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.   

Haikus on a topic...

Horses are so cool,

In the sunshine where it's hot.

And horses love the heat.

=================

 I have five brothers.

They are annoying. 

They like to play games.

====================

Gillises are cool.

Better than what Dawn thinks.

Dawn is a dummy.

======================

Rain is wet and fun.

I like to roll in the mud

When it is super wet!

=======================

 Sophia Lillian

The cutest baby ever.

I love her so much!

=======================

 Mom's have so much style.

They are loving and caring.

They love us so much!

=======================

Hoodies are so warm.

And I like to wear them.

They are very cool.

=======================

Gaelic is so cool.

In Gaelic there are accents.

You would like it, too.

=======================

I have a sister.

She is a pain in the butt.

That's why we have them!

=======================

Rain made by water

Water is good for everybody

Its gonna rain water all day.

====================

You can play music.

You can play the piano.

Listen to music.

======================

I have a dirt bike.

My dirt bike goes very fast.

My bike gets dirty.

======================

They are physicists.

Penny is a bad waitress.

Ah hah! Bazinga!

======================

Cards are very fun.

I like card tricks very much.

I know cool card tricks.

=======================

Family is cool.

Family takes care of you.

Family is nice.

=======================

I am a nice aunt.

Olivia -- three months old

I love her so much.

=======================

Greg and Roderick

Hate each other very much.

Manny poops a lot.

=======================

Neve and Shayde are twins.

They share all of their birthdays.

Neve is the oldest.

======================

Guitars are awesome!

There are different guitars.

I play the guitar.

=======================

Ontario rocks!

Ontario is awesome.

Mississauga rocks!

========================

all poems created by Grade 5/6 students.

-all rights reserved-

Party Rockin'!

Here was our class's entry into our school's Spring Fling Talent Show!

*all participants were asked if they wished for this video to be posted on our class's blog

OUR VIDEO IS LIVE!!!! You Can Do It NOW!

Our video for the Energy Diet Challenge is now LIVE!!!!!!!!!! The video as it's seen on the Challenge website is below. We ask that you please go to http://energydiet.canadiangeographic.ca/home/video_gallery/379/ms-macdonald-gillis#the_title ,VIEW our video, then click the Facebook "LIKE" button at the bottom right. 

 OR you may.... Go to Facebook and:

1. Search for "Shell Canadian Geographic Energy Diet Challenge" 
2. "Like" the page.
3. Find our video "You Can Do It NOW!" by Rankin Grade 5/6 Class 
4. LIKE our video

(please and thank you very much) 

The likes for our video count for 25% of our total judging for the video contest. Voting opens to the public on April 2, 2012 at and will close on April 13, 2012 at 11:59:59 (Eastern Time. No votes will be accepted by any other means. All votes must be received on or before the Voting Deadline in order to count towards the results of the Video Contest.

  We would really like it if you commented here on our blog as well so we can get an idea of who's seeing our video!

GreenTeam Saves the Day

Here's the children's story book some members of our class submitted as part of our Energy Diet Challenge! Congratulations, girls!!!!!!!!!

Giving it up...

Giving up something we really like and use a lot isn't an easy task. Here's our journal entries on giving up one of our "wants" -- as part of one of Energy Diet Challenges

Drawing 3D figures and Exploring Volume

Remember that 3D means that the figure has 3 dimensions: length, width, height (or depth).
To find volume we multiply these dimensions:

volume = length x width x height

Here's tonight's homework, based on what we did in class today:

 If you need to review the online drawing we did in class today, you can click here.

Independent Novel Project Outline (for those who misplaced their's)

 Novel Project Due Dates:

#'s 1-7 due Friday, April 13th

#8 due in class sometime week 16-20

#9 due Monday, April 23rd

 Independent Novel Project: Term 3

You are going to be choosing a novel you would like to read, and explore.

The following project will be mostly completed at school. Reading will take place at home and at school, especially during our designated silent reading time. Time will be given in class to complete some of the written components, but not all.

To begin the project, you will select a novel from the library, classroom, or bookmobile and complete a mini conference with your teacher to ensure the book you have chosen is grade appropriate and challenging. Class time will be set aside for reading conferences where you and the teacher will meet, and the teacher will assess your reading fluency and interpretation of the novel.

Each task must be completed on a piece of loose leaf, and presented in an organized manner. Write in blue or black ink, one side only, double-spaced and note page numbers where supporting information can be found in the text. Please create a cover page for your project as well as a table of contents (label each assignment with the corresponding page number listed). Please be prepared for a final presentation of your project to your classmates. Your project must be put together in the following order:

 Tasks:

1. Give a brief summary of the plot. 1-2 full pages, tell the story. Include 2-5 of the main events and describe what happens at the end.

2. Explain the significance of the title (5-10 sentences). Authors do not choose a title randomly. Usually the title is symbolic in some way.

3. Describe the setting and genre – time period, location, etc. (5-10 sentences)

4. Discuss in 1 full page your ideas about the main character(s). Answer what you like or dislike about them and why they are worthy of praise and/or criticism.

5. In 1 full page, identify what caused a major change in the main character(s) and explain how the character(s) changed. These changes may have been a consequence of choice, a conflict, a display of some outstanding trait like courage, or even a result of events that occur during the novel.

6. In a journal style entry, copy 5 of your favourite phrase/sentences from the book and explain why you chose them.

7. Make up 5 true and false, 5 multiple choice and 5 matching test questions for this novel. Put the correct answers on a separate piece of paper.

8. In 1 full page write a general review of the book. Would you recommend the book? Why or why not? Would you have changed any element of the story (plot, characters, setting, resolution, conflicts, point of view, etc.)?

9. Select and complete 1 creative project that relate to and reflect the main points of your novel. Suggestions: book jacket, character scrap or memory book, theme or symbol collage, diorama, newspaper, character diary, character/scene sketch, menus from the text, comic or political cartoon, song, travel brochure, scene rewrite from a different point of view, movie poster with a cast of stars and justification of your choices, etc. Please run your ideas by me before you start.

 Your project’s assessment will include:

a) Selecting an appropriate novel.

b) Student/Teacher conferences.

c) Complete all of the tasks (some tasks have early due dates and will be shared as the term progresses). 

One Hour Without Power

When you are faced with an hour without power it can be boring, but you can always READ! If we were in 1860’s it would be really HARD because you wouldn’t have any power. Back then you would be making mittens or weeding the garden. I don’t know if I could even survive a DAY without power because we have TV’s, ovens and even computers. If I had to survive a day without power it would be REALLY HARD.

       For our hour without power in class, all we had to do was READ because we were in a small space. A larger outdoor space would allow us to do more activities like play tag. If we didn’t have any books it would be a long hour. With no power at home, all of our main course meals are made in the oven. We could always use the stove, but it would take longer than the oven. We would have to find other ways to cook our meals.

Anyway, I think we would be doing the earth some good if we cut back on the use of power every day! There are things we can do each day that don’t require power usage. Giving up power for one hour each day, is not a huge sacrifice; everyone should give it a try!

submitted by: Jessie Helen

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

A little game of "What is it?!"

We've been working on descriptive writing in class. I'm trying to get my students to have more creative confidence in their writing! I, nor their classmates, can't be giving them all their ideas all the time. So, I decided to try a "Pull an item from the bag, Hide it, Write about it" activity. It was kind of fun! Here are some examples of their very descriptive writing:

Fraction Practice!

We've been hard at work in our understanding of fractions. We've looked at how to make equivalent fractions and have also started exploring adding and subtracting fractions.

Here are some equivalent fractions links for practice:
http://www.mathplayground.com/visual_fractions.html
http://www.aaamath.com/fra42ax2.htm
http://www.mathsisfun.com/equivalent_fractions.html
http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/ff/index.asp

There is also this website which helps with all kinds of fraction concepts.

To review how to add fractions, you can explore these websites:
http://www.mathplayground.com/fractions_add.html
http://www.math.com/school/subject1/lessons/S1U4L3GL.html
http://www.mathsisfun.com/fractions_addition.html
http://www.aaamath.com/fra66kx2.htm

And, I was wondering... what fraction of our day was spent in awe looking at this today?!

Wow. We're lucky to have this view at our school!

Starting 2012 -- Fractions

Using www.linoit.com we created a word / concept map about fractions today!
Good for reviewing information!

Math Nifty-ness!

We've been working on 2-dimensional geometry in class for the past few weeks.
While working with angles, Richard came up with a cool little "animation" with his hands to represent right angles. This goes hand-in-hand (no pun intended) with the Math Lab we did on angles, as well.



Furthermore, when we were looking at the relationships among the angles in triangles, Riley came up with what we thought was a neat theory on how to calculate the missing angle in a triangle. We tested his theory many times and have proven it to be true of any triangle! Very cool!

We can make math pretty fun in here!

Prejudice Is Something We Can Do Without :: a poem by Rita Joe

Scroll through our thoughts on this poem by the famous Mi'kmaq poet, Rita Joe.

Our Skype Call with Students from Saskatchewan!

This morning we Skyped with a Book Club at a school in Regina, Saskatchewan. The students were grade 4,5 & 6 students. Shayde thought is was "interesting." Lainee thought it was "cool, fun and cool hearing everybody's thoughts." Sidney thought it was "awesome!"

Thank you, Mrs. McMurtry for setting up the Skype 'date' with us! We hope we can do it again sometime!

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the Narrows

Reading Buddies @ Rankin School of the N - slide show

Grades Pr-6. Every week. Enjoy.