Wow! It's been a bit hectic around here to say the least. The dust is beginning to settle and I have finally found a moment to fill you in on some details.
Interviews: Thank you for your responses to my Parent Teacher Interview requests. It will be difficult to fit everyone in at a convenient time. Please know that I am at school most days until 4:00. If it works better to meet on another day or to arrange a phone conference, I am more than willing to make those accomodations. I am keen to meet with everyone and will do what I can.
Project: We have been discussing persuasive writing in LA. To consolidate some of this information, I will be assigning them an "At Home Project" on Monday. In this project, they will be creating a print advertisement persuading the public to make donations to a charitable organization that they believe in. Please look for the project outline on Monday. I will also send you an electronic copy via email. The final product will be due on Wednesday, December 17th. Please let me know if you have any questions once you've read the outline.
Upcoming Dates:
Thursday, December 4: Interviews/Report Cards go home
Friday, December 5: PD Day/Interviews
Friday, December 12: Next Dulude Skating day, 9:20 to 10:00
Wednesday, December 17: School of Rock Holiday concert, Project due
Friday, December 19: Last day of school
Questions to Ask:
What is fanboys?
Do you think students should wear uniforms? Why or why not?
What is Bernoulli's Principle? (grade 6)
How did your E-Fly work? (grade 6)
What do you need to add in order to turn a solid into a liquid? What do you have to take away to turn a gas into a liquid? (grade 5)
Which friend of Tiiu's did you write a letter to and why?
Who is Channel X and what have they asked you to do?
What do contrasting colours have to do with shadow?
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Whew
Wow! That was quite the busy week. Our Haunted House was a great success. It was a long day and the kids did a great job at making each show as scary as the last. I will try and upload the pictures soon. Thank you so much to Matt, Sophia, Lise, Stephanie, Wendy, and Janine for helping us put everything together. Thank you also to all of the donations of boxes and extra props. The kids had a fabulous time.
I'd like to think that things will slow down and get back to a normal pace now but November seems busier than ever. Here are some upcoming dates:
November 10-Play at Summit
November 11-Rememberance Day and Ceremony and the Cenotaph
November 14-PD Day
November 21-Skating at Dulude (10:00 to 10:40)
Our student teacher Carissa will also be back next week for her 5 week placement.
We are wrapping up our unit on Conservation of Energy and Electricity. To do this, we will be having an open book test. Students will be given a worksheet to complete with the aid of the text we've been using in class as well as their notebooks. We will be preparing in class for this exercise.
I haven't received very much feedback on the new math routine of the homework. Please pass on any comments you have for me to my email address.
I am seeing a definite improvement in the reading responses that I have been getting back. Right now I am focusing on the structure of the responses so that the students get used to writing an introduction, a body with a minimum of 2-3 sentences, and a conclusion. I would also like the students to focus on editing their work.
Coming up, we are looking at Properties of and Changes in Matter (grade 5) and Flight (grade6). We will be studying volleyball skills, and persuasive writing.
Keep in touch!
I'd like to think that things will slow down and get back to a normal pace now but November seems busier than ever. Here are some upcoming dates:
November 10-Play at Summit
November 11-Rememberance Day and Ceremony and the Cenotaph
November 14-PD Day
November 21-Skating at Dulude (10:00 to 10:40)
Our student teacher Carissa will also be back next week for her 5 week placement.
We are wrapping up our unit on Conservation of Energy and Electricity. To do this, we will be having an open book test. Students will be given a worksheet to complete with the aid of the text we've been using in class as well as their notebooks. We will be preparing in class for this exercise.
I haven't received very much feedback on the new math routine of the homework. Please pass on any comments you have for me to my email address.
I am seeing a definite improvement in the reading responses that I have been getting back. Right now I am focusing on the structure of the responses so that the students get used to writing an introduction, a body with a minimum of 2-3 sentences, and a conclusion. I would also like the students to focus on editing their work.
Coming up, we are looking at Properties of and Changes in Matter (grade 5) and Flight (grade6). We will be studying volleyball skills, and persuasive writing.
Keep in touch!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Haunted House
Boo! Did I scare you? Well, if I didn't, our Haunted House is sure to. After analyzing the data from our Scary Survey, we have decided that we need to create a Haunted School and we also know a variety of methods for successfully scaring our customers. Tomorrow, we will be hammering out all of the finer details and we will begin to build our sets on Wednesday and Thursday. If you are available to help paint on either of those days, please let me know. We will likely be doing a lot of the work on Thursday from 10:30 until 12:10. I also know that we are in need of large cardboard boxes or other large pieces of cardboard. I am going to hit up the furniture store on Churchill but if you have any other sources, please pass them on to me. I will forward you more details of other items we're looking for before the weekend.
We started our new math routine and it seemed to go well on all fronts. The students have math homework in their duotangs from their math teachers and a few of them also have a cursive practice sheet from me. This homework duotang is due on Thursday morning. All students in my class also have a reading response which is due on Friday. We have done the first two in class so that I could model what I was looking for. All students are responding to the third question this week which asks them to make a prediction and to prove that prediction with evidence from the text. I asked them to use a t-table to help them plan. At minimum, I'm looking for an introductory sentence, 2-3 sentences in the body that uses proof from the text, and a conclusion sentence. I have also been stressing to the kids the importance of proofreading.
Carissa Papp, our student teacher from the University of Ottawa, began her practicum today. She will be with us all week and then will go back to the university for a week. After that, she will be with us for five weeks of placement. Welcome Carissa!
If you have any questions regarding the Haunted House, the new math routine, or the homework, please do not hesitate!
ps I am working on solving the email issues. I hope to have it fixed soon.
We started our new math routine and it seemed to go well on all fronts. The students have math homework in their duotangs from their math teachers and a few of them also have a cursive practice sheet from me. This homework duotang is due on Thursday morning. All students in my class also have a reading response which is due on Friday. We have done the first two in class so that I could model what I was looking for. All students are responding to the third question this week which asks them to make a prediction and to prove that prediction with evidence from the text. I asked them to use a t-table to help them plan. At minimum, I'm looking for an introductory sentence, 2-3 sentences in the body that uses proof from the text, and a conclusion sentence. I have also been stressing to the kids the importance of proofreading.
Carissa Papp, our student teacher from the University of Ottawa, began her practicum today. She will be with us all week and then will go back to the university for a week. After that, she will be with us for five weeks of placement. Welcome Carissa!
If you have any questions regarding the Haunted House, the new math routine, or the homework, please do not hesitate!
ps I am working on solving the email issues. I hope to have it fixed soon.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This week
Hello
I thought I'd update you on a few things:
In art, we are going to be starting a new project that will require some searching at home. The kids should be looking for labels/packaging (cereal boxes, pop drinks, juice, milk). They need to choose a design where the name of the product contains the same amount of letters as their own name. They are to bring this packaging in to class ASAP (tomorrow if possible). They will be recreating this design, emulating the style (fonts, colouring, design elements) while advertising themselves rather than a product.
In language arts, we are wrapping up our look at procedural writing. To do this, the students are creating their own recipes (fake or real). The focus of this activity is the use of sequencing words, imperative sentences, and word choice (for interest and to help make directions clear).
Next week, we will be starting something new and exciting in math. With the support of Terra (a new teacher to Churchill), we will be dividing the classes of Maggie, Ray, and Tiiu into 4 groups. These will be our new math classes. This is something that the grade 3/4s have been doing with success. We are very excited to give this new idea a go. I will pass on new information to you as it comes.
This will mean a change to our homework routine. The likely scenario will be that the students' math teachers will hand out a homework duotang much like our old one. I will add cursive sheets to the duotangs of those who need it. This duotang will likely be handed out and due on the same day as it is now. Starting next week, the reading response will also become part of the homework routine. We have been doing them in class with my support for the past couple of weeks. Next week, I will let them fly solo.
We have also started to discuss our Haunted House. It has become a tradition that the students in my class have organized a haunted house for the entire school. This year, we have taken a new approach. We are looking at this project as a business. Our first task was to establish our goals for our haunted house. Next, we created a survery to assess what our customers are scared of and some of their thoughts on haunted houses in general. We will be analyzing this data and making decisions based on what we can infer. Then we will create a plan and move forward from there. I know that I will need help as the day approaches. We will definitely need some support to build our set and we will probably need a hand or two on the day of.
There is an upcoming field trip to the War Museum. I believe the field trip form will be going out this week. We will be going on October 30th. Please mark the date in case you'd like to volunteer.
I think that is it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns
I thought I'd update you on a few things:
In art, we are going to be starting a new project that will require some searching at home. The kids should be looking for labels/packaging (cereal boxes, pop drinks, juice, milk). They need to choose a design where the name of the product contains the same amount of letters as their own name. They are to bring this packaging in to class ASAP (tomorrow if possible). They will be recreating this design, emulating the style (fonts, colouring, design elements) while advertising themselves rather than a product.
In language arts, we are wrapping up our look at procedural writing. To do this, the students are creating their own recipes (fake or real). The focus of this activity is the use of sequencing words, imperative sentences, and word choice (for interest and to help make directions clear).
Next week, we will be starting something new and exciting in math. With the support of Terra (a new teacher to Churchill), we will be dividing the classes of Maggie, Ray, and Tiiu into 4 groups. These will be our new math classes. This is something that the grade 3/4s have been doing with success. We are very excited to give this new idea a go. I will pass on new information to you as it comes.
This will mean a change to our homework routine. The likely scenario will be that the students' math teachers will hand out a homework duotang much like our old one. I will add cursive sheets to the duotangs of those who need it. This duotang will likely be handed out and due on the same day as it is now. Starting next week, the reading response will also become part of the homework routine. We have been doing them in class with my support for the past couple of weeks. Next week, I will let them fly solo.
We have also started to discuss our Haunted House. It has become a tradition that the students in my class have organized a haunted house for the entire school. This year, we have taken a new approach. We are looking at this project as a business. Our first task was to establish our goals for our haunted house. Next, we created a survery to assess what our customers are scared of and some of their thoughts on haunted houses in general. We will be analyzing this data and making decisions based on what we can infer. Then we will create a plan and move forward from there. I know that I will need help as the day approaches. We will definitely need some support to build our set and we will probably need a hand or two on the day of.
There is an upcoming field trip to the War Museum. I believe the field trip form will be going out this week. We will be going on October 30th. Please mark the date in case you'd like to volunteer.
I think that is it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
overnight
Hello
Here are some notes about the overnight this week:
As I was only able to bring along 4 parents, I had to choose on a first come, first serve basis while also taking care of some other obligatory needs. Coming with us will be Emma's dad, Molly's dad, Ian's dad, and Michael's dad. There may be an opportunity for 1 or 2 other parents to come if some of the other classes cannot find volunteers. If you are interested, please email me back as soon as possible and I will confirm with you if you are needed by tomorrow evening. Thanks for all of the offers to help!
I have also secured some volunteers to help cook our hotdog lunch on Friday and Ailis's mom will be making us some muffins for Friday's snack. What great help you all are!
We will be meeting at the museum at 6:30. Please make sure that the students only bring what is necessary and that they have everything packed away into two packages (a bag of clothing and a bag of sleeping gear). As discussed in class, please leave your cameras at home. I will have a class camera there and take lots of pictures.
There are a few missing permission forms. Please return those to me as soon as possible.
Thanks again!
Tiiu Tsao
Churchill Alternative School
Grade 5/6
Here are some notes about the overnight this week:
As I was only able to bring along 4 parents, I had to choose on a first come, first serve basis while also taking care of some other obligatory needs. Coming with us will be Emma's dad, Molly's dad, Ian's dad, and Michael's dad. There may be an opportunity for 1 or 2 other parents to come if some of the other classes cannot find volunteers. If you are interested, please email me back as soon as possible and I will confirm with you if you are needed by tomorrow evening. Thanks for all of the offers to help!
I have also secured some volunteers to help cook our hotdog lunch on Friday and Ailis's mom will be making us some muffins for Friday's snack. What great help you all are!
We will be meeting at the museum at 6:30. Please make sure that the students only bring what is necessary and that they have everything packed away into two packages (a bag of clothing and a bag of sleeping gear). As discussed in class, please leave your cameras at home. I will have a class camera there and take lots of pictures.
There are a few missing permission forms. Please return those to me as soon as possible.
Thanks again!
Tiiu Tsao
Churchill Alternative School
Grade 5/6
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Overnight
Hello
I have not yet gone through the overnight permission forms so I do not know how has kindly offered to volunteer yet. As I can only take a limited amount of adults, please wait for my confirmation before packing your bags.
In science, we have been looking at energy and electricity. Here is a site that the kids might find interesting to look at: http://kids.everykilowattcounts.com/en/.
In language, we are continuing to look at procedural writing and we are also looking at word choice, one of the six traits of writing. Here is something you can ask the kids at the dinner table: What are the four different kinds of sentences and what actions did you learn for each of them?
In math, we are continuing to look at the four operations. Today, we took our first look at division. I will try and send home a primer on our lattice method and my new method for division so that you can help those students who choose to use these methods.
I have had some feedback on the homework. I will be taking another look at the spelling homework and see if I can change the layout or find something more appropriate. If your student comes home with certain questions circled with pen, please know that I am asking them to only complete those questions.
I want to remind everyone that this Friday is a PD Day and that tomorrow is photo day. Individual pictures will be taken tomorrow with our class photo being taken on re-take day.
I have not yet gone through the overnight permission forms so I do not know how has kindly offered to volunteer yet. As I can only take a limited amount of adults, please wait for my confirmation before packing your bags.
In science, we have been looking at energy and electricity. Here is a site that the kids might find interesting to look at: http://kids.everykilowattcounts.com/en/.
In language, we are continuing to look at procedural writing and we are also looking at word choice, one of the six traits of writing. Here is something you can ask the kids at the dinner table: What are the four different kinds of sentences and what actions did you learn for each of them?
In math, we are continuing to look at the four operations. Today, we took our first look at division. I will try and send home a primer on our lattice method and my new method for division so that you can help those students who choose to use these methods.
I have had some feedback on the homework. I will be taking another look at the spelling homework and see if I can change the layout or find something more appropriate. If your student comes home with certain questions circled with pen, please know that I am asking them to only complete those questions.
I want to remind everyone that this Friday is a PD Day and that tomorrow is photo day. Individual pictures will be taken tomorrow with our class photo being taken on re-take day.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Hello!
Just a few notes before we take off for the Terry Fox Run:
Yesterday, two students came in to speak with us about CISV and their experiences this past summer. I sent home a flyer about an information meeting taking place this evening. If you cannot make it to the meeting tonight, there will be another one scheduled later on in November. Please check the website for more information: http://www.cisv.ca/
In class, we have been looking at procedural writing as a text form. We have identified several common characteristics such as the use of sequencing words and imperative sentences.
I will be sending home a permisson form and letter about our upcoming overnight which will take place on the evening of October 9th. Please return the form as soon as possible.
I hope the first week of the homework routine went well. Please pass on any comments or feedback to me via email.
A reminder that next Friday is a PD Day.
Our group snack schedule begins next week. The schedule for next week is as follows:
Jordan-Monday, Nathan-Tuesday, James-Wednesday, and Rowan-Thursday.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Yesterday, two students came in to speak with us about CISV and their experiences this past summer. I sent home a flyer about an information meeting taking place this evening. If you cannot make it to the meeting tonight, there will be another one scheduled later on in November. Please check the website for more information: http://www.cisv.ca/
In class, we have been looking at procedural writing as a text form. We have identified several common characteristics such as the use of sequencing words and imperative sentences.
I will be sending home a permisson form and letter about our upcoming overnight which will take place on the evening of October 9th. Please return the form as soon as possible.
I hope the first week of the homework routine went well. Please pass on any comments or feedback to me via email.
A reminder that next Friday is a PD Day.
Our group snack schedule begins next week. The schedule for next week is as follows:
Jordan-Monday, Nathan-Tuesday, James-Wednesday, and Rowan-Thursday.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Riddle
Here is the riddle that I put on the board this morning:
It is a regular Wednesday and Tiiu is taking attendance in 310. She notes that everyone is present. Ms. D stands at the doorway and asks Tiiu how many "humans" are in the room. Tiiu thinks for a moment and answers 24. If there are 22 students in 310, how is that possible?
Some guessed that Ms. D counted as one. One student guessed that I was so special that I counted as 2. No one guessed correctly and it took them a moment before they understood the solution.
Thank you for a great class meeting last night!
It is a regular Wednesday and Tiiu is taking attendance in 310. She notes that everyone is present. Ms. D stands at the doorway and asks Tiiu how many "humans" are in the room. Tiiu thinks for a moment and answers 24. If there are 22 students in 310, how is that possible?
Some guessed that Ms. D counted as one. One student guessed that I was so special that I counted as 2. No one guessed correctly and it took them a moment before they understood the solution.
Thank you for a great class meeting last night!
Monday, September 15, 2008
September 15, 2008
Hello
I hope you all had a restful weekend and got to enjoy the weather on Saturday. I have a couple of reminders for you.
Please remember that the class meeting is at 6:00 tomorrow. I told the students that they are welcome to join us as it is about our year. I also mentioned that we would have a lot to discuss and would be sitting and talking for about an hour and that we don't have a lot of room in our class so...they may not want to join us. I will not have any child care arranged for that evening. I am hoping to be finished at around 7:00.
We are going on a field trip on Wednesday. Unfortunately, our photocopier is on the fritz. I will be able to send home a form tonight. Please return in it promptly along with the $3.00. I am looking for a couple of volunteers as well.
The Family Breakfast is this Friday. Forms for this event were sent out last week and are due back tomorrow. I hope to see you there!
See you all tomorrow!
I hope you all had a restful weekend and got to enjoy the weather on Saturday. I have a couple of reminders for you.
Please remember that the class meeting is at 6:00 tomorrow. I told the students that they are welcome to join us as it is about our year. I also mentioned that we would have a lot to discuss and would be sitting and talking for about an hour and that we don't have a lot of room in our class so...they may not want to join us. I will not have any child care arranged for that evening. I am hoping to be finished at around 7:00.
We are going on a field trip on Wednesday. Unfortunately, our photocopier is on the fritz. I will be able to send home a form tonight. Please return in it promptly along with the $3.00. I am looking for a couple of volunteers as well.
The Family Breakfast is this Friday. Forms for this event were sent out last week and are due back tomorrow. I hope to see you there!
See you all tomorrow!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Welcome!
Welcome to the first post for this school year! I hope many of you will check our blog on a weekly basis.
It has been a great start to the year so far. It has been amazing to have such a small class (22!). Hopefully, things will stay the same and we won't be reorganized.
The students and I created a wonderful mission statement. I will try and post it here soon. We started our novel read-a-loud. It is called the Wright 3 and has a lot to do with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and mysterious codes. We are working on finding the averages of some interesting facts about our class, and we're taking some time to get to know one another.
I am happy to see that almost all of the students have gotten into the routine of reading every night and writing it into their agendas. This is an important routine that will continue throughout the year.
I collected many forms today. Please keep the rest coming.
I am hoping that students can each have a pair of indoor shoes that stay here at school. They should be appropriate for gym (good treads, closed toe, non marking soles). The students will be asked to keep outdoor shoes out in the hallway.
If anyone has any extra boxes of tissue around, we would love a box or two for the classroom.
Thank you for many of the warm welcomes. I hope to meet all of you soon. Please stay tuned for information regarding our class meeting.
It has been a great start to the year so far. It has been amazing to have such a small class (22!). Hopefully, things will stay the same and we won't be reorganized.
The students and I created a wonderful mission statement. I will try and post it here soon. We started our novel read-a-loud. It is called the Wright 3 and has a lot to do with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and mysterious codes. We are working on finding the averages of some interesting facts about our class, and we're taking some time to get to know one another.
I am happy to see that almost all of the students have gotten into the routine of reading every night and writing it into their agendas. This is an important routine that will continue throughout the year.
I collected many forms today. Please keep the rest coming.
I am hoping that students can each have a pair of indoor shoes that stay here at school. They should be appropriate for gym (good treads, closed toe, non marking soles). The students will be asked to keep outdoor shoes out in the hallway.
If anyone has any extra boxes of tissue around, we would love a box or two for the classroom.
Thank you for many of the warm welcomes. I hope to meet all of you soon. Please stay tuned for information regarding our class meeting.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Upcoming Dates
Don't blink, because if you do, you might miss the last two months of school which are going to whizz by. Here is a list of upcoming important dates:
May 14- Pizza
May 16- Jump Rope for Heart
May 19- No School-Victoria Day
May 20- Leave for MacSkimming
May 21- Back from MacSkimming (6:00pm)
May 23- Garden Sale
May 28- Pizza
June 2 to June 6- EQAO
June 13- School of Rock
June 16- Chalk Festival
June 19- Alternative Sports Day at Summit
June 23- Leaving Ceremony and Picnic in the Park
June 24- Visit new classrooms
June 25- Last day for students
Whew...just typing it all makes me tired. On top of all of this, we will also be doing school work and covering curriculum! Right now, we are wrapping up our unit on fractions, decimals, percents, and ratios. We will be looking at probability next. In Social Studies, we are doing an in-house research project and presenting them by building website using Dreamweaver. In LA, we are hoping to complete two big writing projects before the end of the year and we are working on "accountable talk". This is teaching the students about how to actively participate in discussions. We are also working on a major art project with the help of Michelle (Paisley's mom). It involves print making and the results will blow you away.
I also heard back from Trevor Finlay, our resident Blues in Schools artist. He will be available to perform with our class at Bluesfest. The is scheduled for July 13th at 12:15pm.
The overnight is next week! The kids need to be prepared upon returning from the long weekend. Stephanie (our class coordinator) is making calls for food donations. These should be packaged separately from the students' luggage and dropped off in the foyer on Tuesday morning. If possible, please limit the students' luggage to two bundles: one bag for their clothing and one bag for their sleeping bags. Labelling their belongings is always a great idea. All parents are welcome to come by. Even if you cannot stay for the night, you are welcome to drop in on us. Please note that we will not be back until 6:00pm on Wednesday. You will have to make arrangements for pick up at this time. If you have any other questions regarding the overnight, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks!
May 14- Pizza
May 16- Jump Rope for Heart
May 19- No School-Victoria Day
May 20- Leave for MacSkimming
May 21- Back from MacSkimming (6:00pm)
May 23- Garden Sale
May 28- Pizza
June 2 to June 6- EQAO
June 13- School of Rock
June 16- Chalk Festival
June 19- Alternative Sports Day at Summit
June 23- Leaving Ceremony and Picnic in the Park
June 24- Visit new classrooms
June 25- Last day for students
Whew...just typing it all makes me tired. On top of all of this, we will also be doing school work and covering curriculum! Right now, we are wrapping up our unit on fractions, decimals, percents, and ratios. We will be looking at probability next. In Social Studies, we are doing an in-house research project and presenting them by building website using Dreamweaver. In LA, we are hoping to complete two big writing projects before the end of the year and we are working on "accountable talk". This is teaching the students about how to actively participate in discussions. We are also working on a major art project with the help of Michelle (Paisley's mom). It involves print making and the results will blow you away.
I also heard back from Trevor Finlay, our resident Blues in Schools artist. He will be available to perform with our class at Bluesfest. The is scheduled for July 13th at 12:15pm.
The overnight is next week! The kids need to be prepared upon returning from the long weekend. Stephanie (our class coordinator) is making calls for food donations. These should be packaged separately from the students' luggage and dropped off in the foyer on Tuesday morning. If possible, please limit the students' luggage to two bundles: one bag for their clothing and one bag for their sleeping bags. Labelling their belongings is always a great idea. All parents are welcome to come by. Even if you cannot stay for the night, you are welcome to drop in on us. Please note that we will not be back until 6:00pm on Wednesday. You will have to make arrangements for pick up at this time. If you have any other questions regarding the overnight, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Links
It's been a while since I've posted anything...
Here are some interesting links.
This is a search engine. It actually uses Yahoo to search but for every 1000 searches, they will grow 2 trees.
http://www.ecocho.com/
This website has a vocabulary quiz that will donate 20 grains of rice for every correct answer.
www.freerice.com
This is the website for Alain's guitar shop. Alain was was of our in house artists for Blues in the Schools.
www.adlibb.com
This is Trevor's site. Trevor was our other artist for Blues in the Schools.
http://www.trevorfinlay.com/
Here are some interesting links.
This is a search engine. It actually uses Yahoo to search but for every 1000 searches, they will grow 2 trees.
http://www.ecocho.com/
This website has a vocabulary quiz that will donate 20 grains of rice for every correct answer.
www.freerice.com
This is the website for Alain's guitar shop. Alain was was of our in house artists for Blues in the Schools.
www.adlibb.com
This is Trevor's site. Trevor was our other artist for Blues in the Schools.
http://www.trevorfinlay.com/
Monday, March 17, 2008
March Madness
March is here and it will be over before you know it. We only have 7 more teaching days left in March! Here are some things to know...
The play is set. We will be doing a daytime and nighttime performance on Wednesday, April 2. Seating will be limited. Please encourage your actors to practice projecting their lines at home. We are also looking for any appropriate 60s and 90s costumes. For the 60s, I'm looking for your old hippie garb. Think leather vests with fringe, bandanas and floral scarves, bell bottoms, peace patches and the like. For the 90s, I'm looking for any appropriate concert t-shirts from the decade, plaid shirts, baby doll dress, and doc martens.
I handed our a science project outline today. They should have it in their agendas. There will not be a regular homework book/reading response for the next two weeks. For homework tonight, I have asked them to read the outline and to write out the steps that they will have to follow in order to complete the project. We will discuss these steps and time management tomorrow.
I am renewing our use of agendas. I've asked everyone to make a concerted effort to have them here tomorrow. Some are worried that they have lost them. I've asked them to take another look or to see if they have something else at home that could work. Otherwise, I will replace it with a notebook tomorrow. Please remember that they should be writing down their 20 mintues of reading and getting it signed by one of you.
Thanks!
The play is set. We will be doing a daytime and nighttime performance on Wednesday, April 2. Seating will be limited. Please encourage your actors to practice projecting their lines at home. We are also looking for any appropriate 60s and 90s costumes. For the 60s, I'm looking for your old hippie garb. Think leather vests with fringe, bandanas and floral scarves, bell bottoms, peace patches and the like. For the 90s, I'm looking for any appropriate concert t-shirts from the decade, plaid shirts, baby doll dress, and doc martens.
I handed our a science project outline today. They should have it in their agendas. There will not be a regular homework book/reading response for the next two weeks. For homework tonight, I have asked them to read the outline and to write out the steps that they will have to follow in order to complete the project. We will discuss these steps and time management tomorrow.
I am renewing our use of agendas. I've asked everyone to make a concerted effort to have them here tomorrow. Some are worried that they have lost them. I've asked them to take another look or to see if they have something else at home that could work. Otherwise, I will replace it with a notebook tomorrow. Please remember that they should be writing down their 20 mintues of reading and getting it signed by one of you.
Thanks!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Pen Pals
A few weeks ago, the staff from Lady Evelyn Alternative came over here for a collaborative meeting. We met in our grade groups to share ideas. One of those ideas was to connect and do pen pals. The kids in our class received letters yesterday from the students in Mr. Huniu's class. They were really excited. Today, we started our letters back. It is our goal to keep this up and hopefully meet at some point before the school year ends.
There is a regular homework duotang and reading response this week.
This week's snack schedule is as follows: Darius, Declan, Emily, Eric, and Hailey.
We are going skating this Friday to Dulude.
We continue to read and enjoy the Giver.
There is a regular homework duotang and reading response this week.
This week's snack schedule is as follows: Darius, Declan, Emily, Eric, and Hailey.
We are going skating this Friday to Dulude.
We continue to read and enjoy the Giver.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Fibonacci
If you are looking for some extra stuff to research at home...
We took a brief look at Fibonacci this morning. I would like to discuss it again but I don't want to go in to too much detail. If you have some math experts, have them do a search on Fibonacci and what his pattern has to do with nature. It's pretty neat stuff. I would love to have some experts in the class when we talk about it next.
I hope some of you were able to check out the eclipse last night. In class, we talked about it and the rogue satellite by looking at an article from yesterday's Citizen while practicing the reading strategy of "asking questions".
In math today, we also looked at interpretation of data. Using some scoring sheets from the "School of Rock's" song preference vote, we are working on averaging scores. Ray's class and a third group interpreted the data differently. When everyone has finished, we are going to compare results and see if different interpretations yield the same results.
The students are also beginning to read music. They did an excellent job at clapping out rhythms today.
We took a brief look at Fibonacci this morning. I would like to discuss it again but I don't want to go in to too much detail. If you have some math experts, have them do a search on Fibonacci and what his pattern has to do with nature. It's pretty neat stuff. I would love to have some experts in the class when we talk about it next.
I hope some of you were able to check out the eclipse last night. In class, we talked about it and the rogue satellite by looking at an article from yesterday's Citizen while practicing the reading strategy of "asking questions".
In math today, we also looked at interpretation of data. Using some scoring sheets from the "School of Rock's" song preference vote, we are working on averaging scores. Ray's class and a third group interpreted the data differently. When everyone has finished, we are going to compare results and see if different interpretations yield the same results.
The students are also beginning to read music. They did an excellent job at clapping out rhythms today.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Back in Business
Whoa...it's good to be back. I hate being sick and boy, was I sick. I'm back now and rearin' to go. Here are some updates for you.
We have postponed the play. We just weren't ready. Instead of setting a new date, we've decided to keep working and when we feel ready, we will pick a date. It's the more humane way to move forward we think. We are moving ahead though. Thanks to Colleen who has been working with our "Writing Experts".
In class we've been reading "The Giver" as our read-a-loud. The kids LOVE it. Ask them about "Sameness" and if they'd like to live in the "Community".
We've moved on to some new units in class as well. In math, we are looking at patterning. The unit is mostly about input and output of numbers into a "function machine". They need to create patterns, extend patterns, and decipher patterns. They will also be doing problem solving with patterns and graphing their patterns.
In Science, we are looking at the Human Body in grade 5 and Diversity of Living Things in grade 6. This unit ends off with an exciting culminating activity called the New Life Convention. More news to come on this.
In Language, we've been looking at some more strategies that good readers use and ones that good writers use. For reading, we looked at asking questions. We talked about asking questions about how you are reading, what you are reading, and questions to deepen your understanding or to learn more about what you are reading. In writing, we've been looking at sentence fluency: writing sentences that are rhythmic and that sound good. The kids wrote some really great poems about their neighbourhoods. So good in fact that we are going to show off to each other. We've planned our very own Coffee House. On Thursday, the kids will read their poems out loud while the rest of us listen while sipping our hot chocolate. Instead of clapping, we'll probably snap to show you how cool and fluent your poem is. In class, we talked about the following criteria for oral presentations:
tone (the mood of your poem)
pace (not too fast, not too slow)
volume (can you be heard)
pitch (robotic)
gestures (body movements can distract but they can also help)
eye contact
That's all I can think of now. If there's more, I'll let you know!
ps Because of the short week, there is only a reading response for homework. I've also asked the kids to practice saying their poems at home. They were asked to bring them home today.
We have postponed the play. We just weren't ready. Instead of setting a new date, we've decided to keep working and when we feel ready, we will pick a date. It's the more humane way to move forward we think. We are moving ahead though. Thanks to Colleen who has been working with our "Writing Experts".
In class we've been reading "The Giver" as our read-a-loud. The kids LOVE it. Ask them about "Sameness" and if they'd like to live in the "Community".
We've moved on to some new units in class as well. In math, we are looking at patterning. The unit is mostly about input and output of numbers into a "function machine". They need to create patterns, extend patterns, and decipher patterns. They will also be doing problem solving with patterns and graphing their patterns.
In Science, we are looking at the Human Body in grade 5 and Diversity of Living Things in grade 6. This unit ends off with an exciting culminating activity called the New Life Convention. More news to come on this.
In Language, we've been looking at some more strategies that good readers use and ones that good writers use. For reading, we looked at asking questions. We talked about asking questions about how you are reading, what you are reading, and questions to deepen your understanding or to learn more about what you are reading. In writing, we've been looking at sentence fluency: writing sentences that are rhythmic and that sound good. The kids wrote some really great poems about their neighbourhoods. So good in fact that we are going to show off to each other. We've planned our very own Coffee House. On Thursday, the kids will read their poems out loud while the rest of us listen while sipping our hot chocolate. Instead of clapping, we'll probably snap to show you how cool and fluent your poem is. In class, we talked about the following criteria for oral presentations:
tone (the mood of your poem)
pace (not too fast, not too slow)
volume (can you be heard)
pitch (robotic)
gestures (body movements can distract but they can also help)
eye contact
That's all I can think of now. If there's more, I'll let you know!
ps Because of the short week, there is only a reading response for homework. I've also asked the kids to practice saying their poems at home. They were asked to bring them home today.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Gong Xi Fa Cai
Happy New Year! Chinese New Year that is. We will be learning about and celebrating the year of the rat and the Chinese culture this week. To cap off the celebrations, my parents will be coming in on Thursday. Thank you to Bronte who called my dad and invited him (because if I had, he'd definitely feel more comfortable to refuse).
The canal trip has been re-scheduled for February 15th. A new permission form will have to be signed. Those will be going home today. That means that during the week of February 11th, there will be two field trips: the NAC on the 12th, and the canal on the 15th.
This week is a short week because of the PD Day on Friday. I have decided to only hand out a reading response for homework this week.
After some initial photocopying disasters on my end, the math test has finally been completed. I will do my best to mark those over the next coming days. Once we have taken it up as a class, I will send it home to be signed by you. Our next math unit will be on patterning. In Language, we are working on sentence fluency and some guided and shared reading about China. We are wrapping up our science unit on structures and will be focusing on the play as that is coming up very soon. Yikes!
This week's snack schedule is: Martha, Nathan, Nick K, and Nick P.
Ask your kids if they can count to ten in Mandarin!
The canal trip has been re-scheduled for February 15th. A new permission form will have to be signed. Those will be going home today. That means that during the week of February 11th, there will be two field trips: the NAC on the 12th, and the canal on the 15th.
This week is a short week because of the PD Day on Friday. I have decided to only hand out a reading response for homework this week.
After some initial photocopying disasters on my end, the math test has finally been completed. I will do my best to mark those over the next coming days. Once we have taken it up as a class, I will send it home to be signed by you. Our next math unit will be on patterning. In Language, we are working on sentence fluency and some guided and shared reading about China. We are wrapping up our science unit on structures and will be focusing on the play as that is coming up very soon. Yikes!
This week's snack schedule is: Martha, Nathan, Nick K, and Nick P.
Ask your kids if they can count to ten in Mandarin!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Canal Skate and TEST!
Just a reminder that we are skating on the canal this Friday. We are leaving the school at 9:30 and will be picked up at 12:30. There are still quite a few missing field trip forms. If you have yet to hand one in, please get it in ASAP. If you are able to volunteer, I need all the help that I can get so please let me know. The kids should be well nourished, well hydrated, and dressed warmly in layers. They need protection for their blades, hands, and heads. Money will not be necessary as the kids will not be given the opportunity to spend it.
There will be a geometry test on Thursday. The kids and I spoke about tests and how they will have to, at some point, take tests. Practicing test taking skills is valid for this age group. In class, they made review posters. As we progressed through this unit, I have given mini quizzes and assessed their notebook work and know that the students understand the material that we have covered so far. The test will cover:
measuring, identifying, and drawing angles (acute, right, obtuse, straight, reflex)
identifying and sorting polygons by their attributes (number of sides, number of vertices, angles, congruency)
identifying three dimensional shapes (pyramids and prisms)
understanding nets
Students should not need to review that much at home but it may be good practice. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
The play is coming along. If you can start to look around for costume items, that would be helpful. We will need army fatiques and "hippie" type articles.
We have worked through all of the different types of reading response questions. Students now have a choice as to which question they would like to answer that week. Each question can only be answered a maximum of three more times.
The Summit Open House is this Tuesday starting at 5:30. This is an excellent opportunity to help you make a decision on which school you might like to go with for grade 7.
There will be a geometry test on Thursday. The kids and I spoke about tests and how they will have to, at some point, take tests. Practicing test taking skills is valid for this age group. In class, they made review posters. As we progressed through this unit, I have given mini quizzes and assessed their notebook work and know that the students understand the material that we have covered so far. The test will cover:
measuring, identifying, and drawing angles (acute, right, obtuse, straight, reflex)
identifying and sorting polygons by their attributes (number of sides, number of vertices, angles, congruency)
identifying three dimensional shapes (pyramids and prisms)
understanding nets
Students should not need to review that much at home but it may be good practice. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
The play is coming along. If you can start to look around for costume items, that would be helpful. We will need army fatiques and "hippie" type articles.
We have worked through all of the different types of reading response questions. Students now have a choice as to which question they would like to answer that week. Each question can only be answered a maximum of three more times.
The Summit Open House is this Tuesday starting at 5:30. This is an excellent opportunity to help you make a decision on which school you might like to go with for grade 7.
Monday, January 21, 2008
New Week
Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. Here is some information about 310.
Here are some upcoming dates to remember:
Friday, January 25 (this Friday): Skating at Dulude
Friday, February 1 (next Friday): Winterlude-hopefully
Friday, February 8: PD day
Tuesday, February 12: NAC
Monday, February 18: Family Day-Holiday
Thursday, February 21: Play (There will be a performance during the day and one at night)
We have been really busy in class too.
In math, we have been studying geometry. We looked at angles and polygons and now we are looking at three dimensional shapes. In language, we read two great books called "The Girl's Like Speghetti" and "Eat, Shoots & Leaves". We also made our own classroom book based on "The Girl's Like Speghetti" after we learned about proper apostrophe usage. In art, the kids made some great monochromatic paintings and we're now working on a group project that is a cityscape made out of different nets. We've been playing some really fun cooperative games in gym including knee wrestling! In science, we have been studying structure and the forces that act on them. Thank you to all who responded to my library request.
Our play is coming along swimmingly. We have a rough outline and we'll be developing our script in language this week. As I said above, we have chosed February 21st as our performance date. Please mark it on your calendars!
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!
Here are some upcoming dates to remember:
Friday, January 25 (this Friday): Skating at Dulude
Friday, February 1 (next Friday): Winterlude-hopefully
Friday, February 8: PD day
Tuesday, February 12: NAC
Monday, February 18: Family Day-Holiday
Thursday, February 21: Play (There will be a performance during the day and one at night)
We have been really busy in class too.
In math, we have been studying geometry. We looked at angles and polygons and now we are looking at three dimensional shapes. In language, we read two great books called "The Girl's Like Speghetti" and "Eat, Shoots & Leaves". We also made our own classroom book based on "The Girl's Like Speghetti" after we learned about proper apostrophe usage. In art, the kids made some great monochromatic paintings and we're now working on a group project that is a cityscape made out of different nets. We've been playing some really fun cooperative games in gym including knee wrestling! In science, we have been studying structure and the forces that act on them. Thank you to all who responded to my library request.
Our play is coming along swimmingly. We have a rough outline and we'll be developing our script in language this week. As I said above, we have chosed February 21st as our performance date. Please mark it on your calendars!
As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
2008
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a peaceful holidays. I quickly learned that although I love spending time with Hayden, following him around is no holiday.
I am trying to renew efforts to stay on top of the agenda routine. Each night, students need to read a minimum of 20 minutes, write down what they've read into their agendas, and have an adult sign it. If you cannot find your agenda, please let me know and we'll try to find a replacement.
I handed out a permission form today for a trip to the NAC for the "Great Composers" series. This year's composer is the great Johann Sebastian Bach. The form and money are due Friday. Sorry for the quick turn around. I can only bring one parent volunteer so I will do it on a first come-first serve basis.
In science, we will be starting a unit on Forces Acting on Structures. Included in this unit will be a look at earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and the effect these natural hazards have on structures. In math we are doing a unit on geometry including polygons and angles.
We are also working on our play. So far, the class has created a framework for the two decades that we are responsible for. We have decided that for the sixties, our scence will be at Woodstock and for the nineties, our scence will be at a coffee house.
This week's homework duotang is due on Thursday. There is no reading response. There will be one next week.
Thanks for you continuing support!
I am trying to renew efforts to stay on top of the agenda routine. Each night, students need to read a minimum of 20 minutes, write down what they've read into their agendas, and have an adult sign it. If you cannot find your agenda, please let me know and we'll try to find a replacement.
I handed out a permission form today for a trip to the NAC for the "Great Composers" series. This year's composer is the great Johann Sebastian Bach. The form and money are due Friday. Sorry for the quick turn around. I can only bring one parent volunteer so I will do it on a first come-first serve basis.
In science, we will be starting a unit on Forces Acting on Structures. Included in this unit will be a look at earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and the effect these natural hazards have on structures. In math we are doing a unit on geometry including polygons and angles.
We are also working on our play. So far, the class has created a framework for the two decades that we are responsible for. We have decided that for the sixties, our scence will be at Woodstock and for the nineties, our scence will be at a coffee house.
This week's homework duotang is due on Thursday. There is no reading response. There will be one next week.
Thanks for you continuing support!
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