Dear Division 2 families,
I hope you all had a fun Halloween! Here are a few highlights from last week:
I hope you all had a fun Halloween! Here are a few highlights from last week:
Drop Everything and Read
We began the week with our annual school-wide Drop Everything and Read activity, organized by Susan at the library. Students read a book of their choice for 30 minutes. They read at their desk, in the pod, or in another special spot. Here is a photo montage of our class reading.
Halloween week
Jack-O'lantern Carving Contest and Pumpkin Seed Roasting
To get into the spirit of Halloween, we used the pumpkins from the school garden to prepare roasted pumpkin seeds and carve creative Jack-O'lanterns. In groups of 4-5, students had to collaborate to design and carve a creative Jack-O'lantern and prepare the seeds for roasting. The focus of this learning activity was on group communication and collaboration, creative thinking and problem solving.
Everyone worked well together and the carvings were very original! We had a vote on the best creation and the class winner was a pumpkin carved into a TV. Inside the TV, a smaller pointy pumpkin was carved into a UFO, representing a TV show. Little pumpkin seed aliens were also part of the scene! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of all the creations...
Everyone worked well together and the carvings were very original! We had a vote on the best creation and the class winner was a pumpkin carved into a TV. Inside the TV, a smaller pointy pumpkin was carved into a UFO, representing a TV show. Little pumpkin seed aliens were also part of the scene! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of all the creations...
French Reading and Healthy Eating
All the hard work that went into separating the pumpkin "guts" from the seeds paid off and students were able to enjoy delicious crunchy pumpkin seeds at lunch time on Tuesday. With all the candy eating around the corner, I like to focus on healthy habits around Halloween.
In French reading this week, we read a text on food and nutrients out of a French science textbook. We practiced identifying key words and created a mind-map of the main ideas, practicing reading for information and note-taking. We learned about the main nutrients and began to look at Nutrition Facts labels. We will continue to look at ingredient lists and labels this week, and learn how to create nutrient-rich meals.
In French reading this week, we read a text on food and nutrients out of a French science textbook. We practiced identifying key words and created a mind-map of the main ideas, practicing reading for information and note-taking. We learned about the main nutrients and began to look at Nutrition Facts labels. We will continue to look at ingredient lists and labels this week, and learn how to create nutrient-rich meals.
French Writing: Spooky Short Story
This week, students wrote a spooky short story in French. On Thursday, they brainstormed characters, objects, descriptive words or actions that could be included in a story to create a spooky atmosphere. We used this brainstorm to create a bank of French words to use in their creative writing. Students wrote their story on Friday and were successful in using sensory imagery and interesting details... Well done everyone!
Le Coach Halloween Video (Health and Physical Education)
Earlier this year, our class had a lot of fun learning a fitness choreography inspired by the song Le Coach (Soprano). On Friday during gym, Division 1 and Division 2 met to film a "fitness video" in our Halloween costumes. We meant to show the video at the Zoom Halloween Parade, but there were technical issues with the Zoom assembly, so we ended up meeting up with the other classes in the field for the school Halloween Parade. We ended up performing our fitness choreography out in the field, and many kids and teachers joined in the fun!
The video recordings of our performance in the gym are very fun to watch, since students are wearing all sorts of fun costumes (including a giant blowup dancing T-Rex!). There were 3 students filming from different angles. I would like to create a montage from the different angles but I don't have iMovie on my computer yet. I have uploaded all the video files and and the mp3 audio file on Teams, if students want to try creating their own montage of the video at home.
The video recordings of our performance in the gym are very fun to watch, since students are wearing all sorts of fun costumes (including a giant blowup dancing T-Rex!). There were 3 students filming from different angles. I would like to create a montage from the different angles but I don't have iMovie on my computer yet. I have uploaded all the video files and and the mp3 audio file on Teams, if students want to try creating their own montage of the video at home.
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Math
This week in math, we looked at the Election results, interpreting various circle graphs and connecting with fractions and percentages. We also began to work on using equivalent fractions to compare and order fractions that have different denominators. In order to be able to do this work, students have to find common factors or multiples. They also have to multiply and divide mentally. Students who are not yet fluent with all their multiplication and division facts are finding this work more challenging. We will continue our work on fractions, percentages and decimals next week. I recommend practicing multiplication and division facts at home every day if to help improve fluency. This can be done in many ways.
Below are a few suggested resources that you can download and print for home practice:
For students who are still working on developing mental math strategies for their multiplication facts, using visual flash cards can be really helpful. Here is a video that shows how the subitizing flash cards can be used to develop mental math strategies.
Some students need more practice with multiples of 6, 7, 8 and 9. Here are some suggested worksheets (answer sheet included) that focus on that:
For students who want to practice fluency with all the facts, using these multiplication grid worksheets and working towards doing one grid under 5 minutes is a good challenge:
Below are a few suggested resources that you can download and print for home practice:
For students who are still working on developing mental math strategies for their multiplication facts, using visual flash cards can be really helpful. Here is a video that shows how the subitizing flash cards can be used to develop mental math strategies.
- Subitizing (groupings) visual flash cards: multiplication-subitizing-cards.pdf
- Array visual flascards: multiplication-array-cards1.pdf
Some students need more practice with multiples of 6, 7, 8 and 9. Here are some suggested worksheets (answer sheet included) that focus on that:
- Multiples of 6 facts practice.pdf
- Multiples of 7 facts practice.pdf
- Multiples of 8 facts practice.pdf
- Multiples of 9 facts practice.pdf
For students who want to practice fluency with all the facts, using these multiplication grid worksheets and working towards doing one grid under 5 minutes is a good challenge:
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding your child's learning or how to support your child at home. In a few weeks, I will send a portfolio with samples of your child's work along with detailed feedback and student reflections. We will add samples of learning in this portfolio regularly throughout the school year, in addition to the two summaries of learning (report cards) in February and June.
Have a great week everyone!
Nathalie Boulanger
Division 2
Grade 6/7
Have a great week everyone!
Nathalie Boulanger
Division 2
Grade 6/7
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