Well, we had a real hoot this week....ok, sorry, that was a terrible pun. But we did. The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society visited rooms 16 and 17 on Monday. They brought with them Ophelia, a rescued great horned owl. Having damaged her wing in a collision with a car, Ophelia now spends her days educating children. The society also provided a number of sterilized owl pellets that the students were able to dissect.

The children had an amazing time. It was truly fantastic!

In Math, we focused on regrouping in subtraction, working up to borrowing across zero, which proved a real challenge for many. We worked through it by using expanded form to show how the borrowing works, and that despite the borrowing, we still in fact have the same number (we've simply rearranged it). We'll do a bit more on this, and then move on to multiplication (though I'll always keep bringing up all we've previously studied to ensure it doesn't slip away).

One thing I have noticed in my class is that many students are still developing automaticity when it comes to addition and subtraction facts with numbers from 0-10. When asked what 9 + 7 is, many students are still using strategies such as counting fingers, using our number line, or trying to count it out loud, or use tally marks. So we've been playing some games to try and make these facts more automatic. This is, I believe, a key to success in math. Studies have shown that students who have automatic recall of simple facts show much less brain activity, meaning their brains are free to focus on the more difficult aspects of problems. Children who struggle to recall simple facts devote more brain energy to those tasks, leaving less 'room' for more complex elements. The video below speaks to this, and I really encourage you to watch it. 

Below is one of the games we play to help build that automaticity and fluency with facts. Students take turns turning over 2 cards out of 12 placed face down. The goal is to find cards that can give you 10. The cards remain turned up until you can make a 10 from some of them, at which point that student takes the cards with which they made the 10 and replaces them with new ones from the deck, face down. 

Getting a 10 could be as simple as 3 + 7. And for some of my students, this is where they are at. However, for students who have those facts, this is still a fun game because they can make it more complex. For example, a number of cards could be turned over, none of which seem to give you 10, until one student realizes (6 X3) - 8 = 10. They then get all three cards (6, 3, and 8). So, this type of low floor/high ceiling game allows an entry point for all my learners. (In the video below, the students below were turning the cards back over, but that's ok. They were still playing and having fun)

In language arts, we have begun talking about our novel/film comparison. We have finished Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and we watched the film version, The Secret of NIMH. We spoke about the differences in plot, characterization, and other things. We then looked at the Program of Studies (I simplified it for them) and talked about what we should be seeking to learn from comparing the novel and the film. We're building a rubric (grading scheme) now and deciding what is acceptable for showing our learning. We'll spend the next two weeks working on this project in small groups, and then we'll present our findings.

In social studies, we've left Peru and have flown 14 hours to Tunis, Tunisia. Our passports were stamped, and we've arrived. Over the next month or so, Mrs. Wilson will guide our two classes as we learn about the people, geography, flora and fauna, culture, food, etc. of Tunisia.

That's all for now. Have a great week. And remember, report cards are coming home soon!