Week of October 24-28, 2011

Friday HW
The Hallowe'en parade is coming on Monday after lunch, at about 1:00 PM.  Our Vice principal recommends that costumes be worn after lunch if possible to help preserve the morning for school activities. It should be fun!
1.  TSO form and fee as soon as you can.
2.  Mono Cliffs forms were distributed today.  Our class visit is on November 23-25, 2011.  Please check your schedule for sport or other activities that conflict with that Wednesday to Friday slot for the trip when you are making your family decision on participation.  Our principal has approved cheque payments for this activity given the higher cost.
3.  Diversity project is due on November 10.  We work on aspects of it every day in class.
4.  Spelling text work page 21 # 1,2,4 and page 22 # 6,7,8.  The students had about 20 minutes to work on this in class today.

Thursday HW

We had another informative assembly this afternoon on the pitfalls of Facebook use.  Students received some helpful tips about privacy settings.  Althought the stated Facebook age is 13 years old, we recognize that it is widely used and some familiarity with the dizzying settings is probably very important.  I encourage all families to discuss the uses and cautious practices that will make Facebook experience less risky.

1.  Toronto Symphony forms have been distributed to all students at this point.  Please return your responses to room 365.

2.  Animal research project due on November 10.  We have been using the laptops and desktops for the past two days and working through some of the growing pains.  The kids are learning quickly.

3.  Although I provide protractors rulers and compasses to the students for geometry, the TDSB stock order materials are generally very flimsy and prone to breakage, much like the pencils that do not sharpen well.  I recommend the purchase of a simple Math set of the sort one finds in little metal or plastic boxes with a shorter, clear ruler and a better quality compass.  I'm finding that the fine motor demands of compass use and the cheap quality of the tools is making the skill hard to learn.  Having said that, I do want to reiterate that no one needs to purchase these items.  I will provide the materials I have for quizzes and day to day work to the extent that I am able to do so.

Wednesday HW

(Our afternoon was altered significantly on Tuesday by an assembly.  As a result I did not assign any homework for the class, nor post an entry on the blog,  because I did not work with them all afternoon and we did not have any agenda time.)
1.  Math HW Book pages 36-37.  We spent about 15 minutes in class today workin on these pages.
2.  Math Geometry Quiz 1 on lesons one and two of Unit 3 tomorrow.
3.  Spelling Dictation on Word Up list 4 tomorrow.
4.  Animal research project due November 10.

Monday HW
1.  Rough draft of "A Person I Admire" is due in class tomorrow.  We are peer editing and correcting, then starting to write the good copy in class.
2.  Spelling word up cycle activities and 15 sentences.
3.  Math Quiz Lessons 1 and 2 of Geometry Unit 3 on Thursday, October 27.
4.  Animal research project is due on November 10.  We discussed Powerpoint use today and outlined which sections were on papwer presentation formats and which would be done electronically on Powerpoint.
5.  Scholastic order due on Wednesday, October 26.