Thursday April 5, 2012

Dear Friends,

I want to wish those of you celebrating Easter "Happy Holidays" and to all a wonderful long weekend!  I will be celebrating Passover, a Jewish holiday; in fact, it was always one of my favourites growing up.
Also, it is with a heavy heart that I must remind some of you to behave better.  Take a look at the Class Contract again, the Four Agreements and the Jesse Ketchum Code of Conduct.  Think about the kind of person and student you would like to be. What does it mean to be respectful? In the class and out?

Reminders for the week of April 9thTuesday - Measurement Retest
              - Running Club starts (give signed forms to Mr. Costa)
Wednesday - PPTs can be done in the library for those using power point
                   - wear pink to raise awareness against bullying and intolerance
Thursday - PPTs in the classroom

Social Studies - Early Civilizations and Medieval Times ('Why do some civilizations die and others survive?')
We are visiting the ROM this Thursday morning to continue exploring ancient civilizations.

For those who missed the ROM trip, your learning task will be to describe 3 artifacts or innovations from 1 specific civilization.  In your journal, explain how these artifacts or innovations influenced their civilization. 

Thank you to the students who have worked hard to describe an artifact/innovation by a civilization and post it on our class' Early Civilizations Timeline!



Egyptian Math Symbols



Egyptian Fractions

For discussion:

What types of cultural artifacts do you expect to find at the ROM? 

What civilization might you best most interested in? 

What time period in history are you most interested in?

Civilizations create new things, or innovations, that improve the quality of life or better people's understanding of the world.  Think about innovations, ancient or modern, in the following categories:

-written language (communication)

-mathematics

-astronomy

-warfare

-tools (meet the needs of daily life)

-customs and rituals (religion/spirituality)

-medicine

Math
*Measurement retest is on Tuesday.  Tests will be sent home to be signed on Wednesday April 4. 
The topics covered:
-estimate and measure linear dimensions
-relate units of measure (for example, 5 cm = __ mm)
-estimate and measure perimeter and area of polygons and irregular polygons
-solve problems related to length, perimter and area
*Fractions of Me  - you will get descriptive feedback on your math poems.  Read below for an example:

1/6 of me is a player

who doesn't give up

and challenges myself

to do it, take the chance

and shoot or score it.

*Factors and Multiples - review your multiplication skills and ability to find number patterns using a hundreds chart.  These concepts will help you in while studying fractions.


Reading
*Social studies textbooks - can you find the answer to the question you asked on your literature circle poster?

*Poetry - April is National Poetry Month! Find your favourite poem and bring it in to share at the end of the month.

*Health - what new words did you learn while reading about conflict, feelings, perception and bullying?

Media
*Continue watching Public Service Announcements (P.S.A.s).  You will be creating one in a group to send a message about any topic related to Personal Safety and Injury Prevention (i.e. bullying, conflict resolution)

*Jesse Ketchum Cookbook!  We will complete the cookbook, to be donated to the school's library, by the end of next week.  Everyone will make a cookbook cover - individually or in pairs.