Left Behind Items

 

Yes, those are two pairs of socks.

Thursday, June 24

 Hi parents,

Today was a great day for our class!

In the morning, the students had Drama, and while I wasn't there to witness the lesson myself, it looks like they learned how to mime...? They were surprisingly good at it too.

We did a "Fact Family" math activity.

The class also wrote in their journals about what they do when they win a game, versus what they do when they lose a game. This was inspired by the episode of Arthur we watched during snack, in which Arthur became a 'bad winner' and made his friends annoyed.

Earlier in the year, I gave the students the option to 'donate' their class Dojo points to charity. For every 10 points donated, I would put a dollar towards a charity that we picked as a class (this is roughly the cost of the dollar store stuff I'd normally sell at the Dojo Store, so it seemed like a reasonable exchange rate). We ended up raising $50 as a class, and today, we donated that money to The Ssubi Foundation - a charity that helps build schoolhouses in Uganda. https://ssubifoundation.org/

In the afternoon, one of our students taught the rest of the class how to draw realistic tornados, using shading and smudging. 

We did some spelling practice and then it was time for the virtual assembly.

Unfortunately there were some sound-related issues, but the reception was still positive! The good news is, the assembly has been posted on Google Classroom, so you can all view it as it was meant to be seen!

Let me know what you think!

Tomorrow is the last day of school. We had an emotional sharing circle at the end of the day where we reflected on all the good times. I let the kids know that even though I was grumpier than usual this year, I still really enjoyed teaching. them, and I will certainly miss them this summer. This particular group gave me so many laughs. I know that I am incredibly lucky to have had so much fun working through the covid year, as I know that was not the case for many.

I sent home the students workbooks today, as tomorrow we won't be using them. We'll still do some work, but the day will be mostly about saying goodbye, looking back on good times, and (unfortunately) cleaning the classroom. I'm dreading that part.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Wednesday, June 23

 Hi parents,

We had a great day today, and the Talent Show was a big success! I've uploaded the students videos to Google Classroom for their parents to see. We had a lot of last-minute entries, so you may be surprised to learn that your child decided to enter! The class was an awesome and supportive audience to all performers, so I think a lot of kids walked away feeling proud, confident, and appreciated.

In the morning, we finished watching Treasure Buddies, which was a much bigger hit than I'd anticipated. We had a class discussion about the characters, events, and problem. We talked about the word 'villain' and discussed the villains in Treasure Buddies. One of them was a hairless cat.

The class wrote movie reviews in their journals.

I also gave them a sneak preview of our movie, which will be uploaded to Google Classroom tomorrow for everyone to see! It will also be featured in our virtual assembly.

In the afternoon, the students got to choose between reading, writing, drawing, and buddy reading. We also cleaned out cubbies.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Tuesday, June 22

 Hi parents,

Sorry about the lack of a blog yesterday - this last week is always a bit hectic. I wish I could say today's blog would be exciting enough to make up for it, but sadly I don't think that's going to be the case...

Today was a fun day in room 6! In the morning, we had Music / Drama class, and then read some Junie B. Jones. The students did a 'character sketch' of Junie, and wrote sentences and words to describe her as a character.

We did some skip-counting practice, by 2's, 5's, 10's, and 100's. 

In the afternoon, we watched the movie "Treasure Buddies", which follows the same group of puppies as "Space Buddies". But it also features a camel and some monkeys. 

Tomorrow is the Room 6 Talent Show! If there are any last-minute entries, remember you can upload a video on Google Classroom and I'll gladly include it in the show tomorrow. Last-minute live performances are also welcome, and I'll record any live performances and share them after.

Have a nice night!

Zac

The Last Spelling Words

 Spelling List A

Sun	Sand	Play	Swim
Run	Summer	Grass	Nice

 

Spelling List B

Break	School	Water	Relax
Beach	Lake	Field	Friend

 

Spelling List C

Vacation	Laugh	Alberta	Stampede
Calgary	Playground	Freedom	Explore

Does making spelling 'Summer Themed" make it more fun? I guess we will find out...

Friday, June 18

 Hi parents,

We had a good day today, and it felt like a great way to end our week.

In the morning, we did the Spelling Quiz, and worked on a secret Art project that took quite a lot of time.

We went outside for gym, did some quiet reading, and then had the LAST Class Dojo Store of the year (if your child was away for this, I'll make sure they have an opportunity to spend their points next week).

Next week is our last week of school - it's going to be busy but exciting, and there's a lot to look forward to, including the Talent Show and our virtual assembly.

Stay tuned or next week's spelling words, and have a nice weekend!

Zac

Thursday, June 17

 Hi parents,

We had a relatively good day today. It was one of those rollercoaster days where the class was either working unnervingly quietly and diligently, or they were acting like barbarians. 

We've been starting each day off with skip-counting practice, and magnet exploration time. Most concepts in the Magnetism unit are best taught just by giving students time to experiment freely with magnets, and reminding them about vocabulary words, like 'attract', 'repel', and 'magnetic'.

The skip-counting is coming along well but I think the students could still use more practice!

We read a cool book called "Whose Hands are These?" It is about different jobs found in communities, and how 'hands' do different things in different occupations. The class worked through the "Goods and Services" and "Jobs" pages in their brochures. They're still looking awesome and I'm excited to send them home.

Thank you to everyone who emailed about the Talent Show - it's looking like a very promising lineup! Just a reminder that  on Thursday next week, we will also be hosting a virtual assembly, and although parents will not be able to attend, I will be posting the movie we're making to the Google Classroom. So stay tuned for that - it's going to be an exciting last week of school!

Being the strict and mean teacher that I am, I have asked the students not to bring any toys to school for the rest of the year. There have been quite a few toy-related incidents this week and I don't want our last few days to be spent arguing over silly things. 

Have a nice night!

Zac

Wednesday, June 16

 Hi parents, 

We had yet another good day today. In the morning, the students experimented with magnets and we filmed more scenes for the class movie.

We also worked through the second page of the community brochure, which is "The Best Thing About Living Here" section. The kids worked as hard today as they did yesterday, so the brochures are looking excellent. If you're looking for your evidence of your child's growth as a learner this year, look no further. Assuming they work equally hard on the next few pages...

We did a math / art activity where the students drew themselves as 'movie stars', and then calculated the combined value of their movie star outfits. This was a fun way to apply the skip-counting by hundreds skills from earlier in the week.

We practiced spelling, did Daily 5, and had a great kickball game, in which the "Raging Cubes" took on the "Flaming Prisms" (those are kickball team names).

Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails regarding the talent show! I'm really looking forward to it.

Have a nice night,

Zac

Tuesday, June 15

 Hi parents,

We had another good day today!

In the morning, the students had some time to experiment with magnets outside on the playground (which is conveniently made of steel).

We had Drama / Music class, and then started working on the "Neighborhood Brochure" project. Today, the students just had to do the cover page for their brochures. It featured the name of the community, a colourful picture, and a catchy slogan. The slogans ended up being really funny.

We practiced spelling, played kickball, and had work period time.

I'm impressed by how hard the students are working - usually at this point in the year, they're pretty tapped out, but I'm not seeing that with this group!

Please remember you can submit Talent Show Videos on Google Classroom. 

Have a nice night,

Zac

Monday, June 14

 Hi parents,

We had a really good day today! The students earned a whole bunch of class dojo points, which is perfect timing because our final "Dojo Store" of the year will be at the end of the week.

In the morning, we did a quick math lesson about adding 10 to any 1-digit number to get its 'teen version'. The students wrote about where they see themselves in 10 years. 

Today the class learned about skip counting by 100's, which is actually a lot easier than counting by 2's, 10's and 5's. It's basically just counting by 1's, but saying 'hundred' after each number.

We practiced spelling, did Daily 5, and played kickball in gym. At the end of the day, we watched the Bill Nye episode on Magnetism. I feel like we watched it earlier in the year, but didn't delve quite deep enough into magnetism, so we're bringing it back. It's a fun science unit and a great one to end our year with.

The Room 6 Talent Show is coming up in just over a week! Please remember the Google Classroom activity is open for anyone who would like to submit a 'talent video'.

Also, if you have not sent back your pink 'my community' form, please do so tomorrow, as we're going to start making the brochures.

Have a nice night!

Zac

Spelling Words (Week of June 13)

 Spelling List A

Zoo	Zip	Zap	Zoom
Zero	Jazz	Fizz	Fuzz

 

Spelling List B

Pizza	Prize	Zebra	Frozen
Dozen	Razor	Dizzy	Plaza

 

Spelling List C

Zombie	Zipper	Puzzle	Freezer
Wizard	Blazer	Grizzly	Blizzard

Z with Jack Hartmann

Alphablocks Z

Good luck!