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