Thursday October 10th

Wow! Welcome to all my American readers - I was shocked to see that our class blog had nearly 100 hits from the USA. Thanks for reading.

It was a beautiful day today and we just had to take advantage of a sunny afternoon with a team game of California kickball in the back field- we are so fortunate (despite the goose poo) to be able to move the Candada geese away and have a grassy field to run around in- call it outdoor therapy. Most of us had fun- a few were not so sure about running (footwear was a bit of an issue- not a good idea to still be wearing flip flops!). However, eveyone played with good sportsmanship for the most part- had to address a few comments that could have been probelematic but once addressed things settled down- just need to keep on top of it!!

Reminders

Math 7 quiz #4 tomorrow on adding and subtracting decimal numbers
Math 6 quiz test tomorrow on place value
plan some ideas for a haunted house art project tomorrow- spooky and 'Halloweeny'
hot chocolate $1 a mug tomorrow (bring your own marshmallows!)

please remember to bring planners and math textbooks to class grade sevens

Our day

Spelling Unit 2 test this morning

Language arts writing activity on a Thanksgiving theme: students had a choice of wotking on the traditional answer to the question asking about what three things they are thankful for (and you will be pleased to know that PARENTS featured prominenetly in their answers :))
OR they had to be creative and write from the perspective of the farm turkey who is trying not to be dinner: Turkey's Last Plea.
We will complete this one at computers tomorrow afternoon.

Band class

Math 7
corrected in class p.58 # 9-12 and despite an extra day, only 6 students had actually completed the work!! I am trying to encourage more math "participaction" - I heard a CBC radio program last week that basically said that too many students are not pusuing math and science at High school and are effectively cutting their prospects for work in the future!

I ensured students were aware what work would be on the Friday quiz in Ch 2.1 - the students did the work in their journals so that is all they needed to review.
Placing the decimal by estimation and +/- decimals


We started a puzzle using money and I have to say I wasn't prepared for the confusion around nickles and dimes!!! Then came the question about why we were still using pennies (Arrahhgg! 0.01 is a penny even if it is not used in our change any more!)
That started us into another discussion about currency as our international student Alvaro was explaining that they do not use single pesos in Mexico either and that 14 pesos was = to $1 Canadian and 14= $1 US. Next, Jaskirat chimed in that 42R Indian Rupees = $1 Canadian
[great inspirtation for a neat project: to examine different currencies and values- maybe we can go on a virtual adventure and see how much we can afford and exchange in different countries. Of course, that would also mean explaining fluctuation in markets and including a daily look at market value- love it!) See how things get going around classroom conversations :)

Math Quiz #4 and Problem solving groups tomorrow

Read to Self
record

French- may be the wrong time of day for a language - I found the students were
atruggling just to follow the worksheet. Having some issues around organization and actually finding the work never mind getting it completed - it is an on-going battle perhaps a bit of desk organization time is in order.
Anyway we finally managed to get most of the ducks in a row and reviewed the days of the week, the months of the year and dates. We have a great deal of work to do to bring the students up to grade on their high frequency words that have been introduced since grade 5. Weak general vocabulary recognition means more practice (our daily French activity for example)

I introduced the concept of a haunted house for art and French (a double dipper) ideas tomorrow ... I asked them to think of some ideas for Friday so we can get it started. I had some examples to show and will have a few more tomorrow to get the creative juices flowing.

Planner time early and then we headed out for a rousing game of Kickball in the sunshine.

back in class on time to pack up bags and books and paraphernalia.
Have a good night.
Mrs. J.

P.S. I will be discussing eating time arrangements with Mr. Parker. I would like to ask that our students stay in our own classrooms for recess and lunch time- we need to make new connections and bond as a group. Currently there is coming and going between the classes that I find is socially disruptive and confusing. There is enough opportunity for meeting up with other friends outside of class. We will also be doing activites together from time to time. Thanks for understanding.