Thursday news

Hello everyone,
It's hard to believe that it's already Thursday. The grade 7 class is getting ready to write the unit 1 math test. We had to take a step back and learn a few concepts in a different way. I think most students are ready to write the test and will do quite well. We will write a pre-test tomorrow, and then the real test will be Tuesday. If you'd like to help your child prepare for the test, please ask them to bring home their Jump Math worksheets. There are some extra practice sheets in there - and it looks a lot more like "old school" math. It would be very helpful to each child if they knew their math facts. Many of the students struggle with this concept and it has made learning algebra a little more difficult. If you aren't sure if your child knows all of their times table math facts, ask them to tell you the answer to a few. You will quickly learn which facts they know, and which ones they are struggling with.
Our grade 6 students have a bonus question to do for math tomorrow.
Today we finished the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. We had a deep discussion about the book this afternoon. Your child was given some homework for tonight. They are to ask you what you think is more important - personal freedom or freedom from suffering. We discussed these ideas today as they pertain to the book. You may not be familiar with the book, but ask your child to tell you about it. Ask them to describe how our world, and the world in the book are different. I have to say their ideas were profound and I really got a great opportunity to hear some deep ideas. I think most people would find it shocking that such young children could have such critical thinking skills.
Have a great night everyone,
Ms. G.