Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A collection bin which arrived into the DBFB.

Outside the Daily Bread Food Bank on New Toronto St. (distored image from camera)

Today was the day we visited the Daily Bread Food Bank located in South Etobicoke.  It was an educational experience, filled with a tour of the facility, along with a volunteer experience of helping to sort food into different categories.

The issue of poverty is one that touches many in this city.  A lot of families have to a large portion of their monthly income on rent and may have little money left for other necessities, such as food.  According to the total mass of what we sorted -- over 2000 lbs -- we helped out 179 families in the Toronto. I think that is a great thing.  Here are some images from our trip:

On TTC streetcar on Lakeshore Blvd.

The sorting process.  Donated boxes of food are categorized into specific boxes and then packed up.

 

 

This is the guide, along with the box number, so the students would know what items go in which box.

Group shot after sorting and cleaning up.

 

 

This is where a "million pounds" of food that is stored. This is just one aisle.  The turnover of this food is incredible and speaks to the need for foodbanks to exist in our city.

No homework this evening.

Monday, January 30, 2012

After a review of the Math test from last week, there will be another quiz given on Wednesday.  Each question was broken down into smaller parts so the students were able to understand what the question was asking.

Here is an image of some explaining I did using the SMARTBoard:

 

I am not sure if you are able to read the question but the idea is to break it down into smaller parts, understand it, and then bring all of the information back together to solve it correctly.

We continued to use the board to solve some of the homework which was assigned on Thursday.  The goal is for every student to work through and solve one of the questions on the board.  Here is Mathew solving a question:

The problems continued into the afternoon and then I placed a new word problem on the board:

Taushana Word problem

Math of the Taushana question

Again, this type of question requires both reading and mathematical skill.  Rather than race to the answer, emphasis is placed on understanding the question and being able to break it into smaller parts before attempting to do the Math.  

HOMEWORK:  All outstanding trip forms and TTC fare for the Daily Bread Food Bank volunteer trip; Math test on Wednesday (a detailed review will happen before the test)

We had a surprise visit (a surprise for the class) from Lia and her Mom today.  Here are some photos of her visit:

Thanks to Lia's Mom for taking the photos.

I left this photo until the end because I think it best captures Lia's spirit:

Friday, January 27, 2012

A few photos for the weekend:

Thursday, January 26, 2012

I was at a workshop today to learn more about the functionality of the SMARTBoard.  I will have to spend some time "playing" with it to really see the full capabilities of it.  I think it will be a great opportunity for learning for myself and the students in Room 52.

Today the students had a small quiz on multiplication and addition, were assigned some more multiplication questions for homework, and began to work on learning about Bloom's Taxonomy.  Here is a cool video which explains what this is:

I have not named it as a "Bloom's Taxonomy" exercise but this will be explained more as we spend more time on the questions.

In Library, Ms. Wills is spending time working on a website called razkids http://www.raz-kids.com/ which will help support reading instruction in the room.  I will check in with her to see how the day went.

As promised,  I took some photos from the Lunar assembly yesterday afternoon.  Sometimes there are difficulties uploading multiple photos, but I will give it a try.

HOMEWORK:  Continue working on 17 more multiplication questions, READ!!, return the permission forms for the Daily Bread Food Bank trip

A delighted audience

Dragons at rest

Our Jennifer!

Mr. Chung

Ms. Choi (International Language teacher) and student laughing it up

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I must apologize for placing the incorrect information on the permission form for the Daily Bread Food Bank trip.  TTC fare is required for the trip and needs to come from home.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

In the afternoon, the class will be taking in some performances for the Lunar New Year celebration.  For many in our school and our class, it was a time of celebration and looking ahead to the new year.  Here is a link to the Wikipedia website on the various celebrations associated with the Lunar New Year:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year

If I am able, I will take some photos at the assembly and post them.

One item that did not make it into a blog entry was on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  In class, we discussed the contributions he made to the world not only to the issues of Civil Rights and Social Justice but as a thinker.

I used this quote as a way to prompt some thinking and provide an opportunity for a journal reflection:

The word faith was defined, then a question was posed.  Once again, I was pushing the key word explain which is so often used in provincial assessments.  It also pushes the students to think a little more, add details, and explain their thinking to me through the use of their words.

The Health project is due tomorrow and almost everyone has completed it.  I completed my version of the project on ADHD and showed the class, using our SMARTBoard, how I answered each one of the guiding questions.  This project will form a part of the Health mark for the class and a Writing mark for the Language component of the program.

Our patterning unit continued with the introduction to more complex forms of adding and multiplication by introducing the element of problem solving.  There was some homework from last week and today which is rooted in problem solving.  Most of the class has grasped multiplying and adding, which involves carrying.  They are now moving into multiplying 2digits by 1 digit.

Doing Math, which involves word problems, is usually a little tricky for students.  Trying to pull the numbers out of a series of sentences is challenging and something we will spend some time on over the next while. 

HOMEWORK:  Short Adding and Multiplying Quiz on Friday; Math sheet problem solving (3 questions) + 17 questions; Daily Bread Food Bank permission form & TTC Fare

Here are a couple of parting shots of Michael (from 2009-2011 class) who dropped in for a visit and a photo of Nick showing off a medal he won at Queen Victoria.

Michael

Nick