Pumpkin Cup Winners!

Hello,

Some lucky students will be bringing home the jack-o-lanterns we carved yesterday, after completing a quiz activity on place value.

I asked a variety of questions, which the students answered on the white boards. The students were rewarded for getting the most correct answers. Some were also rewarded for their enthusiastic and creative participation in the activity. It was definitely a lot of fun.

Earlier in the morning, the students continued to work on their Jonas Salk posters and traded cards. I'm sure Mr. Salk would have been impressed by your efforts. The finished products will be due by the end of the day Monday. There is no homework this weekend, except to have fun and be safe tonight. Please don't make yourself sick by eating all of your candy in one night.

Thanks to everyone who brought in Halloween treats for the class today.

Please remember to book your interview times with me, by using the link below:

Mr. Skinner - Interview Times

Click on Mr. Skinner, or Mme Helbecque and Mr. Skinner, depending on whether your child is in the Extended French program or the Immersion French program in the afternoon. Then, you can select from the available times.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Mr. Skinner

See You Tonight!

Hello,

I hope to see everyone at the Halloween Family Fun Night, tonight from 6-8 PM.

You will be able to see the amazing Jack-o-lanterns that the Grade 6 students created today.

There will be dancing, crafts and costumes. It should be a lot of fun!

See you there!

Mr. Skinner

A Nice Note

Hello,

It's so nice to return to school after a workshop and read such a nice note from the supply teacher, saying that everyone was very productive and worked well on their assigned tasks.

I look forward to seeing your tributes to Jonas Salk tomorrow and Friday, when we work on them again.

Bring your creative ideas tomorrow, and don't wear any new clothes. We will be carving the pumpkins and I don't want you to get pumpkin guts on any new shirts or pants.

See you tomorrow. Thanks again for showing others what a great group you are, it's wonderful to get the chance to work with you guys each day!

Mr. Skinner

Exciting Days Ahead!

Hello,

First, let me say that I was very proud of the effort given by the students during their Math test today. They worked very hard and I look forward to examining their progress over the next few days. A few students were absent today, and I will not be at school tomorrow, as I will be attending a workshop at the Board Office, so everyone should have the test completed by the end of the week. My goal is to have them marked and returned to the students by early next week.

Those students who finished the test early, had the chance to start researching for a special task the students will be working on tomorrow.

As noted on the Google search page, today would have been Dr. Jonas Salk's 100th birthday. He has been mentioned in The Fourteenth Goldfish for his incredible scientific discoveries. Tomorrow, we will celebrate him by doing research on the Chromebooks, then creating our choice of posters, birthday cards, or trading cards, which trumpet his accomplishments. The cards and posters can be created on the chromebooks or with paper, markers and pencils.

Then, on Thursday morning, we will be carving pumpkins for the Halloween Family Fun Night!

It should be a very interesting week!

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner

Study, study, study

Hello,

First, a reminder for everyone to study for Tuesday's Math test. We completed our Google slides Math group task today, getting ready for the test though discussions and calculations. Remember that each pair is required to have completed two out of the three questions, in class or for homework.

In Language, we finished our character trait activity, where groups of three brainstormed a list of traits about their chosen character from "The Fourteenth Goldfish" and included examples from the novel to illustrate these traits. The students will be presenting these lists to the class, later this week. We also continued to read the novel, stopping throughout the two chapters to discuss the events that were occurring and to make predictions about what we thought would happen next.

Finally, a reminder to bring in your popcorn order forms. I am sorry that I was late handing them out, but if you bring them in on Tuesday or Wednesday, the order forms will still be accepted.

Have a wonderful evening.

Mr. Skinner

Exploring Twitter

Hello,

This morning we were using the Chromebooks to explore Twitter. We searched #GRAgoldfish and found a variety of questions and comments about the book, from classes across North America. The students tweeted questions and comments, using my school account, and they were very excited to have the chance to connect with many different classes. We look forward to receiving some responses. My Twitter account is @MrSkinnerocsb

In Math, we continued to work on problem solving questions involving factors and multiples, while using the white boards. There is no new homework tonight, so it would be a good idea for the students to read a book of their choice, and to begin reviewing for next week's Math test. They will need to review prime and composite numbers, factors (GCF), multiples (LCM), differences and sums, three digit by one digit multiplication, and two digit by two digit multiplication.

Have a good evening.

Mr. Skinner

Sending Questions to the Author

Hello,

This morning, we did some work with multiples and factors on the white boards, to ensure that everyone has a solid understanding of the concepts. We are nearing the end of the unit and we will be doing an evaluation task next week.

In Language, we submitted our entries for the Meaning of Home contest. Each explanatory piece that was entered, raised five dollars for Habitat for Humanity and will help to build a house for someone in need.

Then, we posted our questions for the author and a character of our choice, from the Fourteenth Goldfish. We looked at the questions on our padlet wall and selected some of our favourite questions to send to the author, Ms. Holm, via twitter. I will send them tonight and hopefully she will answer us.

Keep bringing your litterless lunches, and don't forget that picture re-take day is this Friday.

I hope everyone is home safe and sound tonight and is able to give their children extra big hugs tonight.

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Math Inquiry

Hello,

This morning, the students worked in partners on a math inquiry problem about spinners and whether they were fair. If any students pull out a spinner to settle an argument with one of their siblings, beware, the results might be rigged in their favour. Then we corrected the Math inquiry work we did yesterday on the Chrome Books. The students completed a variety of questions, involving factors and multiples, on a Google presentation. There were a few small issues, as a slide or two was deleted and then recovered, but it was a rewarding process and we will be doing it again, later this week.

In Language, we are continuing to work on our Meaning of Home explanatory. At this point, the rough draft should be completed, edited and shared with me. We will be making our final revisions tomorrow.

We are also continuing to read our novel, "The Fourteenth Goldfish". It is a very interesting novel, with many twists and turns. Tonight the students are asked to submit four questions to me in a Google Doc (if that is not possible, write the questions in your black Language duo-tang). Each student needs to think of two questions for the author and two questions for a character in the book, and explain their reasoning for wanting to ask these questions.

Remember to keep bringing in litter-free lunches.

Have a great night.

Mr. Skinner

Congrats!

Hello,

The students didn't let a little rain get them down. They raised a lot of money and showed great spirit during the Walk-a-thon, so much spirit, in fact, that they won a pizza party for later in the year!

The Walk-a-thon dominated our morning activities, but we did have some time to go over two digit by two digit multiplication. The students are reminded that they are expected to complete both sides of the worksheet for two digit by two digit multiplication.

As well, please make sure to have your home explanatory outline completed, so that we can work on the rough draft in the morning.

Have a great evening. Go Sens Go!

Mr. Skinner

Meaning of Home Outline and Walk-a-Thon

Hello,

This morning we used the netbooks to begin our outlines for our Meaning of Home explanatory writing pieces. Please make sure to have the outline completed for Friday, so we can begin to work on our rough drafts.

Please refer to the sample outline that we worked on in class and complete your own outline for Friday. I will be available at lunch recess on Thursday, if anyone wants some help with this task.

Home explanatory outline sample

In Math, we continued to discuss multiples and two digit and three digit numbers multiplied by one digit numbers.

Tomorrow, we will discuss the process of multiplying two digit numbers by two digit numbers and there will be some questions assigned for homework. If you want to get ahead, you can work on these questions tonight as well.

The big task for tomorrow is getting everything prepared for the Walk-a-thon. Please make sure to bring in any funds you have raised, your 70's rocker or disco costumes, and make sure to practice, and hopefully memorize our class song tonight.

To the tune of Stayin' Alive, here are parts from Conrad's version, and Claire's version, as voted by you. I will also share the song in the students' google drives.

WALK-A-THON

Well, you can tell by the way we use our walk,
We're going to a Walk-a-thon.
We are loud and dressed up warm,
We've been doing this since we were born.

And now it's all good, it's OK,
Skinner's class looks cool, you say.
You can try to understand,
The Redeemer effect on man.

Whether you like disco or whether you're a rocker,
You're in a Walk-a-thon, walk-a-thon.

Feel the school spirit and everybody's dancing,
It's a Walk-a-thon, walk-a-thon.

Wa-wa-wa-wa-Walk-a-thon, Walk-a-thon.
Wa-wa-wa-wa-Walk-a-thon. Walk-a-thon.

Redeemer Rockets,
We're going to blast off,
Back to the 70s yeah!

Have fun practicing the song!

Mr. Skinner

Writing our Songs and Cheers!

Hello,

This morning we worked on our multiplication skills and our cheers and songs for the Walk-a-thon on Thursday morning.

First, we worked on two digit by one digit multiplication, then three digit by one digit multiplication. The students were given two double sided worksheets and they are expected to have both sides of first sheet completed for homework. Most students completed the first side in class and are well on their way to finishing the second side of the first worksheet.

Next, we discussed our costumes for the Walk-a-thon. Hopefully everyone can find clothes that will transform them into a 70's rock star, or a 70's disco dancer.

Finally, we began to work on our cheers and songs for our theme. Each student is asked to write new lyrics to a 70's song that relate to the Walk-a-thon and our school. Remember, your version should be at least 10 lines and 30 seconds long. We will share the songs in the morning and vote on our favourite versions, which we will use on Thursday morning.

The songs we decided to re-write are:

Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees

Dancing Queen by Abba

Cat's in the Cradle

You can also use another 70's song of your choice for our chants. Be creative and have fun with it!

Also, don't forget to bring in your donations for the Walk-a-thon, so you can be included in tomorrow's prize draw. You can join Ive as a lucky winner!

Have a great night! I can't wait to hear your new versions of the songs.

Mr. Skinner

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

I just wanted to send a quick reminder about a few things.

Please remember to look for any 70s style clothing for our Walk-a-thon theme. We need to know how much clothing we have, on Tuesday, to ensure that we have enough for everyone.

Also, please remember to have the Peacocks and Band-Aids questions completed and ready to hand in on Tuesday.

Finally, don't forget to give thanks for everything we have, and to think about what home means to you, as we will begin our explanatory writing pieces about home, next week for the "Meaning of Home" contest.

Meaning of Home Contest

Have a great weekend!

Mr. Skinner

Peacocks and Band-Aids

Hello,

This morning we re-read and discussed the story that the students read independently on Friday, "Peacocks and Band-Aids". Some of the students were confused by the story, but I think we cleared up any misconceptions during our discussion.

The students are asked to complete the questions that were assigned on Friday, for homework tonight. If you're eating dinner together tonight, ask your child to summarize the story, to help check for understanding.

Next, we read another chapter from "The Fourteenth Goldfish" and discussed our posts, and the reasoning behind them, on the padlet wall.

Finally, we discussed any issues the students were having with their "multiples" work. Tomorrow, we will be working with partners to create multiple and factors questions that will challenge and engage other teams of two. It should be a fun block of Math problems.

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

The Fourteenth Goldfish Padlet

Hello,

This morning, we completed our Math conferencing for any students who wanted to display a greater level of understanding of patterning.

While I conducted conferences, the rest of the students worked on the "Multiples" worksheet that was handed out on Friday. This task is for homework tonight.

Next, the students started to work on padlet, by posting their responses to the three Math questions I posted on the blog last week.

Then, while I continued to read our novel, "The Fourteenth Goldfish" to the students, they were asked to post their thoughts, questions and comments about our novel, using padlet. Some of the students even posted photos that connected to what we were reading in the novel.

Tonight, the students are asked to revisit their posted padlet work and reflect on it in their black language duotang. The students are asked to write one to two paragraphs explaining the reasons behind their posts, such as what made them think about the questions, photos and comments they posted.

http://padlet.com/craig_skinner/c1y86w3rp8e8

Thanks. Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Math Tests Returned

Hello,

This morning I returned the Math tests to the students. I talked to each student about their performance and indicated if there were any questions I would like to go over in a student-led conference. Please sign and return these tests. There are six students who will receive their evaluated tests tomorrow. I ran out of time during the block to go over the tests with these students and I didn't have an opportunity to give them feedback this afternoon, as I was dealing with various issues in the school in my role as Principal Designate. Sorry for any inconvenience.

In Math, we finished our corrections and discussions of factors and prime and composite numbers, by correcting the worksheets and the three questions that were posted on the blog tonight.

For homework, the students should make sure they have the mental math worksheet completed. They should also answer the following questions:

1. Training for a cross country race, Austin runs every 3 days, Emma runs every 5 days and Gina runs every six days. Today they all run together. How many days later will they run together again?

2. How many prime numbers are there between 1 and 100?

3. What number(s) between 1 and 100 has/have exactly seven factors? What are the factors for the number(s)? 

In Language, the students finished their reading responses for the "Smallmouth on the Fly" story. The multiple choice and short answer questions should be completed for homework, if they were not completed in class.

Have a great evening.

Mr. Skinner

Babysitter Connections

Hello,

This morning we read several chapters of our Global Read Aloud Novel, "The Fourteenth Goldfish." We learned more about the grandfather and that he would be the new babysitter.

The students were asked to write a half page about whether they think he will make a good babysitter, while making personal connections to explain their choice. Most students completed this work in class, but it was assigned for homework.

Next, each group presented their "Three Monks, No Water" summaries. They were given feedback on eye contact, voice projection, style and content.

In Math, we continued to examine prime and composite numbers, as well as factors. We had some great discussion in class about our strategies and understanding of the concepts.

Tonight, the students are asked to complete the following questions:

1. What are the factors of 100? Which of the factors of 100 are multiples of 5?

2. Find the DIFFERENCE between the first two multiples of 12.

3. Find the SUM of the first four multiples of 9.

Have a good night.

Mr. Skinner