Our experience from last year led us to troubleshoot some problems we had with home computers and accessing the information on the blog and wiki, especially with not being able to see some files. A few things that might help are:
1. Downloading the latest version of Adobe Reader at http://get.adobe.com/reader/
2. Trying a browser that is not Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html)
Google Chrome (http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/landing_chrome.html?hl=en)
Apple Safari (http://www.apple.com/safari/download/)
If you can't get it to work on one, try another. Last year we had four different browsers that people were using at home, although usually Internet Explorer was least successful. We also had a couple of people who had to change some settings on their computer, as they were getting pop-up windows that said the wiki site was blocked.
Try some of these options if you have difficulty, and if it still doesn't work, you can contact me and I will try to find another solution.
Friday, 2 September 2011
Welcome back!
Welcome back to a new school year! We have an exciting year ahead of us in Grade 5/6, and I am looking forward to getting to know all of you better and working on some of the exciting projects we have ahead of us. The beginning of the school year is always a big time of change and renewal, and a time to create and maintain good learning habits that will set everyone up for their senior years at HPS.
The first day of school is always very busy, and we covered a lot of expectations and handed out a lot of sheets. First, we reviewed our classroom and school expectations, none of which should come as any real surprise to the students. We settled into our new desks and talked a little about the year to come. Just a reminder that all students will need outdoor running shoes that have closed toes and can be laced up, as we will be starting soccer and cross country right away. For our soccer unit and intramurals, cleats are certainly allowed, but not at all required. I have a small selection of cleats here at the school as well, that can be borrowed by students. There were also a large number of sheets handed out. The Emergency Contact Form needs to be filled out for every student, and must be returned to the school this week. A classroom newsletter went home, as well as a permission form to sign the students up for Google accounts for use in the classroom. We also received our school planners, which are partly funded by the school council. The remainder of the fee is $5, which can be sent into the schol this week. Homework is reviewed daily, is always posted on the side board in the classroom, and will be written in agendas at the end of every day.
Over the last couple of years, this classroom has been working on expanding our learning on to the computers and to the internet, using a variety of different tools like Prezi, Glogster and Google docs. We are also working on more of an online presence with our blog, wiki and twitter feeds. Basically, the wiki (you can see the link to your right at the top of the blog) has more permanent information like what is expected in a certain style of writing, or samples of work we have done here in class, or mark sheets that you can rely on when completing your work. The blog (where you are right now), will have periodic posts updating students and parents about events in the classroom, or new units we are starting, or advice about places to go for extra help, and so on. You can poke around at some of last year's posts to get an idea of what to expect. Finally, we have the twitter feed on your right, which is more likely to echo items that were on the homework board. I am hoping that this will all work together to keep parents more in the loop about what is happening in class and around the school. It should also allow students to be more independent with their learning this year. It also follows the board and school goals of becoming increasingly paperless and reducing our school's environmental impact.
Finally, not all students have regular access to the computer, or their internet is slow, or other problems arise. If that is the case, I can absolutely give these students paper copies of what is posted on the blog and wiki, as long as they don't wait until 3:15 to tell me they need it!
This is going to be a busy week, with a lot of information and sheets of paper to get organized and processed. I am looking forward to getting to now all of the students and their families even better in the weeks and months ahead.
Let's have a great year!
The first day of school is always very busy, and we covered a lot of expectations and handed out a lot of sheets. First, we reviewed our classroom and school expectations, none of which should come as any real surprise to the students. We settled into our new desks and talked a little about the year to come. Just a reminder that all students will need outdoor running shoes that have closed toes and can be laced up, as we will be starting soccer and cross country right away. For our soccer unit and intramurals, cleats are certainly allowed, but not at all required. I have a small selection of cleats here at the school as well, that can be borrowed by students. There were also a large number of sheets handed out. The Emergency Contact Form needs to be filled out for every student, and must be returned to the school this week. A classroom newsletter went home, as well as a permission form to sign the students up for Google accounts for use in the classroom. We also received our school planners, which are partly funded by the school council. The remainder of the fee is $5, which can be sent into the schol this week. Homework is reviewed daily, is always posted on the side board in the classroom, and will be written in agendas at the end of every day.
Over the last couple of years, this classroom has been working on expanding our learning on to the computers and to the internet, using a variety of different tools like Prezi, Glogster and Google docs. We are also working on more of an online presence with our blog, wiki and twitter feeds. Basically, the wiki (you can see the link to your right at the top of the blog) has more permanent information like what is expected in a certain style of writing, or samples of work we have done here in class, or mark sheets that you can rely on when completing your work. The blog (where you are right now), will have periodic posts updating students and parents about events in the classroom, or new units we are starting, or advice about places to go for extra help, and so on. You can poke around at some of last year's posts to get an idea of what to expect. Finally, we have the twitter feed on your right, which is more likely to echo items that were on the homework board. I am hoping that this will all work together to keep parents more in the loop about what is happening in class and around the school. It should also allow students to be more independent with their learning this year. It also follows the board and school goals of becoming increasingly paperless and reducing our school's environmental impact.
Finally, not all students have regular access to the computer, or their internet is slow, or other problems arise. If that is the case, I can absolutely give these students paper copies of what is posted on the blog and wiki, as long as they don't wait until 3:15 to tell me they need it!
This is going to be a busy week, with a lot of information and sheets of paper to get organized and processed. I am looking forward to getting to now all of the students and their families even better in the weeks and months ahead.
Let's have a great year!
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Persuasive Writing
We have been getting opinionated over the last few weeks, taking stands and making strong points. It is time again for persuasive writing!
We have reviewed the proper format and a number of persuasive techniques that are used to make people agree with our point of view. We also reviewed the difference between a letter (Grade 6 task) and an essay (Grade 7 task). The students came up with 20 different prompts that we could write about, and we worked our way through some graphic organizers that helped us get everything in the right order and not leave any parts out. We have done modeled and guided writing (together and with feedback), and we are about to embark on our independent writing task. With that in mind, here is a link to the wiki with copies of the main tools we used in class, including the organizers, checklists and the Grade 7 counter-argument anchor.
https://husky67.pbworks.com/w/page/25896205/Persuasive-Writing
We have reviewed the proper format and a number of persuasive techniques that are used to make people agree with our point of view. We also reviewed the difference between a letter (Grade 6 task) and an essay (Grade 7 task). The students came up with 20 different prompts that we could write about, and we worked our way through some graphic organizers that helped us get everything in the right order and not leave any parts out. We have done modeled and guided writing (together and with feedback), and we are about to embark on our independent writing task. With that in mind, here is a link to the wiki with copies of the main tools we used in class, including the organizers, checklists and the Grade 7 counter-argument anchor.
https://husky67.pbworks.com/w/page/25896205/Persuasive-Writing
Monday, 21 March 2011
Patterns of Physical Geography
Our Geography unit will look at the patterns of physical geography. This covers the three main types of landforms - plains, plateaus and mountains. We will also explore climate patterns around the world, and work with climate graphs. We will complete some maps that locate the major river systems of the world. Finally, we will be identifying different types of agricultural systems and describing some of the factors that affect them.
Air and Flight
As we move into our next Science unit, we will be looking at the properties of air and flight. We will be doing a number of experiments that explore the properties of air and aerodynamics, and then applying our findings to the way that airplanes work in relation to the four forces of flight. The first part of the unit will also concentrate on the way that we write up lab reports, using the scientific method. A copy of the checklist we use to guide our lab report format can be found here:
https://files.pbworks.com/download/vYTWqsJGkP/husky67/25751252/Lab%20Report%20Checklist-feedback.pdf
The second half of the unit will deal with how airplanes operate, and with the construction of different types of paper airplanes to accomplish various tasks, based on what we have learned about air and the four forces of flight. We will focus on trials and improvements, using an experimental model.
Additional information and practice can be found here:
http://www.gsc.amdsb.ca/grade6/grade6_science.htm
https://files.pbworks.com/download/vYTWqsJGkP/husky67/25751252/Lab%20Report%20Checklist-feedback.pdf
The second half of the unit will deal with how airplanes operate, and with the construction of different types of paper airplanes to accomplish various tasks, based on what we have learned about air and the four forces of flight. We will focus on trials and improvements, using an experimental model.
Additional information and practice can be found here:
http://www.gsc.amdsb.ca/grade6/grade6_science.htm
Multiplying and Dividing
We will be working on our division unit in the next few weeks, but first need to brush up on our multiplying skills. We have been reviewing the strategies for working out the times tables, and students are expected to practice their times tables to avoid making simple calculation errors. One way to do it is to use the following website http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm, which makes practicing a little more interesting.
We will work through a few different techniques to work on our dividing before we get to long division. This is intended to provide a better understanding of the concepts involved in dividing, as well as a way to double check work when we do it the old-fashioned way.
Some examples you can check out as we progress can be found here:
https://files.pbworks.com/download/nLlPZL3XE5/husky67/26285656/Dividing%20models.pdf
We will work through a few different techniques to work on our dividing before we get to long division. This is intended to provide a better understanding of the concepts involved in dividing, as well as a way to double check work when we do it the old-fashioned way.
Some examples you can check out as we progress can be found here:
https://files.pbworks.com/download/nLlPZL3XE5/husky67/26285656/Dividing%20models.pdf
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
2-D Geometry and Measurement
We are starting a new math unit that deals with 2 dimensional geometry and measurement. We will be covering angles and shapes, perimeter and area over the next couple of weeks. Helpful summaries can be found on the wiki here: https://husky67.pbworks.com/w/page/26368963/2D-Geometry-and-Measurement.
Extra practice and review questions for some of the topics we will be covering can be found here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studsurf.html#ch7 and here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studsurf.html#ch5. You can also try out the Chapters 5 and 7 activities here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studtryout.html.
Extra practice and review questions for some of the topics we will be covering can be found here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studsurf.html#ch7 and here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studsurf.html#ch5. You can also try out the Chapters 5 and 7 activities here: http://www.nelsonk8math.com/math6/studentcentre/studtryout.html.
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