Happy Friday! Update Sept. 29

Hello Everyone,

We had a great day today with our opening Celebration of Learning, music, library time, and science, which consisted of balloon and marble racing to learn about energy transfer and the forces involved in flight.

No school tomorrow. Agenda for today:

  • WOW for the Letter C due on Monday
  • Tuning In articles due on Tuesday
  • For MONDAY, please gather materials for your balloon racer. You don’t need to actually make it. I will supply the balloons for Monday and we will assemble the cars then. This weekend just begin to make a plan and gather cardboard or materials for wheels to bring to school. Please do not use toys of any kind. Recyclables are best!
  • For MONDAY also please finish reading the Flight article and highlight. Remember, some of the reading is tough, so the main thing is to get the key ideas. Use the figures to help you understand concepts related to forces, energy and flight.

Also, if you have not returned the YPC or Field Trip Payments, please get them in as soon as possible.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know!

Have a good weekend,

Ms. D

Applied and Independent Math Time

Hello Everyone!

Today, we began some concrete math work, so I thought I would explain what we are doing!

Independent Math: We will spend approximately 1-2, 30 minute class periods per week, depending on our schedule, on independent math. Independent math means every person is working at different levels, although there are also opportunities to work together with individuals who are learning from similar material. We will work with Math Makes Sense. The textbooks are not quite available for all levels yet, so we have not started. Sometimes Math Makes Sense may not have what we need to review a concept, so students may also work from math websites listed on Articles of Interest or other challenge problems I give them.

Applied Math: I believe math does not just involve computational skills. It also involves critical thinking, problem solving, math language/vocabulary, the use of tools, and collaboration. During Applied Math, students will work on the same material, and we will do our best to connect it with concepts covered in our large unit. We will do projects and work with You Do the Math books that allow us to connect math with real life. Students received their first packet today from the FLIGHT book, as we can discuss a myriad of math topics related to being a pilot, which is related to our unit conversations about force and energy. They do their work and write answers on lined paper. Most of this can be done in class, but they may sometimes have some to take home. The “What About This” questions are more challenging and may require looking up things on an iPad or doing advanced thinking. The questions are designed to be a stretch. Students should always just do their best and bring any questions to our discussions together.

Whether doing independent or applied math, make sure you keep all your papers in the red math binder.

Thank you,

Ms. D

Making Rockets! Update Sept. 27th

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for returning all of the many forms and notices. I know the beginning of the year we seem to have lots as we get settled. Thank you to the parents who volunteered to come with us on our field trip for October 6th.

Our week began with catch up, finishing work on the First Nations questions. Some people need more time, so please turn them in on Thursday. Tomorrow we will continue discussion about human rights, indigenous rights, and how these things affect quality of life in certain countries.

We also introduced the new WOW C Words, which included words such as combustion, which we talked about today during Unit Science!

During our class meeting, we heard ideas related to our ongoing committees, particularly for the upcoming Halloween Party the students would like to have. We also discussed that the upcoming main project for this unit will involve using stop motion. Student committees met during recess today and are asked to report back to the group again next Tuesday.

For science, we reviewed Energy and Matter using the handout Ms. D gave everyone last week, and then we discussed how rockets work! We discussed Newton’s Laws, thrust, friction, combustion, heat expansion, etc. Students drew pictures in their notes of what would make a great rocket design. We watched National Geographic’s video on How Rockets Work and had a discussion. Then we talked about how rocket engineers need to consider center of gravity and center of pressure when building a rocket.

To understand center of gravity, students built balancing sticks using coffee stir sticks, wire, and washers. Hopefully they brought theirs home to share with you! We also built paper rockets which we will launch tomorrow. If you want more information on rockets, check out this explanation on NASA’s website , or Math Fun’s explanation on center of gravity, the Physic’s Classroom explanation on Newton and forces and, if you really like advanced science, check out this explanation of how rockets work from Rockets in Schools. On the last one, check out the concept we discussed in class, that center of gravity has to be above the center of pressure on your rocket.

Due Dates/Reminders:

  • Green Notice today
  • Field Trip $ and Notice due Thursday
  • First Nations Questions for Thursday
  • WOW Letter B due already; WOW Letter C due Monday
  • No School on Friday, Sept. 30th (Ms. D giving two workshops that day on the revised curriculum!)
  • Celebration of Learning at 9:15 AM on Thursday, Parents Welcome
  • Field Trip Thursday October 6th

Thank you!

Ms. D

Global Cardboard Challenge! Class Meeting & Committees

Dear Students and Parents:

For our next class meeting, we will talk about some of the ideas you wanted to do for this year. If you were on any of our committees, please be ready to talk about some of your ideas. Action in our classroom doesn’t happen without your ideas and effort! 🙂 Thank you those taking leadership and being risk-takers, offering their ideas and making our learning environment engaging and fun!

In preparation for our talk, I think it would be a good idea for you to visit and watch the following videos and websites. The links are marked in red, just hover over them! The other 4/5 MACC class ran a Cardboard Casino last year, which inspired our class to do something similar. The idea was inspired by Caine’s Arcade.  Caine’s Arcade became the inspiration for so many events, including the Global Cardboard Challenge run by the Imagination Foundation. The Global Cardboard Challenge is done by students all over the world in September, with events on October 1st, but you can do it any time you want to during the year and post pictures of your work online. This year, Imagination Foundation also provided the link to Caine’s Arcade 2, which is a video talking about the success of Caine’s Arcade and how his idea made big changes in his life and the lives of others by becoming a movement!

So, watch the videos and see if this is something you are interested in. If it is, bring your ideas to class meeting about how you would like this to work!

Have a great Monday,

Ms. D

First Nations Work

Just a quick note to everyone that the First Nations questions you started on Friday with Ms. S are not due on Tuesday. If you finished them, great. But, if you need more time, there will be some given on Tuesday in class. Thank you!

Ms. D

Week Ahead September 26th!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend! With the rain and grey weather Ms. D spent quite a bit of time curled up reading. I hope you were able to find an interesting book to read, too!

No School on September 26th, Monday & September 30th, Friday.

If you did not receive it on Friday, when Ms. D was away, please see the following field trip notice for the Museum of Anthropology Field Trip on Thursday, October 6th. Parent volunteers are first come, first serve as I receive the notices on Tuesday. Please be sure to get all notices in as soon as possible, and do pay online whenever possible, as it is easier for accounting purposes at the office.

On Friday, students spent some time looking up information on First Nations groups in the Coastal areas of BC. If they would like to look at the website we used at home, please see the First Peoples of Canada Website. We are looking to become familiar with some of the First Nations groups, learn about potlatch, discuss indigenous rights in relation to our human rights discussion, and look at the Site C Dam situation in British Columbia.

On Thursday, we discussed energy by watching the video by Bill Nye on Energy Transfer, doing some experiments with marbles to discuss how energy is transferred through objects, and then watching Ms. D use a holiday toy windmill with a candle as we discussed how heat is transferred and creates kinetic energy. This coming week, we will continue talking about how energy transfers by looking at electrons, chemical bonds, batteries, and electricity.

Check your agendas and remember you have two things due on Tuesday!

And if you are trying to purchase some items through Scholastic, please know that the parent pay website was not showing my name, so if you want to send me your cheques you can. I have contacted Scholastic, so it should be fixed shortly. Thank you to the parents who brought this to my attention! If anyone does not feel comfortable using the parent pay option, you may give me cheques. Please don’t send cash for Scholastic, and make sure all cheques are made out directly to Scholastic, not to me.

Thank you and have a great week!

Gerbils! And other exciting things today….. September 20

Hello Everyone!

Today everyone was introduced to two of Ms. D’s babies — baby gerbils, that is. 🙂 Little Grey and Squeak joined our classroom today and will be visiting on most weekdays, going home with Ms. D on the weekends. We had a long discussion about gerbils, how to care for them, what they eat, and many other great questions. I think the gerbils were a bit overwhelmed because they aren’t used to being here! But, they are now chewing away on cardboard and starting to settle in. I hope everyone enjoys them.

After the gerbil excitement, Michael and Peter led our first class meeting. Class meetings are great opportunities to introduce new ideas, talk about concerns, and take action on our learning. Today’s agenda included: Halloween Party (we formed a committee to plan it who will report next Tuesday), Games Club, Field Trip Suggestions and more. I let the class know that our first field trip is planned for October 6th to UBC’s Museum of Anthropology. A notice will go home on Friday.

We have been having great discussions about human rights this week. You may want to continue the conversation at home. What rights are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? How far does the right to express your opinions go? What does it mean to be tolerant of other peoples’ ideas? Do you have to be tolerant? Today, students compared the UN’s UDHR from previous discussions to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Does Canada’s document about rights protect all the universal rights mentioned by the UN?

We finished racing our rumblebot racers yesterday. Congrats to Michael’s car which placed 1st and Sylvia’s car which placed 2nd. Everyone did a great job! Today we watched some videos from the teacher who created the original idea for the rumblebot racer track, and here is one in which he explains the science behind a great rumblebot!

Great job running today during PE! We have worked up to 3 minutes of continuous running, increasing by one minute each time we meet in the gym. We also worked on games and activities to increase our reaction times and speed. Since it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day yesterday, we also played the game P-L-A-N-K. Everyone was well worked out by the end of class! We are all set for Terry Fox this Friday.

Please take time to read over the TUNING IN expectations for both students and parents at home! Using sources from my Articles of Interest page, students will be reading six articles of choice and reflecting on them in their yellow Tuning In booklets. Focus on the articles that are listed under our current unit Human Rights and Inventions, but you can choose some from the other categories listed, as well. Six reflections are due in two weeks on Tuesday, October 4th. Thank you to parents for reading along with your children and helping them learn how to reflect. We want to focus on thinking, reflecting, and questioning rather than just summarizing.

Last week, students provided input into what makes a successful learner, giving criteria for what great participation in MACC class looks like. I took the participation rubric from last year and adjusted it with their input. Take a look, and we can talk about this more during parent conferences Wednesday and Thursday. Participation and Work Habits Rubric 2016 MACC

Finally, since we are talking about human rights, and since we won’t just be focusing on BC and Canada but also looking internationally, a bit of geography and mapping practice can be a good thing! For fun, go to this site where you can practice your map skills across the world!

See you tomorrow at parent conferences! Don’t forget early dismissal at 2PM.

Thank you!

Ms. D

Reminders Sept. 19th, Monday

Hello Everyone,

Reminder to:

  • Bring student forms in as soon as possible
  • Bring the pink agenda form in saying you paid for the agenda
  • Finish student goals sheet (was due today)
  • WOW — Due Thursday
  • Parent Conferences Wednesday and Thursday

Have a great night!

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