Poetry: Alliteration

Today we talked about Alliteration (having many words in a sentence or in a row that start with the same letter). I asked the students to write one sentence for each letter of the alphabet. They are to have at least three words with the same letter in each sentence and the words must make up more than half of the sentence (so if there are 9 words, 5 of them must start with the same letter). The sentences do not have to be serious, but they should make at least a little bit of sense.

Poetry: Haiku Good Copies

Today we did a lot of work on our Haiku poems. Some students were able to get their good copies of their Haiku poems finished while others are still working on them. We will likely get some time to work on them tomorrow in class so that everyone can be caught up.

For those students who have not yet finished their rough copies, they need to be done tomorrow. If any parents get a chance to look at them that would be helpful. One thing that I am being particular about is that students not use "It is" and similar words in their poem. They should be using as many descriptive words as possible. They do not need to write sentences.

I gave the examples of lines in class today:

Cold and Damp in here

and

It is Cold and Damp


I would prefer the first sentence as it sounds less choppy than the first. I hope that explains things for you.

Science: Review of Forces

Today we did a review of the work we have done with forces. I mentioned to the class that there will be a quiz next week (likely on Wednesday).

I gave the students a list of words and concepts they need to know for this quiz. If students do not know they are free to ask me, but not on the day of the quiz:

• force
• weight
• mass
• friction
• ramp
• load
• balanced forces
• unbalanced forces
• equilibrium
• spring scale

Personal Planning: Tobacco

Today I had students use the information I gave them last week about the effects of Tobacco and smoking to fill out a Venn Diagram. One circle was to show Short Term effects and the other Long Term effects. If this was not done in class it was to be finished for homework.

Science: Balanced Forces

Today in Science we started talking about balanced forces and equilibrium. This led into a discussion about gravity and how some objects fall faster than others (and why most objects fall at the same rate). There was no homework for this lesson.

Socials: Canada's Resources

Today we looked at the different resources throughout Canada. We talked about the advantages of having more resources.

Students were given a short activity to do in class. They were given a variety of natural resources and asked to explain what those resources could be used for. If this was not finished it was homework.

Poetry: Haiku Poems

Today I introduced Haiku poems to the students. A Haiku poem is one that has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line and 5 syllables in the third line. They are typically about nature (though several of the examples I gave were not about nature).

We talked about criteria for a good Haiku poem and came up with the following:
- Spelling and grammar
- Fits the form (5-7-5 syllables)
- Uses strong words to describe something
- Is about Nature (for a traditional Haiku)
- Pick a subject and stick to it

We made a poem as a class:

Pizza is pretty,
Pineapple olive sauces,
Pizza is so good