Making a difference through Fair Ball ~ a documentary by SportsNet

Mrs. Epps' Gr. 4/5 class is currently working on their third term inquiry.

                       How can we continue to transform our thoughts, beliefs
                       and actions as a community of healthy living learners that
                       makes a difference in the world around us? 

In library today we watched the SportsNet documentary Fair Ball about a Langley baseball team that travels to Uganda to play the team they were supposed to play in the Little League World Series.

Felix proudly showing the Canadians his home
Fair Ball

Here are some of our reflections from our double entry journal

Describe a scene in the documentary.                                   How does it make you feel?
On the Baseball field where they were having                         It made me feel fortunate to have a
lots of fun playing against the Canadians it also                      nice house here in Canada and always
connects to me because I play baseball.                                   enough food and water.             Trevor

I liked the part when they changed their jerseys                      It made me feel sad that people in
because they liked each other so much they wanted                Uganda live in grass houses and
to remember each other.                                                           worse materials.  It made me feel
                                                                                                  happy that the Canada team didn't do
                                                                                                  racism to the Uganda people.      Anoop

When they took a tour of Felix's home.                                    I was sad because I know we have big
                                                                                                  homes and clean water but I didn't know
                                                                                                  that they lived in small houses and had
                                                                                                  no clean water and only can have 1 meal
                                                                                                  a day.                                           Declin

I liked the part when the two boys were friends because         It made me feel that we are lucky to
that showed me that anyone can be friends.                             have all these things and we should be
                                                                                                  gratefull of what we have because it
                                                                                                  could be worse we could have none of
                                                                                                  this stuff.                                    Jessika

Canadian team getting ready for their game agains Uganda
Fair Ball

The Ugandan team hosted Canada for a baseball game           It made me feel very devastated that
after they weren't allowed to go to the US to play.                  the Ugandan team could not fly to
                                                                                                  the US. It made me feel sad that some of
                                                                                                  the kids from the Ugandan team could
                                                                                                  not get their birth certificate because
                                                                                                  they were abandoned by their parents.
                                                                                                  It made me feel happy to see that lots of
                                                                                                  the kids from the Canadian team really
                                                                                                  bonded with the Ugandan team.    Emily

Canada and Uganda celebrating and having fun after the game
Fair Ball

Our First Week with iPads



With excitement in the air and giddiness abound the anticipation of the iPads arriving is finally over. Randerson is pleased to be part of SD#68’s pilot project using iPads in the classroom over a six-week period. It started with a transition session for teachers from the schools who have just finished them to the schools just getting them. This helped tremendously as we learned of what worked best from management, logistics and apps to some of the challenges and how they were solved or averted.  We also had Shelley Beleznay,
Coordinator of Literacy, Learning & Instruction for our district visit our school and work with the teachers on apps, lesson ideas, technology and logistics.  

Over spring break teachers took iPads home to play and learn.  We had lots of stories about about the ‘kid’s’ teaching their parents.  That definitely was true in our home. 

Week one with iPads.  The primary classes were introduced to the iPads during library class.  Here we went over care and safety, turning on and off, volume and using your finger to move the screen and get to apps.  Students played with Doodle Buddy with the specific task to create math sentences.  They also learned to scroll left and use the keypad to quickly go to an app by spelling or partially spelling out the apps name.

Some favourite apps from week one as rated by our K-3’s

Doodle Buddy, Drawing Pad, Talking Tom & Math Ninja

Our intermediate classes will begin their work on iPads this week.  A few classes had the opportunity to test the waters. 

What we loved after week one:

·       iPads are cool and fun to play with

·       there are so many great apps

·       they are easy to navigate

·       students are completely engaged

·       guidelines and expectations were followed excellently

Challenges from week 1:

·       one iPad somehow got a password on it and we were unable to use it for two days – we need to be careful not to add or delete apps or programs to the iPads

Bookfest Coming May 5th

The 26th annual Bookfest, one of Canada's best literary events for elementary school kids, featuring authors and illustrators from across Canada is being hosted downtown Saturday, May 5th.  This year's feature authors and illustrators are:
Andrea Beck
Mike Deas
Julie Flett
Michael Kusugak
Julie Laswon
Martin Springett
Joan Betty Stuchner
Paul Yee
Werner Zimmermann

Students in Grade 2 through 6 have an opportunity to write a book review on one of the author's books. Stop by the library and see me about this opportunity.  

Magyk ~ A learning curve ~ hang tough its worth the ride

To all Grade 4 & 5 students at Randerson.  Here are my thoughts on this month's book club choice Magyk. 

Magyk is a challenging book that is worth the read. It is full of wizards, witches, boggarts, marsh snakes and evil challengers.  It is a gripping book full of adventure, suspense and great characters.  I loved this book and highly recommend it.  There are however some points to be made.....this is an extremely long book for Gr. 4/5 (564 pages).  I wholeheartedly agree with the students who came to talk to me about it that at times Magyk can be confusing as there are so many characters and so many plot twists.  I read it over spring break and had to read the first chapter twice because I couldn't keep the characters straight. 

Because the characters are at times hard to follow, I have included a link that takes you to
Wikipedia for a list and description of the charactes.  Don't read too much of the snyopsis as many of the plot twists are revealed. 

I realize that this book might not have been the best choice for Grade 4/5 book club because of its length and twisting plot lines. My choice was based on popular vote which Magyk won handily.  I hadn't read this book prior to choosing it as the book club selection which was not the best move as I have always read the book club choices in advance.  I had read reviews, got teacher and student feedback and looked at novellist prior to making the choice.

I strongly recommend Magyk and look forward to reading more in the series but I also really appreciate those that have come to chat with me with concerns and/or questions about it.   That is what book clubs and book discussions are all about.  I love chatting with you about books and how you feel about them whether it be happy, sad, frustrated or somewhere in between. 

I recommend you get through to the point where the characters are at Aunt Zelda's before making a decision to stop reading it. We still have a month before book club April 26th so if you read 20-30 pages at a time you will be finished in plenty of time before our chat.   Keep coming and seeing me. Today I had a wonderful lunch chat with some of you ~ Thanks :)

I will promise we will have another Gr. 4/5 book club before the end of the year.  Never worry if a book is not to your liking.  You don't have to like every book you read.  My job is to help you find that perfect book at the right time.  Come chat! 

For those of you loving Magyk ....we will see you on April 26th. 

Happy reading.....whatever that reading is.

Be sure to load up on books for Spring Break

 

With spring break just a week away its a good time to be stocking up on great 'reads' for the holiday. Students are encouraged to take out an extra book or two over the break. 

Just a reminder that Randerson library books are pretty durable but don't like long plane trips or time in the sun.  If you are going on vacation during the break, I encourage you to read lots while there but please leave the library books here in Nanaimo. 

Book Order - I will be ordering books next Thursday so if you haven't got your requests in for books you want to see in our library be sure to fill out the request sheet by Thursday.  We should have the new books by the time you get back from holidays. 

Gr. 4/5 Book Club Decision

After great debate the next book club choice will be: 

This book club will be for any grade 4 or 5 student that wants to take part.  We will meet to discuss the book on

Monday, April 2nd.

Revised date Thursday April 26th

@ 11:00AM in the library  

I will try to bring in as many copies as I can.  I know there are 4 or 5 students who have their own copy and are willing to loan them out.  Please come see me if you need a copy.  I haven't read this book myself.  I'm looking forward to jumping into Magyk. 

Happy Reading :)

Mrs. Martineau

Butterfly Lion

Today we finished reading Michael Morpurgo's

Butterfly Lion

with the grade 4/5's.

Here are some questions we pondered.  Please join the conversation by adding your ideas in the comments section.

We talked about animals in captivity and especially those in a circus like Le Prince Blanc. Did Bertie's dad do the right thing and sell the white lion to Monsieur Merlot?  Why or why not? 

Did Bertie's obsession for finding The White Prince help or hurt his recovery after he was injured in the war?

We debated if Jack's experience with Bertie's wife was real or imagined?  Students came up with great reasoning for both.  What do you think?