Friday, March 20th 2020

Hello Rm. 9 Parents,

As we head into Spring Break, I just wanted to remind families that all students have access to Mathletics, which currently has tasks assigned to students based on their recent and current learning. If you require your child’s Mathletic login and password, please do not hesitate to email me.

In addition, students previously utilizing Raz-Kids within the classroom should continue to access this site at home.

Also, below is a list of the current spelling words we are working on:

Before school closures, the majority of students had an opportunity to finish their ‘mini’ stories incorporating concepts of narration and dialogue. They were tasked with writing a conversation between two interesting characters (e.g. a sock and a shoe, a shark and a surfer, etc.). or they could create a conversation of their choice.  The project encouraged students to focus on descriptive writing, setting and utilizing the rules of dialogue between characters. Below are several examples of student work:  

  

  

  

I hope all families have a relaxing Spring Break.  Please take care and I look forward to connecting with you after the break.

Best wishes,

Ms. McGrath

Wednesday, March 11th, 2020

Happy Wednesday!

Today in social studies, students developed their knowledge and skills around their current online verification habits.  The guiding questions for our learning today included:

1.     Why should I verify information I see online?

2.     How can I tell fact from fiction on the internet?

Through a series of activities and an online interactive game, students had the opportunity to try and identify misinformation and disinformation.  Students were then introduced to skills that support them in identifying correct or false information. The skills including how to check the source, verify the claim, and source the original image.  Based on their work today, students could then articulate why it was important to verify information before believing and sharing it.  They could also describe and use the fact-checking skills necessary to verify the information they see online.   

   

Reminder: If you have not already done so, please sign-up for Parent Conferences on Thursday, March 19^th & Friday, March 20^th

Upcoming events:

-       Thursday, March 11^th – Animal Dragon spelling test

-       Friday, March 12^th – Belonging Day (please wear your Ramsay t-shirt)

-       Monday, March 16^th – Scoop Troup spelling test

-       Prepare new sort for Animal Dragons (#22) for Friday

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

Happy Tuesday,

Today in math, students started learning about Ratio which is a comparison between two quantities.  Please see video for additional information. We will continue with Ratio tomorrow in addition to having students write their 6x multiplication and division quiz. 

In health, we learned about the development of mindful thinking and awareness as a means to focus our attention to ourselves within our surroundings. By consciously processes sensory input, and providing our prefrontal cortex time to process information, we can choose the best course of action.  Conversely, when we are behaving in an unmindful way, there can be risky consequences.  Students spend a few minutes drawing unmindful situations and their unintentional consequences. 

 

Reminder: If you have not already done so, please sign-up for Parent Conferences on Thursday, March 19^th & Friday, March 20^th

Upcoming events:

Wednesday, March 10^th – multiplication and division test (6’s)

Thursday, March 11^th – Animal Dragon spelling test

Friday, March 12^th – Belonging Day (please wear your Ramsay t-shirt)

Monday, March 16^th – Scoop Troup spelling test

Monday, March 9th, 2020

Happy Monday!

Today in science, students reinforced their knowledge of the water cycle and learned about different types of precipitation – rain, snow, sleet & hail. Students were required to complete a series of questions regarding formation, temperature, measurement and impact. Each group was assigned to learn about one type, which they will then share with the other groups.

Upcoming events:

Tuesday, March 10^th – Orange Oompa Loompa Spelling Test

Wednesday, March 11^th – 6x multiplication and division quiz

Thursday, March 12^th – Animal Dragons spelling test

Friday, March 13^th – Belonging Day (wear your Ramsay t-shirt)

Reminder – if you have not already done so, please return your Kamp Kiwanis field trip form. 

Friday, March 6th 2020

Happy Friday!

Today in math, grade 6 students finished their final lessons on solving problems that involve decimals. Specifically, students were practicing the division of decimal numbers greater and less than one. Students have been provided with word problem homework that is due Monday.

Students will also have a 6x multiplication and division test on Tuesday. In addition, the Orange Oompa Loompa spelling group will also have their spelling test.

Final reminder for students to return their Kamp Kiwanis field trip form if they have not already done so.

Thanks so much & have a great weekend!

Thursday, March 5th 2020

Happy Thursday!

Reminder to please return field trip forms for Kamp Kiwanis. 

Today in social studies, students were asked to think critically about the images they see.  Images can shape the way we understand people, issues and events. Developing a habit of questioning images can make us more informed citizens.

Our guiding questions today included:

How do images produce meaning?

How can I think critically about images?

To start, students analyzed images and shared what they noticed and inferred based on what they could see.  They then looked at images with a variety of different headlines and captions to assess how the addition of words could potentially change one’s understanding of the image and message. 

Lastly, we looked at how images and videos are manipulated or contrived to portray a negative or positive message – especially in political campaigns.  

Tomorrow, we’ll continue with our lesson by learning how to search for the source of online images. As well, students will apply a ‘Questioning Image’ Framework to assess the validity of images they find online. 

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

Happy Tuesday!

Students were provided with their field trip forms for Kamp Kiwanis.  Please ensure all blue forms are completed and returned by this Friday.

Today in Social Studies, we discussed social media algorithms and how they work in such a way that we are more likely to see content that is similar to what we already like or agree with.  Therefore, our social media feeds never give us the whole picture. As a society, many people are heavy adopters of social media and they now rely on these sites for their news.  The problem is that social media platforms were never intended to be news organizations, as their goal is to display ads. They want you to spend more of your time on their site, so they ‘recommend’ articles that evoke your emotions and reinforce your current beliefs and attitudes.  

To demonstrate this concept, students were divided into two groups and each group was provided with a booklet of social media posts.  The two groups looked at information and listed the pros and cons of a proposed solar factory being built near a school.  However, students were not told that the information booklets were different and each booklet had a different perspective of the issue.  When it came time to vote on the referendum, students were surprised when the many members of the other group voted differently than them. The activity reinforced how the information we are exposed to affects our attitudes and decisions.

 

Guided questions that students were asked to consider as a result of our lesson:

How can information impact my decisions?

What are the pros and cons of using online platforms?

Why should we be critical consumers of online information?  

Monday, March 3rd, 2020

Happy Monday!

Today in ELA, students worked to finish up their dialogue and narration story by incorporating suggested feedback improvements.  They are then adding some imagery to their story to complete and present their work. 

In math, we are currently working on the multiplication of decimals and will be looking at division of decimals within the next few days. For instructions, please see the following video on decimal operations: Math Antics

During our science lesson today we continued with our weather unit and we reviewed the pressure systems which contribute to the creation of wind.  As well, we also reviewed the instruments used for the measurement of speed and direction.  Students then had the opportunity to create and test their own wind socks outside. 

   

   

After testing our wind socks, students expressed the following observations:

·      The wind was changing directions a lot – E.d.

·      Weather changes very rapidly in Calgary – A.S.

·      Once we had turned it the right direction, we got a very strong SW wind – A.Ha.

·      The wind would consistently go in the same direction except for a few wind gusts.

·      When going slow, it would droop but when the wind picked up, then the sock would go straight out – A.He.

·      I liked how the wind socks would lift up because the wind was so strong – A.Ha.

·      The wind is coming from different places.  Two pressure systems trying to create an equilibrium – A.C.