Wednesday 21 November 2012

1) Plant or Animal of BC Presentation

It seems that many students are ready early to do their presentations about a BC plant or animal. Goodness! What a wonderful place to be in! I suggested that even though the deadline is Friday, they might want to pick a private due date a day or two in advance to relieve stress, and perhaps that has helped. In any case, if students want to present starting tomorrow (Thursday) I will make space and time in our day for that. Otherwise students must be ready by Friday morning.

For those who have chosen a digital presentation, I strongly suggest they bring in their files on a USB stick to see if your files will work on the school’s computers. Sure enough, we’ve had two that will not work. That’s the sort of thing we want to know early, not Friday. Partly for that reason, many students have elected to do a paper version… I consider that equally acceptable. The criteria remain the same for both kinds of presentations: speak for 1 to 2 minutes, focus on habitat, adaptations, life cycle, food, and include a few pictures. Presenters are welcome to jot down point form notes or topics on an index card and have that with them, but they should not be reading off the cards, or from the screen. They should be speaking to the class. I encouraged the class to practice out loud at home and to time themselves so they aren’t much too long nor too short.

 

2) Blogging

Wow! We have some very talented writers, and it is garnering a lot of attention from many parts of the world. We’ve had comments from sister schools in the U.K., from Saskatoon, from Wisconsin, and recently from Oklahoma. This week schools are reading our blogs, so I’ve asked that your child plan for and write one new post every day this week. Today should see the third post sent to me for approval. Next week we’ll be doing more reading and commenting of blogs (which is easier by far), but for now we keep the pressure on to produce great quality writing… one new piece each day till Friday. Students (and parents/grandparents, etc.,) are welcome to read and comment on our sister school’s blogs too, of course!

 

3) Multicultural Lunch

The multicultural lunch was a hit! Thanks so much for your support in helping with food contributions, clothing, etc. So many different kinds of food for lunch today, and it was so delicious!

An example of PFN & Study Questions opposite

Sent from my iPhone

Friday 16 November 2012

Homework:

We don’t often have homework on the weekend, but in this case we do!

 

Social Studies:

Gr. 4 Mapping assignment of one room at home (M) See attached scanned doc

Gr. 5  Prepare point form notes (pfn) on right side of page with study questions facing on the left side of the page for p. 155-156 in the textbook (M)

 

Also, Gr. 4s are to have their most recent homework assignment signed by a parent. That way parents will see the quality of work I am getting on an average day. Please do have a conversation with your child around expectations, successes, and attention to detail! I’d like the signed homework assignment back at school for Monday morning so I know you’ve seen it.

Tuesday 13 November 2013

Homework:

1)     Donation for the Remembrance Day Poppy fund for those who wish to take part.

2)     BC Animal or Plant Project:

·                Choose a plant or an animal from BC to research.

·                see p 181 of the Science text for content

·                consider a digital slideshow

·                show us what you know about that animal and its habitat.

·                due Fri. 23 Nov.

Choose to do either a paper version or a digital version (not both).

Be prepared to talk to the class about your chosen plant or animal for 1 – 2 minutes… keep it brief!

If you choose the digital version, speak to me first to get the technical issues ironed out well before the due date.

Keep in mind, our focus is on habitat. You need to learn about the typical habitat that can support your chosen plant or animal.

No zoo animals, no farm animals, no pets. No plants introduced to our area, no garden plants, no farm plants. ONLY wild animals or wild plants found native to BC.

Use the internet or library to do your research.

Page 181 of the Science text “Organism Cards” project is written for both plants and animals. Light and water apply to plants only, not particularly to animals. Food and shelter, on the other hand, applies mostly to animals.Choos the organizing topics appropriate to your organism.

Find out what adaptations your plant or animal has made to survive in its habitat.

Friday 9 November 2012

Students have no new homework, but…

 

Their Math test has been marked. Please review it with your child, sign it so I know you’ve seen it, and have it returned to me with your child on Tuesday.

 

Their Christmas card project should have come home today, with one sample Christmas card (which you are welcome to keep), along with an order form. If you wish to order boxes of 12 cards with your own child’s art, that order must be returned to the school by next Friday 16 November. You and another family can leverage your two orders for a cheaper unit price by going together and ordering some of your child’s cards, and some of the other family’s cards. Cheques are to be made out to The Card Project.

 

This Sunday is November 11, Remembrance Day, and I would encourage all families to consider taking part in any of the several memorial services around the North Shore. If that is not possible, I would encourage all to at the very least, stop whatever you were doing at 11:00 a.m. and observe a moment of silence out of respect for those that have gone before us.

Monday is a national holiday, so students do not attend.

I look forward to seeing students on Tuesday 13 November.

Monday 5 November 2012

Homework:

 

Gr. 5: Reading “The Taliban” (T)

Gr. 5: French: Days of the week.

Gr 4 & 5: Preparing for a math quiz any day this week! (Gr. 4: pp 76-77; Gr. 5: pp 66-67) I have not announced which day the quiz will be on, but that is to get the kids ready asap. If they can answer the kinds of questions on these “Show What You Know” pages, they will be well-prepared for the quiz. The quiz is exactly like these questions, just much briefer.

Friday 2 November 2012

No new homework for the weekend, but studying should be a consideration.

Gr. 5s should be practicing for their French days of the week oral quiz next week.

Both grades should be studying the review pages prior to a math test next week. The Gr. 5 review pages are on p. 66-7; the Gr 4 pages are p. 76-7.

 

Reminder: Next week we have Parent/Teacher interviews on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday  from just after 2:00 p.m. for 2 or 3 hours. Sign-up sheets are available in the hall outside the office, or if you can’t make it in, in person, please call the school and Lisa or Toni will be able to slot you in.