Week of May 25th-29th

It is hard to believe that we are into the last week of May! This last week will definitely be a busy one here at Gulf Shore!

On Wednesday, we will have a visit from local author Jamie Lee Mann. I know the students have been reading some of her work in English class with Mme Lavoie and we are all looking forward to getting the chance to meet her 🙂

On Thursday, our school musical will take place. There will be two performances. The first performance will start at 1:00pm and the second performance will start at 7:00pm. There are a great number of students in our class who have been working hard practicing after school for this musical, and I am very anxious to see the final result of all that practice 🙂

Finally, on Friday morning we will participate in our annual Children’s Wish Foundation Wishmaker Walk. This is one of two major fundraisers here at Gulf Shore. Pledge forms went home last Friday, and if students could send them back into me (regardless of if they raised any money) at the end of the week, it would be greatly appreciated.

Let’s take a look at what else is happening inside our classroom this week…

Dictée-For our dictée this week we will be looking at correcting mistakes in our sentences. This is great practice for when we edit our writing. This will be our last new dictée of the school year, as next week we will begin to review the concepts we’ve studied all year.

Reading- We are now more than halfway done of the novel “Sophie Lance et Compte.” As we read through this book, we are beginning to see a lot of similarities between Sophie and the character “Noémie” from the series by the same name. We also continue to work on our own independent reading goals.

Writing- This week in writer’s workshop, we will finish up our biographies and if time permits, we start to explore the persuasive text form.

Math-This week in math, we will continue our unit on geometry. We are also busy reviewing our foundational outcomes in preparation for our fourth and final flashback quiz, which will take place next week.

Science- In our unit on Space this week, we will look at the rotation of the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth. We will discuss how these rotations impact our seasons and we will study the different phases of the moon.

Grade 7 Science

As we begin our unit on ecosystems, we will discover what an ecosystem is, as we look at different biotic and abiotic factors.

Grade 8 Science

This week we will start to explore different water systems, as we will look at the distribution of water on earth and at the differences between salt and fresh water.

Have a wonderful week!

Madame Walker

Week of May 19th-22rd

I hope everyone had a great long weekend! Fingers crossed for more great weather like we’ve had to continue in the coming weeks 🙂

This week, students in Grade 5 immersion will continue to write the Provincial French Immersion Elementary Literacy Assessment. The last two parts of the assessment will take place on Wednesday May 20th and Thursday, May 21st. As stated in the letters previously sent home, there is no need to prepare for this assessment. We have gone over some sample questions together in class and we have had some great discussions together in class about the importance of being well rested and simply trying our best. I am pleased with how the assessment has gone thus far, but if you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact me 🙂

On Wednesday, May 20th our Home and School will have their annual general meeting at 7:00pm in the Science Lab.

Let’s take a look at what else is happening inside our classroom this week…

Dictée-This week we will finish up our study of different expressions in French that use the verb avoir-to have instead of the verb être-to be. For example- J’ai dix ans. As always, students should take some time each night to go over these concepts, in addition to our work together in class in preparation for our dictée on Day 1 (Friday).

Reading- We continue to read the novel “Sophie Lance et Compte” and to work on our individual reading goals.

Writing- This week in writer’s workshop, we will finish up revising and editing our biographies, as we prepare them for publishing.

Math-This week in math, we will have our evaluation on capacity and we will start our unit on geometry. Geometric shapes are in the world all around us, and mathematics can help your child recognize important features of geometry. Recognizing geometric features and understanding geometric form are key steps in developing a higher level of mathematical thinking.

In this unit, your child will:

• Build, represent, and describe geometric objects and shapes
• Identify and sort quadrilaterals (that is, shapes with 4 sides)
Geometric shapes and objects can be found outside the classroom. Encourage your child to look for geometric shapes and objects around the home and neighbourhood, and talk about them.

Here are some suggestions for activities that you can do at home:

• Look for geometric shapes in buildings and street signs. For example, a stop sign has the shape of an octagon, and a yield sign has the shape of a triangle.
• Find objects around the house that have different shapes. For example, a tissue box or a cereal box has the shape of a rectangular prism. Ask your child to tell you the differences between the objects.

Science- As we continue with our unit on Space, and the solar system, we will continue to study the planets, their order and other objects in space including, asteroids, stars, comets, satellites, moons, and constellations.

Grade 7 Science

This week we will finish up our final assessment for our unit on Heat and we will start our unit on Ecosystems.

Grade 8 Science

This week will we finish up our oral presentations on body systems and we will start into our unit on Water Systems.

Have a fantastic week!

Madame Walker

Week of May 11th-15th

What a beautiful weekend! I think everyone is happy that the snow has finally disappeared, and that we can look forward to another beautiful PEI summer 🙂

This week, students in Grade 5 immersion will begin to write the Provincial French Immersion Elementary Literacy Assessment. The first two parts of the assessment will take place on Tuesday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 13th. As stated in the letters previously sent home, there is no need to prepare for this assessment. We have gone over some sample questions together in class and we have had some great discussions together in class about the importance of being well rested and simply trying our best. The assessment will continue next week. If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Let’s take a look at what else is happening inside our classroom this week…

Dictée-We will begin to explore different expressions in French that use the verb avoir-to have instead of the verb être-to be. For example- J’ai dix ans. As always, students should take some time each night to go over these concepts, in addition to our work together in class 🙂

Reading- We have started the novel “Sophie Lance et Compte.” As we read, we will explore some of the figurative language in this novel and we will analyze and critique the author’s work.

Writing- During writer’s workshop this week, we will begin to revise and edit our biographies. We will be paying special attention to word choice and sentence structure. We will also continue to practice using the passé composé verb tense in our writing.

Math-This week in math, we will finish up our study of volume and capacity and we will prepare for our quiz on these outcomes. We also continue to review our foundational learnings in math in preparation for our 4th and final “flashback” quiz. I have also encouraged students to continue to practice their multiplication and division facts at home, in order to continue to improve on speed and accuracy.

Science- As we continue with our unit on Space, we will continue to discover the different planets of our solar system. We will also take a look at other objects in space including; asteroids, comets, satellites and moons.

Grade 7 Science

This week we will finish up our unit on heat; looking at different ways to heat homes and buildings. We will also start to prepare for our final assessment on this unit.

Grade 8 Science

This week we will finish up our projects on body systems and we will begin to present them to the class.

Have a marvelous week and a wonderful long Victoria Day weekend!

Madame Walker

May 4th-8th

May 4th-8th

It was so refreshing to see the sun over the weekend! May has arrived and our year together is winding down, however there is still a lot of learning to take place 🙂

This week will be a very busy week here at Gulf Shore! Here are just a few reminders…

Today many students from Grades 1-6 will be attending Music Monday in Charlottetown. I can’t wait to hear all about this amazing day when you return to school tomorrow 🙂

Tomorrow, we will be treated to a performance from the PEI Jazz and Blues Festival. This is always an exciting and energetic activity and we look forward to welcoming these performers to our school every year.

On Wednesday, May 6th our school will be attending a performance of the play “Shrek” put on by Colonel Gray High School at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. We will be leaving right after the buses arrive that morning and returning around noon. The cost of this trip is $8.00 per student. Please send the money into me as soon as possible if you haven’t already 🙂

Two letters regarding the French Immersion Elementary Literacy Assessment have now been sent home. Students in Grade 5 FI classes across the province will begin to write this assessment next week. We will spend some time this week going over the expectations of students regarding this assessment and we will look at some sample questions together.

Let’s take a look at what else is happening inside our classroom this week…

Dictée-This week we will continue explore how adjectives are formed according to number and gender.

Reading- We have now finished up our literacy centers and we will start to dive into the novel “Sophie Lance et Compte.” This novel is always a hit with my students, and will help us to improve as readers, as we respond to and discuss what we’ve read.

Writing- This week we will continue to use the passé compose verb tense in our writing as we move along in our biographies. We will also continue to look at how sentence structure is different in French and English and at how to better use our tools and resources to enhance our written work.

Math-This week we will continue to look at capacity and volume, looking in particular at how to find the volume of an object in both cubic centimeters and cubic meters.

We have also now completed our 3rd foundational concept quiz. Individual worksheets will go home with students early in the week. As always, review of these concepts is encouraged at home each evening in preparation for our 4th and final foundational quiz next month.

Science- We have started our unit on Space and this week we will begin to discover the different planets that make up our solar system.

Grade 7 Science

This week we continue to create our booklets on how heat is transferred through objects.

Grade 8 Science

Work continues this week on our body systems projects.

Have a wonderful week!

Madame Walker