Back to school- after a weekend that I won't get back (it was beautiful on Sunday but I had work to do...) However, I did get the reporting done and all the rubrics for the components of Language Arts.
So it was very productive and I do have a couple of weeks for Spring Break and Easter so I can't complain too much!!
Actually, I might grumble but I do 'enjoy' report cards in that they give me a break from the frantic (frenetic) nature of the elementary schedule and force me to stop and 'smell' the progress so far. I think parents and students alike might grumble about report cards too but they anticipate them with an eagerness and excitement that is, for parents, not unlike waiting to recieve a 'bill' that we are not quite 100% sure what might be charged on it, and for students a validation of what they did (or did not do) throughout the term.
There should be no new news and I have found over the 30+ years (can you believe that? I started teaching in 1981!) of writing report cards and assessments that students are very aware of what is fair and are usually tuned in to what their grades and comments are likely to be. Anyway...
Homework
no new homework
Reminders
camp forms 6 to get
DRS grade 8 registration forms before spring break please
popcorn on sale tomorrow
badminton unit Phys. Ed. bring a gym strip
our day...
This is the first time in weeks that we are all present and accounted for :)
Daily French (that woke a few of them up!!)
encouraging kind acts- showed the students the basketball video (thanks Mrs. Paxton) that has gone viral about the basketball player on an opposing team who turned the ball over to a student who was played especially to have his 'moment' to shine. He kept missing the basket when the opposing player (even though his team was down) called his name, passed him the ball and allowed him to score. It made everyone's day.
Language Arts
Short Story- read, analyze story grammar, 8 vocabulary words for study (not a spelling test however), discuss, share images and stories of riding on public transit.
Thank you, So kind: a story about kindenss and community.
This is a great anecdotal short story about the drama played out on a Vancouver bus when a young man is laden with groceries and is nervous about missing his stop. It 'speaks' to the multi-cultural city that we live in and how small acts of kindness are both appreciated and part of what keeps us all human in the big city.
Sharing stories:
Believe me I had a few from my days of travelling on the #21 Victoria bus (one of those electric ones that lurches from stop to stop) along East Hastings and up Commercial Drive. Yes, lots of stories not the least of which is how I used to wait for the bus to go home on the wrong side of the road (so the bus was also going in the wrong direction for me to get back to the Seabus) until the drivers got to know my backward thinking was due to the fact that in Scotland I was used to driving on the left- I nearly got myself killed a couple of time looking the wrong way for traffic so you can imagine it took me a few years to learn to drive in Canada! If you ever see me jump into the passenger's seat of my vehicle, that's why- it's an old habit that I still do unconsciously especially when I am tired!
Enough about me...
We used a story 'chart' to note the main characters and parts of the story. I read it aloud and we stopped to discuss some of the 'scenes' in an attempt to make connections and create images in the students brains.
In term 3, we will be using a literature (short story, poem and novel) based program to work on vocabulary, grammar and understanding story structure.
Tomorrow we will be following up by writing a summary of the story based on our not4es from today's analysis.
Math 7
We completed the Cartesian graphing and played 'Battleships" with a partner- it was a challenge to explain to a few students how they could use a Cartesian graph to hide ships (parallel to the x-axis) and then try to 'sink' each others' ships by providing coordinates. I was amazed that a couple of them had never heard of the game or played Battleships ever!
They all managed to get it in the end though and even if it was a more noisy class than usual, all have the hang of calling coordinates for all 4 quadrents. Yay!
Silent Reading
starting for March- the next book draw will be on March 15th
I am encouraging students who are not yet at grade elevel to consider using the SRA program at Sient Reading time a couple of times a week.
Science: Polymer Lab (AKA slime) and how diapers work
The rest of the afternoon was spent working on the Polymer lab
Safety first, safety glasses and information about the chemicals we would be using.
Lab booklet out for the lead up to the hands on session.
Math calculations for the solutions together on the board.
I did a demo pouring water into a paper bag- one with no diaper in it and the others with a couple of slim diaper like products (didn't want to get them all embarrassed!!).
What is happening? What might a polymer be?
Discussion
Lab.
We used Sodium Borate in 4% solution and added 2ml of solution to 25ml of PVA (Poly Vinal Alcohol).
With some food colouring added the soutions are then piched and kneaded in a plastic bag and if everythjing was well (carefully) measured - voila, slime or a facsimile thereof.
Before we left for the day I showed a couple of brief videos from Chemistry.com about how to use other ingredients to make 'slime'- one a cornstrach and the other with Borax laundry additive.
Again, I think they had some fun in the name of science. Many were so into playing with the goo and bouncing it around that they had their hands too full to complete the lab write up/report- guess what we will be doing after P.Ed. tomorrow before they all forget the science of polymers?
dismissal came too soon but I was happy to see the bags of colouful slime leaving (not the students, the slime...lol)
It was a lovely day- enjoy your evening.
Dis you know that next weekend is Daylight savings? Time to switch the clocks :( forward.
See everyone tomorrow.
Mrs. J.
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