Category: General Update

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for a first great week!

On Thursday, we had our musical, community assembly with Ms. Hetrick, and many of our MACC students joined with their Suncrest community to provide the music for our whole-school dance. Thank you for volunteering, and you did a great job!

Ms. D also introduced this year’s Journals. We read the book An Interesting Thing Happened on the Way to School and everyone wrote an entry about a fantastical excuse they would have for being late to school. We also went over journal guidelines and Ms. D’s system of marking quick assignments (check plus, check, check minus). Journals should generally stay in the classroom, or if you take it home overnight, they should be returned to the box in the classroom. Next Friday, I will take a look at your entry and also assign a new topic, so it is important you have your journal in the box for me to find!

On Friday, we finished up our door decorations for the school-wide door decorating contest. We made an outside, shared book library, like the ones you can find in Vancouver and Burnaby. On our door is a bookcase, made by the students, as well as one book for each student designed with images of what they did over the summer. We toured the other doors throughout the school. Everyone did a great job!

We also had opportunities to meet with our buddies, playing pictionary races, and played a large, intermediate grades capture the flag game. We reviewed our essential agreements, which are to be finalized next week. And finally, we had our first “free choice” session, which happen every Friday depending on the schedule. These free choice times offer students down time to do a project, game, or activity of their choice. It is a great opportunity to form community in our class and to take some time to come down from all the activity in the week.

For MONDAY: Please make sure you bring any remaining supplies, your personal letter, and the signed copies of the parent questionnaire and social media form.

Also, we will be having our Terry Fox run on Friday, September 23rd, at 2PM. Starting Monday, September 12th, student reps will  be coming around to collect a loonie for Terry. We try to encourage each person in the school to bring at least a loonie so we can make a donation toward cancer research. Thank you for your support!

Reading Around the World will be handed out on Monday if you have brought a green duotang for me to put the papers in for the year. We will go over how the program is a bit different from last year when we have our class meeting together on Monday.

Our first PE class will be on Tuesday. We do not have a permanent gym schedule yet, but for Tuesday this week please have a gym strip shirt to change into.

Have a great weekend!

Ms. D

Good afternoon everyone!

Great job today dragon boating! I hope everyone had fun and enjoyed our exercise in the beautiful outdoors of Burnaby Lake. Thank you to all of our parent drivers and participants. It was very fun listening to us chant, row, and work together to speed down the lake! If anyone took pictures, please feel free to share them with me in google drive, so I can include some on our blog.

When we returned, we had some time to work on independent projects. Some things to remember about your project:

• You will need to turn in your project worksheet with the questions
• You will need to document ALL resources used. We will format our bibliography at the end, but you know what you need to collect from resources. Please collect that information AS YOU GO.
• You will need to show your notes, either in EverNote, Google Docs, or on paper.
• Answer your questions on a separate sheet as you are researching.
• You can change your questions as you go. Just make sure you have one in each category of question.
• You need to have used an encyclopedia, a book, and internet sites (these are secondary resources.)
• You need a primary resource (survey, interview, experiment, observations, etc.) that should be documented in notes or a lab report.
• We will be doing a project to show what you have learned. Time to start thinking about what that might be!

We also continued our work on myths. These things should be done because time was given in class, but if not, please finish:

• Venn Diagram comparing Pele vs Vulcan/Hephaestus
• 2 paragraphs around why myths between cultures are very similar
• Reading the cultural myth around the moon

We also did a science experiment! You were given the lava lamp bottle and an extra Alka Seltzer tablet to take home. Your assignment for Friday (and you will have time tomorrow to work on this):

• Share the bottle with mom and dad. Explain and show how it works. If you don’t know why it works, then look it up!
• And…..if someone didn’t know the science behind this experiment, then write a short myth that would explain it.

The final reflection and budget for MACC MALL are due on Friday. More time tomorrow in class if you need it.

Have a good night!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

As the musical is approaching quickly, please know that this week we have a bit of a changed schedule to do extra rehearsals!

All people who are in the cast, please bring costumes tomorrow morning. In the morning from 9-10:30 AM, we will be having a run-through with cast, Greek Chorus, and the instrument group for the first time.

Then, from 10:45 – 12:00, we will be running through the whole show with all of our class, along with all the other classes who are performing on Wednesday night, the 18th.

I will be giving you some independent work to do while you are waiting for your turn to go up on the stage; however, it is also a good idea to bring a book you would like to read for that time, as you will need to be quiet while waiting.

Thank you for your help in advance for tomorrow! It is going to be a busy, but fun, week as we head into the musical, finish our last unit, and begin a new one!

See you tomorrow,

Ms. D

Hello Everyone!

Just some quick reminders!

• Musical Costumes:  Please make sure you have a costume ready for next week. Also, remember you need to be here from 6:30 – 8:30 on May 18, Wednesday.
• Musical Tickets:  A green notice went home regarding tickets. Please get in orders by May 11.
• Literature Circle Project: We are currently working on a project showing our understandings from the recent novel we read with a group. It is due May 12th end of day. A Lit Circle Project Rubric 2016 that applies to all forms of projects was passed out today.
• Product for MACC Mall: We are working on our products for MACC Mall, which will be held on May 24th. A Selling My Product Rubric 2016 was passed out to everyone today.
• Independent Project: Work on this is ongoing. Each student has their own topic. We are currently doing secondary research in class when we get time. Students are welcome to do research whenever they like. Please make sure you take notes from and record the source of any research you do!
• Math:  In addition to students working with a budget for MACC Mall, we will continue to work with decimals percentages, interest, discounts, etc. On Wednesday, please bring an ad from a newspaper or magazine that uses percentages or discounts. Thank you!
• End of Year Event?? — We have been asked by the MACC program at Capitol Hill, grades 4/5, if we would like to meet up on June 24th, Friday. We have two options. One is to just walk to Rumble Park next door to us, and then their class comes to us. Two is to go to Confederation Park water park and playground, which is a better place to enjoy for a larger group. We would need parent drivers. Please let me know asap if you are interested in helping for that day. I currently only have two volunteers.

Have a good night!!

Hello Everyone!

I told the students today I was very proud of how articulate they all were while describing their work to their parents during our student led conferences. You all did a great job!! Thank you to parents for coming to see our student work. Our Wonderings Board is now full of so many great questions!

We are now moving forward working on our product to sell for MACC Mall. As a reminder to students, this project does not involve buying new stuff from the store. You may use recyclables or nature items that do not involve hurting nature (sticks, rocks from the beach, etc.) Any other item you use outside of recyclables will cost you for your budget. The budget is $100, and today we talked about general costs that will apply to supplies you use in the classroom. You need to remember to budget funds for renting mall space, advertising, patent fees, a business license, and a fee to the MACC Safety Committee that will determine your product is safe for use by children. Please work on your idea over the weekend.

We are also moving forward with our Literature Circle Final Project. I provided students with a list of project ideas. They can work individually or with their whole group. Ideally, you are working with a group only if you chose the skit/drama option. Please have your idea in mind for Monday so we can get started.

Dragon Boating forms and money were due today. Most people have paid, but a few still need to get in their forms. Thank you to Gary, Sylvia’s Dad, and Candace, Michael’s Mom, who will be our steerers for the two boats we will be using. We are traveling in parent vehicles and my own — all parent drivers need to have an insurance waiver form from Suncrest on file. Please bring these in as soon as possible.

Math — Compound Interest: Please finish this worksheet so we can go over it and continue our talk about bank accounts and how they work on Monday.

SAVE THE DATES:

• Caribou Test:  Next week on May 4 and 5
• Abel/Gauss Testing at School:  May 11
• Dragon Boating:  May 25, June 1, June 8
• School Musical: Our night is May 18, Wednesday (cast, crew, Greek Chorus are both nights on May 18 and 19)
• No School on May 13 for Curriculum Day

Have a good weekend!

Hello Everyone,

Today we talked about rocks and minerals, looking at more local, BC rock samples from Eastern Vancouver Island and Pender Island, Gowland Point, and deciding if they were sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous rock. On Monday, we will talk about our lab to test the characteristics of rocks.

We worked on our household budgets using Excel and almost everyone has finished. On Monday, everyone can google drive the documents to me. We also had our last Lit Circle meeting! Our next step with our books is a mini project —  more details to come!

Last thing we did was finish our maps on resources of the world, and we also discussed Fair Trade, watching a quick animation from The Economist called Fair Trade (scroll down to see the video link in the middle of the web page.) 

Tonight’s agenda:

• Student Led Conferences will be an open house going from 2-4 PM and 5-7 PM on April 28th. A notice will be coming soon with details for you about this, but it will be student led, and the MACC students are planning out a list of things they will show you during your time here. You may show up at any time, and there will be multiple groups here at a time, with Ms. D here for any guidance needed.
• Dragon Boating has been approved by the Board! Now I need to get a lot of logistics sorted out. Please mark May 25th, June 1, and June 8 as our dates. More information to come later.
• Article: Please post a link to an article on trade or economy that you find on the web in response to this blog entry. Or, you can cut an article out of the newspaper and bring it on Monday.
• Lit Circle: Our meetings are finished, so make sure you have turned in all lit circle assignments. Some of you have items overdue. I will be passing these back to you either today or on Monday.

Thank you and have a good evening!