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Finding Empathy in the News
We spent some time looking at news stories this week to discuss where we can find empathy. We started with a discussion about Pope Francis and why his beliefs in supporting people in need contrast with President Trump's and why their meeting this week may have been tense. We also talked about Red Nose Day on May 25 when comedians raise awareness about and money for children in poverty. We watched the video below about Jack Black's experience in Uganda meeting a homeless boy named Felix in 2015. We then discussed the reaction in Manchester to the concert bombing this week and we watched a clip from a memorial service in which the crowd spontaneously started singing Oasis' hit "Don't Look Back in Anger." I explained the significance of the song because Oasis were from Manchester and that the song brings a message of peace, encouraging the grieving people of that town not to react in an angry way against Muslims. Finally, on a lighter note for our hockey fans, we talked about the Ottawa Senators' tough loss in double overtime that would be difficult for Sens fans to deal with.
Soundtrack of My Life Music/ Media Assignment
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Please click on the document below to learn more about the media and music assignment that the students will be working on. They will choose 5-10 events in their lives and songs that might accompany those events in a movie version of their lives. They will also illustrate a cd cover of the soundtrack. We looked at examples from the movie The Lion King because it is an excellent example of how songs can help to narrate and entertain in a film.
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Independent Novel Study
For the month of May and beginning of June, students will be given time in class to read a novel independently but there is also an expectation that some of the reading will take place at home. Every student will receive a package that they will complete while they read and I will attach a copy of that package below. The entire project is due Friday, June 9 but I will be checking in with students regularly and assessing as they complete pages.
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Fast Flowing Water Contest
As part of the media strand of language, we will be discussing PSAs and the purpose and audience behind different announcements and posters we see. Students will be creating posters and scripts to warn children of the dangers of playing near fast flowing water. We will enter the top scripts and posters into the local contest. Please see the following link for Conservation Sudbury for more details. The contest information is also attached below.
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Terabithia Novel Summary and Unit test
We will be having a unit test about Bridge to Terabithia on Thursday, May 11. In preparation for the test, we will be studying the setting, plot, characters and themes in the novel. The students will all be responsible for summarizing one of the pages below and then teaching it to a group of classmates in a "jigsaw" collaborative lesson. They should also be prepared to answer the following application questions fully:
- Why is the title, Bridge to Terabithia a good one or bad one?
- Who do you think gained more from their friendship, Leslie or Jesse and why?
- Who do you think is braver, Jesse or Leslie? Why?
- At one point, Jess worries that he was born "with no guts" that is, with no courage. Is courage something you're born with or without?
- Which character changes the most in the novel?
bridge_to_terabithia_jigsaw.docx | |
File Size: | 110 kb |
File Type: | docx |
terabithiajigsawanswers.pdf | |
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Build your own terabithia Project
As we near the end of our novel study, students are being encouraged to make connections to the novel and build their own magical worlds. They were given the options of drawing or creating their worlds in any way they chose but most students have chosen to work in Minecraft.
The second part of the project will involve a written report that explains what the world in Terabithia is like and what it means to the characters. They must then compare their own world to Terabithia in the novel. |
build_your_own_terabithia.docx | |
File Size: | 617 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Letter Writing
We have been studying proper letter writing format and working on different voices that would be appropriate for different types of letters. For example, the vocabulary that is used in a personal letter is different than what would be used in a business letter. The students are encouraged to edit business letters until they are good enough to send ot a real person or business.
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Bridge to terabithia NOvel Study
As a class we will be reading and analysing Katherine Paterson's engaging tale of two ten-year old best friends, Jesse and Leslie and how they create a magical world of make believe to help each other face their fears and challenges. Students will receieve their books in the second week of January. If you would like a pdf version to read on an iPad or tablet, click here.
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A.P.E. Response strategy
Many students have learned the APE strategy of answering questions in the past and it is also used into the intermediate grades because it provides students with a complete model to respond thoroughly.
We will be practising this strategy all year, in both discussions and in written responses. Students need to have many opportunities to use the many steps involved to become proficient in answering questions in detail. |
Bullying Prevention Week Nov. 14-18
During Bullying Prevention Week, we will be talking about what bullying is and how it affects people. We will also look at ways to prevent bullying and the students will be creating an anti-bullying advertising campaign.
Remembering our soldiersDuring Veterans' Week, leading up to Remembrance Day, the students worked on poems and posters to show our respect and appreciation for our war veterans. We also studied a number of songs about Remembrance Day and I think Terry Kelly's Pittance of Time resonated with the students because of the theme of showing respect for the soldiers during the moment of silence on November 11.
Those students who wish to enter their poems or posters in the legion's contests needed to complete the parental permission form that was sent home. You can also find a copy below.
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Being Grateful
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Around Thanksgiving I asked the students to make lists of the things they are grateful for and explained to them that the happiest people are those who take the time to be thankful for what they have. Kid President helped to motivate us in our list writing.
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Paragraph of the Week
For the next several weeks, we are going to write a paragraph per week. I am following a simple program that will introduce a subject on Mondays with a brainstorming activity. Tuesdays will be the day when we write the three supported sentences that provide the "meat" of paragraph (see hamburger writing model below). On Wednesdays, they will write the introductory sentence and closing sentence and on Thursday (and maybe continuing into Friday) they will put the paragraph together. There will be editing and publishing work at the end, as well. The first topic will be about a trip the students have taken.
Reader's NOtebook
I am trying to build a culture of reading for pleasure in the class and have given the students Reader's Notebooks to track what they are reading. We will spend time regularly in silent reading and the kids will be expected to track what they are reading int heir notebook. Every few weeks, I will expect them to write me letters to talk about what they have been reading and what they think of it. They will also be doing book talks in front of me and the class to describe what the books they are reading are like. I want all students to have books to read in class and I am developing an engaging classroom library. We will also visit the school library regularly to choose new reading material. I have also logged the students onto a reading app called Epic that dubbed "Netflix for books" that includes a great variety of print and audiobooks.
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Making Connections with RunOur first novel study this year is an engaging historical fiction novel by Eric Walters called Run. It tells the story of a troubled teen who accompanies his journalist father on a human interest story about Terry Fox's run in Ontario in 1980. I am encouraging students to activate their prior knowledge and make connections throughout the novel.
As we read, students are starting to use many effective reading strategies in addition to the connections. They are predicting, asking questions and making inferences every day when I read. We have had rich discussions about heroes and courage as we delve deeper into Terry Fox's inspiring endeavor. |
Making Connections Music Project
Making Connections is an important reading strategy that helps students to read more deeply and engage with the text. I want the students to get good practice in this strategy in different ways so we have been working on the following project. Presentations will start on Friday, September 16.
songpresentationrubric.pdf | |
File Size: | 54 kb |
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Hamburger Paragraph Writing
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Now that I have been modelling reading aloud and how to make connections and interact with the text, we will focus on writing great paragraphs. A common strategy that appeals to students is the hamburger model so that they can picture the buns of the burger representing clear introductory and concluding sentences with strong proof to support those statements in the middle, meat and toppings section. I plan to use this visual all year when we write paragraphs, just as we will be making increasingly advanced connections all year when we read.
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