Given the math test on Wednesday, I thought this comic was timely.

For those of you interested in exploring the world issues sites we've been looking at, here are two links as well:

www.gapminder.org
and
http://storyofstuff.com/

I think it's really interesting to contrast how both sites use data to support their hypotheses.

See you in class tomorrow!

science links

Today we reviewed some cool online animations of cell features and talked more about how different kinds of cells might respond to signals. If you want to see these again or fill out your response form with more detail, go here:
Inside a Cell
and here:
Dropping Signals

I also like this cool tool, showing relative sizes of very small things:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/signals/

Trip Announcement

Just wanted you all to know that the forms went home tonight for the NFB trip on December 9th. I'd love to  have parent volunteers and am hoping that we'll have a lovely day together.

On another note, I'm still without a primary computer, so I'm sorry if emails are taking me longer to answer than they otherwise would. I hope to have the situation resolved very soon.

No Computer This Weekend

It's been a rough week for me and the laptop. First it had a virus and needed some time to recover from that. Now it's off in the shop having a new power supply attached. What this means is that I'll be very limited in my online presence this weekend and won't have a chance to check or respond to emails.

I have managed to check in with all the project groups between today and yesterday and think most students are just putting finishing touches on their projects to be ready after the weekend. We'll see what Monday brings in any case.

On Monday also, we will be welcoming back Ms. B to our classroom and looking forward to several weeks with her as we move towards the winter break. After the fall crunch, expect somewhat of a break in projects as we focus in on classroom goals. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Ms. G

Two Links For You Today

We looked a bit at these two websites today in class.

The class beginning to plan double portaits based on Frida Kahlo's painting, The Two Fridas. Everyone has more than one side to their personality and I'm hoping that these paintings will let us see some of those hidden depths.

Your two links:

http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/index.html: has some paintings by Kahlo and a little more background information about her life and perspective.

http://www.bartnagel.com/asymmetrical/index.html: In this specific collection, the photographer is playing with symmetry, how one side of the face can tell a different story from the other, and sometimes layering mirror images on top of each other to create interesting effects.

Unplanned Absence

Dear Students,

I just wanted to let you know that I'll be away tomorrow due to personal illness and hope to return on Thursday. Please keep working towards your goals, but know I was planning on re-negotiating the project deadlines for Grade 5's tomorrow and am now looking at moving that math test on Monday back a day or two as well.

Keep working towards your goals and I hope to hear great things from the supply teacher!

All my best,

Ms. Goegan

Progress Reports

Instead of first term reports this year, we've just sent home an early progress report. The progress report really highlights areas of need in learning skills, which have been moved to the first page. The academics have been moved to page 2 and simply note: Progressing Well, Progressing Very Well or Progressing with Difficulty. Hopefully you find the document clear and my comments helpful.

Along with the reports, you'll find an appointment for an interview. I was able to give first picks to everyone who submitted a request, but had to guess a bit for those that did not. Please note that there's more availability on Friday, but not much left on Thursday evening.

Along with these reports, we've been moving along the past couple of weeks...looking at geometry and getting a bit more into the science and social studies strands as well. Grade 6's are working on a powerpoint based on a Documentary about a contemporary issue for Aboriginal Canadians, while Grade 5's are finishing up their human body research projects. I expect to give quite a bit of classtime over to these projects this week, while the 5's finish up.

Project Outlines and Other Helpful Papers

I've yet to find an online link for the permission form slips, which is probably the biggest request from parents, but I have been working hard at updating the Project Outlines page here. From there, I think you'll be able to see what we've been working on in class and get a sense of what the next steps are. I've even posted the lit circle roles so you can print out any sheet you might lose track of.

We're pictured in the school newsletter this week, practicing Banethi. I'm excited by the opportunity to learn this dance alongside students and we look forward to showing you more at the Winter Concert.

I also have to thank the class in general for doing so well on our first field trip Tuesday and the Grade 6's in particular for making me look good in front of the SciHigh folks by remembering all about DNA from last year. 

This week will culminate with a Halloween party. We've posted a sign-up sheet in the classroom and I'm hoping to get a nice mix of savoury, sweet, healthy and tempting treats. The current plan is to participate in the school's Halloween parade and then retire to the classroom to watch some of the Simpson's Halloween episodes. Mr. Eckler's class usually hosts a costume contest for the kids and we're hoping a good time will be had by all.

Thanks to everyone I saw at the Fall Fair today for stopping to chat!

Check it out!

I've just uploaded our animations -- the result of several weeks hard work with Mr. Jenkins. Though all the animations are together in the one video, I've marked the times for individual shorts in the notes so you can find your favourites more easily and watch them over, and over, and over again.




This week, we welcomed a new artist and a new student teacher:

Andrew Suri will be teaching us Banethi, a dance form based on Martial Arts from Northern India. We hope to put together a concert preformance from the moves he teaches us for the Winter Concert in January.

Ms. Benakis comes to us from Nipissing University. She will be with us for the next two weeks, spearheading a new math unit on Patterning and the Government unit for Grade 5 Social Studies as well. After Halloween, she'll return to North Bay and then return to us again in December for another 3 weeks.

In the next while, we have two trips and another visitor planned. On Tuesday, we'll be visiting Central Commerce to watch a free performance of Romeo and Juliet. On October 21, we have an afternoon with the folks from Sci High and, on November 4th, we have a trip to listen to a holocaust survivor speak.  Forms have gone home for both trips. Though the play and SciHigh's visit are totally free, we have to pay for TTC on November 4th. 

In class this week, we'll finish up presentations from the biography project, begin lit circles and also begin to get into the meat of science and social studies as well. As always, if you have any questions, please email me (lisagoegan at hotmail.com) and remember to keep checking the agenda daily to keep up to date with daily work and assignments.

A brief note:

Many thanks to those parents who showed up to Curriculum Night tonight! For those of you who couldn't make it, I've posted my program goals, a parent friendly version of my year-long plans.

Several of you mentioned the website, which was lovely, and I wanted to let you know that now you can enter your email address in the sidebar to be notified when new content is posted. 

I also wanted to let you know that this week has been very busy indeed and several students are away for Thanksgiving tomorrow as well, so I'm delaying the division and problem solving quiz until next week.

I hope to spend my Thanksgiving eating lots of turkey and reading the latest Terry Pratchett novel. I hope you have a lovely long weekend as well!

Update on curriculum flow...

Dear Parents,

We've had a busy and productive week. Students storyboarded their animations and a couple of the groups began filming their stories on Friday.  Next week, we'll continue to film, add sound tracks and then screen the final products. One of the nice things about this project is that it incorporates music, drama, visual art and some language.

In math, we've been practising long division and going back over double digit multiplication for students who need the practice. On Monday, those students will retest multiplication and, on Friday, there will be a short quiz on Division skills and Order of Operations (which you might also remember as BEDMAS*).

In language, we're finishing up the biography projects so that reports and presentations can begin after Thanksgiving.  This week, everyone managed to finish up their rough drafts and get three peer edits, which I'm very excited about. On Monday, I'll begin conferencing with students who are ready with the following:

1. A finished second draft, preferably typed and double spaced.
2. A complete bibliography, timeline and portrait.
3. A plan for their puppet including a list of materials they need and what items are in each hand.
4. A list of the questions they plan to ask in their puppet interviews.

Students spent much of today working towards these goals. As always, some are ahead of others but I'm hopeful that many will be ready to go on Monday.

Over the next week, I'll confer with students individually and work with them to complete final drafts and write answers for the interview questions they ask. Around mid-week, we'll use some class time to work on puppets, so please help students remember to send extra materials they need for the puppets to school starting Monday.

With the biography project well on its way to being done, our next shift in focus will be towards Science and Social Studies. For the grade 5's, the municipal election will become a focal point for the government unit. For the grade 6's, we'll focus on Aboriginal issues in the news. For both, the upcoming visit from SciHigh will be an exciting opportunity to explore biology. We'll extract DNA from a banana, look at how police find DNA evidence at a crime scene, and look at some model animals used in research.

Finally, I know there's been a lot of paperwork flowing back and forth in recent weeks. I've been doing my best to stay on top of it all myself and want to thank all of you for doing the same.

All my best,

Ms. Goegan

*ie:
B= Brackets
E= Exponents
DM= Division and Multiplication
AS= Addition and Subtraction

A few weeks in...

Dear Parents and Students,

I'm amazed at how much we've already accomplished and appreciative of all your efforts towards making this year a success. I wanted to update you on a couple of points moving forward, and, as always, encourage you to contact me should you have any questions or concerns.

First, thank you all for contributing to our bake sale yesterday. Our hard work earned us $297.50 in total, which will go towards our work with artist Andrew Suri and animator Patrick Jenkins. I'm following up some other funding opportunities through the school and will let you know what remainder needs to be paid out of pocket as soon as I know.

Second, I've had parents request both more and less homework since school has begun. As in any class, students come in a wide range of strengths and needs, and work at different speeds, so I'm happy to make adjustments to reflect that based on your feedback. I've added an optional weekly math problem solver and am also happy to help students prioritize their workload.  If work is ever incomplete or overdue without feedback from parents, I will write it down in the agenda so that we are both on top of the situation. In general, it's good to check in with the agenda on a regular basis.

Third, I'd love to have your feedback on this site as well. Is it helpful to you? Are there sections you'd like to see me add? I can't promise to update it daily, but do hope that it's a point of contact you find useful. Please let me know.

All my best,

Lisa Goegan

Welcome to Room 305!

September, 2010

Dear Parents,

Welcome to a new year and a new classroom! I've moved from Room 307  to Room 305 in order to make way for more reptiles, but there are a couple of other changes at Clinton you should be aware of as we move forward together. 

First and foremost, Clinton has shifted to a 5 day schedule rather than having things tied to a particular day of the week. This makes things like gym and library more equitable, but does add a layer of complication to planning ahead. 



You may wish to check in on the calendar feature above to stay tuned into what days we have gym, for example, since the day of the week will change with long weekends and P. D. days. The calendar cannot replace a daily agenda, but following the link above should also show upcoming trips, special guests, project deadlines and test dates as they come up. Regular homework will continue to be entered into student planners on a daily basis. Other helpful links like project outlines and a weekly schedule will also be available here as they are updated.



Secondly, all teacher accounts have moved from @tel.tdsb.on.ca to @tdsb.on.ca. My new address is lisa.goegan @ tdsb. on. ca (without the spaces), but any posts with attachments are better sent to my gmail account (again without the spaces):


lisagoegan @ gmail. com

Most messages should be returned within about 24 hours. I am always happy to touch base with parents via email or make an appointment for a face to face meeting.




We already have a busy and exciting year lined up with a number of guest artists and special projects that I can't wait to tell you about:

• Andrew Suri: An Ontario Arts Council grant recipient who will be working with us throughout the fall to teach us Banethi, a martial art/dance form from Northern India. More about Andrew and Banethi can be found here.
• Patrick Jenkins: An animator we have been lucky enough to have worked with before will be doing a workshop with us at the end of September. His page is here. Below is an example of previous Clinton students' work:
   
• Brigitte Berman: Another Ontario Arts Council artist we are lucky to be working with in January to make some student films. Any parents/students with video or editing equipment they are willing to share, in whatever capacity, are invited to speak to Ms. G as soon as possible. 
• Anne Barber from Shadowland Theatre, who returns to help us make more masks again in the spring.

We will also continue to work with Ms. D for Vocal Music and have a trip to the NFB lined up for December already. I look forward to hearing about the summer adventures of returning students and getting to know all my new students as well.

Sincerely, 

Lisa Goegan