Reflection

This blog has proved to be one of my favourite tools. I enjoyed learning how to make a teachers blog professional and useful and parent friendly. I learned that when making posts on a blog they can be fun as well as tied to the curriculum. You can use the blog as a place for students to find homework or extension activities as well as a place to start when starting online assignments and using online tools. It is important to be personable when making your blog so that students and parents can relate to you as a person. This can be achieved by showing your personality through posting about your favourite sites and including personal (appropriate) stories. I hope to use a blog as a form of communication for students and parents in my future.

Smart Learning

Just like you come to class to learn new things, I go to school too! This week I learned some neat things that I wanted to share with you. Check out my twitter feed on the right hand side of the page for the short version!
1. I was introduced to a website called Discovery Education where teachers can go and use professional video clips and edit them for our class! It is important to find reliable websites when looking for videos so you know you are getting the right information! (Be careful what you find on youtube!) 
2. I learned how important it is to cite your work! When you use something of someone else's - pictures, videos, words etc. you need to give credit to the person who created them!  Do not claim that something is yours if you did not create it- cite it by writing down where you got it and who made it.
3. I had a chance to play with the SMARTboard at school! I learned how to write, draw, highlight and move images and words across the board! A SMARTboard is an example of a type of technology that can be used for interactive learning. What do you say that we try using the SMARTboard at our school?


Let's keep sharing what we learn with eachother- that is what I call smart learning!!

Home Sweet Habitat

As animal lovers we want to see animals live in places that will make them happy! Use the knowledge you already have about habitats and build your own! You will need to choose an animal, the type of land (the word Biome is used to describe the land type), the plants (vegetation), and the weather (precipitation). Check the compatibility meter to see if you have made the perfect habitat to make your animal happy!

Once you have tried out a couple habitats, write down your answers and bring them into class on Monday. This way we share all of the different habitats each other came up with.
Click on the picture below to play!

Tubehead Inc. (2010). Build an Online Habitat (Game) Retrieved from:http://switchzoo.com/games/habitatgame/htm

Parents:
Being able to demonstrate an understanding of habitats as areas that provide plants and animals with the necessities of life is apart of the Grade 4 Science Curriculum under the Understanding Life Systems strand. 
If you have a pet at home, or have been visited a habitat of an animal (could be a beaver damn at the cottage, or a bird nest in your backyard) take an opportunity to talk with your child about what that animal.
An extension of this would be having your child identify the factors that affect the animals survival in a specific habitat- another specific curriculum expectation. 

Oh Canada!

 

Canadian Flag (Animated image). Retrieved from: http://bestanimations.com/Flags/Canada/Canada.html

We have been learning about different countries in the world, but how much do we really know about Canada? Put on your eye patches mateys and go on the Canadian Treasure Trek! Discover the names of our Provinces and Territories at Level 1 and progress through Level 2 and 3 learning the names of the capitals and fun facts about our native land!
Now that you are familiar with the provinces and capitals, play this game called My Canada to see how well you really know them.

Parents:
These games are excellent tools for your child to become more comfortable with our provinces and territories and their location on a map. The Social Studies Curriculum for grade 4 states:
Students must be able to identify Canada’s provinces and territories and its main physical regions
These games will prepare students for their lesson next week on physical regions by reviewing the province's and territories. This activity will help set your child up for success in Social Studies!

Make A Difference!

Attention World Changers!
I want to share some of my favourite world changer websites with you! Click on the underlined links to visit them!

Ever wanted to help feed people who are starving? You can help by playing this matching game! Go to Free Rice and start playing! Using your knowledge about similar words, try to match up the bold word with another word that means the same. You have four options... and guessing is totally fine! If you get the answer right, Free Rice will donate 10 grains of rice to someone that is hungry!!

An organization that I think is fabulous is Compassion Canada because they help kids all over the world who need clothes, food, shelter, water and an education. Check out Compassion Quest to explore different countries and learn about different cultures! Play games with your travel buddy and try to find all of the hidden objects in each country. Don't forget to take souvenir pictures!

The third cool site I like that is a game where you live in a country called Ayiti. This is what the people of Haiti call their country. You will have to help your family survive by making choices about going to school, going to work, and keeping your health up! Go to this link http://costoflife.ning.com/ and click on 'PLAY NOW!'.

Good luck and have fun friends!

Parents: Take a look at these websites before your child plays them to see if they are appropriate for their learning level. The third site, the Ayiti game, has lots of reading and it would be a great game for you to play together. You can help your child become aware of different countries of the world and their cultures through sites like these.

Go Wild!

You may not know this about me, but I love animals! This past summer I had a chance to go to African Lion Safari and meet some pretty cool birds, zebras, lions, monkeys and my favourite, elephants. 

 Janzen, J. (2011) Toronto Zoo.

This is a picture of me with an Elephant named Zoe.

This is one of my favourite sites about animals!
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/  
Click on the link above and it will take you to the national geographic website. See if you can find an animal that you never knew existed! Or learn something new about an animal that you love!
Remember world changers, learning about the world and the creatures that live in it can help you on your quest to make a difference.

WELCOME STUDENTS! :)

Welcome to our class blog grade 4's!
This year you will be known as the 'world changers'! This is because you will learn how you can change the world right now! You are all intelligent and capable of learning how to make a difference our world and I want to show you how. 
Visit this blog often to find cool links that I find interesting and fun! There will also be learning resources for homework and projects.
We are going to have a great year and I hope you are just as excited as I am!
 
Parents, if you have any questions about your role in all of this, I will be happy to talk with you! Check this blog with your child because I will sometimes leave notes for you as well



<3 Miss Janzen

Family Worship Center, (2010). World Changer (Image) 
Retrieved from http://www.fwcpo.org/content/ministries/children/worldchangers