Welcome back and I do hope everyone is well rested and ready for the final stretch to the end. It is only 9 weeks and there is still a lot of good learning to do. We will return to regular homework this week. Monday folders will also resume after a two week hiatus so there will be lots in there. Please look over it carefully and sign the parent form before having your student return them. Thanks in advance for this.
One thing that happens at this time of year is people begin to know their plans for next year. As we will be involved with planning for grade 6 classes, it is most helpful that you keep me as informed as possible when decisions are finalized. This way I can be sure that my planning and preparation is done with the utmost care.
Here are this weeks current events reporters;
Tuesday - Oscar
Wednesday - Tiffy
Thursday - Kevin
Friday - Elvin
Wednesday - Tiffy
Thursday - Kevin
Friday - Elvin
We will complete our unit on Fantasy writing this week with final drafts of our second story. With all the other things happening the last week prior to the holiday, we did not have the proper time to complete this. All are edited so now all that needs to be done is correcting and then publishing.
As part of our use of technology, we will begin responding to blogs this week. Students will randomly choose a reading blog to comment on each week. This is an important part of learning for both parties. Being able to offer suggestions for improvement as well as being able to accept these is part of putting your work out there for others to both peruse and learn from. There are several lessons I have planned to manage this then we will start this on a weekly basis for the remainder of the year.
We will also complete our Human Body unit this week with a look at the respiratory system as well as the look at nutrition. When this is completed, I will send it home as part of the Monday folders. I plan on having this finished by Thursday of the coming week.
Our math continues to look at volume and area with cubic prisms. I was impressed with some of the constructions the students came up with in the lesson before the holiday and now it is time to take the next step and look at how area affects volume - or in some cases, does not change it at all.
We will start our next set of book clubs this week with students choosing their own books, creating their own timeline and also selecting the leaders for the book talks. So far this has gone OK but I am hoping students push this up a notch by taking more time to really look into the book. Discussions are very rich when depth is the reason for talking about a book.
We have several special events associated with the APAC Girls Soccer Tournament being held here at ISB this coming weekend. The Jedi Jugglers are performing for them and several of the girls are coming to talk to my class about their school and country. A true global connection.
That is all for now. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns and I will gladly set a time up for us to meet.
