Math Tests - sent home (am)

The unit test for place value and decimals were handed back today. WOW - the class did fantastic! In class, we completed an analysis of the questions and set goals for how to improve on future tests of this nature. Students should have completed all of the corrections in class and are asked to review the test with their parents. Parents are asked to sign on the front index sheet in their math assessment duotangs.

Alice in Wonderland - next FRIDAY! (pm)

Coming to the Rocket Theatre - ALICE IN WONDERLAND! The grade 5/6 (pm) class has been working  ard on the play, Alice in Wonderland. The play is a full length (45 minute) play that involves special effects, character and set changes, and a ton of fun! All of the sets and background images have been created by the students. As for costumes, I am asking students to keep it simple. Wearing all black with a mask is great. We will be doing two presentations of the play next Friday, December 7.

Performance #1: 12:20 pm - 1:15 pm

Performance #2: 1:50 pm - 2:45 pm  

Parents are invited to attend either performance. Thanks for your support!

Math Test - tomorrow! (am)

As noted on the calendar, tomorrow (Thursday) the grade six students will be writing a math test on place value and decimals. They have been given a review package of questions which we will be taking up tomorrow. Students are encouraged to check over their answers and to identify any questions that require further clarification. We will be discussion those "flagged" questions tomorrow during period one. The test will be during period two.

To download a copy of the review package, click HERE.

To see the answers to the review questions, click HERE.

Water Bottles for Sale

The Earth Care team will be selling metal water bottles for the low cost of $12. The bottles can be ordered in either red or blue. Both colours will also include the "Go Rockets" logo. We are encouraging all students to start using reusable water bottles instead of disposable plastic bottles. Order forms have been sent home today and are due by December 7, 2012.

Advent Food Train

Advent is a time to prepare our hearts and our homes for the birth of our Saviour Jesus.  It is an opportunity for us to look for ways to make “little miracles” happen to celebrate the blessed, real miracles of Jesus’ birth. 

Each year we discuss how fortunate we are as a community.  Most of us have safe, warm homes, enough to eat and warm clothes.  However, we know there are some families in our community who are not as fortunate.  These families can use our prayers and support.

Once again, as part of our school Advent project we are asking each class to donate  non-perishable items to help support families in our neighbourhood.

Starting December 3^rd through until December 20^th students are asked to bring in a needed item. A letter was sent home today which outlines the project. Thanks in advance for your support.

Laurence Wall! (am)

Today, we were blessed to have Laurence Wall come speak to our class about developing a news story, planning a podcast, and interview techniques. Mr. Wall is the news producer at CBC radio in Ottawa. He prepares and reads the newscast every weekday afternoon on CBC radio. We learned about some news stories from the past (such as the first news cast and the Moose River Mine Collapse). Mr. Wall also explained how the CBC switches from local to regional to national broadcasts and how important the timing (and the atomic clock) is for coordinating these switches. The students will be putting these skills to work as they continue working on their news story podcasts for the remainder of the week.

Does this voice sound familiar to CBC radio listeners?

listen to ‘CBC’ on Audioboo

Buddy Day - Our Hope for a Bully-free World (am)

For today's buddy day, the grade three students from Mrs. Trent and Mrs. Berryhill's classes joined our grade 6s to complete our "I have a dream..." activity. After watching and discussing Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech and how this is a model of hope and optimism, we brainstormed our hope for the perfect school. Student responses to the prompt "I have a dream" included:

• where everyone is included
• where everyone is optimistic
• where there is no gossiping
• where everyone tries their best

Student groups had 30 minutes to design a poster and to write a script explaining their "dream". I recorded the students explaining their dream using the Audioboo app and we created QR codes to include on their poster. By scanning this code, one can hear the students explain their poster! To view the indiviual posters and hear the audioboos, click HERE.

Spirit Week! (Nov 26-30)

All right Rockets! Next week is spirit week and it is time for all to add some wackiness to their lives. Here is the breakdown of the spirit days:

Monday - Pyjama Day

Tuesday - Tacky Tourist Day

Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day

Thursday - Rocket Spirit Day (red & blue)

Friday - Crazy Hat Day

Math Prep for Tuesday (am)

During math on Tuesday, we will be completing activities and applications on the topics of rounding decimals and plotting decimal numbers on a number line. In order to prepare for this class, I am asking all students to view the corresponding videos from Khan Academy and to complete the practice questions. Students should aim for completing 10 consecutive questions correctly. A reminder that our math test on place value and decimals is this coming Thursday and the concepts discussed in these videos will be included on the test.

Concept #1: Decimals on the Number Line (view video, complete practice questions)

Concept #2: Rounding Decimal Numbers (view video, complete practice questions)

A reminder to students that they are encouraged to watch at their own speed and may pause, rewind, or fast forward where needed. The goal is for students to have an understanding of these concepts so that they can apply them during the class time. 

Bump, Set, Smash - FUN!

The boys of the volleyball team did Holy Redeemer proud today at the board tournament.

After a strong start, the boys came up against some strong teams in their third and fourth games. They ended up finishing the day with a 4 and 2 record. The boys were excellent ambassadors for our school and really perpetuated the Rocket pride! Way to go boys!

Energy LEGO Video (pm)

The grade 5 students in our afternoon science class have been working hard on building contraptions which incorporate sources of renewable energy. Students designed solar-powered cars, windmills and waterwheels as part of the project. The students were also responsible for researching one of the sources and developing (and recording) a paragraph describing their chosen renewable energy source. Videos of their LEGO contraptions and the accompanying audio tracks were then merged into the video shown below:

Math Riddles (am)

Today in math class, we expanded our discussion about place value to include decimal numbers. We talked about how each column in the place value chart is separated by one power of ten. By looking at these concepts in terms of money, the tenths column would represent dimes (since one dime makes up one tenth of a dollar) and the hundredths column would represent pennies (since one penny makes up one hundredth of a dollar).

We also complete a math riddle in which the students had to use four clues to determine a mystery number.

The clues given included:
- The digit in the hundredths place is double the digit in the tenths place
- The digit in the tenths place is odd
- The digit in the thousandths place is the sum of the digits in the tenths place and the hundredths place
- The digit in the ones place is four times the digit in the hundredths place.

Students worked in class to develop their own riddles. I am asking that each student submit their own riddle for tomorrow's class. Many students have completed this but those that haven't must complete this at home.

First Draft (news story) - DUE!!! (am)

Students are busy working on their news stories. Today, they began to type up their first draft of their story. We are asking all students to ensure that they complete this first draft this evening so that they will be able to participate in our editing session tomorrow (Wednesday). Please check the success criteria for this assignment by clicking HERE.

Parents, please sign (am)

The students received their place value of whole numbers quiz today. The class (as a whole) did FANTASTIC! We will be continuing our exploration of place value by extending our learning to include decimal numbers. I am hoping that parents have a chance to review and sign the assessment summary tonight.

Math Quiz - tomorrow (am)

The grade sixes will be writing a quick quiz tomorrow on place value of whole numbers. This quiz will be knowledge based (no word problems) and will include the following concepts:
- identifying the place value of digits in numbers up to one million
- determining the value of digits in a large number
- writing a number in words
- writing a number in standard and expanded form
- ordering whole numbers from least to greatest
- using rounding and estimation techniques to determine a reasonable estimate to a problem

Students are encouraged to complete the practice quiz that was sent home today. We will be taking up the practice test first thing tomorrow morning.

QUIZ Wholenumber Placevalue PRACTICE

News Story - assignment clarification (am)

On Thursday in Language Arts, the students were asked to complete an organizer and then begin to complete a draft of their newspaper article. This was to be completed by Monday; however, since some students did not get a chance to finalize their story idea until the end of class, we are now asking that students ensure that just the organizer (found embedded below) be completed by Monday. Students are welcome to begin their draft but this is not required. Students should concentrate on filling in the article organizer handout and will be using this organizer to develop their first draft in class on Monday using the Netbooks. We have adjusted the deadlines to reflect this change. Have a great weekend!

Newspaper Article Framework

Khan Academy - flipping the lesson (am)

Today, the students were introduced to an online resource called Khan Academy. This resource has instructional videos and exercises for math, science, finance, and history. We will be using it this year for math. The students are also encouraged to use this resource as they move into high school as it contains excellent tutorials of higher math such as vectors and calculus. We will also be using these videos to "flip the lesson". This concept takes the normal format of teacher-led lessons in the school and the work b being completed at home and flips it.... therefore, having the students learn the lesson at home and complete the work in the classroom.

Over the weekend, I am asking students to view the following three videos on rounding. They are to watch at their own pace and may pause, rewind, or fast-forward where necessary. Once they finish watching all three videos, they are to complete the practice exercise. I am hoping that by completing this "lesson" at home, we will have more time to apply the concepts and work towards solving problems during class time.

Video Lessons:

• Rounding Whole Numbers - 1
• Rounding Whole Numbers - 2
• Rounding Whole Numbers - 3

Practice Exercises

• Rounding Whole Numbers (practice)

For more information, I invite parents and students to view the video of Salman Khan (founder of the Khan Academy) speaking at a TED conference in 2011.

Agamographs - Visual Art (pm)

Under the guidance and expertise of student teacher Miss Evans, the grade 5/6 class created agamographs. An agamograph is a piece of art work composed of two separate images. Since the images are folded in an accordion style, as the viewer passes by the piece, the images morph from the first image to the second image. Check out a video of our agamograph display.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! (am)

Our grade six class (am) are starting a three week project to develop a podcast on a news story. Today, students joined one of eight news departments (e.g. sports, entertainment, culture, science and technology etc....) for our class newspaper. Each department will be responsible for researching stories at the school, city, and national level. Students will then write a news story and obtain primary (e.g. through Skype, phone calls, interviews) and secondary sources (e.g. through research) to support their writing. Finally, they will put their news story, their interviews, and class comments on their article into a podcast. We will be focusing the majority of our mornings on this project but some of the work will have to be completed at home. Students will receive a project organizer this week which will outline the tasks to be completed over the project's timeline. Please encourage your child to look through newspapers and other news media to become familiar with the structure and components of a news story. As the project progress, I will post more information on the blog.

Place Value Practice (am)

We have begun our unit on place value and decimals. Today in class, we reviewed the patterns in the place value chart for whole numbers (up to one million). The students are working on some practice questions and although some students finished these in class, the work has been assigned for homework tonight. For students to practice these fundamental concepts I am posting four good practice sites that students are encouraged to play for practice. As an aside, at parent-teacher night, some parents expressed their desire to have a math resource (e.g. textbook) at home. If this is something that would be helpful, families are welcome to sign out a grade 6 textbook which can be kept at home until the end of the year. Please send in a written request with your child.

Good place value games include:
1) ThatQuiz (set to level 9)
2) Mystery Numbers
3) Jumble Digits
4) Fun Brain Puzzler

Redesigned Website

For those who have not seen the changes to our class blog - check it out! In order to make the website more user friendly and (hopefully) more helpful as a learning tool, the format has been changed. New features include:
1) a calendar which will include assignment due dates, test dates, and school events
2) a gallery which will archive our adventures on field trips and school events
3) a twitter feed which will include smaller daily events that are happening in our school

For those that have subscribed to the blog, you should be receiving email updates around 4-5pm (whenever an update is made). For those that haven't subscribed, you can by filling in your email address in the "Follow by email" section at the bottom of the right side bar.

I would appreciate feedback if there are elements that you like or if there are parts that you find confusing or difficult to access. Please do not hesitate to contact me (see the link in the menu bar at the top) to offer your comments and suggestions on how I can improve the site.

Meaning of Home - writing (am)

This week, the students are putting their creative minds to work in order to raise money for a charitable cause. Each student is working on a piece for "The Meaning of Home" writing contest. They will be writing either a poem or composition on what "Home" means to them. It must be between 50 and 300 words. For each individual entry that we submit online by Friday, five dollars will be donated to a Habitat for Humanity project located closest to us.

In class we spent some time learning about Habitat for Humanity and also generating personal word webs about what the word home brings to mind. To remind them that homes don't always mean a comfy couch and an xbox, we completed as activity on homelessness (ask your child about this activity). We remembered our Shepherds of Good Hope presentation from last month also which taught us that homelessness, need, and poverty certainly exist here in Ottawa. It's often just not as obvious or easy to see.

We will be working on this tomorrow in class but students are welcome to continue their writing at home.

To find more information about the contest, Click Here

Math Tests - sent home (am)

Today we took up our patterning test and students were asked to make all corrections and fill out the accompanying analysis of their work. Students are encouraged to get their assessment duotang signed as soon as possible. Those students who wrote the test today will bring their tests home on Thursday. Also, a reminder for those who have not returned their interview form, bottom section of the progress report, and the  report envelope to do so. I would like to post available interview slots for those students/parents who were not assigned interviews. Thanks!

Math Test - tomorrow (am)

Today in class, we completed our review of our patterning unit. We took up all of the multiple choice questions from our bell ringer as well as the practice test that was sent home over the weekend. Students are encouraged to review the lessons from class today and try some additional patterning questions.

Check out the answers to the practice test...

Practice Test Answers

November School News and Calendar

The school newsletter and calendar of events for November are now available online. To see what's happening in November, download the newsletter and calendar. All news and calendars will be archived under the News & Links tab on the Holy Redeemer website (red.ocsb.ca). Please remember the environment while viewing and only print if you have to. Thanks!

Mrs. Campbell is on Twitter!

Mrs. Campbell, our school principal, is now on twitter. She will "tweet" school announcements and info about events as well as pictures of school activities. If you have a twitter account, you can follow her tweets. If you don't, you can check out what she is posting at https://twitter.com/OCSB_HolyRed.

Patterning Test - TUESDAY! (am)

We have been working on our patterning unit for the past month and it is time to test our knowledge! On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, the grade sixes (am) will be writing their unit test on patterning. We have been completing some review of multiple choice questions pertaining to patterns and will be taking these up during Monday's class. Today, students were given a practice test to complete over the weekend. This test is almost identical in scope, length, format, and difficulty to the actual test. We will be taking this practice test up during Monday's class.

Concept Check Practice

Bill Mason - A Rainy and Fun Halloween

Did it rain? Yes. Did it stop us from exploring the forest, catching salamanders and frogs, feeding chickadees from our hands, classifying trees, or having a great time? NO! Check out the gallery in the right side bar!

Also, several students were obsessed with feeding chickadees but may not have had a chance. I was talking to a few of them about Stony Swamp trails and how there are hundreds of chickadees there that will eat from one's hand. The best trail (Trail 26) I have found is at parking lot 11, right off of West Hunt Club road. Some information as well as a map to this trail can be found HERE.

Progress Reports and Interviews

Today, all students received their progress report. Along with this report was a yellow paper with information about interviews. The interviews are being held next Thursday (November 8). A schedule has already been drafted which pairs the English and French teacher together for the interview. Please note that some students in the pm class have not been assigned interview times due to lack of space available; however, please contact me for a phone interview if you are so inclined. If you received an interview time and either a) can't make the time or b) choose not to attend the interviews, please indicate this on the form so that I can make your time slot available to others. Thanks very much!