Happy birthday, Autumn :)
Reminders
everyone has until Monday if they wish a May Hot lunch order so there is still time (my bad, I assumed it was this Friday)
next Thursday May 15th is our HSSS installation of our art/word project - pot luck starts at 2pm you are welcome to join us if you are able to (courtyard at HSSS)
our day
review of the story grammar or Plot Graph of a short story structure
we read a short story called "Charles" by Shirley Jackson
The students seemed to get a bit of a chuckle from the story of the poor mom who did not realize that the kindergarten child, Charles, who was misbehaving at school and in her opinion having a bad influence on her son, Laurie, was actually her own child. Charles was an alter-ego of her son and when Laurie's mom want to meet Charles' mom at the PTA she discovered there was no kindergarten child called Charles. Surprise!
She went to meet herself- she was so curious about what a mom who had a Charles would look like- her husband had even suggested that she bring Charles' mom to tea so he could meet her. Ironic or what?
It caused at least one of my students to comment and connect that we (our class) was not much different. This led us to an interesting thought. What if parents could check in on classes like a nanny-cam and could see the behiaviour of their own children at school. What would they see and would they be impressed or embarrassed?
Interesting thoughts indeed.
I would welcome that kind of technological tool, but I also understand the complications of that and the media rights of students and parents. Complex issue.
Once our dicussion was complete, we worked on a story graphing activity to summarize the plot and main ideas of this story.
We had a half hour completion session next as I am encouraging students to complete some of the activties that have been started but are not yet complete for various reasons including missing a class or needing more time.
There were lots to chose from.... socials: Mandela, Ch 4 activties for science, the lab report, the vocabulary units, the novel activties and math as well as the short story graph.
We have been busy....that is what is keeping us on the 'straight and narrow'!
Math 7
time for getting the project introduced yesterday officially started
the Spend a Million/Make a Million project is off the ground. I provided some more pointers after the computer session today and I think it is sinking in that this project is bigger than it seems and there are a lot of things to consider.
Today we discussed $$$ exchange Canadian into American using today's exchange rate (they did not like that very much!)
Students are looking into what courses are needed for which career paths and where they would like to live (how thay would like to live). They also learned today about the costs of transportation and the benefits of living close to either your place of work or the college or educational institution of choice.
great stuff- gone are the thoughts of spending $250,000 on a luxury car!!!
Yay - part of the project intention is already met!
read to self
computer session - some used it for projects, some for a creative venture, others used some free time today
back in class finish up the art project
some played a half hour of a board game (scrabble, chess and googleplex)
we cleaned up and headed out to enjoy five minutes in the fresh air before the dismissal bell on the spider web. Why does it feel like June?
Have a wonderful mother's day on Sunday
good luck to all students in this weekend's triathlon
see you Monday
Mrs. J.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
May 8th Thursday
Reminders
Tomorrow is the due date for hot lunch orders for May
Our day
Journal writing this morning
I asked students to choose one of three options
1. I shared with them a haiku that I wrote for my mom's card for mother's day and asked them to use the 5/7/5 structure to write their own or try a poem with a simpler structure like "Roses are red..."
OR
2. I told a story about a time that I will always remember when my son cut the head off the Groovy dolls that were such a big hit several years ago and he blamed the 'people under the bed'! We are still looking for those evil 'people under the bed'. I asked the students to share a story beginning with....
"Mom, remember the time when..."
OR
3. On the digital board I set up a website for card verses and asked the students to find one that they would like to use in the (Shhhhhh) creative card they were going to make in the afternoon.
Some found this very challenging to say the least and I found that many students were very vulnerable being asked to write about something that perhaps they did not want their classmates (or me for that matter) to know. A couple of students wrote and hid their work despite the fact that I had already promised not to read it or share it if they did not want me to.
I was a little taken aback by the lack of enthusiasm given that the big day is this weekend. I am always double guessing my lesson plans with this class!
Band class
math 7
Introduction day for the spend a Million/ Make a million project
Students are given a virtual 1 million dollars to help them either begin an entrepreneurial business, purchase a share in a franchise of their choice or chose a part time job to keep them afloat while they take courses toward a specific career path.
We had lots of interesting ideas that included one student opening a bakery, another buying into a Pink Berry franchise and a third taking computer science courses to establish himself as a coding expert to write new programs for computers.
Some students will be pairing up and pooling their $$$; others will be working alone. They must find
a place to live and work, a method of transportation and be able to sustain a reasonable lifestyle. The students were receptive and seemed interested although there are always a few that want to push the envelope on the possibilities which is why there is a list of what they are not allowed to spend $$$ on for the parameters of the project! Those options include any illegal or illicit services!!!
Yes, can you believe that I had to limit the creativity and options for some budding entrepreneurs!!
The skill sets needed for this project include ability to think, plan, research, cooperate, budget, add, subtract, make a spread sheet, create and present - I decided to exclude the nasty expenses in life (taxes, hydro and other utilities, groceries and general daily upkeep) to keep this project from being too depressing. Really, one million dollars while still a ton of money does not go far if there is no thought into how it is used and for that reason the most important part of the project so that the students find real estate and buy a place to live so they can see costs. Already some students are saying "Oh that is too expensive" and those who began with the idea that they wanted a fancy car like a Bugatti were a little crest fallen to find the cost of such luxury vehicles!!
We are just getting started!
If that is all the project manages to instill I will be a happy teacher!
Read to self
Art
The rest of the afternoon was given over to creating something special for moms but my plans were derailed by a few who decided not to follow the art directions and went about doing their own thing for you. After all they know you much better, right?
They went to town on construction paper, ribbon and decorative features, pipe cleaners and tissue paper. We went through a roll of clear tape and glue. Scissors were busy and some even added their verses from the morning (not as many as I would have liked but I'll get over that!).
However, being a bit of a perfectionist about letters and creative projects I would just like to apologize - it was something I said to the class this morning before they set about the act of creating. I said , "it doesn't take much to make a mother happy" ... Oh, boy....I didn't mean that anything goes but maybe it does and I just need to let it go.
Enjoy and if you don't ...sorry in advance- I am not as talented at creative arts as Mrs. Hoyrup and besides I am trying to herd cats (12 years old going on "I know what I am doing you don't need to stand over me").
Anyway the classroom floor was a disaster but one that was easily set straight. With this age level I fear the unstructured structure of the creative project!!!
Have a lovely evening.
Mrs. J.
Tomorrow is the due date for hot lunch orders for May
Our day
Journal writing this morning
I asked students to choose one of three options
1. I shared with them a haiku that I wrote for my mom's card for mother's day and asked them to use the 5/7/5 structure to write their own or try a poem with a simpler structure like "Roses are red..."
OR
2. I told a story about a time that I will always remember when my son cut the head off the Groovy dolls that were such a big hit several years ago and he blamed the 'people under the bed'! We are still looking for those evil 'people under the bed'. I asked the students to share a story beginning with....
"Mom, remember the time when..."
OR
3. On the digital board I set up a website for card verses and asked the students to find one that they would like to use in the (Shhhhhh) creative card they were going to make in the afternoon.
Some found this very challenging to say the least and I found that many students were very vulnerable being asked to write about something that perhaps they did not want their classmates (or me for that matter) to know. A couple of students wrote and hid their work despite the fact that I had already promised not to read it or share it if they did not want me to.
I was a little taken aback by the lack of enthusiasm given that the big day is this weekend. I am always double guessing my lesson plans with this class!
Band class
math 7
Introduction day for the spend a Million/ Make a million project
Students are given a virtual 1 million dollars to help them either begin an entrepreneurial business, purchase a share in a franchise of their choice or chose a part time job to keep them afloat while they take courses toward a specific career path.
We had lots of interesting ideas that included one student opening a bakery, another buying into a Pink Berry franchise and a third taking computer science courses to establish himself as a coding expert to write new programs for computers.
Some students will be pairing up and pooling their $$$; others will be working alone. They must find
a place to live and work, a method of transportation and be able to sustain a reasonable lifestyle. The students were receptive and seemed interested although there are always a few that want to push the envelope on the possibilities which is why there is a list of what they are not allowed to spend $$$ on for the parameters of the project! Those options include any illegal or illicit services!!!
Yes, can you believe that I had to limit the creativity and options for some budding entrepreneurs!!
The skill sets needed for this project include ability to think, plan, research, cooperate, budget, add, subtract, make a spread sheet, create and present - I decided to exclude the nasty expenses in life (taxes, hydro and other utilities, groceries and general daily upkeep) to keep this project from being too depressing. Really, one million dollars while still a ton of money does not go far if there is no thought into how it is used and for that reason the most important part of the project so that the students find real estate and buy a place to live so they can see costs. Already some students are saying "Oh that is too expensive" and those who began with the idea that they wanted a fancy car like a Bugatti were a little crest fallen to find the cost of such luxury vehicles!!
We are just getting started!
If that is all the project manages to instill I will be a happy teacher!
Read to self
Art
The rest of the afternoon was given over to creating something special for moms but my plans were derailed by a few who decided not to follow the art directions and went about doing their own thing for you. After all they know you much better, right?
They went to town on construction paper, ribbon and decorative features, pipe cleaners and tissue paper. We went through a roll of clear tape and glue. Scissors were busy and some even added their verses from the morning (not as many as I would have liked but I'll get over that!).
However, being a bit of a perfectionist about letters and creative projects I would just like to apologize - it was something I said to the class this morning before they set about the act of creating. I said , "it doesn't take much to make a mother happy" ... Oh, boy....I didn't mean that anything goes but maybe it does and I just need to let it go.
Enjoy and if you don't ...sorry in advance- I am not as talented at creative arts as Mrs. Hoyrup and besides I am trying to herd cats (12 years old going on "I know what I am doing you don't need to stand over me").
Anyway the classroom floor was a disaster but one that was easily set straight. With this age level I fear the unstructured structure of the creative project!!!
Have a lovely evening.
Mrs. J.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Wednesday May 7th
Reminders
Hot lunch orders for May due this Friday
Looking for some contributions to the potluck celebration next Thursday May 15th anything that is easy to share pick up type items. Some suggestions are a box of Tim Bits, roti, pakora, sushi, butter tarts, Nanaimo bar, fruit, dried mango, special recipe cookies...
Our day
Started with the vocabulary and etymology activities that needed time to be completed. Unit 1 quiz was finished and unit two started today (a few even managed to complete unit 2 today) Amazing what a bit of focus and effort can produce.
I know these students are capable and for that reason I will not stop 'pushing' the boundaries with them academically we are looking at some more junior high type activities and they are holding their own most impressively :)
Then we revisited the Monday science density lab. I was encouraged when Rob who had been away arrived to class with the experiment that he had completed at home and we even relied on his data for the density of glycerin. Today we reviewed the lab report and discussed the ways that we could if we were intending to (maybe we will) redo the lab.
I tried to explain how in science failure is expected and hypotheses are often incorrect otherwise things would not be redone and discovered. With that in mind, science is the art of repetition and finding new ways to do and redo, test and retest ideas that may not always be successful.
Our students tend to wants things to work perfectly the first time and because they think concretely at this time in their developing brain, they often get frustrated and 'bored' easily doing the same things over!! If I could I would spend a whole week on one science concept!! Guess I might be a geeky science freak!!
We viewed on YouTube a liquid nitrogen experiment (because I am not allowed to have liquid nitrogen in an elementary classroom) and the students were amazed how 'boiling' cold could turn things into frozen 'glass'. I love hearing their reactions to simple science outcomes.
Math 7
Well, I must express how impressed I was today with the students ability with scissors and glue! We cut out and constructed prisms and 3-D geometric figures to help with the concept of edges, vertices and faces of various shapes.
Then we literally 'messed' around on the NCTM website called Illuminations which has a really cool program that allows users to virtually move, colour and even create their own nets for three dimensional figures.
Read to self time - I am encouraging those students behind on completing activities to use this time to be productive and get themselves up to date.
Vocabulary crossword puzzle for chapter 4
2-3 pm Phys Ed
Today Mr. Parker and I teamed up the classes for a massive game of Capture the Flag outside - there was a little more wind than we thought but the students seemed to enjoy tearing around on the trails looking for each other's hidden treasure!!
Another Lovely day around these parts- appreciate, appreciate
Have a great evening
Mrs. J.
Hot lunch orders for May due this Friday
Looking for some contributions to the potluck celebration next Thursday May 15th anything that is easy to share pick up type items. Some suggestions are a box of Tim Bits, roti, pakora, sushi, butter tarts, Nanaimo bar, fruit, dried mango, special recipe cookies...
Our day
Started with the vocabulary and etymology activities that needed time to be completed. Unit 1 quiz was finished and unit two started today (a few even managed to complete unit 2 today) Amazing what a bit of focus and effort can produce.
I know these students are capable and for that reason I will not stop 'pushing' the boundaries with them academically we are looking at some more junior high type activities and they are holding their own most impressively :)
Then we revisited the Monday science density lab. I was encouraged when Rob who had been away arrived to class with the experiment that he had completed at home and we even relied on his data for the density of glycerin. Today we reviewed the lab report and discussed the ways that we could if we were intending to (maybe we will) redo the lab.
I tried to explain how in science failure is expected and hypotheses are often incorrect otherwise things would not be redone and discovered. With that in mind, science is the art of repetition and finding new ways to do and redo, test and retest ideas that may not always be successful.
Our students tend to wants things to work perfectly the first time and because they think concretely at this time in their developing brain, they often get frustrated and 'bored' easily doing the same things over!! If I could I would spend a whole week on one science concept!! Guess I might be a geeky science freak!!
We viewed on YouTube a liquid nitrogen experiment (because I am not allowed to have liquid nitrogen in an elementary classroom) and the students were amazed how 'boiling' cold could turn things into frozen 'glass'. I love hearing their reactions to simple science outcomes.
Math 7
Well, I must express how impressed I was today with the students ability with scissors and glue! We cut out and constructed prisms and 3-D geometric figures to help with the concept of edges, vertices and faces of various shapes.
Then we literally 'messed' around on the NCTM website called Illuminations which has a really cool program that allows users to virtually move, colour and even create their own nets for three dimensional figures.
Read to self time - I am encouraging those students behind on completing activities to use this time to be productive and get themselves up to date.
Vocabulary crossword puzzle for chapter 4
2-3 pm Phys Ed
Today Mr. Parker and I teamed up the classes for a massive game of Capture the Flag outside - there was a little more wind than we thought but the students seemed to enjoy tearing around on the trails looking for each other's hidden treasure!!
Another Lovely day around these parts- appreciate, appreciate
Have a great evening
Mrs. J.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Tuesday May 6th
Reminders
Hot lunch for May due Friday (for Sports Day in June due by Fri May 23 - or pay for both if you'd prefer)
Our motivational speaker wasn't able to motivate because he didn't make it to our school!!
Mrs. Harris from the SBO complimented the students today by telling me how she enjoyed her duty supervising them at lunch. I hope they are proud of themselves at how another adult has noticed this - they are growing up and can be calm and socially comfortable with each other. Proud teacher moment (and believe me I need more of those moments)
Our day
Band class
Language etymology and mastering vocabulary using Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes
Unit 1 review
Math 7
class was better today as I was ready with a new seating arrangement!! Sheesh it is May and I am still messing with who can sit where!!
We managed to work on the total surface area of rectangular prisms and use word problems to identify whether volume, area or surface area was to be determined.
It is a challenging concept for students who are concrete thinkers because they have to visualize the three dimensional figure.
Maybe cutting and putting together some 3-D nets tomorrow will help.
One of the biggest issues for the students generally is their focus on the instructional part of the lesson. I find when I set the practice that many students have no idea how to get started despite the written instructional samples that we have completed together.
I am encouraged by how many students are working on the math ninja daily math problems :)
Laura visited at 1pm to show the students how their work was coming along at the high school,where she spent the morning. I was embarrassed by the students inability to be gracious hosts this afternoon. They would not stop talking to each other and were overly social despite being asked kindly to participate in Laura's presentation.
We did our read to self time after Laura had headed to Mr. Parker's class - they needed a quiet, introspective time to settle down.
We followed up yesterday's Science lab with a video from Mr. Glane's high school density lab (on YouTube) and the students competed a reflection activity on what we did and what they think they learned about density from it.
More time will be needed to reflect on the Monday afternoon lab.
Our 2pm speaker and assembly was cancelled unfortunately but everything happens for a reason, right?
Have a good what's left of the evening!
Mrs. J.
Hot lunch for May due Friday (for Sports Day in June due by Fri May 23 - or pay for both if you'd prefer)
Our motivational speaker wasn't able to motivate because he didn't make it to our school!!
Mrs. Harris from the SBO complimented the students today by telling me how she enjoyed her duty supervising them at lunch. I hope they are proud of themselves at how another adult has noticed this - they are growing up and can be calm and socially comfortable with each other. Proud teacher moment (and believe me I need more of those moments)
Our day
Band class
Language etymology and mastering vocabulary using Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes
Unit 1 review
Math 7
class was better today as I was ready with a new seating arrangement!! Sheesh it is May and I am still messing with who can sit where!!
We managed to work on the total surface area of rectangular prisms and use word problems to identify whether volume, area or surface area was to be determined.
It is a challenging concept for students who are concrete thinkers because they have to visualize the three dimensional figure.
Maybe cutting and putting together some 3-D nets tomorrow will help.
One of the biggest issues for the students generally is their focus on the instructional part of the lesson. I find when I set the practice that many students have no idea how to get started despite the written instructional samples that we have completed together.
I am encouraged by how many students are working on the math ninja daily math problems :)
Laura visited at 1pm to show the students how their work was coming along at the high school,where she spent the morning. I was embarrassed by the students inability to be gracious hosts this afternoon. They would not stop talking to each other and were overly social despite being asked kindly to participate in Laura's presentation.
We did our read to self time after Laura had headed to Mr. Parker's class - they needed a quiet, introspective time to settle down.
We followed up yesterday's Science lab with a video from Mr. Glane's high school density lab (on YouTube) and the students competed a reflection activity on what we did and what they think they learned about density from it.
More time will be needed to reflect on the Monday afternoon lab.
Our 2pm speaker and assembly was cancelled unfortunately but everything happens for a reason, right?
Have a good what's left of the evening!
Mrs. J.
Monday, May 5, 2014
El Cinco de Mayo May 5th
Reminders
If interested in popcorn tomorrow please remember a dollar
Band class tomorrow - remember instruments
Laura (Biennale) will be here tomorrow after noon to set up the list for the potluck on May 15th and show us the progress of the silkscreening of our work
Students who have not yet returned dietary information for the camp kitchen will be considered 'regular' diet for meals and snacks
2pm tomorrow afternoon we have a guest motivational speaker
If interested in ordering hot lunch for May please return the order form by this Friday
Our day
Physical education
Set up the badminton nets in the gym this morning - thanks to Mr. Parker and the students who helped me with the tying of the knots and the moving of the poles- those poles are heavy!!
I was impressed with the cooperation and the review of the badminton skills today. Everyone appeared to be engaged and having some fun exercise.
Socials - current affairs
"Nelson Mandela - the liberator"
Back in class we began the second part of the socials activity on Nelson Mandela. It was a reading activity and a summarizing chart asked the students to consider three events from the early days of Mr. Mandela's life, the apartheid years and the post imprisonment years to his recent death.
Once they had this information the directions were to chose their top three from the nine events and explain why they considered those three events to be the most inspiring or interesting in Mr.
Mandela's life and legacy.
We need some more time for this but we made a great start .
Math 7
I have to be honest that I do not understand why some of the boys have recently been pointedly mean to each other. I have no recourse except to separate them from each other!!
Sometimes math, being after morning recess, means the students tend to bring their social issues into class with them. It is baseball season - there are a few spats apparently.
Today we looked at a visual spatial activity using nets for three dimensional figures and began to consider the methods for determining the volume and the surface area of those figures as well as consider how they would look from different viewpoints.
Challenging class not because of the math but the behaviour of a few students!
Read to self
New reading record distributed - there are 9 hours of reading this month
I am always encouraged when my students ask for the sequels of the books that they have been introduced to :) Several students enjoyed the novel The Dragon Keepsr so much that they have requested the next two books by the author.
Science lab afternoon.
Density exploration
In pairs the students mixed some saline water and colored with food coloring 4 other cups of fluid including cold water (plain), glycerin and rubbing alcohol.
We made a class hypothesis about which of the fluid was the most dense and which would float, sink or mix.
The experiment had them pour the different fluids into the large test tubes to see if they could layer the fluids separately. We tested the hypothesis.
Yes, we had spills and some had difficulty following the instructions not to fill the test tubes too full (we had mixed, on purpose, more than needed!!). The exuberant use of the food colouring always surprises me!! Why use a drop or two if we can squeeze out much more than we need and then get it on the desk tops and our hands and maybe a couple of articles of clothing.
Thanks to Mrs. Bruce for her handy and willing clean up skills - it had to be the red food colouring that spilled - it looked like someone had been cut badly. The good news is we all survived another
science lab. The learning from it was discussed verbally but we still need to follow up with a more formal worksheet.
The intention: to understand that density affects liquid placement - a liquid that floats on top of another is lighter - less dense than a heavier more dense liquid that sinks.
I left them with the question: why would understanding this be important? How can we use this understanding in our world today.
It was getting too,late I the afternoon for more follow up.
Once lab clean up was completed, we used the last ten minutes of class time to play a requested game of Thunbs Up seven Up - an oldie but classic game that the kids always request.
Monday is now officially under our collective belts!!
Have a good evening
Mrs. J.
If interested in popcorn tomorrow please remember a dollar
Band class tomorrow - remember instruments
Laura (Biennale) will be here tomorrow after noon to set up the list for the potluck on May 15th and show us the progress of the silkscreening of our work
Students who have not yet returned dietary information for the camp kitchen will be considered 'regular' diet for meals and snacks
2pm tomorrow afternoon we have a guest motivational speaker
If interested in ordering hot lunch for May please return the order form by this Friday
Our day
Physical education
Set up the badminton nets in the gym this morning - thanks to Mr. Parker and the students who helped me with the tying of the knots and the moving of the poles- those poles are heavy!!
I was impressed with the cooperation and the review of the badminton skills today. Everyone appeared to be engaged and having some fun exercise.
Socials - current affairs
"Nelson Mandela - the liberator"
Back in class we began the second part of the socials activity on Nelson Mandela. It was a reading activity and a summarizing chart asked the students to consider three events from the early days of Mr. Mandela's life, the apartheid years and the post imprisonment years to his recent death.
Once they had this information the directions were to chose their top three from the nine events and explain why they considered those three events to be the most inspiring or interesting in Mr.
Mandela's life and legacy.
We need some more time for this but we made a great start .
Math 7
I have to be honest that I do not understand why some of the boys have recently been pointedly mean to each other. I have no recourse except to separate them from each other!!
Sometimes math, being after morning recess, means the students tend to bring their social issues into class with them. It is baseball season - there are a few spats apparently.
Today we looked at a visual spatial activity using nets for three dimensional figures and began to consider the methods for determining the volume and the surface area of those figures as well as consider how they would look from different viewpoints.
Challenging class not because of the math but the behaviour of a few students!
Read to self
New reading record distributed - there are 9 hours of reading this month
I am always encouraged when my students ask for the sequels of the books that they have been introduced to :) Several students enjoyed the novel The Dragon Keepsr so much that they have requested the next two books by the author.
Science lab afternoon.
Density exploration
In pairs the students mixed some saline water and colored with food coloring 4 other cups of fluid including cold water (plain), glycerin and rubbing alcohol.
We made a class hypothesis about which of the fluid was the most dense and which would float, sink or mix.
The experiment had them pour the different fluids into the large test tubes to see if they could layer the fluids separately. We tested the hypothesis.
Yes, we had spills and some had difficulty following the instructions not to fill the test tubes too full (we had mixed, on purpose, more than needed!!). The exuberant use of the food colouring always surprises me!! Why use a drop or two if we can squeeze out much more than we need and then get it on the desk tops and our hands and maybe a couple of articles of clothing.
Thanks to Mrs. Bruce for her handy and willing clean up skills - it had to be the red food colouring that spilled - it looked like someone had been cut badly. The good news is we all survived another
science lab. The learning from it was discussed verbally but we still need to follow up with a more formal worksheet.
The intention: to understand that density affects liquid placement - a liquid that floats on top of another is lighter - less dense than a heavier more dense liquid that sinks.
I left them with the question: why would understanding this be important? How can we use this understanding in our world today.
It was getting too,late I the afternoon for more follow up.
Once lab clean up was completed, we used the last ten minutes of class time to play a requested game of Thunbs Up seven Up - an oldie but classic game that the kids always request.
Monday is now officially under our collective belts!!
Have a good evening
Mrs. J.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Friday May 2nd
another lovely day with a bit of a break from the sun this afternoon (appreciate, appreciate)
Reminders
Two hot lunch forms went home today one for May due back next Friday and one for the June sports day.
The last (June) scholastic flyer went out today - I have advised students to spend their coupons or they will revert back to the stash for next year (every student had a $4.99 coupon for a book from Scholastic for their birthday - summer birthdays were also accommodated). These coupons have no monetary value if not used with a scholastic book order ....so chose a book from the May and June flyer.
Mr. Parker and I are looking for some contributions to an upcoming pot luck on May 15th we were hoping that families could contribute something 'heritage' or a special family recipe that we could take to share with the HSSS. Ideas might include bannock, samosas, roti, a pan of lasagne, cookies from granny's old recipe etc. A form will go home next week for sign up.
Sunday May 4th is our Shell day of Giving fundraiser come and support us or help us out. Raising money for Evans Lake. Thanks.
Our day
Science to start the morning
Managed to complete chapter 4.3 the last section of the Properties of matter with a look at the definition between a physical and chemical change and particle models of matter
After instruction for which we used the text book we worked in small teams and groups to complete a cloze reading activity reviewing all three sections of chapter 4
Some managed to get started on the crossword puzzle reviewing all the vocabulary for the chapter but that is still in progress
Before recess break we decided to go over all the review activity cloze answers together and the good news is that everyone completed the review (crossword to do next week)
Math 7
today for something completely different, we did a visual-spatial activity which had the students use rulers (oh no not rulers, Mrs. J) to create straight lines that create curves and create swirl designs using the line concept in various geometric figures (triangle, circle and square or rectangle)
For some it was challenging but others found it a precise but relatively simple activity.
Some lovely efforts and designs were created.
Read to self
Need to distribute a reading record for May (forgot to prep it last night) definitely on Monday!
Distributed the June flyer for scholastic - no obligations but everyone has $4.99 if they have not already used it up. Don't worry - I have a list :)
Computer session
promised free time once the students had completed the Ch 4.3 review quiz on the science on-line web site and had a look at the animation of the particle model of matter
They were motivated (bribed) to get the work done and the average mark was 80% (go figure)
Enjoyed a rare extension of a computer session as the class that comes after us did not arrive . yay!
Back in class - needed a clean up/ organization time for desks and bins as things have been getting a little messy as we proceed through the year. Once the organization was done we finished the day with an art session
The doodlebug activity is completed by some and in progress for others so I was comfortable with those who had the activity done to spend some time either reading or playing a board game in small groups. Actually the clean up for some students took the rest of the afternoon!!
Perhaps in my retirement years, my second career will be organizing stuff hopefully not school related materials but, hey, I won't turn a way any opportunity!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Hope to see you on Sunday if you can make it.
Mrs. J.
Reminders
Two hot lunch forms went home today one for May due back next Friday and one for the June sports day.
The last (June) scholastic flyer went out today - I have advised students to spend their coupons or they will revert back to the stash for next year (every student had a $4.99 coupon for a book from Scholastic for their birthday - summer birthdays were also accommodated). These coupons have no monetary value if not used with a scholastic book order ....so chose a book from the May and June flyer.
Mr. Parker and I are looking for some contributions to an upcoming pot luck on May 15th we were hoping that families could contribute something 'heritage' or a special family recipe that we could take to share with the HSSS. Ideas might include bannock, samosas, roti, a pan of lasagne, cookies from granny's old recipe etc. A form will go home next week for sign up.
Sunday May 4th is our Shell day of Giving fundraiser come and support us or help us out. Raising money for Evans Lake. Thanks.
Our day
Science to start the morning
Managed to complete chapter 4.3 the last section of the Properties of matter with a look at the definition between a physical and chemical change and particle models of matter
After instruction for which we used the text book we worked in small teams and groups to complete a cloze reading activity reviewing all three sections of chapter 4
Some managed to get started on the crossword puzzle reviewing all the vocabulary for the chapter but that is still in progress
Before recess break we decided to go over all the review activity cloze answers together and the good news is that everyone completed the review (crossword to do next week)
Math 7
today for something completely different, we did a visual-spatial activity which had the students use rulers (oh no not rulers, Mrs. J) to create straight lines that create curves and create swirl designs using the line concept in various geometric figures (triangle, circle and square or rectangle)
For some it was challenging but others found it a precise but relatively simple activity.
Some lovely efforts and designs were created.
Read to self
Need to distribute a reading record for May (forgot to prep it last night) definitely on Monday!
Distributed the June flyer for scholastic - no obligations but everyone has $4.99 if they have not already used it up. Don't worry - I have a list :)
Computer session
promised free time once the students had completed the Ch 4.3 review quiz on the science on-line web site and had a look at the animation of the particle model of matter
They were motivated (bribed) to get the work done and the average mark was 80% (go figure)
Enjoyed a rare extension of a computer session as the class that comes after us did not arrive . yay!
Back in class - needed a clean up/ organization time for desks and bins as things have been getting a little messy as we proceed through the year. Once the organization was done we finished the day with an art session
The doodlebug activity is completed by some and in progress for others so I was comfortable with those who had the activity done to spend some time either reading or playing a board game in small groups. Actually the clean up for some students took the rest of the afternoon!!
Perhaps in my retirement years, my second career will be organizing stuff hopefully not school related materials but, hey, I won't turn a way any opportunity!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Hope to see you on Sunday if you can make it.
Mrs. J.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
May 1st already!
It is never a dull day at Squamish Elementary.
This morning we had a 40 minute assembly and were treated to a selection of songs from "Hair" the upcoming musical theatre program at HSSS. It opens in three weeks.
It was great to see a healthy number of former students all grown up and back at the school to entertain our current students.
The representatives from the Royal Canadian Legion arrived just at the end of the assembly and handed out the annual awards for this year's entries to the local and regional competitions for Remembrance Day. Congratulations to all the winners from grade 2 on up to grade seven. There were at least a dozen winners in categories of poster, poem and essay. In our class Maria Jelica de la Rosa won for her poster and Lucy Lee won both the local and the regional levels of competition with her black and white poster. Their prizes included cash and certificates. What an honor to have the whole school present for this year's presentations which are normally done in classes.
It is one of the most important competitions that we encourage the students to participate in every year and one that is very generous with its recognition for local school entries.
I just did not catch all the names and categories - maybe we can publish them on the website or an upcoming newsletter.
Then it was time for band class with Ms. Sorban - the musical theatre was a great warm up for making music
Math groups were conducted today for the grade sevens allowing small groups for deeper concentration on the skills of adding and subtracting mixed number fractions - taught everyone the method of switching fractions to improper fractions although to use this method students needs to be confident in their multiplication skills.
Students are responding well to the math ninja questions which are being posted and tracked by Mrs. Bruce
The challenge set is for students to answer at least 25 correctly by the end of the school year
Read to self
Buddies session - we have not had a session with Mrs. Hoyrup's grade threes since we did our craft at Christmas so everyone was happy to get together on the back field for DPA (daily physical activity)
The grade six and seven students organized three stations for their buddies
The first was the big parachute (an activity we usually do together on sports day)
The next station was hula hoops
The third was California Kickball and most of the big and little boys chose that station
I think was a successful venture
Back in class, with a half hour to the end of the day, I had promised the grade sixes a games time as thy missed out last Friday so various groups were formed to play: scrabble, pictionary, chess, cards, googleplex, a couple chose to read (they were visibly tired) and another two decided to complete posters.
Like I said, a different kind of Thursday.
Have a good what's left of the evening.
Mrs. J.
This morning we had a 40 minute assembly and were treated to a selection of songs from "Hair" the upcoming musical theatre program at HSSS. It opens in three weeks.
It was great to see a healthy number of former students all grown up and back at the school to entertain our current students.
The representatives from the Royal Canadian Legion arrived just at the end of the assembly and handed out the annual awards for this year's entries to the local and regional competitions for Remembrance Day. Congratulations to all the winners from grade 2 on up to grade seven. There were at least a dozen winners in categories of poster, poem and essay. In our class Maria Jelica de la Rosa won for her poster and Lucy Lee won both the local and the regional levels of competition with her black and white poster. Their prizes included cash and certificates. What an honor to have the whole school present for this year's presentations which are normally done in classes.
It is one of the most important competitions that we encourage the students to participate in every year and one that is very generous with its recognition for local school entries.
I just did not catch all the names and categories - maybe we can publish them on the website or an upcoming newsletter.
Then it was time for band class with Ms. Sorban - the musical theatre was a great warm up for making music
Math groups were conducted today for the grade sevens allowing small groups for deeper concentration on the skills of adding and subtracting mixed number fractions - taught everyone the method of switching fractions to improper fractions although to use this method students needs to be confident in their multiplication skills.
Students are responding well to the math ninja questions which are being posted and tracked by Mrs. Bruce
The challenge set is for students to answer at least 25 correctly by the end of the school year
Read to self
Buddies session - we have not had a session with Mrs. Hoyrup's grade threes since we did our craft at Christmas so everyone was happy to get together on the back field for DPA (daily physical activity)
The grade six and seven students organized three stations for their buddies
The first was the big parachute (an activity we usually do together on sports day)
The next station was hula hoops
The third was California Kickball and most of the big and little boys chose that station
I think was a successful venture
Back in class, with a half hour to the end of the day, I had promised the grade sixes a games time as thy missed out last Friday so various groups were formed to play: scrabble, pictionary, chess, cards, googleplex, a couple chose to read (they were visibly tired) and another two decided to complete posters.
Like I said, a different kind of Thursday.
Have a good what's left of the evening.
Mrs. J.
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