I can't believe the winter break is only a week away. Time flies!
You've probably noticed that I'm trying to send home some of the projects that we completed this term - the big stuff anyway. You should now have received your student's social studies inquiry project with accompanying rubric, their "Citrouilleville" story with rubric, and the structure they built with Donnely, complete with title. I hope you enjoy talking about these projects at home. Maybe your author can read "Citrouilleville" to you, as they did for the class! You'll notice the rubric for "Citrouilleville" is different than the rubrics you see for our monthly dictée. During this creative writing project, I was not concerned with how amazing the writers' sounding out was. I was encouraging them to come with their own creative ideas for writing and to take their time presenting their story neatly with helpful illustrations. This is an important part of writing as well!
Today we had our 4th theme day of the school year. We celebrated Colt and Finch who love Pokéman! We all created our own Pokéman character with a super-power in the morning. Since Pokéman involves a card game, we learned how to play Uno and we played with our table groups.
In the afternoon, we did some Pokéman math. I was surprised to find that many students already knew about symmetry and had used the Mira tool before. We used the Miras to complete a symmetrical picture of a Pokéman character. Some students weren't crazy about giving him two tails, but it was good to discuss how it wouldn't be symmetrical if we left off the tail on the side we were adding. Everyone figured out how to use the Mira successfully to complete the complicated picture. They brought it home today as well!
Since we are working on geometry in math, we started an art project this week that involves shapes. Ask your student who the artist is that we are trying to imitate, and about the steps we are taking to complete this awesome project! We looked at a couple books of artwork that incorporate shapes and the students were very curious about who the artists were and what the title of each piece was. We'll have to put this project on hold until the new year, but they are already looking great!
As with Halloween, we will have a special afternoon on the last day of school, but please don't send food to share. The students will all receive a gift from me.
And lastly, a little bit of shameless self-promotion. I sing in the choir at Church of the Redeemer, and happily have the chance to perform some pretty solid music there during their Bach Vespers services. We have one coming up this Sunday evening and will be performing Bach's Magnificat complete with orchestra and soloists (including me!). If you're into classical music, or if your child is just super curious what Mlle Mitchell does when she's not at school, this might be something you'd enjoy - I think it will be a really good one. The church is just across from the ROM and the service starts at 7pm, should be over around 8. No tickets or payment required, just an offering during the service (it'll be mostly music, not much talking). End self-promotion.
Have a great weekend!