Quick (hopefully) update

Hello everyone,
We have been pretty busy with our ArtsSmarts project. We've had a lot going on and a lot of hectic productivity. I want to update you on a few things that are coming up and what we've been doing.

ArtsSmarts Project Update
Mural
We finished painting the big mural that was in the hallway outside our classroom. The mural is now on display in the auditorium at the Mendel Art Gallery. It will be at the gallery until April 21st and is open to the public. The entire auditorium now displays a collection of our work. The mural was painted by the grade 7 and 8 class with the help of several artists. The war rugs were made by our class at the Mendel when we went on tour at the end of January. The war rugs were inspired by the Afghan war rugs that are currently on display. We also have a collection of trees that were drawn and painted by the students in our class. It's a really cool display and I hope that you all can find time to go and see the installation and sign the guest book.

Final day of work on the mural on Friday. Most students were away skiing, so these few students had to work really hard.

 

Final day of work on the mural last Friday.

Final day of work on the mural last Friday.

Final day of work on mural last Friday.

Trees created by grade 7 class. On display at Mendel.

Afghan war rug inspired rugs created by grade 7 class. On display at Mendel.

Songs and Dances
The students have been working with Jordan and Elizabeth to create songs for our upcoming play. The songs now complete and the students just began the work of learning the songs.
Mike will start to visit us regularly now that the songs have been created so that he and the students can collaboratively create the dances that will accompany the songs.
The Play
The play is mostly written and we will start assigning roles to the grade 7 and 8 students. Every student will have some part in the play. There are speaking, singing, rapping, flute, piano, drum, and acting parts. Students will be given some choice as to which area they specialize in, but there are limited acting and singing parts, and times when we need the entire cast to dance or sing. There will be moments when the students are pushed outside of their comfort zone, but know that our goal is to build all students up to this production. We don't want anyone to be so uncomfortable that they don't want to attend school, but at the same time, sometimes the most growth happens when you push outside your comfort zone. Encourage your children to take advantage of this opportunity, and let them know that they have it in them to shine on opening night.
IMPORTANT DATES
The play will be performed on Tuesday, April 21st at E.D. Feehan High School. We will have dress rehearsals on Monday, April 20th and Tuesday, April 22nd, in the afternoon. If there is enough demand for the play, and students are committed and interested in performing a second night, we do have the space booked for Wednesday, April 22. As we approach that date, we will do some kind of a survey and let parents know the exact plan. I know that many of our students have important and expensive after school activities, but this is a once in a life time kind of project. We really encourage and expect that our students will be committed to attending.
I have been blogging and tweeting this project. You can follow me on twitter @dragonfly_jenny. My blog is http://msgallays-inquiry.blogspot.ca/.
Language Arts
Essay
The students handed in their essays on Tuesday, and I worked like a mad woman to assess the essays and give students feedback. I had all students take the feedback and rework their essays. I know they are pretty sick of revising, but the process of writing and revision is such an important skill to develop. The essays will be on display on the bulletin board outside our classroom. The assessed essays will be in the students' portfolios.
Book Report
We had such busy day yesterday that I didn't take in the book reports. Some students have completed them, and some students have not. Today we will set times for presentations. The goal is to build enthusiasm about books and for the students to recommend great books to each other. The work around the book is not as important to me as the actual reading and enjoyment of the book. I firmly believe that if kids like a book, and want to read it, they will become better readers. Our job as adults is to get great books into their hands, and build interest in the book so it actually gets read.
Artist Bio
This week we started to work on creating our own artist bios. These will accompany a cast bulletin board. The bios will be due on Friday.
Math
The group working on decimals will have a math test on Monday. We have been learning how to calculate percentage of a whole. Once that work is complete, we will review for the test.
The group working on data management just completed the most complicated and difficult test ever imaginable. If I had looked carefully at the test before it was photocopied, I would have created a different test. Anyway, after two hours of work, the students completed the test and today they will have an opportunity to fix their mistakes.
Next week we will all begin work on fractions.
Curling
On Friday, March 14th, we will go curling in the afternoon.  I will send home a note and permission slip today. Please sign and return it. If there are any parents who are interested in coming, please let me know.
Portfolios Will be sent home tomorrow. We've packed them full of work that was handed back. I noticed that several students did not return signed math tests and therefore were not able to put the math tests into their portfolio. If you know you have a math test hanging out in that pile of papers (we all have one, right?) please send it to school or add it to the portfolio. A lot our work and thinking is in our inquiry journal and those will be sent home too, but please return them on Monday as we use them fairly often.
Have a great week everyone!
The Saskatchewan Arts Board is responsible for the ArtsSmarts program. The ArtsSmarts grant is funded by these sponsors.

We also received funding from Loraas Recycling for the mural.

Thank you so much to these partners. Without their contributions projects like this are not possible,
Also, a special thank you to Amanda Loraas for helping me install the artwork at the Mendel and transporting the mural to the Mendel.

Homework

Both groups have a math test on Tuesday.
The decimals test with be on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with decimals. It will also include repeating and terminating decimals, converting fractions to decimals, and percentage.

The other group will be tested on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. After Tuesday this group will begin to work on decimals.

All students need a novel to read starting Monday. We will have a book report due at the end of February.

homework

• A swimming note was sent home today. It must be signed by a parent and returned tomorrow.
• Hot lunch tomorrow - soup and a bun for $5. Proceeds to Hope for Malawai.
• Christmas garlands - start to bring tomorrow if you have some to donate.

January Update

Hello parents and guardians,
This is just a quick update on what we will be doing in January and I will send home more details as they develop.

Math: We have started working in new math groups. To keep it manageable we have two math groups, but within those two groups we have varied ability. This week one group started on a unit on decimals and the other group started a review of the place value system. The goal will be to develop a solid understanding of whole numbers, place value of whole numbers, and adding and subtracting whole numbers with regrouping before we move into decimals. At this point, we are developing routines and expectations for how to work in our classroom with different levels of instruction. Pacing, instruction, and support are all being figured out, but we hope that by next week we are able to achieve a good work flow. I will try to be in contact with parents if I think your child needs extra support at home on specific concepts. Don't forget to support with Mathletics at home when possible. We also spent some time learning multiplication facts before Christmas. Please continue to support that learning at home, or in the car on the way to activities, by quizzing and drilling your child on facts up to 10.

Inquiry: Last Friday I learned that we received another ArtsSmarts grant. I will write a more detailed newsletter about the project and what we will be learning and doing. This project will have an environmental theme and will result in a musical/dance play some time in March. Tomorrow Mrs. Reschny and I have a morning meeting with the artists to continue to develop the project. One thing that I know we will need is old Christmas garlands. If you have some that you wouldn't mind donating, that would certainly help us out. We will use the garlands to fashion hats for the play - so if you donate them, just know that you won't get them back.

Language Arts: Much of our Language Arts will be integrated with our inquiry project, which is usual. We have limited support in our classroom and I shuffled our support from guided reading to math. I felt that it was important to make sure that we had proper support during math, but it came at a cost to our guided reading support. Our reading scores have come up considerably, but I know some students could still benefit from support for reading. As parents you can help - it is really important for your children to continue to read daily. I know schedules are busy, but try to encourage that your child(ren) read every night even if it's just for a little while before bed.

SWIMMING
In November our class earned a reward. We decided to go swimming, but the pool was closed for renovations or repairs. This Friday, January 9th, our class will go swimming at Lawson Heights Civic Centre. (YES - that is tomorrow!) Students will need 50 cents for a locker token, a bathing suit, towel, and really warm winter clothing. We will walk to the pool after band and then walk back around 3:15. It has been very cold, so please make sure that your child has a hat, mittens, and a scarf to protect their faces.