This was another full week, and we were very grateful to be able to have the time to go through everything we needed to do.
In LA we have been working on our Medieval Christmas unit. What we are doing is exploring many of the traditions that have come down to us from the middle ages in Europe, and some of those that have not. Each student is completing exercises, either in reading, word study or writing and then checking to see how they did. There is a large number of activities, so our hope is to have this unit completed just before Christmas. We are also writing a descriptive paragraph using a picture of a Christmas tree which will be due next Wednesday. I am again looking forward to seeing the amazing creations the class will be bringing forward.
In Science we spent the week examining footprints and fingerprints. The class was very keen to learn about these aspects of forensic science and especially enjoyed fingerprinting themselves using graphite (pencil lead) and tape. Make sure you ask to see your child's complete fingerprint set! We also learned the four classifications of fingerprints and how ridge characteristics further individualise the prints. All in all, we learned some cool new things.
In Social Studies we moved beyond the study of local government to examining the structure of our provincial government and the layout of the legislature in Edmonton. This was a good way for us to learn about how our political structure supports the processes of democracy in Alberta. We will be wrapping up our local and provincial government unit soon and hopefully start on ancient Athenian democracy before Christmas.
In CE we had a great chapel, continuing to examine the story of how God moved in history, through the life of Abraham to bring us closer to Him. And we spent some time in class examining salt and light, to see how the beneficial properties of these substances are analogous to how Christians are called to make this world a better place, simply by our presence.
All in all, a lot accomplished this week, and one that we enjoyed immensely (despite some weird weather!).
Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you all next week for interviews!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Week Nine
Because some of us went away, apparently Mother Nature felt it would be funny to bring us back to full-on winter! So it was actually not bad being back inside our warm classroom, with no windows to remind us of the snow and the cold that was swirling around outside.
And inside we got to jump into a whole bunch of new and interesting things too! For instance, our new schedule. We are now together a whole lot more as a homeroom group. The previous schedule was working well to create community, but it was creating some other pressures that weren't going away. So for the benefit of all the community of grade 6 here, we made some minor adjustments to the schedule. Here in 6B we are not significantly affected (I still do all the LA, Social and Science, with everyone now in CE with me) but it is nice to see my whole class more frequently. It gives me the flexibility of going overtime when I have back to back social and science classes, so that I can continue to make learning the priority and not the schedule!
Also, we have a new observer in our classroom too. Mr Nardella has joined us from St. Mary's as a teacher observer and will be with us for the next 6 weeks. I am very pleased to be able to pass on the things we are doing here in 6B for the benefit of his training, and to allow him to join our community to add his perspectives and enrich our learning (as he did already today, sharing about the authentication of art and how forensic science relates to that discipline).
Speaking of science, we jumped right into our new unit, Evidence and Investigation. It is a very interesting and challenging unit, as we learn all the skills of forensic science and how it works to solve crimes. Already we have talked about different professions that employ the skills of forensic science and how wide a range of occupations rely on forensic scientific knowledge.
In social studies, we are continuing our studies into local government. We identified the services local governments provide and which services different types of local governments do not provide.
In LA we finished our 'Scary Story' mini-unit with the presentations of what the kids made. It was very neat to see the original videos, stories and songs which were presented. Next week we will continue to create some compositions and get into more reading work.
In CE, I was very excited to have the entire 6B group with me. We are starting on the 'Sermon on the Mount' (Matt 5-7) and I have asked the kids to research the valuable properties of salt and light to have ready for our class on Tuesday. Memory verses are due on Tuesdays of every week now and I encourage the kids to prepare a few minutes every night by readin their verse at least once, so the verse stays in their heads more than a few minutes after the memory verse test.
I hope everyone had a great break, but is still excited to be back. I am very pleased with the new configuration and hope you and your child find it helpful too. All the best and I look forward to hearing any of your questions or concerns (only 7 days until report cards come out!) God bless.
And inside we got to jump into a whole bunch of new and interesting things too! For instance, our new schedule. We are now together a whole lot more as a homeroom group. The previous schedule was working well to create community, but it was creating some other pressures that weren't going away. So for the benefit of all the community of grade 6 here, we made some minor adjustments to the schedule. Here in 6B we are not significantly affected (I still do all the LA, Social and Science, with everyone now in CE with me) but it is nice to see my whole class more frequently. It gives me the flexibility of going overtime when I have back to back social and science classes, so that I can continue to make learning the priority and not the schedule!
Also, we have a new observer in our classroom too. Mr Nardella has joined us from St. Mary's as a teacher observer and will be with us for the next 6 weeks. I am very pleased to be able to pass on the things we are doing here in 6B for the benefit of his training, and to allow him to join our community to add his perspectives and enrich our learning (as he did already today, sharing about the authentication of art and how forensic science relates to that discipline).
Speaking of science, we jumped right into our new unit, Evidence and Investigation. It is a very interesting and challenging unit, as we learn all the skills of forensic science and how it works to solve crimes. Already we have talked about different professions that employ the skills of forensic science and how wide a range of occupations rely on forensic scientific knowledge.
In social studies, we are continuing our studies into local government. We identified the services local governments provide and which services different types of local governments do not provide.
In LA we finished our 'Scary Story' mini-unit with the presentations of what the kids made. It was very neat to see the original videos, stories and songs which were presented. Next week we will continue to create some compositions and get into more reading work.
In CE, I was very excited to have the entire 6B group with me. We are starting on the 'Sermon on the Mount' (Matt 5-7) and I have asked the kids to research the valuable properties of salt and light to have ready for our class on Tuesday. Memory verses are due on Tuesdays of every week now and I encourage the kids to prepare a few minutes every night by readin their verse at least once, so the verse stays in their heads more than a few minutes after the memory verse test.
I hope everyone had a great break, but is still excited to be back. I am very pleased with the new configuration and hope you and your child find it helpful too. All the best and I look forward to hearing any of your questions or concerns (only 7 days until report cards come out!) God bless.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Week 8
Another week down in 6B, and topped off with a well earned break.
This week we got some interesting work done despite heading into the break. In LA we worked on some projects to do with our scary stories. It is fun to see the level of interest and self-motivation in the different groups. Each group is taking it's own approach to explaining their story the best way they can. In composition we took a little break so we didn't have any work carry over the holiday. But in grammar we spent some time creating skits to explain how the parts of a sentence function. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to have a video of what we did up after the break (having left my camera in the classroom - argh!).
In Science we finished our Trees and Forests unit with our unit test. I am very proud to say that everyone improved in their performance from the first time we tok the test, usually between 30 & 100%. Next up is Evidence and Investigation, which always proves to be a very enjoyable unit.
In social studies we had a special guest visit us, Don Zech, chair of the Palliser School Board who came to tell us about how local government affects us at the classroom level. A big thank you goes out to Ms. Tiessen for arranging this special visit for us.
And in CE this week we continued With our investigation into the early ministry of Jesus wi th our assignment on the Gospel of Matthew. And we were ministered to by the rocking styles of Jon Buller.
All in all a great week. I hope you all have a great break and I look forward to seeing everyone back in j ust under two weeks.
This week we got some interesting work done despite heading into the break. In LA we worked on some projects to do with our scary stories. It is fun to see the level of interest and self-motivation in the different groups. Each group is taking it's own approach to explaining their story the best way they can. In composition we took a little break so we didn't have any work carry over the holiday. But in grammar we spent some time creating skits to explain how the parts of a sentence function. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to have a video of what we did up after the break (having left my camera in the classroom - argh!).
In Science we finished our Trees and Forests unit with our unit test. I am very proud to say that everyone improved in their performance from the first time we tok the test, usually between 30 & 100%. Next up is Evidence and Investigation, which always proves to be a very enjoyable unit.
In social studies we had a special guest visit us, Don Zech, chair of the Palliser School Board who came to tell us about how local government affects us at the classroom level. A big thank you goes out to Ms. Tiessen for arranging this special visit for us.
And in CE this week we continued With our investigation into the early ministry of Jesus wi th our assignment on the Gospel of Matthew. And we were ministered to by the rocking styles of Jon Buller.
All in all a great week. I hope you all have a great break and I look forward to seeing everyone back in j ust under two weeks.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)