Monday started the week off with a bang, as we had many visitors to the school in honour of a Literacy Initiative happening in this area. Neil Ellis (our MP) has challenged students to read 150 Canadian texts (books, song lyrics, poems, etc) by the end of the year, in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday. MP Ellis, the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, Nick Foley (a motivational speaker) and various other guests to the school all read Canadian content to our students. We ended with a pizza lunch and a plan to track all of the Canadian texts we will be reading.
Tuesday and Wednesday we had double Empower lessons. A visitor from Sick Kids came to observe all the teachers as they go through various Empower lessons, to help us refine our skills and answer any questions about the program. As well, on those days, we had tours happening for families in the middle of the application process to Sagonaska. Your children were excellent ambassadors for Sag and went out of their way to make the families feel comfortable and excited.
In Math, we have moved into the unit of Data Management. Even more fun, Mr. Smit came in to observe the kids in action! We began the week talking about data – why it is collected and how it can be used. Students, with a partner, measured their height, arm span, hand span, forearm and foot length and then inputted the data to Google Sheets. From there, students were able to display the data in various graphs to help us analyze trends and relationships. Based on the data, students identified relationships and/or made conclusions like the taller someone is, the longer the arm span they will have.
This is what the 21st century math classroom looks like! Good thing all the teachers at Sagonaska are Google Certified Educators!
All students in grade 5/6 should be able to explain the key words on this anchor chart.
Over the weekend, you could:
1. Ask your child to decode the word REPEATING using their GAME PLAN. If they get stuck use the prompts…
- I choose the strategy ___________________ because I see…
- (Student will apply the strategy)
- If word part is left, the student will select another strategy and begin again with I CHOOSE
- Once word has been decoded, child will say I USED the strategies ____ & ____ to read the word __________
2. Read with your child and don’t let them guess on any word. Make sure they are applying their strategies. Ask them what they could be doing to help remember the main idea of each paragraph (kids have been sketching key points).
3. Have your child show you the anchor chart called Height VS Arm span. On it is key vocabulary from the unit. Talk about how the picture can help figure out the meaning of the word. vocabulary.
