Magazine characteristics

Media is all around us and our children need to know how to navigate through the world of mass media!! We are learning how to identify the characteristics of magazines today. Also, little reminder we have a math test Friday on unit 1. 

WOW assembly

Our theme this month was mutual respect. Congratulations to our winners!!

MATH TEST MONDAY

We always do review in class before the test. I know some students like to review at home with parents. What I thought I could do is give students some key areas to focus in on when they are reviewing at home.

GRADE 6
 (THE ONLY INFORMATION NOT IN THE TEXTBOOK IS REGARDING THE ALGEBRA QUESTIONS)

• BE ABLE TO COMPLETE AN INPUT/OUTPUT TABLE
• KNOW WHAT A RECURSIVE PATTERN IS AND HOW TO SPOT IT
• ALSO KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN A RECURSIVE PATTERN WITH WORDS
• KNOW HOW TO SOLVE PROBLEMS WITH MISSING NUMBERS (#11 PG27)
• SOLVE ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS (4X=12, 2X+3X-5=30)
• USE PATTERNS TO SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS
• SEE AT BOTTOM FOR AN ANCHOR CHART TO HELP WITH ALGEBRA

GRADE 5

• CONTINUE A NUMBER PATTERN
• BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE A NUMBER PATTERN IN WORDS 
• MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THE TERM ALTERNATELY WHEN DESCRIBING PATTERNS AND WHEN TO USE IT
• BE ABLE TO COMPLETE AN INPUT/OUTPUT TABLE
• BE ABLE TO USE PATTERNS AND TABLES TO SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS

TEACHABLE MOMENTS

I am including (VERBATIM) the text of a letter I received today from one of the grade 5 students.  I received permission from the student to reproduce the letter on the blog.

Dear Mr. V. Francia,

    I have recently heard that we are having a Math Unit Test on Friday in the unit Patterning.  When I came home from school I told my parents that I have an upcoming Test. I also told them that I was disappointed and bummed out. I thought this because in case you forgot Halloween is on Thursday the day before. Just think about you as a 10 year old kid having to rush home from Trick or treating early to have to study for your Math Unit Test the day after. Not a very good feeling. Right? My mom and dad thought I should talk to you orally about this dilemma, but I thought it would be more responsible and mature to write this letter.  Please consider moving the Test to next Monday. I would also like to tell you that I am not making this up because I am not prepared or am confused, I actually have just finished studying. This is all very true and straight from the heart. Please consider this and talk to me shortly.

Sincerely,
(I am leaving off the name for privacy issues)

P.S. Happy Halloween! 
(this is my favourite part,not sure if the student is being polite or sarcastic) 


I agreed to move the test--but not before messing with them a bit and telling the class we would have the test on Thursday instead (couldn't keep a straight face though). My point for reproducing the letter was just to talk a bit about teachable moments during the year. The letter was a nice entry point to discuss Persuasive Writing. Later on in the term we will be learning how to construct a persuasive argument.  The letter did quite a good job of using emotions to try and make a point-" Just think about you as a 10 year old kid having to rush....", "straight from the heart..".  The writer also used some facts, stating that the reason is legitimate and not because they are "not prepared" or "confused".  
We need to be open to what the students bring us. The curriculum documents, text books and technology are all wonderful resources, but in the end, we are trying to reach people. So, I hope you enjoy the letter and the math test will be Monday 

Impressionist art

We are using layered tissue paper to create complementary colored landscapes. We looked at some examples of Monet's use of colour in impressionistic art and are trying to recreate that feel in our landscapes.

Modelling patterns

Grade 5 students are modelling geometric patterns. Patterns are a fundamental property of math at all levels. Creating, extending and interpreting patterns are essential.

TOOLS 2 GO

We are going to try and submit most of our written work using google's TOOLS 2 GO  software suite. This is  integrated 'cloud' computing at it's best and most user friendly.  The students have been give an account under the WECDSB umbrella in Google. They will create, edit and submit their work using these fully integrated tools. They will share their work with me and then I will be able to edit, comment and mark their work from anywhere with internet access. We have taken the first step and students have created their first document using this integrated Google suite. I will now comment on their work and they will be able to access the information (I encourage parents to review the work with their children ) and see my comments.  I have put a screen shot of a story with associated comments. The students simply pass their cursor over the highlighted text and they will see the associated comments on the right of the page.  I have taken the name off the example you will see below, so as not to make anyone uncomfortable. Take a look with your child and see if I have made any comments on their paper yet. Please be patient, it's 8pm on Monday night and I have 23 of these stories to go over. Any questions or comments please fell free to attach a comment to the blog or simply call the school if you want to talk to me privately.

WHAT YOU WON'T SEE-- Unfortunately you see only the final product at this point. Talk with your child and discuss all the steps that lead to this final product. Understanding the genre, learning the Text Pattern, Modelled writing with the teacher, Partner Writing, Using a Graphic Organizer, Rough Draft, Peer Editing and finally creating the Published Copy. As we progress through the year, I am hoping to get some more of the above steps on line so students can share and discuss the steps with the teacher and with you at home.

SAMPLE OF STORY WITH COMMENTS FROM THE TEACHER:

Co-operative Games

Co- operative games teach children some very important skills. They need to be able to co-operate, communicate, listen to each other and play safely. The culminating task for this unit is creating their own co-operative game. Here are some of the kids making their game.

Field Trip and Math test info

The grade 6's will be going to Hillman Marsh on Tuesday Oct. 22. Please bring warm clothes, lunch, snacks, plenty of water and a change of socks. They will be outside all day working on bringing their science curriculum to life!! It will be a great day of exploring and classifying creatures and plants in their natural environment. If you have any questions please feel free to call me at the school. Also, I am sending home the math test today. Please look over the rubric, then sign and return the tests.

Government

The grade five's are learning about our government. We are discussing how bills become laws in Canada. The students are taking the roles of MP's and going through the stages. They are having a lively debate discussing a proposal that was introduced in First Reading and has now moved onto 2nd reading. The proposed bill would see all commercials removed from public airwaves.

So very interesting and diverse perspectives!! 

math

The grade 5 and 6 students will have their math test on Friday Oct 18th. Next week we will be completing the  'Show What You Know' sections in order to prepare for the test. They will also be completing the end of unit Assessment Task. This is a good way to review because it incorporates a lot of the concepts that we have been discussing during the course of the unit. I will also encourage them to practise their multiplication facts, 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication for grade 5's and 3 digit by 2 digit multiplication for grade 6's. If you have any questions just put a quick note in the agenda.

Colour and line

Working on using complementary colours  and line to create emotions and movement in art. I'm sending this home to finish tonight.

LEARNZILLION ISSUES?!?

Hello Everyone,
Some students have approached me about not being able to view the videos in the learnzillion website. I plan to use this site throughout the school year and it's important the students can get to the site consistently. Video problems usually have to do with software being out of date or not upgraded. Please take a minute to visit the site with your children and make sure that they can access the information. Usually it's best to use Firefox or Google chrome when working with these sites. If you are still having problems, please just send me a quick note.

FLIPPING THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM

Parents and Guardians,
Many of you have asked how you can support your student’s learning at home. Here is an important way you can do that.

Go to www.learnzillion.com. LearnZillion is a website that provides teachers and parents with video lessons showing what your student needs to learn each year. The videos include a 3-5 minute "teaching" video and as we get accustomed to the site, a short 'practice' video. Your student can watch the videos alone or with you.  Have your student take notes while watching. Create a notes sheet by taking a piece of paper and breaking the front page into the following sections:

• What is this lesson about?
• Review
• Mistakes to avoid
• The main thing to learn

Eventually the students will be given a username and password for the site. This will allow them to log onto the site, watch the video and try the 'guided practice video' that follows the video lesson. For now, I will be  giving them a link to the video and a sample problem to try on the class blog. They are required to bring this  in to school the next day completed.

Thank you for supporting your student’s learning at home. Let me know if you have any questions. 

GRADE 5 VIDEO

MULTIPLICATION VIDEO

THE SAMPLE PROBLEM FOR THEM TO TRY IS : 35 X 27 MAKE SURE THEY USE THE AREA MODEL TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

GRADE 6 VIDEO

LONG DIVISION 
THE SAMPLE PROBLEM FOR THEM TO TRY IS 3894 DIVIDED BY 15 MAKE SURE TO USE THE VIDEO AS A GUIDE.

PLEASE BRING IN YOUR NOTES WITH PROBLEM ANSWERED ON THE BACK. PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE PAPER.

Suspense & mystey

We are starting our first longer piece of writing. The grade 5's will be creating a mystery story and the grade 6's will be working on suspense. Writing starts at the end of a long process that actually begins with reading. We continue on to learning the conventions and characteristics of the particular text form we are working on. Then, we model and co-create examples of the type of text we will be working on. The last steps are actually using organizers to focus our ideas and then we begin to create our stories. We also create Learning Goals and Success Criteria that the students can refer to throughout  the process. Look at the pictures below for the charts we created for this assignment.

Science review & test

The students were told on Friday that they had a science test on Friday, October 4th. I attached a review sheet for  both grade 5 & 6 into their agenda. The grade 6 students also received an additional question sheet to help guide their studying. 

Wiggly Fun!

Grade 6's started observing their meal worms today. A few screams and squeals, but eventually we got down to work. They will be creating a labelled diagram, observing it's mouth structure and then doing so additional research.