Thursday, 31 January

We started the day with a little cursive writing.  The exercise is useful for three purposes: 1) to practice our cursive writing; 2) to practice the components of a good paragraph, especially the topic sentence and closer; and, 3) to act as a springboard for discussion on the topic covered that day.  After writing, we read Scroll 14 from the Ostia novel.  We also wrote a one-sentence summary (topic sentence) of the chapter.  Next came band.

Test Question

Test Question

After recess we read for 10 minutes and then started math.  I returned the mid-unit math tests that we did yesterday.  We debriefed a few questions and then did the intro to the next lesson that looks at comparing percent with fractions.  There is no math homework.

After lunch we watched and discussed more of yesterday's documentary on the threat to our water supply.  We then participated in personal research towards our Egypt inquiry projects.  Some students took a long time to get settled.  I know that this is new, but we will have limited class time so we need to transition more quickly.  By the end of the session there was a quiet hum in the room as people worked - let's try to achieve that more quickly tomorrow.  We ended the day with basketball in the gym.  Now that we know the skills drills, things are going well: thanks for being good about holding the balls during instructions.

1. Tomorrow is our first p.e. class with Nicky, our yoga instructor.  Please wear comfortable clothes to school, or bring clothes to change into.  I've booked two 30 minute sessions to start, but we can see how it goes in terms of requesting more sessions.  We have limited school funds.  Would parents be willing to pay $2 per student per additional session.  Please comment below or e-mail me to let me know.

2. IMPORTANT MEETING: Tuesday 19 FEB: AT 6:30 P.M.
I'd like to hold a parent info meeting to discuss the winter snowshoe trips to Bachelor Cabin in Tetrahedron Provincial Park (near Tuwanek).  I will be asking for drivers - some will need 4-wheel drive vehicles.  I'll be sending a notice home shortly.

Wednesday, 30 January

Today we started the day with art - lots of art!  We set up the room and got right to completing our action items from last week.  We issued all of the materials - our primary colour palettes included white today.  While the kids (and I) painted, Joanna hung our art all around the room; we are now awash with colour!  It is aways so interesting to see how varied the response will be to the same set of instructions.  Thanks 1,000,000, Joanna.

After recess we tidied up art and then moved on to math.  The 7s had a mid-unit exam.  Once everyone was finished, I went over a few questions on the board.  Parents, do you remember being stumped on a question back when you were in school, and then having the teacher show you how to solve it and it seemed "so simple when he does it"?  Well, some of our mathematicians experienced that today.  I want everyone to work hard but it is important to remember that if you fail to meet your goal, you may opt to re-write any test.  There is no math homework.

After lunch we read our own books for 15 minutes and then transitioned to science.  It's funny, yesterday we had a discussion that eventually asked if we should share the microwave in our class with our neighbours.  Today, we viewed the first half of a documentary that had many of us asking if we would share our water.  In some cases, the response was not the same.  Ask your children about the documentary; they had some very interesting perspectives.  Here is a link to the movie Last Call to the Oasis:

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episode/last-call-at-the-oasis.html

We ended the day in the gym where we had our second basketball session.  We're working on dibbling and passing.  Today we closed the class with a few minutes of scrimmage.

Band tomorrow: please remember your instruments.

Think: Egypt research!

Tuesday, 29 January

Today we began with a short cursive writing practice and then we read two "scrolls" from the Ostia novel (12 - 13 or should I say, XII and XIII).  For Scroll 12 we wrote a one-sentence topic sentence/summary.  It is difficult to try to squeeze a whole chapter into one sentence.  We shared our writing so everyone could hear a variety of responses.  After recess we had the QMUNITY Gab Youth presentation.  The two speakers handled their talk very professionally and respectfully.  I learned the history of some of the current homophobic slurs and that was very interesting for me.  I thought the class was very engaged and the students had many ideas to share with the presenters and one another.  Hopefully we'll all think before we consider saying, "That's so gay."  If you want more information on this group, here is the link to their website: QMUNITY

After lunch we worked on our social studies inquiry projects.  Now that everyone has a question to answer, and now that we've had a chance to refine our sub-topics, we're ready to move forward.  Students do not need to work together in their groups because each is doing his or her own research.  Each will also be graded on the merits of his or her own demonstration of learning.  Parents can ask students when and how they plan to conduct their research at home because i expect that everyone will have to do some out-of-class research.  I'll give updates as they become available.

Monday, 28 January

We began the day with an introduction to the parts of a story - what we call the elements of fiction.  The class also read Scroll XI in the Ostia novel with a visiting teacher while I met briefly with staff from Elphinstone who were inquiring about how they might better plan for this year's grade 7s with their course offerings for next year.  We will be using the elements to help us discuss the novel as we move on.  At 9:40 the class moved to band.

Solutions to the quiz

After recess we wrapped up our discussion of the ways to examine "character" and then transitioned to math.  The 7s did a pre-test and will write their mid-unit test on Wednesday (we have a presentation during math tomorrow or else we would be doing it then).  There is no math homework other than to review for Wednesday's test (some of you found weak spots today).

Inquiry Groupings

After lunch I selected the groups for the socials inquiry projects.  I know that not everyone is perfectly happy with the way I created the groups, but I wanted to ensure that people worked a little outside their normal peer groupings.  Where possible I tried to ensure everyone had at least one "friend," but there were other dynamics that I needed to manage and so that didn't always work.  I hope everyone "can live with it;" this is a short-term collaborative project - please celebrate the autonomy you do have and let go of any disappointment. Students had the tough job of coming together to try to decide on a central inquiry question that their groups could use in this project.  This is even difficult for adults to do, so I was expecting that some of the students would experience tension during this process.  Things actually went smoother than I expected.  In fact, I thought the class showed remarkable resilience and flexibility.  I was able to help some of the groups with the wording of their questions, others didn't did any.  We'll have to continue tomorrow to tune up the exact wording and split up the work.

We ended the day with p.e.  We tried some basketball today.  I'm no basketball coach, so we settled for some basic ball handling development.  Thanks everyone, for holding the balls when asked; you all did well.  There is no homework other than to consider your inquiry project.

Tomorrow morning is our class's turn for the PrideSpeak presentation.  As was explained in the notice home, the grade 6/7 presentation will consider bullying, homophobia and transphobia in schools.  Please remember that there will be a questions/answers session for parents in the library tomorrow from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Friday, January 25

Today I introduced the class to their three-week inquiry project on Egypt.  The students wrote first impressions of the process below.
I will select the seven-person groups on Monday.  You can see from the notes that this project will have a three-week timeline.

After recess we read for 15 minutes and then started math.  In Math 7 we did a quiz to prepare for the test on Monday.  Ordering mixed fractions (decimals and common fractions) seems to be the most time consuming - practice.  There is no homework, but our test will be on Tuesday, so you have one more class to master these concepts.  

After lunch we worked with our little buddies on their provinces projects.  We then read Scroll IX and X in ...Ostia.  I did not ask for chapter summaries this time, but some students did them anyway.  We ended the day with a talking circle.  I feel it's important to ensure everyone has a voice, and the circles are a good way to manage that.  What we say in the circle is confidential to those in the circle, but I can report that the talking stick that Simon made for me as a gift was very well received; it was nice to have a real stick to pass this time around.  Because our talk went into our scheduled p.e. block, I committed to making it up at a later date.

Don't forget we have band on Monday.

Thursday, Jan 24

We started the day by watching this video and then writing our own sentences.  Dan Pink's Question
I allowed the students to post their sentences anonymously so they could be honest without having to feel they were exposing themselves.  I wonder if we know each other well enough to be able to pair the sentences with their composers? At 9:40 we had band.

After band we did a word search puzzle that included terms/ideas that the students came in contact with after lunch during the "TCO2" taking care of ourselves presentation.  The words were: sexual exploitation, internet, image, safe people, digital dirt, reach out, safety, trust, online, computer, ismart,webcam and respect.  After that, we transitioned to math where we started with a brief quiz and then finished our mid-unit review.

After lunch we saw the last water cycle song.  It was worth the wait.  We then had the TCO2 presentation.  I thought the presenters did a very good job speaking about the issue of Internet safety, especially the topic of sexual exploitation.  The students were engaged and showed through their comments and questions that they understand the issues.  I'm pretty aware of this problem, but it's good that we all get tuned-up from time to time.  Thanks to TCO2!  We ended the day with a game of indoor soccer.  There is no homework for anybody.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Wednesday, 23 January

We started the day learning some of the basic colours in French. Here is a screenshot of the table and a link to the page: Colours link

Next, we did our art lesson with Joanna.  We did two action pieces that incorporated painting and re-scaling a previously done piece.  The class went very well and there was a great tone to the lesson.  We had to end a bit early for a fire drill.  That too went very well.  Almost everyone was able to stay silent throughout and that really helped model good conduct for the younger students - thanks!

After recess we tidied up art and then transitioned to math.

Today's was a good lesson.  We did a number of examples and dug deep into the concepts of converting fractions to decimals and also simplifying fractions.  We'll be ready for our test any day now.

After lunch we read for pleasure and then read two chapters of the ...Ostia novel.  We then wrote two chapter summaries, each with a topic sentence and three supporting sentences.  Those should be completed at home if you were unable to complete them in class.  We ended the day with p.e.  Thanks for another good day.

Don't forget tomorrow is band.