Friday, November 8

Messages and Reminders:
If our poetry anthology was not handed in today, it is now late and needs to be submitted on Tuesday. Many students also still need to hand in the math homework that was due today. There is no school on Monday because it is Remembrance Day. We begin swimming lessons on Tuesday. Make sure students have a bathing suit, towel, and plastic bag each day that we are swimming. If you have not returned the forms, students will not be going swimming and will join a grade five class at school while we are gone. Our next basic facts / computation quiz is on Wednesday. November's school spirit day is on the 20th and is "reverse day" - teachers can dress as students and students can dress as teachers. Theatre field trip forms and payment are due on Friday, November 22.

Morning recap:
This morning after writing our social studies unit test, we completed our week in review and then did read to self or read to someone. During math, we did some multiplication word problems using a graphic organizer to clearly show our work. Here is an example:

In health, we reviewed the zones of regulation. There are four zones: blue, green, yellow, and red. They correspond to different emotional states. If we're sad or tired, we're in the blue zone. Being in the green zone means we're feeling okay and are ready to learn. If we're worried, frustrated, or hyper, we're in the yellow zone. Being in the red zone means we're out of control, which usually means being angry or terrified. This year we will practice lots of strategies to help us move back to the green zone. Today we began making fortune tellers that will help us review the zones. We listed the emotions associated with each zone and wrote what it looks like to be in the green zone.

After a quick classroom cleanup, we headed down to the Remembrance Day assembly. We spent the last 15 minutes of the morning either doing finish up in Mr. Mueller's room or at gym.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Upcoming important dates:
Monday, November 11 - no school (Remembrance Day)
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Wednesday, November 13 - basic facts / computation quiz
Wednesday, November 20 - spirit day: reverse day (students dress as teachers)
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Poetry anthologies

Remember that if you have not shared your poetry anthology with me (siwinston@educbe.ca), you will not be printing it at school tomorrow.

Thursday, November 7

Messages and Reminders:
Our poetry anthology project is due tomorrow. We also have a page of math homework (multiplication and division) due tomorrow. The Remembrance Day assembly is tomorrow at 10:30. Swimming forms and payment are due tomorrow and theatre forms and payment are due Friday, November 22. There is no school on Monday. We begin swimming lessons on Tuesday. Make sure students have a bathing suit, towel, and plastic bag each day that we are swimming.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did word work and made as many words as we could out of the letters in REMEMBRANCE. During language arts, we continued working on the questions that go with chapter one of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which we read yesterday. During math, we did a quick number talk and discussed the ways we knew the answer to 88.8 divided by 8. Then we completed a 3 question mini quiz on division, had a few minutes to print poetry if needed, and then did Mathletics on the laptops. We ended the morning with gym and library.

Upcoming important dates:
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
Monday, November 11 - no school (Remembrance Day)
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Wednesday, November 13 - basic facts / computation quiz
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Wednesday, November 6

Messages and Reminders:
We have library tomorrow. Our poetry anthology project is due on Friday. We also have a page of math homework (multiplication and division) due Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due this Friday and theatre forms and payment are due November 22. There is no school on Monday. We begin swimming lessons on Tuesday. Make sure students have a bathing suit, towel, and plastic bag each day that we are swimming.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did read to self or read to someone. During language arts, we started our novel study. We will be reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe together as a class. Today we began by talking about the book and making predictions, reading chapter one, and starting to answer some comprehension and critical thinking questions. We got together with our buddies today to create our class wreaths for Friday's Remembrance Day assembly. We talked about why poppies are the symbol for Remembrance Day and we made paper handprints and poppies to create our wreaths. We ended the morning at our Wednesday dance class in gym with all the grade sixes.

Upcoming important dates:
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - math homework page due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
Monday, November 11 - no school (Remembrance Day)
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Wednesday, November 13 - basic facts / computation quiz
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Tuesday, November 5

Messages and Reminders:
Our poetry anthology project is due on Friday. We also have a page of math homework (multiplication and division) due Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due this Friday and theatre forms and payment are due November 22.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did read to self. During math, we wrote a practice basic facts / computation quiz so that we could get some extra practice in and have something to study before next Tuesday's quiz. It was very similar to the one we wrote two weeks ago, but of course had slightly different numbers. If we have questions about any of the problems on the practice quiz, we will have opportunities to talk about them this week during math. In language arts, we worked on our poetry anthologies for the last time. They are now homework and are due on Friday. We took a break to go to gym, where we played dodgeball games. Ms. Winston had to leave for an appointment so Mr. Hebert spent the last half hour of the morning with us while we continued working on our poetry until lunch.

In case you missed it in previous posts, here are the expectations and rubric for the poetry anthology.

Upcoming important dates:
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Wednesday, November 13 - basic facts / computation quiz
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Monday, November 4

Messages and Reminders:
Our poetry anthology project is due on Friday, November 8. Many of us also have math homework due Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due Friday and theatre forms and payment are due November 22.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did read to self. During math, we began with a number talk. We looked at the question 25 x 5 and talked about the different ways we could solve it in our heads (without having to write it out on paper). We noticed that there were many ways to arrive at the same answer. Then we continued working on our long division booklet and began a page of multi-digit multiplication and long division practice questions. This page is now homework and will be due on Friday. There is a must section that all students need to complete and a could section that is available for an extra challenge. If the long division booklet wasn't finished, it is now homework as well. If all work was complete, we played the division game we learned last week. In language arts, we worked on our poetry anthologies. These are due on Friday, and tomorrow will be our last class time to work on them. Poem checklists were handed out to us today so that we could see our progress and make a plan for what we have left to complete. We took a break to go to gym and then continued working on our poetry until lunch.

Upcoming important dates:
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - math homework page due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Thursday, October 31

Messages and Reminders:
There is no school tomorrow. Our poetry anthology project is due on Friday, November 8. Swimming forms and payment are due November 8 and theatre forms and payment are due November 22. Please remember to check Mr. Mueller and Mr. Shackelton's blogs for updates on what we are doing in science and social studies, as we had projects due in both classes this week and many have not been handed in.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did some word work. We made as many words as we could out of the letters in HALLOWEEN. In math, we learned a new long division game and played if we were done our booklets. We visited our buddies since there is no school and we won't see them tomorrow. We worked together to colour some Halloween pictures and then helped our buddies practice their listening skills while we played Halloween bingo. After a quick week in review and classroom cleanup, we went to gym and then ended the morning at the library.

Have a safe and happy Halloween if you're celebrating, a great day off tomorrow, and a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming important dates:

Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Wednesday, October 30

Messages and Reminders:
Tomorrow is Halloween, which we will be celebrating at BHS with black and orange day. We have library tomorrow. The pillars of care assembly is tomorrow at 12:30pm. There is no school on Friday.  We have moved the poetry anthology due date to Friday, November 8. Swimming forms and payment are due November 8 and theatre forms and payment are due November 22. Please remember to check Mr. Mueller and Mr. Shackelton's blogs for information on our science and social studies classes - there have been projects due this week in both subjects and many students have not handed them in.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did a reading assessment. Since we have been learning about trees and forests in science, all grade six students received a passage about trees and then answered a series of questions. It was read aloud once to everyone and then students had time to reread it as many times as they wanted. The questions were designed to see how deeply students were comprehending what they had read. We will continue this type of reading assessment throughout the year, with the goal to develop strategies to help deepen our reading comprehension. During language arts, we continued working on our poetry anthologies. In math, we completed a 3 question division mini quiz, worked on our long division booklets, and then did Mathletics on the laptops. We ended the morning at our Wednesday dance class in gym with all the grade sixes.

Upcoming important dates:

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Thursday, October 31 - pillars of care assembly - 12:30pm
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - poetry anthology project due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Tuesday, October 29

Messages and Reminders:
Thursday is Halloween, which we will be celebrating at BHS with black and orange day. The pillars of care assembly is at 12:30pm on Thursday. There is no school on Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due November 8 and theatre forms and payment are due November 22.

Morning recap:
This morning after music and read to self, we continued practicing long division. We did a few more questions as a class and then worked through the rest of our booklet on our own. If we finished all questions in our booklet, we started on a review page with long division and multi-digit multiplication. Our pumpkin group also decorated the room 20 pumpkin during this time. In language arts, we worked on our poetry anthologies. We took a break to go to gym and then continued working on our poetry until lunch.

Upcoming important dates:

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Thursday, October 31 - pillars of care assembly - 12:30pm
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Monday, October 28

Messages and Reminders:
Last week's basic facts quizzes went home with students today. Please look over, sign, and send them back to school tomorrow. See Friday's blog post for more info on the basic facts quiz. Book orders are due tomorrow. Thursday is Halloween, which we will be celebrating at BHS with black and orange day. The pillars of care assembly is at 12:30pm on Thursday. Notes went home with room 20's winners today. There is no school on Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due November 8 and theatre forms and payment are due November 22. We are taking another week off spelling to focus on our ongoing projects.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we had a special guest speaker. Officer Kovacs, our school resource officer, came to speak to us about what he does as a police officer and how we can help keep ourselves and others safe, through things such as refraining from fighting and being safe online.

After our guest speaker left, we took a few minutes to draw a pumpkin design. Many classes in the school are designing pumpkins this week. The rule is that the design must be based on something we are learning. The pumpkins will be on display in the library on Wednesday and Thursday. Room 20's pumpkin is going to be about math because Halloween often involves scary things and many of us think that math is very scary! Alone or with a friend or two, we designed a math pumpkin. Once everyone was done, we voted on which design we'll actually use. The winning design was drawn by Joshua, Haider, and Gregory, and they will execute their design on our pumpkin tomorrow morning.

In language arts, we worked on our poetry anthology. After LA, We went to gym and then we finished the morning by going over our basic facts quiz (which needs to be signed and returned) and watching part of a long division review video.

Upcoming important dates:

Tuesday, October 29 - book orders due

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Thursday, October 31 - pillars of care assembly - 12:30pm
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Friday, October 25

Messages and Reminders:
Please remember to check Mr. Shackelton (https://gr6bhs.blogspot.com/) and Mr. Mueller's (https://mrmuellerbhsgr6.blogspot.com/) blogs for details on our social studies and science projects. Book orders are due by Tuesday and can be submitted online or by returning forms to Ms. Winston. Thursday is Halloween, which we will be celebrating at BHS with black and orange day. The pillars of care assembly is at 12:30pm on Thursday. Notes will go home with our winners next week. There is no school for students next Friday. Swimming forms and payment are due November 8 and theatre forms and payment are due November 22.

Morning recap:
This morning all students in division two (grades four, five, and six) spent the morning with presenters from the Junior Achievement program. In grade six, we learned all about businesses and worked together to develop a business of our own (a custom order candy store). We got to watch some clips from Dragon's Den to see how other children pitched their businesses in real life before designing a business plan together as a class. We also practiced working individually and as an assembly line to see which was more efficient when building pens. We played games including Jeopardy to identify popular logos and broken telephone to pass along customer orders. At the end, we played a review game to see how well we had been listening this morning. Everyone received a certificate for participating in this program.

Yesterday's basic facts quizzes have been marked, but students have not seen them yet because we were with Junior Achievement all morning. As a class, we didn't do very well on this quiz. This quiz was significantly more difficult than the first one, so it was expected that scores would be lower. The questions on this quiz better reflect what we will see on our triweekly basic facts quizzes throughout the year and what we will see on the math PAT. We will have many chances to improve, which means there is not reason to be concerned about marks at this point in the year; however, I want to make this clear and go over the quiz with students before handing them out because I don't want anyone to see their scores without an explanation and be upset. We will go over the quiz together on Monday, and then quizzes will be handed out for students to bring home, have a parent/guardian sign, and return to school.

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming important dates:

Tuesday, October 29 - book orders due

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Thursday, October 31 - pillars of care assembly - 12:30pm
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Thursday, October 24

Messages and Reminders:
Field trip forms went home today for our Tuesday, November 26 field trip to see the play of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Forms and payment must be returned by Friday, November 22. The Halloween dance is tonight. An adult must be present with students at the dance. Tomorrow morning we will be participating in a program by Junior Achievement. Book orders are due by Tuesday. Swimming forms and payment are due by Friday, November 8. Our poetry anthology is due Tuesday, November 5, and we will have more class time to work on it next week. Please remember to check Mr. Shackelton and Mr. Mueller's blogs for details on our social studies and science projects.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we wrote our basic facts quiz. We didn't have time to peer mark, so Ms. Winston marked them and we will see our marks on Monday. We saw our buddies today since we have a special program (Junior Achievement) all morning tomorrow. This year, in addition to the four constant pillars, BHS has a monthly pillar too. Since October's monthly pillar is respect, we did some respect activities with our buddies. We wrote words or drew pictures of ways to show respect at home, in class, and on the playground. We also wrote acrostic poems for respect. When we got back to class, we talked about the next rotating pillar of care. The teachers decided on the first two (belonging and respect) but this month it was turned over to the students. We went through the same process as the teachers: a group brainstorm about potential pillar ideas, table group discussions to choose the best idea, and then a whole class vote on the ideas from each group. The pillar that room 20 will be suggesting is loyalty/trust. Tomorrow at the staff meeting, teachers will each submit their students' ideas and we will determine the November pillar to be announced at next week's pillars of care assembly. We ended the morning with gym and library.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance - 6:00pm-8:00pm
Tuesday, October 29 - book orders due

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Thursday, October 31 - pillars of care assembly - 12:30pm
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Tuesday, November 5 - poetry anthology due
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due
November 12, 13, 14, 18, 19 - swimming lessons
Friday, November 22 - theatre forms and payment due
Tuesday, November 26 - theatre field trip

Wednesday, October 23

Messages and Reminders:
Swimming lesson field trip forms went home today. The letter and calendar are yours to keep so you have the information. Forms (acknowledgement of risk, medical, and swim ability) and payment ($26) must be returned to school by November 8. We swim on November 12, 13, 14, 18, and 19. We will be writing our next basic facts quiz tomorrow morning. We have library tomorrow. The Halloween dance is tomorrow evening. An adult must be present with students at the dance. Book orders are due by Tuesday. Please remember to check Mr. Shackelton and Mr. Mueller's blogs for details on our social studies and science projects.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did read to self or read to someone. In language arts, we continued working on our poetry anthologies. Laptops were available today if we wanted to begin typing our poems. During math, we completed a 5 question mini quiz to see how we're doing with decimal multiplication and basic division. Then we either finished our decimal multiplication bingo cards or grabbed a laptop and did Mathletics. We ended the morning at our Wednesday dance class in gym. 

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 24 - basic facts quiz
Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance (evening)
Tuesday, October 29 - book orders due

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day
Friday, November 8 - swimming forms and payment due

Tuesday, October 22

Messages and Reminders:
Book order flyers went home today. Orders must be in by Tuesday, October 29 and can be placed online or by sending in a cheque with your order form. You also never know when a free book coupon might be earned for hard work...We will be writing our next basic facts quiz on Thursday morning. The Halloween dance is Thursday evening. A parent council notice went home with details about the dance on Friday. Please remember to check Mr. Shackelton and Mr. Mueller's blogs for details on our social studies and science projects.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did read to self before moving onto math. We spent a few minutes finishing up our decimal multiplication bingo cards and then we talked about division. We watched two Math Antics videos about the steps and then practiced some questions as a class. The division we are doing right now should be review from last year, but we will soon be moving onto division involving decimals.

During language arts, we had time to work on our poetry anthology project. If we accomplish about two poems a day, we should be able to get our project done during class time over the next couple weeks. We took a break to go to gym, where we played soccer, before continuing to work on our poetry until lunch.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 24 - basic facts quiz
Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance (evening)
Tuesday, October 29 - book orders due

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day

Monday, October 21

Messages and Reminders:
BHS is participating in the Reading... Give It a Shot program this year. A reading tracking sheet went home with students today. For every hour that grade 6 students read, they will earn a hockey card. There are 24 player cards and 1 surprise card to collect. If we do well as a school, we will have a chance to win a visit from the Calgary Flames. This program goes until December 13. We will be writing our next basic facts quiz on Thursday morning. The Halloween dance is Thursday evening. A parent council notice went home with details about the dance on Friday. Please remember to check Mr. Shackelton and Mr. Mueller's blogs for details on our social studies and science projects.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did read to self before talking about our poetry anthology project. We will have lots of time this week and next week to work on this project and are also welcome to work on it at home. Here are the details:

In math, we continued working on decimal multiplication. We had work to finish from Friday, including creating decimal multiplication bingo cards. Gym was outside this morning because our gym was being used as a polling station for the federal election. 

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 24 - basic facts quiz
Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance - 6:00pm-8:00pm

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)
Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day

Friday, October 18

Messages and Reminders:
The Halloween dance is Thursday evening. Check Mr. Shackelton's blog for detail on the social studies project that is due at the end of the month. We are taking another week off spelling because we have lots of projects starting next week and also a presentation on Friday.

Morning recap:
This morning we did read to self or read to someone before learning about bio poems. These are poems that tell the story of one particular person, including what they love and where they live. We wrote one as a class about Maks and then had time to write our own in our journals. Some of them were pretty funny. In math, we reviewed how to do multi-digit multiplication involving decimals. It is just like regular multiplication but we have to remember to count the number of places after the decimal in the questions to make sure the answer has the same amount. For example. 0.34 x 0.68 has 4 numbers after the decimal, so the answer will as well (0.2312). We did some practice problems and then started creating bingo cards so that we can play decimal multiplication bingo in an upcoming math block.

During buddies, we helped them create their classroom alphabet. We created letters using cotton balls, stickers, or tissue paper. We also read with our buddies and acted out different problems we might have at school so that we could talk about how to solve them and how big each problem is. For example, breaking a pencil is a level 1 problem that we can solve by ourselves, whereas falling off the slide and breaking a bone is a level 5 problem that requires a lot of help. We ended the morning playing bench dodgeball with all the grade sixes at gym.

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming important dates:

Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance (evening)

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day 

Thursday, October 17

Messages and Reminders:
The Halloween dance is next Thursday evening.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did our October writing sample. This was the picture we wrote about this month.

In math, we did a multiplication mini quiz before grabbing a laptop for Mathletics. This week's mini quiz included multi-digit multiplication as well as decimal multiplication, which we will be reviewing and practicing tomorrow. We ended the morning with gym and library.

Upcoming important dates:

Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance (evening)

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day 

Wednesday, October 16

Messages and Reminders:
Fun lunch is tomorrow. We have library tomorrow.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we grabbed laptops to do our poetry quiz. It covered the terms we have been studying for the past couple weeks. Once laptops were put away, we talked about two more forms of poetry: diamantes and limericks. Ms. Winston wasn't feeling well and left mid-morning, so Ms. MacDonald subbed and the plan was to write some diamantes and limericks and continue practicing multi-digit multiplication. We ended the morning at gym with all the grade sixes for our Wednesday dance class. Ms. Winston should be back tomorrow.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch

Thursday, October 24 - parent council Halloween dance (evening)

Thursday, October 31 - black and orange day (no costumes at school please)

Friday, November 1 - no school - PD day 

A few reminders.

Hi Room 20 Students and Families,

I hope you are having a wonderful long weekend. Just a few notes about the upcoming week:

• We are going to write a short (15 question) quiz on Wednesday on the poetry terms we have been studying for the past couple weeks. You will need to be able to identify rhyme schemes (ABAB, ABBA, etc.), alliteration, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, personification, rhythm, and a few of the forms of poetry we have practiced (couplets, tercets, cinquains, haiku, etc.). If you've been paying attention in class, you will do fine. The quiz is multiple choice and will be completed on the laptops.
• There are no new spelling words this week because it is such a short week. 
• We will be practicing a few more forms of poetry this week and then we will get to work on our final poetry project which will be due at the end of the month.
• It is crazy hair day on Wednesday. 
• Grade 6 vaccinations are happening on Wednesday if forms were returned.
• Fun lunch is on Thursday.

Enjoy your Monday and Tuesday off school! Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, take some time to be grateful. I'm grateful for the 20 of you and for our school community at BHS. See you on Wednesday.

- Ms. Winston

Thursday, October 10

Messages and Reminders:
Fun lunch orders are due online by tomorrow. There is no school on Friday, Monday, or Tuesday. Wednesday is crazy hair day and also the day grade six students will get their vaccinations if forms were returned.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we did something different in word work. We did an activity called money words. Each letter of the alphabet is given a different value and we practiced adding decimals by seeing how much each our spelling words was worth. This gave us one last chance to practice for our spelling test, which we then wrote and peer marked before heading downstairs to do a Thanksgiving word search and read with our buddies. We came back upstairs for a quick week in review and classroom cleanup and then we were off to gym and library.

Have a great long weekend and a very happy Thanksgiving if you are celebrating.

Upcoming important dates:
Friday, October 11 - fun lunch orders due online
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day
Wednesday, October 16 - grade 6 vaccinations
Wednesday, October 16 - crazy hair day
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch

Wednesday, October 9

Messages and Reminders:
Our spelling test is tomorrow, so homework is must be returned. We have library tomorrow. Fun lunch orders are due online by Friday. There is no school on Friday, Monday, or Tuesday.

A note from Mr. Mueller: The layers of the forest project was due on Tuesday. If it was not handed in, it became homework and must be handed in tomorrow.

Morning recap:
This morning we did read to self or read to someone when we got back from music. In language arts, we filed a bunch of papers in our language arts folders and then talked about odes. We looked at examples of this form of poem, wrote one as a class (ode to sprinkles), and then wrote our own. In math, we completed a few multiplication problems and then did Mathletics or Splash Math on the laptops. It's Wednesday, which meant we ended the morning learning from our special guest dance instructor in gym.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - fun lunch orders due online
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day
Wednesday, October 16 - grade 6 vaccinations
Wednesday, October 16 - crazy hair day
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch

Tuesday, October 8

Messages and Reminders:
Spelling homework is due on Thursday, the day of our spelling test. When completing this week's homework, students may write a sentence using the word, the definition of the word, or an example  in cases of literary devices such as simile. We have library on Thursday. Fun lunch orders are due online by Friday. There is no school this Friday or next Monday or Tuesday.

A note from Mr. Mueller: The layers of the forest project was due today. If students are not finished, it is now homework and must be handed in by Thursday.

Morning recap:
This morning we did read to self when we got back from music. In math, we did a few multi-digit multiplication questions a class to review the steps and then we kept working on our booklet from yesterday. If we finished all our work, we played multiplication or division games with a partner. In language arts, we analyzed different types of poems and looked for examples of the literary devices we have learned. We did some as a class, took a break to go to gym, and then analyzed one or two poems on our own. We used different colours to underline or highlight different literary devices such as alliteration and personification.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - fun lunch orders due online
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day
Wednesday, October 16 - grade 6 vaccinations
Wednesday, October 16 - crazy hair day
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch

Monday, October 7

Messages and Reminders:
Spelling homework is due on Thursday, the day of our spelling test. When completing this week's homework, students may write a sentence using the word, the definition of the word, or an example  in cases of literary devices such as simile. We have library on Thursday. Fun lunch orders are due online by Friday. There is no school this Friday or next Monday or Tuesday.

Morning recap:
This morning we did read to self when we got back from ignite. In language arts, we continued looking at different types of poems. We also had some time to work on our spelling homework since this week's words are poetry words. In math, we reviewed multi-digit multiplication. We watched Math Antics videos to remind us of the steps and did some practice  questions as a class. We took a break to go to gym and then began working on some multiplication practice questions on our own. We will continue working on this tomorrow.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - fun lunch orders due online
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day
Wednesday, October 16 - grade 6 vaccinations
Wednesday, October 16 - crazy hair day
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch

Friday, October 4

Messages and Reminders:
Fun lunch forms went home today. Order online by next Friday if you want Subway on October 17. Picture day is on Monday. New spelling words went home today and are also listed below. The sentences are due on test day, next Thursday.

Must:

1. rhythm
2. rhyme
3. repetition
4. alliteration
5. imagery
6. simile
7. metaphor
8. syllables
9. stanza
10. couplet

Should (if not ELL or on an IPP):

1. haiku
2. hyperbole
3. synonym
4. personification
5. onomatopoeia

Morning recap:
This morning we either finished our Terry Fox doodle art shoe or did read to self or read to someone before we were interrupted by a fire drill. Most of us did a great job during the drill. In math, we played noggle. It's just like boggle but with numbers. We had to write all the multiplication and division sentences we could find (they don't have to be touching in noggle the way they do in boggle). One example is 3 x 5 = 15. How many can you find?

We also went over the steps to solving a word problem and did some multiplication and division word problems. If we finished all the problems, we played math games. We did a quick week in review and classroom clean up before going down to see our buddies. We walked around the school looking for leaves and then we came in and created leaf art. We ended the morning at gym with all the grade sixes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming important dates:
Monday, October 7 - picture day
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - fun lunch orders due online
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day
Wednesday, October 16 - grade 6 vaccinations
Wednesday, October 16 - crazy hair day
Thursday, October 17 - fun lunch 

Thursday, October 3

Messages and Reminders:
New spelling words will go home tomorrow. Picture day is on Monday.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, we played boggle. How many words can you find on today's board?

Students who had not completed their spelling homework used this time to try to get it done before we wrote and peer marked our spelling tests. After completing a math rounding chart and a few computation questions, we did Mathletics on the laptops before heading to gym and then ending the morning at library.

Upcoming important dates:
Monday, October 7 - picture day
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day

Wednesday, October 2

Messages and Reminders:
We have our second spelling test tomorrow, so spelling sentence homework must be returned. We have library tomorrow. Picture day is on Monday.

Morning recap:
This morning after music, we did read to self or read to someone. In math, we wrote and peer marked our first basic facts quizzes. Most of us did really well. A few students chose to bring it home to show off, and they must be returned tomorrow. These will happen every three weeks this year, so lots of chances to improve, and everyone will bring them home a few times a year once we have had more practice. In language arts, we kept talking about poetry. We went through some more literary terms and then wrote three line poems called tercets. We also had time to work on our Terry Fox doodle art shoes from last week. Wednesday gym classes will look a bit different for the next couple months. BHS is fortunate to have received funding for a dance program and today was our first class with the dance instructor.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, October 3 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Monday, October 7 - picture day
Thursday, October 10 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day

Tuesday, October 1

Messages and Reminders:
Our first basic facts quiz will be tomorrow. We have our second spelling test on Thursday, so spelling sentence homework must be returned by Thursday. We have library on Thursday.

Morning recap:
This morning after getting back from music, we did read to self and then practiced the math we reviewed yesterday. We did lots of questions on rounding decimals and a little pre-test on multiplication. When we finished our work, we played multiplication and division games to try to get quicker at solving facts. During language arts, we talked about haiku poems. We read some poems from a book called Guess Who Haiku and talked about the format of haiku poems, which is 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and then 5 syllables. We took a break to go to gym, where we did stations. When we got back upstairs, we were displaced from our classroom because our SMART Board was (finally) being installed, so we ended the morning in Mr. Mueller's room writing haikus in our journals.

Upcoming important dates:
Wednesday, October 2 - basic facts quiz
Thursday, October 3 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day

Monday, September 30

Messages and Reminders:
Our first basic facts quiz will be on Wednesday. We have our second spelling test on Thursday, so spelling sentence homework must be returned by Thursday. We have library on Thursday.

Morning recap:
This morning after ignite, all the grade six classes met with Ms. Harmony to talk about orange shirt day and its importance. When we got to room 20, we did read to self and switched out who is doing classroom jobs (we switch every two weeks). In language arts, we continued talking about poetry. Today we went over some terms related to poetry, such as rhythm and repetition. You will be seeing more of these words on an upcoming spelling list. In math, we reviewed a few concepts. Ms. Winston checked out our Mathletics reports this weekend and saw that a lot of us struggled with the activities on rounding decimals, so we did some work on that. We also reviewed addition and subtraction. Tomorrow we will practice multiplication and division so that we are prepared for our upcoming basic facts quiz. In gym, we went outside to play in the snow and it was super fun!

Upcoming important dates:
Wednesday, October 2 - basic facts quiz
Thursday, October 3 - spelling test / spelling sentence homework due
Friday, October 11 - no school - PD day
Monday, October 14 - no school - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, October 15 - no school - PD day

Bring snow gear tomorrow!

Since it is still snowing but the temperature is not that cold, Mr. Sadowsky has said that if students are dressed for the snow, we can likely do outdoor activities for gym tomorrow. Make sure to bring your coat, snow pants, gloves, hats, and boots so that you can participate.

New spelling words

This week's spelling words go along with what students are learning about trees and forests in science. All students must know the first 10 words. Students should know all 15 words. For homework this week (due on Thursday, Oct. 3), each word must be written into a complete sentence with proper capitals and punctuation. Please underline the spelling words. Our spelling test will be Thursday morning.

Must know words:
1.  habitat
2.  canopy
3.  understory
4.  subfloor (or sub-floor)
5.  organism
6.  leaves
7.  producers
8.  nutrients
9.  deciduous
10. coniferous

Should know words:

11.  bacteria

12.  emergent

13.  biodiversity

14.  ecosystem

15.  decomposers

Friday, September 27

Messages and Reminders:
Orange shirt day is on Monday. School spirit clothing order deadline was extended until Monday so you have one more chance to order.

Morning recap:
This morning we helped set up for the pillars of care assembly. After the assembly, we helped put away all the chairs, benches, and risers before writing and peer marking our spelling test. We have all seen our scores on the test. Our buddies came up to our class for the first time this year. We read a book called You Hold Me Up and talked about how it connects to orange shirt day and to our monthly pillar of belonging. With our buddies, we designed t-shirts showing ways we can hold each other up. After buddies left, we cleaned up our classroom before ending the morning at gym with all the grade sixes.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming important dates:

Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day
Monday, September 30 - school spirit clothing orders due

Thursday, September 26

Messages and Reminders:
We are doing our first spelling test tomorrow. The September pillars of care assembly is tomorrow morning at 8:30. Tomorrow is the last day to bring Terry Fox donations. School spirit clothing orders are due tomorrow. Orange shirt day is on Monday.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from ignite, we wrote in our journals about yesterday's field trip. We wrote about what we did, what we saw, and our favourite part. If our sentence homework had not been returned, we had class time to finish it. Some of us went to patrol training in the gym and the rest of us did Terry Fox doodle art. We each got a blank shoe to cover with words and images related to Terry Fox. During math, we did Mathletics on the laptops. We ended the morning with gym and a trip to the library.

Upcoming important dates:

Friday, September 27 - school spirit clothing orders due
Friday, September 27 - spelling test
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Wednesday, September 25

Messages and Reminders:
We have library tomorrow so make sure your books are returned. We have our first spelling test on Friday, so spelling sentence homework must be returned by tomorrow. The September pillars of care assembly is on Friday morning at 8:30. Friday is the last day to bring donations for Terry Fox. School spirit clothing orders are due by Friday. Orange shirt day is Monday, September 30.

Morning recap:
This morning we went on our walking field trip to Nose Hill Park. The weather was perfect! We walked to the park and then split into groups to go exploring and to look for different types of leaves. After a while, we all met back at the tunnel and trekked back to school just in time to regroup before lunch. Overall, BHS was well represented with students acting responsibly and respectfully. What a great morning!

Upcoming important dates:

Thursday, September 26 - spelling sentence homework due
Friday, September 27 - spelling test
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - school spirit clothing orders due
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Tuesday, September 24

Messages and Reminders:
Grade six is going on a walking field trip to Nose Hill Park tomorrow morning. Make sure to dress for the weather. We have library on Thursday. We are collecting donations for Terry Fox all week. We will do our first spelling test on Friday, so spelling sentence homework must be returned by Thursday. The September pillars of care assembly is on Friday morning at 8:30. School spirit clothing orders are due by Friday. Orange shirt day is Monday, September 30.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from music, we did quiet reading. We also had a chance to see Ms. Winston's feedback on the stories we wrote yesterday. In math, we completed our decimal test and then worked on our spelling sentences or did free reading or drawing while we waited for everyone to be done. We saw our marks on the test out of 34. During language arts, we learned about cinquain poems. They have five lines and follow a specific format. We wrote these two as a class before gym.

During gym, we played tag and fitness games. When we got back to class, we wrote our own cinquain poems in our journals. 

Upcoming important dates:

Wednesday, September 25 - walking field trip to Nose Hill Park

Thursday, September 26 - spelling sentence homework due
Friday, September 27 - spelling test
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - school spirit clothing orders due
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Monday, September 23

Messages and Reminders:
The Terry Fox run has been rescheduled to tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon in order to beat the incoming chilly weather. We will be collecting donations for Terry Fox all week. A school spirit wear order form went home today. See note below for details. Our class will do our decimal assessment tomorrow morning, which will cover comparing decimals using greater than and less than symbols, writing decimals in standard and expanded form, adding and subtracting decimals, and converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages. We did a practice test today that students are bringing home so that they can study. Please return practice tests tomorrow. Grade six is going on a walking field trip to Nose Hill Park on Wednesday morning. An information letter about the trip went home today. If you are able to volunteer for this trip, please fill out and return the bottom portion of the form. We have library on Thursday. We will do our first spelling test on Friday, so sentences must be handed in by Thursday. The September pillars of care assembly is on Friday morning at 8:30. Notes went home with room 20's winners today. Orange shirt day is Monday, September 30. We will talk more about this day throughout the week and at the Friday assembly.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from ignite, we did quiet reading. In language arts, we did a writing sample. We had about an hour to write a story based on this picture.

We will do a story writing sample with a different picture prompt every month in order to set writing goals and see how we improve throughout the year. 

In math, we did a group review of the decimal concepts that will be covered on tomorrow's assessment and then did a practice test so we can see what we need to review tonight. It went home today so that it can be used for studying. We then had time to keep working through last week's booklet to practice our skills. We took a break to go to gym and then continued with math before lunch.

A note from the office: Beddington Heights School is excited to offer school t-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants for sale to our students and families this year. Order forms were sent home today with the youngest student in your family. For those interested in purchasing, order forms are due back by FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27. Please do not send money. Once the orders have been received, the school with send you an invoice which can be paid online, by debit/credit, or by cash. Your order will be sent home with your student once payment is received. Thank you.

Upcoming important dates:
Tuesday, September 24 - decimal test

Tuesday, September 24 - Terry Fox assembly and run (afternoon)

Wednesday, September 25 - walking field trip to Nose Hill Park
Thursday, September 26 - spelling sentence homework due

Friday, September 27 - spelling test
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - school spirit clothing orders due
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Grade 6 Curriculum Links

It was great to see many of you at meet the teacher last night. As promised, here are the links to the curriculum documents we reviewed.

Alberta Education grade 6 at a glance: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mychildslearning/grade6.html

CBE curriculum overview: https://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/curriculum/pages/default.aspx

Alberta Education programs of study: http://www.learnalberta.ca/ProgramOfStudy.aspx?lang=en&ProgramId=404703#80162

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, September 19

Messages and Reminders:
Meet the teacher is tonight. Hope to see you all there! There is no school tomorrow. Our first spelling list went out today. The words/phrases this week are math focused. Students need to write each word/phrase in a sentence and return it by next Thursday, September 26. We are still deciding on the date for the spelling test so stay tuned, but it should be next Thursday or Friday.

Spelling list:

1. Hundred million
2. Ten billion
3. Four hundred thousand
4. Seven tenths
5. Thirteen hundredths
6. Eight hundred seventeen thousandths
7. Two thousand two
8. Decimal
9. Place value
10. Percent
11. Fraction
12. Borrowing
13. Carrying-over
14. Addition
15. Subtraction

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from ignite, we worked on our fingerprint poems if we weren't done or made words out of the letters in FINGERPRINT. We got our spelling lists and then did a quick review of adding and subtracting decimals. It is just like adding and subtracting whole numbers, but we have to be careful to line up the decimals so that it ends up in the correct place. We saw our buddies today since there is no school tomorrow. Today we did buddy interviews to get to know each other a bit better. When we got back upstairs, we completed our week in review and then helped clean up the classroom. We ended the morning with gym and then a trip to the library.

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - meet the teacher 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Friday, September 20 - PD day (no school for students)
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - Terry Fox run
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Wednesday, September 18

Messages and Reminders:
We have library tomorrow so make sure books are returned if you want a new one. Some students chose to take home their fingerprint poems in order to have them done for tomorrow night. They must come back to school tomorrow. Meet the teacher is tomorrow evening. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well. There is no school for students on Friday.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from music, we had a choice of silent reading on our own or whisper reading with a partner. In math, reviewed converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages. We went over the table we did yesterday and then did another table with different numbers. The goal was to do better today than we did yesterday, and almost all of us did. After completing today's table, we did Mathletics on the iPads. Place value work has been assigned to us on Mathletics. Ms. Harmony came to visit during Mathletics to get to know us. She is Beddington's new Indigenous Education Learning Leader. During language arts, we continued working on our fingerprint poems. We took a break to go to gym and then kept working on our poems until lunch. Hopefully we will all get them done tomorrow.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - meet the teacher 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - Terry Fox run
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Tuesday, September 17

Messages and Reminders:
We have library on Thursday so make sure books are returned if you want a new one. Meet the teacher is Thursday evening. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well. There is no school for students on Friday.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from music, we did quiet reading. In math, we completed a table showing equivalent decimals, fractions, and percentages before continuing to work on our booklets from yesterday. We used the laptops this morning. Our four jobs were to:

1. Show Ms. Winston we could log into Iris 
2. Show Ms. Winston we could log into Mathletics
3. Log into gmail and reply to Ms. Winston's email
4. Create and share a new google doc in which we did free writing using any of the topics we brainstormed last week.

After putting the laptops away, we went to gym and continued playing compound games. We ended the morning by working on our fingerprint poems. The goal was to start our good copies today and most of us got there, so hopefully they will be up for you to see on Thursday night.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - meet the teacher 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - Terry Fox run
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Monday, September 16

Messages and Reminders:
A few class contracts still need to be returned! We have library on Thursday so make sure books are returned if you want a new one. Meet the teacher is on Thursday evening. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well. There is no school for students on Friday.

Morning recap:
This morning when we got back from ignite, we did quiet reading. In language arts, we began our poetry unit. Our first assignment is to create a fingerprint poem. Each of our fingerprints are unique and each of our poems will be too. We can write anything we want about ourselves and our good copy will be written on the lines of a fingerprint. We will hopefully get these done for you to see at meet the teacher on Thursday.

During the first part of math, we reviewed decimals by watching a couple quick videos and playing a class game. We looked at concepts including decimal place value and representing decimals using base ten blocks. After taking a break to go out for gym, we looked at how large numbers are represented as decimals in the media (for example, 3 400 000 being written as 3.4 million or 3.4M) and did a bit more decimal review before starting a booklet we will be working on all week.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - meet the teacher 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Friday, September 27 - pillars of care assembly 8:30am
Friday, September 27 - Terry Fox run
Monday, September 30 - orange shirt day

Dot Day Buddy Art

Hi Grade Six Superstars,

Mr. Beechey and I put your dot art pieces together after school and I am too excited about the finished product to wait until Monday to show it to you...

Have a great weekend!

Friday, September 13

Messages and Reminders:
6 students still need to sign and return their class contracts! Meet the teacher will be next Thursday, September 19. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well.

Morning recap:
This morning we began with quiet reading. In math, we were introduced to a whole bunch of partner multiplication and division games. The more we practice, the quicker we will get at recalling the facts, but for now, there are multiplication tables available to assist us. We spent a while playing the different games today to familiarize ourselves with the rules.

After math, we completed an activity that we will do at the end of the week most (if not all) weeks this year. It is called Week in Review and it is a chance to self-reflect and set intentions or goals for the upcoming week. The prompts may change throughout the year, but they are currently:

1. Something I am proud of at school this week is...
2. I showed the pillars of care this week by...
3. Something I could work on doing better at school next week is...

We are encouraged to be thoughtful and specific in our answers. Week in Review pages are handed into the teacher but are not shared with anyone else.

We had a special activity planned with our grade two buddies today. This Sunday is International Dot Day, a day that is celebrated around the world every year based on the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds, which is about celebrating creativity and supporting one another. Most of us have read the book at least once before, so this morning we read it again and then talked about the message. Then we each received a quarter of a circle and used pencil crayons and markers to decorate it using any pictures, patterns, or designs we wanted. We helped our little buddies with their work if they needed, but everyone created their own art. Now that they are all done, we will put them together to form a mural of dots that are each unique but all fit together to make something beautiful. Doing this activity with our buddies tied into this month's focus on belonging.

At the end of buddies, we had our first fire drill of the year. Normally we will go down the stairs and out the main doors of the school, but today we went out the grade 1/2 doors. We did a good job staying quiet and setting a good example for our little buddies. When we got back inside, we had just enough time to clean up our classroom before heading down to end the morning playing dodgeball in the gym.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher 6:00 - 7:30 

Thursday, September 12

Messages and Reminders:
We are still missing some class agreements. Please return them tomorrow if you haven't yet. Meet the teacher will be next Thursday, September 19. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well.

Morning recap:
Thursday mornings all division two classes begin with ignite. When we got back to class, we had a choice of reading silently alone or whisper reading with a partner while a few students finished their name tags and bookmarks. During our first math block, we continued working on the place value booklet we got yesterday and played number building battle. In language arts, we continued reviewing parts of speech by making mini posters. We then finished our parts of speech sort and played mad libs. We also brainstormed ideas for free writing, although we didn't have time to actually do free writing today. Gym was finally outside. Mr. Sadowsky went through the games that were repainted on the compound. In the time between gym and lunch, we shifted our math focus to multiplication facts, which is another area that our baseline assessment showed could use some practice. Today we played a class game to practice. The record was 7:20 for the multiplication and division version. We'll try to get faster next time we play.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher 6:00 - 7:30 

Wednesday, September 11

Messages and Reminders:
Not everyone has returned their class agreements yet. A new copy went home today if requested. Please sign and return them tomorrow if you haven't yet. Meet the teacher will be next Thursday, September 19. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well.

Morning recap:
Wednesday mornings we have music first thing. When we got back to class, we did word work and came up with as many words as we could using the letters in GRADE SIX. In language arts, we did some review based on what Ms. Winston noticed in our writing samples from the other day. Many of us were misusing punctuation, so we went over different punctuation marks and when to use each of them. We spent an extra long time focusing on apostrophes because so many of us are using apostrophes in plurals (eg. I like cat's.). After fixing some apostrophe errors and explaining the reason to use or not use an apostrophe (contraction, possessive, plural), we reviewed what all sentences need to have, and sorted a list of parts of speech into nouns, verbs, and adjectives. During math, we reviewed what we did yesterday (place value, standard and expanded form, base ten blocks, etc.) and then received a booklet to practice these skills. Gym was moved indoors again so we played capture the gold against the grade fives. We ended the morning at the library. Our normal library day is Thursday but Mrs. Paolini will be away tomorrow.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher 6:00 - 7:30 

Tuesday, September 10

Messages and Reminders:
Class agreements need to be signed and returned as soon as possible. If not returned tomorrow, another copy will go home in case the first one went missing. We have library tomorrow, so bring back last week's books if you took them home. Meet the teacher will be next Thursday, September 19. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well.

Morning recap:
Tuesday mornings we have music first thing. When we got back to class, we finished our name tags, photos frames, and bookmarks, and did quiet reading. During math, we began a review of place value since our baseline assessment showed most of us need some practice. As a class, we looked at various numbers and practiced how to say them and what each numeral was worth, and we compared numbers to determine which was greater. We also looked at base ten blocks and reviewed how to determine what number a given group of blocks represents. In our math journals, we made and filled in a place value chart and also practiced writing numbers in standard form (eg. 1265) and expanded form (eg. 1000 + 200 + 60 + 5). Then we learned a dice game called Number Building Battle and played it with a partner to practice some of these place value concepts.

In language arts and health, we continued talking about belonging. We read a picture book called The Invisible Boy and talked about how we can get important messages from seemingly simple books. We then completed a graphic organizer and explained what belonging is, what it looks like, feelings associated with it, and non-examples. If we finished early, we drew a picture or comic strip on the back to show belonging.

After gym, we kept working on our belonging task if we weren't done and played math games if all our work was finished.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher 6:00 - 7:30 

Monday, September 9

Messages and Reminders:
Class agreements need to be signed and returned as soon as possible. Meet the teacher will be next Thursday, September 19. There will be two 45 minute sessions, one from 6:00 - 6:45 and one from 6:45 - 7:30. You can attend either one. Parent council pizza will be available that evening as well.

Morning recap:
Monday mornings the whole school has ignite from 8:00 - 8:30. When we got back to class, we did a few minutes of quiet reading and then talked about the choices for our first writing sample of the year. We either wrote a letter to our future selves or wrote a story based on a picture. During gym, we played capture the gold against the grade fives. In the time between gym and lunch, we finished our name tags from last week if we weren't done, made frames for our photos, and started making bookmarks that we can use at school this year.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher 6:00 - 7:30 

Friday, September 6

Messages and Reminders:
A notice about walking field trips and classroom blogs went home today. Our class agreement went home and needs to be signed and returned next week. All forms are due back as soon as possible.

Morning recap:
This morning all 3 classes began by finishing the popsicle stick bridge building challenge they started yesterday afternoon. When we got back to room 20, we had a few minutes to either work on our name tags, read, or free draw while we ate our snacks. Before going downstairs to meet our grade 2 buddies, we reviewed expectations and what it should look like to be a big buddy. This year we are buddies with Mr. Beechey's class. Today we read with our buddies, but we will do a variety of projects throughout the year. From buddies, we went to the welcome back assembly and got introductions to new faces around the building and reviewed school expectations. We will end every Friday morning at gym with Mr. Mueller and Mr. Shackelton.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher (evening - watch for details)

Thursday, September 5

Messages and Reminders:
Many forms will be coming home this week and need to be completed, signed, and returned as soon as possible. Our class is divided between room 14 and 15 in the afternoons for social studies and science, so make sure to check their blogs for updates on that part of the day.

Morning recap:
Most Thursdays we will begin with ignite, but that doesn't start until next week, so we began the morning with reading. In health, we did some brainstorming on how to show the four pillars of care (care for self, others, learning, and place). This year we will also be having a monthly pillar. September is all about belonging, so we talked about what it means and how we can show it. From there, we wrote out our class agreement (going home tomorrow) on how we will show the pillars of care in room 20.

During math, we completed a baseline assessment. It included concepts from last year and things that we will be working on this year, so there was no expectation that we knew the answer to every question. We peer marked them and then played another couple rounds of the line up game before gym. Today was our first day with Mr. Sadowsky for gym so we practiced using various types of equipment and listening for the different whistle commands. We ended the morning by playing Boggle for word work. Today's high score was 47 (there was a tie). How many words can you find?!

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher (evening - watch for details)

Wednesday, September 4

Messages and Reminders:
Many forms will be coming home this week and need to be completed, signed, and returned as soon as possible. Today we brought home digital citizenship forms. If they are not returned, we will not be allowed to use technology at school this year. Our class is divided between room 14 and 15 in the afternoons for social studies and science, so make sure to check their blogs for updates on that part of the day.

Morning recap:
This morning we had music first thing, as we will every Tuesday and Wednesday. Mr. Wiens is teaching music again this year. When we got back to class, we created name tags for the border of our first documentation of learning board. You'll be able to check it out at meet the teacher on September 19.

During language arts, we completed our first Edmonton spelling test of the year. This 50 question spelling test gives an approximate grade level spelling ability. We talked about how there is no expectation that anyone in grade 6 would spell all 50 words correctly but that it was important to show care for learning by following test taking protocol and trying our best. We peer marked the tests when we were done. It turns out some of us are much better at spelling than we are at marking, so Ms. Winston double checked them after school and we can find out our accurate scores tomorrow if we want.

Since we are still getting to know each other and we had been sitting for a while, we played some line up games. For example, we lined up based on what month we were born and based on how many pets we have. We timed ourselves to see how quickly we could complete the various challenges. The record was 40 seconds. We talked about digital citizenship and what it needs to look like this year before heading to gym. Our regular gym time will be 10:30 - 11:00 with Ms. Wallace's class, so we started that routine today with a game of dodgeball.

Grade six classes were invited to visit the library this morning (before library officially begins for the whole school) we ended the morning with a trip to the library. Some of us brought our books home and some left them to read at school.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher (evening - watch for details)

Tuesday, September 3

Messages and Reminders:
Many forms will be coming home this week and need to be completed, signed, and returned as soon as possible.

Morning recap:
This morning we spent the first little while in room 14/15 getting to know our afternoon teachers. Then we came together as a group in room 20. We completed an about me page and a puzzle showing different things we do and do not enjoy and shared some of our answers with each other. We got familiarized with our classroom, including the shelves where we can keep our materials since we have tables instead of desks with desk trays. We also talked about some of the rules and expectations in our class.

One thing we'll do almost every day is read, either to ourselves or to each other, so we checked out our classroom library and learned the expectations for reading in room 20. After a quick snack break (recess for grade 6 will be in the afternoons this year because of our gym and music being in the morning), we went over our classroom jobs and chose who will do each job first. We'll switch every week or two. Jobs include things like helping organize materials, answering the phone and door, and handing out papers. This morning we also labeled our math, LA, and health notebooks and folders.

Our class is divided between room 14 and 15 in the afternoons for social studies and science, so make sure to check their blogs for updates on that part of the day.

Upcoming important dates:
Thursday, September 19 - Meet the teacher (evening - watch for details)