Monday, May 31

Hi parents,

Today was a very exciting day for our class because Ms. Rehill came back to visit! Aside from that it was a pretty normal Monday.

In the morning, the students did an amazing job with their journal writing. I am so blown away by their independence when writing. Lately, I've been telling the class it is their job to work for at least 15 minutes (set on a visible timer) before they're allowed to be done, and we've discussed various ways that they can best use this time to ensure all of their writing represents their best work. This simple approach has worked wonders with this particular group of students, and it's fun to look back at their work from the start of the year and compare it to what they're doing now.

We finished up our Shape of the Day worksheets by investigating pyramids and prisms. Rectangular Prisms are shapes I'd like the students to be especially familiar with, as they're super common and easy to identify just about anywhere you go. It's also likely that students will use many rectangular prisms for our boat building project. Please remember to send bottles tomorrow if you have not already done so! 

Today we discussed the wide variety of different types of boats and ships, and the purposes these boats serve. The students drew tentative plans for the boats they hope to create as well. So far, we've got sailboats, cruise ships, house boats, and battleships!

At the end of the day, we did some quiet reading, read Junie B Jones, listened to a scary story, and practiced our new spelling words.

Have a nice evening!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of May 31)

 Spelling List A

Pass	Loss	Miss	Boss
Mass	Kiss	Toss	Moss

 

Spelling List B

Stress	Press	Class	Chess
Grass	Across	Fossil	Lesson

 

Spelling List C

Illness	Endless	Express	Scissors
Lawless	Discuss	Actress	Message

G o o d l u c k!

Friday, May 28

 Happy Friday!

We had an awesome day today and it was a great way to wrap up our first week back at school.

In the morning, we had our Spelling Quiz, and then did another page in the Shape of the Day booklets. Today's shape was the cone. We watched "Cubie the Ice Cube" again, but this time it was for musical inspiration - I challenged the students to write their own shape songs, following the tune of Cubie. They turned out really well and I hope the students get them stuck in their heads. Having educational music stuck in your head is a great way to learn (although it can also be a bit annoying).

We watched the Pixar short film "Piper".  The students really enjoyed this one. It's about a cute baby bird who learns how to face its fears. We had a great discussion about the importance of learning how to do things on your own - teachers and parents like to help, but sometimes, the most helpful thing we can do is let students try things independently. This has been an ongoing conversation this year and I think this film really gave new meaning to the message.

We discussed the concepts of 'problems' and 'solutions' too, in a broad sense, and also in terms of Piper.

Boats and Buoyancy - Bottles Wanted!

I would like to start our boat building project early next week - if you have any bottles, cans, or plastic containers that are buoyant, please send them to school on Monday.

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words - and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, May 27

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today, and our surprise 'Thriller' flash mob was a bit success! Ms. Jones had no idea what we were planning and seemed to be overjoyed to be part of such a fun, unique experience. It also brought the whole school together outside which was awesome.

In the morning, the students also had Music class, and we watched an Arthur episode in which Arthur feels super nervous for a piano recital, and later learns that it's okay to make mistakes, even in front of a big audience. We had some great class discussions afterwards - it turns out, feeling nervous about performing is something a lot of students can relate to!

We learned about two new 3-D shapes today - Cubes, and Spheres. We got to listen to my #1 favourite Jack Hartmann song, "Cubie the Icecube". It's lyrical gold. Only a true musical genius could get away with rhyming 'cube' with 'cube'.  Cubie the Ice Cube

In the afternoon we did Daily 5 and Spelling Practice.

Boats and Buoyancy Project - Send Bottles!

We are going to be starting a 'boat building' project next week, and it would be great if each student could bring 2 - 4 plastic bottles or aluminum cans to school (or any other plastic container that floats). I'm hoping the kids can make some really intricate and creative boats this year, and to do that, they'll need some buoyant materials for the hull.

The Third Annual Room 6 Talent Show!

I would like to continue the tradition of having a talent show to end our school year! I'm in the process of figuring out an exact date, but it will be near the end of June. I thought I'd give you all a heads up now, just so your child has a chance to start thinking about what talent they may want to showcase. This is completely optional! Stay tuned for an email with more information coming soon.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Wednesday, May 26

 Hi parents,

We had a pretty good day today!

In the morning, the students practiced their Thriller dance for Music class, and then we did some writing around a picture prompt.

This picture prompt, in fact:

The class did an awesome job with this, and there was such a wide variety of response styles. Some kids wrote stories, others wrote from the perspective of the cat, and others just chose to describe the picture in detail. 

We watched a video that taught about sailboats, and the class labeled their own sailboat diagrams.

In the afternoon, we did Daily 5, and learned about Cylinders. The work we're doing with 3-D shapes is basically just carrying on with the worksheets the students did while learning at home, so this was a bit of a review for some of them. That's okay though - I think that having some prior knowledge or cylinders allowed more students to share ideas in today's class discussion, and I think it also helped reinforce the concepts of vertices, edges, and faces.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Tuesday, May 25 (Please send back workbooks!)

 Hi parents,

We had a great first day back! Even though the students were a bit unruly today, I cannot express how grateful I am to be back in the classroom. There was so much laughter and happy chatter. 

Thank you for all of your support during our online learning time. I know it's basically like working two, or sometimes even three full-time jobs, and I appreciate all the extra work you all put in to help your child stay caught up and continue learning. I was so pleased with how well the students worked today - it was like they never left!

In the morning, the students wrote about their long weekends in their journals. We learned about Nunavut, the final stop in our "This Land Is Our Land" project, and watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x30lPvBuFA4

Nunavut is a very interesting territory but I don't know if I'd ever want to live there. I'd be curious to find out what the kids thought of it!

In the afternoon, we did Daily 5, and played Badminton in gym. We practiced our new spelling words (the -ink family), and we were supposed to do math, but we ran out of time due to listening issues. As a result, the whole class is in Listening Club tomorrow, which means we'll all be staying in during recess to do math (what the students do not realize is that we're doing a bonus recess in the morning - I wouldn't actually take away recess, especially this close to the end of the year).

Thank you to everyone who sent back their children's work and workbooks today! I completely forgot to send a reminder. If you haven't send back workbooks yet, please send them tomorrow.

Have a nice evening!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of May 23)

 Spelling List A

Ink	Pink	Sink	Link
Wink	Think	Rink	Mink

 

Spelling List B

Drink	Blink	Stink	Shrink
Slink	Trinket	Twinkle	Winking

 

Spelling List C

Thinking	Wrinkle	Drinking	Sprinkle
Sinkhole	Inkpot	Crinkle	Cufflink

Thursday, May 6

 Hi parents,

Thank you for all your help with making Job Day a big success! All around I think today was a great way to wrap up our in-person learning, for the next two weeks anyway. It had better just be two weeks.

In the morning, the students had Music class, and then we did a Job Day writing prompt. The students wrote about the job they want to do when they're older, and why.

We watched an Arthur episode about peer pressure, and why you shouldn't do something just because someone dares you to do it. We had a nice class discussion afterwards too. It sounds like many students have been in a similar situation, and understood how difficult it can be to stand up for yourself if friends are telling you to do uncomfortable things.

In the afternoon, we watched the movie "Space Buddies", which is about 4 puppies that somehow get launched into space and rescue a 5th Russian dog who is also in space. It was a big hit in Room 6 (though critics would probably disagree).

Tomorrow we will be transitioning to Online Learning, even though it is Friday. I will be sending out an email reminding everyone how to sign on to Google Classroom - that will be our first challenge. Before next week, I will have a more detailed schedule ready to share. :)

See you in the Google Meets!

Zac

Wednesday, May 5

 Hi parents,

We had an awesome day today.

In the morning, the students worked on a secret art project, did some math, and spent time outside.

In the afternoon, we did a "Buddy Book Study", in which the students were put into pairs to read a story about friendship, kindness, or mental health. They then gave a short presentation to the class about what their book was about, and what it taught them. This was the first time many of the students have had to stand in front of their peers and present, and they all did a fantastic job!

We played a great game of bench dodgeball in gym.

At the end of the day, I asked the students to take home their workbooks, for online learning. Hopefully having those will make the transition to online learning a little bit smoother. It will also make it easier for me to keep track of the work they complete!

Tomorrow is Job Day! I think it will be a fun way to wrap up our time learning in the classroom.

I'm in the process of putting together an information package to send home regarding our online learning, which starts Friday. I think it will likely look a lot like it did back in January. There will be assignments posted on Google Classroom, two virtual meetings each day, and drop-in "office hours". I'm also planning to set aside some time for more formal small-group instruction. I do not want the kids to be spending too much time looking at a screen, so I expect that most of their time will spent working, reading, playing, or exercising, and the time spent on a device will be limited to more focused instruction time, or time to socialize with friends.

I cannot express how saddened I was to hear the update yesterday. I will greatly miss having the opportunity to teach in person and I know this will be quite difficult for the students too. If you have any questions, or would just like to chat, please feel free to email me at zalink@cbe.ab.ca. 

We will get through this together!

Have a nice night (don't forget about Job Day),

Zac

Tuesday, May the Force

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today! Sadly I forgot to plan any Star Wars related activities.

In the morning, we watched an emotional episode of Arthur. Francine was rude to her friends, and then her friends got revenge on her by drawing mean cartoons. But did they take things too far...? We had a great discussion about the episode and how the characters could have handled their problem differently. The students wrote about their thoughts in their journals.

We learned about the Yukon today as part of social studies - a pretty cool territory all around! Yukon Video

We talked about the gold rush, ghost towns, and drinks with toes in them.

In the afternoon, we did Daily 5, badminton in gym, and then heard from our friend Ms. Rehill. She was asking the students for suggestions on how she can teach 'kindness' to other students. Room 6 had tons to say about that.

Tomorrow is Hats on! For Mental Health day. Children are encouraged to wear hats as a tribute to their wonderful teacher. 

Just kidding - it is to bring awareness to the importance of mental health, and I'm looking forward to having some great discussions in class tomorrow.

Thursday, May 6: Job Day

Job Day is coming up too! Have you had a chance to talk with your child about their ideas? 

Have a nice evening,

Zac

Monday, May 3

 Hi parents,

We had a decently good day today, though the morning was riddled with tech issues and we weren't able to do any of the cool activities I had planned. It ended up being a pretty standard Monday, with spelling practice, journal writing, Daily 5 - the usual!

While today may not have been very exciting, we do have a couple exciting things coming up later this week!

Wednesday, May 5: "Hats on For Mental Health" Day!

On Wednesday, students are encouraged to wear a hat, to celebrate the importance of Mental Health, while looking great all the while.

Thursday, May 6: Job Day

In honour of Junie B. Jones, we will be having "Job Day" on Thursday. Students are encouraged to dress up in the style of their future occupation. We'll do some job-related work choices and maybe watch an episode of Arthur.

Friday, May 7 (and every Friday for the rest of the year!): School Shirt Day

Wear your school shirt! Be true to your school!

Have a nice night,

Zac