I just lost the entire text of my post, so here goes again. We had a busy day, losing a fair amount of instructional time to some other activities. Gym was extended to an hour (outside) to accommodate a concert in the gym. We reviewed Math and Language Arts in the morning before gym, and shared responses to the questions that had been answered at home last night. To name a few, the students told each other about subjects such as Myra Bennett, pizza, Bey Blades, Billy Bishop, bat guano, cloud formations and Stella Burry. I will begin compiling these soon, to create a classroom book of resources.
We attended a concert in the gym, put off by a very experienced French-Canadian performer called Edouard. He involved the students in a variety of games, songs, lessons and dances that focused on a wide range of french themes, vocab, interest areas and concepts. The class loved it, and were very adept at recounting what they had saw and sharing their ideas on what had made it a good show. This, along with gym class, ate up our morning very quickly.
We watched a video in the afternoon, a mock weather report prepared by one of the students in class. During the event and aftermath of Igor, he took videos and put them together with the help of his parents. It was done in French and English, and was a huge hit with the rest of the class. It led into a great class discussion and we also had a short quiz on its content. I have kept a copy in class, and hope to use it as an example when we carry out similar projects throughout the year. I am planning on using video/computer/oral/drawn/written modes of communication interchangeably this year in an effort to appeal to the interests and talents of all in class. If your child is ever interested in doing something like this at home on their own time, by all means go ahead and let me know if you want/need any help getting it together.
We completed a 1st (in some cases 2nd) draft of our french stories, which are coming right along. I will use this writing to help plan our weekly homework, as it is giving me a great idea where individuals and the class as a whole are "at" in their language comprehension and exploration. On another topic, I also sent home a number of sheets for you to take a look at.
2 pertain to a field trip scheduled for next week; we would have let you know sooner, but there were issues securing transport in the wake of a certain large storm who shall remain nameless. Okay, it was Igor. Anyhow, if you have any questions or comments please let me know. I also sent home School Council nomination forms if anyone is interested.
Today's link is a great resource for information on Canadian plants, animals, culture, geography and history. As we begin to do more and more research and inquiry-based learning, it will be handy to maintain a list of useful sites such as these. This one is very user-friendly, as a fun site and as a resource.
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/
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