Friday, November 18th

This week seems to have disappeared very quickly...

Homework
Nothing new
Questions to ask ...
Have you completed reading the novel?
Have you started work on your novel project(s)?
Are you up tp date with the math activites?

Reminders
so far nothing new to remind you (or me) about
actually Wed and Thurs next week are early dismissal days 2pm

General Day
Daily French

switch in our morning schedule- 9-9:30 am
We went out to do our landscape sketching instead of waiting for the afternoon (I was worried that the clouds would cover the local landscape) Also, I noticed that the sun was on the peak of  Diamond Head and a half moon was still visible in the sky. It was the perfect time to sketch. However, it was cold!

Back in class I directed the students to work on the next section of science Grade seven Ecosystems (Roles of Organisms) and Gr6 Tools of biology- looking at the microscope and its uses historically. We began the reviews of the first section of science work for the term while I made everyone a HOT hot chocolate. I was impressed with the many thank-yous :) You are welcome and I appreciated how much you enjoyed it.

Math Problem Solving
Think-Pair- Share. We worked on a set of 5 multiple choice questions which students spend 10 minutes solving independently, 5 minutes sharing ideas on how to solve and what reasonable answers may be and then we switch and share or correct the probelms together. I do not record marks on such practice activities but results ranged from 0-4 of 5 correct.
One of the students today told me that I over-explain methods of how to find answers to problems in math :) - I thought that was a very timely and good observation- perhaps I should stick to one method (unless a student can't ubnderstand it). I appreciated the feedback.
We broke out the card games for the last 20 minutes of class- I will be teaching them some math card games and would like to incorporate 'practical' mathematical thinking using games and strategy type activites like Blockus.

Silent reading- was better than it has been lately :)

Socials Mapping Oceans of the world. Did you know ocean water is 70% of our world? The biggest ocean is the Pacific.

Friday desk clean- binders, desks, bins and all homeless papers repatriated. Thuis took some longer than others !!

ART- rest of the afternoon was spent working on our morning sketches and beginning the Landscape watercolours. There are some amazing sketches- you would be impressed. Students are still learning how to colour with the watercolour pencils. We used paintbrushes and kleenex to smudge the colour across the landscapes. It is interesting to watch how some students can really get into using an hour of precious time to really get into detail while a few others cannot sustain their attention and start to wander and lose their direction.

Before dismissal we did our best to clean up but it was Friday and I find that they are more interested in running out the door- sometimes I like to organize the class for Monday on my own anyway (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). I sometimes find it theraputic to simply put things away where I know I'll find them again (or not!). I also had to organize a new desk and set of materials for a new student on Monday.

Have a good weekend- remember to vote Saturday.
See everyone Monday morning. Can you believe November is nearly over? Where did it go?
Mrs. J.