Today, I assigned the days that each group of four students will be responsible for leading the rest of the class in Chair Aerobics during our Daily Physical Activity times over the next two weeks.
For our Novel study of Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, we are beginning an introduction to Literature Circles, which will be used for future novel studies as a class. Students will be reading assigned chapters of this book on their own, after which they will be responsible for completing specific activities based on what they have read.
Math quizzes and tests have been handed back to the students for review and I have asked that parents go over the tests with their children, then sign and return the tests to me. Students who are in need of some extra time with me to improve their math comprehension, have been asked to join me every Wednesday at lunchtime, for our class Math Club. During this time, I will be providing extra help to small groups of students who require more direct teaching of new math concepts and problem solving strategies. I will always make time to assist my students in whatever areas they are having difficulty. I encourage both students and parents to contact me regarding any areas of concern this year. I am here to help.
This afternoon our whole school participated in the Terry Fox Walk for Cancer Research. It was a very proud moment to see all of Vradenburg's staff and sudents joined together for a great cause. If you forgot to bring a Toonie for Terry today, you can still bring $2.00 on Monday to donate.
Well, it's a P.D. Day tomorrow, so students do not come to school. I will see you all Monday morning. Have a safe long weekend!
Homework Assigned Thursday September 27, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read at least 20 minutes each day (not including your novel study book)
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Read Tuck Everlasting Chapters 10, 11, 12, and complete Illustrator sheet
-Book Order due Thursday
Grade 6
-Read at least 20 minutes each day (not including your novel study book)
-Read Tuck Everlasting Chapters 10, 11, 12, and complete Illustrator sheet
-Book Order due Thursday
-Lego Robotics essay due Monday for students interested in applying for this club
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Toasty Tuesday
It was a warm one today, and chair aerobics first thing this morning sure didn't help to cool us down. Students worked in groups of four today, creating their own chair aerobics routines, with 4 warm-up, 8 main workout and 4 cool-down exercises. In their groups, students will also decide which two songs that they will bring in on CD to play during their workout routine. The groups of 4 will lead the rest of the class through the exercises, during our Daily Physical Activity times starting this Thursday. Just another way students are staying active here at Vradenburg.
We continued reading chapter 9 of Tuck Everlasting, and had a class discussion to reflect on what had happened in this novel so far, and make predictions about what each of the characters will do next. Grade 5 students also had some Writing Workshop time today.
In Math, Grade 5 students began their unit on Numeration, with a new lesson and textbook problems. We reviewed the use of Place Value Charts (breaking whole numbers down into which digit goes in the Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Ten-thousands, and Hundred-thousands columns of the chart). We also reviewed writing whole numbers in Expanded Form
(e.g. 7423 = 7000 + 400 + 20 +3). Grade 6 students continued their Patterning unit, with a lesson on Equal Expressions (e.g. 4 + 5 = 1 + 8, in other words 9 = 9).
During Social Studies, students got back into their political party groups, and began writing the main facts they found about their party onto chart paper. Any information that was missing, needs to be found by each group for homework, as we will be comparing the 9 political parties tomorrow. The information needed is:
Party Name & Logo
Name of Party's Provincial Leader (not Federal)
Number of candidates running in October 10th Provincial election
Party priorities
Party platform / main issues
Links to the politcal parties' websites can be found online at http://www.elections.on.ca/
We continued reading chapter 9 of Tuck Everlasting, and had a class discussion to reflect on what had happened in this novel so far, and make predictions about what each of the characters will do next. Grade 5 students also had some Writing Workshop time today.
In Math, Grade 5 students began their unit on Numeration, with a new lesson and textbook problems. We reviewed the use of Place Value Charts (breaking whole numbers down into which digit goes in the Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Ten-thousands, and Hundred-thousands columns of the chart). We also reviewed writing whole numbers in Expanded Form
(e.g. 7423 = 7000 + 400 + 20 +3). Grade 6 students continued their Patterning unit, with a lesson on Equal Expressions (e.g. 4 + 5 = 1 + 8, in other words 9 = 9).
During Social Studies, students got back into their political party groups, and began writing the main facts they found about their party onto chart paper. Any information that was missing, needs to be found by each group for homework, as we will be comparing the 9 political parties tomorrow. The information needed is:
Party Name & Logo
Name of Party's Provincial Leader (not Federal)
Number of candidates running in October 10th Provincial election
Party priorities
Party platform / main issues
Links to the politcal parties' websites can be found online at http://www.elections.on.ca/
A letter was sent home today regarding Vradenburg's Annual Terry Fox Walk this Thursday afternoon. Students are asked to donate a Toonie for Terry this Thursday, to help raise money for the school to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation. This is a very good cause, and if every student and staff member at Vradenburg donates $2.00, we are hoping to raise $800.00 in total. WE CAN DO IT! Parents are also encouraged to come out and join us in our walk, so if you can make it, we would love to see you there!
Homework Assigned Tuesday September 25, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday, Spelling Test Thursday
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Math Textbook page 25, #1-4
-Problem of the Week due Thursday
-Find missing political party info
Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday, Spelling Test Thursday
-Math Workbook page 7, #1-3
-Problem of the Week due Thursday
-Find missing political party info
REMINDER: This FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2007 is a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY, so students do not come to school this day.
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday, Spelling Test Thursday
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Math Textbook page 25, #1-4
-Problem of the Week due Thursday
-Find missing political party info
Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday, Spelling Test Thursday
-Math Workbook page 7, #1-3
-Problem of the Week due Thursday
-Find missing political party info
REMINDER: This FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2007 is a PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY, so students do not come to school this day.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Writing Right
Today we started off with a Drama exercise that involved talking about ourselves in the third person. Students pretended that they were someone else in their family (i.e. a parent, sibling, or other relative), and described themselves from that person's perspective. For example, I pretended to be my mom, and described myself in ways that she would describe me, using "he" instead of "I". This activity will also help students in writing narratives this year.
Unit 3 of the Grade 5 and 6 spelling programs was assigned today. We continued reading chapter 8 of Tuck Everlasting, but for a change today, students sketched Minute Mini Pics (tiny drawings done quickly in 60 seconds to illustrate what they had just read on that page). This strategy may help students having difficulty picturing in their heads, what they just read. By the end of the chapter, each student had 8 small snapshots of what had occured, at which point I asked them to write a brief description of each picture, in order to retell the story.
During our Writing Workshop time today, I introduced the Four-Square writing strategy. In the middle of the page, students write the topic of their sentence (e.g. My favourite food is spaghetti and meatballs). in three boxes around this topic, students write one reason in each box explaining why spaghetti and meatballs is their favourite food (e.g. Box 1: It is easy to cook, Box 2: It is fun to eat, Box 3: It is delicious). Under each of these 3 reasons, students write 3 more explanations for each:
e.g.
Box 1: It is easy to cook- a) roll meat into balls, b) put noodles into boiling water, c) pour store-bought sauce into pan.
Box 2: It is fun to eat- a) twirl it on a fork, b) slurp it, c) splatter sauce
Box 3: It is delicious- a) tomatoes, b) italian spices, c) filling meat
Once students have completed their notes in the first three boxes, they can write their topic sentence in the fourth box, followed by three supporting sentences to explain it, in order to make one detailed paragraph.
e.g.
My favourite food is spaghetti and meatballs because it is easy to cook, fun to eat, and tastes delicious. I find this meal easy to cook because you just have to roll the meat into balls, put the noodles into boiling water, and then pour the store-bought sauce into the pan. When I eat spaghetti and meatballs, I love to have fun twirrling it on my fork, slurping up the noodles, and splattering sauce everywhere. This meal is so delicious because I love the taste of tomatoes and italian spices, while the meatballs fill me up.
I hope to see some very detailed writing assignments handed-in, as my students get used to following this strategy.
During our Computer Lab time, we shifted our focus to Social Studies today, and students broke into groups, each group visiting a different Ontario political party's website, and researching information about their party leader, logo, number of candidates, priorities, platforms and campaign issues, for the coming October 10th election. This is our introduction to Canadian politics, with a focus on cerrent events. Students will take the information they found and use it to compare and contrast the different political parties in Ontario. More information about these parties can be found at http://www.elections.on.ca/
Grade 5 students will take this information as a starting point for their unit on Canadian Government, while Grade 6 students will move toward Canada's Connections to the World.
In Math, the Grade 5 students wrote their Patternign Unit Test, while the Grade 6 students wrote a quiz to assess how they are doing so far. Grade 6's should be finished their Patterning unit by the end of this week, with their Unit Test to follow.
Homework Assigned Monday September 24, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Four Square writing sheet + 1 detailed paragraph due tomorrow
-Science: Sponge experiement due tomorrow
Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday
-Four Square writing sheet + 1 detailed paragraph due tomorrow
-Science: Paper Airplane experiement due tomorrow
Unit 3 of the Grade 5 and 6 spelling programs was assigned today. We continued reading chapter 8 of Tuck Everlasting, but for a change today, students sketched Minute Mini Pics (tiny drawings done quickly in 60 seconds to illustrate what they had just read on that page). This strategy may help students having difficulty picturing in their heads, what they just read. By the end of the chapter, each student had 8 small snapshots of what had occured, at which point I asked them to write a brief description of each picture, in order to retell the story.
During our Writing Workshop time today, I introduced the Four-Square writing strategy. In the middle of the page, students write the topic of their sentence (e.g. My favourite food is spaghetti and meatballs). in three boxes around this topic, students write one reason in each box explaining why spaghetti and meatballs is their favourite food (e.g. Box 1: It is easy to cook, Box 2: It is fun to eat, Box 3: It is delicious). Under each of these 3 reasons, students write 3 more explanations for each:
e.g.
Box 1: It is easy to cook- a) roll meat into balls, b) put noodles into boiling water, c) pour store-bought sauce into pan.
Box 2: It is fun to eat- a) twirl it on a fork, b) slurp it, c) splatter sauce
Box 3: It is delicious- a) tomatoes, b) italian spices, c) filling meat
Once students have completed their notes in the first three boxes, they can write their topic sentence in the fourth box, followed by three supporting sentences to explain it, in order to make one detailed paragraph.
e.g.
My favourite food is spaghetti and meatballs because it is easy to cook, fun to eat, and tastes delicious. I find this meal easy to cook because you just have to roll the meat into balls, put the noodles into boiling water, and then pour the store-bought sauce into the pan. When I eat spaghetti and meatballs, I love to have fun twirrling it on my fork, slurping up the noodles, and splattering sauce everywhere. This meal is so delicious because I love the taste of tomatoes and italian spices, while the meatballs fill me up.
I hope to see some very detailed writing assignments handed-in, as my students get used to following this strategy.
During our Computer Lab time, we shifted our focus to Social Studies today, and students broke into groups, each group visiting a different Ontario political party's website, and researching information about their party leader, logo, number of candidates, priorities, platforms and campaign issues, for the coming October 10th election. This is our introduction to Canadian politics, with a focus on cerrent events. Students will take the information they found and use it to compare and contrast the different political parties in Ontario. More information about these parties can be found at http://www.elections.on.ca/
Grade 5 students will take this information as a starting point for their unit on Canadian Government, while Grade 6 students will move toward Canada's Connections to the World.
In Math, the Grade 5 students wrote their Patternign Unit Test, while the Grade 6 students wrote a quiz to assess how they are doing so far. Grade 6's should be finished their Patterning unit by the end of this week, with their Unit Test to follow.
Homework Assigned Monday September 24, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Four Square writing sheet + 1 detailed paragraph due tomorrow
-Science: Sponge experiement due tomorrow
Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 3 due Thursday
-Four Square writing sheet + 1 detailed paragraph due tomorrow
-Science: Paper Airplane experiement due tomorrow
For Whom the Pie Tolls.
Well, we did it! Room 201 won the Golden Shoe award for participation in Kilometre Club. Last week we broke the Vradenburg school record, with 74% of Room 201's students running on average each day. I also won the challenge with Ms. Schwartz, and ran a total of 33 laps last week, while she ran 31 laps. She was a great sport, and honoured our bet, by eating a coconut cream pie with NO HANDS (hence, her whipped-cream covered face). I couldn't let her be the only one to partake in the pie eating, and I also ate as much of a chocolat ecream pie as I could with no hands (unfortunately, our digital camera ran out of batteries and we were unable to get a shot of my face afterward). Congratulations to both Room 201 and 206 for showing such enthusiasm about Kilometre Club! 2 more weeks to go...
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