Friday 25 November 2016

Hello, parents!

The students started their day off with Music. We then had our lesson 11 spelling test, as well as our math review for unit 4 (decimals). I have decided to push the math test to Tuesday (November 29th), which will give me one extra day for a full review. Based on the involvement of students in class discussions, as well as the results of their in-class textbook work, and homework results, I feel confident that the students will do great on their unit 4 math test!

In UOI, the students worked on their final summative projects. It has come to my attention that the outline for the assignment is slightly confusing regarding the written component expectations. With that being said, after talking it over with another teacher who has previously taught this lesson, she advised me to instruct students to only display the artifact information on their presentation boards. This will give the students the opportunity to orally deliver the other information pertaining to their chosen civilization. In other words, when students are presenting their civilization to the class, they can talk about the characteristics, the physical and social aspects, and the contributions their civilization has made towards our lives today. Therefore, since they are talking about those things, they won’t have to include them on their presentation board, which allows them to include the artifact information only.
Just to clarify what I’m looking for when it comes to the aspects in their civilizations:
1.       CHARACTERISTICS: any important and interesting information relating to that civilization’s government, religion, writing and art. They can also talk about the food they ate, the music they listened to, the clothes they wore, the beliefs they had, etc. The more information the better, so we can get a thorough understanding of their civilization.
2.       A)    The PHYSICAL aspects: the land type, the layout of the area, the major cities, the types of trees/ plants/ animals that were in that civilizations, and any type of significant landmarks that were important to the people.
B)      The SOCIAL aspects: anything relating to the people of the area, the foundation of their families, the jobs they had, the roles they played, information about their enemies (and why they were their enemies), etc.
3.       The CONTRIBUTIONS made towards our lives today: anything that was created or done in the chosen civilization that has played a role in shaping our lives in today’s society. How and why? (For example: a) the civilization might have used a specific knife while hunting, and today, we continue to use that knife, b) the civilization used to chant religious songs, and those songs are still sung in churches today, c) the civilization believed in a specific ritual when one passes away, and in some religions, those rituals are still carried out prior to burial. All of these are just examples, but the students should find at least one contribution, whether big or small.

The mentioned aspects will be verbally presented; however, the students can also include it onto their boards (including it on their boards is optional).

When it comes to the written component, this should be typed up and displayed on the poster board (Bristol Board). This will be about the artifact, and should include the following information:
a)       Explains what the artifact is
b)      Explains how the artifact is used
c)       Describes how old the artifact is
d)      Describes where the artifact was found (maps are helpful to display this information)
e)      Describes how this artifact has influenced our lives today. The relevance can be big, or small, depending on the artifact chosen. (e.g. People still use this artifact/ versions of this artifact, etc).

I hope all of this information was helpful. I tried to go over all of it with the students in class today, but in case they forget, at least this blog will contain the added information. I understand that this project has been quite rushed, and I apologize for the confusion. Hopefully it will be a fresh new start for all of us on Monday, when we start all of our new units! I’m looking forward to having full control from the beginning, rather than being tossed into things mid-unit. And on that note, I thank all of you for being so understanding during the passed two weeks.

Just a few important notes before I leave:
1.       Report cards were sent home today. Please be expecting them.
2.       UOI is due on Monday (November 28th).
3.       Students must read Chapter 9 in their novel study book (Percy Jackson).
4.       Unit 4 math test will be on Tuesday, November 29th.
5.       Parent-Teacher interview forms are due on Wednesday, November 30th.
6.       The Science Fair boards and projects can be taken home! Poster Boards left in the classroom by Friday, December 2nd will be thrown out. So please claim them!
7.       The Art Reach Workshop will be on Friday, December 2nd, from 12pm-2pm. Students who are on my list have made a note of it in their agenda.

I think that’s pretty much it for today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and feel free to contact me with any questions/ comments!

Ms. Ramnarine
Grade 5
St. Jude’s Academy


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