This week, we were excited to learn about the Lunar New Year. Yesterday, we made beautiful lanterns with our Grade 4 Buddies. We learned that red symbolizes happiness and good luck and that many of the decorations for the festivities are in red and yellow/gold. We read a book and watched a short video to learn more about some of the traditions families have around this holiday. We learned that one important tradition is to clean their houses extensively to prepare them for a brand new year of fresh beginnings and good luck. :)

We worked a lot with rhyming words this week. I read some rhyming poems and books for the children to hear the rhythms and rhymes and we did two learning activities to practice this skill. Rhyming can be challenging for children at first. If you have rhyming books, songs, or even games at home that you can read or play with your child, this can help them to develop an ear for these words/sounds. You can find free rhyming games on the website Teachers Pay Teachers or by doing a quick Google search.

In Math, we revisited adding to 20 using a number line. We are constantly reviewing and practicing different addition strategies. We also continue to work at solving word problems using the vocabulary in the problems as clues and applying our strategies.

An example of a word problem is: Mr. V has 5 basketballs. A box is delivered with 9 more basketballs. How many basketballs does Mr. V have now?

The students worked in groups of 4 to sort animal pictures into groups that Hibernate, Migrate, and Adapt. I was really pleased to see the cooperation and hear the conversations while the groups tried to come to a consensus. We are now finished our learning about Animals in Winter. We will move back to our learnings on Matter and the properties of objects. This week, we have a fun activity to do with playdough where we experiment with the many different ways we can change its properties - such as it's texture, its size, its length, etc.

We have been watching a few short clips of the Olympic highlights this week to get a feel for the different sports. The students have commented on the courage and skill of the athletes. Our school's bulletin board with names of children displaying excellence, friendship, and respect is now covered with gold medals. Many children in our class have received medals. This has inspired others to do acts of kindness and to demonstrate excellence in their efforts in the classroom, the Gym, and during Music. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!