Week of December 2-6, 2019

Humanities:

• City project: this week, students will learn more about the role of representatives, and developing a city name, locations of water sources, and major and minor roadways. Independent work will include journaling about their experience and thinking up new ideas.
• We have been doing agenda all week! Please ask your child for their agenda so you can read it. It will also include their marks for their recent visual journal assignment.
• Homework: complete City Journal #2
• On a fresh page, title “City Journal #2”
  Think about what we are building for our city and answer these questions:
  1.     Are you a citizen or a counselor? What does this mean to you as a member of your group/ward?
  2.     What is your department? So what is your responsibility with regards to the city?
  3.     What is your job? What implications does this have on the city?
  4.     What is your stakeholder position? How does this affect how the city is designed and built? What would your stakeholder position need or want?

Math:

• Wow! Finding patterns in Input/Output tables is complex work, and you are getting it! Well done grade 6. We practiced creating, continuing, and solving input/ output tables. We expanded our learning to include 2 step input / output machines. 
• Next week we will introduce creating and plotting ordered pairs on a graph.  We will make and use the relationship pattern, the input pattern and the output pattern in an Input/output chart.
• HOMEWORK - We talked a lot about creating good habits and setting our notebook page up neatly.  This includes always writing tidy titles that include the page number and date, using a ruler for all lines,  using an eraser (NO scribbling over mistakes), space between questions and the question number in the margin beside the work. 
• For any students who didn't finish them in class, please finish Pg 8-10 questions 3,4,5,6,7,8, 9.  Try the reflection question for a challenge:

"Suppose you want to make an Input/Output machine to convert millimetres to metres. Describe what your machine would look like."

• If you need a hand, our 'Math Support' sessions continue twice a week. Monday at lunch in Mrs. Lowe's room during Lunch B M114(12:50 pm - 1:10 pm) and Thursday mornings in Mrs. MacDonald's room, M116 (8:00 am - 8:20 am). 

Science:

• Students learned about the different types of fingerprints and took their own. We tallied the class prints by type and are graphing them next week to incorporate the math skill of collecting, recording and analyzing data.
• Students have some animal tracking work in their visual journals, feel free to finish these over the weekend or we will do them on Monday together.  This is not required homework, but students were encouraged to look for and sketch or photograph animal prints in the snow around their homes or anywhere they can go for a winter walk. Can you infer what animal, what direction and how fast they were moving?
• Next week, we will also consolidate our learning about animal prints, tire tracks, footwear impressions, handwriting analysis and chromatography. 
• We are creating new vocabulary cards for some of our new key concepts.

Reminders:

• December 3 - CTF #2 Round Begins
• December 5 - Titan Snack
• December 18 - Hot chocolate morning - remember to bring your own mug!
• December 19 - Talent Show and Titan Lunch
• December 20 - NO SCHOOL! Winter Break
• January 7 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Classes Resume

Agenda - November 28

• Science - check out your family's fingerprints!
• Class goal: it got challenging yesterday with new seating plan
• I got _/_/_ on my Charter of Rights visual journal (I think I need to continue working on it). This was due last week.
• If possible please provide your child with a mesh drawstring or small bag to hold their gym strip in
• Math - textbook questions to be discussed

Agenda - November 27

• Thursday - CTF #1 ends
• Thursday - Titan lunch (Subway)
• Thursday - Lock Down at 11am
• New Scholastic Order - send orders to Mrs. MacDonald or order online!
• Science - check out your family's fingerprints!
• Congratulations to our new City Counsellors!
• Class goal: 5 min to get started and stop socializing, and work through the period. Their prize MAY come before the holidays!
• If possible please provide your child with a mesh drawstring or small bag to hold their gym strip in

Agenda - November 26

• Math homework - complete 2 input/output tables 
• Thursday - CTF #1 ends
• Thursday - Titan lunch (Subway)
• Thursday - Lock Down at 11am
• Students will be finishing their persuasive writing and voting today on city councillors for our new project
• Students have created a goal as a class: 5 min to get started on work and stop socializing, and work through the period. Their prize MAY come before the holidays!

Agenda

• November 25
• Thursday - CTF #1 ends
• Thursday - Titan lunch (Subway)
• Thursday - Lock Down at 11am
• Students will be working on persuasive papers in HUM, so there may be homework - you could do research/list ideas on what makes a good candidate!
• Exactly 1 month until Christmas!
• Talent show auditions were today at lunch

November 25-29, 2019

~Thank you for coming in and celebrating your child's learning!  It was wonderful to see parents asking thoughtful questions and watching the kids take the lead in explaining what they know, and what they are still learning about.~

Humanities:

• Students are beginning a new concept around local government! Through the development of a city, students will experience voting for representatives, taking advantage of the role of representatives, learning about the different levels of government and the services these levels provide. As well, students will be part of a ward, building a community, meeting challenges with bylaws, taxes and having their voice heard. 
• The project will begin with a look at our own City of Calgary and how it is divided. The project will be introduced, and students will write a persuasive piece on why they should be considered for election to be a Councillor or Mayor. This process will include tutorials on persuasive writing and note-taking.
• The persuasive writing will be due Tuesday so the class can read and vote. See handout below.
• We are also starting a new routine of agenda write first-thing when students get into class to bridge the gap between teacher-student-home. Most students have something to write in, or can use their phone to make a note. 

Math:

• We have wrapped up probability with our unit quiz, marks are being added to power school this weekend. I was very pleased with these marks! Try this link for quick summary probability concepts.  Look for the probability lesson and games:  SpyGuys Probability lesson
• Because of student lead conferences, there is no Math homework sheet this weekend
• We are starting our unit in Patterns and Relations. We will be describing patterns and relationships, using graphs and tables. This will also include demonstrating an understanding of the relationships within a table of values to solve problems (input/output charts)
• Check this out:  SpyGuys patterns in graphs
•  'Math Support' sessions continue twice a week. They are offered Monday at lunch in Mrs. Lowe's room during Lunch B M114(12:50 pm - 1:10 pm) and Thursday mornings in Mrs. Senholt's room, M116 (8:00 am - 8:20 am). 

Science:

• We have started exploring in our new science unit, Evidence and Investigation by revisiting the concepts :

'Observation' - factual information taken in through our senses,  and'Inference' - conclusions, assumptions and theories reached, based on evidence and                     observations 

• Students practiced being the investigator or the witness, and to remember details from a scene or ask good questions to sketch it 
• We conducted our first experiment, for those who were not able to attend student led conferences, check it out at https://funlearningforkids.com/dancing-raisins

Reminders:

• November 25 - Grade 6 Talent Show Auditions at lunch
• November 28 - Titan Lunch
• November 28 - Lock Down at 11am
• November 28 - CTF #1 Round Ends
• December 3 - CTF #2 Round Begins
• December 5 - Titan Snack
• December 18 - Hot chocolate morning - remember to bring your own mug!
• December 19 - Talent Show and Titan Lunch
• December 20 - NO SCHOOL! Winter Break
• January 7 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Classes Resume

Agenda

• Student-Led Conferences are tomorrow and Friday! Students will be sharing their work from Math, Science, LA and Social Studies in both rooms. Enjoy!
• Thursday Conferences - 1:30-7:30pm in 1 hour blocks
• Friday Conferences - 8:30-1:30pm in 1 hour blocks
• Please sign up at: https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public/

November 18-22

Humanities:

• Students will complete their visual journal on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• There will be a test on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms next Tuesday
• Students will prep for the conferences!

Math:

• We have started working in Math teams, and I am so proud of how supportive the students have been with each other.  They are becoming more patient and articulate when asking and answering one another's questions, and many gentle leaders are emerging.
• We are creating and playing many Theoretical and Experimental Probability games and challenges.  Both classes will have our 'Fun Five' (5 question independent quiz) on Wednesday to wrap up the probability work for now. Does your child know how to explain and find Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability and the most challenging part of COMPARE them?
• Here is a great place for quick summary probability concepts.  Look for the probability lesson and games:
• Spy guys http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mesg/html/math6web/index.html?page=lessons&lesson=m6lessonshell19.swf


•  'Math Support' sessions continue twice a week. They are offered Monday at lunch in Mrs. Lowe's room during Lunch B M114(12:50 pm - 1:10 pm) and Thursday mornings in Mrs. Senholt's room, M116 (8:00 am - 8:20 am). 

Science:

• We have finished our Trees and Forests Unit quiz and students will be ready to send home or share at student led conferences on Thursday and Friday.
• 6-1 - Students are creating abstract paintings from basic lines and and shapes that are cut, then redrawn and traced.
• 6-2 - Revisiting our first image from the first week of school called "It isn't what you look at that matters, it's what you see" and recreating a portion of it called "Now I see".
• Introduction of Evidence and Investigation unit on Monday.

Reminders:

• Nov 21-22 - Student-led Conferences
• Nov 22 - NO SCHOOL
• Be sure to check Powerschool periodically for marks entered and feel free to ask for any clarification with the teacher.  If you are having trouble, we can help you at student lead conferences this week. 
• For those who still have outstanding balances, Please pay in cash, or online at https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public/ (PowerSchool)
   Instructions for paying online:
  1. Go to https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public/
  1. Log in to PowerSchool
  2. On the left-hand side of the screen, click on “Student Fees and Services”
  3. If the payment link is not there, click on “School-based & Optional Fees” to find payment

Agenda

Students are working on visual journal pages about the Charter of Rights in Humanities. They are due next Monday or Tuesday depending on student pace

Test on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is on Tuesday in the second block. Students should utilize the blurbs in their visual journal for studying. There will also be a written section on what Right the student connects to the most and why.

Thursday and Friday next week are student-led conferences. Make sure to sign up for a block to come down and check out your child's work!

NO SCHOOL NEXT FRIDAY

Agenda

Glenbow Museum was fun and informative! Thank you to our volunteers for joining us!!

Students are working on visual journal pages about the Charter of Rights in Humanities. Due next week

Test on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms next week

Agenda

• Field trip forms went home today for the Glenbow Museum. 6-1 and 6-2 venture out for the entire day on Wednesday, November 13
• Charter of Rights and Freedoms slideshow presentations are going well!
• Remembrance Day Assembly is this Friday, November 8 at TMC, and at 11:15am for grade 6 classes. Please join us if you like! There have been some hardworking performers preparing for this special day, including the grade 6 choir.
• No school November 11 - Remembrance Day

Agenda

• There was a spelling test today in Humanities from the "sixth grade no excuse words" list - overall, students did well!
• What!? $7 payments are still due from the Bowmont Park field trip?! 
• Mysterious Creature projects are due this week, along with Charter of Rights and Freedoms slideshow
• Remembrance Day Assembly is November 8 at TMC, and at 11:15am for grade 6 classes. Please join us if you like! There have been some hardworking performers preparing for this special day, including the grade 6 choir.
• No school November 11 - Remembrance Day

November 4-8, 2019

Humanities:

• Students will be wrapping up their mysterious creature writing and presenting their slideshow to the class on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Students will be asked to choose 1 Right or Freedom, and create a blurb for the rest of the class to utilize.
• This week we are also starting some new routines. On Day A, as students have Humanities for only 1 block, this time will be dedicated to spelling, reading comprehension, editing writing and working with words (compound words, contractions, prefix/suffix, homonyms/synonyms, etc.). Today was their first spelling test, with words gathered from the "Sixth Grade No Excuse Words" list. This is our starting point!

Math:

• Students wrote their Number Concepts quiz this week and some have brought them home to be corrected, signed and brought back to me (any time this week is fine).  Those who scored below 9 on their test did not take it home, as they have the option to rewrite on Tuesday at lunch, but must be practicing their factors trees and multiples (tables) to improve their understanding.  I will not search for students or force them to come to the retest, but this is the only time offered to take it.  

Note *All grade 6 teachers have identified this topic as an area of growth for several students. Basic multiplication/division facts up to 81) are essential.  All students are strongly encouraged to continue working on this at home. Due to the importance of multiples/factors and applying place value number concepts to other areas of the math curriculum, we are offering support for Grade 6 students for would like additional assistance. The Grade 6 Math/Science team is going to offer weekly 'Math Support' sessions twice a week. They will be offered Monday at lunch in Mrs. Lowe's room during Lunch B M114(12:50 pm - 1:10 pm) and Thursday mornings in Mrs. Senholt's room, M116 (8:00 am - 8:20 am). Students may attend one or both sessions, no commitment. 

Here are a couple of websites that are helpful learning tools:
Math is Fun
Grade 6 is Math-tasitc
Spy Guys... Factors, Multiples and Prime Factorization

• We are starting theoretical and experimental probability and learning the language around ratios, 'likely', 'unlikely', 'certain', and 'impossible'.
• Favorable outcome: total possible outcomes
• Examining Theoretical versus Experimental probability through games and experimentation.

Science:

• We have finished our 'Tree Task' presentations and students did an excellent job!  Well done Grade 6!  They had a period to review and share any missing notes or handouts to study for Thursday's test.  All students have been given a copy of the questions from all 4 Tree Tasks to use as a study guide and to create a "cheat sheet" for the test.
• Trees and Forest test on Thursday Nov. 7

Art:

• 6-1 - Students will be working on artwork for the class Remembrance Day wreath as well as abstract collage art
• 6-2 - All classes are making Remembrance Day wreaths for the assembly, our focus will be on peaceful collaboration through the lens of collective identity, kindness and sacrifice.

Reminders:

• November 7th Science test
• November 8th Assembly
• November 11th no school - Remembrance Day
• Monday/Thursday Math extra-help group
• Check for unpaid field trip fees (Bowmont Park)