Last Week of School Details (June 22 - 26)

Welcome to our twelfth and final week of remote learning. This week will look a little different since it is our last week of school for the year.

Monday: our last grade six Google Meet 8:30-9:30, no afternoon Meet

Tuesday, Wednesday: no open Google Meet (post on the stream or email us if you need help with coursework and require a one-on-one Meet)

Thursday: no open Google Meet, virtual grade six farewell on Zoom 1:00-2:00 (see details in the invitation below or in last week's post)

Friday: no open Google Meet, BHS farewell between 12:00 and 1:00 (teachers will be standing outside the school to wave goodbye and send you socially distanced well wishes for summer)

Below is a brief summary of this week’s learning activities and resources. 

Math

This week is all about review. Students are encouraged to complete any unfinished tasks on Mathletics and take the assigned grade six test. There is also a document containing links to online games and activities for all units covered this year. These can be accessed anytime throughout the summer as fun ways to keep skills sharp for next year. Please note that this week’s math documents have been posted as material rather than as assignments since there is nothing to be submitted in the Google Classroom this week.

LA / Science

This week, students will receive a number of clues to solve the mystery of a stolen phone and a cyberbullying incident at a fictional Calgary school. Students will read clues, analyze information and learn about the procedure to solve a crime. Clues will be posted throughout the week (Monday - Thursday). 

All Google Classrooms will be archived on Friday afternoon, meaning that students will be able to view past work but will not be able to post or submit anything new. We encourage students to keep reading over the summer and to talk or write about what they have read. Mathletics accounts will remain active over the summer, and the links posted in the math classroom are also great resources for practice. 

We hope to see students on Google Meet on Monday and to see all of you at our Zoom grade six farewell on Thursday and the BHS farewell on Friday.

Have a great last week of school and a wonderful summer!

Grade 6 Farewell Details and June 15 - 19 Online Learning

Please see the invitation at the end of this post for our virtual grade 6 farewell on Thursday, June 25 from 1pm to 2pm. We hope you’ll be able to join us online to celebrate the accomplishments of our wonderful students. The farewell is being held on Zoom to allow family members to join from anywhere. The free Zoom app can be downloaded on any device or you can sign up for a free account on the website at zoom.us. The meeting details are in the invitation and will also be sent out on the morning of the farewell via school messenger, as well as posted in the LA Google Classroom.
The program will feature a photo montage, speeches, and presentations of this year’s student awards. The t-shirt from parent council, a printed copy of each student’s certificate, and a small gift from the teachers have been placed in the plastic bag of student belongings. You should have received an email from the office about booking a time to pick up student belongings. Please note that even if you picked up items earlier, student work and grade 6 certificates and shirts have just been put out this week so you will need to come in again. Let me know if you have any questions about the virtual farewell or about picking up student belongings (siwinston@cbe.ab.ca).

Updates for our eleventh week of online learning are below. Answer keys and next week’s assignments and resources will be posted on Monday morning as usual.

LA (approx 45 min.)
This week students will edit the story they wrote during week 9. There is a document in which to copy the story and a checklist to complete with various edits and revisions. Students are also asked to highlight features such as figurative language (similes, personification, etc.) and word choice that invokes imagery. There are handouts posted on dialogue rules and figurative language so that students can refer to them while working on improving their stories.

Math (approx. 2.5 hours)
This week we are learning about transformations. Students will watch videos and complete tasks on Mathletics to practice transformations, rotations, and shifts on coordinate planes. There are questions to answer after the first set of videos as a way of making notes on key info and there are Mathletics reflection questions at the end of this week’s document. All other work will be submitted through Mathletics this week.

Social Studies (approx. 45 min., counted as LA time)
The Iroquois Confederacy unit is continuing. This week there are two videos to watch and questions to answer about the history of the Great Law of Peace.

Science (approx. 60 min., counted as LA time)
In the Evidence and Investigation unit, students are going to explore the various types of evidence and their unique characteristics (e.g. footprints, animal & tire tracks, fabric and soil samples testimonial evidence etc.) There is also a link to a Bill Nye episode on “Forensics” for those who want to learn more.

Due dates are set for each Sunday as a way of providing structure and keeping work from piling up and becoming overwhelming, but we understand that work may need to be handed in late for various reasons and we would much rather see the work late than not at all. We are trusting that late work is completed honestly and without the use of the answer keys.

All grade six teachers will continue to be available online during school days and can be reached through stream comments, email, comments on student work, and in Google Meets. We will continue to have daily morning Google Meets at 8:30 and two afternoon Meets, one on Monday at 12:30 and one on Wednesday at 1:30.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful week next week!

Online Learning June 8 - 12

Welcome to our tenth week of online learning. Starting this week we are reducing the afternoon Meet times due to a lack of participation. Mr. Shackelton will be hosting the Monday afternoon meeting at 12:30pm and Mr. Mueller will be hosting the Wednesday afternoon meeting at 1:30pm. We continue to check our classroom streams and answer questions about assignments. The morning Meet time remains unchanged. Daily Meets take place from 8:30-9:30am.

Answer keys are now posted for last week’s assignments where applicable, and this week’s assignments and resources are now posted.

LA (fully integrated into science and social studies)

This week students will be applying their literacy skills while continuing work in the final social studies and science units, so no assignments are posted in the LA classroom. Once again there is a question for students to answer confirming they understand that they need to check the science and social studies classrooms to access the work for this week. This shows us who is paying attention to what is posted.

Math (approx. 2.5 hours)

In our final week on geometry, students will work on triangles, quadrilaterals, and angles. This week students will learn about and refine skills in identifying different types of angles, naming triangles (by side and angle), calculating area and perimeter of 2-D shapes (e.g. triangles) and also learn how to calculate the volume of 3-d shapes (rectangular prisms). It is recommended to follow the steps on the Week 10 Geometry document for a linear progression of tasks. Mr. Mueller has made two videos explaining the concepts. The links are embedded in the document. Please ensure students watch them! New Mathletics tasks have been assigned for practice. Lastly, there is a Google Form about all the concepts taught in the past 3 weeks in geometry for students to test their skills. 

Social Studies (approx. 1.5 - 1.75 hours, counted as LA time)

The Iroquois Confederacy unit is continuing. There are textbook pages to read and questions to answer about their decision making. Remember to answer in full sentences. 

Science (approx. 30 - 45 mins, counted as LA time)

This week, students are tasked to develop their understanding of the types and patterns on fingerprints in the Evidence and Investigation unit. There is a slideshow, two short videos and a Google document with questions that need to be submitted.

Due dates are set for each Sunday as a way of providing structure and keeping work from piling up and becoming overwhelming, but we understand that work may need to be handed in late for various reasons and we would much rather see the work late than not at all. We are trusting that late work is completed honestly and without the use of the answer keys.

All grade six teachers will continue to be available online during school days and can be reached through stream comments, email, comments on student work, and in the daily Google Meets (see updated Meet schedule below).

Have a great week!

Online Learning June 1 - 5

Welcome to our ninth week of online learning. Answer keys are now posted for last week’s assignments where applicable, and this week’s assignments and resources are now posted.

LA (approx. 1 - 1.5 hours)

In addition to the science and social studies LA work, students will do a review of story writing this week. There are three photo prompts. Students will choose one and plan a story to write based on the picture. Their planning will include a word bank with various parts of speech (eg. vivid verbs) and the parts of a story (eg. climax and resolution). The PAT story writing rubric (also the rubric we used during our story writing unit) is posted so students can reference it and see where they think their story falls.

Math (approx. 2.5 hours)

Geometry is continuing. This week students will review the types of triangles, classify regular and irregular polygons, solve problems involving missing side lengths, and calculate perimeters of various shapes. The practice questions are split into two tasks and will be submitted through Google Forms. Relevant tasks are assigned on Mathletics. There is also another online basic facts / computation quiz to complete on Google Forms this week, including a few review questions on integers.

Social Studies (approx. 30 mins, counted as LA time)

The Iroquois Confederacy unit is continuing. There are textbook pages to read and questions to answer about their decision making and the pros and cons of consensus.

Science (approx. 30 mins, counted as LA time)

We are starting the last unit in science for this year: Evidence and Investigation. This week, students are tasked to develop their understanding of unit vocabulary (e.g. evidence, conclusion, infer, witness etc.) and learn about the importance of making detailed observations and inferences based on those details. 

Due dates are set for each Sunday as a way of providing structure and keeping work from piling up and becoming overwhelming, but we understand that work may need to be handed in late for various reasons and we would much rather see the work late than not at all. We are trusting that late work is completed honestly and without the use of the answer keys.

All grade six teachers will continue to be available online during school days and can be reached through stream comments, email, comments on student work, and in the daily Google Meets.

Have a great week!