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.
