Shamrocks, Snow Tubing & even more PBL!

Hello students & parents!

I hope everyone enjoyed their March Break! We are back to our regular routine at school with only about 3 months left this school year- I just can't believe it! I will greatly miss this class but I know we will make the most of the rest of the year together!

REMINDERS:

- Ch. 8 Math quiz/test this Wednesday! Students should review their workbook & textbook.

- Fort York trip will take place this Thursday. Students must bring in their permission forms/$ by Monday.

- Friday is Good Friday and Monday is Easter Monday, so no school on these days. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter!

- Space PBL presentations will take place Thursday April 4th & Friday April 5th.


WEEKLY UPDATE:

- In Math, we have started Chapter 8- Area. Students should continue to practice "Area" by clicking on the Math sites on the right side of this blog. In addition, students should continue using Manga & Prodigy- our Game Based Learning sites! I am so happy to see & hear that so many students love using these sites- what a fun way to learn more!

- In Language, we continue to work on Daily 5 and we have started to explore the comprehension strategy INFERRING.   We are currently reading relevant news articles from the site http://teachkidsnews.com/ and students are working on an inferring activity based on an article about our new Pope Francis on Edmodo.

- In the Social Sciences, we continue to explore Space & First Nations. The students are working well on their Space PBL and are given time to work with their group members during Science class time to create a new planet within our solar system. It is amazing to see the students independently researching different aspects of our solar system in order for them to make information about their new planet accurate! Students also practiced CRITIC FRIENDS- which means, two groups meet and one listens and constructively critiques the other group's project ideas. Students are using awesome new technology like Sliderocket and Edcanvas to display their presentation- way to go students!!

CRITIC FRIENDS

CRITIC FRIENDS PROMPT SHEET

PBL BRAINSTORMING

SPACE PBL GROUP

SPACE PBL GROUP

SPACE PBL GROUP



SPACE PBL GROUP

- In Religion, we prepare for Easter and what that means as Catholics. The virtue of the month is Forgiveness. On Friday, our school participated in a "Witness to Faith Celebration" through a mass and each class performed a tableau of one of the stations of the cross. In Fully Alive, I am meeting with the girls and boys separately to discuss Unit 3- Created Sexual:  Male and Female. This allows the students opportunities to ask more questions comfortably.

Tableau of Station 8

- In Art, we are starting a new PBL activity! Students are eager to work with their partner and with my help, create an exciting Art lesson, which sends a powerful message about a real life issue!

 

 

- The students presented their Black History PBL activities this week and wow, I was super impressed! Please ask your child to share their presentation with you or come by & visit as the presentations are posted outside the classroom. Students also completed self and peer evaluations and were given their final marks, which were sent home. Most students used FAKEBOOK, which ended up working out really well! I have posted one example below:

http://www.classtools.net/fb/58/6JP3fC (click link)

OTHER PICS:

SNOW VALLEY SNOW TUBING TRIP



THANKS STUDENTS FOR ENCOURAGING ME TO GO DOWN THE HILL!

Parents, if you would like a picture of your child at Snow Valley, please email me at evita.massaro@tcdsb.org and I will send it to you as I got a close-up of each student!




BACK TO SCHOOL SHAMROCK COOKIES!

Thank you for reading everyone! Enjoy a wonderful EASTER with your families this weekend!

Mrs Massaro :)

PBL & GBL!!

Hello students & parents!

We are one week away from March break and while the students absolutely deserve a break, I am encouraging them to work on their PBL & GBL tasks if they have some free time!

So what is PBL & GBL??

PBL stands for Project Based Learning.  PBL has proven to be successful as it can incorporate many subjects and it allows student CHOICE in their project, and ultimately gives students ownership in their learning.  We are currently working on two PBL activities as shown below:

BLACK HISTORY PBL:  Students are working in pairs & working towards the success criteria we worked on as a class. Students collected their own materials through the internet & the library.

SPACE PBL:  Students are working in small groups and have decided on roles for each group member. Students have also collected materials from online, the library and I have supplied students with resources that I have on space as well.

GBL stands for Game Based Learning.  This is also a practice in education that has demonstrated much success as students are engaged in the learning process through games! In our class, and at home, students are frequently participating in online activities to help them further develop their skills in all areas. 

We will be trying out GBL with a couple of new sites- Mangahigh: www.mangahigh.com and Prodigy:  www.smarteacher.ca (thank you to my friend Jeff for sharing this site!).  I have already signed up the students with Mangahigh so that they can play Math games & work on Math challenges both at home & school. In order for students to play Prodigy at home, you will need to download the program on your home computer- I will send home a letter this week as to what Prodigy is all about & how to download it. Students will be able to play Prodigy while at school, but extra practice at home would be even better!

The pictures below are of our Math lesson this week playing & competing against other schools in multiplication drills using Mangahigh:

 

 

WEEKLY UPDATE:

 

 

- In Math, we completed Chapter 7, 2D Geometry with flying colours- an average of A-, way to go students! We are now working on completing Chapter 6- Multiplication & Division.  We will be having the final unit test this week so students are strongly encouraged to review their multiplication tables as this is a very important part of the chapter!! Students can use games & challenges on www.mangahigh.com to help them review their multiplication skills! Remember that the Math sites listed on the right side of the blog are also useful to practice Math skills.

 



 

 

- In Language, we continue to explore Black History through Daily 5:

Read to Self/Others:  readings on various crucial Black History figures.

Word Work:  researching & understanding words important to Black History.

Listen to Reading:  viewing of various videos & articles on important Black History figures.

Work on Writing:  students are working on their persuasive draft, weekly journal topic and/or writing back their penpal.

- In Art, the students completed their amazing 6 WORD MEMOIRS- please enjoy them below:

 

 

Finally, thank you to my AMAZING & THOUGHTFUL STUDENTS for throwing me a surprise birthday party- I will never forget it!! :)

Have a great week everyone & a fun and safe March Break!!

Mrs Massaro :)