Class Survey - Furnace Type

To help out the grade 5s in Science, all the Room 209 students had homework on Tuesday night. They had to check at home to find out what kind of furnace their families have.

Here are the results of the survey:

Class Survey

Furnace Type

Oil: Ethan, Lauren, Melodee,

Gas: Daniel, Hunter, Camden, Erika, Fiona, Jackson, Kaleigh, Molly, Thomas, Millie, Haydon

Electric: Reilly, Shauna, Pat

Unknown: Finley, Gabby, James, Madi,  Sophia, Vickie, Jack, Laryssa, Liam, Miguel

Ask About - September 26th

We went to the library. - Molly

We are thinking about doing a Cardboard "Village" inspired by Caine's Arcade Video that you can see on the blog. - Fiona
We had computer lab. - Kaleigh

We are going on a field trip. - Pat
We had an amazing lockdown. Our class was awesome. - Hunter
We were very, very good at the lockdown and we were in sort of this closet thing. It was so dark. - Lauren
We did a democratic vote on whether to go to the Symphony or the Wild Bird Care Centre. It was unanimous - all of us voted for the Wild Bird Care Centre, so we'll go there in October. All the Juniors are going to the Symphony except for us. - Finley
We rocked out in School of Rock. - Thomas
We went on our Digital Class Website. - Erika

It was an awesome lockdown. - Jackson

We went to the computer lab to check out the blog and we saw Caine's Arcade video. - Vickie

Call for Donations for Room 209 by Pat

Your Room Needs You!

A lot of people in our classroom like playing cards, sneezing, writing, using USB cables, and building things inspired by the Cardboard Arcade.

For that, we need the following ingredients and we need YOUR help:
-decks of cards (they don't have to be brand new!)
-kleenex (it does have to be brand new, for sanitary reasons!)
-pencils (as many as you can spare!)
-one USB cable to upload photos at school for the blog (we use Shauna's camera to take photos)
-one set of speakers for our classroom computer
-LOTS of cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes, washed out yogurt containers, pop bottles, etc...
-packing tape, lots of tape

That's just about it. We are also collecting Canadian Tire money to purchase some items for our classroom.

Send these items in any day with your child. We will be very pleased to see that you have sent them!

Thank you for your service!

-photos and words by Pat

Innovator - Caine's Arcade

Welcome to your first period in the computer lab, students! When you come in to the computer lab, there will be tasks for you here on our class blog. Some of you watched this video "Caine's Arcade" last year. Please take 10 minutes to watch it once again or for the first time today during class. Caine inspired so many people that there has been an updated film made and a foundation started in his honour. Check out what the "Imagination Foundation" is up to. How are YOU inspired by Caine's arcade? You can leave a comment here and share your ideas of what you can do now that you've been inspired by this amazing nine-year old innovator and inventor!

Outside the Hoop Thinking by Gabby and Vickie

In Room 209, our lucky class (because we have an awesome teacher) has a saying, "Always think outside the hoop" instead of "Think outside the box".

 We have this staying because we played a game with hoops and we had to think outside the hoop to play the game. It means to think above and beyond what hte expectations are. In the game, there were four teams, a green team, a yellow team, a blue team and a red team. The blue team lost all the popsicle sticks very fast and easily. Then, one of the people in the blue team decided to put popsicle sticks in a white hoop in the middle that Shauna said she would not tell us what it was doing there. Then, the green team decided, "Well, we're almost done, so we'll help so we'll join in by helping the person with the white hula hoop." And then, bit by bit all the teams decided to help the fill the white hoop until all of the teams were working together so everybody won!

We never could have solved it, without...Outside the hoop thinking!

 Brain drinks help us think outside the hoop and beyond! Did you know that 80% of your headaches are caused by dehydration? When you drink your brain drink (water), it will help you when you have a headache and help you think outside the hoop.

 -by Gabby and Vickie

Awesome Grade 5 Science by Melodee

We have been doing Science and it is about Conservation of Energy and Resources.

We first started out with a KWL chart. And the K stands for what we Know. The W stands for what we Wonder. The L stands for what we Learned.

Some of the things that I know about energy are:
-energy is really fast
-energy is in every living thing
-energy is sometimes in cars, too
-energy can make light
-energy is in electric cars and electric toy cars

Some of the things that I wonder about energy are:
-can a lightbulb be powered by a car?
-is energy in the sun?
-is there energy in plants?
-is energy in the wind?
-is energy in lava?

Next, we did the Glossary. And the glossary is about putting the terms and their definitions together and learning from that. I really like the word "biomass". It means plant and animal waste, like wood or animal droppings that can be burned for heat energy. I actually DO like that one. Another term that I like is "global warming". It means the slow increase of temperature around the world due to the increase of the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. Global warming is terrible to all of us.

Today was awesome, the grade 5s had a discussion on the carpet about Science. We started talking about a cartoon. We had a discussion about this comic that Shauna gave us it was about nuclear power, oil and coal and how it affects our earth. The oil is drilled from the water and the pipe broke and it's still spilling for almost two hours. Nuclear power plants can melt down and pollute the planet and kill entire towns. Coal mining is dangerous and it can blow up and people can die. At the end of the comic, there was a good thing, but funny thing at the same time. It was about a guy saying, "It's in my backyard!" because a huge windmill is in his backyard generating power for his house and he was annoyed by it. Even though windmills are very good for our planet becasuse wind is always there, he is annoyed by it which is pretty funny because the other types of enegy are really dangerous.

This cartoon made us think of many things and I had a LOT of ideas about it too. Like, I when I was younger, I thought of a car that had a solar panel on the top of it to store some of the energy in it to still drive at night. I think someone already invented it, though. Also, some superstars like Justin Bieber are very kind and help the earth by making people on twitter that follow him donate money to fresh clean water for countries that don't have it. I said that people in the future might get skin cancer because the ozone layer will be gone because of our pollution. People with very pale skin are more in danger becauuse they can get skin cancer more easily.

We talked about how important inventions are to help save the environment. We talked about the phrase "Necessity is the mother of invention". What that means is even if you want to create something, sometimes the best ideas come when you really need them.

-by Melodee

Grade 4 Science by Sophia

In Grade 4 Science, we are doing an assignment on Rocks and Minerals. I, Sophia C. am feeling very organized. I feel like a teacher, because I hold a clipboard to do my work.

First, I did my KWL chart. The K stands for Know, the W stands for Wonder and the L stands for Learned. I already know that: -rocks are one of the many materials that builders use to build houses -rocks are very easily found I wonder: -can rocks become metal over time? -how does a meteor become a meteorite? -where do minerals come from? -is rock harder than titanium? -is rock harder than ice? All the students did a KWL chart and we're going to add in the L part after.

Next, we sat on the carpet and discussed the cartoon and what it meant. This girl is taking a test on Geology (studying rocks) and on the top of the page, it says, "Name the three types of rock". And, she's meant to write: igneous rock, metamorphic rock and sedimentary rock, but she writes: classic, punk and hard. Those are the types of rock music! I thought it was a funny joke.

I have gotten really good at saying the types of geology rocks.

Then, we had to find the definition to the terms and write or glue them onto the glossary page in our Science duo-tangs. That's what I'm working on now.

 I'm working behind the stage curtains. I like working there because I feel like I'm in an islolated space working with a friend.

-by Sophia

Fairy Tales

Churchill's gone Fairy Tale crazy this year! The display of all the teachers in the front hall shows them as Fairy Tale creatures! Come on in and see who's who!

In Room 209, we are reading a FANTASTIC book written by first time author Chris Colfer (who you might recognize from Glee). It's called "The Land of Stories" and tells the stories behind the stories in Fairy Tale land. We even got an extra copy of the book to send to our Fielding Friends!

Food Adventures: Hunter's Squashed Muffin

I cracked up when Hunter showed me his totally flat muffin last week! It deserved a prominent place on our blog, we both thought!

Gym Game - The Royal Selection

Room 209 LOVES this new Gym game! Ask your child to describe it to you. It's totally hilarious!

Meet Our Pet: Steve "Spike" Fransisco

Last night, Ap was VERY interested in our (then) unnamed Siamese Fighting Fish (also known as a Betta Fish).

I was glad that the fish was coming in to school and not staying near Ap for long!

Here's Steve in his new home! Thank you to Sophia and her family for his beautiful tank!

 It took us three or four votes, but we finally found a name for our class pet, introducing - Steve "Spike" Fransisco!

14 000 Things To Be Happy About

Come in to the school and see the huge wall of things that make us happy and add your own!

Dance: Paso Doble

On Friday, all the Junior classes gathered again to watch another dance. This time we watched Lindsay and Cole dance a Paso Doble. We had a great discussion about what the story to this dance was and enjoyed comparing it to Cyrus' dance last week.

There's a BIG Tiny Surprise Tomorrow

Boys and Girls of Room 209,

  I cannot wait to see you tomorrow morning! Today, I went shopping and picked up something tiny that will be a BIG surprise for you tomorrow and will hopefully give us a lot of joy. I think you'll like it, because there was another shopper selecting a similar item and she was a grade 4 student, just like many of you.

  Do you want a little clue? I've had to carefully protect the little item from Ap and Trixie.

  Want another? I had to buy a container of dried bloodworms (which sound pretty gross) for the item.

  I hope you're all having a lovely weekend. Can you guess what the surprise will be?

Shauna

Gym Game - Saving Shauna and Matt's Garden

We played a few rounds of our very own version of "Ant Tag" in which the taggers were nematodes. Shauna and Matt's garden has been totally overtaken by ants and it's up to the nematodes and their foamy pink proboscises (probiscui?) to tag all the little ants and paralyze them. Fortunately, if there are at least four healthy ants, they can rescue an injured ant and take him or her to recuperate in one of the peony bushes (blue mats) in the corners. This game got us all moving (and laughing)!

In the first round of our adaptation of "Ant Tag", the nematodes managed to paralyze all the little ants, except three. That wasn't enough to rescue the injured ants and return them to the peony bushes. The nematodes saved the garden!

This game is hilarious to play - and to watch!

Three paralyzed ants awaiting rescue!

Absolutely hilarious, I told you!

Ethan, the nematode, displays his proboscis, as the ants rescue a paralyzed friend!

Mood Monsters Teaching Us How to Comment

The artists of Room 209 created Mood Monsters, tiny colourful monsters expressing different moods. Each student created one little monster and a voice bubble. In the voice bubble, the monster introduced him or herself and explains his or her mood and the reasons for that mood.

Also, in the middle of this colourful bulletin board, Erika made two huge voice bubbles reminding us of the appropriate ways to comments on our peers' presentations. When someone in the class wants to comment on another classmate's work, he or she will say, "I liked it when..." and then give some advice by starting with the phrase, "Next time...". The presenter will then reply politely with, "Thank you."

Room 209 Expectations

As I wrote about in an earlier blog entry, the students of Room 209 worked cooperatively to create a list of expectations for behaviour in our classroom. You can see them above. We review these often as needed.

Behaviour Big Ideas

Pop Ap

During Ap's visit to our classroom, Sophia created a beautiful Pop Art piece depicting her. So fun and funky!

Ap also wrote us a thank you note after her visit, thanking the students of Room 209 for the pats and cuddles!

DEAR Time

In Room 209, we LOVE to read. Students beg me for more DEAR Time every day. DEAR stands for Drop Everything and Read.

Ask your child about what he or she is reading in class. Many students have 2-3 books on the go at a time and are keeping them in their "Book Apartments".

This is the Room 209 Song - Lyrics

We've Got FLAIR!

 Half of the students in Room 209 have presented their FLAIR already.

  Students are bringing in 3-5 items that represent themselves and showing them to their classmates with no explanation. We then make observations and inferences. We observe what we see and infer what that item can tell us about the person who brought it in.

  Then, students summarize their ideas into "juicy" sentences describing the presenter.

  Next comes a grown-up version of "Show and Tell" when we learn all about our classmate through the stories about his or her items of Flair.

  Then, students are able to ask questions and make comments.

  Finally, the presenter chooses between a "Round" of applause or a mini-wave.

The best part about Flair is how involved everyone is getting and the fact
that students are directing all by themselves already! I get to sit back and enjoy
the show as part of the audience!

  One piece of Flair remains in the classroom to help make Room 209 a place where we all feel that our personalities and preferences are represented.

  This year, some students have chosen to present "The Name Game" instead of Flair. Fiona showed us all kinds of ways to build her name and found amazing words that rhyme with Fiona!

Panjang Umurnya

This year, we will be celebrating every student's birthday in Room 209, either on their actual birthdays or on surprise "unbirthdays"! There's something about the "Happy Birthday" song that has always struck me as sad - it's difficult to sing nicely and a roomful of people singing it always sounds off-key and kind of down. When I heard "Panjang Umurnya" this summer, the Indonesian birthday song, I fell in love.

We have already celebrated one birthday and we sound positively lovely singing in Indonesian!

We also add up to three good luck "Hip Hip yeahhhhs" at the end, as selected by the
birthday or unbirthday boy or girl!

Tell it to the Potato

In the first week of school, I had this new book on display and the students begged me to read it to them. When we finally got a chance to read the book, they loved it. However, I like to have special voices for characters and it took me until the next day to find the perfect voice for one of the characters of "I'm Bored". On the way in to school, I found a great voice for the potato. The students got to hear the story a second time and enjoyed it even more. 

One of our new class slogans has been inspired by "I'm Bored". In Room 209, if students are tempted to say they're bored, they will be told to "Tell it to the potato". No one else wants to hear it!

We had a great chat about what an awful phrase, "I'm bored" is and whose responsibility it is to deal with feeling bored. Quite often people say they're bored when they're unfocused or don't know what's going on, or they're not using the tools and ideas available to them.

"I'm bored" is officially a phrase that is not welcome in Room 209 (Unless you're reading it from Michael Ian Black's hilarious book!)