Presentation of Learning - A Successful Night!

It was great to see so many of you at the Presentation of Learning Night! It was wonderful to see the students perform their fairytales after working so hard on them. They were so excited to have the opportunity to show what they have learned and practiced in front of a real audience. It still amazes me to think that they wrote, memorized, and created props and costumes all on their own! It was a job well done!

Here are some pictures from the dress rehearsal:

Fairytale Frenzy

Students and Teachers are feeling the craziness of the week before POL night! It is encouraging to see students so excited about their upcoming performances. Many students are doing an excellent job of memorizing their lines, gathering props, and creating their costumes. I can tell that they are proud of the work they are doing and are thrilled at the idea of performing it in front of a real audience. We are all looking forward to seeing the finished product!

In the midst of preparation for the big night, we are also attempting to continue with our other curriculum! Students continue to show enthusiasm for our Science unit on Extreme Environments. Last week we had a very interesting discussion about things like black holes, the lifespan of our sun, and the true immensity of our universe. It was great to see students so interested and amazed by the things they learned about. We are currently focusing on some of the technology we use in space, such as the Hubble telescope, the International Space Station, and the Canadarm. The NASA website has all sorts of excellent videos from the Space Station that we watched in class.

In LA, we are reading an excellent book called The Cay. It is the story of a 12-year old boy who is involved in a shipwreck and finds himself on a small raft in the middle of the sea with a strange man. The book provides interesting insight into what it would be like to survive on a raft, and then on a small island, with very few supplies or provisions. The major themes of this book tie into the themes we discuss in our Exploration of Extreme Environments unit.

Swimming

We had an excellent trip to the swimming pool today! For two solid hours, all of the grade 6 students were swimming, jumping off diving boards, swinging from ropes, and slipping down slides. They seemed to have a blast and I am sure they will be exhausted at home. It was a great way to end the first week back after break.

The only homework students have this weekend is homereading, have their French test signed, and work on costumes, props, and memorizing lines for their Fractured Fairytale Plays.

Back to School!

It was great to see all of the students back in class today! It sounds like everyone had wonderful holidays, and for the most part seemed very positive about being back in school.

In this new year, we are beginning many new things in grade 6. Today we started a new unit in Math, called Patterns and Equations. Even though it is the first unit in the textbook, it includes some pretty challenging concepts which is why we, as a grade 6 team, decided to hold off on it until this late in the year. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the content. Students know that they only need to spend 20-30 minutes on Math homework each night. If they are confused, please encourage them to come talk to me.

It's hard to believe that the Presentation of Learning Night is only 3 weeks away! All of the grade 6 students will perform their Fractured Fairytales that evening, so we will be spending all of our Fine Arts time practicing the plays and creating their costumes and props. Students are encouraged to bring anything from home that might help them create items for their plays.

In Science, students will continue to learn about Extreme Environments, now with a focus on outer space and the technologies that Canada has developed for space exploration. In the near furture students will begin a projects where they will have to plan a trip to an extreme environmnet of their choice!