Update

Today we had a good start to our last week before break. I can tell that it is going to take some effort to really push hard to the end, but I know students can handle it! Many students were feeling run-down today and possibly feeling the effects of the cold and flu that has been going around. We had one grade 6 class with only 14 students today!

Language Arts - Students had their last opportunity to work on their Fractured Fairytale scripts in class today. They are due tomorrow. It is important that students hand these in on time because I will need to read through them all and choose 4 or 5 that will work for the students to act out for the Presentation of Learning Night in January. I am really emphasizing the importance of doing quality work with these, especially if they want their fairytale to be chosen.


Math - We had our last lesson for Unit 4 today on finding the measures of angles in a quadrilateral. Students will receive a review packet tomorrow to help them study for their test on Friday.




 

Science - Students are continuing to learn about various extreme environments such as space, caves, volcanos, deserts, and Antarctica. They are also discovering the technologies humans need in order to survive and explore in these environments.

Fractured Fairytales

In Language Arts and Drama we are beginning a new unit about fractured fairytales. Fractured fairytales are traditional fairytales that writers have changed in some way to put a twist on the story. Some of the fractured fairytales we have read in class are "Snoring Beauty," "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," and "Cinder-Edna."

Students have had the opportunity to read some fractured fairytales, and today they started brainstorming ideas for writing their own fractured fairytale. This week students will have time to write their fairytales in the form of a script. After Christmas break a few of the fairytales will be chosen to be used in drama. Students will work together to decide on roles, practice their lines, come up with costumes and props, and eventually perform their skits for the Presentation of Learning Night in January.

Skating and Christmas Music

We had lots of fun things going on at school today! In the morning, all of grade 6 took a bus to ARC to go ice skating. We had a few minor cuts and bruises, but other than that students seemed to have a blast. It was a great opportunity to get out and have some fun together.

This afternoon we were blessed with the opportunity to watch Shane Wiebe perform some Christmas music with his wife. Shane was a Canadian Idol finalist and has an incredible singing voice, and is also a very talented pianist. His wife is also an amazing singer and violinist. They seemed excited about the opportunity to perform at a Christian school where they could be open about their faith and share a bit of a message.

Now that things have quieted down a bit after the Culture Fair, I am excited to get started with our Science unit on Extreme Environments. We will begin this unit tomorrow and it will continue through January. Students will have the opportunity to think about why we explore the world around us, as well as learn some of the characteristics of extreme environments like deserts, caves, deep sea, and outer space.

Hard at work

Time to present!

Middle East

Europe

 Africa

Europe

Asia

Middle East

 Africa

Americas

Culture Fair

It was quite an exciting day here in grade 6. In the morning students had the opportunity to present their projects to the class. I was so impressed by their willingness to speak in front of their peers, especially at this age! It was incredibly encouraging to see how much they have learned over the past few months about our world, cultures, and their own individual countries, and it was great to see everything come together so well after so much hard work. Many students truly seem to have gained an understanding of what it means to live in one world with many cultures.

Thanks to all who were able to make it today! It was cool to see students so excited about presenting to each other's parents as well as their own.

I am hoping to post pictures soon!

Hard at Work!

Aside from Bible and PE, students worked on their Culture Fair projects all day today! They spent the morning making sure the presentation boards were completed. Students finished coloring, printing, and cutting and added a few last details to make their displays look great! They spent most of the afternoon working on their cue cards, and then working with their groups. Each group practiced the presentation a couple of times to make sure they know what to say and when to say it. It looks like they will need more time tomorrow to really perfect their presentations and be ready to go for Wednesday! We hope to see you there!

VSO

Our trip to Vancouver went very well today! Traffic was good so we arrived with plenty of time to spare, though many of us suffered the consequences of not wearing a hood on a very rainy morning! Once inside we were warm and dry and students were amazed by the size and beauty of the Orpheum. The Orchestra gave an outstanding performance! Students learned all about percussion instruments and had many opportunities to participate with the songs. The favorites were Star Wars and the theme from Mission Impossible. The trip back went smooth and we all arrived safely.

Please note the assignments that students need to work on over the weekend. Details are on the link to assignments/reminders on the right side of this page.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Special thanks go out to all students from 6A who helped me celebrate American Thanksgiving today! Since I am from the states, the students decided to help me celebrate by decorating the room, bringing snacks, and organizing a coloring contest! It was a lot of fun and I truly appreciated the thoughtfulness that went into it. It's always good to spend some time thinking about the many ways we have been blessed and all of the things we can be thankful for. Today I am thankful for a wonderful, fun, and loving group of students to spend my days with :)

Update

Math -
Students seemed to do well on the Math test today. I hope to have them marked by the end of the week. Due to the test, students have no math homework tonight!

Theme -
Students are hard at work on their country presentations. Things are starting to come together and the kiosks are looking great. Students are excited to show off their work, so please consider joining us for the Cultural Fair next Wednesday, November 27 from 1:15 to 2:30 if you are able.

Art -
Students are learning to draw 3-D objects and integrate them in a scene of their choice. It must include a building, a cliff, and a bridge of some type. They only had one class period to work on these, so you might see them at home :)

VSO -
Just a reminder that our VSO field trip is on Friday. We leave at 9:45 am and students are expected to dress nicely. No sweatpants, sweatshirts, old t-shirts, or ripped jeans.

Math Bingo!

For some reason students really enjoyed math today...

We reviewed for the test in class by playing Math Bingo! Students had to solve problems to find the correct solution on their Bingo card. Every student who got a Bingo recieved a jolly rancher. Many students were able to finish the problems quickly, so part of the game was that they had to help another student without giving the answer. I was very impressed by their willingness to help and ask students good questions to help them find the answer on their own.

Culture Test

Students received a review sheet for the culture test they will take next week which will be a culmination of all the major concepts we've talked about in our One World, Many Cultures unit. Students are expected to make flash cards of all the vocabulary words and complete the questions on the review sheet as well. The test is on Tuesday, November 27.

Culture Art

Students from all three grade 6 classes turned in their culture art projects today and I was very impressed by their finished work. Students had the opportunity to choose from 5 different types of art for this project. Each type of art was an example of traditional art created in a few different cultures. Each culture has a unique way of doing art which demonstrates different aspects from their way of life such as clothing, food, and other resources.

   
Mexican Yarn Art

Through this project, students learned a little bit about a different culture and gained an understanding of what art represents for many groups of people. This created opportunities for students to make connections to our "One World, Many Cultures" unit. It is my hope that students are beginning to grasp the big idea behind this integrated unit; that even though we are part of a world filled with many different types of people, we are still united as one in God's creation.

Khamsas - Good Luck Hands

Remembrance Day Chapel

We had a Remembrance Day chapel this morning, which was conducted by one of the grade 7 classes. They did a wonderful job of helping us remember the importance of this day. We often look at it as just a time to relax and enjoy the day off, so it was good to spend time thinking about all those who have sacrificed their lives to help us live so comfortably.

It was obvious the grade 7 class spent a lot of time on this presentation. From poems, to songs and powerpoint presentations, they provided many ways for us to reflect and to be informed about some of the tragic wars that have happened in the past, as well as some of the conflict that is still happening all over the world.

Some of the presentations showed a few somewhat graphic pictures of malnurished children and child soldiers. The class used these pictures tactfully. It was not used for shock value, but rather to remind us of the struggles so many people face in our world. We had a discussion about some of these images when we came back to class, but it is possible that this might come up in conversation at home.

I hope you enjoy the long weekend and are able to spend some relaxation time with family and friends!

This famous poem was a central theme for chapel today.

 

Decimals AND Division?!

These are the two "D" words that students love to hate! We are midway through our decimals unit and today we began with the new concept of dividing decimals by whole numbers. Many students responded negatively to the thought of doing division, but it is my hope that after this unit they will not see dividing as such a scary thing.

The homework for tonight might seem difficult for many students, and that is OK. I urged them to take it home and work on it for about 20 - 30 minutes and just see what they can accomplish. Tomorrow we will have more time to work through this concept together. Students will find that once they remember long division procedures, applying it to decimals is really quite simple!

Country Research Update:

Our socials time this week and next week will be dedicated to research both online and with books. Students will likely need to do some of their research at home, so please see the "homework/reminders" link to find more information about good resources. I prefer that students do not use Google search or Wikipedia for this.

Country Research

Grade 6 students are beginning their country research projects this week. They remember coming to see these projects last year and are very excited to get started on their own. Today they received their country and group assignments and we will begin research tomorrow. This will be a month-long process and will end with a presentation that parents will be invited to attend. The date is still TBA, but will likely be in the last week of November.

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

 

In an effort to teach students how to discern between reliable and unreliable sources while using the internet for research, I showed students a very "reliable" looking website about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Many students agreed that it was a great website and a great source for information... until they learned that there is no such thing as a tree octopus! Check out the website, it's quite entertaining:

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Service Projects

6A had another great afternoon at our service projects! I was able to check out Tabor Court and the Abbotsford Food Bank, and posted a few pictures below. I'm hoping to get pictures from the other locations next time.

Thanks once again to parents who volunteered their time to drive yesterday! We couldn't do it without you!

*Note: Please check the homework/reminders link as there are some important assignments/quizzes coming up soon.

Abbotsford Food Bank

 

 

 

Tabor Court

 

 

 

 

Anti-bullying

All three grade 6 classes have had the pleasure of welcoming our school counselor, Herman Stahl, into our classrooms for two anti-bullying sessions this week. Herman is incredibly skilled about helping students become aware of the impact our words and actions can have on others, especially in middle school. He was in our class for about an hour on Monday and then again today, and the students were very engaged. It seems that they really do understand the importance of discussing the issues around bullying and what they can do to prevent it.

Herman's goal throughout these discussions is to show the necessity of making sure all students are meeting their physical, emotional, and social needs at school, and that everyone feels like they belong. To encourage this sense of belonging, he had students create a "chain of belonging" in class. Students received strips of paper and wrote a sentence or two about how someone has made them feel they belong at school and we will hang it up in as a reminder somewhere in our classroom.

On Monday Herman involved students in an activity that helped them see how everyone perceives situations differently and therefore respond with different emotions. He emphasized the importance of understanding that even though we may say and do things that seem innocent, our peers may perceive it very differently.





He will come for one more session next Monday.

Chinatown Memories

 

It's hard to believe that it has been almost 3 weeks since our trip to Chinatown! However, as students are writing observation reports about the field trip, we continue to discuss fond memories of the Chinatown experience in class. Here are a few pictures from the fun day we had:

 

 

It's Study Time!

It may seem like cruel and unusual punishment for students to have so many quizzes and tests in the next week or so, but this just happens to be the time of year when units tend to wrap up and concepts need to be reviewed. As teachers, we don't purposely schedule them all at the same time, honest!

Because grade 6 students have so many quizzes/tests in the near future, it is a good time to go over study skills both in class and at home. Students often finish homework during class time and then think they are done, or don't think they need to study anymore. I am encouraging students to take work home and go over it to make sure they could do it again. They should also study any notes they have taken during class, especially for math.

Check out the Assignments/Reminders link to find out more information about each test and quiz, including the dates and content being covered.

Math Madness!

As you may have noticed, many grade six students cringe at the thought of doing math! Before even starting a lesson, many students have already decided that they will not understand and therefore will never be successful in math. It is my goal this year to change some of these attitudes. So often the key to success in math is simply having confidence in their own abilities.

One of the biggest struggles I have noticed so far this year is that students have a hard time understanding new concepts when they still don't have a firm understanding of the basics. Here at ACMS we have decided that we want to focus on multiplication in grade 6 and make sure that they have a firm understanding of basic multiplication facts. We will continue with the regular curriculum, but I plan to add some extra multiplication practice here and there throughout the week.

This is an area where parent support is essential! If students have opportunities to practice multiplication at home, I believe it will make math class a much more positive time for them at school. To help with this, I have provided a website for students to use at home as a way to practice. It provides many great ways for students to learn and remember their multiplication facts, and then to practice them with fun games.

Please encourage your child to "play" on this website for a few minutes each night, or as often as possible.

Thank you for your support in this!

Multiplication Website:
www.multiplication.com

Living the Truth

Our school theme this year at ACMS is "Know the truth, live the truth." As teachers, we are trying to give students the opportunity to explore this idea of living the truth out in the community through various service projects.

6A had our first afternoon of service projects today and although I did not hear from every group, it seemed to have gone incredibly well! Students went to either Menno Home, Tabor Place, MCC Warehouse, or a local food bank and spent the afternoon serving people at each of these locations. It was exciting to see students so enthusiastic about helping out in whatever way they could! They are already looking forward to our next trip in three weeks.

Monday Update

This short week is sure to fly by fast, so this is a great time to take a look at where we are at in each area of learning and get an idea of where we are headed.



Math - Students did well on their quiz last Wednesday. This week we will continue to review multiples and factors, as well as begin work with order of operations and integers. Today, students participated in a problem-solving activity that involved sorting (and eating) M&Ms into various sized groups. There will be a unit test sometime in the not-so-distant future.








Language Arts - Today we finished chapter 9 in our class reading of Amish Adventure, by Barbara Smucker. This book provides great opportunities for students to learn about what it would be like to live in a culture very different from their own.





Theme - Students will continue to explore the different aspects of culture as well as begin work on mapping the continent of Asia.




Art - Students should be finished with their name art project, which is due tomorrow. Last week they were introduced to still life painting, including famous artists like Paul Cezanne, and the techniques used to create this type of art. Students will begin creating their own still life using oil pastels.