Yes We Can!

Today was another whirlwind, as we try to incorporate school-wide activities into our daily plans. We succeeded in moving forward with Math, and had a practice quiz. I am happy to say that all students did well, and I sent the test home with them. If they had any incorrect answers, this may indicate a good area to work on at home. We also finished the 1st drafts (in some cases 2nd) of our stories as well.

Student Council Elections are coming up next week, so we spent a period or so discussing democracy, representation, politics and the general roles and responsibilities of citizens. The concept is a fairly heavy one, but they generally embraced the idea. Especially in the context of classroom duties and importance of representation, the class was able to relate to problems they saw and what would be the best way to resolve them. This is a topic we will come back to frequently in subjects like Health, Religion and Social Studies.

Students interested in running as a classroom representative have been tasked with producing 2-3 paragraphs about why they think they would do a good job, and creating a POSITIVE ad campaign to convince their classmates of these virtues. I will use this heavily in class next week, as we move forward in Health and talk more about getting along, living in groups and healthy attitudes. I would encourage any interested students to create advertisements for their candidacy in whatever media they see fit. Videos, posters, speeches, songs etc. are all valid and interesting ways to go about this.

Our "class pet" habitat project is also drawing to a close, and has been very constructive. The students are very interested, and learning a lot in class and on their own time. Tonight I have asked them to consider the data we put together, so we can make a "decision" tomorrow. Starting next week, we will start a new project that will require them to make a habitat in a pop bottle. I will send home instructions about this tomorrow so that anyone who wishes to can get a head start.

I would ask all parents/guardians to get their Salmonier Nature Park permission slips and $11 in as soon as possible since the date is really sneaking up on us. I realize the cost is somewhat higher than usual, but have elected for this field trip rather than doing several others (ie. Fluvarium + Botanical Gardens +, +, +). We will be doing some lead up activities on Monday and Tuesday for this trip.

In Religion we read a story about compassion, framed around the parable of the Good Samaritan. The class was very responsive, and it meshed well with how we have been addressing the school's Positive Behaviour Support program. The discussion today centered around the idea of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, and the concept that any person in need is deserving of our unconditional help and support. The class provided many examples, which was nice to see.

Today's link will take you to the Canadian National Library and Archives, which provides a wide variety of good sites for kids in French. It would be worth exploring, and can be seen in English as well.

http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/education/008-2010-f.html