daw.com - April 26

We have had a busy but great week.  It is hard to believe that this is the last Friday message for April.  With that in mind, please remember that next Wednesday, May 1 is a holiday and there is no school.  There will be no homework that night either.

Grade 6 step-up day was a great success.  While I have not talked with all my students yet, the few I did see said they really enjoyed it.  I think it is a great way to introduce middle school to students.

I was very proud of my class this week for donating books to the book fair.  They showed that helping others is important and the right thing to do.  I hope they enjoy the books they traded for theirs.

Remember that CASTA (Celebrate and Share the Arts) is next Tuesday.  Our class’ performance is 2:45-3:15 in the afternoon and is in the main theatre.  Hope to see some of you there.  Students need to wear their CASTA shirts on this day.

Next week is also spirit week.  Monday is House Color Day,  Thursday is pairs, groups and twins day and Friday is wacky ISB day (think blue and white).  I encourage as many as want to participate since this is the time they get t

o strut their stuff in school.

Our math unit on volume will come to an end next week with the final assessment on Tuesday.  While not a difficult unit, it is very important as it forms the basis for measurement in science and math classes of the future.  We also did a small section on the traits of quadrilaterals.  Our next unit is on the coordinate plane and is a fun unit to end the school year with.

Monday will see the start of our book clubs in reading.  For the first couple of clubs I will be choosing the books and groups students will work in.  Once I see that they have learned the process for books clubs and are a willing participant, then they will be choosing the books and the groups to work in.  These will be in place until the end of the year.

Our latest writing is the genre fantasy.  We have studied The Hero’s Journey and this is what they are using to plan and execute their stories.  They also need to have detailed descriptions of the settings and characters in their stories and show how they change over time and throughout the story.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me and I will gladly set a time up to meet with you.

daw.com - April 19

 Sports day was a major success.  It was interrupted by an evacuation drill but once we debriefed about this, I think the students understood just how important these are.  We could not have asked for better weather or air quality for the day - it was picture perfect.  I know the students all really enjoyed it.

We are on to our new writing unit having looked at settings, characters and something called the Hero’s Journey.  This is a part that a lot of fantasy stories follow.  I have asked the students to have up to 3 of

the 12 points in their story as they plan for the journey of the hero.  We should finish our first drafts by the end of next week leaving us time to complete a second fantasy story.

Next week is our Step Up Day.  This is a day where the grade 5 students shadow a grade 6 student as they go through their day.  Students will be paired up with some grade 6 buddies who will then proceed to show them what life in middle school is like.  One thing they will get a chance to have is MS lunch in the cafeteria.  If your student purchases lunch at the school you might want to have a conversation with them about what is an appropriate amount to spend. 

There is a lot to choose from and it can easily get out of hand with no one really looking over them.  They will have the same opportunity next year, so starting now can ease your student into this.

Next Thursday is the school book fair so if your student wants to purchase a book or two for the summer, this might be the time.  While  I have no idea of the cost of books, they will be able to bring in some money to purchase books if they want to.  There is no requirement to do so.

Our current math unit is looking at how to calculate area with fractional sides.  We have passed the whole numbers and with fractions they are having to use the multiplication of fractions they learned in the last unit.  We are using the area model to prove area which may be something you want to ask them about.  It

is a neat way to show area when fractions are used.

I have seen most of the students genius hour project presentations now and I cannot say that I was overly impressed.  Many of them have just a basic guideline so we will spend some time practicing them.  I am encouraged by the fantastic information they have to share.  I think that with this practice, I will really see some beautiful pieces of work.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know and I will set up a time for us to meet.

daw.com - April 12

What a great week we had.  It was nice to see everyone again after the break and we are now on our way to the end of this school year.  

Our week was highlighted with the last of our wellness activities.  Students were placed in small groups of 10-11 and then assigned activities in 4 areas of wellness to participate in - mental, social, active & emotional.  There were teachers from all over the school involved in these helping us offer as many different activities as possible.  The students filled out a passport each day on the activities they have done.

We finished up our second historical fiction story this week and I have enjoyed reading them all.  I can now see how students writing is getting better and better with each piece they construct.  Our next unit has already started as it is a combined reading and writing unit on Fantasy.

Our math unit on volume this week completed rectangular prisms with whole number lengths.  We did a construction at the end with a minimum of 5 prisms and a maximum of 7.  The total volume could not be larger than 1000 cc.  There were some fantastic sculptures created.

Next week is our track and field and swim day on Tuesday.  If the AQI is too high it will be moved to Thursday.  Which ever day it is on, students need to remember to bring their swimming togs with them for this day.  Lets hope for some clear skies and warm weather. Lunch on this day is regular lunch except it is not in the cafeteria so there will be no hot water.  All home lunches need to be self contained.  School lunch people will have a choice of what to be served.

We had our visit by the MS counselor this week where all sorts of questions were asked about next year.  I do hope that this clears up some of the misconceptions or unknowns about next year.  I do encourage parents to call the MS office if you have questions about next year.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.