Students,
Please use the username and password I will give you to log on to this site:
www.tellthemfromme.com
When you are finished, please visit this site,
http://www.mbam.qc.ca/en
and poke around at what we may see tomorrow.
Thank you,
Ms Napier
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Technology Use, Special Visitors and Grade Six Projects
Hello Families,
Has your sixth-grader been more tired than usual lately?
In the last two weeks grade six has had a number of interesting projects and activities, ones I hope they have already spoken to you about. They have been participating with enthusiasm and working very hard.
Last week we had the opportunity, through the Discovery Education Network, to participate in a live webcast from Proudfoot Elementary school in Saskatchewan. This Cree school shared why it is important to them to include aspects of their Native identity as part of their daily activities in school, including the role of tribal elders in teaching Cree language and culture. We had the chance to see two Pow-wow dances and hear a drum circle, and the students and teachers spoke about how their school is similar and different to schools off reserves. This webcast was very timely, as our unit on Native Culture continues into next month.
As part of our Language Arts program, the students have been working on book reviews. Students had a chance to hear from experienced book reviewer (and my father) Jim Napier, who in his retirement has begun to review mystery and crime fiction for two newspapers and several on-line websites. Students were amazed to learn that he receives between 400 and 600 books a year from publishers, though he reviews only a fraction of them. He joined the class via Skype for a one hour lecture and discussion of what makes a review effective. You can see some of his work on his website, Deadly Diversions.
In that same week, we had a visit from naturalist Kat Usher of the Earthvalues Institute in Montreal. Kat has been visiting our school once a year for the last twelve years, sharing her knowledge of science and connecting what students know about the natural world to bigger issues of conservation and sustainability. Students love Kat for her sense of humour and her warm personality, her carefully prepared presentations and the thoughtful way with which she answers questions. Many thanks to the St Francis Valley Naturalist Club, who underwrite this visit. It was, as always, a very interesting and informative presentation!
Student have also been preparing biographical presentations about famous artists as part of the lead up to our visit to the Musee des Beaux Arts next week. With everything going on lately, these won't be finished before Tuesday, but the students have been working hard and have shown great enthusiasm for the subject.
This week's big project deserves it's own post. Hope to write you soon about our Writer's Workshop two-day event and the wonderful ebooks that were produced.
Warm regards,
Kathy Napier
Has your sixth-grader been more tired than usual lately?
In the last two weeks grade six has had a number of interesting projects and activities, ones I hope they have already spoken to you about. They have been participating with enthusiasm and working very hard.
Last week we had the opportunity, through the Discovery Education Network, to participate in a live webcast from Proudfoot Elementary school in Saskatchewan. This Cree school shared why it is important to them to include aspects of their Native identity as part of their daily activities in school, including the role of tribal elders in teaching Cree language and culture. We had the chance to see two Pow-wow dances and hear a drum circle, and the students and teachers spoke about how their school is similar and different to schools off reserves. This webcast was very timely, as our unit on Native Culture continues into next month.
As part of our Language Arts program, the students have been working on book reviews. Students had a chance to hear from experienced book reviewer (and my father) Jim Napier, who in his retirement has begun to review mystery and crime fiction for two newspapers and several on-line websites. Students were amazed to learn that he receives between 400 and 600 books a year from publishers, though he reviews only a fraction of them. He joined the class via Skype for a one hour lecture and discussion of what makes a review effective. You can see some of his work on his website, Deadly Diversions.
In that same week, we had a visit from naturalist Kat Usher of the Earthvalues Institute in Montreal. Kat has been visiting our school once a year for the last twelve years, sharing her knowledge of science and connecting what students know about the natural world to bigger issues of conservation and sustainability. Students love Kat for her sense of humour and her warm personality, her carefully prepared presentations and the thoughtful way with which she answers questions. Many thanks to the St Francis Valley Naturalist Club, who underwrite this visit. It was, as always, a very interesting and informative presentation!
Student have also been preparing biographical presentations about famous artists as part of the lead up to our visit to the Musee des Beaux Arts next week. With everything going on lately, these won't be finished before Tuesday, but the students have been working hard and have shown great enthusiasm for the subject.
This week's big project deserves it's own post. Hope to write you soon about our Writer's Workshop two-day event and the wonderful ebooks that were produced.
Warm regards,
Kathy Napier
Monday, April 15, 2013
Math Practice and the Ministry Exams
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| This photo has nothing to do with the following post. But just the same, Yay Team! |
Hello Families,
Over the last week a couple of families have gotten in touch about having some extra work to prepare for the ministry exams. While I have sent some photocopies when asked, there is a great deal of free material on the internet.
That said, finding information on the internet is "like taking a drink from a fire hydrant" (Mitchell Kapor, via Lucacept).
So apart from the sites listed on the sidebar of this blog, here are some sites I can recommend:
Math Frog, where you will find self-correcting games students can use to practice skills
Math Games, a site I am still exploring but that has many levels of practice available for students.
Bedtime Math, which has a "problem of the day" format with leveled questions to help the whole family get involved, and has tips for helping kids find math fun
Figure This! Math Challenges work different problem-solving skills, with and without calculation
A+ Click gives you math practice by grade level and by are of math, and lets you browse math question by thumbnail.
IXL provides math sheets with Canadian content links, so that you can see what kids need to know in our province
Math is Fun offers one of the best illustrated Math Dictionaries on the web
Most of these sites I found on the metasite Great Websites for Kids, sponsored by the American Library Association. This site provides sites for students to use that are from reputable sources and offer sounds academic value, sorted by subject and rating.
For many of the students, current math errors are not a result of misunderstanding of concepts, but rather calculation inaccuracies and shortcuts in procedures that lead to errors. If this is the case for your child, having them practice their skills is still the best way you can help them. Ipod apps such as PopMath are painless ways to have them squeeze in extra practice on the go.
One of the best ways to help you child is still to check their homework. Insist they correct any mistakes you find, that they present solutions that are complete and diagrams that are fully labelled, and that they use the formula they are taught.
Thank you, once again, for all that you do to help your child, and please let me know if there are any questions I can answer.
Warm regards,
Kathy Napier
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