Hour is a highly visible symbolic act. One that brings people of all ages and backgrounds around the world together to sound a clear call-to-action for our most pressing global challenge; climate change.

This is a great time for sitting with the family and storytelling or singing to candlelight! Please do not ignore this important movement. Becoming aware or our energy consumption, our environment, and climate change is something we must ALL do! Please go to the following sites to learn about Earth Hour.  Click here for information and the official Earth Hour 2015 video, here for another video about Earth Hour, or here for some activities.

Reading on Starfall

It is fun to read on Starfall.

Under the, 'It's Fun to Read' sign, click here, you will find some interesting reading under 8 different signs. You can choose to have the computer read the whole page to you first or just read the words you highlight.

The 8th sign, 'Next Level: I'm Reading!' click here, gives you 6 more categories to read from with many stories in each category.

You can also read from, 'Talking Library' click here, where some titles are available for you to enjoy.

Mastery Reading

When you practise reading, try to get to a mastery level with each story, book, poem, riddle, or whatever you are reading, before you move on to the next one. Mastery reading means you can read it   -  fluently (smoothly so your reading sounds like talking),
     -  with expression ( use different voices for each character, loud/soft, excited, etc.),
     -  with no mistakes,
     -  and observe all punctuation (voice goes up for a question, pause at a comma, stop at a         period, sound excited/upset/surprised, etc. at an exclamation mark).

Of course, you can retell, or explain the story or text you are reading in your own words! If you can not, you do not understand the story or text. Read the story or text again. If you still can not retell or explain it, it is too difficult for you and not a good fit. Try another text or story.

Enjoy improving your reading skills!

Stories You Can Read Along With on the Computer

Get  a copy of one of the books listed below so that you can listen to the story and then read along with the story reader. Listen to the story reader to get ideas about how to improve your expression when you read aloud. This activity will also help you to improve your reading fluency. (Read each page many times until you can read it fluently.)

There is a basket in our classroom library with a copy of each of the books listed below. You may sign out one book to take home overnight in your Book Bag for your nightly reading. Check my post under, Activities with the title, Summer 2014 to get more ideas about how to read along with the computer.

* One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, click here.
* Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman, click here.
* The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman,click here.
* The Hat by Jan Brett, click here.
* The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, click here.
* The PaperBag Princess by Robert Munsch, click here.
* Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan, click here.
* The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, click here.
* The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, click here.
* Silverlicious by Victoria Kann, click here.
* The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg, click here.
* Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, click here.
* Miss Nelson Is Missing by Harry Allard, click here.
* The Bike Lesson by Stan & Jan Berenstain, click here.
* The Wheels on the Bus by Maryann Kovalski, click here.
* Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar, click here.
* The Big Storm by Rhea Tregebov, click here.
* Franklin In The Dark by Paulette Bourgeois, click here.
* Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, click here.
* Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger, click here.
* Jesse Bear, What Will YouWear? by Nancy White Carlstrom, click here.
* The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss, click here.  (Start at 1:53, there is a long introduction)
* Hop On Pop by Dr. Seuss, click here.  (This book is sung as a song.)
* Red Is Best by Kathy Stinson, click here.
* Six DinnerSid by Inga Moore, click here.  (Start at 1:00,

How To Use Spelling City To Improve Your Writing

Spelling City is a great site not only for improving your spelling skills, but also for practising writing. After you login, you will find yourself on  'My Teacher's Page'.

Here are some activities you should do.

1. Under the Spelling City logo you will see blue tabs with white words on them, 

click on the blue tab that says Videos -FAQs.

Find the Handwriting video.

Click on it to learn how to print out handwriting practice sheets of all of our lists. These help you to practise writing neatly, as well as providing a written list of the words you are learning for studying and reading them.

I know I can write better than that!

2. Go to Play A Game. (We have a Premium account, which means you can play any of the games.)

Make sure you try both of the writing activities (Sentence Writing & Paragraph Writing) for each spelling list you work on. This is a great way for you to improve your writing as I mark each sentence and/or paragraph you write and give you specific comments, questions, and ways to improve your writing right on the page where you wrote your sentences. You are expected to rewrite your sentences using the advice I give you to help you make new connections and improve your writing skills. (You can find my comments to you by clicking on My Records and scrolling down and clicking on the writing activity you completed.)

3. Go to Play A Game. Try to complete all of the Vocabulary activities under the Pink Premium Activities title. There are 5 activities there, plus Vocabulary Test Me and Flash Cards. Play these to increase the number of words you know the meanings of, so that you can confidently use them in your writing.

4. Take the Spelling and Vocabulary Tests online for each of the Assignments. Challenge yourself and see how much you really know.

Prodigy Game

This is an engaging math game for students to play that gives them practice with various math skills, and is linked to the Ontario Math Curriculum. From time to time I will add various questions to the game, specifically geared towards the particular math skills we are learning about, or working on in class.

This is a free game to all students and only costs money if you choose an upgrade for your child. The game works perfectly well without the upgrades.

Each student has his/her login information. They can see me if they need this information again.

Click here to play Prodigy.