Parent portal

Welcome Students and Parents of 6C!

I’m excited and pleased to be your child’s teacher this school year. 

Upon arrival on Thursday, after 8:05 am, returning grade six students will make their way directly up to their class.  For new students traveling on the bus or getting dropped off, find an adult on supervision to guide you in the right direction.  We are in room 318 on the top floor. 

The classroom sink can be used for bottle refill, so please ensure that your child packs a water bottle among their other items (indoor shoes, lunch, snack,etc…).  The book(s) your child is/are currently reading will also come in handy those first few days for silent reading.

Also on that first day, the students will be sent home with an information package for your review.  Please note that most of the documents require your signature and the office has asked that the forms remain stapled together in their original order.  Kindly return the forms at your earliest convenience.

Basic school supplies will be provided; however, purchasing headphones, I recommend cheap, and a Bescherelle (L'art de conjuguer) is recommended as useful tools for both at school and home this year.  They will get lots of use!

Pickup is common on the first day of school.  If your child is either walking or getting picked up, kindly include a note to avoid any confusion. 

Check out the class website for future information and posted updates.  In ways, it currently reflects last year but it will be updated in the first few weeks of school when photo consent forms are returned.

I look forward to meeting the students tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Bryan Bradley

Eliot River Elementary School

bpbradley@edu.pe.ca

Homework is posted online.  It should be visible above.   You can also use the following link to stay updated on what's being posted: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Y181aXYzOHNwaWhlMTNua2IzOWhoNmtqOGdvb0Bncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t

Homework summary:

French and English reading - we rotate between French and English weeks with the students reading daily at home.  This is first nature for some while more laborious for others.  We have a classroom library, a school library, and a local public library.  The students have access to lots of reading and are encouraged to be reading regularly at both home and school.

There is a verb of the week that the students are expected to conjugate in the past (passé composé et imparfait), present, and future (futur simple).  They are tested on said verb each Thursday.  At first, we will ease into it but after 'avoir' and 'être', we pick up speed.  Since the assigned verbs are posted in advance, those who require extra review time have the luxury of getting an early start.  There are some games posted in the Student Portal to help with at home review.

Spelling tests will be on most English reading weeks when there is school on a Friday.  The list will be reviewed on a Monday or a Tuesday and the test will take place on that Friday.  The amount of necessary review required varies by the individual. 

Math finish work.  Math not completed in class is assigned for homework.  Again, the amount of work sent home will vary by the individual and how class time was used.  Don't speak French?  There's access to the English version of the math book in pdf format.  Simply click on the math book tab above to gain access.

Dear Families,

I hope this message finds you well. It has been a pleasure getting to know your child over the last week and a bit. Last night, it was equally nice meeting parents at Meet the Teacher.

Here's what we will be working on in the coming weeks:

In English, we will focus on writing strategies to craft a memoir. Students have been asked to think about a significant memory from their lives that they will eventually turn into a story. We will engage in various writing practices to apply the strategies taught, which will also enhance their French writing in realistic fiction.

In French, students will be developing a realistic fiction piece. They will utilize strategies aimed at bringing their writing to life through vivid descriptions. Just yesterday, we explored how to describe the emotion of anger, emphasizing the "Show, Don't Tell" technique to create more impactful writing. I'm very pleased with their efforts on our first grammar test—well done, 6C!

In math, we have been working on reading large numbers, reinforcing basic operations from grade five, and understanding place value. This will continue to be our focus for the next week or so.  Some students have committed to extra practice of their multiplication facts at home.  Having confidence in this area will serve them well with future grade six outcomes.  

On a side note, the students learned some of the basics for chess.  Every Friday morning, we'll get out the boards and have some fun.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to an exciting year together!

Regards,

Bryan Bradley

Dear Families,

I wanted to share some updates on what we’ve been working on in class.

In math, the students completed a second basic operations test on Friday, which reviewed material from grade 5. The corrected tests were sent home, and students were asked to show you their results—no need to sign and return them; the fridge is a great place for them! Over the next two weeks, we will have two more such tests focused on bringing their skills up to grade level. This was a wonderful opportunity to discuss fixed and growth mindsets. The next test is scheduled for Friday. Additionally, we are exploring big and large numbers in math and we have moved on to positive and negative integers.

In French, students have been working on inferring emotions in their writing. We discussed how to express emotions non-verbally, encouraging them to describe feelings rather than simply stating them. They also wrote about what they want me to know about them, incorporating our learning about emotions and plurals. Also, I'm pleased to report that they achieved a 94% class average on their most recent verb test—great job!

In English, we have been practicing new writing strategies, particularly focusing on using dialogue effectively. Recently, we learned about dialogue tags and will soon delve into using them to convey emotion.

Dear Families,

I wanted to share some updates on what we’ve been working on in class.

In French, we used narrative techniques to plan our realistic fiction stories and explored how to depict character emotions through a curve that illustrates their journey. Over the past weeks, we've focused on essential writing skills, including paragraphing, dialogue, and using dialogue tags to convey emotion. We analyzed mentor texts, including past students' work, to see these strategies in action. Our anchor charts and interactive board help keep these concepts at the forefront as students work diligently to enhance their writing.

In science, we are learning about space.

In English, we recently completed the rough draft of our memoirs. Although some students are still finalizing their drafts beyond the deadline, I am thrilled to see their commitment to improvement. We are now in the editing phase, emphasizing paragraph structure and addressing run-on sentences. It's exciting to witness students actively seeking feedback and making thoughtful revisions to their work.

In math, students tackled their fraction test, a challenging concept this year. I've noticed a positive shift in their approach to learning, with some advocating for additional practice and staying after class to reinforce what we've covered. We're now gearing up to dive into percentages and ratios.

Thank you again for your support. It’s rewarding to see our students grow and excel!

Best regards,

Bryan

Here are a few parent prompts for the supper table:

-I hear that you filmed yourself in French, what's that about?

-How do you feel you did on the fraction test?  How did you prepare for the quiz?

-I hear that your grammar test results are always emailed to you, may I have a look in your gmail?

-How's the class doing on the battery challenge?

- How do you say Pownal in 6C?  Why?

-I hear your teacher has an irrational fear of sharks.  What's that about?

- How did you like Hatchet?  What about Najma dans les étoiles?

Dear Families,

I wanted to share a brief update on our focus in French class.

As you know, there's a real focus on verb conjugation. The goal behind this is to write and speak with increased precision and accuracy using the past, present, and future tenses. 

Students have been recording themselves talking about what they did over the weekends. This is helpful because I hear details I wouldn’t get in a class conversation. Takeaways from these recordings are that we are mixing up our tenses, we are inserting too much English into our French, and we need to work on our past participles (j'ai boire vs. j'ai bu).

Based on these takeaways, we created a common error list and a list of things to avoid. This has also guided my teaching. Presently, we are learning when to use the passé composé and when to use imparfait (both are past tenses). To enhance vocabulary, students are learning specific temporal markers for both of these tenses.

For tomorrow's recording, students will explain how the phones of the past differ from the phones of the present. In doing so, they will need to use the imperfect and the temporal markers provided to them (for example: while, when I was, often, every day). If you could have a short conversation with your child about phones of the past—party lines, rotary phones, etc.—that would be very helpful to them.

Thank you again for your support.

Subject: Postcards, Solar System Dioramas, and Decimal Practice

Dear Families,

This week students will redesign the cover of our French read‑aloud book as a postcard and send their artwork to another school. Kindly send a postage stamp with your child by next Monday so we can mail their work. We will also be receiving postcards from the partner school over the next few weeks.

In French science, we are learning about the solar system. Each student has been assigned a planet and will create a diorama showing how they would colonize that planet. They will research survival challenges and design creative solutions. Please send a shoebox with your child for the last week, December 15th - 19th, so they can finish their project.

In math, we are working on multiplying and dividing decimal numbers. We began today with estimation to build number sense and will move into procedural practice this week.

Thank you again for your help.