Monday, January 7, 2013

Co-op Update: Monday Jan. 7, 2013

Is it just me or did the holidays go by extremely quickly! Anyhow, the kids arrived full or energy and stories today. We started the day hearing about everyone's holiday and their favourite gifts!

We did a writing exercise which had them reflecting on the past year and then focusing on the upcoming year; their hopes, dreams, resolutions, etc... They were really into this exercise. I have put their sheets in their portfolios but if you'd like to see them before the end of the year, let me know! They are enlightening, some amusing, thoughtful, and mature! 


We continued on to math and did a quick review of perimeter. Some are still getting perimeter and area mixed up. We solved some very simple perimeter questions and then I had them make some polygons with given perimeters. The kids liked the challenge of this and were all successful!

After a bit of practice I gave them a word problem. Of course the majority of them did this in their heads!



After math the kids had a quick snack and then we all went outside and played, British Bulldog, Ship to Shore and then I left them to have some free time (while I prepared for the next activity).

Today we added to our Canada unit. We had a discussion about the Canadian Shield, where it's located, it's significance, what industries it provides, and the challenges it presents. The kids coloured in it's location on a map.

Today we focused on Ontario. We talked about the provincial flag for Ontario and the different components of the flag. While they coloured the flag and drew Ontarian icons on their title page, I read a few pages about Ontario.






Time for lunch and more time outdoors. The kids REALLY need the outside time today. Even after all the running around, they never tired out!

We continued our BFG study. I talked to them about plot graphs, the 'hook' and the 'climax'. I had written all of the events that we have read about so far, on the white board. As a group, we read through them and then they put them in order. We started drawing a plot graph in our lapbooks and added the events as they happened.







Using this image for inspiration, the kids started planning their piece. We started with a horizon line and drew a tree using organic lines. We used permanent marker for the tree and they'll be using watercolours for the rest of their piece.




We'll finish these off next week. Thanks everyone for a great day!

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