Thanks for the Generous Donations

Hello,

It was a very comfy and cozy day at St. Anne School today, as many students wore their PJ's. Thanks to all who gave money or new PJ's to help others. Your efforts and support are much appreciated.

This morning, we started the day with an Advent liturgy. The students were well behaved and reflected on the true meaning of Christmas.

Next, the students finished up their work on their group structures. We will be organizing our final thoughts tomorrow and engaging in a group discussion about the big ideas of the unit.

In Math, we took some time to review the concepts the students worked on with the supply teachers last week, sharing our strategies for comparing km, m and cm, and calculating perimeter.

In Language, we wrote about some of the acts of kindness we have accomplished and decided as a group that we needed until the end of the week to accomplish our goal of 10 acts each. We also looked at some of the answers the students wrote for their reading responses for the "Inline Skating Lesson" and "Two Chains" texts. We discussed the importance of including detail and explaining your thinking in your responses.

http://www.eqao.com/en/assessments/primary-division/assessment-docs/3e-Lang1-2014.pdf

http://www.eqao.com/en/assessments/primary-division/assessment-docs/3e-Lang1-Rdg-SG-2014.pdf

We will be working on our new spelling sentences tomorrow. This week's 14 words are:

1. wouldn't 2. everything 3. terrible 4. hidden 5. trouble 6. anyone 7. about 8. what 9. can't 10. no 11. really 12. don't 13. know 14. everybody

Finally. Mrs. Zulpo's class joined us for the last 20 minutes of the day to watch and practice the song we will be singing together at Christmas time. Get ready to hear a lot of this song in the near future!

Can't Stop These Shoes

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

Wear your PJs on Monday!

Hello again,

I wanted to share this note from the Kingdom Club.

At St. Anne we are going to have a pyjama day on Monday, November 30, 2015. On Monday, we would like students to wear their favourite pyjamas and please bring in a donation or a brand new pair of children’s sized pajamas to support the Pyjama Patrol Project. Students can wear pajamas, slippers, and bring in a stuffed animal if they wish. We hope everyone can participate and enjoy wearing their PJ’s to school!

Summer vs. Winter Persuasive Paragraphs

Hello,

Here are our slides for our seasonal persuasive paragraphs, comparing summer and winter. We collaborated in the editing process and used Google drawings for our designs. This is our final product, after peer editing of a written version and teacher editing of the typed version. I shared this work as part of my tech workshop presentation today and the teachers were very impressed with the students' work.

Today, the students started the process again, indicating their preference for getting to school. They are now comparing walking to school and getting a drive.

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

Three Days in One Post

Hello,

Sorry that I missed posting yesterday. This week is very busy with various workshops I am attending and my schedule has been thrown off.

I have attended workshops on EQAO and leadership, and I will be presenting at a Learning Connections technology workshop tomorrow.

In Science, we have finished our plans for our final structures and we have started the construction process. The plan is to work on them tomorrow and finish building them on Friday. Then we will share our learning and discuss the key concepts from the unit, to show our understanding.

In Math, the students should be finishing their work on ordering and assigning units (cm, m, km) and completing p. 119-120 for homework. Tomorrow, the students will begin to explore perimeter, working on measuring the outside of various shapes and objects.

In Language, the students are finishing up their work for digital citizenship and the sentences, or story, for spelling. Both tasks should be finished for Friday, when I am back in the classroom.

Next, the students will be writing another persuasive paragraph about whether they prefer walking to school, or getting a drive. The students are reminded to include an introduction, three points with explanations and a conclusion.

Upon finishing this writing task, the students will read "The Inline Skating Lesson" and answer multiple choice and short answer questions, where they will use examples and explain their thinking, in their orange language duotangs.

I look forward to being back for the full day on Friday. Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

Making a Positive Digital Footprint

Hello,

This morning we finished our discussions about our paper skyscrapers, talking about what made them strong and stable or how they could be improved. Next, we worked in groups of three or four to plan our final structures and show how much we have learned from the start of the unit.

In Math, we took some time to discuss measurement skills and clear up any misconceptions students might have about estimating and where to start measuring on a ruler. Tomorrow, we will look at kilometres and how to decide whether an object should be measured using cm, m or km.

In gym, we went outside for a spirited game of soccer baseball, which allowed for everyone to have a chance to hit the ball and enjoy the experience.

Finally, in Language, I gave feedback to various students about their spelling sentences and stories, and improvements they could make this week, when working with the following words:

recycle
discover
before
enough
first
journal
beautiful
let's
hopeless
write
right
our
are

The students also started to work on a task for leaving a positive digital footprint. Some students are making internet safety posters using Google slides. Other students chose to make bitstrip comics about being a good digital citizen and a final group of students will be making blog posts about the things they have learned from the unit and how they will apply this information to their daily lives. We will work on this task throughout the week.

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

PD Day on Friday

Hello,

First, a reminder that tomorrow is a PD day, so there will be no classes taught. Instead, the teachers will be participating in professional development workshops and the students will be staying home for the day.

Over the last two days, we have continued to work on digital citizenship. We looked at how to search for things safely on the internet and how to be aware of the many advertisements we will encounter online. We also explored how social media can be used to make a positive impact and explored the idea of 10 acts of kindness. We set a goal for each member of our class to perform 10 acts of kindness by the end of the month. In December, we will be using kid blog to document the work that we did to help others. This morning, the entire school went outside to stand up to bullying and recite the St. Anne students pledge. It was great to see the enthusiasm shared by all of the students.

In Science, we completed our work on our paper skyscrapers, tested their strength and stability and shared what we learned with the class through discussions and presentations. It was interesting to see how many books some of the structures could hold, and when they would finally collapse.

In Math, we are continuing to look at estimation and measurement of objects using cm and m. I have collected the math books to correct over the weekend. In Language, the students finished their sentences and stories for the 13 words I posted at the start of the week. I will be looking at this work over the weekend as well.

Have a great weekend.

Mr. Skinner

Learning about our Digital Footprint with the Cyberpigs

Hello,

This morning we had a great discussion about our digital footprint and the ways we should interact with others online. The students learned how they should not share personal information or passwords with others online.

The students had a lot of fun playing a game involving the cyberpigs and wanted me to post the link, so they could play the game and share it with their parents.

http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/games/privacy_playground/flash/privacy_playground_en/start.html

In Math, we practised using a ruler and measuring items in cm. The students were given two double sided activity sheets to work on, while I had individual conferences with students about their patterning tests. The students will be bringing home the test tonight. They should complete both sheets for homework. I will send rulers home with the students, if they need them.

In Science, we finished our paper skyscrapers. We will share our work with the class on Wednesday and continue to plan for the building of our final structures for this unit. The goal is for the students to use the terms we went over in our unit review, to explain their building choices and why or why not their structure works effectively.

Finally, the students worked on their sentences or stories for the vocabulary words provided to them yesterday. Then we went to the Learning Commons to exchange our books.

If you are interested in purchasing new St. Anne clothing, an order form is coming home today.

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner