Dying to Test Plants

After viewing flowers that had been transformed using food colouring, students designed and conducted their own experiments about different plant parts and their functions.

They came up with really creative (and messy!) experiments. We discovered that some parts of the plant are better suited to transporting liquids than others. Stems works well but roots seem to have a coating around them that blocked the dye. Flowers and leaves are hard to colour directly from the outside, they only changed colour when the dye came through the stem. Cauliflower was the fastest to change colours in case you were wondering :)

Genius Hour Has Begun!

Our students have spent this year learning through the inquiry process in Science and Social Studies. They have grown in their abilities to research and present information. Students have learned how to use questions to guide their thinking and to take responsibility for their learning. For our final inquiry, students are participating in Genius Hour projects where they are developing expertise in something new that they are passionate about. Projects range from learning to sew, to designing a comic book that raises awareness of animal rights, to creating a plan to reduce bullying on the playground. Check back next week to find out what they learned!

VIP and Pig Lungs

Our VIP officer showed kids the effects of smoking on the lungs by displaying pig lungs - healthy and one that was exposed to second hand smoke. Ask your child to tell you about it!

Giant Sized Math

Our school wide math problem for April is: How many baby steps in a giant step? Students had some creative ways to find out!

How many baby steps in a giant step?

Learning Commons

Students in 6 Pike and 6 Seguin are solving fraction problems they created for each other. Comments like "Yes, I got it!" and, "Ooh, this one looks tricky" were heard around the room. We use the Library Learning Commons for students to collaborate on a weekly basis (and have some fun along the way).

After solving a bunch of math problems, the students had the chance to reflect and give feedback to the teachers using a strategy called Chalk Talk. There were several charts around the room with different questions students could write on, making their thinking visible. The catch? The activity had to be done silently! If students wanted to comment on another student's idea, they needed to write it on the chart paper. 

Question: What has been the hardest for you in this unit?

"Keeping track when counting the colours in the hundredths grids."

"Reducing the fractions."

What do you still wonder about the math in this unit?

"I wonder how decimals, percents and fractions connect to my real life."

Question: What is the most important thing a student needs to know about decimals, percents and/or fractions?

"The most important thing to know is how to convert between fractions, percents and decimals."

"That decimals, percents and fractions can all represent the same number."

What do you need help understanding in this unit?
"I need practice converting improper fractions to mixed numbers."
"I still need help putting improper fractions on a number line."

We had fun consolidating learning this way and will definitely use Chalk Talk again!

Aliens?

Is it a bug, is it an alien? No it is students wearing safety goggles for badminton :)

Inquiry Celebration

We appreciate our guest, Ms McDonald, for coming to give us feedback on our Inquiry Projects. 

Students took notes from other student projects and left them feedback to improve their own. 

Using QR codes is a fun way to share our amazing videos!

Students used tablets, laptops, iPads and personal devices to create and view all kinds of tech projects. 

Mr. Pillon was wowed by the work all of the students shared. Watch for links to the projects once final edits have been completed!

Inquiry Project Guidelines

Sumdog National Contest Results

Our students recently competed in a nation-wide math contest on the Sumdog web site. 47 students from 6Pike and 6Seguin competed and answered 12 269 questions correctly! So proud of the students for representing Northwood at the National level. Students have fun playing the Sumdog games and practice valuable skills that help them meet their individual math learning goals.

Special recognition goes to Aidan, Namanya, Harkarn, Sunvir, and Ayesha for answering 1000 questions correctly.

The London area schools have started a new contest that we have entered. The London contest runs from March 21-27. Let's see if we can top the success of our National contest!

Lego Club Begins!

Some kids wanted to try building a Lego kit using directions. This kit makes a train. 

Aboudi asks "Mrs Pike, why can't we have Lego club every day?"

Keegan made a ship but he had to take it apart. 

Mohammad did not want to take his spaceship apart. 

Ali and Moamal made an airplane!

Free building using their imaginations!

Looking forward to the next Lego Club on Thursday :)

Paper mâché Olympians

Having fun and making a big mess while celebrating the Winter Olympics! Students used aluminum foil and paper mâché to create Olmpic athletes in motion. Maaheen says, "This was really exciting because I have never done a project like this before. We are doing three different kinds of art in one project!  I finally got to paper mâché!"

 So happy our student teacher, Miss Voy, was here to help!

Olympic Sports Sculptures

Paper mâché sculptures are ready for painting!

Thank you, Miss Coombs for helping us with the hot glue gun! We hope you didn't get burned too many times.

Thank you, Miss Dawson, for helping us keep our special cultural clothing free from paint. You are very clever!

Using a Protractor

Students are learning to use protractors to measure and draw angles. This site has fun activities for kids to practice. Give it a try!

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/protractor-using.html

Olympic Fever Hits Grade 6!

Students have been watching Olympic sports and designing their own versions of the game using all kinds of gym equipment. I can't wait to see what they come up with! Check back next week to see the games in action!

Receiving the Tablets!!

The day the tablets came: Our class walked in expecting a usual day, until our eyes set upon another cart in the front of the room. Some of us thought it was our laptop cart but not in it's usual place, but others realized that it was the tablets that we were told about earlier in the year.
That day was quite exciting! Until Mrs.Pike told the class that we didn't have the code for our tablets and we must wait till Monday. :( Since it was Friday, we asked if we could at LEAST see the new tablets, but Mrs. Pike said that good things are worth waiting for, meaning we couldn't. And she was right , they were completely worth our wait. :)
Monday morning we all rushed in and didn't take long to get ready, because we knew what was in store. Every 3 people were given  a tablet and a keyboard to look at and explore. We had our new tablets out for about 2 periods and when Mrs.Pike said to put them away, we didn't want to, but she was the teacher. The next weeks were mostly us getting used to our new pieces of technology, and now we guide Mrs. Pierce's class on using the tablets! We use the tablets for researching, asking questions, doing projects and group activities, they helped us a lot when there was not enough technology in the class when we were doing work with the other class.
So once upon a time, there was a class who couldn't ever be happier with their year.


By,
Maaheen , Imaya and Jasmine

Sharing our Learning Across the School

Mrs. Elder's Early Years class is having a geography lesson using our Canada bulletin board. Earlier today, Mrs. Perry's class came down to use the map for a lesson as well. We are adding "Did you know?" facts to our board today. We wonder who else will use our bulletin board to learn about Canada!

Grade 6 Learning Commons at Northwood

Our principal, Mr. Pillon, created learning commons time in the library so classes can collaborate on projects. 6Pike and 6Seguin are working together to learn about the underground railroad and to think about history from different perspectives. Today they are writing stories from the point of view of an escaping slave along the underground railroad to Canada. Students share their stories and discuss what it might have been like to escape to freedom. Ask us what we learned!

Using technology to Research

Grade 6P and 6PS partner up and use Underground Railroad secret codes to write letters to help salves escape to freedom. Ask us how they found their way north in the day and night time. 

Is the Underground Railroad a real Railroad?

Students are investigating the who, what, where, when, why and how of the Underground Railroad to Canada. They are using an amazing resource from Scholastic to help them understand each part of a runaway slave's journey. You can check it out here:
The Underground Railroad

Collaborative map making

We are making a GIANT map of Canada for our bulletin board. Check back later to see what we do with it!

 

Tangram Torture!

We read a legend about where tangrams originated 

and then tried to recreate the puzzle

Shouts of "I got it!" were heard around the room. Music to the teacher's ears :)