November Updates

I hope you had a great weekend and were able to spend some time with your families.  It looks like we are officially in winter mode!  I have a lot of information to share with you so put your feet up and have a read through my email!

Assessment Folders and Progress Reports

Students are bringing home their assessment folders today.  You will find assignments in various subjects that have been corrected in their folders.  Attached to the folder is a checklist of all of the assignments that students should be bringing home.  The purpose of this is to let you know how your child is doing.  Some of the rubrics for the assignments can be found in the students’ OneNote.  So if your child didn’t get a chance to print off the rubric, then you can have a look at the rubric in the online version of OneNote.  Please sign the checklist and have your child return the assessment folder by Friday.   At the end of next week, students will bring another set of assignments that have been corrected home and will follow the same procedure.  There are few assignments that I am hoping can be included on the first Progress Report and therefore, students may find they have a few more assignments that are due next week.  However, if students are using their class time well, then they should not be too swamped at home trying to finish the assignments.

Don’t forget to sign up on Conference Manager!  I look forward to seeing you at conferences.

How to Read the Rubrics

In Math, I have included what the students mark was on their assignment and then attached a rubric as to where they are at in the area of Not Yet, Beginning, Meeting or Enriched Understanding when it comes to the outcomes.  This is more difficult to do in ELA and some of the other subjects to give a specific mark. So you will notice that there is no “out of” mark on their ELA assignments but it will show how they did on that particular outcome.  For example, they may have got an M in one outcome, an M in another outcome and then a B in the third outcome for that particular assignment.  Each outcome has been entered separately into the progress report.  More explanation of this can occur at Student Involved Conferences.

ELA

We are currently doing our first persuasive essay.  This is a formative assessment in that it will help me understand where students are at in their writing and what we need to work on.  Last week students learned what a persuasive essay is. They had the weekend to come up with a persuasive topic.  Today they started researching their topic.  We will be using the rest of our ELA classes this week to complete the essay as it needs to be done in class to get a true representation of where the students are at in their writing.

Next week we will begin our new unit on Greek Mythology.  Students usually love this unit as it explores the creative aspect of writing and representing.  A couple of favorite projects include creating Pandora’s Box and creating a Mythological Beast.  Students are introduced to graphic novels in this unit.

Math

We are finishing Unit 3 on Pythagorean Theory.  This is one of my favorite units because it dives into formulas and applies math concepts to the real world.  Students will be having their math test next Wednesday. Our next unit is on Understanding Percentages. 

Agribition

Each year in November, we have the opportunity to attend Agribition with our Kindergarten buddies.  We will be going to Agribition on Tuesday, November 21^st for the whole day.  Students do not need to be at school for the regular school day and we will return for 3:35 pm.  Students will need to bring a bagged lunch for this day.  Most likely students will want to wear “clothing” that they are okay with getting a little smelly and dirty.  This is such a great day for the grade eights.  They get to be leaders for their kindergarten buddies as well as learn about an important part of Saskatchewan’s economy.  I am very conscientious about ensuring that curriculum outcomes are taught and I’ve been able to find connections to our Science unit on Water Systems on Earth so it will definitely include a day of learning for these students.

I think that covers everything so far for this month. Don’t forget to check out “The Important Dates” in the blog for the events happening this month.