Irish Explorers

We continued working on speeches today. Many students need to get their speech letters signed by parents. Most have chosen their persuasive speech topic/issue. Today they worked on a preplanner where they generated 5 reasons for their opinion on their chosen topic/issue. They also generated 3 examples or evidences for each of their 5 reasons. They recorded these ideas in their Reasons and Examples Chart. Students who did not complete this chart are to complete it for homework today. It is due tomorrow. Students, please show your work to your parents for feedback.

Next we continued working on our Where we are in place and time inquiry unit. The class worked in groups to read about an Irish monk who may have traveled to the Americas before Columbus. The task was to find all needed information to complete the “Discovering America” chart. When we took up the work, we discovered that most students had not used their class time effectively and did not have evidence recorded in their charts. As a result, this work is being assigned as homework to allow students a second chance of completing this task successfully. This work is due tomorrow. Students are to add the Irish to their explorers timeline today.

We had more inquiry time at the end of the day. We began learning about Viking explorers. We watched most of a fascinating documentary about Erik the Red and Leif the Lucky. We paused the video and discussed points and recorded notes as we went in our “Discovering America” chart. We have about 5 minutes of the video to still watch. We will complete this in class tomorrow.

The inquiry unit test will be written on Monday, January 20^th. Students should study all work including Aboriginal perspectives on who first founded America, scientific theories such as the Beringia Land Bridge theory, Map work (continents and oceans), all explorers (Asians, Polynesians, Irish, Vikings and more).

Students attended music class with Mr. Oliver, French class with Mme. Stella and math class with Ms. Joseph. In math they took up the homework on stem and leaf plots. Students are reminded to arrange the numbers in a stem and leaf plot. They began working on line graphs today. A line graph is used to display data that changes over time. They discussed the parts of a line graph (title, labels, uniform scale). Students completed Q 1 from page 191 in class. For homework they are to complete Q 2 from page 191. This is due tomorrow.

The next Caribou contest will be taking place Wednesday, January 15^th. Arrive at 7:15 am for a 7:30 am start. Bring your own charged device. The interactive question will be FRUIT SALAD which you can practice now on Caribou’s games page. This is a new game. Students, please test it and let Caribou know of any problems. There is no history question in the January contest.

Crawford lake trip permission and waiver form as well as payment are due this Friday, January 10^th.

Do not order a hot lunch for the following dates:

-          January 16, 2020 – trip to Crawford Lake

-          January 22, 2020 – Ski & Snowboard trip

-          February 19, 2020 – Ski & snowboard trip

-          March 4, 2020 – Ski & snowboard trip

Parents, mark your calendars for next week’s MYP and DP Information session, Wednesday, January 15^th from 6 pm – 7 pm. This session is specifically for families of Grade 6 students. It is the event that will answer all your questions about the MYP and DP at St. Jude’s Academy.

Look out for Scholastic forms coming home today. These are due January 17^th.

Homework and Reminders

Speech:

·         Have your parent sign the speech letter if this has not already been done.

·         Complete your Reasons and Examples chart if you did not get done in class.

·         Share and discuss your Reasons speech brainstorm ideas with your parents. Ask them for feedback.

·         Devices are needed for tomorrow’s class

Unit of Inquiry:

·         Unit test on Monday, January 20^th – will cover all work including Aboriginal perspectives on who first founded America, Scientific theories such as the Beringia Land Bridge theory, Map work (continents and oceans), all explorers (Asians, Polynesians, Irish, Vikings, and more)

·         Reread the article about Irish explorers and complete the relevant section of the “Discovering America” chart

·         Timeline – add today’s Irish explorers to your timeline. Include a picture, their names, the dates they explored, where they explored, and their country of origin. Make your work neat, colourful, and appealing.

French – as assigned by Mme. Stella

Math: Page 191, Q. 2

Crawford lake trip permission and waiver form as well as payment are due tomorrow.

Upcoming Dates

• Friday, January 10^th - Crawford lake trip permission and waiver form as well as payment are due
• Wednesday, January 15^th 
• Caribou Math Contest – Arrive at 7:15 am for a 7:30 am start. Bring own charged device.
• MYP & DP Information Session for Grade 6 students and families, 6 – 7 pm
• Personal Project showcase, 7 pm – 8 pm
• Thursday, January 16^th – Grade 6 Trip to Crawford Lake
• Friday, January 17^th – Scholastic orders are due
• Monday, January 20^th – UOI Test
• Wednesday, January 22^nd – Grade 5 & 6 Ski Trip to Crawford Lake
• Friday, January 24^th 
• Town Hall, 7pm 
• Tuesday, January 28^th – Bake Sale
• Wednesday, January 29^th - Bake Sale
• Thursday, January 30^th – Casual Day
• Thursday, February 6^th:
• JK - Grade 3 Oral Competition
• Friday, February 7^th
• Grade 4 – 8 Oral Competition