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.