Show me what you have…Tell me what you know! As I am discovering in our Writer’s Workshop unit, you all have many great memories and stories to share. Please have a look at the activity I have planned for you for homework over the next week. The final presentation is due on Monday the 8th of September.Show and Tell Task
Hi 5KP, I have enjoyed getting to know you over the first week of school this year. I feel like we have made a good solid start to the year and have gotten to know each other a little better. We have established some guidelines for behavioral expectations in the classroom and discussed what we like and dislike about school.
Your task now is to have a think about what YOU would do if you had been the teacher for this first week of school.
How would you have done things differently?
Would you have done some things the same way? What and why or why not?
How would you make new students feel welcome in our school?
What sort of ‘getting to know you’ activities would you have led?
What sort of homework would you have set?
After you have had a think about the above questions, go to the ‘comment’ section of this post, it is linked below in blue. Write down your answers to the questions in as much detail as you can, they should be in paragraph form. Over the weekend, check back on this post and see what your classmates have said in their comments. Try and have a discussion about what they have said by adding more comments to the post in reply to what your friends have said. Make sure you use their name in your comment if you are responding to something they have said.
Mr Howitt’s class have already done a similar activity so check out his blog by clicking on the link at the start of this sentence and you may have a better idea about what I mean.
I look forward to seeing your comments adding up to some interesting and thoughtful discussion. Remember, the whole world can see what you are writing so make sure you make a good impression the first time around and maintain a responsible attitude when you are posting.
Hello 5KP.
So that you can start thinking about all the different ways to use a blog, I am going to ask you a few questions to see how well you can find your way around my blog. It will involve you doing some reading and even more importantly some scanning through text to find specific information. There are 5 questions I want you to answer in the form of a comment you will write on my blog. Make sure you number each of your answers, you do not have to re-write the question.
So, here goes….
1. What date did I post my first entry on my blog?
2. Name the 5 girls that performed in the Minority Hat Dance.
3. Were you able to view the youtube ‘Quick Change’ video? If so, give me some ideas about how do you think they did it.
4. How old was Olive when she died?
5. Who were the best student bloggers in 5KP during October 2007?
There you go, take your time reading through the blog and checking out different links. The idea is for you to be able to find the answers to those questions and also to become familiar with my blog and some of the things you will be doing as a class this year.
Good Luck
Hi Parents
Just a quick note about homework, I don’t give a lot of it but I do expect what I set to be completed on time and to an appropriate standard. During this first week I am making a few exceptions as I try and establish some guidelines for the students to maintain throughout the year. I created the following document a couple of years ago and the principles are still relevant.
Homework is multi faceted and it is important to follow the steps we discuss in class which include…Listen… Write…Take…Complete…Bring. If one of these steps are missed out then homework is often counted as incomplete which can affect aspects of a student’s report card and overall success as a responsible learner.
We have happily started our Writers Workshop unit in our Language Arts classes this week. During the first quarter we will be using a variety of tools and stimuli to start creating a folio of ideas that we will draw on throughout the year. The idea is for the children to understand that they are all writers and they have many memories that they can write about. Then we will help them to go to a deeper level in their writing to extract more meaning and value from their work.
Go to our class flickr page to check out some of your children in the writing zone digging down deep to remember some of the special experiences they can draw from in their writing. We really have a great class of writers in 5KP, it is very exciting.
Izzy deep in thought…
Hello Parents
I have now made e mail contact with 15 parents, thank you for letting me know the appropriate way to keep in touch with you. I am attaching a notice from our Elementary Librarian, Mrs Barbara Boyer, regarding the opportunity for you to volunteer some of your time. (You may want to drag it to your desktop to open it.)
If you also felt you had some time to spare and wanted to be of assistance to your son/daughter as our classroom’s “room mother” (mum or mom depending on where you are from) then send me an e mail and we can discuss the role. It does not entail very much at the 5th grade level, mainly you are just a point person for co-ordinating a few events throughout the year. It can be as big or small a role as you and I decide to make it.
I am enjoying getting to know your child. They have minimal homework over these first few days but it will steadily increase to up to almost an hour a night from Monday through Thursday. Please check that your child is bringing home their school planner, organization is important to get right at this stage of the year.
Here is another copy of our classroom schedule for you to have and maybe print out and keep somewhere handy.
Bye for now
I was delighted this morning to meet 17 of my 18 new students that I hope to be teaching for the remainder of the school year. My class consists of 9 girls and 9 boys and although there were some first day nerves, we seem to already be getting on very well and gelling as a group.
Well done 5KP for making such a great start to the year.
Hi, we tiredly but happily arrived back in Shanghai on the evening of Tuesday the 29th of July. We were originally scheduled for the following week but decided to bring it forward as it was pretty cold back in Ballarat and we were itching to see our new Green Court apartment. We are not disappointed by our decision. We have had a terrific week back here and are feeling much more relaxed and ready to take on the next year of school.
The weather is fantastic right now and I am going to enjoy the second and final week of being back here and will then be ready to face my new class and colleagues. Hannah has been going off to ‘summer camp- a performing arts camp with the theme “Hannah Montana and Friends” every morning for a few hours this week and is extremely happy to be doing so, she is loving it and I can’t wait to see and hear her final performance tomorrow. Mimi is pretty grumpy unless I am giving her 100% of my attention so that has been trying on all of us. I am sure she is just picking up on the whole “Shanghai = ayi most days and not mum” thing and feeling a bit insecure so I am trying to give her love but the constant whinging is taking its toll. Simon is rapt to be back and is happily setting up his techy things all over the place and getting ready for the year ahead.
the barefoot librarian 