Just a reminder to start that Literacy Logs are due each Friday. We have had a lot of great growth in terms of the level of detail, and effort going into these over recent weeks. I have told the class all year that this would be the time of year when it gets busier, and I have been holding them all more accountable for the details in their work since second term started. Many are feeling the pressure, and most are rising to the occasion. Please encourage your child to review their work before handing it in. Recently they have improved at breaking ideas into new sentences. We are struggling with conventions like spelling, and capitalization, which shows that they are not all reviewing their work.
Run on sentences are a recent problem, and the advice has been to look for repeated conjunctions in their work. When the word 'and' occurs twice, just remove the second linking word, and start a new sentence. In many cases this will work to break up run on sentences.
At least two pages should be written at this point in the year. To put it in perspective, many of the strong entries are three pages or more in those small books. This is meant to reflect a week of work ( a few minutes a few times a week), not just one ten minute session of writing once a week.
Please save the date for May 8th. This will be our School of Rock ten year anniversary concert date, at Nepean HS auditorium. More information will follow as we get ready to celebrate.
This week our class presented twice at the sharing. Both were remarkable in different ways. The day before the sharing, in the last block of the day, we came together with students from 310, and practiced the song "Best Day of my Life" on the guitar, uke, and some percussion. The next day we ended the sharing by performing it...and we totally rocked it! They rose to the occasion, with very little prep, and showed what a talented group they are by making it sound fantastic. Well done all around!
The other contribution was a month in the making, with the students drawing on the lessons they learned from the stories of MLK jr, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, and the issues raised during our anti bullying day. This all helped them decide on issues in their world that they would take a stand for, and then they stated these in very heartfelt video clips, which we presented to the school in an edited video. The issues they raised were wide ranging, and showed a depth of thought and character that reflected very well on them as a group. I received many comments from parents and staff who were moved by the level of thought and compassion that the class expressed. Topics ranged from animal rights, to human rights, gender equality, LGBT rights, same sex marriage, freedom of speech, clean water, healthy earth, an beyond. It was a strong moment for the class. I will make sure that everyone has a chance to view this video at a conference later this year.
Our 'Week of Work' is upon us. I is not daunting in any way, other than students needing to do something every night at home, and return it to school. It should take most students less than 15 min a night. Please help your child be successful with this, as it is paving the way for more responsibility for completing tasks in the future.
If you are planning to be away prior to the break, please let me know so that I can plan for your child's absence.
