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.
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 :)
