Introducing Edmodo and Out of My Mind

Hello,

This morning the students were introduced to our Global Read Aloud novel - Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.

The students logged into the group I created on Edmodo and posted predictions about the book. I will invite the students to post comments and answer questions as we read. I will moderate and approve each response before it is posted on our discussion group.

While we had the netbooks, the students also had the opportunity to work on their editing of the recount paragraphs and their comic strips. The good copies for both of these activities should be completed by the end of the week.

In Math, we corrected the multiple choice section of the Math Practice test. We started to correct the open response questions, but we ran out of time. We will continue our correcting tomorrow and work on some more practice questions to get ready for our test on Wednesday. I was working on some problems after school today for you to solve in the morning and I think I can provide solutions and explanations that will clear up any confusion regarding the growing pattern questions today.

Have a good evening.

Mr. Skinner

Variables and Graphs

This morning we shared and solved our variable questions. We also began to graph some of our patterning data, in line graph form.

Tomorrow we will begin to work on a review task that looks back on all that we have done during our patterning unit.

The students also completed their responses for the "Peacocks and Band-Aids" story. The students will use the netbooks to work on the good copies of their summer recounts and their comic strips on Friday morning.

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Working Together to Overcome Differences

Hello,

We just finished up another great session of after school basketball. Thanks to everyone that attended.

This morning we completed and corrected our Math work on pattern cores. Next, we began to explore variables, solving problems on our white boards, such as:

n + 8 = 20
n - 7 = 13
n x 3 = 18
n divided by 9 = 7

For each question they had to isolate n and find its value.

Tonight, the students have been asked to create a challenging question involving variables for their friend to solve tomorrow.

We also participated in an interesting group discussion with Mrs. Izsak's class as we talked about our experiences during the Alpha Beta game. We talked about how the groups were different and the barriers we had to overcome when we tried to join the other group. The main differences we found were language and cultural, but we talked about how we collaborated to overcome these obstacles and achieve success in the games.

Then our class read a story about different cultures and talents called "Peacocks and Band-Aids". The students started to answer comprehension questions about the main ideas and different characteristics of the story. They will wrap up their work on these questions tomorrow in class. It wasn't assigned for homework, but if anyone did bring the questions home they are welcome to work on them tonight.

Have a great evening. I look forward to seeing some challenging Math questions in the morning. You can even create variable word problems if you want!

Mr. Skinner 

Alphas, Meet Betas

Hello,

This morning we had a visit from Cathy Koss, the Children and Ministry Coordinator at Holy Redeemer Church. She discussed the theme of faith with the children and explored the idea that God was watching over all of us, as our guardian angel.

We also took books out from the school learning commons for the first time this year. Thanks to Chelsea and Natasha for helping the other students to check out our books.

Next, we took some time to examine the core of a pattern. The students were asked to complete questions 1 to 4 on the worksheet provided today.

Lastly, we played a very interesting game with Mrs. Izsak's class that explored cultural themes and communication issues. Two groups, the Alphas and the Betas, with very different assigned cultures and communication styles, had to attempt to interact successfully in their respective homelands. It was very interesting to see how the students worked together and the roadblocks and difficulties they faced along the way.

Both groups will be having a debrief session tomorrow to discuss how things went and how they feel this activity relates to real life. I'm looking forward to a fascinating discussion.

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

More 67's Tickets are Available!

 

Holy Redeemer has been given free tickets to more Ottawa 67's games through the Adopt A School Program thanks to our sponsor Capital Security & Investigations. The games dates are:

 Friday, September 27th (7:30pm)

Sunday, September 29 (2pm)

Sunday, October 6 (2pm)

Friday, October 11 (7:30pm)

Sunday, October 13 (2pm).

 If you would be interested in tickets for one of these games please send a note to school with your child.

 Please be sure to indicate your child's name, homeroom teacher, and the number of tickets you would like.

  A maximum of 4 tickets can be given per family.

 A draw for tickets will be made from all submitted requests. 

 Thanks very much!  Let's go 67's!

 

 

 

A Great Trip to the Library!

Good afternoon,

We had a great trip to the Ottawa Public Library - Hazeldean branch. We definitely got our exercise as we walked to the library and back to the school.

We also exercised our minds, as we learned about the many resources available at the library.

Every student who brought their library card, or who was given a new one, had an opportunity to take out one or two books. Remember that they have to be returned in three weeks.

Thanks so much to our volunteers that helped us out with the walk. It was a blessing that we were all able to go to the library. It was closed on the weekend, due to a leak in the roof from the heavy rain.

Thankfully, the library was open for business today and we could go on our tour.

Have a great evening. Enjoy reading all of your new books!

Mr. Skinner

Bring your Smiles!

Hello,

Tomorrow is Picture Day, so please remember to dress up and bring your nicest smiles! I would also really appreciate it if all permission slips and registration form for our trip to the library next Monday could be returned tomorrow. All parents who indicated they are available to volunteer are welcome to attend. We appreciate your help. I will call you tomorrow to confirm your attendance. Thanks again.

This morning we continued to work on our reading response strategies, with a focus on providing evidence and examples for our answers. The students read a story called "The Green Detective" and answered multiple choice and short answer questions in the blue language duotangs.

Next, in Math we continued to explore Input and Output patterns and discovered some interesting rules and patterns that helped us to solve the questions. Ask your child if they can explain how the multi-step Input/Output pattern works. Then we worked on changing sequence patterns. The students should be bringing home their worksheet if they didn't complete the questions during class time.

Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner  

Patterns, Patterns Everywhere!

Hello,

We just finished another great session of After School Basketball. Thanks to all of the Grade 6 students that participated.

This morning we worked on some Math patterning problems on the whiteboards to check for understanding. We went over some of the concepts from yesterday's Input/Output questions and the students are asked to complete any questions tonight that they left blank on Tuesday night.

We also examined changing sequence patterns. The students are asked to indicate the pattern and the next two numbers in each sequence in their Math notebooks.

1. 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, ___, __

2. 25, 22, 19, 16, ___, ___

3. 100, 80, 85, 65, 70, ____, ___

4. 25, 30, 40, 45, 55, ___, __

5. 17, 13, 19, 15, 21, __, __

In Language, we reviewed "The Answer Sandwich" method for making sure examples are provided for answers to reading response questions. The students are asked to review and edit their answers for the "Mountain Monsters" worksheets.

Students are also reminded to return their permission forms for next week's trip to the library. Thanks.

Have a good evening.

Mr. Skinner

At a Workshop Today

Hello,

I was at a workshop for resource teachers at the Board office today, so the Grade 6 students had a supply teacher.

I am sure everyone was very productive and worked hard on the assigned Language and Mathematics tasks.

If they didn't have time to complete the tasks, the students are expected to complete the "Mountain Monsters" story responses in their blue language duotangs.

They also need to complete the patterning Jump Math worksheet in their black Math duotangs.

If class time was used wisely, there should not be that much homework for the students to work on.

Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

Save the World with your patterning skills

Hello,

This morning the students worked with me to edit their Summer recount paragraphs on Google Drive. I gave them feedback on how they can improve their work and they have been asked to make changes before they continue to work on the Bitstrip that will accompany the paragraph.

I will continue to edit the paragraphs tonight, so check your Google Drive to see if I have provided some new feedback on your work.

In Religion, we created name tags that will be used in a display that will stress the importance of our name and how we all have an important role to play in the group that is our class.

In Math, we corrected our work from last week and played a fun game that allowed us to help save the world by using our patterning skills. The students did very well and helped to thwart the evil forces.

If you would like to give it a try with them, try the game at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/number_patterns/play/popup.shtml

After you play the game and save the world, solve this question too.

Tyler collects coins each day. He collects 3 coins on Day 1. The number of coins he collects each day is double the number of coins he collected the day before. On what day will Tyler collect exactly 96 coins?

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

Recycling and 67's tickets!

Here is some interesting information I have been asked to post on my blog, to help spread the word:

1. Ottawa 67's Home Opener - Free Tickets

The school has been given the opportunity to distribute free tickets to this Friday's home opener of the Ottawa 67's at the Canadian Tire Centre. Game time is 7:30 pm. 

If you are interested in receiving tickets, please send a note to school with your child. Please be sure to include your child's name, their homeroom teacher and the number of tickets you would like to have. Tickets will be distributed on a first come-first served basis. 

Thanks very much to the Ottawa 67's for this opportunity!

2. Do you know what we collect at Holy Redeemer?

Holy Redeemer is proud to be a Silver Eco School this year! Each day we collect a variety of items that in addition to helping care for the environment, also assist various charities and social justice projects. Should you have any of the following items, please send them in.  There are collection containers just inside the front entrance of the school. 
1. used batteries including rechargeable and button cell batteries (for responsible recycling)
2. used ink cartridges (for responsible recycling)
3. outer milk bags (to make plarn used in sleeping mats for developing countries)
4. pop can tabs (to assist various charities)
5. egg cartons (to assist an Ottawa food bank in distributing donated eggs to clients)

Have a great day. My usual daily recap will be posted this afternoon.

Mr. Skinner

Bitstrips for Schools

Hello,

This morning we continued to explore patterning. We discussed our previous work solutions and completed some new practice questions in our notebooks. If the questions were not finished, students are expected to work on 6 (a, b, c) and 7-8.

For an extra Math challenge, solve this question:

Ten students in our classroom all shake hands with each other once. How many total handshakes will there be?

During second block we worked on the netbooks. We explored a site called Bitstrips for Schools.

The students created their own avatars and will be using the program to create comic strips that will illustrate the stories of their Summer recount paragraphs. The students are encouraged to continue to explore the site.

Have an amazing weekend!

Mr. Skinner

So Proud

Hello,

All of the students did an amazing job at today's Mass. We practised this morning and then took part in the Mass at 10:15. The students set a high standard for the other classes, as they did a great job with the readings and the songs. They also set a wonderful example by listening quietly throughout the entire Mass.

This morning we also completed the writing portion of our t-shirt assignment. The paragraph that explains the design was glued to the shirt and will be displayed on their desks for parents to see at Meet the Teacher night, tonight at 6:30.

We did not have enough time to work on the Math pattern problems this morning, so if anyone didn't get them done, it's your lucky day. We will correct them on Friday.

There is no new homework today. Just remember to bring in your pizza orders and if you are free tonight, stop by the school at 6:30.

Thanks for your great participation and effort so far this year, in the classroom, during Masses and even in the gym for after school basketball. We are off to a great start!

All the best.

Mr. Skinner

Bonus - optional task requested by some students:

In a hockey arena, the first row has 276 seats, the second row has 288 seats and the third row has 300 seats. Each row after this continues to increase by the same number. If the arena has a total of 6 rows, how many seats are in the arena?

Getting Ready for the Mass

Hello,

This morning we were preparing for Thursday's Mass. We read our parts and worked on a display for the gym. Each student who is reading a section for the Mass has a hard copy to bring home for practise time tonight. All parents are invited to attend the September Mass, which will be held on Thursday, at 10:15.

In Language, we continued to work on our paragraph writing. The students used the netbooks to type their descriptions of how the shirts they designed represent them. They will be displayed at tomorrow night's Meet the Teacher session at the school. If the students did not complete their paragraph during class time, they will be expected to finish it tonight.

Finally, the students shared their solutions for last night's problem solving questions. We had some discussions and did some re-teaching to help clear up any difficulties the students were having with the patterning questions.

Tonight, the students are asked to build on our solution to last night's final question and respond to the following in their Math Notebooks.

Now that we know that 18 people can sit at 4 tables pushed together and 22 people can sit at 5 tables pushed together, how many people can sit around 15 tables?

How many tables would be needed to seat 100 people?

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Another Busy Day

Hello,

This morning we worked on the netbooks and the students worked on their Summer recounts and their descriptions of how the shirts they created reflect their personalities.

We will continue to work on the shirt activity. The students are expected to have the Summer recount paragraph completed, so they can start working on the comic strip.

In Religion, we selected our roles for the Mass on Thursday. We will practise our parts tomorrow and I will give each reader a hard copy in the morning.

In Math, we continued to work on patterns. We explored term values and growing patterns. The students are asked to solve the following problems in their notebooks tonight. Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

1. Stella ran a 10 km race.

She ran the first kilometre in 5 minutes.

She got tired and slowed down, and each kilometre after that took 1 minute longer to run than the kilometre before.

How long did it take Stella to run the race?  Show your work.

2. Craig saves $12 each month from his paper route with the Kanata Kourier.

a) Write a pattern of numbers that shows the amount Craig saves in 1 to 4 months.

b) Write a pattern rule to calculate the amount he saves in any number of months.

c) Use your pattern rule to calculate the amount Craig saves in 10 months.

d) Craig wants to buy a new hockey jersey for $100. For how many months does he need to save? Show your work.

3. Mr. Skinner’s class  is getting ready for Meet the Teacher Night.

Six people can sit around one rectangular table.

When two tables are pushed together, 10 people can be seated.

When three tables are pushed together, 14 people can be seated.

How many people can sit around 4 tables? How many people can sit around 5 tables? Show your work.

Shirts That Represent Us

Hello,

This morning we shared our solutions to Math problem I posted on the blog this weekend. I was very happy with the discussions the students had and the explanations provided for their thinking.

Ask your child what the correct answer is to ensure they can explain their thinking independently.

We also worked on an introductory lesson to patterns on the SmartBoard this morning. We had great participation. Everyone was involved. The students solved a variety of patterning questions and they will create their own question Tuesday morning for a partner to solve.

During second block we collaborated with the other Grade 6 class. The students cut out pictures and words from magazines that they felt represented them and glued the items on a shirt cut-out that will be displayed in the classroom. The students worked hard and had a lot of fun searching for the perfect pictures to represent who they are.

https://twitter.com/MsKimIzsak/status/377082360308563968/photo/1

We will be working on a writing activity that connects to this task on the netbooks tomorrow. We will also continue our work on our Summer retell paragraphs that we started last week. It will be a busy Language block as we will be working on two writing tasks, as well as putting the finishing touches on our shirts. It is recommended that each student takes some time to review and edit their recount paragraph on Google Drive, so they are ready to move forward tomorrow.

Please return the student information sheets (Sept. 11) and the pizza order forms (Sept. 13) by the requested dates.

Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

Sample Math Question - Working out the kinks on the feed

Hello,

I wrote a post on Saturday, made changes to fix the feed, and subscribed, but I never received an e-mail, so I am trying to work out the problems before Monday.

Here is a question we started to tackle on Friday morning. Some groups were able to solve it and share their answers with me. See if you can solve it with your child before we discuss the question further on Monday.

Consider how 30 is written below as the product of prime numbers.

 

30 = 2 x 3 x 5 

 

Write 168 as the product of prime numbers.

 

Show your work.

Don't forget to bring in your magazines! Have a great Sunday!

Mr. Skinner

How We Learn

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Thanks to everyone who wore red on Friday. There are definitely a lot of you reading the Blog.

Several students told me there was an issue with the e-mail subscription option. I checked some of the coding and I think the issue is resolved now. Some of my old subscribers might have to sign up again, due to the changes to the feed.

If all else fails, you can always go directly to the Blog.

In the morning I shared a little bit of my personal story, and how God helped me through some difficult times after my birth, almost three months premature.

The students also did some sharing. They explained their choices and calculations for their Back to School shopping activity.

We also explored the different ways people learn, when we read a passage about Multiple Intelligences. The students completed a survey and created a graph to illustrate their learning strengths.

All students are asked to bring in any magazines they have for Monday. We will be working with the other Grade 6 class to make art that illustrates who they are.

See you on Monday!

Mr. Skinner

Hello Netbooks

Hello,

This morning we had access to the netbooks, so I had everyone sign on and make sure they could still access their school accounts and use Google Drive to share assignments with their teachers and peers.

Almost everyone was able to log in and access their Google account. I will be talking to the IT staff with the Board to make sure everyone can get online effectively.

Once the students accessed Google Drive I asked them to tell me a little bit about their Summer, in a paragraph or two, and share the file with me. I have been reading about some very interesting stuff. I wish I could have been there with you for some of the fun activities you described.

Next, we finished our Back to School Shopping activity. We posted them on the wall outside the class and we will present our work in the morning.

Finally, we started to work on Multiple Intelligences Surveys, to help discover the many different ways our students learn. We will finish this activity on Friday and create graphs with the data.

We were so busy working on our shopping activities that we didn't get a chance to write in our agendas today. Sorry about that.

Your only homework for today is to show the blog to your parents and return the Activity fees and the Parents as Partners forms.

Anyone can say that they read the blog with their parents, so here's a little test. I want everyone to wear something RED tomorrow - shirt, pants, shorts, socks, it doesn't matter what, just be sure to wear some red!

Have a great night!

Mr. Skinner

A Great Start!

Hello,

The first two mornings with our Grade 6 class have been amazing! All of the students have been working very hard. They have created a very positive working environment.

So far, we have been discussing what we can do to make this a successful year. We have also talked about the importance of getting an education and always giving your best effort.

The students got to know a little bit about each other's interests by playing a game of Autograph Bingo, they let me know what their goals are for this year on an information sheet, and they met with Mrs. Campbell today at an assembly, where she talked to the Grade 6 students about being positive leaders in the school.

In Math, we are working on a back to school activity. In groups of three, the students are using advertising inserts to conduct some back to school shopping. They are deciding what they need to buy, where they should make their purchases, and how much they will need to spend. They are displaying their calculations on chart paper. I have been very impressed with the effort the students have given while working on this activity. We will be wrapping up this activity on Thursday.

Thanks to everyone who has returned their activity fees and Parents as Partners forms. If they could all be returned over the next week that would be fantastic!

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to Holy Redeemer! I hope you're ready for an amazing year, full of fun and excitement!

It is my pleasure to be teaching your child this year. I look forward to working closely with you and getting to know your child.

I will be teaching a Grade 6 class this year. In the morning, I will be teaching Language, Mathematics and Religion.

In the afternoon, some students will be switching classrooms for French immersion instruction with Mme. Helbecque and others will be working with Mrs. Izsak and Mme. Goold.

As we begin a new school year, it is important to establish routines right from the start. Please encourage your child to discuss what has gone on at school each day. 

Each evening, students should read, study their math facts, and review new concepts at a quiet study area. The students should spend 50 to 60 minutes working on homework tasks each night.

Students will be asked to write assigned tasks in their agenda before the end of each day and I will also post assigned homework tasks on this site.
Although most school supplies will be given to your child, some items that would be beneficial throughout the year include:

• coloured pencils
• glue stick
• scissors
• ruler
• highlighter
• red and blue pens
• two tissue boxes
• calculator
• one three ring binder and dividers
• indoor shoes (non-marking soles)
• t-shirt, shorts for gym (preferably in a cloth bag)

 Your child has brought home a new agenda. We will use the agenda as one method of communication as the need arises. Please ask to see your child’s agenda every night and initial it. Your signature in the agenda assures us that there is daily communication between home and school.

Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation. 

Your Partner in Education,

Mr.Skinner