This week was spit into two very distinct ideas. The first half of the week we were full of excitement and JOY 
as we celebrated Halloween with sweet treats and costume fun while the second half of the week was much more somber. We went from playing games with our friends and enjoying laughs and candy to discussions about war and the PAIN wars cause.
Remembrance Day is coming up this month and so we are thinking about how lucky we are to live in such a peaceful place and showing gratitude for those who fought with their lives to give that to us. 
All the while, we know that right now, in our world, there are several devastating wars happening where innocent children and civilians just like us, are caught in the middle and are definitely not living in peace. So many emotions wrapped up in one week!
We did some “writing in role” on Thursday and Friday and had to imagine ourselves as a Remembrance Day Poppy. We worked in groups to brainstorm how a poppy would respond to the following prompts: ” I am… ; I represent…; I am seen…; I fear…; I wonder…; and I hope for…” Using our collection of responses, we each wrote our own poem entitled “I Am a Poppy” and these poems are the newest page on our living “growth portfolio” bulletin board. 
Our Friday volunteer, Kiara, taught us on how to make to make tissue paper poppies for our Remembrance Day wreath. Our wreath will be put on display at our assembly next Friday to honour the brave men and women who
sacrificed their lives for our freedom and for those who are still serving to protect it.
In Literacy discussions this week, we talked a lot about how to inference about character’s feelings and motivations. 
Feelings can be illustrated by the author through descriptions of body language, facial expressions and even words. For example, if someone is jumping up and down yelling “Yippee1”. it is a strong inference to guess the character is happy. When inferencing about motivation, things get a little more complex. Motivation is a larger idea that explains the WHY someone is behaving the way they are or feeling the way they are. We shared how some times of motivators can be money, ambition, acceptance, love, friendship etc. 
You are all developing great detective skills and we hope it helps you to dive deeper into whatever it is you are reading right now. At the start of next week, we will be having a small “check-in” to see how you can inference independently.
Math has been all about basic facts and the 10’s rule. 
Multiplying by multiples of 10’s is pretty easy, as long as you know your basic facts! That is why we hope you are continuing to memorize you multiplication facts up to 12. Being able to recall your facts quickly and easily will definitely make all other math problems easier to solve.
Most of you took home some math homework this week that is asking you to apply what we have been learning all year. Applying your estimating and multiplying skills to problem solve problems and explain your thinking is a great way to become a more confident mathematician. You all work really hard in class and are very focused, it is very impressive to see. Next week, we will be moving on to solving 2 and 3 by 1 digit multiplication problems. Keep working on those basic facts everyone!
Our Graph of the Week explored the question: If you were not allowed screen time, what would you do in your spare time? 
Most of the class opted for playing a board or card game while a bunch of us also thought of other activities such as doing a sport, going swimming, or baking. All great options! 
Since we had to pick a first choice and a second choice from the options, a double bar graph was one way we used to represent the results. A pictograph showed the results of the combined data.
In science this week, we learned about basic reproduction in animals, plants and humans. We compared the three and found that there are many similarities and a few differences in how reproduction works in each. 
Overall, we learned that reproduction in all is for the purpose of continuing on with the species and increasing population. On the other hand, some plants are able to self reproduce.
Most species need fertilization of some kind to occur in order for reproduction to be successful. Next week, we will be looking deeper into how these species support themselves, protect themselves and move.
Just a reminder that your research for your Unique School project is due on THURSDAY November 9th. On that day, you need to come ready to share what you have found with your group mates so that together you can compare notes and choose the most accurate information for your presentation. So.. if you still think you can find some more bits and pieces about the unique school you are researching… do it! 
Also, it would be wise to “brush up” on what you know about the David Suzuki Public school for our quiz coming up next week.
Perseverance is a word we unpacked this week in order to help us set some goals for ourselves. From our analysis of different quotes we were able to see that in order to achieve our goals and reach our potential we need to use our passion and hard work. 
We discussed how important it is to set goals and to always be working on ourselves. What was the most interesting was how many of you were able to quote Albert Einstein from memory to explain that failure only comes from not trying. 
You all continue to amaze us with your knowledge, it was a very impressive moment this week. We used this discussion as a springboard to set a few goals for ourselves with a plan to get there as well. We will be checking in regularly to see how our goals are coming along and setting new ones whenever necessary.
Your blog response this weekend is to put on your thinking caps and write another short poem in “role”. This time… imagine you are PEACE. How would PEACE finish these sentences?
I am Peace.
I am ________, _________, and __________.
I come from _____________ and __________
I create _____________
I am seen in a _____________
I wonder ____________________?
I am Peace.
Have a wonderful weekend Division 6! See you on Monday!
Mrs. Gil and Mrs. Davis