Well, today went by in a heartbeat!!!
Thanks to parents who came in to pick up homework for their children. I appreciate the effort even if they don't :) This was the first day in a long time we had so many children absent- 5 today- our attendance is usually 100% so it is unusual. A get-well-soon goes out to everyone who is 'under the weather'!! Come back soon we need you for the concert !!
Homework
No spelling this week :)
There will be nothing NEW for homework this week but today five students were away and they will have to catch up with today as we did a couple of tests (redo spelling Unit 11 and unit end review for Math Transformations)
I am also encouraging students who are behind in assignments to get them finished before Friday!! They know who they are- tomorrow I will ensure they still know who they are!!
We will be continuing social research in-class so the students are well set up for the project before they are on Christmas break
Remember to buy your 'secret santa' a $5 gift and if you need to just let me know if you need help with a idea or finacially as I really do not want anyone to be giftless on Thursday
General Monday
We started by wishing Lexie a happy 13th birthday.
Then we did some grammar work looking 'out of context' at irregular verbs and how they are the same in the European romantic languages of Italian, Spanish and French as they all derive, as does English, from Latin origins (English managed to get a bit 'messed up' with Norse and Germanic influence but the European influences on our language are in the majority). So verbs in the present and the past present participles which are irregular are not the normal -ed ending in the past tense (drink, drank, drunk/ swim, swam, swum etc).
We reviewed the personal pronouns for singular and plural declention of the verb parts and looked in depth at one of the most irregular verbs To Be (etre: en francais) - so I managed to fit in (sneakily) a little French- I don't think they even noticed (Shhhh). We declined the verbs and answered some 'fill in the blanks' activities- hopefully they will be less likely to write I drownded or I bringed .
Next we set up a half hour for SRA reading lab and while everyone was busy reading, the students who needed to redo unit 11 spelling had a last chance to review before we re-did the test from last Thursday. More students are ready to increase a reading level which is very encouraging. Keep up the reading progress grade seven.
Math - time to review briefly (as it was set as a homework activity) and we spent the rest of the morning completing the Tranformations Unit review for the Math program- I still feel confident about trying to get it in before they forget over the break- I intend to try to get it marked this evening but there were a few students away so I won't be able to go over it until later in the week (or until everyone has it completed).
In my opinion, the test was fair and comprehensive of the work we have undertaken together on the skills in question. I do prompt students but avoid giving answers!! Nothing was on the test that we hadn't done in class. However, I do realize in hindsight that I need to review the tricks of multiple choice questions.
Some students needed more time than others and that is perfectly normal and was accommodated in the afternoon.
Another Indoor Lunch - due to weather but the grade sevens lucked out and were able to be in the gym for floor hockey and have the computer lab!! Woo Hoo!
DEAR time was hard to settle to as so many different things are going on. Some completed math and others used some quiet time to read for socials and science or catch up with organization which was fine by me today.
Socials- ancient civilizations- research- how to - today we looked at the structure of the project and I showed the students that their text books are set up in a similarly structured way. We used the text today to zip through how the layout of the text can assist them in hteir note taking- how not to get overwhelmed by planning out the sub-topics for the available marks- example if a section is worth 15 marks for society and culture- chose three sub-topics from that area (perhaps: social structure of jobs and occupations, common food and fashion and importance of religion ) and focus notes only on those topics until there are enough points to write a paragraph for each topic. Three paragraphs for approx. 5 marks each = 15 marks. I would like students not just to take a whole raft of notes about everything they read but to really plan and focus on their topics and that way a project is completed by chunking the sections bit by bit.
The students were given some time for their own research - they do still need to understand it is not a social time but perhaps tomorrow when we do the socials research in groups at 11-12 tomorrow, perhaps they will use the time better. An afternoon on the last week of school... (always an excuse, huh?)
finished with Christmas concert practice and Phys Ed.
basketball imdependent practice - mini games and lay-ups while I tried to teach the dancing group the steps for the Christmas concert- it is difficult to do two things at once but here is so little time- thank-you to the dancers who stayed a little bit past the dismissal bell to plan with me an easier partner change for tomorrow- I have a cunning plan!! :)
Dismissal 3pm
see everyone tomorrow for a practice in the gym- no basketball -just practice- sorry - but the concert is Wednesday and we will be doing the dress rehearsal on Wednesday morning!!
Have a great night.
Mrs J.
No comments:
Post a Comment