Starting our journey into the novel Flying Solo by Ralph Fletchet

Here's the link to the youtube video we started with today:

How to make a paper airplane (visual instructions)

Reading Group Follow - Up

We've spent a number of classes working in reading groups discovering the various components of a novel.
I would like each of you to fill out this form based on your contributions and overall work with your group. Please answer carefully & honestly. I will use your input along with my anecdotal notes to help form your mark! Please complete by the end of the day, Saturday, April 12.

A writing workshop about a baboon?!?!?

What happens when we do a writing workshop on a baboon?!?!

As part of grade 6 language arts, students are required to research and report on a specific topic. So, as part of our science unit on flight, the students have all been assigned a famous person pertaining to flight to research and write their biography (biographies are a grade 5 outcome).

Our writing workshops the next couple of weeks concentrate on various skills needed to research, compiling a bibliography, and writing a well-written and interesting biography.

We've looked at the book Barack  as an example text.

Now students are looking at researching information about one of our bookshelf friends, Cheeks.

"Cheeks."  Baboon.
Isn't he cute?

The writing process was furious. There were so many questions to answer and they had to be based in fact with some creativity thrown in.

to read the final copy, come check it out on the wall at the front of our classroom, or email for the pics!

Continuing with the Global Read Aloud 2013

In Out of My Mind we've read about Melody, a young girl with cerebral palsy who is looking to find her voice.

In the first chapters we were first surprised by the many different words the author uses to explain how one expresses themselves. This led to a great conversation on synonyms and using colourful words in our writing.

 In chapter six, the author tells us about Mrs. V creating flash cards for Melody in different colours. Green for adjectives; blue for verbs; pink for nouns. 

We looked at words that described Meoldy's mother so far in the book: (notice the colour)

Starting the Global Read Aloud 2013

Today marks the start of the Global Read Aloud Project. My class has been taking place for the past 3 or 4 years.

This year's book is Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper.

Below are our predictions about what the book could be about, simply from judging a book by its cover.

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Independent Novel Project.... May 2013

Dear Students & Parents,

Here is the link to the pdf which has the information regarding the expectations of your novel project:
Independent Novel Project Info

The information is also listed below:

Independent Novel Project

May, 2013

Each student is to select a novel (chapter book) to read between now & May 31. Students may finish the novel project as quickly as they wish, as long as they have asked for my permission to use the book for this project. Students are expected to be reading their novels during silent reading time and using any free time in the school day to be reading or working on their selected reading response (outlined below). 

All novel projects are due on or before May 31.

Students are to complete a formal book report as outlined on next page and also choose one of the following ways to follow-up their reading of their novel. Students are encouraged to be referring to this outline as they are reading so that they can be making notes, jotting ideas and deciding which follow-up best suits their book.

Formal Book Report Format

Every written book report will need to follow these guidelines:

1.  You will need to have a title page with the title of the book, the author of the book, the publisher's name, your name and the date.

2.  You will need to describe the setting in detail. Describe how the setting changes the mood of the story.  This section needs to be labeled "Setting" and should be about five lines in length.

3.  Who are the main characters in your story? Describe at least three people who make a difference in how the story evolves. This section needs to be labeled "Main Characters" and should be at least six lines long.

4.  What is the climax in the story? What event happened that changed the way the story ended? Sometimes there are several climaxes. Choose the one that is the most important to you. Describe what happened in detail. This section needs to be labeled "Climax" and should be approximately 6-10 lines long.

5.  In every book there is a moral to the story, or a lesson that the author wants you to learn. What is the lesson in this book? Think about this. Sometimes it is very subtle. This section needs to be labeled "Moral of the Story" and should be about five lines long.

6.  What did you think of this book? Did you enjoy it or not? Why? Label this section "My Opinion" and be specific in your reasons why you did or did not like the book. This should be about four lines long.

7.  Write a ½ page summary of the book, labeled “Summary”.  Include the problem, but not the ending.  Example:

 This magical adventure is about a boy struggling to learn all he can while he solves life-changing mysteries.  The main struggle is good against evil, and the boy has his friends and some of his teachers to help, but mainly is on his own.  The setting, Hogwarts School, is extremely important to the development and understanding of the story, while adding to the sense of adventure and mystery.  A lot of the events that happen here are impossible in the ‘real’ world, but the bonds shared between the main character and some of his friends, are very realistic.  Read this book and you will be routing for Harry to be victorious in his struggle against Voldemort, to save himself as well as the world.  

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Novel Follow-up Project Ideas:                      Choose one (1).

1)      Write a poem about the book, one character in it, or some other aspect of the book. The poem must be at least 16 lines long, but does not have to rhyme. Orally present the poem to the class.

2)      Make a poster that relates to the novel on poster size paper (11X17). Share the poster with the class.

3)      Write a 1+ page in-depth report on a character in the book. (What traits does the character have? What motivates the character? Is he/she well developed by the author? Do you agree /disagree with the way the character handled events in the book? Why? Would you like to meet the character? Why? Etc.) Orally present the character report to the class.

4)      Write a 1+ page “review” of the book for a newspaper or magazine. Orally present your review to the class.

5)      Write a 1+ page biography on the author of the book. Include a list of other works written by that author. Orally present the biography.

6)      Write 3 new titles for the book. Write 1+ paragraphs (5-8 sentences) supporting each new title. Orally present your new titles paper to the class.

7)      Imagine that you are one of the main characters. Write a diary account of daily thoughts and activities for 2+ weeks (14 days) in the life of your character. Orally present your diary to the class.

8)      Construct a pictorial time line that summarizes what happens in the story. Orally present the time line to the class.

9)      Select parts from the story that were the funniest, saddest, happiest, most unbelievable, most frightening, etc. and write a 1+ page paper explaining and supporting your choices. Pick at least three parts. Orally present the “choices paper”.

10)   Dress like a character in the book and read excerpts from the book to portray that character or act out parts of the book as the character.

11)   Locate phrases in the book that appeal to the 5 senses—hear, smell, touch, taste, see. You must have 2 phrases for each sense. Be sure to tell the page and paragraph of each example.

12)   Find 10-15 vocabulary words in the book that are new to you. Create a crossword puzzle using the words and their proper dictionary definitions. Present the crossword puzzle to the class. 

David Kawapit's Journey of Nishiyuu

I (Dawn, the teacher) was at an in-service in Halifax when I saw the news clip speaking of David Kawapit and his journey from Northern Quebec to Ottawa. I was moved to tears as this quiet, shy, big-smiling Cree boy reminded me so much of a student in our class. I immediately knew that his story would resonate with my students.

We had talked about Idle No More before in class; it was a very abstract concept for many. David's journey seemed like a more tangible connection to the message of Idle No More. So, I had them look through newspaper articles covering David's journey. The questioned how fair his treatment was as he reached the Peace Tower in Ottawa. They spoke of his commitment, how he is an inspiration. They looked at his route on Google Earth and Google maps, marveling at the distance. Then they dug deeper into his story; each group being responsible for an aspect of the "underlying" story.

Here are their snippets of the background story.
Here is the work they are so proud of!

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Please share David's story through our eyes.
Please be inspired.
And if you can make this post reach David Kawapit, please share it with him.

-- Grade 5/6 class

Black History Month in Gr. 5/6

We've started reading through stories as part of Black history month.
Here's today's response about our book:
Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged
(Listen here for an audio clip about her  experience & words from her sister, Wanda Robson.)

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Charlotte's Web -- Thoughts on Wilbur & the Characters

A Character Map




Thoughts on Wilbur




-- Both created by Rankin's Grade 2/3 & 5/6 Reading Buddies
(Thanks to Kalen & Emma for leading the groups in creating the walls!)

Global Read Aloud :: Charlotte's Web :: Reading Buddies Grade 2/3 and Grade 5/6

This year we have paired up with Mr. MacKenzie's grade 2/3 class for Reading Buddies. As a kick-off to our year, we have signed up for the Global Read Aloud project reading Charlotte's Web. Here are some Vokis some of the buddies created about our thoughts on Charlotte's Web so far.

::::::::: Much thanks to Ms. Dugas for getting everyone used to using Voki! :::::::

Please use these links to get to each students' Voki:

Kaisa'n's Thoughts:

  Kaisa'n's Thoughts Click Here

Brenley's Thoughts

Celine's Thoughts

Chelsea's Thoughts

Joshua's Thoughts 

Robert's Thoughts

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!

We're baaaaaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkk!

As students entered the classroom last week, they were greeted with the traditional "Welcome Back" message.

Things have been going smoothly; the grade 5/6 class have been considered wonderful role models for many in the elementary wing on many occasions the past week. (YAY!)

Speaking of role models, tomorrow we have our first Reading Buddies session with Mr. MacKenzie's grade 2/3 class. We're starting reading buddies this week as a way to gear up for the Global Read Aloud Project coming up in October. As part of reading buddies, our classes will be reading Charlotte's Web, while in our own language arts time, we'll be reading The One and Only Ivan.  (Watch the video... it has us "sad, but excitedly curious"!)

And finally, we held our student council representative election in our class where 6 brave grade sixes accepted the nominations and challenge to prepare a speech outlining their reasons for wanting to be class rep. The speeches were definitely some of the most inspiring, heartfelt and humorous speeches I've ever heard! Congrats on jobs well done, guys! Once the votes were tallied, the elected class rep was...

Emily!

 Congratulations, Emily! We hope you work to keep us informed!

Hana's Suitcase

As part of our exploration of the Holocaust, we have been reading the book "Hana's Suitcase" by Karen Levine in class. This read-aloud activity has bolstered much anticipation and eager excitement in our class.

One of the journal writings students could choose to do had the students reflect upon why Fumiko's student group in Japan called themselves "Small Wings":

“Small Wings”

by: Tyler 

I think Fumiko’s students are called small wings because they are like baby birds -- they are learning how to fly well in this case they are learning all about Hana’s suitcase.

Kind of like their wings are small they are  trying to grow their wings and as they slowly grow their wings the more they learn about Hana’s suitcase that’s why I think their group is called small wings.

But right now their wings are small because they don’t know too much about Hana’s suitcase that’s why they have so called small wings. And because they are young when they learn more about Hana’s suitcase they won’t be called “small wings” anymore they will be mid wings such as medium sized wings and when they finish they will be called something like big wings well that’s my theory about why I think their Fumiko’s students group is called small wings.    

SMALL WINGs

by: Kalen

 I think they called their group Small Wings because they were not very strong compared to Hitler and they weren’t as powerful as him. 

Small Wings

by: Jessie Helen

        I think Fumiko’s students named their group ‘SMALL WINGS’ because when you were Jewish you didn’t have much room to fly around.

         If I was Jewish I wouldn’t be able to go to school, go to the play ground, go to the store, or even go outside. If you wanted to go outside and were Jewish you would have to wear a star on your coat indicating that you were a Jew.
          I think ‘SMALL WINGS’ was a good name for their club because those two words explain Hana completely. It just sounds like what she was going through, she had no room to do anything what so ever.   

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the Narrows

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the N - slide show

Grades Pr-6. Every week. Enjoy.

First day, first post of a new year!

Welcome back to school!
What could we have done that was blog-worthy on the very first day of school?


Today we got into the routine of our silent reading time each day. As a follow-up to our silent reading (where you could hear a pin drop, and students were asking for more time to read!) our crazy teacher handed out baggies that contained play-doh, a pencil, a piece of lined paper and a piece of unlined paper. We were given a number and if we had the number 1, we had to write about what we read:

If we were given the number 2, we had to draw what we were reading about:

And finally, if we were given the number 3, then we had to create something that showed what we were reading about:

And, as their teacher, I just have to say... these kids are impressive! LOL! Right from the first day!

Hope you all enjoyed the day! Welcome Back!

Can't judge a book by its cover, they say...

... but here are our covers!

Here are the books we're reading independently to end this term: