daw.com - March 22

First off a reminder that it is Student-Led Conferences on Monday and Tuesday.  This means that, other than the times you have signed up for, there are no classes these two days.  The class is prepared and I am looking forward to seeing all of you  at these important conferences.

Our next inquiry unit is a short three week unit on wellness.  The last part of this is a study in Human Growth and Development looking a the move to adolescence.  The time of puberty is an important one in all children’s lives and it encompasses not only physical changes but social and emotional ones as well.  Our week of studies will review all these aspects.  The entire study is done with the class except for the question and answer period on the last day were we will split up the boys and girls.  Students will be able to form questions all week long and anonymously put them in to the question box for answering on the last day.

We have now completed our fractions unit and moved on to Volume.  So far we have looked at how the shape of two objects can be different but have the same volume.  This unit will look at not only the depiction and measurement of volume but also mass and capacity.  We will also look at the math involved in calculating the volume of objects.

Most students have completed their first story during a historical period and are researching or writing first drafts about a second historical time frame.  This has been interesting since students are so young they do not have a real feel for history yet.  It has been fascinating to read their stories.  These will be available during conference time since the are all on the students Office 365 account.

We got to see a presentation by a gentleman who makes his living writing Children’s books.  His name was Morris  Gleitzman and he was enjoyed by all.  There was a great Q & A at the end where students got a look at how he goes about writing his stories.  In many ways, it was similar to the way we do it in class.

I a looking forward to seeing all of you over the two days of Student-Led Conferences.

daw.com - March 1

This week has continued along with all the other activities we have been working on for the last 3-4 weeks.  We have now completed our research on a historical event and just about everyone has selected one that they will use as a shell for their story.  We will brainstorm and start drafts of the story on Monday.

Our math has taken us to word problems involving multiplication of fractions.  This has definitely slowed us down since this is an area I consistently see weakness in my students.  We are going slow and steady through this to really help out students with math problems.  I do expect them not only to solve the problem, but prove their answer.

We went to the cooking lab today for the last time this year.  We cooked cinnamon muffins and they all turned out really well.  I guess all the lessons and practice with measuring fractional amounts has really helped out.  I was also happy for the kids that everything went so smoothly.

Parent Teacher conferences are only about 4 weeks away and we spent some time this week having students begin the process.  I think you can expect to get and sign-up email in about a week’s time.  I would like everyone to be at the PT Conferences please.  It is an important time as students begin the transition to middle school.

There is a middle school letter attached to this email.  Please read it carefully as it has all the dates for the meetings with parents as well as the student dates.  Thanks in advance for this.

That is all this week.  Have a great weekend.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

daw.com - February 15

 It was a great week with the class completing their two main projects.  The first was a written piece on the nature part of their Biomimicry project.  We used the boxes and bullets form to collect information then wrote the 4 paragraphs needed based on this information.  Finally we did the introduction and conclusion.  When it was all completed I asked the the students to add in photos, charts or diagrams to support their writing.  Since this piece is a non-fiction article, these last pieces are part of the final writing.  Next we will be writing stories that take place during and important historical event.

Secondly we completed out Biomimicry projects.  Students did one of three things for their project and then presented it to me and to a small group of students in the class.  Some students constructed a model, some students used a poster to explain their idea and the rest did an electronic version with either Powerpoint or Keynote.  Overall, I was impressed with the work I saw.

Our math has moved into multiplication of unit and non-unit fractions.  This is a very important part of this unit as it will form the basis for all fraction work in the coming years.  There are a number of lessons on this, one model to learn and a bakery project to complete.  It is a lot of work and students are going to need to stay on top of this work to complete it all.  I expect the unit to finish by the first week of March.

Today the course selection form for Middle School went home.  Students need to select one language and one of the electives.  Explanations of all the choices are on the back of the form.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

The students decorated our door for CNY and they did a wonderful job.  There is a picture of this with this letter.

We have started Genius Hour projects this week with students deciding on their topic and who they are going to present to.  They will then have about 6 periods to complete their project, 1 period to practice and then present their project.  For this set of projects I have asked students to show that they are going to learn.  

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