Over the last week we have been learning the routines for our weekly Spelling activities. Some of you will be familiar with the Words Their Way program, and for others it will be quite new and different from other weekly spelling practice.
Students will receive a collection of words that represent particular spelling patterns they need to learn. We are all working at different levels – and that’s okay! This week you will receive a letter outlining our weekly routines and your child’s homework responsibilities. I encourage you and your child to play the word games together. Learning is always best when you’re having fun!
Here is the letter that was sent home explaining our weekly routines.
So many of our day-to-day routines have changed due to the new protocols we have to follow at school. We have new bell schedules, new break times, and let’s not forget how much of our day is taken up by hand washing! So, our first mini unit in Math is all about telling TIME!
We have stared by learning about the different measurements of time – seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. We wash our hands for 20 seconds. We spend 15 minutes outside at recess. We go to school for 6 hours a day. I’m definitely looking forward to a two week Winter break! It is important that we understand how long each of these measurements of time is. Next we are learning how to read an analogue clock.
Parents, you can help your child with their understanding of time by talking about it in your daily activities. You can ask your child these types of questions:
“How long do you think it will take you to _____ (clean your room, finish your homework, walk the dog, etc).”
“You started ____ at ___ (time). Now it is _____. How long did it take you?”
“I am starting to make dinner at 5:30. This recipe says it will take about 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minttes in the oven. What time will it be ready?”
Over the last few weeks, Div. 9 has been observing and collecting, questioning and hypothesizing. With the help of author Keri Smith and her book “How to Be An Explorer of the World”, we have been looking at the world around us through new and curious eyes.
We spent some time looking more closely at things that we see every day – our school! We investigated the weeping willows at the city park and discovered so many new and interesting things. We looked at the tree from afar, close up, as a home for many different beings, the root system, and as a part of our community’s history. They observed the shapes, colours, and patterns within the trees; compared them to other types of trees, and made some excellent hypotheses about how they came to be. They are starting to ask questions and build their curiosity about the natural world around them. Stay tuned to see where these curiosities take our learning next!
Quite often I will hear students say something to the effect of “I’m just not a Math person”. We learned last week that there is no such thing as a “Math person”, just like there is no such thing as and “art person” or a “sports person”. We are all capable of learning Math, if we are willing to put in the effort and persevere through our difficulties. This week we also learned:
mistakes are an important part of our learning. There is brain research to show that mistakes make more connections in the brain than when we get an answer correct.
Math is about depth, not speed
visual representations in Math are powerful
being able to see patterns in Math is important. Math is all about patterns!
According to Jo Boaler, here is how you can help your child learn Math:
This short survey will help you to see where you are on the mindset spectrum. Click here mindset-check-up There are no right or wrong answers!
Remember, this is only a starting point. Everyone is capable of growing and improving their mindset, just like we can grow and improve in any other skill or activity.
Division 6 has already learned about where they are on the mindset spectrum, so this is a great opportunity for reflection and discussion together.
Check out these videos we are using to explore ideas about learning with a growth mindset. This weekend the students of Division 6 will be asking about your thoughts and ideas about these topics. Enjoy learning along with them! Feel free to add thoughts or comments by clicking on the speaking bubble to the right.
This week we did a lot of work on Mindset and our growth portfolios. We stared the week with our first Math test. For some students a unit test like this is a new and daunting task, and getting your mind right before beginning is a key part of success. Before even seeing the test, students wrote bright pink stickies with a “message to their brain.” This gave them a visual reminder to turn to if they found themselves struggling or getting frustrated at any point during the test.
(As a side note, I strongly believe that traditional “testing” of skills is not the ‘be all end all’ of evaluation and absolutely must be balanced with many other forms of assessment. However, taking tests is a situation that our children will face in a variety of forms throughout their lifetime. Developing good test taking skills and a growth mindset will serve them well as they encounter this type of assessment throughout their education.)
We also began selecting work to put in our growth portfolios. Students chose one piece that they felt showed growth or that they were proud of, and did a reflection to explain why they chose it for their portfolios. They had to answer three questions in their reflection:
WHAT? (What is it? What was the activity? What was the criteria etc.)
SO WHAT? (Why did you choose this? How does it show growth? Why is it significant etc)
NOW WHAT? (Where do you go next in your learning? What do you need to work on? etc.)
We will be using this reflection format throughout the year, so students will become more familiar and comfortable with the process. This week I will give them some feedback, and the portfolios will be sent home for you to discuss with your child.
I want to thank you all for engaging with your children in this process. The feedback from the station activity we did with Mrs. McCormack’s class was amazing. It seems as though you had some valuable and thought provoking discussions with your children. Here are a few comments that you shared with them about the activity:
“Thank you for sharing the videos and your thoughts with me. You can learn anything you put your mind to doing. Don’t ever give up and mistakes are part of learning”
“Thinking about our brains as a muscle that can get stronger with practice is a great analogy. The words we say to ourselves during a failure or crisis are very important.”
“Life is all about trying and learning and making mistakes and challenges. That is how we all grow our minds.”
“It is our job as human beings in this world to grow, learn and adapt to these challenges by using our resources around us at school and home,and more importantly to believe in ourselves and to know that we are part of a very positive contribution to the society and people around us. So empowering!”
“Things aren’t always easy, but if you work hard you will get there.”
Thank you for your feedback and partnership in learning about Mindset. I look forward to seeing this grow and progress throughout the year! If you are interested in more information on growth mindset, here is a link to a video of Carol Dweck speaking about her research.
Over the last week we have been learning the routines for our weekly Spelling activities. Some of you will be familiar with the Words Their Way program, and for others it will be quite new and different from other weekly spelling practice.
