Counting Large Numbers

We have been learning the best ways to count large numbers of objects. We began this when we were exploring the concept of 100 on the 100th day of school.
We had been counting groups of 10 by filling ten frames to count the first 100 days of school. Then we started counting other things by grouping them in 10s ( for example, the milk bags that we are collecting for Ms. Harris).

I gave the students a challenge to estimate if a collection of objects had more our less than 100 objects. Then they had to prove, and explain their answers ( we are working on explaining our answers in pictures, numbers, and/ or words - the writing in blue marker is how students explained their thinking to the rest of the class)

( we are trying to get away from ALWAYS counting by 1's -- with large numbers, it is easy to lose track of what number you are at, so if you have grouped your numbers into 10s, it is very easy to recount)

Next, we moved onto counting groups of objects by 5's (which we had already talked a bit about when counting tally marks). The importance of this skill will become more evident to the students when counting nickels because they can't count by ones to make five when counting nickels!

Mittens

Our mittens were a fantastic success for EVERYONE!

First we washed the sweaters in hot water and dried the sweaters to shrink them ( thank you to the parents who donated sweaters! Especially to the parents who went to a thrift store and bought sweaters for us to use :). We laughed a lot at the shrunken sweaters - but I forgot to photograph them!

Then we each traced a mitten pattern pattern and cut out 4 paper patterns. We learned that you have to cut accurately or the mittens would not fit you later!

We each chose a sweater that we wanted to use. Some people chose 2 sweaters so the front and back would be different colours.

Ms. Brown pinned the mitten patterns to the sweaters to make sure that the patterns went on the proper way. The mittens need to stretch going across the hands, not up and down the hand!

Next, each student cut out their own mittens, using small adult sewing scissors. No-one made mistakes cutting! Only a few students got pricked by the pins. It only hurts for a second, but it's still a bit of a shock. "Ouch! The pin bit me!".

For the next step, we chose letters to sew on the mittens ( these came from a place called Arts Junktion. Arts Junktion is a TDSB - run depot for receiving and distributing donated materials and supplies. These letters were from samples of Roots t shirts) . If we didn't have the letter you wanted, or if you didn't want letters, you could cut a decoration from sweater scraps, then sew it on. Ms.Brown helped to thread the needles, but all of the hand sewing was done by the students. Ms. Brown helped to tie the knots of the thread as well.

Then we sewed the mitten backs backs to the fronts. We had to stitch them inside out. We looked at our own clothes to see how the stitches are on the insides of our clothes. So someone stitched our clothes inside out, and then flipped them Right side out to sell them!

( some of the mittens didn't shrink and felt enough, so Ms. Brown sewed a lining that would fit inside, so they would be warm)

We hope that everyone's hands were warm during March Break!

High Park Through the Seasons

Our trip to High Park on Friday was awesome!
We loved the subway ride (the front car is so entertaining!)

Our program was called "Tracks and Trails" . We learned to be detectives, looking for evidence of animals in the park.
We were taught to look for:

Scat
Animal Homes
Body Parts ( feathers, fur)
Tracks
Sounds
Food Clues

We practiced moving like animals:

We made our own tracks:

And scat:

And we matched some animal evidence to pictures of animals:

Then we went outside to be detectives,

where we found real tracks:

And food evidence:

One group found a beautiful red-tailed hawk feather, and we saw a rare red squirrel! We saw some animal homes ( burrows, nests, logs), but the only scat we saw was dog scat. We heard the sounds of many birds ( chickadees, cardinals, and woodpeckers), as well as some chattering squirrels.

We also stood on top on top of the snake hibernaculum ( we were told that hundreds of snakes might be below us, all tangled together for the winter:

That reminds me! Before we went outside, we had a visit from the Nature Center's resident snake, Snappy, who is a corn snake. Snappy is not a poisonous snake. She is a constrictor! We couldn't touch her, but we were very excited to watch her twist and turn and wrap herself around one of our instructor's arm.

It was a wonderful day. Although the weather was deceptively cold, the rain held off for us, and we had a great time. Thank you SO MUCH to our parent volunteers. B's Dad, R's Dad, G's Mom, and E's Mom. We could not have done it without you all.

Energy in Our Lives

We have been learning about how energy makes things happen!
We have investigated what the sun does for us ( gives us light, heat, solar power and makes things grow :)
We investigated sound energy, heat energy and light energy.
We investigated how energy makes different things move.
We took a tour of the school and saw how we use energy in many different ways.

We also saw how powerful the sun can be. It changed the colour of our paper! We also remembered how the sun can change the colour of our skin -- and that the sun could hurt us so we should wear sunscreen, sunglasses and sunscreen when we are out I need the sun for long periods. Even in the winter! ( because the sun changed the clout of our papers in the winter!)

After learning about energy, we learned that some sources of energy are renewable, and that some can be all used up. We discussed what WE can do to reduce our use of energy, and reduce our impact on the environment.

Text to Text connections

We have learned how to compare different texts.
Here, we compared 3 different versions of Jack and. The Beanstalk. We were very familiar with using a venn diagram to compare two different ideas, but using three circles made it even more challenging!

In Media Literacy, the class has been comparing stories in print to a video version of the story. I was very proud of the class when Ms. Tirkos told me that they were experts at comparing things!

DPA

We had fun with balls outside today. It felt like spring :)

What time is it Mr. Wolf?

But we also took some time to watch the water. Where DOES that water go?

Happy New Year! And our jam recipe :)

I hope that all Room 15 families had a wonderful holiday. Everyone had exciting tales to tell of what they did during the holidays ( movies! skating! resorts!)

Everyone said that they loved our apple/ cranberry jam! Some families even asked for the recipe. We had so much fun making it!
First we put on our aprons (we all wore aprons), and washed our hands:

Then we peeled, grated, squeezed, measured and mixed. We used a special apple peeling machine that peeled, cored AND sliced the apples - a special thank you to Ms. Hayter for helping us with the apples! Turning the crank was a highlight of the process!

We had other favourite parts too:

(washing the jars)

It took a really long time for the fruit to boil down and get jammy, so Ms. Brown put it in the jars and gave it a "hot water bath" after we went home. But we also had fun making our own labels for our jars!

Here is our recipe:

Room 15's Apple Cranberry Jam
(makes 9-10 half pints -- 250ml jars) ( this recipe can be halved, but do not double)
Ingredients:
8 cups peeled and sliced apples ( less firm apples are best)
4 cups whole cranberries
6 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 lemons, zested then juiced
1 tsp cinnamon ( spices may be left out for a less festive jam)
1/2 tsp allspice

Instructions:
1. Combine the apples, cranberries, sugar and water in a large pot, over high heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the cranberries pop and the apples soften.
2. Add lemon zest and juice and spices and simmer until the liquid in the pot begins to thicken.
3. Ladle into prepared jars (leave 1/4" headspace), wipe rims, apply lids, and process in a boiling water canning bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water bath and allow to sit, undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seal of the lids, and refrigerate any unsealed jars.

* if you have any questions about how to safely can and seal jams, please ask me!

Blog note:
Blogging is about to become much more frequent. I 'bit the bullet' and purchased a blogging app that will allow me to blog and post photos that don't flip! All from the iPad, or even from the phone.
We've also given the classroom a gift :) we now have a new Nikon Coolpix camera (that is shock resistant), so students will be able to document their own work whenever they need to ( we share 5 iPads with Room 21, so we often find that we need the iPads right when Room 21 is using them! ). I say that WE have given the classroom a gift because I purchased it with our Scholastic bonus points that we have accumulated! Thank you!
( also, please let me know if you are seeing photos upside down, or if the photos are too large, etc. -- what I see on my screen is not always what everyone else sees!)