Welcome to Grade 6!

It is my pleasure to be teaching your child this year! I look forward to working closely with you and getting to know your child. You are your child's first teacher, and together we can help your child meet the provincial expectations for this year. We will be starting the year by getting to know each other, our individual strengths, interests and needs. The emphasis with students is that effort is more important than ability in achieving success and that a student's "job" is to work hard and try their best.

Please encourage your child to discuss what has gone on at school each day. Set aside 40-50 minutes for homework every night. Each week homework will consist of a reading comprehension page, a math word "story" with problems to practice a variety of skills, and a short writing assignment. For this first week we will only have a reading comprehension assignment. For the first few weeks we will be completing homework on paper. As the year progresses, homework will be posted online and students will be able to submit it either electronically or on paper. Homework will be written in their agenda books on Mondays and posted on this blog under "Homework" on the right hand side of the page. Homework will generally be due on Fridays, so that students have the week to complete it. This homework routine is very important. Again, homework will be posted on this blog under the "Homework" sidebar on the right, so you may check here if your child has misplaced his/her agenda.

We will be starting the year with a number of "Getting to Know You" activities. In language & religion we will start with writing letters to ourselves and identifying our goals for the year. Then we will begin an investigation into using technology appropriately and the importance of digital citizenship. In math, we will begin the year by investigating number patterns, some basic algebra and integers, doing "number talks", and memorizing our basic facts!

In the afternoon class, we will be learning about biodiversity in science and practising following directions and basic movement, strength and flexibility skills in Phys-Ed. In the arts we will begin the year studying visual art.

This year, the Grade 6's will be using a few websites to help facilitate learning. We will be using Google Apps, Blogger, Xtramath, Prodigy and a number of other applications to demonstrate our learning. We will keep usernames and passwords for these accounts in your child's agenda. A form for the Acceptable Use of Technology is being sent home the first day of school, so please sign and return it as soon as possible. If your child has a chromebook, laptop or tablet, and you are comfortable with him/her bringing it to school, then I would highly encourage students to bring them. Students may use technology to complete many of their assignments in class. For now, please follow our class Twitter account at @MrPouliot. We will be tweeting regularly to update everyone on our learning journey.

Finally, I would like to invite any parent who is interested in getting involved in our class to contact me at the school The more the merrier, and extra hands are ALWAYS welcome!

Yours,

Mr. Pouliot