January 25, 2011

January 25th, 2011





What a great week full of school spirit at General Lake! Students were excited and showing off their various costumes for the various Spirit Days. It is really a great time to be in school with all these fabulous activities taking place. Congratulations to all the students who took part and made this event a resounding success.


In Core English students were busy preparing either their story telling (Grades 1-3) or their speeches grade 4-6. I have enclosed a copy of the rubric I will be using to mark the students. All students are expected to complete this assignment. I would like all students to present in front of their class. I will make special arrangements for students at recess if they are absolutely unable to do this, but I am hoping most students will feel safe, secure and comfortable in the classroom to be able to present. Speeches are to be completed by Feb 11 when we will begin the class presentations until Feb 15. Student chosen to go to the school speak off will present on February 17. I haven't got the final dates for the grades 1 -3 school wide event, but I anticipate it to be before the junior/intermediate event. Students will begin bringing home their storytelling and speeches so the can practice as much as possible before the event.



Rubric for Public Speaking grade 4 and up Name:___________________________

Delivery:

Appearance Suitable 1 2 3 4

Gesture natural unaffected 1 2 3 4

Manner natural sincere 1 2 3 4

Material

Worthwhile suited to topic 1 2 3 4

Organized in logical order 1 2 3 4

Suitable in keeping with age and background 1 2 3 4

Originality, thought and presentation 1 2 3 4

Language and Literacy Form

Words effective and clear 1 2 3 4

Fluency easy to follow 1 2 3 4

Grammar correct usage 1 2 3 4

Pronunciation correct with good enunciation 1 2 3 4



Rubric for Grade 1-3

Delivery

Visual Appearance 1 2 3 4

Contact with audience 1 2 3 4

Voice, Quality/Dramatics 1 2 3 4

Material

Suitability 1 2 3 4

Introduction 1 2 3 4

Organization 1 2 3 4

Creativity 1 2 3 4

Language 1 2 3 4

Fluency -easy to follow 1 2 3 4



Finally I would like to make a proposal to help move towards using less paper. I would like to propose that I post this newsletter on the blog only on Tuesdays, rather than photocopying over 100 notes. If you would prefer I continue sending the letters, please let me know with a quick note. I feel its very important to have regular communication between school and home and I don't want to make a change if its going to be detrimental. I will continue for the next couple of weeks with the same paper format to give everyone time to respond. If I don't hear from anyone I will move to the online forum. Also thanks to all for the positive comments you left on the Blog. I really appreciate hearing from you.



Homework

Please return all paper reading a-z books when you are finished using them. I will exchange them for new ones when you return the others. Also don't forget to let me know how the reading is going (too easy, too hard or just right).

Grade 1 printing / Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help remember their story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.



Grade 2 spelling/Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remember the story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.



Grade 3 cursive/ Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remeber the story. Students should practise telling their story as much as they can to help prepare for the contest.



Grade 4 Cursive writing/ Speech preparation Due Feb 11



Grade 5 Speech preparation due Feb11



Grade 6 Speech preparation Due Feb 11

Finally many students in Mme Spencers class indicated an interest in becoming a Peer Mediator at General Lake. These students have completed the Peer Mediation Training program. These student have been trained in effective strategies to help students solve problems on the playground. These students will be visiting classes in the near future to introduce the program to the rest of the school and begin their regular patrol on the playground.