Week of December 16th-20th 2013

Merry Christmas!!! We have officially started our last school week of 2013! What an incredible first few months we have had together! I am so lucky to have such great students 🙂

Please make sure that the final page of your child’s progress report is returned to the school before the holiday break. I appreciate your continued participation in your child’s education and look forward to our Student-led conferences in the New Year 🙂

On Wednesday, we will have our annual Christmas concert. We have been practicing very hard in class together and at home, and we are all anxious for our big performance. Shows will take place both at 1:00pm and at 7:00pm.

On Thursday, we will be heading up to the North Star Arena for our school skate. I ask that all students make sure they have helmets with them on Thursday, as well as proper rink attire.

On Friday, our last day together before Christmas, we will be celebrating in class. Students may bring in a small wrapped gift (no more than a few dollars please :)) to participant in a game we will be playing during our class party. I will have a few extras on hand for those who may forget.

Here’s what else is happening inside our classroom this week:

Grade 5

French- This week will be following a Christmas theme during our reader’s and writer’s workshops. We will be listening to and reading several stories and poems about the holidays and responding to them during class discussions and in our “Carnet de lecture”.

We will continue our study of the poetic text, publishing our first poem. In addition, during our independent writing time, we will be writing some funny Christmas stories and sharing them aloud with our classmates.

Math- With our study of long division now complete, we will move on to the study of fractions. We will start by examining some equivalent fractions and placing fractions in order on a number line.

Social Studies-Last week students we finally able to present their villages to the class and this week they will get to showcase all their hard work on these projects to other classes as well.  Mme Isabelle and I are very proud of their accomplishments on this task. Bravo!

Grade 7 and 8 Science

This week we continue our study of Mixtures and Solutions. We will be looking at some holiday mixtures (hot chocolate, Christmas cakes, etc) and will examine how particles come together to form them.

I wish you all a wonderful week and a happy and healthy holiday. May you enjoy the blessings of the season with your families and look forward to a spectacular 2014 🙂 Joyeux Noël!!!

Madame April Walker

Week of December 9th-13th 2013

Here are this week’s reminders:

It is hard to believe that this is our second last week of school before Christmas break. The time is certainly flying by! I hope you all enjoyed your snow day last week 🙂

I apologize for the delay in this week’s post. I am busy preparing student progress reports that will be sent home on Thursday, December 12th. Please take some time to review them and send back the last page to the school at your earliest convenience.

We are busy preparing for our Christmas concert on December 18th. Last week, students received their roles and their scripts. I would ask that they continue to work on memorizing their lines at home. Also, each student requires a few costume items. If your child needs help preparing their costume please let me know, as I have several items available here at the school.

The Gulf Shore Consolidated Home and School Christmas tree fundraiser is now over. Many thanks for all your help and support with this project and I’m sure that the wonderful fragrance of fresh trees is filling many homes in the area 🙂

This week, we will be treated to a performance by the school band and will continue our art projects, decorating our classroom (and your homes 🙂) for the holidays.

Here’s what else is happening inside our classroom this week:

Grade 5

French- There will be no dictée this week in an effort to give students more time at home and in class to practice for the Christmas concert 🙂

With the loss of a day due to the storm and our girls participating in their girls’ circle, we are running a bit behind in our centers. Thus, we will continue them this week, hopefully finishing up on Thursday or Friday. In addition, we will be working on our individual reading goals during our independent reading time and in our guided reading groups. We will also hear some more Christmas stories and respond to them in our “Carnet de lecture”.

In writing, we will continue our study of poetic texts. This week we will continue to look at different types of figurative language that writers use to enhance their poems and will keep following the writing process to write some poems of our own. We will also continue to read some poems aloud together to examine their structure, rhythm and style.

Math- This week, we will finish up our study of three digits by one digit division. Please take a few minutes to review division facts that may be causing some trouble. We will be having a short evaluation on this concept mid-week before moving on to our study of fractions.

Science-This week, we will finish up our unit on sound. Students will start creating their final project-a musical instrument, using their knowledge of how sound is formed and how we hear it.

Social Studies-Students continue to finish up their final projects and are practicing their oral presentations of their villages.  

Grade 7 and 8 Science

This week we continue our study of Mixtures and Solutions. We are currently creating a comic strip to represent the formation of a mixture and our knowledge of the atomic theory. We will be having a short quiz later on in the week on the terms learned to date and will continue to study how mixtures are formed and separated.  

Have a marvelous week!  

Madame April Walker

Week of December 2nd-6th 2013

Here are this week’s reminders:

Just another friendly reminder that as the weather is getting quite cool, it is very important that all students have proper outdoor gear (mittens, gloves, hat, etc) and a few extras in case theirs get wet 🙂

The Gulf Shore Consolidated Home and School is taking pre-orders for Christmas trees to help raise money to fund their many projects here at the school. This is the last week to sell trees, as all orders and remaining tickets must be returned by Tuesday, December 3rd.

Our preparations for the Christmas season are well underway. This week we will start decorating our classroom and will begin to practice for our Christmas concert, which will take place on Wednesday, December 18th. Each student has been assigned a small speaking role. I would ask that students go over their lines for a few minutes each night at home, in order to get them memorized. We will also practicing together in class and with Mrs. MacLaine during our music classes.

Take a look at what else is happening inside our classroom this week:

Grade 5

French- This week for our dictée, we will continue to look at several expressions using the verb “avoir”. Students are reminded to complete the section of their worksheet that is assigned each evening.    

During our reading periods, we will continue to work through our literacy stations and practice reading out loud to enhance our expression and fluency. In addition, we will be working on our individual reading goals during our independent reading time and in our guided reading groups. We will also listen to some Christmas stories and respond to them in our “Carnet de lecture”.

In writing, we will continue our study of poetic texts. This week we will look at different types of figurative language that writers use to enhance their poems and will begin to follow the writing process to write some poems of our own. We will also continue to read some poems aloud together to examine their structure, rhythm and style.

Math- This week, we will continue on with our study of three digits by one digit division. Please take a few minutes to review division facts that may be causing some difficulty. Students are welcome to borrow some flash cards from me, in order to practice at home in the evenings.

Science-This week and next, we will finish up our unit on sound. For our final project, we will be creating some instruments that will make different sounds based on the vibrations they create.

Social Studies-Students continue to work with Mme Isabelle to complete their brochure. Soon, students will have the opportunity to present their projects to the class, as well as to some other students in the school.

Grade 7 and 8 Science

We are well into our study of Mixtures and Solutions. Last week we looked at how mixtures and solutions are classified according to their properties, and we did some experiments to look at the components that make up different mixtures. This week we will be looking at different types of mixtures and will attempt to separate them into their individual components.

Have a great week!  

Madame April Walker