Thanks again for your ongoing support and for accommodating our need to do interviews within regular school hours. It was nice to chat with many of you today. As you know, I won't make it to the end of the year, so please be in touch with me soon if you have questions.
Last week you should have received our recent geometry test and January learning skills rubric for signature. Please return so that I know you have seen them.
Here's what we're up to in our class right now.
French
We have finished up our unit on Intercultural Understanding with Mme Gaudreault. It was fun to watch back the videos that our groups prepared! We have also finished up our first Club de Lecture book and meetings. I will be adjusting the groups slightly and assigning a new book - a chapter book - to each group. Working on their chapter questions is independent work anyway, and is a good task to focus on during strike days.
In talking to some families this morning about all the missed school days, it occurred to me that an enjoyable (hopefully), independent project might be a good idea, and a way to use this time productively. I will be speaking to our whole class next week about a French presentation that they should work on in their own time. I will post an outline on Google Classroom and the project will include a lot of personal choice, but also require some discipline to stay on top of. A good challenge. Please ask about this next week and read over the outline with your student when it's posted in Classroom. You may be able to help them brainstorm an interesting topic. These projects will be due before March break.
In-class, we are now at the stage of revising our fictional narrative stories. Some students may have brought home their story and revision list to work on this weekend (it needs to be self-edited for Wednesday). Following this, we have two more stages of editing (a peer and teacher) before we can begin good copies. Please ask how this story is coming along!
English
In English, we have completed our project on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This had included reading a lengthy article, outlining the main idea, writing a summary, expressing an opinion in writing, and making an informative poster with a partner. Rubrics for this entire project were distributed yesterday but I have not asked for them to be signed. You can always ask to see it if you like - it's in our binders. We will be continuing next week with a media assignment about food advertising.
Math
We are currently working on measurement. So far, we have looked at time and temperature, recently looking at changes in ocean surface temperatures over time and linking this up with our recent study of ocean pollution. Please ask your student why rising ocean surface temperatures - even just by a degree or two - is of major concern!
We will continue this unit with perimeter, area, mass, capacity and volume.
Drama
We have presented our Fables de La Fontaine skits. They were well done, and many groups were able to explain the lesson or moral of their play. We will get started on a new visual art project shortly.
The grade 6s have one more in-class (double) science period to work on their independent research/writing project (good copy will be a news article) and then it becomes homework. A due date will be set after the final work period.
The grade 5 science class recently had a special visit from my grandfather, Dale Mitchell. He was injured in a tornado when he was 11 years old and has some amazing memories of what it felt like, sounded like and the damage a tornado can inflict. Our class listened attentively as he told his story, and then they asked many of their planned interview questions after. They did quite an amazing job.
The grade 5s have two more in-class (double) science periods to work on their independent research/writing project. The good copy will be a news article about someone or an area affected by a natural force. Students know that they can write about Mr. Mitchell, but many have other ideas of natural events they would like to research. A due date will be set after the final work period.
Fingers crossed that strike days do not affect our Scientist-in-School workshops on Feb. 28 (5s) and March 6 (6s). If you are interested in helping run either of these, let me know.
Please note that for the next 2 weeks, our gym teachers are running their annual gymnastics unit. This always looks like such fun! Students know that they need to come dressed for this on gym days. This means shorts and a t-shirt under their winter clothes (exposed skin is needed to properly grip the equipment). We shouldn't need to go to the washroom for a major wardrobe change.
Happy Valentine's day and Happy Family day to all!