Mrs. Derksen and I have noticed a significant drop in many of the students spelling marks for term two.  We would like to offer the students an opportunity to raise their term mark by a maximum of 10%.  Students will be given a list today containing 30 words from the last 6-8 weeks of spelling.  On Tuesday, March 5th we will test the students on these words and adjust their term two mark accordingly.

The students will also be recording their weekly spelling marks in their planners and we ask that you sign the planner to signify you have seen the mark.

I have written the list down below and will give the students the same list today in class.  Please come and speak with Mrs. Derksen or myself  (or email us a pgoosen@highroadacademy OR mderksen@highroadacademy) if you have any questions.

Mrs. Goosen & Mrs. Derksen

Spelling List:

1.  siege                                             2.  foreign

3. penalize                                        4.  necessary

5.  circumstance                           6.  bouquet

7.  colonial                                      8.  conserve

9.  stationary                                10.  argument

11.  estimate                                  12. accident

13.  medicine                                14.  whether

15. realize                                      16.  forfeit

17.  exception                             18.  official

19.  altogether                             20.  business

21.  chimney                                22. drought

23. electrician                            24.  discovery

25. dilemma                                26. automobile

27. deceived                              28. appearance

29. universal                              30. familiar

Here is the spelling list for this week:

pigeon

heir

emperor

citizen

attorney

customer

majority

issue

tissue

scene

journey

compliment

appetite

apparatus

envelope

vegetable

approach

difficulty

aisle

icicle

We have a few things coming up on our calendar over the next couple of weeks:

Tuesday – Feb. 26 – Highroad Open House – come and look around at all the great learning that is happening at our school.  If you know someone that is interested in bringing their students to Highroad this is a great opportunity to show them around.  There will also be a short concert happening in the chapel at 11:00 a.m.     All students are expected to be dressed in Full Dress Uniform for that day.

Wednesday – Feb. 27 – Anti-Bullying Day – students are asked to wear a pink shirt in support of this day.  Solid pink is preferred and if your child really doesn’t want to wear pink then the usual uniform will be fine.   We will be doing lessons on what bullying looks like and how we can all be part of bringing this behaviour to an end.

Friday – March 1st – Professional Development Day.

Families First

In conjunction with City Life Church, Highroad Academy is offering some seminars for parents. I think that the topics are interesting and appropriate for the changing culture that we are living in!

Tuesday, March 12- Emerging Trends in online youth culture -7-9pm -free

Friday, April 12-formatting the next generation -7-9:45- cost $10

Saturday, April 13- maximizing marriage through the fusion of two lives-8:30-4- $65

Tuesday, May 14- techNOphobia – implementing practical tools for safe family Internet use 7-9pm -free

Here is the spelling list for this week.  Those students who missed the test last Friday will write it on Monday morning.

yield

siege

achieve

receive

conceit

vein

foreign

describe

response

rebellious

neutral

suggest

penalize

unfortunate

height

revere

mere

necessary

envelop

compute

Today we enter an incredible season of reflection and gratitude.  Over the next 40 days, our class will be discussing different ways that Christians can participate in and better understand the season of Lent.  Parents, if you are looking for ideas – either personally or as a family – check out the following blog link for ideas.

http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/40-ideas-lent-2013

(You may have to copy and paste the link into your browser, I’m having technical difficulties…)

If you are comfortable sharing what you, or your family, are doing, please share your comments on this post.  The Derksen family is giving up all secular music in our home.  What Christian bands/artists are you listening to?  We need recommendations!  🙂  I wish all of your families an incredible time of reflecting as we remember Jesus’ time of fasting and prayer in the desert, culminating with the mourning of His death and celebration of His resurrection.

On Friday this week in Social Studies we will be discussing the commonly practiced religions in Japan.  If you have a chance to have a family discussion (maybe in the car or at the dinner table) about one or both of the following questions, it would help support our class discussions and learning.

Discussion Question #1:

“Religion is an integral part of Japanese life.  Although it is ever present it does not interfere with everyday life.”

Discussion Question #2:

“The Japanese have tended to mold their religions to fit their way of life more than the reverse.”

(Both questions taken from Cultures of the World – Japan by Shelley, Rex et al.)

As you can tell – these are ‘deep thinking’ questions for grade 6 students and will help develop their critical thinking skills.  Thank you for taking the time to support your child’s education at home.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me @  mderksen@highroadacademy.com.  Thank you!

Mrs. Derksen

I hope you are all enjoying the sunshine today!  Just a few things for you to note:

Thursday, February 14th –  we will have a dress up day where students can wear read, white, or pink.

Wednesday, February 27th – Anti Bullying Day.   The official colour for anti-bullying day is pink.  Students can wear a solid pink t shirt and casual pants OR their uniform.  If students wear their uniform that day we will have something pink (pin etc) for them to put on in support of this day.

Here is the spelling list for this week:

conserve

survive

circumference

earliest

rehearse

adjourn

dropped

forgetting

beginning

science

ceremony

bouquet

colony

colonies

colonial

colonel

kernels

descent

descend

Hi Everyone,

Our class is having a contest to see which student can find the longest palindrome by Wednesday, February 20th.  A palindrome is a word or phrase that can be spelled the same forwards and backwards.  For example:  mom, dad, level, race car, & Stanley Yelnats (the lead character of our novel).  Students may ask anyone they know for ideas, but NO INTERNET SEARCHES are allowed by the student or anyone helping them.  Have fun looking for palindromes and here’s one to get you thinking!

Palindrome comic

On Valentine’s Day the Brazil missions team is having a concession fundraiser at lunch. The following items will be available for purchase.

hot dog $2

chicken strips $3

fries $3

drinks $1

Our Anti-Bullying Assembly went very well today and the grade 6 students did an excellent job of their story reading and reader’s theatre.  As part of our assembly we showed a music video by Mike Tompkins.  Below is the link for the video if you are interested in checking it out.  Remember that all of the sounds in the videos are made from his mouth alone.

Stand Up by Mike Tompkins

Enjoy your long weekend!  Happy Family Day to all!

We have a few things going on this week that you might want to mark on your calendars (if you haven’t done so already).

We have a short week this week as Friday is a Pro D day for teachers.  Our spelling test will be on Thursday this week due to no school on Friday.

This Wednesday morning (9:15 – 10:15) Mrs. Derksen and I are responsible for the assembly.  Our topic is healthy relationships, with a focus on anti-bullying.  We are getting the class to help us with a reader’s theatre and picture book reading…you are welcome to join us!

Spelling List:

accident

slipped

decide

confer

accept

refer

guess

summon

invite

estimate

victim

banana

medicine

conference

argument

product

fraction

celebration

invitation

stationary

Have a great week!

Mrs. Goosen