Exploring Grade 4 with Mrs. Colhoun

Our classroom has been full of meaningful collaboration and exciting new learning this week! Students participated in a collaborative jigsaw activity to explore how Canada’s natural and cultural heritage is protected. In small expert groups, students read and discussed how governments, conservation groups, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities work alongside Parks Canada. They learned about important initiatives such as culture camps, science camps, land management, and the preservation of significant cultural and natural sites. Students then shared their expertise with new groups, which led to thoughtful conversations and deeper understanding. They practised important communication skills by explaining their ideas clearly, slowing down, repeating key points when needed, and ensuring their group members understood. It was wonderful to see students supporting one another and building confidence as both learners and leaders. We also had an exciting in-school field trip to laun...

Today was truly a Canadian morning! Our Grade 4 students spent time with their Grade 2 buddies to watch Canada’s exciting win against Finland. The room was full of cheers, smiles, and shared excitement as students celebrated together. After the game, both classes had the opportunity to share narrative writing they had been working on. It was wonderful to see students proudly read their stories and listen to their buddies’ ideas. These moments help build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and foster a deeper sense of community between our buddy classes. In math, students have been working on adding and subtracting decimal numbers to the hundredths and thousandths. They are learning to carefully align decimal points, use regrouping strategies, and verify their answers for accuracy using rounding—important skills that support their overall number sense. It was a special day filled with Canadian pride, meaningful connections, and learning.  Buddies and hockey—it doesn’t get muc...

This short week, students have been working on adding and subtracting money amounts , with a focus on regrouping (borrowing and carrying) when needed. They practiced lining up dollars and cents carefully and using strategies they already know to solve money problems accurately. To support accuracy, students also learned how to round money amounts to check whether their answers were reasonable . This helps them pause, reflect, and build confidence in their final solutions. As part of our ongoing work in math, we are continuing to strengthen problem-solving skills by identifying key words in questions that help students decide whether a problem requires addition or subtraction . After the break, we will continue building on these skills and applying them to more real-world money problems.

  Exploring the Hydrosphere: Becoming Water Protectors Over the past few weeks, our class has been learning about the hydrosphere —all of the water on Earth—and why water is essential for life. This learning was inspired by the book We Are Water Protectors , which encouraged students to think about their responsibility to care for water. Students researched different types of water and learned that water is a basic need for plants and animals and provides important habitats for many living things. We also explored First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives , learning that water is sacred because it sustains life and that laws of nature guide people to live in harmony with the land and protect water sources. Students then brainstormed ways they could be Water Protectors in their own lives, such as conserving water, keeping waterways clean, and protecting animals that depend on water habitats. To demonstrate their learning, students worked independently or with a partner to cr...

  What We’ve Been Learning in Math: Finding Area! This week in math, our class has been learning all about area —specifically, how to find the area of rectangles using the formula base × height . Students practiced identifying the base and the height, multiplying those two measurements, and making sure they included the correct units , written as square units (for example, cm² or square units). We also explored the idea that an area can be found by covering a surface with equal-sized pieces , making sure there are no gaps or overlaps. This helps students understand that area is really about how much space a surface covers. Depending on the situation, we can measure area using everyday (non-standard) units like tiles or paper squares, or standard units like square centimetres.

 Z oo Field Trip Success! Our zoo field trip on Monday was a huge success, and we were lucky to have perfect weather for the day! Students had a great time touring the zoo and learning more about animals in real-life habitats. One of the highlights was examining owl pellets, which was a fun and engaging way to wrap up our learning about animal senses and structures . Students were able to connect what we’ve been studying in class to what they observed during the trip, making the experience both exciting and meaningful. We are now moving on to our next science unit on biomes , where students will learn about how the geosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere (living things)  interact to support different environments and the plants and animals that inhabit them. A big thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers who helped make the day run so smoothly — your support is truly appreciated! There will be more opportunities to volunteer later this ye...