Monday, 22 October 2012

Language Arts!

Hi Grade Sixes! This week in Language Arts .....

Media Literacy Learning Goals:
- Understanding the messages that the media presents us with
- Identifying the target audience for advertisements and products (Who is this message for?)
- Develop ways to raise awareness about the media and their tactics

Why is it important to be media literate?
What does it mean to be media literate?


Take a look at these two clips! - View and Reflect:
On a piece of paper, answer the following in point form for each link:

What do you feel when you look at it?
What did you think about?
Who was this intended for?
What message does it send?

Clip One: Dove Campaign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm1uNgHw6Xo

Clip Two: Axe Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmkiTFdwHYA


What do Dove and Axe have in common? Well ... lets find out!
After you have completed the viewing and reflection activity. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS INFORMATIVE BLOG!

http://maggiebrookes.com/2010/06/07/body-image-messages-from-unilever-dove-and-axe-promotional-controversy/


On the other side of your paper, write a brief paragraph about:
- What this blog showed you or taught you. (or did you already know this?)
- Do you feel the same or different about your reflections from view and reflect activity above?
- Share your thoughts, feelings, ideas ...

*Remember that this page's author holds an opinion as well!

_______________________________________________________________________

Dear Parents.

Your son/daughter will be viewing commercials in class this week that are on regular daytime television. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Curriculum Expectations: Grade 6 Media Literacy

Overall Expectations:
2. identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning; 
4. reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.

Specific Expectations: 
Purpose and Audience
1.1 explain how a variety of media texts address their intended purpose and audience

Production Perspectives: 
1.6 identify who produces various media texts, the reason for their production, how they are produced, and how they are funded

Metacognition: 
4.1 different kinds of emphasis; camera angles and distances can vary to create different effects and perspectives; scenes can be edited to change the pace of the action; background music can be used
identify what strategies they found most helpful in making sense of and creating media texts, and explain how these and other strategies can help them improve as media viewers/ listeners/producers 


Images:
http://www.dove.ca/en/Social-Mission/Self-Esteem-Resources/default.aspx

Sunday, 14 October 2012

Social Studies - The Wendat People

Dear Students and Parents,

I wanted to share a hint about an exciting upcoming lesson we will be having this week. This Thursday October 18th, we will be exploring the Wendat tribe, as a part of our Social Studies unit on Heritage and Citizenship. The lesson will be interactive and will include music, stories, artifacts and videos.

Students bring your thinking caps and creative minds! Also, please make sure you bring your chart on Aboriginal tribes that we have been working on in class.

*Before our lesson check out this site:

http://www.innisfil.library.on.ca/natives/natives/chp2.htm

Please complete the following:
- Come to class with three interesting facts.
- What do the pictures tell you?

____________________________________________________________________________

Parents, be sure to ask your child about what they learned about the Wendat tribe!

UNIT - Heritage and Citizenship: Grade 6 – First Nation Peoples and European Explorers

Curriculum Expectation: 
Overall: 
- Describe characteristics of pre-contact First Nations cultures across Canada including their close relationships with the natural environment; the motivations and attitudes of the European explorers; and the effects of contact on both the receiving and the incoming groups;
 
Specific:
- Describe the attitude to the environment of various First Nations groups and show how it affected their practices in daily life (with respect to food, shelter, clothes, transportation)

By examining the given website, students will come to class with an idea of who the Wendat people were. It is important for students to understand the Wendat culture, to be able to understand the impact that other tribes and European settlers had on their way of life. Aspects of food, shelter, clothing and transportation are all significant ways of life that were naturally altered based on seasons and availability of resources. However, these natural ways were significantly altered with the introduction of conflict and change within the Wendat community.

Image: Sioui, E. G. Huron Wendat Turtle (2000). Retrieved from: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+wendat&view=detail&id=C172560F23D46086B2113F923A5C475CC61883BB&FORM=IDFRIR

Topics of the Week - October 15th 2012

Below I have listed some resources that go along with some of the things we have been discussing in class!


RESOURCE ONE:  Solar System Fun

This site has great fun facts and visuals to help you learn about the solar system.

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/solar_system.htm

*Click on the different tabs on the left hand side of the page to explore different planets!

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RESOURCE TWO: Inferences and Riddles

Check out this neat site! It is an active guess and check riddle game.

http://www.philtulga.com/Riddles.html

Successful readers make guesses based on what they read and what they already know. The object of this game is to infer what is being described by the clues you read.
1) Press the "Show a Clue" button below.   Notice that the clue is describing someone or something. 
2) Press it again to read another clue.   
3) When you think you have figured out what is being described, type it in the "Make a Guess" box and press "Check!".

How many clues before you can guess? 
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RESOURCE THREE: 

Spelling Match! 
Try the different unit tasks! It's tricky and makes you think! Don't give up, you can do it. 
See what happens when you win!

 http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/schtemplate.cgi?template=/kids/hmsv/smg/smg_menu.thtml&grade=6

Images:
Question Marks:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?

Solar System:
http://www.google.ca/imgresum

A Resource for You Grade Sixes!


Here is a resource I found that I thought you would find helpful!

The game is called Fruit Shoot:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/decimals/CompareDecimals.htm


This game will help you refresh your memory of decimals and have fun at the same time. You can choose Level One, Two or Three. You can test yourself by using the Relaxed Mode or test yourself by using the Timed Mode!

Good luck and enjoy! 

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Welcome

Welcome Grade 6 Students!

Thank you for checking out my EduBlog. Here I will also post classroom updates and helpful information for assignments and quizzes/tests. I will also post videos, educational games and helpful websites for your use both during class time and outside of school. You also have access to my Twitter account, so that you can view any interesting websites or sources that I post. Please feel free to comment on any of my blog posts or pages with any questions you may have throughout the school year.

Welcome Parents!
This EduBlog will provide resources to support learning in classroom for students and will also connect the classroom and home. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding classroom activities and homework assignments that your child will be completing, this blog will provide you with updates. I will also post helpful school wide, grade level, and classroom updates and memos to keep you informed about what occurs on a day-to-day basis. Please feel free to comment on any of my blog posts or pages with any questions you may have throughout the school year.

Thank you and I look forward to a successful school year!

Miss MacDonald



Image: Dr Seuss