November 18th. 2016

We finished our 7x and 11x tables today. Don't worry! We aren't finished reviewing multiplication and division yet! We go back to our 0x and 1x tables on Monday. 

In Language Arts today we worked on reviewing our current reading strategy - making connections. Students were using Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. Using books by the same author or with similar characters makes it easy to practice and make text-to-text connections. I also find that these books are great for students to make text-to-self connections. Who hasn't gone shopping with Mom or gone to the beach with Gramma? The real life settings and situations make it easier for students to connect to. Don't worry, our next connecting activity won't be just a review! We'll make it a little more challenging! 

Today I also sent home our very first Book Talk! Students are going to be presenting a favourite picture book to the class. A Book Talk is a very short (only 2-4 minutes) presentation on a book. Students are asked to introduce the book, the characters, provide a brief summary, and to read a selection from the back or from the book. Students can also challenge themselves by adding questions to their presentation, making connections to their or their classmates lives, showing illustrations, etc. The only rule is to NOT give away and secrets or the ending of your book. Book Talk is a great way to recommend books to our classmates; we don't want to ruin it for them. Students have been asked to practice at home and come prepared to share their book on November 30th. Students are allowed to borrow my books if needed. Today I presented "The Deepest Dark" by Chris Hadfield as my example. I had all the "Must Haves" in my presentation but students thought that I could have read a longer selection, asked more questions, and made stronger connections to their lives not just my own. Lots of constructive feedback for me to practice for my next Book Talk. Want some inspiration when practicing at home? You can read/watch the Scholastic staff's Book Talks at the link below. I'll add this link to the "Reading" page under "Language Arts" so that it is easy for students and parents to find it when needed. 

Scholastic: Children's Booktalks and Video Booktalks 

We also started working on a new post for our blogs today. Students are choosing one of their favourite entries from our Writer's Notebook. Students today worked on typing a second draft of this entry. Remember! A blog post needs to be a complete paragraph (topic sentence, details, concluding sentence). This might mean some editing and revising need to occur between your first draft and your second draft. I will also be editing these paragraphs before students type and publish their final draft.

Agenda
Language Arts:
- Read 20 minutes
- Book Orders (due November 24th)
- Book Talk (November 30th)

Math:
- Practice 0x and 1x tables
- Patterns and Equations Unit Test (Wednesday)

Health:
- PEAK Basketball (Monday)
- FRIENDS Home Activity #3B (Wednesday)

Angel Tree Donations - due December 9th (ask Ms. B for a tag)
Family Movie Night - Nov. 24th, 6:00 pm, Finding Dory (admission by donation)
Fall Market (Saturday, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Tech & Trades Academy- Mondays (3:00-4:00 pm)
Grade 5/6 Volleyball - Mondays, Wednesdays (2:45-3:45 pm)
Grade 5/6 Guitar Club - Thursdays (2:45-3:45 pm)
Recycling Leaders - Day 1 (lunch recess) and Day 4 (lunch)