Election Math

This week we had an opportunity to read about the recent election results. In order to get a clearer picture of the results, our class made mathematical word problems using the background information and statistics from the article. Here are a few of the problems students came up with:

• How many more seats do the Conservatives need to get a majority (using the information from the article they have 143 seats, a majority government is 155 seats)?

• The conservatives had 124 seats in the last election. They won 143 seats in this election. How many more seats do they have?

• If the Liberal party (77 seats) and Bloq party (49 seats) united, would they be able to form a majority government?

• If the Green party gained 5 seats every election, how many years until they get a majority if they have elections every 2 years?

Our explorations also led to discussions on the differences between a majority and minority government and the concept of regional representation.

-Michael

Readers and Authors

We have had several wonderful opportunities to hear from and speak with a number of readers and authors in the last several weeks.

As part of Read-In-Week, MLA Rachel Notley came to read from Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer to several grade 5/6 classes. She also spoke of the importance of community involvement and participation – ideas we will revisit throughout the year.

We also visited author Joan Marie Galat at the H. T. Coutts, Education Library. We have a number of Joan’s books in our library including Dot to Dot in the Sky: Stories in the Stars, of the Moon and of the Planets and hope to revisit them as we explore Weather and Sky Science later in they year.

Kim Deep also came in spoke with our class about her experiences writing and publishing her recently released book Conductor Kash and the Prosperity Express. It was inspirational hearing about the adventure of having her book published and her journey through the writing process.

We also invited Thomas Wharton in, from the Department of English and film studies at the University of Alberta, to talk to our class about his experiences writing and the creation of his new book, The Shadow of Malbron. Our students had an extended opportunity to interview him about ideas and the writing process.
-Michael

Welcome!

Welcome to our Classroom Blog!

We have had an exciting start to the school year and can't wait to share all the wonderful things that are happening in our class. Keep an eye out here for regular updates.

-Michael