Tuesday, June 26, 2012
No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks...!
Just a quick note as we wrap up a fun school year...
I am glad so many parents were able to come to the school to watch our class play this year. If you got some good photos, please send one or two to me at nancy.rupert@gmail.com and I'll put them on the blog for others to see. Mrs. Kollen and I were so proud of the students, who put so much effort into their art/props/costumes/acting. It was neat to see how excited they all were, too--and who knows, maybe one day a famous Hollywood star will say, "I got my start on the stage at Alouette Elementary..."
I just want to confirm that tomorrow (Wed.) and Thursday are full days, although students are welcome to go home at lunchtime on Thursday. That day we have an assembly in the morning, and then a concert (hopefully the weather will cooperate and it will be outside). Anyone who stays at school in the afternoon will go to the gym, where a movie will be presented.
I will be asking students to bring home everything from their bins, desks and the cloakroom tomorrow.
Report cards will go home Thursday.
I think that's it! Mrs. Kollen and I have very much enjoyed each and every student we've taught in Division 7 this year. It's a privilege to get to work with your creative, enthusiastic children!
Have a wonderful summer.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
A Day Spent Weaving
Kathleen Williamson from our District's Aboriginal Education department visited our classroom last Friday. She taught us about the history of Salish weaving (such as the fact that the Salish took their wool not from sheep, but from a now-extinct wooly dog!)
She then taught the students how to use a loom to weave, and students spent the entire day engrossed in their projects. While a few students said it wasn't for them, the majority of the children found it a fun, soothing, creative activity. Some even said they wished they could weave every day!
Kathleen told the students that if they wanted to keep on weaving at home, they didn't need fancy equipment, but could make a loom out of a shoe box. I found online directions here: http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/aa01/aa040201.htm
Here are some photos of the students, hard at work:
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Field Trip to view Lyle Wilson's artwork
Friday, June 1st was a real west coast weather type of day: warm but occasionally pouring and often drizzling rain. Nevertheless, Division 7 and a handful of parent helpers walked to the ACT in Maple Ridge to view the Northwest Coast art of Lyle Wilson.
Our guide explained the basic shapes used by Northwest Coast artists and that it "should feel like it's staring at you".
Students admire ABCs Reconstituted.
Tsimshian Cosmos
Kitamaat means "People of the Snow"
Octopus
Admiring a Bentwood box.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Author's Celebration! and other stuff
Hopefully you received an invitation today to our Author's Celebration next Thursday (the 17th). From 8:45 until 10:15 we are meeting in small groups to share our novels, and parents, grandparents and good friends are welcome to join in the fun.
The following students have volunteered to bring items for the food portion of the celebration: Sam and Matthew (fruit), Jordan (veggies), Kai and Sara (cookies), Holly and Emily (cupcakes), Hannah (pretzels and water jug), Nathan H. (chips), Josh and Riley (juice), Amanda (paper plates) and Kenzie (cups).
If you are unable to bring one of these items, please just email me at Nancy_Rupert@sd42.ca so I can make a new arrangement. Thanks in advance to those of you who can send us some goodies.
Some of the students are doing some last minute novel publishing, so please check in with your child this weekend and make sure he/she is ready to go for Wednesday, the last day the printing press is running!
The MRTA has created a letter and have asked teachers to send it home via either email or in an envelope. In the interest of trees, if you would like to read this letter (which explains the current job action and its rationale), please email me at the above email address and I'll send it along. I don't wish to post it on the blog because some students read this blog and it is meant for parents only.
Please keep on sending in the Jump Rope for Heart envelopes.
Students have a week of quizzes this upcoming week: on Tuesday there is a Science chapter 6 test and a French quiz (this is 5s only), and on Thursday, a Socials vocab quiz.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Year is almost over!
This school year, more than any other for me, has just flown by. I think working part-time this year has been part of that. And the next few weeks will zip by even more quickly.
Speeches are now finished, and I am happy to say that the students simply excelled during the in-class speeches. Congratulations to Kai and Hannah, who represented the grade five students in the gym, and to Tiffany and Sara, who represented the grade fours. All four did a terrific job in the gym Mrs. Kollen tells me, and Kai and Tiffany were chosen to represent grades five and four at the district event this week. Hannah also got to attend as a runner-up. Well done!
I will posting details later this week about our upcoming publishing party, celebrating the result of hard work by the students in creating their novels. Parents will be invited to attend (watch for invitations).
In writing, the class blog will no longer be part of the homework. Kudos to those students who kept up with it, but because I want to ensure that all students are practicing their writing, we are transitioning to paper journals for the remainder of the year. Your child should be bringing home a paper journal he or she created and writing in it for about twenty minutes at least once a week. Please let me know if you are not seeing this come home at least one time per week, and I will let you know if your child isn't meeting minimal expectations also.
We will be having a field trip to the ACT on June 1st--watch for a permission form to come home very soon, and I will be looking for parent drivers.
Nancy
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April already?! Speeches!!!
It has been a month and a half since my last blog update!! Time is flying!
As your child may have told you, I was away the last two weeks due to my father's death right after spring break. I am happy to report that I got very good TOC notes about how hard the students worked in my absence, and how helpful many of them were. As parents, you should be proud.
Unfortunately, while students were working on speeches these past weeks (and we did begin planning out speeches long before spring break), some students are not on track. I want to share with you the due dates we've agreed upon in class so that you can help your child either stay on track or catch up!
Outlines are due no later than this Friday (the 13th). Tomorrow is preferable so that I can mark them and hand them back Friday. The outline comes from work we did previous to spring break, brainstorming and coming up with sub-topics. I suggested they choose three sub-topics to focus on (thus creating a five-paragraph essay), but some have chosen to do more. This is fine as long as they keep in mind that there is a time limit (five minutes).
Rough copies are due Thursday, April 19th. I will NOT collect and mark these as I usually do, because I unfortunately planned many months ago to attend a conference on Friday the 20th, so I am away again that day and won't be able to return the rough copies. I therefor ask that you please take some time over the weekend of the 21-22nd to read the speeches with your child and help them make any necessary revising and editing changes.
Their good copies should be done by Wednesday, April 25th because Thursday, April 26th is a pro-D day. This leaves us just Friday the 27th do speeches in class and decide who will represent each grade in the gym.
Then grade 4/5 speeches will happen in the gym on May 1st.
So--this is a VERY tight timeline, and not what I wish we were facing. Some students will breeze through (some are already finished their speeches!), but others will struggle--please take time each night to spend a little time working on the speech. The easiest thing to do will be to save the writing using Google Docs so there is no "I left it at home" issues.
I have given students a choice about using cue cards (and also whether they hand-write or type their good copies). However, those who are serious about competing for the gym or district need to use cue cards. They should also work as much as possible on memorizing their speeches. I will not take marks off for not having memorized, but eye contact will help their mark, and if they make it to the gym, it's essential that they give the judges lots of eye contact.
If you have any questions or concerns about speeches, feel free to email me, call, or see me in person. Some students have expressed anxiety about speeches, and we will be talking about working through that anxiety and I have assured them that nobody will be forced to compete in the gym if they are not comfortable with that. However, it is my experience that it is important for all students to give their speeches in class or by grades 6 and 7, a phobia can develop. Therefor, any student who misses school on April 27th will still need to do their speech at a later date.
As your child may have told you, I was away the last two weeks due to my father's death right after spring break. I am happy to report that I got very good TOC notes about how hard the students worked in my absence, and how helpful many of them were. As parents, you should be proud.
Unfortunately, while students were working on speeches these past weeks (and we did begin planning out speeches long before spring break), some students are not on track. I want to share with you the due dates we've agreed upon in class so that you can help your child either stay on track or catch up!
Outlines are due no later than this Friday (the 13th). Tomorrow is preferable so that I can mark them and hand them back Friday. The outline comes from work we did previous to spring break, brainstorming and coming up with sub-topics. I suggested they choose three sub-topics to focus on (thus creating a five-paragraph essay), but some have chosen to do more. This is fine as long as they keep in mind that there is a time limit (five minutes).
Rough copies are due Thursday, April 19th. I will NOT collect and mark these as I usually do, because I unfortunately planned many months ago to attend a conference on Friday the 20th, so I am away again that day and won't be able to return the rough copies. I therefor ask that you please take some time over the weekend of the 21-22nd to read the speeches with your child and help them make any necessary revising and editing changes.
Their good copies should be done by Wednesday, April 25th because Thursday, April 26th is a pro-D day. This leaves us just Friday the 27th do speeches in class and decide who will represent each grade in the gym.
Then grade 4/5 speeches will happen in the gym on May 1st.
So--this is a VERY tight timeline, and not what I wish we were facing. Some students will breeze through (some are already finished their speeches!), but others will struggle--please take time each night to spend a little time working on the speech. The easiest thing to do will be to save the writing using Google Docs so there is no "I left it at home" issues.
I have given students a choice about using cue cards (and also whether they hand-write or type their good copies). However, those who are serious about competing for the gym or district need to use cue cards. They should also work as much as possible on memorizing their speeches. I will not take marks off for not having memorized, but eye contact will help their mark, and if they make it to the gym, it's essential that they give the judges lots of eye contact.
If you have any questions or concerns about speeches, feel free to email me, call, or see me in person. Some students have expressed anxiety about speeches, and we will be talking about working through that anxiety and I have assured them that nobody will be forced to compete in the gym if they are not comfortable with that. However, it is my experience that it is important for all students to give their speeches in class or by grades 6 and 7, a phobia can develop. Therefor, any student who misses school on April 27th will still need to do their speech at a later date.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Update
A couple of important things went home with your child today:
-strike notice.
The current situation with the job action is that the MRTA is withdrawing services Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
As a result, some parents are wondering about homework for next week on days where job action is scheduled. Mrs. Kollen asked me to pass on to you that the science test will be postponed until after Spring Break, so students need to bring home their duo tangs and textbooks and study over the break.
-Art Cards
All art cards must be returned to the school by next Thursday, as I am grading them as part of their art marks. All orders must be back by Friday. I think the butterflies turned out very well, and that they will copy well.
Mrs. Kollen asked me also to pass on to you that it would be very beneficial during students' time away from school next week and Spring Break if students who have not mastered their times table yet practiced it. Most of the fours are still working on their facts, and speed/accuracy in this area is so helpful down the road in math. For my math, we're doing fractions, so working this into your conversations would be helpful. Also, there are some great apps/websites that help kids practice their facts/fractions.
I have received and marked all but one Nanowrimo story now, and I have to say how impressed I am with the efforts the students have put into them. We're on to the next step starting tomorrow (publishing!) and after Spring Break we will have our authors' celebration. Details to come on that!
-strike notice.
The current situation with the job action is that the MRTA is withdrawing services Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
As a result, some parents are wondering about homework for next week on days where job action is scheduled. Mrs. Kollen asked me to pass on to you that the science test will be postponed until after Spring Break, so students need to bring home their duo tangs and textbooks and study over the break.
-Art Cards
All art cards must be returned to the school by next Thursday, as I am grading them as part of their art marks. All orders must be back by Friday. I think the butterflies turned out very well, and that they will copy well.
Mrs. Kollen asked me also to pass on to you that it would be very beneficial during students' time away from school next week and Spring Break if students who have not mastered their times table yet practiced it. Most of the fours are still working on their facts, and speed/accuracy in this area is so helpful down the road in math. For my math, we're doing fractions, so working this into your conversations would be helpful. Also, there are some great apps/websites that help kids practice their facts/fractions.
I have received and marked all but one Nanowrimo story now, and I have to say how impressed I am with the efforts the students have put into them. We're on to the next step starting tomorrow (publishing!) and after Spring Break we will have our authors' celebration. Details to come on that!