While the Gr 6s tackled EQAO testing, the Gr 5s have been working on developing some background knowledge (in English) on what they are studying in Social Studies (in French). They are investigating Canada's heritage and identity by learning about the early interactions of indigenous peoples and the first Europeans to explore Canada. Many students don't have much background knowledge of such early history ("Why didn't Jacques Cartier just take a plane?"), so it's really nice to explore concepts in English first before they need to translate and communicate their understanding in French. Each group has researched and developed a presentation using several media skills. After many weeks of work, they have now all presented to the class. Way to go crew!
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This week we revisited some of our expectations for technology use in the classroom. Students
reviewed our BYOD Guidelines and a guide to Becoming Digital Citizens. We then created a PADLET to brainstorm our answers to certain questions in real time. During our consolidation, we discussed how technology should ENHANCE our learning, and not hinder it in any way. Technology is used in class for academic purposes only. No author writes a perfect copy and then proceeds straight to publishing. They work through a specific process, called 'The Writing Process.' As a class, we've been working through this process step by step to produce our best work yet! GENERATING IDEAS (and peer feedback) SPECIFIC BRAINSTORMING ROUGH COPY (and finding new vocabulary) ESTABLISHING 'SUCCESS CRITERIA' TOGETHER (so they KNOW how they are being assessed even before they revise and edit!) REVISING AND EDITING (with personal checklists!) GOOD COPY (Coming soon to a classroom near you!) It will take me a while (*sigh*) to mark these stories... some kids are writing me a NOVEL and I have fifty of them to read! When I'm finished, I'll send everything home so you can enjoy your child's work as well! They have poured their hearts and souls into these stories, and I'm very proud of their hard work and dedication.
Right now, students have: -finished brainstorming -conferenced with me -began their rough copy After March Break, we will: -finish rough copy -revise -edit -produce good copy We have explicitly learned some grammar lessons (sentence fragments, run-on sentences, comma splices) and some writer's craft (creative beginnings, when to change a paragraph, and some elements of story writing like cliffhangers/foreshadowing/flashbacks). The Grade 5s and 6s are LOVING this! Each day they come into class begging to write. My teacher heart is full. Here are photos of our brainstorming graphic organizers. We are learning that authors pre-think out plots, characters and endings. They can "borrow" plot elements, but not copy word for word. They can talk to friends to develop ideas further. A lot of brainstorming is done before we even begin a rough copy! We're also learning that rough copies are just that - rough. They are messy, and you are allowed to add things and move sentences around. You can add in descriptions using an asterisk and cross things out. It does not have to be beautiful and neat. That will come later. With longer writing, comes the difficult art of when to change paragraphs. We're learning that this is tough and will be a long journey - but let's start it! It helps to picture our story like a movie - if the "camera moves" it's a good place to change paragraphs! Finally, students themselves have made suggestions on how I should mark these stories. They know exactly what we are focussing on, and so they suggested I mark their stories based on the following co-created success criteria:
As per student request, we are beginning to write creative stories. To start us off on the right foot, we took a look at some 'visual story starters' and wrote AMAZING sentences about them. WOW. I was blown away. We have some budding authors in Grade 5 and 6 here at Kanata Highlands. Just take a peek at the genius below... FYI - Part of the writing curriculum includes a section on Metacognition and Reflection, which gives students a chance to consciously think about the strategies they themselves and others use in their writing and why these strategies are useful. We did this using the sticky notes you see on the photos below - hopefully seeing other writers use strategies will help us use them too! Now take a moment to appreciate the sheer genius of our young authors.... Want to read more? Come visit the display outside our classroom! We also took some time to explicitly learn what a sentence IS (a complete thought with a subject and action) and what a sentence is NOT (a fragment or a run-on/comma splice). Students are now fully away that committing the grave crime of a Next week we will begin to brainstorm our stories and find specific, descriptive, NEW vocabulary to use in them... and then we'll get to work writing them down! The "length" expectation for Gr 5 and 6 is "several linked paragraphs" and "longer and more complex texts." Our aim with this assignment is to really move beyond simple writing and try to develop our writer's craft by including sentences of varying lengths, new vocabulary/word choice and some fun literary elements.
So much rich learning has occurred with our combined Human Body/Biodiversity inquiry! When we teach across the subjects (and languages!), students begin to make deep connections and explore learning in different, richer ways. With some fun co-teaching, we've managed to delve into two science strands: Human Body (Gr 5) and Biodiversity (Gr 6). Students gained so much background knowledge through topic specific guided reading, literacy work stations, science centers and more. Their learning spanned across several subjects areas - French, English, Science and art! Students enjoyed collaborating in small groups to inquire about a specific question that is related to our BIG QUESTION: How do your choices affect the health of you (Gr 5) and our planet (Gr 6)? Our final display incorporates a "section" for each group with their related inquiry questions and their "We Can..." statements. These are action items that WE can do to make a positive impact in relation to their specific inquiry questions. Scan the QR codes to hear each student enthusiastically read out their bilingual paragraph full of ideas! This display is outside the KHPS office - please come by and take a look! The whole idea is that you read a student's "Action Item" and then scan the QR code to listen to that student read out their written French/English paragraphs with their great ideas. There is so much learning to be found here! Below are some photos of having fun in the process... Look! Everyone's mesmerized.... we are both SO PROUD of the hard work of all these incredible Gr 5 and 6 students. Well done #WorldChangers, well done. The Grade 5 and 6 classes are joining together to do an inquiry that touches on Biodiversity (Gr 6) and the Human Body (Gr 5). Right now, we're learning some background knowledge before we brainstorm some deep, open-ended inquiry questions. Our final goal? To come up with a HUGE interactive art piece about our main question: How do your choices affect the health of us (Gr. 5) and our planet (Gr. 6)? This inquiry will combine science, French, English reading/writing/oral language and art as well.
Gr 6 Language Connections: The Grade 6s are learning about biodiversity, and how all plant and animal life on our planet are interconnected. We did some shared readings as a class on general biodiversity themes and then students decided on some 'key ideas.' In groups, they researched examples of these key ideas and then presented them to the class. In order for students to ask rich, open-ended questions, they need to first build up some background knowledge. Invasive species, food webs, alternative energy... yes, great inquiry questions are brewing already! We also learned about Matthew Lien and his love for both wolves and music. He wrote a song called "Bleeding Wolves," which is to do with the purposeful removal of wolves in the Yukon in 1992 (in an attempt to increase the number of caribou and moose). We discussed the effects of removing a top predator from a complex food web (result: it's very complicated since everything is interconnected!) and then we listened to the song. Students determined that the soprano saxophone is meant to represent wolves howling.
We have been learning about GROWTH MINDSETS and how this applies to our brain and our learning. We believe that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. We've made simple, measurable goals for this year... and we will work toward them with grit, resilience and positive self talk!
We read a book called "Alfie the Apostrophe" and then talked about three ways to use apostrophes correctly. We also made some contractions! Remember... you don't have to use an apostrophe when you make something plural (ex., one car becomes many cars). The Grade 6s are well on their way with their #WorldChangers projects! We're SO EXCITED about making positive changes in our local community and around the globe. This week, students worked on starting a group website and writing a creative "About Me" section with a hook to make people want to read it!
Ask your child about his/her #WorldChangers project. What are they aiming to do? What is their timeline? Do they need any help? In general, our class needs the following materials: -lots and lots and lots of plastic bottle lids (start saving them please!) -any recyclable material (especially if you have a LOT of one item - like small applesauce containers, etc) -wood (to create wooden signs - 10x12 inches or bigger) -really big blank canvases (for painting) -items to create slime (shaving cream, food dye, contact lens solution, glitter, small containers from Dollarama to put the slime in) -new men's hats/gloves/mittens (drive in Dec) -food bank items (drive in Jan/Feb) It's amazing how a few household items can make a big difference, especially when given to this incredible, generous and creative crew of students! |
Mrs. JorgensenThis page is written by Mrs. Jorgensen, who loves the smell of a brand new book! Categories |