A new seating plan, Math with whiteboards and more!

Happy snowy Wednesday, learning friends!

This morning flew by with so many things to cross off our list.

1. A new seating plan! - We have now been moved into socially distanced tables of four and are already enjoying the opportunity to collaborate with our peers. 

2. Math at the whiteboards / 'whitetables'! - This morning we worked on a Math word problem and a Math "Qui est l'intrus" activity in our new table groups, but rather than writing on paper, we worked either standing at the whiteboard or standing and writing on a whiteboard cling sheet on our tables.

We each had our own marker, but only one person could write at a time. (Pre-Covid, we would only have had 1 marker per group, which we would all take turns writing with.) We were each responsible for knowing how to explain our group's answer and supporting work; Mme could ask any of us for the answer or for the reasoning behind the answer, so we needed to collaborate to ensure we all understood.

It was great to hear so much Math talk first thing in the morning!

3. Science - We are happy to welcome 2 newly germinated tomato plants to Group P this morning! We have also been working on graphing and are getting quite good at identifying the independent and dependent variables of an experiment and at following the steps to create a complete graph.

4. Français - We have been working hard on drafting, conferencing, editing, correcting and publishing our "Mes buts" texts. Most of us are now done our final copies and have moved on to the representation portion of the assignment. This is where the laptops come in! (And, in the whirlwind of the morning, I didn't even get a single picture!)

We are using PowerPoint to create an inspiration board of our goals. We need to choose (at least) one picture and one word to represent each of our goals, and we can personalize our work by adding different backgrounds, fonts, colours, symbols and more!

Please ask me about my goals: Where am I with my writing process? What are my goals for the year? What pictures/words have I chosen to include on my inspiration board? What's the best/most frustrating part about using PowerPoint or a laptop?

5. For fun: We chatted about Google Translate in class yesterday and how writing a text in English and then translating it into French with an online platform is not truly our own written work in Français. Students are encouraged to use online dictionaries and grammar platforms to support their writing, along with the many tools offered in class (word walls, shared writing, text frames, peer-editing, writing conferencing) to create their best written work.

So, the fun part... Mme found a video involving the Fresh Prince of Belair theme song AND Google Translate, which sums up the importance of writing your own Français text in your own Français words quite nicely. 

Please CLICK HERE and enjoy! :) 

*****

AGENDA

1. If you have not have a chance to sign into Showbie and answer the questions, please take time to do so this evening. Thank you!

2. French Reading using the Je lis website - Daily

3. Draft of goals (Français) - OVERDUE

4. Final copy of goals (Français) - tomorrow (Thursday)

5. Photos for buts/tableau d'inspiration* - tomorrow (Thursday)

(* Optional. If you would like to add personalized photos please add to Showbie "Français" - "Tableau Inspiration.")

6. Spirit Week! - October 26-30 (Click HERE for info!)

7. Photo retakes: November 2