I hope everyone had a holiday of rest and relaxation. It was my first time to stay in Beijing and I found it full of wonderful events yet also very quiet. The company of others around me and invitations to be part of ceremonies here in Beijing was most enjoyable.
Here are next week's current events;
Tuesday - Dylan
Wednesday - Andrew
Thursday - Stephanie
Friday - Tiana
Wednesday - Andrew
Thursday - Stephanie
Friday - Tiana
Next week is a special week in grade 5. As part of our human body unit and in conjunction with our counselors and high school students next week is No Name Calling Week. There is a learning goal and activity planned for every day. For the past several years and into this year, students have been learning what Bullying is and how to prevent and deal with it. This week's activities are part of this learning. I am sure you will hear about it at home.
We will be doing our first video reading blog on Sign of the Beaver. Students will have to pick three events in that show how either Matt or Attean have changed during the story. They will have to record a 2-3 minute video on this subject and then we will upload it to our blogs. While this is a first, it will not be the last.
We will also start to prepare for our Student-Led conferences which happen on April 7 and 8th. Throughout the year we have collected many pieces of learning and also both discussed and developed better understanding of the ISB's L21 and Habits of a Learner. It is within this scope that you can expect the conference to be presented. I have a plan of action set up for the students to cover as much of their learning as possible.
We also begin the final project for the Human Body Unit. This project is a report on how to keep on of the body's systems healthy. It involves researching both the body system, possible maladies and how to keep it healthy. The presentation will involve an interactive component with another class. This will take us right up to Spring Break.
We will also start our next round of Literature Circles this week. There are two books to complete in this round that are looking at point of view and also the setting of the book. We will continue to look at characters in the stories as well.
Our next math unit is on Fractions and will look at addition and subtraction of mixed numbers, multiplication of fractions and an area model to explain how this all works. We will also continue with our foray into positive and negative integers that we started in the last unit.
As you can see, it is a busy week with lots going on. Please help me by keeping your student healthy. Missing even a day can put a student behind in what is expected in their learning. It also helps me keep them moving along in class which in turn improves their learning - something I always strive for.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will gladly meet with you.
Harold Daw
