End of Week 3

It is the end of another week in the Grade 6 class and plenty to share. It was very nice meeting many of the parents who attended the Open House on Thursday night. I hope you had a chance to look around the classroom and see where your children spend time during their day. Hopefully you had a chance to look at some of the work they have completed so far as well.

If you haven't already done so, please sign up for "Remind" notifications. This is the best way to stay up-to-date with any homework your child has and learn about upcoming events. The link to my Remind group is: https://www.remind.com/join/mrmayhew6

Next week, on Friday September 30th, the students will be taking part in the annual Terry Fox run from 9-11am. We are asking that each student contribute $1 or $2 to the cause. In addition, each student is asked to get the permission form that was sent home in homeroom, to be signed and returned by Thursday September 29th. The Terry Fox run will be taking place off of school property (around the Beaver Pond area) so each student needs parental permission to take part. If you wish to donate to the Terry Fox fundraiser, you can also do it through the following link: https://goo.gl/SJrkdf

This week, the AM group started a book called "Iqbal". The book is based on the true story of Iqbal Massih who was an advocate against child labour in the early 1990's. This Language unit focuses on the students' ability to infer and build upon these important skills while reading/listening to an author's text. They are also practicing predicting upcoming events in the story. The group has been writing in their red notebooks and are filling them up with key vocabulary, character sketches, and answers from the book. So far, the students seem to be really enjoying the story.

In Math, the group continues to work with the place value chart, larger numbers (in the millions) as well as determining multiples and common multiples of numbers. They were quizzed on Friday and will be begin working with numbers on the right side of the decimal next week.

In Religion this past week, we continued discussing the theme of "light". As the symbol of grade 6, the lantern was the focus of discussion and the centerpiece of a visual representation of an important message; "every person can be a light".

The PM group continued to learn about electricity in Science class. We finished off the week learning about static electricity as the students got to be hands on with some balloons and learned about positive and negative electric charges. We also demonstrated how static charge can bend a stream of water!

In visual arts, the group is working on replicating an animated movie- movie poster. We are focusing on proportion and colouring technique. So far, the posters look great. Hopefully there will be some finished posters to post in next week's blog. 

End of week 2

We are at the end of our 2nd week of class and there is much to share about the students' achievements this week.

In Language, the A.M group has focused primarily on the theme of inspirational figures. We have discussed the criteria that makes for an inspirational person and the students have researched various figures who have made a positive impact on the world (Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Louis Braille, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison). The students then created a Google Slideshow of an inspirational person of their choice focusing on important Language skills such as researching, summarizing, oral presentation skills and referencing creditable sites.

In Math, the A.M group has continued their practice with the place value chart. They have been working with larger numbers (millions and even billions) and determining their significance in sequences of numbers. Ordering and comparing large numbers will continue next week as they use these numbers using various operations (+,-,x,/). Once mastered, we will be moving on to decimals, up to the thousandths column.

In Religion, the A.M group continues to discuss the theme of "You are the light of the world". We have read a number of stories and had several discussions with regards to helping others and making a positive difference in others' lives, as Jesus as taught us.

This past week we were lucky enough to have a special guest speaker come into our classes and discuss her role with Robotics. Erin "RobotGrrl" Kennedy, a local inventor and robotics guru, came to speak to our Grade 6 students. She had an important message to share about innovation and the design process that the students were really excited about. She brought in several robots to show off to the students, including, her famous "RobotBrrd" and a newer robot that helps clean up debris along the coastlines. The students were able to test out her robots and had a number of very good questions for Erin. This visit tied in perfectly with the grade 6 science unit on Electricity.

In the P.M group we continue our electricity unit in science. We have discussed important key terms such as charge, energy, battery and conductor/insulator. We have also discussed how often we as a society rely on electricity in our every day lives and compared to how much different life would have been before electricity was readily available.

In art the PM group has been putting their effort in completing their first art assignment. We are focusing on theme and colour in this assignment and so far, the finished pieces look excellent.

September 13th

With the Terry Fox run a few weeks away, inspirational people was the theme in Language Arts. The AM group was asked to research an inspirational person and create a short presentation on the impact that person had on others. They will be working on this for the majority of the week during Language blocks.

In Math, the class has begun their unit on Whole Numbers, specifically, revisiting Place Value. In grade 6, students are introduced to numbers in the millions and further expand on the skills they encompassed in previous grades.

This week, the PM group began the Electricity unit in Science. They were given some materials and instructed to get their light bulb to turn on. Once they got their light bulb to turn on, they were asked to find some conducting materials in the class that they could add to their circuits, and continue the flow of electricity to their bulb. Needless to say, the students got very creative in their efforts and learned some important information about electricity along the way. They will continue to explore more about electricity in the coming days

Some student work

The AM group completed a group exercise on Collaboration. The students discussed what collaboration meant to them and what it looks like, sounds like and feels like in the classroom.

The PM group completed their Coat of Arms art work. They were to reflect and think about 4 things that are most important to them. 

First Day of School!

It was a pleasure meeting the Grade 6's today on the first day of school. After the usual talks about classroom routines, expectations and procedures we started the school year off with some "getting to know you" ice breaker games and a collaborative team building exercise in the form of the Marshmallow challenge. The AM group worked in groups of 3-4 to complete the tallest free-standing structure using some spaghetti noodles, string, an arm's length of tape and a single marshmallow. It was nice to see the students work together and bring important group skills to the challenge. The students had 15 minutes to complete this challenge collaboratively. In the following days, we will continue to discuss the importance of working in groups and how each member of a group contributes positively and collaboratively.



In the PM group the students continued to break the ice with their classmates and become more familiar with one another. The students performed a "Classmate Scavenger Hunt" by asking their peers questions. They gathered results and completed the challenge successfully beginning the school year with an introduction to the scientific process. In addition, this group began thinking about their own personal interests and reflect on what is important to them in the form of a Coat of Arms. The students will be representing themselves artistically and are off to a great start.

Welcome

Hello,

Welcome to a brand new school year. My name is Mr. Mayhew and I will be your teacher (or your child's teacher) this year. I am looking forward to getting to know you and embark on a learning adventure together.

This blog will be used to inform both students and parents of what is happening in our classroom from day to day. I plan on updating it regularly with work samples, as well as important information regarding homework, due dates and upcoming events. I ask that you check this blog regularly so you can stay on top of what is going on in your (or your child's) classroom. In addition, I will be using an app called "Remind" to pass on quick reminders to students. I encourage parents to also sign up for the Remind app so they know when/what their child has to complete.