Did You Know?

Did you know that our class is currently working on a wide variety of in-class projects that are summative (end-of-unit) tasks that will be evaluated?  As I promised at the beginning of the year, I will never assign projects that will be done at home because anything that earns marks must be done at school under my supervision.  With that in mind, if students need assistance, then I know exactly what they needed and how they were assisted.  Currently we are working on....

• writing a suspense narrative of three or more paragraphs (done independently): writing mark
• a cyber civics project from nine options (done independently or with a partner): health mark and media literacy mark
• a movie poster based on the book the students are currently reading for independent reading (done independently):  visual arts mark and media literacy mark

Ask your child(ren) what they are working on!

Coming to a classroom near you:  a science Powerpoint presentation.

WHERE DOES HALLOWEEN COME FROM? We celebrate Hallowe'en every year on October 31st. Where does the holiday come from? The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts. The Celts lived in Europe more than 2000 years ago. On November 1st they celebrated the end of summer. They thought ghosts visited the living on October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm them. Today, many countries still remember the dead on November 1st. It is called All Saints Day. Another name for it is All Hallow’s Day. The day before, October 31st, is called All Hallow’s Eve, or Hallowe'en for short. Hallowe'en is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those countries, people dressed up and carried lanterns made of turnips. When people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started using pumpkins. This is where the jack-o’-lantern comes from. They also had a tradition of giving food to the spirits. Later, they gave the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from. Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have brought new traditions, and changed the old ones. What do you think Hallowe'en will be like in another two thousand years? BE SAFE AND HAVE FUN TOMORROW NIGHT!

Nate asked me to blog this saying that I said in class yesterday.  Apparently he found it funny.  See if your child can explain it to you:
"Close only counts in horseshoes, dancing, and atomic warfare."

CAN-tastic!

WOW! Our class sure wants to win the opportunity to get to wear their costumes on Friday!  Yesterday we brought in 57 cans in one day!  According to Evan that is CAN-tastic! (I love the play on words!) Keep them coming.....a stiff competition developed between our class and Mr. McMahon's class.  There will be a note in your child's agenda if we wind up winning!  Please note:  no full face masks and nothing gory, please!  Also, if you would like to bring treats to share with the class tomorrow, that is fine.  We have 26 students and some cannot have dairy, but we do not have a severe allergy that would restrict the items you bring in.

We also earned a special shout-out on the announcements yesterday morning because we have brought in the most milk bags of any other class in the whole school!  Keep up the great work.  When you think of it, those bags are likely not very useful for us, but they can become very useful for others.  "One person's garbage is another's treasure!"

I wish to extend recognition to two students.  First of all, Jason earned the top score on this week's Mad Minute multiplication mania (do you like the alliteration?).  Secondly, Kaci was the first to hand in the blog math question that is due on Tuesday.  Way to go!!!!!

Rosary Lady Visits and Math

Yesterday we worked with Mrs. D'Agnillo for the first time this year.  October is the month of the rosary, so it is an appropriate time to begin this tradition again.  It is also timely, because we have been working on interpreting prayers we know in Religion class, so now we should know what we are saying and why we are saying it.  Check our classroom calendar so you can anticipate the next visit!

Did you check out the new anchor chart that we created together about patterning yesterday?  Some students came to me and asked for help with naming pattern rules.  This new anchor chart is a great tool.  Since you might have to really work at determining pattern or relationship rules, it really takes patience, perseverance, and the guess and check method to be successful.  The more experience you have, the quicker this process will become too!

We Scare Hunger

 We are in the final days of our "We Scare Hunger" non-perishable food collection and the tension is building.  Our class told me yesterday that they very much want the costume party!  In order to do that we have to bring in more items!  They decided that our goal is 120 items.  As of Monday we had 85 items so far.  That means that we need 35 more items in the next couple of days.  WE CAN DO IT GRADE 6s! 

In math, I am trying to develop this concept with my students.  Simply put, proportional reasoning is the ability to compare two or more things using multiplicative thinking, (rather than additive thinking) and apply this skill to new situations.  Beginning today, and hopefully continuing all year, I will assign one math question weekly via the blog.  Students are to copy and complete the question on a lined piece of paper, with their name on it, and put it in the IN BOX when they are ready for me to check it. They are strongly encouraged to use the steps of problem solving to complete these questions.  They will be due each Tuesday, unless otherwise stated.  Here is the first question:

If Mrs. Colautti buys three ice cream cones for $4.65, at this rate, how much will it cost to buy two ice cream cones?  Justify your thinking. (due Tuesday November 3 at 8:10am).

Good News and Bus Evacuation Drill

Congratulations to the following students who are the latest winners in our weekly Good News ticket draw:  Brendan, Kaci, Sabrina, Chantel, and Alexei.  Keep up the good work!

 We participated in our bus evacuation drill on Friday morning.  This is a very important exercise, even for those students who do not take the bus because we will all be on the bus for field trips.