Weekly Update - April 17

Wow! What an amazing week we had at Youth Singers. Thank you to all families who were able to attend the performance today. The kids should be so proud of themselves for what they accomplished in one short week.  

Highlights of the Week: 

Students spent the week at Youth Singers exploring our big question: How do we use creativity and expression to tell stories, explore identities, and inspire change? 

• Monday – we spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the Youth Singers building through a building tour and journalling exercise. We spent time doing some ice breaker activities with our leader, Tara and the head of Youth Singers, Megan. We were also introduced to our instructors Mr. Dean and Ms. Jessica who led us in our choral and choreography instruction. Students spent time learning both our songs for the week – A Million Dreams and Radioactive. 
• Tuesday – we spent the day exploring costumes and character development. Students put on a fashion show exemplifying the character they created through chosen props and costume pieces. They also had the opportunity to do some sketching outdoors of a collaborative mural created by artist Scott Clark and many members of Youth Singers. 
• Wednesday – students were introduced to beat boxing by Mr. Dean and had the opportunity to layer sounds using a looping pedal. They also explored various sound and lighting stations where they got to mix music on a sound board, use a lightbaord to create various moods, use percussion instruments, and take apart old microphones and speakers to see how they are made. 
• Thursday – students continued practicing their songs and choreography. They also had the opportunity to record their own versions of both songs using special microphones. Students were led through various improv activities and learned two Indigenous songs.  
• Friday – students ran through a rehearsal before their big performance. They spent the rest of the morning reflecting on their week and creating tableaus in small groups. 

How you can support at home: 

• Homework – no homework. 
• Math – Work on fractions. 
• ELAL – Work on identifying themes within stories, movies and tv shows.  

Important Dates:  

• Coupon booklets due back – April 13 
• Parent Council – April 23 
• Healthy Hunger (Booster Juice) – April 23 
• PD Day (No School) – April 24  
• Spring Dance – April 30 
• T. B. Riley Performance (walking field trip) – May 6 
• Whole School Photo – May 7 **updated  
• 2nd Round Grade 6 Vaccinations – May 11  
• TB Riley Student Open House (walking field trip) – June 11  

Grade 6 PAT Dates: 

• ELAL Part A (Writing) – May 25 **updated date 
• ELAL Part B (Reading) – June 4 
• Science – June 12 
• Math Part A (Computations) – June 15 
• Math Part B (All Stems) – June 18 

Reminders: 

• Please return your unsold coupon booklets or the raised funds – they are overdue. 
• PAT Review – we have had several comments and questions about PATs. We will begin review mid May and will be sending home review for Math and Science. You can access practice tests here: https://abed.vretta.com/#/en/public-practice 
• Students will have plenty of opportunity to work on their reading and writing at school, however, here are some suggestions to support at home: 
• Have your child plan a story in 10 minutes with a prompt/theme 
• Give your child 20 minutes to write as much as they can towards a story 
• Practice a preferred style of non-fiction writing when given a prompt and practice planning under time constraints (persuasive, comparative, instructional, friendly letter, etc.) 
• What to focus on – grammar, punctuation, paragraphing, complete sentences 
• Students are given 2 hours to write both a fiction and non-fiction piece of writing during the PAT. They will be given an overarching topic, such as Friendship to write both pieces on. Typically, students will take 5-10 minutes to plan and organize their writing topic for each piece and then spend the remaining time typing their pieces.  
• TRS Flex Time – Wednesdays until 4pm in the library with Mr. B and Ms. Hassen