Curriculum Post #2:

Dear parents and students! In social studies, grade 4 students will learn about Medieval times in the Heritage and Citizenship strand. In this strand, students are introduced to various topics that will help them develop an understanding of connections between the past and the present, of interactions between various cultural groups in Canada, and of the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Students will begin their studies with familiar things, such as rules and responsibilities at home and at school, and traditions and celebrations within their community.They will then study early settlements in Upper Canada, aspects of medieval society and early civilizations, and First Nation peoples and European explorers. In studying these topics, they will examine some significant developments that occurred throughout the ages, particularly in exploration, technology, and methods of government, and will investigate their influence on the development of Canada and on life in the present day. In all grades, students will do research. http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=5d674c53-4e87-4873-afbb-b46e6ca21a35

Curriculum post 1: Interesting Links

Dear parents and students! Here I will post interesting links for students to assist them with activities that we will be learning in class.
Science and technology activity:
Kingdoms of Living Things.
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=e3a1f99c-e290-4a09-8d47-08fe56d83b45
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/

This activity and website supports the Life System science strand for grade 4 students.The Life Systems strand combines the study of traditional topics in life science or biology (e.g., animals, plants, ecosystems, and cells) with technology as it relates to basic human needs(e.g., the need for food, shelter, and clothing). Students begin their study of life systems with aspects that are familiar to them (e.g., animals and plants in their environment, their own bodies) and gradually move on to study global or abstract aspects, such as ecosystems, and less readily visible aspects, such as the microscopic world of cells. Of particular importance in theLife Systems strand is the investigation of interactions between living things and their environment. According to the Overall expectations from the Ontario Curriculum, By the end of Grade 4, students will: • demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of habitat and community, and identify the factors that could affect habitats and communities of plants and animals; • investigate the dependency of plants and animals on their habitat and the interrelationships of the plants and animals living in a specific habitat; • describe ways in which humans can change habitats and the effects of these changes on the plants and animals within the habitats.

Game Time

This is an interesting literature game to help students in grades 4, 5 and 6 review reading comprehension terms and terms for a standardized reading test.
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=c47f6835-9484-4573-a65e-0c2f4e6b80d8

This is a game that promotes the discovery of probability. Students will have to predict what the dice will add up to.
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=1c75aef0-8294-4082-aa09-f01686595f08

This is a game that has students brainstorming words for every letter of the alphabet. http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=1c75aef0-8294-4082-aa09-f01686595f08

Resources:

http://www.google.com/earth/index.html
Google Earth is an interesting resource for students who are interested in learning about the world, viewing places that they wish they could visit, and by showing an online interactive experience to engage all learners.