Ms. Armstrong's LEAD - Ernest Morrow School

Happy New Year LEAD student families!! We of course just returned to school yesterday on the 9th. of January after a lengthy winter break. We were happy to be reunited, and spent sometime yesterday sharing stories of our time apart. Afterwards, students started writing paragraphs about what they did during the break. The LEAD class is continuing to study, "Force and Motion" in our Science unit. Vocabulary that students are learning include: push, pull, force, motion, speed, distance, position, time, path, towards, friction, slow, stop, weight and gravity. Today students learned a new math game with dice. They also did a multiplication quiz, and everyone in the class did well. We will return to our regular schedule next week. Please remember to dress for the weather, as it will be very cold. Have a great weekend!

This week our class focused on " Human Emotions ." We brainstormed what emotions we have, and then created and labelled a wheel in our Visual Journals complete with drawings of facial expressions. Afterwards, in pairs students acted out scenarios for peers to interpret. One of classroom resources BrainPop provided a couple of very good videos for us to watch on this topic, as well as calming strategies we could use to self-regulate when upset. Students are continuing to work through Ninja Math warm-ups at the beginning of our math period, and small groups are working on Fractions  on alternative days. This week's Canadian Story was about the Striped Skunk . It was a good review for many students of the vocabulary and concepts they learned last year during our unit on  Animals . Have a great weekend!

We started the week writing about our weekends. Students are focusing on using complete sentences that include, the use of adjectives and interesting details. Students read each others paragraphs and helped in the editing process. In Science this week we studied Canada's Food Guide, learned new vocabulary and learned about making healthy food choices. https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/ Our class discussed what students could do independently to improve their English, and support their learning. Ideas included: -visiting local libraries -daily reading -conversations in English with family and friends -watching movies in English (or with English subtitles) -using online resources Online resources used in the classroom: Learning Chocolate gamestolearnenglish.com Math Playground Solve Me (mobiles) Typing Club Prodigy Game (each student has an account)

It was National Metis week in Canada. Students watched a videos and had discussions about the people and their culture. This week our LEAD class took a closer look at the parts of the brain. We watched videos, read, and discussed how different parts of the brain work. Finally, we all built brain hats. LEAD students started a new spelling program a few weeks ago, and everyone is enjoying it and getting better results with the practice we do throughout the week. Our weekly Canadian story this week focused on the theme of Ice Fishing.  It focused on comprehension, vocabulary and sequencing events. In gym this week, Ms. Vo has been teaching Health to both LEAD classrooms. Students learned strategies to deal with stress. They brainstormed situations when they might feel stress, and solutions. Lessons also included respecting others. Have a great weekend!

On Monday of this week, we did some reading and comprehension questions about the month of November. We also looked at the calendar for this month and completed a worksheet with questions. This week in our LEAD class students logged into a new online math program that they can use at school and at home. It can be accessed at: www.prodigygame.com/play In addition, we also have been exercising our mental math skills using "Mobiles", on a site called, Solve Me .  Students are encouraged to use this free math site at home also. Our LEAD class shared some laughs as we watched and tried to practice a few tongue twisters . Apparently, it was National Tongue Twister Day on Thursday. Many of our activities this week have been centred around Remembrance Day. We've watched videos, done some reading and today we are going to be making origami peace cranes, and later we have a whole school assembly in the gym. Three of our LEAD students will be singing with our coral group.

This has been an exciting week for LEAD students. Eight classes, including LEAD hosted Trickster Theatre at our school. Our class worked hard all week to create and practice a short play on the theme of Leadership and Belonging . The week culminated with all eight Ernest Morrow classes performing their short plays in front of other students and parents. It was inspiring and exciting to see the process. Students throughout the week were enthusiastic, and although they were a bit nervous presenting their play in front of their peers, they did an exceptional job! Have a great weekend!