Welcome to 2015!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to the rest of the 2014-2015 school year!  We hope that everyone had a great and relaxing break, and is ready to take on the new year!

Before the holidays, we had a lot of fun.  We were busy creating Elf letters, putting together a Holiday Variety Show, and writing short stories.  I will be posting a new page soon with some of the videos and pictures of our December adventures!

Today was a bus cancelation day, and we wanted to thank all families who remembered to call into Safe Arrival (905-778-2011) if their child was staying home.  It makes the jobs of our office staff much easier, and it is very much appreciated!

As of yesterday, students were told they would be having a Math test on Circles (radius, diameter, circumference, area) this coming Friday.  The test will be postponed until Wednesday, January 14.  Immunizations for HPV (girls only) were scheduled for today and have now been rescheduled until February 12.  Also scheduled for today was Mr. Shank's pre-course selection visit. Mr. Shanks is our student transition liaison and guidance counsellor from Bradford High.  He comes over to Fieldcrest periodically to speak to our students about their upcoming transition to high school.  Today's visit has been rescheduled for Friday, January 9, at which time Mr. Shank will be giving students information about their course selection for Grade 9, as well as inviting them to the BDHS grade 8 parents' night on January 15.  Please watch for this information to come home.

Have a great day!

Miss Skelton :)

November

Hi everyone,

We have a busy few weeks!  Here are some activities and events that are coming up:
TODAY - students will be sharing their science projects on organ systems with their peers today
Wednesday, November 19 - Data Management assessment
Thursday, November 27 - Girls' Basketball Tournament
Friday, November 28 - Science test - cells, organelles, cell theory, characteristics of living things, unicellular organisms
Monday, December 1 - MOCKING JAY at the Cineplex in Newmarket!!  Paperwork to come home early this week :)

I'm sure there is more to be added - I'll update this as more dates come up.

Have a great day,

Miss Skelton :)

Math Assessment - Prime Numbers, GCF, LCM, etc.

Hi everyone,

Our students have a Math test tomorrow on the following:
- Vocabulary (multiple choice)
- Prime and Composite Numbers
- Divisibility Rules
- Prime Factorization, Factor Trees
- Greatest Common Factor
- Lowest Common Multiple

There will not be word problems on this assessment, however in the future, word problems will be a regular part of assessments.

Students have a glossary in the back of their notebooks.  They are responsible for knowing what the vocab words mean, however they will not be asked to define the words.  There will be a multiple choice section of the test to indicate their understanding of the vocabulary.  Beyond that, if questions include any of the vocabulary words, it is expected that students know what they mean.

Our Word Wall/Vocabulary for this Math unit

This Khan Academy video is useful to help with divisibility and prime factorization:
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/factors-multiples/prime_factorization/v/prime-factorization

This one is helpful for explaining Greatest Common Factor:
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/factors-multiples/greatest_common_divisor/v/greatest-common-divisor

And last but not least, Lowest Common Multiple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6yHKOYJiso

*these videos help to clarify the concept, but students should be comfortable using the factor tree (prime factorization) to determine GCF and LCM

Please take a bit of time tonight to review concepts with students.  There will be no "rewrite" opportunities for students, as there are many opportunities for them to demonstrate their learning throughout the course of the upcoming units.

Thanks!  Have a great night,
Miss Skelton :)