I sent several kids home with a note in their agenda to check-in with you and make sure the trip payment went through correctly on Cash Online, since it didn't show up on the report I received from the office. However, with so many students telling me they paid, I figured there must have been an error, and there was. We received your payments - no need to call or email to check!
Only two families have truly not paid, and I'm sure you know if it's you. Thanks a lot.
I also have good news. The grade 6s were able to go out for lunch today and NOBODY, in any grade 6 class, was late getting back to school. We are all very pleased with how it went today!
Let me give you a very brief update of what we have started working on at school.
In French, our first unit is to write a personal narrative. This will tell the story of a specific event in our life that may have been special, a turning point, a learning opportunity, disappointment or something else. You may have already been asked to help with some brainstorming for this project. Now, we are using a graphic organizer to test out some of our ideas to see if we can expand them into a full story that has a beginning, middle, end, dialogue, detail and feelings.
I've also looked over students' Bilan de Lecture (reading log) in Google Classrooms, and many students are regularly noting what they've read and writing a short response. Yay! Others have yet to add to their log, despite the fact that they have reading time each day at school. I've reminded them to start doing this more regularly.
In math, our first unit is around place value. We have been working with whole numbers and decimals and will be adding fractions soon. We are working on representing these numbers (some quite large) in different ways, ordering them and comparing them. We have had some opportunities to explore open questions in small groups, and also to do some practice questions from our texts. Most students have already completed their first bi-weekly math homework assignment on GC, which is due Monday. I have been writing comments back to students to acknowledge that it's complete, or give them a hint of what they can correct.
In Science, the grade 5s are just beginning a unit on Human Organ Systems and the grade 6s are starting a unit on Biodiversity (linked to our upcoming trip). Both groups will have an independent or partner project to tackle over the course of this unit. I will be done almost entirely at school with just some finishing up at home in order to stay on track. Please ask about this later next week!
You will have to ask your students exactly what they have started in Social Studies with Ms. Peek, but I know that the grade 5s will be running a mock election that lines up with the real one, coming up very soon, and I think the grade 6s will be participating in this amazing activity as well. Ms. Peek is very excited about this!
In art, we began learning about the Group of 7 - their contribution and their inspiration. We have done some sketching already, and will be aiming to create a painting in their style. In drama, we have some some fun activities such as mirroring, short skits on a given theme and turning a story book into a play.
As you know, curriculum night is coming up on September 26th, 6-7 pm. I will be giving two identical presentations outlining some important routines and initiatives. I hope you can make it either at 6:00 or 6:30. Next Friday, the 20th, is our trip to High Park, and TUSC has sent some very specific information as to what to wear and what to bring. Please check back next week for this info!
With all media forms received, I am able to start taking more pictures to share with you. Here are a couple from the first week of school...
Have a great weekend!
A silly game we played on the first day!
Running a circuit for DPA.
One of our students reading morning announcements for the whole school.
