Field Trip Form Due Monday

The permission slip and payment for the grade 6 field trip to the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts is due Monday, May 2. At this point, more than half of the class have not brought the form in... Please do so for Monday.

An electronic version will be put on the "Forms" page of this site and I will send out an email blast to all families. Please disregard the email if you have already returned the form.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Have a great weekend!

In Math...

Our unit is on Fractions, Rate and Ratio, and Percents...

Try to recall what you have been taught in the past... What do you already know?

Parents, talk about where these concepts come up at home or in day-to-day activities. Building comfort and confidence in learners will lead to greater successes and feelings of accomplishment.

Upcoming...

Probability - a logical follow-up to Percents.

Don't hesitate to ask for additional information and/or next steps.

NGOs - Making a Difference

As part of the Social Studies unit around the topic of Canada's interactions with the global community, the students were introduced to NGOs and their role within Canada and internationally. Through our discussion, many students realized that they already possessed some background information on some larger, well-known NGOs, such as the Red Cross and WWF, as well as the efforts of more locally based organizations that organize food and clothing drives.

Students will now have the opportunity to choose an NGO to research and present their findings. We will develop questions in class that will help guide our research, then gather, analyse, and synthesize information to use when presenting findings.

Based on what students learn about their NGO of choice, its mission, and their own interests and abilities, students will then create an artistic 'momument' that represents the NGO. A speech will accompany the 'unveiling' of their work, which describes what they have learned about the NGO as well as an explanation of their piece of art and how it relates.

More information will be posted to the 'Assignments' page, and as always, if there are any questions (students and/or parents), please ask.

Can't wait to see where this assignment goes!

Responding to Reading

A new reading assignment was introduced yesterday. It is called "Book Mark Book Report." This assignment is explained in depth on the Assignments page.

Students are also currently working on a writing piece based on our class read aloud novel "The Giver." This Utopian community has many aspects very similar to our own society, yet other aspects that are drastically different. The students were asked to choose and explain an aspect of the Community which they 'like' and one which they 'don't like.'

For all responses to reading, students need to be sure they 1) answer the questions asked, 2) use proof from the text to support their responses, and 3) extend their thinking, using connections for example.

Help your children develop their comprehension by asking questions of them that help them dig deeper into the meaning of their text (e.g., thematic questions, character traits and motivations, predictions based on evidence, questions they hope will be answered by reading further, etc.)

I am happy to support parents and students however I can in developing stronger reading strategies to improve comprehension. Just ask!

Students are still loving "The Giver" and I'm loving their enthusiasm!

This novel is so rich with vocabulary and concepts that I am able to moderate phenomenal student discussion each time I read to the class. Students are so eager to share their ideas, questions, and predictions, that it is often difficult to even get through a chapter in a period. Their reading strategies are evolving as evidenced by their insightful predictions and use of evidence from the text itself and connections to other pieces of information gathered from a variety of sources. I highly recommend parents to read the book and I promise that you will be able to replicate the rich discussion at home with your children.

Also excited about Math!

Would you believe that your child was able to add 2.178 and 3.745 in their head?

They likely were able to as a result of drawing upon the numerous mental math strategies that we have be practising all year. Helping students focus on what they KNOW to be true and not on what overwhelms them is the key to increased confidence in Math.

See if they can show you how the question was broken down into simpler parts to solve rather than stacking the numbers and using a traditional algorithm.

Short, but busy week (+ new Math unit)

It sounds as though most people had an enjoyable March Break. The students were asked to prepare a brief talk and shared their experiences either today or will present tomorrow. Most have organized their thoughts and described their ideas much better than earlier in the year, and their comfort level speaking in front of others has also shown increased confidence.

In Math, we've reviewed what we can remember about decimals from previous years and started practising skills that involve decimals that include thousandths (3 numbers to the right of the decimal point). Students will be expected to represent, order, and compare decimal numbers. Next, they will add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers involving decimals.

Add & Subtract: decimal numbers to thousandths
Multiply & Divide: decimal numbers to tenths by whole numbers
Multiply: whole numbers by 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001
Multiply & Divide: decimal numbers by 10, 100, 1000, and 10 000 using mental strategies

Remember the old saying... "Practice makes perfect!"

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

In honour of Dr. Seuss' birthday, I read one of my favourite Dr. Seuss books to the class - "Green Eggs and Ham." I think they enjoyed it.

It allowed me to introduce an assignment that they will likely enjoy and also have a very good opportunity to achieve a very good mark.

They are to choose a favourite picture book and practise reading it aloud. We talked about how they can increase the interest level for the audience by altering their voices - sound, pace, and volume. We have library time tomorrow where they can select a book from the school or they may choose to use a book from home. I can help students select a book that will likely earn them a better mark based on the success criteria. (Some books are easier to add interest in a variety of ways than others.)

Practising at home with family members is strongly encouraged. Have fun with this assignment!