Recently, Grade 6 students have been learning about factors and multiples. We're now moving towards visual representations of numbers in a multiplication. Enter... arrays! First, we practiced making simple arrays with cubes to show small numbers like 24. This is how we discovered prime and composite numbers! Prime numbers were numbers with only one possible array while composite numbers had two or more possibilities. Next, we moved to drawing our representations. Again, we started with smaller numbers but are now moving toward larger ones. Arrays help us visualize what multiplication can look like. They also help us make connections to other Math concepts like area. Most of us are really enjoying ourselves in Grade 6 Math so far this year, we can't wait to continue sharing our learning with you!
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With the federal election coming up on October 19, we've been recently exploring our personal values and how they might impact our vote. We've done some reading to help us assess the pros and cons of voting for 4 different parties: Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and Green Party (the Pollenize site was very helpful). This was a good critical thinking exercise because everyone's responses could vary, but we had to look at issues from a variety of perspectives before deciding. It also showed us that no one else can tell us what to decide because only we know what's most important to us! Below is one of Rick Mercer's Rants from several years ago that we watched today in class to spark some discussion about youth voting. Many of us weren't sure whether we agreed that 16 year olds should be allowed to vote (like the rant says). However, it really got us thinking about how it's a privilege to live in a democracy and to be able to vote, as well as why some young people might not know how to vote. Ask us what we think! !This week, we continued to practice a very important scientific competency: making detailed observations. We also learned about the difference between what we see and what we think. One is called an observation and the other, an inference. We used a photo borrowed from a Smarter Science activity and many of us said we could see space right away. Ms. B tried to help us understand that we can see shapes, colours, and patterns, but we can't "see" that the photo is of space. She is going to give us written feedback before we try this activity again with a new photo. It was a great way to get us thinking about space while practicing curricular competencies. Some of us noticed the ELC4 in the photo and quickly wanted to learn more about it, so we might share what we found next time!
This week, we are beginning our journey with the Global Read Aloud. This is an exciting time of year! Over the next 6 weeks, we will be reading a novel called "Fish" by L.S. Matthews that other classes across the continent (and the world!) will be reading at the same time. We will connect with other classes through Skype, blogging, and our class Twitter account (@msbunkerclass) to share our thoughts, questions, and inferences about the novel. Our novel is about a family who must flee their country for safety during a time of war. The main character, Tiger, makes a spontaneous decision to take a fish he finds in a puddle with his family on this journey. To introduce students to the theme of refugees, we watched the following TED talk video below. This video really got us thinking about things we take for granted in our lives, like education, and helped us imagine what life might be like in a refugee camp. We also read the first chapter of the novel today. We reflected on why the author might not tell us the main character's gender and what we might bring with us if we had to flee our country. We will blog about this topic later this week.
The Global Read Aloud is a great way to get students excited about literature because they have an authentic audience with whom they can connect about what they're reading. We look forward to sharing our thoughts with you and other students from across North America over the next 6 weeks! Today, we had the opportunity to visit the Richmond Olympic Oval with all intermediate students. It was awesome to participate in both athletic and team building activities in such as fantastic facility! Students in different classes and programs were able to get to know and support each other throughout the day. It was wonderful to see some new friendships forming. We are so thankful for community support that helped make this day possible! |
AuthorWe are a class of Grade 6/7 students in Surrey, BC, Canada. This blog is one way we will share our learning with the world! Archives
October 2016
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