MS. DETERRA'S MAKER STUDIO

Hello Everyone!

I received a note in my inbox that let me know some students had questions about WOW and the use of textbooks for Math, so I thought I would answer it on the blog.

WOW:

Words of the Week is done once a week, unless we have short weeks. You receive words Monday and then it is due on Thursday. I noticed last year how much students really need to learn how to look up words, understand parts of speech, and use dictionary resources (paper or online.) To spice up our writing, we also need some interesting words. When reading current events articles and doing research, we need to know some larger words we are unfamiliar with from our daily reading. So, the purpose of WOW is to just expose us to new and interesting words.

There will not be spelling tests on these words. At the most, I will do a check in to see if you 1. Use the words during the week in your writing or discussion, and 2. Recognize the meaning of the words when I use them or when you see them in readings we do. I would just like to see you using new vocabulary!

In general, I am not a huge fan of spelling tests; however, I will cover spelling as needed if I see that students are struggling with certain words or language patterns.

Independent Math:

Assessments are done, and Ms. D is going through them to determine the best book for you to start in. We are only using the textbook because you will need to be familiar with what the textbooks cover when you get to high school. Many of you are working above grade level, but we need to make sure you haven’t missed any gaps. So, the textbook helps with having organized practice of certain subject matter and some quizzes to see if you have mastered concepts.

Each person will do this in a slightly different way, but everyone will work through some problems from the Math Makes Sense textbooks. If I assign you a unit, you will need to review the lessons, do some practice problems (not all), and then when ready, take the unit test to prove you are ready to move on.

Don’t worry, we will limit our time doing this, as we are going to do Applied Math in connection with our unit. Right now, we will focus on using math to determine how much power or work is produced (by you or a machine), as well as some math about flight. I think you will have fun. Stay tuned and be patient as we get started with our year!

If you have suggestions or questions, feel free to always send me an email or put a note in my inbox. Please put your name on it, though, so I know who to address. No anonymous notes, thanks. 🙂

Get your parents to check their email to ensure they received an email from me.

If you haven’t turned in your personal letter to Ms. D OR social media consent, please do so soon!

I hope you have a good evening!  — MS. D

Hello Everyone!

On agendas today:

• You have a confirmed parent conference time, so please see the agenda! If you do not have your time for any reason, please contact Ms. D.
• Please remember to pay for agendas online and to bring in the pink form saying it is paid
• Please bring in student verification forms as soon as possible
• Ticket Notice for PAC Carnival went home today
• Review the Human Rights Video we watched and discussed today
• Create some goals for the new year and fill out the worksheet MACC Goals for 2016 for Monday. Have Mom and Dad sign it and help, too!

On the MACC Goals, please use sentences to describe your goals. On the question that asks what your Learner Profile goal is, please talk about which attributes you would like to work on from the poster in our classroom.

• Do you want to be a better communicator (public speaking, working with others, writing, etc.)?
• Do you want to be more balanced (get enough sleep, balance between work and play, having down time)?
• Do you want to be more of an inquirer (asking deeper questions about your learning) or a thinker (joining in the discussion about deep questions in class)?
• Do you want to be more knowledgeable about a particular subject?
• Do you want to be more open-minded to others’ ideas, or be more of a risk-taker by trying new things?
• Or maybe you are working on being caring (reaching out to others, being a good friend, taking care of people) or principled (working on knowing right from wrong, making good decisions)?

Tell me about which one of these you are working on for this year and how you will do it!

Have a great weekend! Rumblebot race on Monday due to delay from Terry Fox run practice this afternoon, so work on those racers!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone!

We started today with W.O.W. (Words of the Week) which we will generally do every Monday or Tuesday. It involves looking in the dictionary and choosing 10 words students may be less familiar with, so we can broaden our vocabularies! One of the words will come from Ms. DeTerra’s new favourite book called The Disappearing Dictionary by David Crystal, which details words on the “endangered words species list.”

Due on Thursday: For each word, students need to find the part of speech (noun, adjective, adverb, verb, etc.), the definition (there may be more than one, so do up to 4), and the origin of the word (Old English, Latin, Foreign language). They must also use the word in a sentence. The purpose is to learn new words, practice using dictionaries effectively (we did it online today on the iPads using dictionary.com), discuss how languages have changed over time, and to practice using parts of speech. Also, we are often reading articles from current events, and understanding these words can help with comprehension! This week’s words are:

• alleviate
• altercation
• aphorism
• appease
• archipelago
• avaricious
• atypical
• augment
• axis
• attercop  (endangered word)

We are currently doing a read aloud in connection with our new unit, the book A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen. It is about a family who becomes divided when the Berlin Wall is put up in Germany.  Please do not read this book at home, as it will take away from our reading and discussion of the book together at school. Thanks!

Everyone shared out the 10 rights they thought our new planet should have (per yesterday’s blog entry), and we discussed the pros and cons of each new rule. Ms. D challenged everyone to be a THINKER by answering: Where do the rules we make come from? How do we know right from wrong? Why isn’t it easy to make one set of rules that applies to everyone?

Then, students reviewed the United Declaration of Human Rights and compared it to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to see how they are different. Students were given a set of world situations, and they will have to figure out which article from either one of these documents can protect the right being given or denied to the person described. We are keeping all of these items in our blue unit binder, under the divider for “handouts.” The blue binder should stay at school for now, as the papers in it act like our textbook! If something is homework, Ms. D will say it is homework and ask students to put the item in their folder that can go to and from home.

Finally, we had our first gym class. We started with general fitness exercises. Our goal is to work up to 10 minutes of continuous running. We started with 1 minute today. Then we played a racing game called Rock Paper Scissors Race that involves quick reaction time! Our next PE time is on Thursday after lunch, so if you have a PE shirt it is a good idea to bring it for then!

Thank you to those of you who came to my office hours! When you come, if you need to speak with me, just let me know you are here so I am aware someone is waiting. If your question is quick, you can pop in and get your question answered, even if I am with someone, especially if you need to leave right away. If you are looking for a private, longer conversation, please wait outside on the porch after you let me know you are here, and I will try to wrap things up as best as I can if I know someone is waiting. I am always available for special appointments, so just email! Students with specific questions are welcome, otherwise, students need to wait outside so I can have private meetings. Thank you so much!

We will be having our Terry Fox Run on September 23rd, Friday. Please bring in toonies for Terry!

Parent Intake Meetings are on September 21 and 22! Notice will go home tomorrow. On September 21 early dismissal at 2PM and conferences from 2-7 PM. On September 22 late start at 9:55 AM and conferences from 3-5 PM.

No School on September 26th Monday and September 30th Friday.

Thank you and have a great evening!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for bringing in your supplies today. We spent some time organizing them, putting names on binders, and setting up the room. Thanks to everyone for your patience as we get the classroom organized for a great year!

Today we handed out Reading Around the World folders. Please read over the expectations with Mom and Dad at home! Folders should be going home so you can use it as a guide for the 20 minutes of reading nightly. If you have any questions about the program, please let me know!

Students also had music today, and we will have music twice a week. The permanent schedule for music, library and PE is still being worked out. Tomorrow, though, we will have our first PE session in the gym. Library will not start until next Monday.

Students also began our math assessments today, and we will continue them tomorrow to find out what the best level for each MACC student to work on for independent math time.

Ms. DeTerra introduced KAHOOT, which is similar to TimePlay in the movie theatres. It was a great opportunity to get out the iPads for the first time, go over guidelines for using them, and then to play an interactive game about colour theory in preparation for art! Students can make their own Kahoots online if they wish and have opportunities later to share them with friends in MACC.

We started our first big unit! It is called Action for Human Rights. We will combine socials, science, math, language arts, and the arts by looking at the following focus statement:

Open-mindedness and innovative thinking create change in the world.

We will look at the following areas as part of the unit:

• Human Rights (Personal, Children, Aboriginal, International)
• Energy, Forces, and Inventions
• Creative and Critical Thinking
• How Action Creates Change

If you happen to know anyone who works in a field related to these areas, particularly in human rights, please let Ms. D know, as we like to have visitors to the classroom that make the unit a richer experience! Today students were given a task to open the unit: A new planet has been discovered and a portion of the Earth’s population will move there. But, there are no laws. Come up with what you think would be the 10 most important laws, rules, rights, etc. on this new planet. We will finish our conversation tomorrow!

More as the week unfolds! Tonight please go over Reading Around the World, think about bringing in a toonie for Terry for our cancer research fund, and look at the yellow notice regarding the upcoming Suncrest carnival!!

Ms. D

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