Whenever you try to create something new, you can expect to do some research and test some theories.
After you watch the video, think about these questions:
If you wanted to build something like the system in the video…
Find a quiet place. Put on your headphones and turn it up.
Today your child is bringing home their first collection of Maths assessments, along with a reflection document they have used to better understand their work. They are bringing it home so that you may have a better understanding of their mathematical thinking and progress.
These assessments should be understood as being a snapshot of student understanding on a particular day at a particular time, in a particular way of demonstrating mathematical thinking. This particular way of assessing understanding may present an incomplete picture of student progress. It is for this reason that many forward-thinking institutions have moved away from written assessments as the sole way of testing and grading. ZIS is no exception and these assessments represent only one of several ways data on a student’s mathematical thinking is collected.
These assessments are being sent home primarily to enrich your conversations with your child about their math thinking and learning. Please take the time to look at them with your child, alongside their reflection. Then, sign them (somewhere obvious) and return them promptly to school. I would appreciate them returned by next Tuesday, November 29. If you require more time, please let me know.
Additionally, several students have still not returned their Personal Narratives. These had been requested to be returned by last Friday, one week ago. Please help your child to return them on Monday.
Hot dogs, sausages… Yum!
Sitting around a campfire, roasting a hot dog is tons of fun. But have you ever wondered how the average hot dog is made? Watch this video, then add a comment to this post with your thoughts. In your comment please share:
A wonderful growing element of the ZIS campus, as part of our sustainability initiatives, is the ZIS garden, revamped and extended this year on the elementary campus. Along with the efforts of Kristie Lear, ZIS’ resident sustainability in education expert, several 5R students have played a role in getting the garden up and running. Earlier in the year, Matilda, Phoebe and Claudia received ZIS mission awards for their leadership in this initiative. Importantly, we’ve also benefitted from the tireless volunteering of two community members who are passionate and skilled gardeners.
Today, 5R and our buddy class, 2M, met with these gardeners and spent some time planting tulip bulbs that will bloom next spring. Enjoy these photos of the event!
Since the beginning of the year 5R have been inquiring into personal narrative writing. Yesterday, we celebrated the publication of our first stories with a publication party! We shared our writing over glasses of bubbly grape juice and toasted our progress as writers.
Today, your child has brought home a “publication package” containing a copy of the story they shared during our Writer’s Celebration, their original idea seeds, various early drafts and revisions, experiments with leads and endings, and a range of assessment documents.
I have asked the students to sit down with family members and share the process they went through to take their story from “seed story” to publication. They have put a lot of work into these stories, and their work is worth celebrating.
Attached to the story, you’ll find one checklist completed by your child. You will also find a checklist completed by me. Please note that there are some points on the checklist that we did not cover in our mini-lessons during this unit. These are:
I scored these parts anyway to reflect your child’s current use of these techniques, but we did not spend time going over them during class.
I have also sent a laminated sheet of information for parents about Writing Workshop. At the bottom of this page, there’s a section about how to talk to your child about writing. I hope you will find these prompts helpful as you chat with your child.
Please enjoy sharing this writing with your child and help them to return the entire package, in its envelope by next Monday, November 21.