Bell "Let's Talk"

Last Wednesday, January 25th, marked the official day to recognize the Bell "Let's Talk" campaign. There have been countless commercials and ads on TV, billboards, on social media, etc., but to ensure that the message was being heard by our students, Pineland staff brought the conversation about mental illness in our classrooms. Messages were delivered in a sensitive manner, keeping grade level in strong consideration.

Bell Let's Talk website - click

As community circles are used regularly in my classroom, all of the students seemed very comfortable viewing a couple of videos about mental illness and how to support those touched by it. The key messaging was simple to understand and easy to apply. All of my discussion centred around the following messaging:

5 Siple ways to end stigma in the classroom...

• language
• educate yourself
• be kind
• listen and ask
• talk about it

Most students engaged in the conversation and many shared personal anecdotes, despite being reminded frequently that it was definitely not an expectation and using names was strongly discouraged to respect individual's privacy.

I know from speaking with a number of students and parents that the conversations continued at home. If they have, please continue to keep open dialogue happening, and if nothing has been mentioned yet, perhaps opening up an opportunity to discuss the topics would be beneficial.

Please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the school if you would like to ask any questions about the information provided and/or for more information or resources.

Below are the three videos shown in class.

Best wishes,

Mr. (Dave) Moskal

Mental Illness Education for Kids

Bell Let's Talk 2017: Clara Hughes - Understanding is Key

Bell Le'ts Talk 2017: Howie Mandel - Talk to Someone

Science topics - Keep a look out!

A new calendar year brings new topics for Science for both Grades 5 and 6. The topics for the two grades align slightly and will allow us to crossover some of our learning.

The Grade 5s will explore Structures and Forces Acting on Structures. This will include structures that

students see and/or use daily, like chairs and decks, as well as much larger and very interesting structures like bridges and sky scrapers. There are some pretty fun online labs to work through as well as structure-building activities and challenges.

The Grade 6s will conduct a number of experiments to help them build a greater understanding of Flight. For this unit, we will also require some materials from home in order to conduct experiments, so please look for requests for items. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

For all students, pay attention to the world around you and bring back to school and share observations relating to our topics of study in Science. If you see something cool or interesting on TV or online, let us know so we can all have a chance to view and discuss. Great resources to support our Science learning can also be added to the website for all to use.

Welcome back! Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great break... No snow wasn't much fun, but at least there was time off with family and friends.

We got right back to work today...

Rather than just talking about our holidays, students were tasked with preparing a Holiday Story. They will be given Writing marks and marks for their presentation skills. A few students presented today, but most will present tomorrow. Please support your students at home by allowing them to practise for you and offer critiques.

Thanks for the support!

Class celebration

Next week will be busy and we will be attempting to cover as much curriculum as possible between

distractions.

One 'distraction' will be our own class celebration next Wednesday, December 21st. Part of the celebration will be a form of gift exchange. An information form / permission slip will be coming home today with more explanation. An electronic version of the form will be added to the 'Forms & Handouts' page this weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Free period!!!

The free period, earned by the class for their efforts towards modelling the Right to Play motto, will be awarded tomorrow. It will take place outside so please ensure appropriate (WARM & DRY) clothing comes to school.

Thank you!

CYC classroom involvment

Our class has loved having our school CYC join for many different activities and discussions. She is now pleased to offer a more formal partnership with myself and the class which will continue into the new year. A letter explaining her involvement in more detail will be coming home today.

Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to email.

Keep practising!

During the parent-teacher-student conferences, many proud moments and strengths were shared. In addition, students were able to articulate their goals and next steps for improvement. Some individuals have begun to follow through with their action plans for growth, while others need to follow through with their talk.

This class does not have a regular homework program. That being said, there are certain actions that should take place on a consistent basis at home in order to consolidate learning and/or improve on learning that takes place at school. There are some ideas listed on the 'Homework' page of this site.

Recently, a Math package was sent home to be worked on for a week or so. Completing a few questions of each type per night (or so) would have been appropriate. Students were also asked to experiment with different strategies in order to develop more 'tools' for their repertoire as well as to determine which strategies are best for different numbers and problems. More students than not had difficulty following this model. The package was left until the last minute and the work was rushed in many cases.

Proper practice is vital if students hope to see improvement in their abilities and understanding. Please help support this homework model at home.

For practising Language skills at home, students are encouraged to purposely think about their reading, even when reading for enjoyment. Using stickies to jot down ideas while reading is a great strategy to focus reading using reading strategies such as visualizing, making connections, asking questions, and making predictions. Parents can ask meaningful questions beyond retell-type questions. Examples are on the 'Homework' page, and if more explanation or examples are desired, please email.