Nothing says "Halloween" like a delicious graph!

Hello students & parents!

I hope you have all had an enjoyable week!


Some Reminders:

- Halloween Dance-a-thon is Tuesday so students get ready to dance, dance, dance! (Thanks DJ007 & CSAC!) Please try & bring in at least $5 for the dance in fundraising by Monday- thanks!  Tuesday is also dress down day.

- Halloween with costumes (if you wish) will be celebrated on Wednesday.  We will be participating in Halloween related Language & Math activities and students will receive a Halloween treat from Student Council!

- Parents, please sign your child's Math test this weekend- thanks.


Weekly Update:

- In Math, we completed Chapter 1- Patterning & students received their Math unit tests back for parent signature & corrections this weekend.  I am happy to report that the class average was 80%, an A-!!  Way to go students!! 

Students also learned how to create a FRAYER MODEL, which is a graphic organizer for understanding a Math term more easily.  Students choose a difficult key term from the Math Word Wall & write its definition, description (how do we use this key term in Math), example & non-example.

 

 

 

 

We have now moved on to Chapter 3 in Math- Data Management.  We have started our new Math Word Wall & students will be creating Frayer Models for key terms they are struggling with. 

 



 

 

Students should visit these sites to help them with this chapter & frequently visit our Math group on Edmodo:

 

 

http://www.nelson.com/nelson/school/elementary/mathK8/math6/studentcentre/studentcentre.html - click on BOTH 'Surf for More Math' & 'Try It Out' for Chapter 3!

 



http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx - this site will be very useful for this chapter!

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-6- click 'Charts and graphs' & try out the activities!



- In Language, we continue to work with DAILY 5 & CAFE, which means that during Daily 5, I am meeting with small groups of students or individual students to teach specific strategies.  Daily 5 always begins with a mini lesson for the whole class, so for example, this week we focused on writing Halloween Narratives & we discussed PREWRITING- which includes BRAINSTORMING & OUTLINES.  We then moved on to DRAFTING & co-created (students & I) success criteria for writing a suspense draft!

 

 

 

 

So what this means is that when students choose their Daily 5, they know they must visit 'Work on Writing' a couple of times a week & when they are at this station, they are to work on the determining important ideas graphic organizer based on a current book they have read and/or the brainstorming graphic organizer followed by choosing one of the outline templates and then moving on to drafting in their Writing Workshop notebook.   Students are frequently & briefly conferencing with me about how their writing is going. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students also fill out their Daily 5 chart each day so they know which stations they still need to visit throughout the week. They also complete a reflection periodically about how their Daily 5 went that given day!  I am very proud of the students as they are really on task during Daily 5!!

 



 



 

Thank you to all parents for looking through & signing your child's Reading Workshop notebook!  I will be sending this book home once a month so that you can take a look at my feedback.  Students are to write reading responses on recent reads based on the chart of prompts pasted on the inside cover of the book!  Students complete this activity during Daily 5 when other writing work is completed.

 

 

- In Media, students have chosen partners & are completing an Edmodo assignment on 'Thinking About Perspective'.  I have pasted the Edmodo assignment here:

 

 

For this assignment, you will be working in pairs & finding a current news story that interests you both. Once you have found your current news topic, you will:

- Find an article on 3 different online news sites about the same current event

- List at least 3 similarities & 3 differences between the news sites (for example- one news site must include extra information whereas another site might show a video). Make sure you list the 3 news sites you used & the current news story.

- Which news site offered the most fact- based article and why?

- Which news site offered the most opinion- based article and why?

- Which news site did you prefer and why?

- What do you think is more important in a news story, fact or opinion, and why?

Please post your answers in BOTH your partner & your 'turn in' section.

You will be presenting your assignment using EDMODO- you do not need any other materials such as bristol board.

 

During Media class this week, I taught the students the different features of PowerPoint & the SMART Notebook, which they have access to at school. 

 

 

- In Social Studies, the students will be introduced to Canada's connections to the United States!  In Science, we continue to explore biomes & threats to biomes.  Students are currently working on a Science project through Edmodo, which I have copy & pasted below:

 

For this assignment, you are the teacher & you will need to create a lesson to teach other students on a BIOME of your choice!

You will have the option of choosing to teach your lesson using video, PowerPoint or SMART Notebook- we will discuss these options in class!

Remember, you want to make sure your lesson is not too wordy, but is really interesting so that students WANT to watch it or view it- include videos & pictures!

Your assignment must include:

- Cover page/intro with your name, date & biome choice
- Detailed information about your biome including what it looks like
- What living things are present, which kingdoms are they part of & whether they are vertebrates/invertebrates
- Risks to this biome & how we can help
- Locations of the biome on a world map
- Pictures, graphs, videos etc...
- Bibliography at the end of your presentation listing which websites & books you used to complete your presentation

Please view the video on BIOMES (posted below) to help you with this assignment. Post reply to this assignment & choose your BIOME & the technology you want to use to present your assignment!

You will click 'turn in' when your assignment is complete & you have saved your technology choice to this assignment under 'turn in'.

 

 

 

- In Health, we continue to investigate HEALTHY LIVING through good food choices!  Students are working on comparing nutrition facts for various common foods they enjoy!

 

- In Religion, we have completed our focus on Gratitude & are now taking a close look at PEACEMAKING for the month of November.  We continue to explore our relationships with family & friends in Fully Alive.

 

- In Art, students completed scary Halloween scenes using various materials.  This week, students will be creating a cover page (like a book cover) for their Halloween Narrative!

 

Congratulations to our new student of the week- GABRIEL & to all Friday raffle winners!

 

 

Thank you for reading our weekly update!  I hope everyone has a SAFE & FUN Halloween!!

 

Enjoy your week,

 

Mrs Massaro :)

 



 

Skydives & bittersweet goodbyes!

Hello students & parents!

Please check out this updated October calendar as a few dates have been changed/added:

 



- Math test is now Wednesday instead of Monday to give the students a couple more days to review. 

- October 26 is NO LONGER dress down day.

- October 30th is dress down day & the Halloween dance- thank you to Mr. Paul for being our DJ & to CSAC for organizing!

- October 31st is Halloween, so wear a costume if you wish!


UPCOMING DATES:

- School Mass will take place on November 1st @ 9am in the gym.

- Picture Day is November 6th- SMILE :)

- Progress Reports go home Monday November 12.

- Parent/Teacher Interviews:  Thursday November 15th evening & Friday November 16th morning.


REMINDERS:

- Please continue to bring in Halloween Dance-a-thon $ as it supports our school- thanks!

- Math test is this Wednesday- please review students by practicing Nelson Online & doing practice questions.


WEEKLY UPDATE:

- I was absent a day and a half this week as I am on our School Improvement Team, which is a committee that analyzes school data to determine our learning goals for the year.  Thank you to the students for being so wonderful while I was absent!

- In Math, the students continued to work with Ms. O.B on patterning.  The students also completed a post assessment on the 4 steps to problem solving.  This post assessment will be returned to the students on Monday so that they can review their successes and errors prior to the test on Wednesday. I will have a Math lunch workshop on Tuesday for students who wish to clear up a few questions. In order to prepare for the test on Wednesday, I strongly encourage students to review their Math work & visit these sites:

Nelson Online

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx?ID=a5219ebec84a47659e422d15f9094b2c

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-6/create-line-graphs

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-5/geometric-growth-patterns

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-5/increasing-growth-patterns

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-5/patterns-involving-addition-and-multiplication

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-5/numeric-patterns-word-problems (practice these using 4 step problem solving!!)

http://ca.ixl.com/math/grade-5/mixed-patterns-review


- In Language, we continued with our Daily 5, integrating our new CAFE focus!  Ms. O.B and I continued to work with groups of students during Daily 5 on the comprehension strategy- Determining Important Ideas.  We were really impressed with the amazing contributions students made during our strategy groups and equally impressed with how well the other students worked quietly at their Daily 5 station!  Way to go students!!!  Towards the end of the week, I conferenced individually with each student (a few still left to see) about their specific reading goals for their reading responses.  Parents- please sign your child's Reading Workshop notebook this week so that you can see the feedback I have given.  An example of a common reading goal is expanding on your reading responses by adding more specific examples/evidence from the text to support what you have stated. 

Strategy group for Determining Important Ideas

Chosen text & graphic organizer for DII

Success Criteria & sample DII

 

Daily 5 in action!!

 

Daily 5 in action!!

 

 

Daily 5 & strategy group in action!!



- In Media, we have begun our current news/newspaper unit so the students viewed the video on the SKYDIVE that took place last weekend & completed an online assignment on Edmodo.  Instead of reading a newspaper article & finding the 5 W's (who, what, where, when, why), the students instead were shown the video without any prior discussion and then sent on an online scavenger hunt to find out:

 

Who is this video about?

When did this happen?

Where did it take place?

What happened?

Why is this news piece important?

 

Students then submitted their assignment online through Edmodo & they will receive their grade privately through Edmodo.  The students really enjoyed this assignment!  We will continue to view current news through online news sites and the newspaper. 

 

Viewing the skydive video again through Edmodo

 

 

Searching online news sites for the answers to the 5 W's

 

Working on the online assignment

 

 



- In Social Studies & Science, the students continue to study Canada's Trading Partners & Biomes.  The students have been doing very well on their quizzes for these subjects- keep up the great studying students!! 

 

In Science, the students have signed up for an assignment on biomes & living things through Edmodo.  They are to teach a lesson on one type of biome using one of the following types of technology:  SMART Notebook, PowerPoint, video. 

I am so impressed that so many students want to try out the SMART Notebook! (I will be sharing the SMART Notebook activation key once I test it on my home computer- that way students can access SMART Notebook at home too!) We will be learning about these different technologies in Media as well.  Students are to submit their presentation through Edmodo & the due date is mid November!

 

- We had a 'see you soon' celebration for Ms. O.B Friday afternoon as she is moving on to a new placement/school.  The students have thoroughly enjoyed having her with us, as have I!  She will be missed but we are also so happy for her as she is one step closer to completing her teaching certification.  We wish her the BEST!!

  

 

Good luck Ms. O.B!!

 

The students scrapbook for Ms. O.B :)

 

Thank you to Keon & his Dad for bringing in the cake!

 

Our gift to Ms. O.B

 

Her goodbye treat & note to the students!




 

MORE PICTURES:

So proud of this group! They completed an amazing Media assignment that they didn't have to do. Such initiative!

Step 1 of Ms. O.B's Halloween Art

Step 2

Step 3

 

 

Our Twitter Wall

 

 

 

- Congratulations to our student of the week- MARINA & to all Friday raffle winners!

 

 

Have a wonderful week everyone & thanks for reading!

 

 

Mrs. Massaro

 



 

 

Pumpkins, Apples & SMART Boards!

Hello students & parents!

It was a short week, but we have lots to share!

A couple of reminders for this week:

- Social Studies quiz # 2 on Imports/Exports & History of Trade will take place on Tuesday.  Students- review your notes carefully- specifically the highlighted important facts, which Ms. O.B took up with you in class.

- Ms. O.B's last day with us is Friday.  We are sorry to see her leave, as she has been a wonderful asset to our class, but we wish her all the best possible!

Weekly Update:

- I attended a very interesting & informative workshop this week on SMART Boards.  I am hoping that we will be able to begin using the SMART Board periodically in our classroom as there are so many interactive and engaging activities available!  Please take a moment to watch this video about SMART Boards:

SMART Boards have a feature called the SMART Notebook, which can also be accessed on our school computers and your home computers- I will share how to access this excellent program as soon as I get the activation key (password).  The SMART Notebook is very useful as it functions like PowerPoint, but is more interactive and links to the curriculum.  Please watch this video about how to use the SMART Notebook- remember, the students will be able to access this at home!

- In Language, we have started the DAILY CAFE, which is is also a new Literacy program that involves students choosing specific literacy goals to work on at each of the Daily 5 stations. Students conference with me individually and in strategy groups in order to receive focused lessons on their selected literacy goal when they are at their Daily 5 station. The "Café menu" consists of literacy goals including:

Comprehension- I understand what I read
Accuracy- I can read the words
Fluency- I can read accurately with expression and understand what I read
Expand Vocabulary- I know, find and use interesting words

This week, we studied the Terry Fox story and focused on the comprehension strategy- DETERMINING IMPORTANT IDEAS, which we are also practicing in our Social Sciences as well when we read text and highlight important details.  As a class, we read the Terry Fox story and filled out a Determining Important Ideas graphic organizer, which consisted of a main idea, 3 supporting details and a summarizing paragraph.  When students visited the 'work on writing' Daily 5 station, they were asked to fill out a DII graphic organizer for a text they have read recently.  While students visited their Daily 5 stations, Ms. O.B & myself met with our first strategy group to reinforce the DII strategy using a new story:

 

We will continue to meet with more groups next week and work on other CAFE Literacy goals, specifically Determining Important Ideas.  I want to congratulate the students for working SO WELL during the Daily 5 while I am meeting with a group of students at the front.  Keep it up students!!!

 

- In Math, the students were given a mid chapter quiz and the results will soon be shared!  We are nearing the end of patterns, so students should be reviewing their work and Nelson Math as the unit test is next Monday.  The students will also be given a post assessment on 4 step problem solving this week to see if they understand more from the pre assessment, so students, please review the 4 steps to problem solving:

 

 

- In Social Studies, Ms. O.B continues to study imports and exports with the students:

 

 

 

- In Science, Ms. O.B continues to explore different biomes with the class through video clips and classification charts.  The students had their kingdoms, vertebrates and invertebrates quiz on Friday- results coming soon!

 

- As a celebration of FALL & all things Fall, the students engaged in various  activities involving the estimating & weighing of the pumpkin, brainstorming descriptive words for the sight, feel, smell & taste of the pumpkin, apples and apple cider!  It was a fun way to celebrate our Canadian Fall!  Thank you to Ms. O.B for bringing in the apple cookies :)

 

 

 

19 pounds!!!  Great guess Kimberley!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- A big congrats to our new Student of the week- LOVRO & to all Friday raffle winners!

 

 

Thanks for reading & have a great week!  Check back this week for more details on the SMART Notebook activation key.

 

 

Mrs Massaro :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Hello students & parents!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of great food & company! 

I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to attend our Curriculum Night last week!  I was so happy with the great turnout as it was so nice to touch base with you all & share curriculum plans for the school year.

A few reminders for this week:

- Tomorrow is the last day to bring in October Scholastics orders- please provide a cheque written out to Scholastics.

- Social Studies quiz went home today for parent signature & student correction.

- I will be absent on Thursday as I will be at a workshop, but students will still have a Math Chapter 1 mid chapter quiz- they should prepare by practicing Nelson Online & reviewing lessons 1-4.

- The Science quiz on vertebrates, invertebrates & the kingdoms will be on Friday- students should watch the videos posted on this blog from a previous entry and review their Science notes in order to prepare.

- We will be celebrating 'All About Fall' this Friday with apple & pumpkin activities!

Weekly Update:

- In Math, the students received their Chapter 2 test back & the class average was a B+, which is a great average- way to go students!  There will be a re-test available for students who need it this week once we have a review session at lunch.  Last week, we continued to work on Chapter 1 with Ms. O.B, exploring patterns.  Please see last weeks blog post for useful links to help with this chapter.  As I mentioned in the reminders, there will be a mid chapter quiz this week and a unit test in about a week or so. 

- In Language, we continued the Daily 5 with our final station- WORD WORK.  When students are at this station, there are various Word Work activities to choose from in order to work on expanding their vocabulary.  Some activities include handouts on exploring vocabulary by filling out a graphic organizer for a new word by writing its definition, antonym, synonym, putting the term in your own words & placing the word in a sentence. Other handouts include brainstorming words and unscrambling words.  Students also have the option of using our class Bananagrams (set of letter tiles) to create and build on words by participating in the game of Bananagrams, Scrabble and/or Jeff's Words (a creating words game a friend shared with me).

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the students have been introduced to all stations of the Daily 5, we were able to test out a full Daily 5 rotation last week, which means that the students visited all 5 stations at least once.  The students have a checklist in their Daily 5 duos so that they can monitor which stations they need to visit each week as it is important to remember that each station must be visited at least once each week.  I also have my own checklist as well so that I can monitor that the students are visiting all stations.  Which stations they choose on a daily basis is their choice, as is their book choice, which is what makes Daily 5 so appealing to the students!  The pictures below show the photos I took as I walked around the classroom during 1 Daily 5 rotation last week. It is amazing to see all students on task, working hard & enjoying the Daily 5 choice they have made!

 

Read to Self

 

Read to Self

 

Read to Someone

 

Word Work

 

Word Work

 

Work on Writing- Pen Pal letter

 

Work on Writing- Pen Pal letter

 

Listen to Reading

 

- In Media, students continued to work on their group current news presentations:

 

 

 

 

- In Religion & Art this past week, Ms. O.B introduced October's virtue- GRATITUDE.  The students created colourful turkeys and created a beautiful poem about what they are thankful for.

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- For our Biodiversity unit in Science, we visited the ZOO on Friday!  It was a great trip!  We had a 2 hour walking tour where students learned all sorts of interesting facts about biodiversity, followed by an opportunity to touch the stingrays!  We were all exhausted by the end of the trip but it was worth it!  I would have shared more pictures from our Zoo trip, but unfortunately my camera stopped working!

 

 

 

 

More pics:

 

 

Word Work fun!

 

Love that Edmodo is the top choice!

 

 

 

Thank you for checking out our weekly blog update! Have a great week!

 

Mrs. Massaro :)