Monday, September 12, 2016

Developing Room 28's Class Expectations, Island School packing list, looking at Multiples and Factors, Curriculum Night and Cross Country Meet # 1 date

To be edited:










Island School Packing list




I gave out a short homework assessment, just to see how the students did on the Day 1 JUMP Math approach to learning the 1-10 Multiplication tables.  Tomorrow, the goal is to learn the 9 times table.

I showed the class a method -- known as the Lattice approach -- that could be done, based on the weekend's homework.  In theory, the students had to learn the 1-5 tables.  With this approach, a question, such as the one posted below, could be completed:
The approach on the right is one of many methods that can be used.  The Lattice approach is on the right. As the 1-10 tables are mastered, we will be able to explore a variety of methods and approaches to ensure the students are comfortable and competent in the learning.

Curriculum Night is on Thursday, September 29, 2016:  

1730-1930

The first Cross Country meet will be on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at Ashbridge's Bay. 
More details to follow. 

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Friday, September 9, 2016

Chess pieces, Descriptive feedback, our first class Circle & reviewing when to talk, looking at some Strengths and Struggles in Math

Here is an interesting box, which are 4 sets of chess pieces will arrive in:
I suppose this is a lesson in globalization for us, which is part of the Social Studies strand in Grade 6. The precise location of where this is originating from can be found in the Guangdong Province, in a city called Shenzhen.  Take a look:  https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Shenzhen,+Guangdong,+China/@23.3943215,114.3276806,7.93z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3403f408d0e15291:0xfdee550db79280c9!8m2!3d22.543096!4d114.057865

I went back to the sheets we used for our New York Times exercise and provided some feedback.  I will share this with the class.  The whole idea of this descriptive feedback, which is a form of assessment, is to encourage some new thinking and improvement to the work.

Now, here is a photo and you can use your observation skills to see if you know where this is taken.  Are we back in Beirut?
http://www.blogto.com/city/2009/07/is_the_toronto_garbage_strike_a_good_thing/
And check out the comparison in an article from July, 2015 in The National Post:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/and-you-thought-the-toronto-garbage-strike-was-bad-waste-piling-up-on-lebanese-streets

As we begin to wind down the end of the week and prepare for some more curriculum based work next week, I wanted to do an exercise to recap some of our memories from Grade 5 and what we are looking forward to for the 16-17 school year.

The good, the not so good, and the joyous possibilities of the future
We are going to have to work on some expectations around listening, when others are talking.  My partner found a very cool image that I would like to share. It relates to having a conversation and practicing some self-regulation.  This is a topic I want to explore this year.
















I posted this question on the board today:

2 common question types you see on the EQAO assessment
A sample answer, done by me to encourage some reflection.  The students had the option of writing in sentences or making jot notes.
As I look through the journals, a common theme is emerging:  MULTIPLICATION. Interestingly, by the end of Grade 4, it is expected that the tables, at least to 10, should be mastered.  Check this:
There are two questions here, which assume the test taker knows the multiplication tables.  So, we will take another shot at them.  By Grade 6, the expectation is this, in relation to multiplying:


But in order to do that, you need to know your tables.  I have had the pleasure of speaking with John Mighton, the developer of the JUMP Math program.  He designed this approach:

It can be found at http://jumpmath.org/jump/sites/default/files/TipSheet_Times.Tables-01.pdf

I will get around to making some hard copies for the students in Room 28.  While this is one approach, there are others.  For some students, they are very visual:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/426153183469724416/
There are endless YouTube videos, which you can search. There are countless games, which usually assume you know your tables:
http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/rooftop-ride-multiplication
The one thing I know, is that knowing the tables makes things in Math so much more understandable.  There is a measure of confidence when approaching other topics, so this is where we will begin our journey.  The Grade 6 text does not have a section on learning the tables, since it assumes the students know them already. No big deal,  we can get around this by taking one step at a time.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

NYT group exercise: Inferencing & Observing and some Homework items

The New York Times exercise will be explored today and we will do them in small groups.  The formal, weekly activities, will begin on September 12 for the 2016-2017 school year, but we will use an older image to flex our inferencing skills.

The first word on our Word Wall


First, a short YouTube video:

Some of the Reading exercises you will do this year will involve you using and developing your observations AND your inferencing skills.  Here is another video that we will look at, before we begin the exercise.


Some of the students checking out the photo
Sean, making some inferences, based on his observations
Most of the Coat of Arms have been completed and will be put up:

I went over the Student Information sheet this afternoon.  It is an item for homework and will assist me in getting to know your son or daughter more.  At times, I like to do some samples of the work I assign. Here is a sample set of possible answers.  I let the students know they could use jot notes to answer the questions or write in sentences.

In case your were wondering, I am writing as if I was the student.
I sent home an introductory letter with some information on what the students will initially need for the classroom.  On the back of that letter, I printed off a schedule.    There is an information sheet that I sent home for you to fill in.  I will keep it for my records and use it, if I ever need to contact you.  Similarly, if you need to reach out to me, please contact me on my TDSB email:  
marc.proudfoot@tdsb.on.ca

Homework:
- Student Information sheet
- complete TDSB forms (signatures) & Mr. Proudfoot contact sheet

What the sheets looked liked.
UPDATE: 
I originally had the date as Sept 07, 2015.  Any future letters will have the correct date on them.  

Monday, September 5, 2016

First Day Eve and some postings from the first day

https://www.edulastic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/back-to-school.jpg
 Welcome Back.  I am a little anxious, yet very excited about starting to teach at Dovercourt PS.


The room is ready to go, with a few adjustments to be made over the next few days.




That's me.  I am usually not in my photos, but I thought some of you may be wondering what I looked like.















The room is always different, once students come in and settle themselves for another journey. Have a great sleep!

First Day


Here is a link to an exercise we will visit, from time to time, throughout the year.  It comes from the online portion of the New York Times and relates to inferencing and some of the work we will be doing in the Reading strand of our Language Arts program.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/whats-going-on-in-this-picture-may-16-2016/?_r=0

While we did not get to the activity today, we will take a look at in on Tuesday. Here is the image, from the online activity from the New York Times:
















This photo relates to a game of Truth and Lies, which we played today.  The students had to record one truthful statement and two lies. The key to the exercise, and all of the students picked up on it, was to have all of the statements sound possible, yet have only 1 be correct.
















Since a number of students know each other quite well, I asked that the statements relate to something from the Summer of 2016.

In addition to reviewing some basic classroom routines -- which will continue all of this week and into next week, I imagine -- we got to work on designing some class coat of arms. It is an artistic way of expressing some personal interests and beliefs and helps decorate the classroom.  I posted up some old examples, some as far back as 2001, to help the students get started.



Homework
- complete colouring portion of coat of arms
-work on completing the Parent or Guardian signatures for forms sent home
- $5 for agenda

note from my son, Rhys & our read-a-loud novel

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Grade 6 EQAO rumblings and the evolution in Room 28

News of the recent EQAO results have come out and it is not sounding as good as it once did.  As you know, the EQAO assessment is a snapshot of the progress of your son or daughter.  There are many other indicators going on which dictate his or her progress and the EQAO is not meant to be the pivotal item of information which determines the future.

Here is a Toronto Star link to an article on the issues around how the students did on Math:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/31/half-of-ontario-grade-6-students-fail-to-meet-provincial-math-standard.html

Still.  There is something to be said for getting a sense of how they are doing and it is important to look at it and try to understand the information from the results. So, as the new teacher in Grade 6 at Dovercourt, it will be my responsibility to prepare the students, as best as possible, for this June, 2017 assessment.  There is so much to the Math curriculum in Grade 6 and it we will have to negotiate it very well to ensure the students feel competent and confident.

For your amusement, here is an interesting link to an article, from the CBC website.
 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sixth-grade-eqao-math-test-1.3743590

progress in twenty-eight




Coming along...















I dropped into AMG to pick up a few things and thought I would take this parting shot.  I love these flowers at the front of the school.

There has been a steady evolution in the room and it is coming together.


















At this point, there are, probably, no Dovercourt parents checking out this blog.  That's okay. I am sure I will be meeting you soon.

Although this is not related, I often add a photo to a blog entry.  This one is from the CNE, on Monday evening.