Midweek Mayhem!

Despite having gym and music today, the class was pretty energetic all day. We had to have a few discussions about classroom behaviour and the repercussions of our actions on others (although nothing too serious), which was a good way to tie into the personal identity and self-esteem issues we have been addressing in Health. Lots more money was doled out for speaking French, and the class was informed that, starting next week, they will be allowed to get money from their friends if they hear them speaking English.

Our guidance councillor came in and outlined the duties and joys of being a prefect; something that a lot of students are looking forward to. She has requested that students nominate each other tomorrow, and we will vote to appoint 7 prefects. Their duties will be to supervise younger grades 2 times per 7 day cycle. There was some anxiety about being nominated and having to vote, but I think it will be a great way to explore some ideas of civil society and active democracy.

We had much more success with Place Value in Math today, and started doing some sheets in a new Math duotang. 2 students who had played the Place Value game I posted online the other day showed the class how it was done, so hopefully it will be a resource the students will enjoy.

We also "dissected" another painting in class, focusing on the use of colour. I was impressed once again to see how interested they were and how they were able to put the art in context and draw some meaning. Then, they had an opportunity to create a picture using line and colour in their Scrapbooks. This was quite a hit, resulting in some very interesting work.

I have started using a sticker system to monitor how/if work is done in class. A small red dot on the corner of your page means that it is not done, and must be completed ASAP. A yellow dot means that there are things that need to be fixed or completed, but not at the expense of other work. A green dot means.... you guessed it... you can go ahead to the next thing you need to do.

Today's link is reflective of a science experiment we will be doing on Friday. We will be going outside to sample a habitat; more specifically, the grass and organisms encircled by a hula hoop we will put on the school lawn. The idea is to gather, organize and present data, something we have already addressed a few other times.

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/science/scientificmethod.html

This site contains a number of fun science project lesson plans, and outlines the general "Questioning - Hypothesis - Testing - Observing - Concluding - Communicating" framework that we will be using.

Have a great Wednesday!