Monday November 2nd — Ending Our First Unit, Beginning Machines!

Today we had some time to finish the unit project. Those who were finished had two peers evaluate their work, then completed a self-assessment using the rubric for the project. Tomorrow is the last day to have time to work on this, as it is due end of day.

We had a great class meeting, which allowed us to reflect on what went well during the Halloween Party and what we would do differently next time. Overall, everyone thought the party was fun and we all appreciated the work of the Halloween Committee. Everyone thought there was a great selection and variety of snacks. Several people commented how much they enjoyed the movie. We decided for our next party we may decide to structure the eating times differently and that we will look at our clean up process so no one is left cleaning by themselves and people don’t feel as rushed. Overall, there was great reflection about what worked and didn’t, and it was done in a respectful, constructive way. We ended with conversation about the origins of Halloween and how it is different from today’s Mexican/Central American holiday (Nov. 1/2) of Day of the Dead. We noted that Day of the Dead costumes were very popular this season!

Several students are interested in the Science Competition run by the Association for Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. This is an activity run outside of school, and it requires us to sign up online in mid-November. Teams are 4-5 students, and there are two options for participating. One involves doing a science challenge over time, at school or home, and then presenting this challenge at the competition. Another option is the Mystery Competition, where the team shows up and is given a surprise challenge to solve in a half day’s time. Both options require the team to be present at the location (TBD in mid-November when they put out all the details). We may be limited to only one team as the event is popular. Some students have expressed interest, so please let me know if this is something you would like to do. We should have a parent volunteer, as a coach needs to be present at the event, and we want to ensure either Ms. D or someone else can come. Please let me know if you are interested. More information to come, as we will have to see if we get a spot for a team (as space is limited) and if enough students would like to do this.

Several students have asked me about both French and Spanish. First, some of our students who have been in French Immersion are interested in creating small discussion groups of French. I have answered by asking them to participate in the online work we are doing first. After the online work, we will be doing a project, which will involve student choice and more interactive (writing or oral) options for learning and presenting. If students are interested in forming a French Club, they can definitely do this and consider using our free choice Friday periods for meeting time. Students have also asked me if I can teach them Spanish, which I have a lot of experience doing, so I responded by saying I could definitely do some small lessons as time permits or make this part of free choice, as well. Today we learned a few Spanish words during class meeting, just for fun.

On Tuesday, we will finish our Deal or No Deal probability activity we were doing last Thursday. On Wednesday, we will have a short math assessment on median, mean, mode, range and probability, followed by some extra challenge questions for those students who would like to show me what they know.

Our new unit is called “Our Human Creations” and the focus statement is: 

People use their understanding of natural laws to create technologies that have an impact on our world.    

This will be an inquiry into:

• Scientific forces behind machines
• The role machines (and technology) play in our lives
• Social change as a result of machines

We began this unit today by:

• Brainstorming a huge list of machines and technologies we are aware of
• Labelling each technology with a “+” or “-” to indicate if we think the technology has made a positive or negative impact on humans
• Creating a large mural, whole-group collage on the back wall to express how we feel about the impact technology is making on our world

If anyone has any magazines that could be cut up, we would love to have them!

Also, please see the newsletter for Suncrest that your child should have brought home. Some copies were left in the classroom! Students should also get their project marks signed and bring it back to school tomorrow (the responsibility of doing so is a mark, too!) I have copies of the parent conference participation rubrics, as well, and will hand these to students tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued support. Let me know if you have any questions!