Today is the last day!

It's been a busy couple of days...but- today is the last day of school!

Ms. Devine and Ms. Florez's advisory took a trip to Grant Park Coffeehouse and to the park. Wahhhooo!

School's out for the summmer....

We're almost finished with the school year...

6th: Today we had the Australia/Oceania food day. It was delicious! Thank you to all students who brought and shared food. Then, we made Australian LAMINGTONS. They were also yummy and I was so proud that we cooked with a class of 25! Then, we learned about the Maori Haka dance and some of us even practiced doing it!
Homework: Be prepared for field day tomorrow! Bring in your permission slip!

7th: Today we had Middle East food day. It was delicious! Thank you to all students who brought and shared food. Then, had a art celebration day where we went around to all 6th/7th grade classroom and gave feedback on the art we saw hanging in the classrooms. We saw Islamic designs, Maori batiks Aboriginal dot paintings.
Homework: Be prepared for field day tomorrow! Bring in your permission slip!

End of term reflections

More portfolio presentations today!

6th: Today Ms. D. continued to meet with students for end of term reflections.
Homework: Enjoy the sunshine!

EOT conferences!

Today we had a different schedule due to portfolio presentations.

6th: We worked on our Aborigine dot paintings, watched Finding Nemo (it takes place in the Australian Great Barrier Reef!) and Ms. Devine conferenced with students individually for end of term reports.
Homework: Enjoy the weekend!

Islamic Design work...

6th: No class today- portfolio presentations.

7th: Today we spent the class period working on our Islamic art presentations. Ms. Devine met with students to discuss end of term narratives. We will not have class on Friday or Monday (due to portfolio presentations). We will be watching a movie (bring one in!) on Tuesday and having our Middle East food day. Don't forget to bring a delicious Middle Eastern food to share!
Homework: Middle Eastern food- bring one on TUES!

Aborigine dot paintings & E.O.T. reports and Islamic design!

Today the 5th graders from NCS visited. Very fun! We had a revised schedule.

6th: Today we did aborigine dot paintings! They were fun. We will finish these up on FRI, the next time we have class. Then, students worked on end of term reflections. These are due on Friday so that Ms. D. can conference with each student and write end of term narratives.
Homework: End of term 3 narrative questions- SUPER IMPORTANT! DUE FRIDAY!

7th: Today we took the STAR test, shared out our letters to the editor and completed end of term 3 reflections. Ms. Devine conferenced with several students for the end of the term. While she did this, students worked on their Islamic design art project, due next TUES. Tomorrow, Ms. D will continue to meet with students.
Homework: Work on Islamic art project- due next TUES.

Maori batiks & Article sharing

6th: Today in class we made Maori batiks! We used our color drawings and painted over them with watercolor, creating dynamic Maori art. Afterward, we wrote our artist statements about our work. Several students helped Ms. Devine move stuff downstairs to the 8th grade hall.
Homework: Continue reading....

7th: Today in class we shared our articles in small groups. We prepared discussion questions beforehand and brought these to our groups. After hearing our groupmates articles, asking questions and discussing the topics, we wrote a letter to the editor, writing to an author about an article of our choice.
Homework: Continue reading...

Maori batiks & Final journalism articles

6th: Today in class, we learned about the batik style of art used by the Maori people. We began class by investigating what this was and then we learned how we would create a batik piece in class. Students drafted a piece, showed Ms. Devine, wrote a meaning for the piece and then we created the crayon aspect of our final piece. Tomorrow we will add the watercolor. We love doing art!
Homework: None

7th: Today we discussed the "Promises" documentary we watched on Friday. Then, we peer edited our articles for our journalism project and went back to the lab to do the final article. Articles are due tomorrow.
Homework: Complete final article. Due tomorrow!

Aboriginal dot paintings & "Promises"

6th: Today, we spent time thinking of meaning in aboriginal dot paintings. We looked at symbols and what they meant in these paintings. Then, we created our own drafts of the dot paintings.
Homework: Enjoy the weekend!

7th: Today we talked about Arab-Israeli conflict and we watched the movie "Promises." We were very engaged in the movie and will discuss it on Monday!
Homework: Enjoy!

All about Islam & Aboriginal and Maori art!

6th: Today, we learned about different types of Oceanic art- Aboriginal and Maori. We examined pieces of art and recognized the difference between Aboriginal art and Maori art, taking notes on the different art we viewed. Then, we wrote a compare/contrast paragraph, discussing the similarities and differences between these 2 types of art. From there, we started to get our ideas together for our aboriginal dot painting- which we will start tomorrow! How exciting!
Homework: As always, you should be reading.

7th: Today, we talked about Islam, reading an article and answering questions. Then, we got to have a Q & A with our guest speaker, Mr. Aaron, about Islam. Mr. Aaron was awesome- so informative. I learned many things...hmmm...the word "Islam" means submission to the will of God and the word "Muslim" means people who submit to the will of God.
Homework: Keep reading.

Myth share & Journalism article

6th: Today was myth share day. We broke off into groups with Ms. Glow's class and shared myths in small groups, giving feedback. Then, we shared myths with the whole class. Great work, guys. There were some excellent myths!
Homework: none

7th: Today we used the whole class period to type up the draft of our journalism article. Due tomorrow when you walk in the door of class!
Homework: Complete journalism article.

Journalism articles- drafting!

Today was the S.S. CRCT.

6th: No class today.

7th: Today we began class by analyzing an excellent example of a journalistic article. We graded it and discussed how we would grade it and became inspired by the crafty way that the author explained the topic. Then, we went to the lab for drafting time. The lab will also be open tomorrow before school at 8am. Drafts are due at the end of class tomorrow.
Homework: Work on draft!

Final myths & Journalism articles

Today was the Science CRCT.

6th: Today was the day that final day that myths were due. We will have a share day on Wednesday. Students who had already completed myths went outside to play and celebrate. Those who did not turn theirs in worked with Ms. Devine.
Homework: none

7th: Today we went to the lab and continued to work on our journalism articles. From there, we came back and watched Obama's speech last night about the death of Osama bin Laden. We discussed this in small groups and then had a whole class discussion about what students felt, whether or not we believed the act to be right and how our reaction as a nation might make the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia feel. From there, we had some run-around-outside-time and Ms. Devine conferenced with students about their research.
Homework: none