Sorry it's been awhile...

Where to begin...

1. We have been working on our board games for Social Studies on an European Explorer who came to Canada. The students have one more double class and then we will test them on Tuesday. After the first test they can change anything that needs to be changed. I will post an outline on Monday of what the assignment entailed. Students seem to have improved in their planning compared with the last project. (Sorry I thought I had saved a post as a draft which did have thre pictures in it but it has dissappeared.) 

2. Math night is on Tuesday! Hope you can make it! 

3. Permission slips for 2 performances we are going to were sent home. Not sure about volunteers so will check into it. One is the divisional performance called the Lion King and the other is for the symphony. 

4. There was a review package sent home for math. It should be used like a mini test. Have the students try to do all the questions without reference. Then try to look back on the ones that were hard. We will go through the answers in class the day before the test. I have moved the test to Friday as we have one last section to go through and that is adding/subtracting decimals. (Get out the money!) and we may do more on estimating. The test has multiple choice and some long answer.

5. This week is kindness week and many things will be going on. I will add a picture of that information tomorrow at school. 

6. In LA we are reading Maniac Magee as a class and writing memoirs which we will turn into tall tales. Once they are finished then they will be posted. 

Merry Christmas

Have a wonderful holiday and a great break. See you in the New Year. Also a big thanks for all the gifts I received from all the students. I felt spoiled. I hope you parents like yours! 

Been awhile

Sorry life has been crazy in the household these days so I haven't had a chance to post. Here is a quick update:

1. Thursday is holiday sweater day so kids can were a nice or ugly sweater. 

2. Pj day is on Friday but those kids going for the choir field trip need to bring something nice to change into. 

3. Our class is in charge of assembling the hampers for the Christmas Cheerboard and so donations are welcomed. This was also one of our filed trips. The pictures tell it all. We packed 500 hampers in 1 hour. Boy are these guys fast! Great job. 

4. The Holiday concert was awesome! Mrs. Dunk is awesome! The kids were one of the most talented groups I have seen. I am so proud of their hard work. I am also so glad to be done with glitter! Sorry I could not be there that evening as it was my own son's concert. Will post some pictures too. 

Preparing parents

I thought this would be good to share with parents ahead of time because I use this to help with report cards. It is in the support document from the province

and I think parents are not aware of what the scale represents. If your child receives 1 they are not failing. ND would be a failing mark. I am not trying to make you worry but this is a document that I think is very helpful for parents. 

Also reminder that the specific conference meeting time for us to meet will be sent home tomorrow. You can always sign up the day of. Just fill a blank time.

Update

Sorry things have been crazy this last week with my grandma passing away and report cards but I will try and bring everyone up to speed.

The students finished their dioramas and started presented and unfortunately some will have to wait until Monday. The project quality was good by some but many groups will have to learn from this experience. 

The design process involves a lot of pre-planning and research in the beginning but many groups did not spend much time doing this. I had to stop several groups from building and send them back to that beginning step. The other problem was the written reports. Some groups did not include enough information and edit them well. Hopefully their diorama will compensate for this. I hope to have them marked by parent triads. They will be on display in the library for the week. To those of you who worked very hard congratulations . 

The Cheerboard trip has been rescheduled for Dec. 2. 

Also some of the late science design projects will be shared on Monday. 

Don't forget to bring in your triad conference sheet I sent home to schedule 10 minutes with me alone! I will be sending these back on Wednesday. 

Update

First order of business...

The students were given a design project for science. It is due on Monday. Students can take a picture and bring it in or email it to me at wjensen@sjsd.net. They can chose to bring it in to share otherwise. Students are encouraged to think outside the box. (Try not to help out as much as possible. I know it's hard because this challenge is sooo exciting.) 

I have included a picture of how I would get started so you have some idea. The objects do not have to look like the organ but just represent it instead. 

Next order of business is the diorama. We found that more time was needed and so students will have Thursday as well. This means that the plans, completed model and written report must be handed in Monday. Here is a picture of one that has come along nicely.

And a few others...

More business...

I will running my conferences differently then what you may have had in the past and have sent home a letter explaining it. This is a copy of the letter.

Please return the letter and also book online! 

On November 19th we will be traveling to the Cheerboard to pack hampers in the afternoon. If you would like to join us then please email me. If you have not done a criminal background check you can still volunteer but cannot come on the bus. This means I will give preference to those who have had the paper work done. I will let you know if you are needed through email. A permission slip will go home on Thursday. Thanks

November 1

The quiz in nutrition is moved to Tuesday. I feel that students will be better prepared that way. 

Here is a Halloween picture of the class.