Happy Holidays! Dec. 20- Jan 4

I hope that all the room 21 students and parents have a wonderful holiday. There is no homework over the break, but I do encourage daily reading, preferably in pyjamas. See you in the New Year on Jan. 5th!

Upcoming dates:

Wed, Jan. 7th: pool
Monday, Jan. 12th: scientists in the school
Tues, Jan. 13th: TUSC field trip

Best,
Bronwyn Davidson

Dec. 12-19

This week in math the students continued to work on geometry skills.  Students wrote a quiz that will go home to be signed on Monday. Next week we will start a new math unit on data management, focusing on creating and interpreting different types of graphs. 

This week continued their work in literature circles. The last literature circle meeting will be next Tuesday. Students will work with their group members to give a book chat to the class. Students finished their second piece of independent writing and began their third piece.

We also began our second inquiry, during which we will investigate the question, "What is Power?" We will investigate who has power and who is most powerless, as well as how we as citizens can exercise our power to create change. Students began a social studies project on a social issue. Grade 5s will investigate an issue in Canada, while grade 6s will explore an international issue. We watched this video on the issue of homelessness in Toronto to get us thinking about social issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8KQlhwmsII&feature=youtu.be. 

Last but not least, we finished our read aloud of "I am Malala." It was a hard book for me to finish because I enjoyed it so much. We now have quotes by Malala up on our window to remind us of her strength. We also watched part of Malala's Peace Prize acceptance speech. You can see her full speech here: http://community.malala.org/malala-nobel-prize-speech-871079750.html. Additionally, we read a beautiful picture book entitled, "Malala, A Brave Girl from Pakistan; Iqbal, A Brave Boy from Pakistan. Ask your child about this book and what he or she learned from it. 

Important upcoming dates:

Tuesday Dec. 16th:  last literature circle meeting

Wed, Dec. 17th: pool

Thursday, Dec. 18th: homework due 

Friday, Dec. 19th: last day before the holidays; pyjama day

Homework for this week:

1) Read for at least 20 minutes each night. This can be a book of your choice or your literature circle book. 

2) Complete your role sheet for Tuesday's meeting. 

3) Continue to collect quotes from your book. (7-10) In class next week you will complete your assignment, which will be to create a page of quotes, as well as write a paragraph on your opinion of the book.

4) Complete your research notes for your social studies project. Take point form notes on your topic that answer the questions in the assignment. Remember to write down your sources. 

Best,

Bronwyn Davidson

Dec. 5-12

This week in math the students continued to work on geometry skills.  Students wrote a quiz that went home to be signed. They also worked on comparing triangles based on side length and angles, as well as finding and labelling parallel lines in polygons. The grade 6s began to learn how to use a compass to create triangles with specific side lengths. There will be a second geometry quiz next Friday that covers the same material as the first quiz, plus comparing triangles, identifying parallel lines, finding lines of symmetry and rotational symmetry. 

This week the students finished two culminating tasks to wrap up our unit on overcoming challenges and learning from failure. Students finished both their paragraph and art piece on overcoming challenges. This work is now on display in the hall. Students continued their work in literature circles. I'm happy to see everyone engaged in their book and doing great accountable talk around their novel. 

Important upcoming dates:

Friday, Dec. 5th: PA day

Tuesday Dec. 9th:  4th literature circle meeting, Scholastic book fair browsing

Wed, Dec. 10th: Holiday concert (band, strings and choir for rm. 21 students)

Thursday, Dec. 11th: Scholastic book fair shopping 

Friday, Dec. 12th: math quiz , Holiday Sale, 2:10-2:40

Homework for this week:

1) Read for at least 20 minutes each night. This can be a book of your choice or your literature circle book. 

2) Complete your role sheets for Tuesday and Friday's meetings. 

3) Continue to record important sentences from your novel on your "literary luminary" sheet, in preparation for your literature circle assignment, which will be completed in class. 

Best,

Bronwyn Davidson