Mr. Wideman (Room 104) - Oct 7 - Oct 11

We hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable long weekend! This week will be another short 4-day school week, as we continue to have our topics and projects on the go. Just a reminder that School Photo Day will be on Tuesday October 15th, and our family groupings will be meeting on Friday October 18 to further discuss our school focus on "Empathy" as we explore what it is, and how we can show it within our school community and throughout our daily lives.

In Language Arts this week, we will continue to work on creating our dialogues through our viewing of the Pixar short film "Smash and Grab." We have explored the themes of the film, and the ways in which we, as writers, can add further depth and insight into the characters by giving them a personal "voice" through dialogue. As with many of our writing assignments, these are available to you for viewing through your child's Google account. As part of the Feedback Friday focus that we have undertaken at Ron Southern School, I encourage our Room 104 parents to take some time at the end of each week to view our work in Google Docs. This will provide you with an opportunity to discuss the work with your child, while gaining a deeper understanding of the topics and skills that have been our focus on a weekly basis. Our writing assessment checklists are also available through your child's Google Drive account.

In Math, we are continuing to explore perimeter and area, with an additional focus on volume. The students in Room 104 are continuing their project work whereby they have been designing plans for a zoo that incorporates their understanding of perimeter, area, volume and converting measurements. We've begun our investigations of quadrilaterals and other polygons, as well as 3D shapes, and we'll continue to expand on our knowledge and understanding this week.

Through engaging in design thinking and problem solving activities, we have worked to further develop our ability to apply computational thinking as a strategy. This week, we worked with several "unplugged" programming activities that required us to think and plan sequentially in a manner similar to coding for computer applications. We also investigated light sensor color coding by programming Ozobots to follow a series of basic functions and directions to complete tasks. Within the sounds and music of Garageband, we've been expanding our capabilities to express thoughts, ideas, and emotions through the creation of our soundscapes. These projects will continue throughout the week, and Room 104 has been buzzing with creative energy around these investigations.

Again, just a reminder that updates and links to our classroom activities are also available through our Twitter account @ronsouthern45 – (please note that you do not need to have your own Twitter account in order to view our Ron Southern School accounts). 

Thanks again for your continued support. We're looking forward to another great week of learning.

-Mr. Wideman