A very busy day today!

Today we focused almost entirely on poetry, writing and math. Day 1 is a fairly uninterrupted day, which gives us a chance to get much deeper into a topic. The students wrapped up their unit on mathematics (geometry) with a project this afternoon, and most were able to finish the 1st draft of their persuasive essay. Those who were unable to finish have been asked to do so for homework.

We read a great book as part of our unit about poetry. It is called "Love That Dog", by Sharon Creech. It is entirely written in free verse, and tells the story of a boy in grade five who learns to love poetry and comes to grips with the loss of his pet many years before. It also references several famous poems, which I have placed on KidBlog for students who want to share them or re-read them. Nothing makes me happier than a student who wants to take something home to share!

We also launched into multiplication today. We looked at the theory behind multiplication, as well as the patterns that start to emerge when we look at a detailed multiplication table. The students were amazed to see some of the shortcuts coming out of the woodwork, and seemed fairly energized about a normally dry topic. I have informed the class that reviewing their "times tables" will be done at home over the next few weeks, so we can focus on strategies and problem-solving in class. I am normally against rote learning, but the benefits of having the basic multiplication facts at your fingertips are undeniable.

I will be providing resources for studying and practicing multiplication (games, tutorials, manipulatives) on KidBlog on a daily basis, so please encourage your child to check them out.

Just a few notes for today!

I'm off to an appointment shortly, so here are a few quick notes.

• If you haven't sent in your child's MCP expiry date, please do so ASAP. Please let me know if you need a new copy of the form
• Students are expected to complete the remaining lessons in their Geometry math review by tomorrow.
• I was very happy with the work students did over the weekend on http://www.storyjumper.com/. I have encouraged them to keep finetuing their projects when they get the time.
• Students have gym outside tomorrow, so they must wear/bring appropriate clothing for sliding.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Wearing my PJs inside-out!

With rumours of a snow day (now looking much less likely) in the air, today was a "flurry of activity". Sorry for the pun. This morning we spent an hour and a half in the computer lab, typing up our business letters to Kirk Leach. Mr. Leach came in to our class before Christmas, and did a great presentation about business on behalf of Junior Achievers. I was happy to see many students using the skills from our typing classes!

We kept on reading Shiloh as well. This is a great book by Pyllis Reynolds Naylor, about a boy in West Virginia who takes care of an abused dog. It is very relatable to the age group (the protagonist is 11), and has elicited some great discussion and responses so far.

Apparently the new cafeteria schedules did not go home last week, so I will be sending home new copies tomorrow morning. Sorry for this mix-up.

Tonight's homework is to record what they eat and what physical activity they participate in. We will use this tomorrow to delve a bit more deeply into some concepts around health and nutrition. I would also suggest that students keep checking KidBlog frequently, and try out the links I post. It is also worth looking at other students' posts, particularly when they relate to ongoing projects.

Have a great evening, and please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Seeing our food in a whole new way

Today we worked on some very fun projects, and drew others closer to their completion. We put particular focus on the great homework the students did over the weekend, wherein they analyzed nutritional information labels and answered some questions. Students were very surprised by what they found in many cases, and it sparked some great discussion and further learning.

This link goes to a great nutrition calculator that we will be using in the next few weeks:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

This link was one we were using today. It shows the nutritional information for many things available at popular fast food chains.

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-food.php

I also gave them a chance to look through the nutritional information sheets from the school's cafeteria, which I requested last year. I think that this is a good age for kids to become increasingly aware of the quality and quantity of their nutrient/calorie intake, so they can start to make their own good choices. We will be doing more work throughout our current chapters in science and health, and I hope to put particular focus on local and sustainable foods.

I will be sending home a worksheet later on this week (perhaps Wednesday) to gauge students' current understanding of our geometry unit in math. I am happy with their progress, so I think that a bit more time spent and formal evaluation given will allow me to wrap it up soon. Once we finish this unit we will be moving on to multiplication of 2-3 digit numbers. I will be assigning weekly homework assignments to help students brush up on their "times tables", since knowing them in greater detail is a huge benefit to their in-class work.

We started leaning about onomatopoeia today, which is a form of poetry that uses free verse (no rhyming) and focuses on "sound" words. The kids did an incredible job with these poems, and were very excited to do more (hence the focus of tonight's homework)! Here is a link to help remind students of the structure and contents of onomatopoeia if they need a refresher:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-onomatopoeia.html

A notice went home today, announcing that this Thursday's PD has been postponed. Sorry if this causes any inconviences, but there was apparently a major scheduling conflict at the board level.

Have a lovely evening, and speak to you all again soon.

Bon fin de semaine!

Hope everybody has a great weekend, and a very happy Old Christmas Day. Best of luck as well to students that are pariticpating in the big hockey tournament.

The only homework for this weekend (besides reading) is a fun little science activity. It requires students to collect two contrasting nutritional food labels, and answer a few questions. The kids seem fairly excited about it, so I hope to see some good results on Monday.

I had a bit of a blast from the past today, as the class watched two Bill Nye the Science Guy videos. One was about blood and circulation, and the other about bones and muscles. We had popcorn and discussed the videos afterwards. I had forgotten how incredibly engaging and entertaining the videos could be, particularly for kids who enjoy episodic, quick-hit learning and entertainment.

Anyhow, have a great weekend and please get in touch with me if you have any questions. I put a link on KidBlog yesterday that goes to some fun physics-related games, so if kids get bored you can certainly send them there!

Les mathematiques

Today we put most of our energy into math, since only a couple of weeks per year are allocated for the basic geometric concepts we are studying. We are focusing on ways to manipulate a 2-D object, specifically rotation, translation and reflection. The students are having fun with this process, and are already starting to complete some extra work (art projects, harder shapes) as they finish the required steps. I linked to some good sites for practicing geometry before Christmas, so if your child would like to they can check these out in their free time.

I have been giving out minimal homework thus far, but this will change as we move into the latter part of the week. I will be re-introducing the Question du Jour books in earnest, and focusing on trickier problem-solving style questions. In the next few weeks students will have quizzes coming up about weather (Science), geometry (Math), grammar (French) and geography (Social Studies). Each of these is structured to be a brief quiz that focuses on key concepts and will not require extensive studying.

We will be carrying out another Drama in Education project along the lines of our Beothuk project, this time with a focus on the human body, health and nutrition. We are still finalizing the details on this project, but it will be more independent than their previous work and will allow for individualization and elaboration by each student.

Have a great evening, and please contact me with any questions or comments at any time.

Bienvenue à janvier!

It was nice to get back into a routine today. I have to say that the kids looked quite rested overall and seemed excited to share their Christmas experiences and news. It seems like everybody came through relatively unscathed, with plenty of presents and stories of time spent with their families and friends.

We spent much of the day planning for the next month or so, which included establishing some new rules and routines while I reviewed some others. Nothing significant, but here are a few things:

• Students grouped themselves into pairs, and will be assigned a task every two weeks. Their class role will be written on the top of their agenda page. These roles include things like cleaning, book distribution, news-gathering and a few others.
• We will be naming a student of the week starting next week. This will be done a bit differently than in previous years, something I will talk to students about tomorrow.
• Revised class, monthly and band schedules went home today in students' binders.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!