Author Presentation - We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to BSS to hear Kate DiCamillo speak to approximately 300 students. She was wonderful! Using a power point presentation, she described her childhood and her path to becoming a writer. She explained that although she had more than 470 rejection letters from publishers, she kept on going and persevered as she loved reading and writing. She now has 17 published books and 3 more on the way. She accepted questions from the audience and Graham, Amador and Alex from our class were chosen to ask her a question. They both asked about the characters from Tale of Desperaux. After the presentation, Kate allowed the students to take pictures with her as she casually walked around the room, engaging with the students.
A special thank you to Max's mom and Jake's mom for accompanying us on this trip.
Remembrance Day Assembly - On Monday November 11th, our class along with Ms. Hollins' class, will be leading the junior school assembly for Remembrance Day in the auditorium. Students will sing the song Imagine, by John Lennon (hopefully they have sung this for you at home!), and they will each have several lines to read from a variety of poems including 'In Flanders Fields.' These poems all include descriptions of why we commemorate this special day of remembrance. Our class made beautiful red poppies that they will use during the ceremony.
We are asking the students to wear a black shirt and black pants for the assembly on Monday afternoon. If possible, the top should have very little writing on the front. We have also asked them to bring in a small flashlight (if you have one) for the assembly. Please make sure your child's name is labelled clearly on the flashlight. Thank you for your help with this.
Here are the lyrics to Imagine. We encourage the students to practice singing this over the weekend in order to memorize the words and become very familiar with the tune.
Recount writing assignment - The students have been learning about Recounts and the specific criteria needed to write a proper recount. Ms. Gamliel assigned them a writing Recount writing assignment that was due on Wednesday November 6, 2013. Many of the students have handed in their final draft of this writing piece and Ms. Gamliel will be marking them. There are still some students who have not handed in their recount. The know who they are and I'd like them to hand this in by Monday November 11, 2013. They have had a lot of time to work on this in class and have all received descriptive feedback from Ms. Gamliel as to how they should revise their writing. The recounts are hung up in the hallways outside our classroom.
Report Cards and Interviews - Progress reports will go home with the students on Monday November 11, 2013. The students are marked under 3 categories for this report: Progressing very well, Progressing well and Progressing with difficulty for each of the subject areas.
Thank you to the parents who have requested an interview. I have tried my best to accommodate either your first or second choice. If you have not yet emailed me about an interview time, please do so as soon as you can. If you cannot make it to school, I am happy to accommodate you with a phone interview.
I look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress to date in the gifted program.
Math Congress - Here is today's congress which the students solved quite quickly! Even though they arrived at the answer quickly, the challenge is to explain the strategies they used to the class using math vocabulary through numbers, pictures and words.
MATH CONGRESS - The Eternal Preschool
Friday November 8,
2013
A teacher named, Hope Springs, entered the Eternal
Preschool at 8 am on a Monday morning just in time to witness what turned out
to be a flu epidemic at the school. By 8:30 am, half the children were sent
home sick. By 9:30 am, half of the remaining children were sent home. By 10:30
am, half of the remaining children were sent home. By 11:30 am, half of the
remaining children were sent home. By that time, it was lunchtime and there were only two
children left at school. How many students were in the class at the beginning of the day?
USE PICTURES, NUMBERS AND WORDS TO EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER.
Grade 4 Medieval Scrapbooks - The scrapbooks are due on Thursday November 14th. Students should come to school that day ready to present their scrapbooks to the class. This is the last weekend they have to work on this project. I appreciate your assistance in encouraging your child to complete the final parts of this very exciting project!
Grade 5 Explorer's Book - This is book is due on Monday November 18th. Students should come to school that day prepared to read and explain their explorer's book to the class. They will also have an opportunity to read their explorer's book to the grade 2 students at our school which should be very exciting!
Math - We are continuing to work on our Geometry Unit. The grade 5's will have their unit test this Wednesday November 13th. The grade 4's will have their unit test the following week. The test date will be announced on the next blog. Please ensure your child has his/her own protractor as we do not have a class set. Thank you.
Reminders:
- Friday Reports are due on Monday November 11th, 2013
- Please have your child wear a black shirt and black pants for Monday's assembly
- Please send in a small flashlight on Monday that will be used at the assembly
- PA Day on Friday November 15th
- Progress reports will be sent home on Monday November 11th, 2013
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE.
THE STUDENT'S WORKED VERY HARD THIS WEEK AND THEIR CREATIVITY IS SHINING THROUGH IN ALL THEIR WORK.
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
Mrs. Mendelson
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