Here’s what we are up to:
Annie Bergen
A local artist, Annie Bergen, is coming to our school. Annie specializes in creating large,
elaborate murals with students. All
students in Van Walleghem will participate in both designing and painting a
giant mural that will welcome those who enter the main doors of the
school. The kick off assembly for Annie
is on Monday!
Math
Students have now completed the unit on understanding
decimal numbers. We are now diving into
adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimal numbers. Students are learning multiple methods for
each operation in order to build a large range of strategies with which to
solve problems.Science
Congratulations to 6M!
Students presented their space technology or astronaut last week. Students were able to demonstrate their
expertise and teach the class about their topic. Students now have knowledge about the first
man, woman and even animal in space as well as an understanding or many of the
satellite and space ship technology that surrounds our planet.
Social Studies
We are beginning explore Canada’s heritage and it’s birth as a country. We will tackle some large questions such as: How, why and when did Canada become a country? How what did Canada look like at confederation? And, how has Canada changed over the years?
English
Writing:
Up to now students have been doing “quick writes” where they
write for short periods of time, but continuously (and about various
topics). Quick writes help build
students’ confidence in writing, helps stimulate students’ ideas for writing
and also helps build writing stamina. We
have also been using an editing technique called RADAR (Reread, Add, Delete,
And, Reorganize) with “quick writes”. Students are learning how to edit their
writing not just for grammar, but also for their content and ideas.
Recently, students have started a Writer’s Workshop where
they will use their new skills in a longer piece of writing that they will
eventually publish in a classroom paper. Ask your son or daughter what his or her title
is for the fairy-tale newspaper article.
In addition, students have started a weekly journal. Every week, I give students a new choice of
topics to write about in their journal.
This is now a weekly homework assignment that will continue for the
majority of the year. Most topics
involve critical thinking and correspond with what we are discussing in class.
Reading:
Reading
month is going very well. Most students’
crazy reading pictures are on the wall and we even have two students who have
already finished their READO! Book Club
will be starting next week now that all the books have come in. Stay tuned for more information about the end-of-the-month
reading celebration.
TUSC/OH
The Totally
Unbelievable Speaking Club (or OH in French) has started! Hopefully you have already seen the Tusc/OH
duo-tang. Students are asked to prepare
a presentation to the rest of the class approximately every two weeks. Each time, the speaking role changes so that
students have the opportunity to present on a wide variety of topics and in
multiple formats. Public speaking is an important life-skill and the best way to build confidence is to practice. The first OH (which
means this time it’s in French), is Friday, November 20th.
