March 10-14

 Dear Parents,

Reminders

• Please remember to book a conference to discuss your child's learning.  Conferences will be held online Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21.

• Please check your child’s backpack or folder for their red communication folder.  Here, you will find a sample of their writing.  The folder will need to be returned by Monday so that I may send home other samples of your child’s work.  This will help guide our conversation during our conference.  

This week we were grateful to work with Miss Anna from Passion for Glass.  Miss Anna shared her knowledge about the properties of glass and the beauty that can come by combining shapes and colours of glass.  Students began by making a plan to create a piece of glass artwork that showed a place or natural element where they felt connected to the land.  Students then looked at shapes and colour and transferred their plan into creating their glass tile.  We are all anxiously waiting for the return of the work once it has been treated in Miss Anna’s kiln.  

Learning Intentions

• All shapes can be reduced to basic shapes

• Shapes can be made using different procedures

Science

On Wednesday, students were engaged in the hands-on activities from Teachers Pet: A Day at the Race Track.  This ½ day in-school field trip had students participate in different centers that helped to develop their understanding of Energy.  Centers included:Ramp Racers testing different surfaces and racers, Marble Tracksters testing different pathways and building marble runs, Forest Frenzy looking at how animals move, and building a wooden racer.  

Learning Intentions

Investigate direction, pathways, and speed of moving objects

• Directions of movement can be described as:  Up, down, forward, backward, sideways, toward, away from 

• Speed can be described as: Fast, slow, changing, not changing (constant) •

• Demonstrate how the movement of objects can be influenced by: the shape of the object, the materials the object is made from, the surface texture of the object, and interactions with other objects.

• Movement pathways can be: straight, curved, spiral, side-to-side 

• Describe ways animals move along different pathways.

• Wheels help objects move more easily 

Math

We concluded our investigation of the meaning of addition and subtraction.  We have also been fortunate to work with Mrs. Gordon and build our fact fluency.

Subtracting to Compare

In a comparison situation, there are two groups, and we want to know how many more are in one group than in the other.

For example, if there are 10 children on the play structure and 4 students are standing near the school, how many more students are on the play structure?

We can answer that question by subtracting: 10 – 4.

Once you know there are 6 more children in the larger group, you also know there are 6 fewer children in the smaller group.

---

Comparison Models

You can show comparisons in many ways.

For example, to compare 11 and 3:

•	You can subtract 11 – 3 by matching all the counters you can and then counting the rest: You can see there are 8 extra in the group of 11.
•	You can use a number path. You could put down 8 counters on the number path to get from 3 to 11, so 11 is 8 more than 3.
•	You can use 10-frames.

---

Relating Comparison Situations to Part–Part–Whole Situations

When you subtract to compare 12 and 5, you are trying to figure out how much more 12 is than 5. You can think of it as a part–part–whole situation where the whole is 12, one part is 5, and you want to figure out what the other part is.

You can represent the subtraction situation using a bar model.

12 – 5

In reality, all meanings of subtraction are related: part–part–whole, takeaway, and comparison. Every time we subtract, we know a whole and a part and look for the other part. We can choose how to think about any situation in the way that is most helpful to us.

---

Helping Your Child

There are many everyday situations where we want to know how much more one group is than another. When situations like that arise, encourage your child to help you use subtraction to compare the two groups.

For example, you could ask the following questions:

•	How many more plates than forks are on the table?
•	How many more people live at our home than live at Grandpa’s home?
•	How many more people are there than chairs?

Literacy

Our learning in literacy continues to move along with continuing to learn about consonant digraphs.  This week we focused on /ng/ at the end of words like song.  These sounds and the previous sounds we have been working on for the last few weeks take some additional time and practise to master, and we recommend reviewing them for a few minutes each day with your child.