Edu-Eco Week...

Last week was Edu-Eco week at Dougall.  Combining Education Week with a focus on our community and the environment.  Some of the activities during the week included:  recycle bin audits (to see how well we are recycling), lights- out one afternoon (to save energy) and a neighbourhood clean up.  The entire school was given areas in the community to tidy up - picking up litter and recycling.  We worked together with Mrs. Richardson's class to clean up the entire playground.  Working together, the students left the playground looking neat and clean.  Good work Dragons!!

Exploring the Rain Forest

Over the past couple weeks, the students have been very interested in exploring books and information about the rain forest.  Our shared reading story hooked the students interest, and we've learned so much along the way.

One of the big books we have been exploring is Step Inside the Rain Forest by Meish Goldish. After we had read the story several times together, we started looking closely at the illustrations by Susan T. Hall.  The students were very interested in all the different animals found in the rain forest.  

Take a look at what happened when I left the big book, some pencils and sticky notes on the back table...

It was amazing to sit back and watch the collaboration, cooperation and teamwork that was displayed.  The students worked together identifying and labeling not only the animals from the story, but also the plants and trees.  In the above picture, you can see that one of the students labelled the "canopy" of the rain forest as well.

The students worked long and hard on this activity - at some points, there were 11 students working on the book together at the same time.  Take a look at all the things they found and labeled...

The next day, the students returned to the big book and realized there were some animals in the book that they couldn't identify.  In true problem solving form, they decided to look in the other books we had collected from the library to see if they could find the names of the animals...and they did!!

It was truly magical to see all the students working together in this student-driven, authentic, meaningful activity!

Storytelling on the Flannel Board

A literacy centre that has been very busy lately is our flannel board.  We have a collection of pieces that the students use to retell and create original stories.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the students to engage in discussions and the oral language possibilities are endless.

Over the past couple weeks, two of the boys in our class have been repeat visitors to the flannel board.  While working together, they have created many interesting stories and talked about everything from the sun's energy to comparing lengths and sizes.  It is so interesting to just sit back and listen.  Even more exciting was to see the way the boys worked together to create an interconnected story!

Graph It!

Our newest unit in Math is a hit!!  We have been learning about graphing and how to display data.  Today, the students were presented with a pile of classroom supplies.

After trying to make observations from the confusing pile, one student observed:

"Maybe it will be easier if we sort it!"

Some volunteers made short work of that confusing jumble...

Next, the students decided to make a graph of the school supplies.  We used our graphing mat.  Again some eager volunteers got to work...

Everyone was so eager to help, we ended up sorting and graphing many different groups of school supplies.

After each graph was completed, the students discussed what they saw and interpreted the information on the graph.  Here are some ideas they shared:

• "There are more pencils than glue sticks."
• "There are more markers than anything else!"
• "The glue sticks have the smallest number."
• "We have more scissors than pencils."
• "The makers win!  Look how high they go!"
• "There are two more pencils than glue sticks."

The students wanted to do even more graphing.  We changed gears, and decided to gather information from each other to complete two different graphs.  First, the students surveyed each other and recorded if their friends had less than 5 letters, 5 letters or more than 5 letters in their name.  Next, they chose three colours and surveyed their classmates to see which of the three colours was liked the most, and the least.


It was so exciting to see and hear the students so excited about Math!  The room was abuzz!  Take a peek at mathematical investigation in process...

Before, during and after the graphs were constructed, the students were engaged in meaningful, mathematical dialogue.  While working together and talking to each other, the students were clarifying their understanding, helping each other and connecting personally to the mathematical concept of graphing.

Ask your child to share some their results with you. Perhaps you could ask them to show you how to sort and create a graph of various household objects.  Encourage your child to record and discuss the results with you (we would love to see them too).  Happy graphing!