WANTED: #OLDMANWINTER

Spelling homework

Please add any -URE words to this site:

www.todaysmeet.com/UREwords

Remember the words we were reviewing in class:

• sure
• torture
• pleasure
• measure
• treasure
• structure
• puncture
• picture

The day the lesson plan went out the window...

Exploring 2D Geometry 2013

We've spent the past 2 weeks looking at 2D shapes and their properties and all the cool things we can learn from them such as angles, area, perimeter, etc.

It's been a fun exploration! We've learned so much!

Some of our learning has taken us off on tangents.
For instance, what is that thing used for, anyway?

Do you know what this is?!?

I could have easily told them the answer, but instead two students took it upon themselves to research this thingamajig and find out how to use it and apply it to what we were doing in class!

Jacob, the researcher

Jacob & Innis went on the search & then taught the class all about it & how to use it!

In other areas of the class we were busy trying to construct triangles with specific angles, trying to prove our statements about triangles:

(Can a triangle with one 60 degree angle only have 60 degree angles?!!? Or can a right angle triangle have a 60 degree angle as one of its angles?!?!)

 We learned so much through hands-on, self-directed exploration that it was a unit we're feeling really good about!

Here are some links to pages we used to further our learning, too!
http://www.mathsisfun.com/triangle.html

http://www.coolmath.com/reference/triangles-types.html

Parallelograms



We also noticed the importance of triangles in engineering and building.




Anyone recognize this?

Looking at the Night Sky

As part of our science unit on Space and the Planets, we're beginning to explore vocabulary associated with these topics and also some cultural beliefs.

Here are the vocabulary graphic organizers we created. Using an organizer like this helps us to keep track of the information we researched. Students used dictionaries, books from the classroom science library or the internet to gather the information on the word they were assigned.




As this unit continues, we are also looking at understanding the sky, stars, and constellations. Students are reminded to use these websites to guide their nightly sky viewing:

http://www.astronomynovascotia.ca/
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury

Be sure to check the nightly forecast to see if it is going to be clear enough to view the stars:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/ns-31_metric_e.html

We are also lucky to have a Mi'kmaq elder coming into our class this week to share Mi'kmaq beliefs about the stars and space. Here is the Mi'kmaq tale of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters, which we are exploring in class:



Stay tuned for more information about this topic!

Our Important Book

As part of our "setting the stage" for a new school year, we read a book aloud called "The Important Book".

As a follow up activity, the students were asked to each create their own page of an important book.

Have a look at this great collective work!



I'm so proud of these guys!

Great work so far this year!

Keep it up!

The Classroom Energy Diet Challenge

Wow! Have we been busy working on this challenge! Everything from a logo contest within our own classroom, to researching types of energy, tracking our trash, calculating our water usage, and simply turning things off... we've been immersed in energy use awareness!

Here are the logos designed by our class, with the class' chosen winning logo for our site in the Challenge, designed by Emily! Way to go, guys!

Perhaps the most exciting step thus far in the Challenge has been creating a script for a infomercial on reducing energy. We submitted our script to the contest, and, low and behold, our script was chosen as one of 50 semi-finalists across Canada! That means, we won a video recorder to shoot our infomercial! 

We're going to start shooting before March Break, and , hopefully finish the week after March Break! Once it is finished, we will be needing your help, as the video will be posted on the Energy Diet's Facebook page, and we'll need your "Likes" to win!

To keep updated on our Challenge progress you can check out:
Grade 5/6 Class Challenge

Meeting Mrs. Fennemore's Class...

Mrs. Fennemore's class in Newfoundland posted questions for our class on their blog. Here are our answers:

Ellav asked: Where are we in NS?
Andy's reply: We are in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia... more specifically Iona. You can do a Google Street view of our school here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.947633,-60.816885&z=19&t=h&hl=en This is our new school which opened 2007. It is a P-12 school.

JasmineG (who was born in NS! Where? we wonder) asked: what do we like best about our school:

1. Camden -- the gym & that we can learn Gaelic
2. Emerson -- playing dodgeball!
3. Zach C -- Everything... it's hard to pick
4. Nathan -- our new swing set!
5. Ailig -- Our gym -- it's HUGE! 
6. Tyler -- doesn't know what he likes best
7. Rochelle -- field trips we take
8. Zach M -- the swing set
9. Breagha -- art & the walking trail at our school
10. Lily -- the classes
11. Logan -- loves the swing sets
12. Andy -- our new outdoor skating rink
13. Dayna -- Dawn & gym
14. Mikayla -- Dawn, gym, and swings
15. Riley -- our new triple hoop
16. John -- huge gym & our new teacher, Dawn & our swingset
17. Shazia -- art, drama, and Mr. MacKenzie, French class
18. Jon -- music class, Gaelic, math, gym and my awesome new teacher, Dawn

Maya asked: What are we doing in school and what do we like?

• Health, Math, Science
• playing dodgeball in the gym
• Gym
• love language arts and tweeting on twitter!
• having fun with education
• checking our blog

Ethan  asked if we had a class pet or not?

• We have a pet rock! And we've got a fishbowl that will hopefully be filled soon

Liam  wants to know what the most exciting thing is we've done this year?

• The biggest thing so far is the additions to our playground. We got new swings and a triple hoop! And, we're waiting to test out our new outdoor skating rink! We're pretty excited!

Questions for Mrs. Fennemore's Class:

1. Where are you located in Newfoundland?
2. Were you affected by Hurricane Igor?
3. Are you guys going to get a new fish? (Sorry about Ringo)
4. What is the name of your school?
1. Does your school have a website?
5. Have you guys ever heard of the Gaelic language?
6. Do you guys have French class?
7. Do you speak French or English?
8. What kind of playground do you have at your school?

Welcome/Failte

It's the start of a new decade, and the start of a new project for Dawn's classes at Rankin.

As part of the learning in my classroom, students are going to be posting projects, ideas, and news on this site for the world to see.

We hope you enjoy a glimpse into the kinds of things we're exploring in our little nook of the world!

Please be sure to comment on our site, as feedback is what makes most things worthwhile... and allows us to learn from what we are doing!

Questions and/or additional comments can be sent directly to the teacher, Dawn Gillis, at:
macdond36 (at) staff.ednet.ns.ca