Another week of fascination, work and new insights for all of us in 6B! It is hard to believe that each week holds so many new and interesting things for us, but they do!
I'll start with the highlight of the week. In Social Studies we had a mock provincial election, complete with 5 parties, campaign posters and debates! This was led by our own Mr. Nardella, who guided the kids through the steps necessary to create an election. The excitement was high as we approached the polls, and there was little appetite to wait to see who won. In the end, it was our Wildrose Party winning a minority government, with an NDP official opposition, and the Liberal Party a close third. The PC's and the Alberta Party fared far worse, barely managing official party status! We will continue with this next week, seeing if the kids can debate and get passage of a bill before the Christmas break.
Next up was the finale of the Science unit Evidence and Investigation. We started the week with an experiment to determine the constitute colors used to make black ink (chromatography) and finished with our unit final test. We will do a little wrap up next week, but otherwise the Sky is the limit, as we start our next unit Sky Science (astronomy) in January (and it feels weird to say that already!).
In LA we finished up on our composition assignment looking at how to take the compact humor of a Garfield cartoon, create our own based on the pictures and then draw out the writing into a fully-formed paragraph. It was interesting to see how the humor developed (or didn't!) in the different paragraphs. And we are nearly done the Medieval Christmas work, fittingly just before Christmas comes upon us.
In CE we have spent the week exploring the meaning of our favorite stories about or from Jesus in the gospels. The kids are working on explaining what the stories are about and why they are important for us still. There is lots of enthusiasm around this assignment.
Just a note to let you know that next Friday we plan to do a pizza lunch, so there will be a notice going home about the cost (anticipated to be $5) to purchase the pizza. More details will also be coming out about our celebration day on the 23rd, so watch for that next week! Have a wonderful, warm and cozy, weekend and all the blessings of God be on you as we head into Christmas!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Week Twelve
This week was another wild and wonderful one in grade 6 and in 6B in specific!
We spent more time this week exploring and identifying the ways in which we can create amazing writing, by expanding our list of sentence starters to include the 'phrase' starter. This starter takes advantage of our old friend the preposition to create a bigger 'hook' for our sentence (draws our reader into what we are writing). Then we used this tool to create a composition about our favorite Christmas decoration or tree ornament. Working from memory, the kids were to describe their favorite ornament and why it was so special. I am looking forward to reading what they decided on! Meanwhile in reading we are working on wrapping up our medieval Christmas unit.
In social studies, Mr. Nardella continues to guide our group through the ins and outs of the provincial government. This week in particular we looked at the creation of a bill and the election process. We are all appreciative of the processes that go into ensuring our government works to represent the interests of the people of Alberta.
In science, we are finishing up on our Evidence and Investigation unit. In particular this week we covered fabric analysis, handwriting analysis and dye chromatography. I have also handed out a study sheet for the unit test next week to help guide the students in their preparation for the test.
In CE we had a great discussion around different stories to do with Jesus and the questions they raise in our heads. This lead to a great discussion talking about the Jewish identity and how anti-Semitism works and what it can lead to. I was very impressed with the level of thinking going on around this topic.
Finally, I wanted to make a quick note about the hampers and class gift exchange. The hampers are located in my room and I have sent home a complete list of the items we are collecting. As a class we divided up the list to ensure that we have some of everything coming in, and also to ensure that no one was bringing in more than could be afforded. However, if you desire to bring items, including gifts not on the list, above and beyond the amount your child volunteered for, you are welcome to do so, though it is not an obligation at all. While the gift exchange is something that the students wanted to do, and was organised by them. I did put a cap on the spending at $10, but I encouraged the kids to think about personal things they could do (baking, in particular, is always appreciated by others). Again, the intent of this is not to lay another financial burden on an already expensive time of year, but to have fun and continue to build community.
Have a great weekend and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.
We spent more time this week exploring and identifying the ways in which we can create amazing writing, by expanding our list of sentence starters to include the 'phrase' starter. This starter takes advantage of our old friend the preposition to create a bigger 'hook' for our sentence (draws our reader into what we are writing). Then we used this tool to create a composition about our favorite Christmas decoration or tree ornament. Working from memory, the kids were to describe their favorite ornament and why it was so special. I am looking forward to reading what they decided on! Meanwhile in reading we are working on wrapping up our medieval Christmas unit.
In social studies, Mr. Nardella continues to guide our group through the ins and outs of the provincial government. This week in particular we looked at the creation of a bill and the election process. We are all appreciative of the processes that go into ensuring our government works to represent the interests of the people of Alberta.
In science, we are finishing up on our Evidence and Investigation unit. In particular this week we covered fabric analysis, handwriting analysis and dye chromatography. I have also handed out a study sheet for the unit test next week to help guide the students in their preparation for the test.
In CE we had a great discussion around different stories to do with Jesus and the questions they raise in our heads. This lead to a great discussion talking about the Jewish identity and how anti-Semitism works and what it can lead to. I was very impressed with the level of thinking going on around this topic.
Finally, I wanted to make a quick note about the hampers and class gift exchange. The hampers are located in my room and I have sent home a complete list of the items we are collecting. As a class we divided up the list to ensure that we have some of everything coming in, and also to ensure that no one was bringing in more than could be afforded. However, if you desire to bring items, including gifts not on the list, above and beyond the amount your child volunteered for, you are welcome to do so, though it is not an obligation at all. While the gift exchange is something that the students wanted to do, and was organised by them. I did put a cap on the spending at $10, but I encouraged the kids to think about personal things they could do (baking, in particular, is always appreciated by others). Again, the intent of this is not to lay another financial burden on an already expensive time of year, but to have fun and continue to build community.
Have a great weekend and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Week Eleven
A short week, so a short post.
We have been continuing to work on the Medieval Christmas project with a composition on a Christmas tree thrown in for good measure. Again, I remain impressed with the work the kids are bringing to me and continue to challenge them to achieve higher. We hopefully will finish up on medieval Christmas in the next week and a half.
With Science, the highlight of the week was working on detecting latent fingerprints with various everyday powders, including flour, baking powder, corn starch, chalk dust (calcium carbonate) and powdered clay. It was a great time, identifying which powders (on different surfaces) worked the best.
In Social Studies, Mr. Nardella took us down the route of examining the roles and responsibilities in our provincial legislature. It is adding a new level of appreciation for what our government does for us in Alberta.
And in CE we continued to explore the teachings of Jesus and discuss the ways in which our faith applies to our lives.
Overall, another great week (though shortened) and topped off with a chance to meet many of you and discuss how your child is progressing. Have a great weekend and talk to you next week.
We have been continuing to work on the Medieval Christmas project with a composition on a Christmas tree thrown in for good measure. Again, I remain impressed with the work the kids are bringing to me and continue to challenge them to achieve higher. We hopefully will finish up on medieval Christmas in the next week and a half.
With Science, the highlight of the week was working on detecting latent fingerprints with various everyday powders, including flour, baking powder, corn starch, chalk dust (calcium carbonate) and powdered clay. It was a great time, identifying which powders (on different surfaces) worked the best.
In Social Studies, Mr. Nardella took us down the route of examining the roles and responsibilities in our provincial legislature. It is adding a new level of appreciation for what our government does for us in Alberta.
And in CE we continued to explore the teachings of Jesus and discuss the ways in which our faith applies to our lives.
Overall, another great week (though shortened) and topped off with a chance to meet many of you and discuss how your child is progressing. Have a great weekend and talk to you next week.
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