Merry Christmas!

                                           
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of my students, their families, and all loyal blog followers (hi Mom!)and very Merry Christmas!  Rest, relax, and enjoy the time off!  Don't forget:  Jesus is the reason for the season.
                  

Congratulations and WAR ON WORDS

Congratulations to our class!  We brought in enough coins and bills to feed 46 people at the Downtown Mission on Christmas Day.  What generosity!  That contributed to our school total of

   340 MEALS !!!!!

Everyone who contributed should feel great about their caring and understanding, not to mention their part in another social justice initiative!

Coming to a classroom near you....................

In January we are beginning a "WAR ON WORDS".  Our learning goal is to expand each student's vocabulary to include many more sophisticated words.  To do that, each student has been assigned a day to present their "word of the day".  Please check the calendar for your date.  On your child's day, they must present a sophisticated word that grade six students could use (no medical terms please!) to replace a common word or phrase they already know.  They must tell the part of speech, any inflected forms, the meaning in their own words and use it in a good sentence.  The words can come from their daily reading at home or at school; the newspaper; something they heard on television, radio, etc.; or the thesaurus.  This assignment can be done at home or at school but must be ready to present the morning of their day.

example:

vivacious (adj.) - means lively, crazy
sentence - The crowd is always vivacious at Spitfire games, especially when they win.
inflected forms - vivaciously (adv.), vivaciousness (n.)

You Are More Beautiful than You Think

While learning how to identify important and supporting details and crafting a main idea, we have been reading about the negative influence that the media has on us - especially young women.  It is also very important that young men do not support the common beliefs held in the media.  As part of our healthy choices unit, we are learning to decipher mixed messages in advertisements, television, and movies, and use courage and confidence to ignore them.  The main idea:  physical beauty is not worth stressing over - someone's talents, gifts, and personality are worth much more!  An interesting study has been conducted related to our body image. 

 Click here to get the right message.  

Identify the main idea in the video and record it in your agenda in Friday December 19th's spot.

Please note:  tomorrow is the final day to return all signed items for this year.  I do not want anything outstanding in the new year.  Make sure all of the following have been returned by your child:   SWYK - unit5, unit 5 math test,  poetry reading rubric, health project rubric, and unit 3 literacy evaluation.  Thank you very much!

Potluck a Huge Success!

       

Our class thoroughly enjoyed all of the food that was sent in for the potluck that was held on Tuesday. Thank you very much to each family who contributed to the fantastic lunch!  Most of the main dishes have been consumed and there are a few leftovers and many desserts that will be enjoyed on Wednesday.  If your empty dish was not sent home on Tuesday, it is because it will be used on Wednesday.  It will be sent home after that.

I would be remiss if it did not make special mention of Mrs. Pozzi and Mr. Seguin who brought in their dishes even though their sons were sick and had to miss the event.  What commitment and integrity!  Thank you also to Mrs. Pizzuti and Mr. Carter who cooked for us as well.  Finally, Mrs. McAuley surprised us with the opportunity to decorate our own gingerbread or sugar cookie.

We also enjoyed watching this Christmas movie in our pajamas!

Virtual Art

On Friday, Mr. Sisco (computer consultant) worked with us on a digital art project.  He showed us how to take a photo of ourselves with the Chromebooks, then create an avatar of ourselves using the drawing app in our Google Drive.  The students did not complete this activity, but are able to work on it at home if they desire.  Please share this drawing with me so that I may see your creation!

Good News and Potluck on the Horizon!

 Congratulations to last week's Good News ticket winners:  Eric, Tori, and Brooke.  Keep up the great work!

 As you know, we have been collecting coins for the Christmas dinner that is held on Christmas Day at the Downtown Mission.  As of Friday afternoon, our class had already collected $87. 29.  Since one dinner costs $3.11, we can already feed 28 people!  That is fantastic!  We will continue to collect until Wednesday of this week.

Everyone has signed up for the potluck that we will have tomorrow and we have a great selection of menu items.  We have the promise of many delicious main dish items including:  meatballs, chicken, homemade pizza, sloppy Joes, and chili.  We will have side dishes such as rice, noodles, chips and salsa, chips and guacamole, and bruschetta.  There will be crackers and buns to eat with the chili, and cheese and crackers for another side.  We have many different beverages and desserts too!  I am supplying all of the plates, bowls, napkins, cutlery, and table clothes.  We do not have anything from the fruit and vegetable group, however.  If parents are bringing warm items to school just in time for the lunch, please bring the item at 12 noon.  We plan to eat in the Learning PIT.  If the items arrive in the morning, they will be refrigerated as needed.  If you would like serving spoons and/or platters returned, please make sure that your family name is clearly marked on it for easy identification.  Thank you so much in advance!
Please note:  In addition, Tuesday will also be pyjama day and we will be watching the movie "Elf".  We will be completing three earned incentives in the same day!

Calculating Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms

 We have been working in groups to develop strategies and methods to make our thinking visible and logical when calculating the surface area of rectangular prisms.  Check out the anchor charts - there are three different types of rectangular prisms to consider.

On Thursday Mrs. Blain had a talk with our class (and the other classes in the senior wing) about problems in the washrooms.  Right now the most problems seem to be happening in the boys' washroom, but the girls are not far behind.  The problem range from flushing unflushables down the toilets (such as paper towels), to paper towels and water all over the place, to smearing things on the walls which our body produces.  Please speak to your children and reinforce the importance of respecting Mr. Plante and the work that he does.  Also, if your child knows who is contributing to the problems, have them tell an adult at school.  Thanks so much for your assistance in this matter.

Movement Sequences

We have begun our movement unit in physical education.  We have been introduced to the various methods, speeds, and levels of movement.  We them created a movement sequence with a partner or in a group of three.  Here we are working hard on it.


A former student of mine, who is in grade eight, recently stopped me in the hall to show me her sweatshirt.  She gave me permission to photograph her in it.  Check it out!  I love it!

On Wednesday, Staff Sergeant Mizuno worked with us on the VIP unit "Decision Making".

Guest Instructors!

 Did you know that on Monday we had four guest instructors lead the class in some problem solving in math?  Last week the class did four questions for evaluation, and because this is an important skill to master, I asked four students who did a great job on a specific question to demonstrate their thinking to the class.  Everyone else had the opportunity to ask questions and copy complete high level solutions onto their papers for future reference.  Special thanks to:  Julia, Andrea, Gina, and Kameron for sharing with us!

Thank you to all of those students who have already signed up to bring menu items to next week's potluck.  If you haven't done so yet, please do so by Friday December 12.  

Santa's Little Helpers

Thank you so much to the grade six students who were fantastic elves on Thursday evening at our Christmas Family Night.  It was a fun way to earn two hours of community service!

 

Good News and Sumo Wrestlers

  Congratulations to last week's Good News ticket winners:  Logan and Mahleik.  Keep up the good work!

  Congratulations to November's WOW winners:  Tori, Gina, and Mahleik.  The theme was hard work and dedication.


 The students were entertained by the Sumo wrestling match that Mrs. Blain and Mr. Marenchin engaged in.  Mrs. Blain even brought her entourage!  Mrs. Blain won hands down - thanks to Mr. Marenchin for giving it all he had!

Catch the Action!

Due to the fact that we are still waiting for students who have been absent to write the math test and literacy evaluation, those items will be returned when all have completed it.  Thanks for understanding!