Today started with a trip to the gym, but not for the usual reason. This majority of students were spectators and not participants, as we took in the Reading Link Challenge competition this morning. Our class was well represented by the Radical Readers team of: Alissa, Sophia, Connor, Alyza and KG. After three rounds of reading trivia, the Radical Readers stood alone as winners, and all 5 Division 8 students qualified to move on to the next round in April. GREAT WORK!! After recess, the students helped brainstorm a pretty extensive list of topics we've covered so far in class, and wrote them on the board. (See image below) After we compiled our list, we then moved on to working on completing our French Body Art chart. For the final hour of the day, the students worked with their table groups to answer a trio of skill testing math questions. You can find the math questions on the MATH page.
Dear parents and guardians of Division 8 students,
I am very sorry about the short notice and the need to cancel tonight's student-led conferences, this certainly is not what the students or I had planned on. As an alternative, the classroom will be open to all families tomorrow after school from 2 - 6pm, for students to show family members all the amazing things they have done, or are doing, in our class. If you are unable to attend our student-led conferences tomorrow, and would still like an opportunity for a tour, please contact me at: [email protected] and we will set up an alternate date after Spring Break. Thank you very much for your understanding, and I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow after school. Take care, Mr. Main It was class photo day!!! The class looked great today, and worked well (for the most part) all day too! We began with some dancing for DPA, then cooled down by finishing our class novel "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library". After recess, the students either worked on Reflex Math or put together their portfolios for tomorrow's student-led conferences. In the afternoon, I discussed some of the requirements of the Heritage Fair Project that we will be starting when we return from Spring Break. (I have posted the outline on the Social Studies Page) We then talked about the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web, and discussed internet safety.
REMINDER: Tomorrow and Thursday, students will be dismissed at 1:45pm for student-led conferences. **Please see below for the details about tomorrow and Thursdays student-led conferences:** Dear Parents and Guardians of Division 8 Students: A quick reminder that we will be having our student-led conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, and that the students will be dismissed at 1:45pm both days. Unlike Parent-Teacher Interviews where you are slotted into 15 minute blocks of time, the student-led conferences are open for you to come along with your child on either day to see what they've been up to in school since September, and for them to show you around. I will be there in the classroom of course, but primarily in a supervisory role, as the students have been working hard this week to put together their portfolios to share with you. The classroom will be open on Wednesday between 2pm and 5pm, and then again from 5:30pm - 7:30pm for visitors, and again on Thursday, between 2:00pm - 4:30pm. The conferences are intended to be student-focused, and a chance for them to share their hard work this year, and as such, I would ask that any questions about report cards or grades be left to be dealt with at a different time, either via email or face to face if necessary. So if you didn't sign up online, don't worry about it, just come by room 147 on either day during the times mentioned above. Take care, Mr. Main In the final week, it is not uncommon to find a quarter of the class away on early Spring Break holidays, but when I opened the doors this morning I was greeted by 2 dozen smiling (and shivering) faces. To help get them warmed up, we played a game called Build-a-Bear (similar to Hangman) and awarded points to the teams that correctly answered the word puzzles. Once they were awake, and firing on all cylinders, we moved along to French. They needed to translate, then ask around to find the answers to 10 French phrases (see below). After recess, the class headed to the Library with Madame Gammel before returning to read a few more chapters of "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library", which we are hoping to finish this week. In the afternoon we had a brief visit with our Lil' Buddies for some reading, then it was outside for a fire drill. We finished off our day with silent reading and a Brainstorming exercise for Heritage Fair.
REMINDER: Tuesday is class photo day, and we are scheduled to be the first class in the gym for pictures. Please make sure your child is at school on time, and ready, as unfortunately there are no retakes on Class photo day. We set the tone for the day by showing three inspirational videos about International Women's Day (All three can be found by clicking HERE), then took the next half hour for students to put the final touches or corrections on their Women of Distinction assignment. After snack break we began to learn more about some the women who helped shape history. In the afternoon, when all the presentations were wrapped up, we had time for Read, Write, Draw or Play, and then did some long overdue DPA and dancing!
NOTE: The students really impressed me with their presentations today, and they are showing every week that they are learning, and adopting some of the new skills we learned and using them in their everyday class work. I'm really happy with their progress!! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!! The student got their day started with a trip to the gym to play basketball or laundry basketball, then it was off to the music room to learn more Ukulele skills with Ms. Hu. After recess, we took time to work on the 'What you should know about my learning' worksheet, which is intended to both reflect on what they've learned in class, their successes over the first two terms, and how they feel they could improve. It is also going to be used at the student-led conferences next week. In the afternoon, the students had access to the MacBooks and most were able to get their "Women of Distinction" assignments done. HOMEWORK: If you have not finished your "Women of Distinction" assignment, please have them complete and shared to me before class tomorrow. (Details can be found here). Also, if any student did not complete their self-assessment (aka "What you should know..." assignment), then please download or print off, and have it complete for tomorrow as well.
While the start of our day, wasnt' quite as exciting as yesterdays concert, we did get our brains in gear this morning with a group Math challenge. From there we moved onto talking about the Heritage Fair. We looked over the homepage of the BC Heritage Fair Website, then viewed a couple associated videos, before finishing off with checking out photos from last year's JKE contingent from the Regional Fair at UFV. (Click HERE to see the photos) After recess we had student volunteers read from Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library." With snow on the horizon, we decided to sneak outside for some DPA before the lunch break. In the afternoon, the students worked on their research for their Women of Distinction presentations on Friday, as part of International Women's Day. (I have posted a writing/research sample, as well as the assignment details on the Social Studies page.)
NOTE: I have posted a number of the Students' Identity Project Power Point presentations as PDF's on the English page. Our day kicked off with a trip to the gym, but not for athletics but rather to listen to the WGSS concert band! They put on a 45 minute concert, that had heads bobbing, fingers snapping and toes tapping all morning. When we returned we worked on completing our artwork from yesterday. After recess, the class was divided in 2, with half working on Reflex Math online, while the other half joined me at the rainbow table to use long division to figure out some frightening budget realities. We first calculated the cost to travel to and from Willowbrook to get at Starbucks coffee, then moved onto the more terrifying reality of how much it may cost them to attend University to complete a Degree program, and the amount they would need to start putting away every month to pay for their post-secondary education.
After lunch and silent reading, it was off to gym to play Basketball or Laundry Basket Ball, and then we capped our day by organizing and preparing for next week's Student-Led Conferences. Following the day away on Friday, I was playing catch up with the class this morning, and the students helped fill me in on their day. Once we completed our check in, we move on to a warm up activity called "Who am I?" From there we moved on to completing their French work from Friday, then broke for recess. Upon their return, it was time to head to the library with Madame Gammel. In the afternoon, I was able to put the finishing touches on updating and reformatting all of our classroom laptops, then we threw back on our coats and jackets, and made our way outside for some DPA with our Little Buddies. For the last part of our day, the students settled in with their water colour paints or markers, to do art.
HOMEWORK: There is no homework, however students should start thinking about which topic, they may want to research as part of their Heritage Fair projects that we will start talking about this week, but won't need to start until after they return from Spring Break in April. I will provide all the student with the necessary information and requirements, but for anyone who would like to get a sneak peak, here is the HERITAGE FAIR WEBSITE. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
Categories |