Last day of 2014 School Year

       Well, here we are, at the last day of school for 2014, and it seems like quite a whirlwind that has gotten us here.  Just a quick reminder to start, that the school will be closed for the break, so all items needed must be taken home tomorrow by the end of the day.  Also, we have a busy, and full, day planned tomorrow, with a big art project, reading buddies, oral presentations, our sing along, and the gift and take event.
      One last request for the year... I have been asking students for a while, but I will put this to the parents...Is anyone willing to froggy-sit our class pets?  They don't take up much room, are easy to care for, and will even offer up gentle music in the evenings if you are really quiet and listen closely.  Our firebellied toads need a home for the holidays.  It only requires a pickup tomorrow at any time until 3:00pm (when I will be taking them to my home if no one else comes forward).  Please let me know if you are up for this
     Not only have the past two weeks been a busy time, but the past four school months have been a wild ride as well.  We have tackled the history of flight, and the properties of air, we looked at four different ways to multiply, we wrote personal biographies (TBE - to be edited in the -new year), we have investigated Canada's role in the global community, we interpreted graphs of all styles, we dove deep into patterning, we examined numbers closely - in over a dozen ways that grade 6 students need to be able to explore them (expanding, factors, multiples, fractions, percentages, real world examples - just to name a few ways), we explored messages in print media, looked at how newspapers grab our attention, examined stereotypes in age, gender, religion, "race", culture, and occupation, worked on developing skills in locomotion, balance, agility, manipulation of objects (throwing and catching), coordination, teamwork, and leadership, took on the challenge of public speaking (oral presentations), explored the musical scale with recorder and ukulele, and much much more in class.  Our class organized and presented the Remembrance Day sharing, we developed and delivered a holiday play (Good Night iPad), we travelled to Dovercourt for two outdoor phys ed activities, and then again for the Terry Fox run, we skated at Dulude twice, we rode our bikes to the National Gallery during the animation festival, we walked to the Cenotaph - where most of us performed three songs during the Remembrance Day ceremony there, we had visits by Ryan's Well, and Paul Dewar.  In short, it has been a busy time so far.
       In addition, there has been a flurry of interaction between the home and school, with intake interviews for some students, the class meeting, September parent meetings for over a dozen students, to IEP's, progress reports, three way conferences, phone interviews, and over 20 different parents who have taken time to volunteer with us already this year (and yes, a select four or five that have been in over a dozen times themselves).  I feel like many of us have had a lot of opportunities to share stories and experiences this year.  I always feel so privileged to be able to spend the time I do with the students, and witness their successes on a daily basis, because I know how little of this really filters through to the home, so these opportunities we get to interact are my chance to share some of what I witness with you.  I hope that in the new year I have just as many opportunities to interact and share with all of you.
      The new year will be a busy time for us all (with my wife expecting in January, it will be extra busy for me!) and we hope to get things off and running from the very start.  Please let me know if your child will not be attending during the first days back in January, as it helps me with my planning.  We are looking forward to many more adventures next year, including some year end celebrations, and, of course, our tenth anniversary edition of School of Rock.
      I wish you and your families the best of the holiday season.  Take care and we will see you all back in 2015!
Happy Holidays,

Last week of 2014!

Ho-ho-holy snowflakes!  I can't believe that we are down to the last five days of the year!  This will be a busy, busy, busy five days, so everyone needs to hold on tight for the ride.  

This week there will not be any literacy logs going home.  They have been taken and returned for six weeks now, and many students have been very consistent with this work.  I will be sending them home first week back in January.  

Monday we will have 8 students travelling to Summit (along with myself) to take part in an alternative schools Bordenball activity day.  It will be a busy day, and each student needs indoor shoes, and a water bottle, along with lots of nourishment in their lunch.  

Tuesday and Wednesday we will wrap up our oral presentations, with all remaining students sharing their presentations.

Monday and Tuesday we will be putting the finishing touches on our prep for the play (Good Night iPad) we are sharing with the school on Wednesday.  If you wish to join us for the play, it will be presented during the sing along Wednesday morning, in the gym, between 8 and 840.  I will be recording the play for families to view at a later date, so don't worry if you can't make it.

Thursday morning we will be walking to Summit Alternative for their annual Stock Market event.  We hope to spend an hour and a half at the event, taking in the action, and also getting a feel for the school while we are there.  On the walk back we plan to do some outdoor phys ed activities in the Byron Linear Park.  We need volunteers to make this happen, so let Ray know if you can make it for this event.

Friday we will be up to our eyes in special events.  We hope to visit with our Reading Buddies in the first block of the day.  In the second block, we are getting a special visit from Sadie's mom, to talk about Hannukah, an share some stories with us, and then we will head to the gym for 11:15, and our last sing along of the week (Guitar club and the Ukes will perform, and Roy will likely be the grand finale with the 12 days of Christmas, and Churchill tradition loved by all:)  Then, in the last block, we will have, what Ben V and I like to refer to as "Reflective Study on the holiday season" (not a winter break party...not at all).  During this time we will have our "gift and take" event where students can bring in unlabelled gifts ($7 and under) and participate in a gift exchange.  Everyone who participates is guaranteed to end with a gift, but they will also likely spend a large part of the period laughing out loud.

There are some projects on the go this week as well.  

It is a busy one, so I hope students are getting their rest each night, as the days will be long if they are not rested.

Dec 15th Origin of Basketball

On Dec 15, 1891, James Naismith invented basketball as part of a school project to encourage indoor activities during the cold winter months.  Check out the whole story in this incredible interview with the Canadian sports icon (as portrayed by an actor).

Agenda for today

Fair trade label project

Here are the success criteria we created in class for our fair trade label project.  This is due on Tuesday next week.

Comparing fractions with a number line

Tiday we worked hard to visualize fractions in relation to each othe using number lines.

Oral presentations

We had three brave souls opt to share their presentations with us today, and they then did some reflective talk about where they dis well, and where they could improve.  It was a very confident trio, and they set the bar pretty high for everyone else...We will have more presentations every day until all have shared.