Monday 13th new week

Hi everyone,
Today was a busy and productive day in grade seven- I have left the secret word for the Blog which I created Friday standing and would like to encourage as many students as possible to check it out for a 'Twizzler" reward- only one student checked the Blog and knew the correct word today although many guessed (and good guesses they were too except they weren't correct- nah, nah!!)

No homework as yet but a number of reminders for tomorrow

• students were given a School newsletter today with a Hot Lunch form (due back this Thursday) and a magnetic fridge calendar for home
• 12 students returned their parent contact forms - I would like to encourage the rest of the forms to come in
• 14 students brought their $10 and received their planner- again I would like to encourage the rest of the grade sevens students to bring in their supplies and planner $$ (I have asked any student to let me know quietly if their is a financial issue with the $$ and we can make another arrangement if necessary)
• Check the Blog for the secret word
• remember the Terry Fox run is this Friday- we will be setting a goal for fundraising so any spare change is appreciated

Today's activities

• I shared the main information from the All about You forms that we completed on Friday. Checked on the reminders for the weekend, cllected $$ and contact forms. Thank-you for returning them.
• Diagnostic spelling test - provides an idea of the level of spelling/reading
• Diagnostic Reading test (10 minutes- very informal)- a quick indication of reading level
• Writing sample - I intend to get an idea of the students base level of sentence construction and grammatical understanding, handwriting (or printing) skill and ability to write on topic.
• Topic: Tell about a skill or activity that was difficult for you before but which you have now mastered or are very good at now.
• What Kind of Student are You? worksheet- this one asked the students to consider how best they learn in three different modes 1. auditory (listening) 2. visual (seeing) 3. tactile (hands on)
• We did a group class actvity to determine a class motto for the year- there were some good ideas but a couple were popular but I wasn't so sure about their connection to learning. We have narrowed it down to 5 of the most popular and we will vote later in the week.
• For an introduction to French today we brainsrtormed together some possible answers to the benefits of French, what we could do to be better prepared for French classes. We started a title page for the French section of the binder.
• Silent Reading was very much improved today and I was very impressed :)

The students had some time to organize their school supplies and open packages and chat. As you can see we have managed to get through an impressive number of start up activites. Tomorrow I will issue textbooks,  explain binder organization and start into some curricular work. I would really like to encourage everyone to bring at least one binder tomorrow. Thanks.

Great day. Great start-up. Let's have an awesome week :)
Remember the secret word is Tiddleywinks.
See you Tuesday.
Mrs J.