Thhursday Dec. 8th

Yikes...it's already 4pm

It was a happy birthday to Kelli and George today- we even sang- not such a great present! Had to stop a few who got themselves a little carried away with their harmonization of the birthday ditty!! The Bhangra dancing was a nice touch too.
Kelli and her mom baked cup cakes and we all shared a yummy treat at snack time- thank-you so much they were delicious.

Homework
nothing new
Some Science pending and research is on-going for the virtual pet activity and the socials project
Reminders
Tonight- PAC Xmas Craft Sale
Manisha, Simi and Roshni will be raffling off their Gingerbread houses for $1 - all proceeds will go to our local Food bank
Friday afternoon - honour band students will be 1-3pm at the local seniors centre
Any dry or canned food items will be gladly accepted and on the 16th December (next Friday) we will take them to our local food bank
Next Wednesday our class will be X-country skiing in the Callahan Valley

General Day
Spelling redo #1 and complete #2 lists for spelling

I read chapter 10 of the class read aloud, Word Nerd, while the students worked on various activities that needed to be completed

Band- both band classes Gr 6/7 practiced together today so they can get that unified sound for the upcoming performances. The students also are committed to the honour band at lunch and really are enjoying the challenge and the camaraderie that comes from these types of experiences.

Math 7
Today I tried to do a class instruction for the Transformation called Rotation (turn) but it was so bright with the sunny day (:)) [can't complain about the sun!!] that it rendered the overhead almost useless. We persevered and managed to do a visual and hands-on (manipulative was tracing paper) instruction using the paper which actually worked well. From the class practice, once mastered, students moved to the worksheet asking for different turns going both clockwise CW and counterclockwise CCW. They discovered that a 270 degree turn CCW is actually the same move as a 90 degree turn CW. The turns asked for are usually a quarter turn either left or right. Students need to establish one of the points before they turn the geometric figure. 180 degree turn is an upside down version of the original. Like I have been saying, the skills for this math unit are based in a good hand-eye coordination and some can 'see' what they need to do in their mind's eye while others need the visual or manipulative. Practice is the difference- see the IXL website or MathLinks7 for some practice samples.
Have we lost you yet? You should check it out for yourself.
They did well and I am grateful (as are your classmates) for the assistance of those students who  managed to complete the activities earlier than others. Merci beaucoup.
I think as parents you would be very proud to see us in action during our math classes this year and if ever you are in the neighbourhood between 11-12 feel free to pop by and see for yourself.

Silent Reading
the Scholastic orders arrived today- students have been anticipating the arrival for the last couple of weeks. Still waiting for one more delivery before the holiday.

French- fridges are in the process of being filled and labelled en francais
They are beginning to look like the students eat good, healthy food :)
I had to encourage some to put more than a bucket of KFC poulet and soda in their fridges!! The healthier the food the healthier the assessment :) Yes, I did! (bribe that is)

Phys Ed
Have some great ideas for encouraging passing using 5on 5 games with 4 on sidelines and asking them to play a whole three minutes only using a certain throw (i.e. only overhand or bounce pass, no dribbling etc) We went over the Elementary rules once back in class (I copied them from District #57) and I will also check the Premier booklets. Students took a bit to get used to the different expectations but once they embraced it, it worked well and there was less bunching and more spreading out of players because they had to pass to each other :)

Back in class- basketball rules and fridges were continued as I read another chapter of Word Nerd. We are at Chapter 11 now and Ambrose has discovered that Cosmo plays Scrabble- a game that he is proud of being pretty good at playing himself. The game of Scrabble becomes the 'connection' now for more than just Cosmo and Ambrose. Spoiler alert- I'll say no more.

Dismissal- lots of energy at 3+pm- could be the craft fair tonight or the band visit tomorrow or the rep soccer practice the boys were looking forward to tonight...then again maybe it is just that they are going home and Christmas is around the corner!!
Have a great evening whatever you are doing.
Mrs. J.