Friday, December 17, 2010
Bravo!
I was so proud of our students last night I could have burst! The Grade 5's did an awesome job on their Christmas play!! Our speakers spoke slowly and clearly and with expression.Our singers did a great job of singing!!! Every single student was important to the success of the performance and we couldn't have done it without them. Bravo to you all.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Number the Stars Finale
We finished reading Number the Stars in class last week. Since then, the students have been working away at their Layered Assignment, or at least pretending to. I've spent all week meeting with them individually, going through what they had done, and giving them a list of what they had left to do. Some of them had a lot left. The assignment is due tomorrow and I told them if everybody came with it all done at the beginning of class, we would watch a movie. However, they do have tomorrow's class to work on it.
I'm really hoping that they've taken the advice they've been given about time management and are all ready to pass it in, but I realize that this is a new type of assignment for them and a lot more responsibility than they're used to. Even though I've given them a lecture about how it's due tomorrow and every assignment passed in after tomorrow will lose 1% per day, I will accept them on Monday without penalty. This morning I forgot that the Christmas concert is tonight and they won't have as much time to work on it as they would on a "normal" night.
They've worked hard on their play for the Christmas concert and are doing a great job! I hope to see you all tonight for their performance!
I'm really hoping that they've taken the advice they've been given about time management and are all ready to pass it in, but I realize that this is a new type of assignment for them and a lot more responsibility than they're used to. Even though I've given them a lecture about how it's due tomorrow and every assignment passed in after tomorrow will lose 1% per day, I will accept them on Monday without penalty. This morning I forgot that the Christmas concert is tonight and they won't have as much time to work on it as they would on a "normal" night.
They've worked hard on their play for the Christmas concert and are doing a great job! I hope to see you all tonight for their performance!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Reports, Christmas Giving, and Layered Assignments
It's been a while since I've written - sorry about that. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about, preparing for, and creating report cards. They go home tomorrow and I look forward to meeting with you on Thursday to discuss them.
Christmas is quickly approaching. In all the excitement of wondering what Santa will bring us, it's sometimes easy to overlook those in need. In the spirit of giving, we have adopted a family through the Grace Sparke's House for Christmas. As a school, we will supply their Christmas gifts this year. Our class is responsible for buying a PSP to Go card. I have asked each student to bring in a donation by the end of the week. I will pick one up and gift wrap it. Any extra money we collect will go either to buying a surprise gift for our family, or to donating to the SPCA. Any amount you wish to give will be fine. I would recommend around $2.
We are quickly getting to the end of "Number the Stars". We read Chapter 15 today so we have 2 more chapters and an Afterword left to go. We just finished a very stressful section. Peter and Mrs. Johansen have just snuck a group of Jews to Uncle Henrick's boat. Uncle Henrik will take them over to Sweden where they will be safe. On the way back from th boat, Mrs. Johansen twists her ankle and they discover the Mr. Rosen dropped the very important package Peter gave him for Uncle Henrik. Annemarie has to bring it to Uncle Henrik as fast as she can. Just before she reaches the boat, she meets 4 Nazi soldiers with their 2 dogs. Annemarie takes her mother's advice and behaves like a "silly little girl", modelling her behaviour after Kirsti, and makes it to Uncle Henrik's boat before he leaves. He is very relieved to have the package, which we saw contains a white handkerchief.
They could be almost finished their Layered Assignments now. Most of them say they have everything done that they can have done. Remind them, that for their paragraphs and longer writing projects, they should do a few drafts to make sure they pass in their BEST work. Their work should also be very neat and tidy. We made an addition to Layer B, #4. Now they need to write a brief description (1-2 sentences) of why they chose that actor for that role. During our discussion today, they were making suggestions that I wouldn't agree with and we agreed it would be helpful if they gave reasons for their choices. Students who chose Layer C, #1 made their layered-look book today and were shown how they should put names on the tabs. They can start their first draft for this one, but they should keep in mind that they may want to add more information when we get to the end of the book. At this point in the book, they have enough information to start all the assignments but they may learn more in the next couple of chapters that they can add to them.
I hope you're all keeping well and getting into the Christmas spirit!
Christmas is quickly approaching. In all the excitement of wondering what Santa will bring us, it's sometimes easy to overlook those in need. In the spirit of giving, we have adopted a family through the Grace Sparke's House for Christmas. As a school, we will supply their Christmas gifts this year. Our class is responsible for buying a PSP to Go card. I have asked each student to bring in a donation by the end of the week. I will pick one up and gift wrap it. Any extra money we collect will go either to buying a surprise gift for our family, or to donating to the SPCA. Any amount you wish to give will be fine. I would recommend around $2.
We are quickly getting to the end of "Number the Stars". We read Chapter 15 today so we have 2 more chapters and an Afterword left to go. We just finished a very stressful section. Peter and Mrs. Johansen have just snuck a group of Jews to Uncle Henrick's boat. Uncle Henrik will take them over to Sweden where they will be safe. On the way back from th boat, Mrs. Johansen twists her ankle and they discover the Mr. Rosen dropped the very important package Peter gave him for Uncle Henrik. Annemarie has to bring it to Uncle Henrik as fast as she can. Just before she reaches the boat, she meets 4 Nazi soldiers with their 2 dogs. Annemarie takes her mother's advice and behaves like a "silly little girl", modelling her behaviour after Kirsti, and makes it to Uncle Henrik's boat before he leaves. He is very relieved to have the package, which we saw contains a white handkerchief.
They could be almost finished their Layered Assignments now. Most of them say they have everything done that they can have done. Remind them, that for their paragraphs and longer writing projects, they should do a few drafts to make sure they pass in their BEST work. Their work should also be very neat and tidy. We made an addition to Layer B, #4. Now they need to write a brief description (1-2 sentences) of why they chose that actor for that role. During our discussion today, they were making suggestions that I wouldn't agree with and we agreed it would be helpful if they gave reasons for their choices. Students who chose Layer C, #1 made their layered-look book today and were shown how they should put names on the tabs. They can start their first draft for this one, but they should keep in mind that they may want to add more information when we get to the end of the book. At this point in the book, they have enough information to start all the assignments but they may learn more in the next couple of chapters that they can add to them.
I hope you're all keeping well and getting into the Christmas spirit!
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