November 2015 - Innova Academy

November 2015
Adele first encountered
classical education
through reading Susan
Wise Bauer’s book The
Well-Trained Mind.
While home educating
her children, she quickly
adopted the classical
method and her
enthusiasm increased
as she saw the fruit of
the methodology in her
children’s progress.
Twelve years later,
Adele is thrilled to see
the vision of a classical,
Christian school
become a reality, and is
currently teaching
Grades 5 and 6 at
Innova Academy.
Besides home
educating, Adele has
taught Grades 5 and 6,
Kindergarten to Grade 8
music, and worked as a
special education
resource and
enrichment teacher in
both public and private
schools.
Adele McLaughlin
Teacher
Grade 5 and
Grade 6
Grade 5
Mrs. Adele McLaughlin
Teachers and students at Innova Academy begin each
day with Morning Meeting, a time of song, scripture
reading, prayer, and shared learning. This month,
students will sing and memorize the hymn We’re
Marching to Zion; name and locate the countries of
Southern Europe; and learn about early medieval art
forms: mosaic, fresco, arabesque, and illumination.
In Language Arts this month, students will delve into the
daily life and adventures of a young minstrel boy living in
medieval England through the study of the novel Adam
of the Road by Janet Gray. In this integrated unit,
students will explore the historical background and
setting, demonstrate comprehension of the text, make
inferences, compare and contrast characters, develop
vocabulary skills, and explore literary techniques used
by the author. Students will engage in a wide variety of
activities, including writing summaries and descriptions,
writing from dictation, researching, composing a poem,
illustrating the text, and creating a “mummer” skit.
Grammar study will focus on the use of nouns, including
proper and common nouns, possessive nouns, nouns
used as subjects, subject complements, objects, and
objects of the preposition. In Spelling, students will learn
the y-exchange rule and practice applying all rules
learned to date to both familiar and unfamiliar words.
Students will write weekly spelling words in welldeveloped sentences.
Students will complete two units in Mathematics this
month. In the first unit on fractions and mixed numbers,
students will add and subtract unlike fractions and mixed
numbers by rewriting them with like denominators.
Students will have an opportunity to practice their
knowledge of fractions using large, soft chocolate chip
cookies which they can consume right after lunch! In the
second unit on multiplying and dividing fractions and
mixed numbers, students will learn that whole numbers,
fractions, and mixed numbers can be multiplied or
divided in any combination. The second unit may carry
over into the beginning of December.
In Bible class, students will study the book of Acts. They
will discover that the Holy Spirit provided the early
church with power and direction, and the church matured
and grew as a result of persecution. The early church
also suffered from quarrels and divisiveness, just as the
church does today. Students will discuss how churches
are governed as well as biblical conflict resolution.
In Science this month, students will complete their
study of the nervous system begun last month.
Beginning in week three, students will study the
classification of living things. To better study organisms,
scientists organize them into groups. Students will
explore the similarities and differences among living
things, and learn how they are classified. Students will
understand the unity and diversity in God’s creation and
that each organism plays a unique roll.
In Art, students will continue to learn the elements of
design, reviewing colour, line, shape and form. Form
will be further explored as they finish their Viking rune
jewellery from the Viking Feast, and they will study
pieces from 900-1000 AD, including detailed weaponry
and jewellery. Students will create poppies to wear for
Remembrance Day. Students will also learn about
texture and are introduced to tooling and metalwork
before having an opportunity to create their own piece
reflecting the medieval period.
In History this month, students will study medieval
Europe following the arrival of the Norsemen. Key
events include Alfred the Great and the Battle of
Hastings. Students will study the feudal structure of
medieval Europe, the development of the English
language, castles, and the English Code of Chivalry.
Throughout the unit, students will add key events to the
classroom timeline and learn the Timeline Song.
In Latin class this month, students will learn that like
verbs, nouns have endings, called declensions. They
will learn the first declension noun cases and
corresponding endings. Students will continue to
expand their vocabulary and study English derivatives.
En Français 1, avec l’arriver du mois de Novembre
viens de nombreux changements pour les élèves dans
leurs classe de français. Ils vont commencer
«l'apprentissage à l’aide de gestes» qui est une
méthode d'apprentissage de la langue basé sur les
actions. Les étudiants vont continuer à développer et
augmenter leurs vocabulaire et phrases clef, ce qui leur
I n n o va A ca d e m y
1000 Gorham Street
Newmarket, O N L3Y 1L8
(905) 806-1959
[email protected]
Grade 5 – The
Grammar Stage
The grammar stage
builds a solid academic
foundation. Children
have a natural ability to
readily absorb large
quantities of information.
They find memorization
enjoyable, and happily
sing and chant phonics
and grammar rules,
math facts, Latin
vocabulary, the names
of the continents and
oceans, and the
important events and
dates of history.
Grammar school
education focuses on the
absorption of facts and
rules, and lays the
foundation for the logic
stage.
permettra de commencer à communiquer entre eux en
français. En outre, ils vont commencer à travailler sur
une pièce de théâtre intitulée «La Poule Maboule» qui
facilitera l'acquisition du vocabulaire essentiel.
In French 1, November comes with many changes for
the students in French class. They will begin ‘gesture
learning’ which is an action based language learning
method. Students will continue to learn new vocabulary
and phrases, which will enable them to begin to
communicate amongst themselves in French.
Furthermore, they will begin working on a play called ‘La
Poule Maboule’ which will facilitate the acquisition of
essential vocabulary.
En Français 2, avec l’arriver du mois de Novembre
viens de nombreux changements pour les élèves dans
leurs classe de français. Ils vont commencer
«l'apprentissage à l’aide de gestes» qui est une
méthode d'apprentissage de la langue basé sur les
d'action. Les étudiants vont continuer à développer et
augmenter leurs vocabulaire et phrases clef, ce qui leur
permettra de commencer à communiquer entre eux en
français. Les étudiants apprendront également la
structure des phrases et étudieront de nouveaux
verbes. En outre, ils vont commencer à travailler sur
une pièce de théâtre, ce qui facilitera l'acquisition du
vocabulaire essentiel.
In French 2, November comes with many changes for
the students in French class. They will begin ‘gesture
learning’ which is an action based language learning
method. Students will continue to learn new vocabulary
and phrases, which will enable them to begin to
communicate amongst themselves in French. Students
will also learn the structure of sentences and will study
new verbs. Furthermore, they will begin working on a
play, which will facilitate the acquisition of essential
vocabulary.
November, students will learn, practice and improve
their volleyball skills, in preparation for the Grades 5
and 6 ACSI volleyball competition coming up in early
December. Students will develop skills and techniques
such as learning how to volley, bump and serve a ball
and then moving on to passing and setting, all while
having fun playing on a team together. In addition to
playing volleyball, students will also focus primarily on
“fitness building activities.” Each student will determine
his/her own fitness goals and identify activity choices to
improve their fitness levels.
Music class in November is dedicated to developing
concepts from the months before as well as preparing
for the upcoming Christmas concert. Students will
continue to learn small pieces on their recorder and
develop their note reading skills. They will learn about
question-answer phrasing on unpitched percussion and
practice simple borduns. Students will also begin
learning three songs to sing with the whole school and
they will develop their own unique Christmas piece as a
class.
Innova Academy has modified some of our curricular
sequencing to facilitate split grade classes. This allows
for enhanced classroom discussion and student
interaction. Please note that although students in
different grades study the same topic in some subject
areas, curricular expectations are tailored to individual
grade levels.
We are looking forward to a great November, full of
learning and fun!
With the restructuring of our schedules, we have the
opportunity for the Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 students to
participate in Physical Education together. This larger
class size will provide more opportunities for students to
play a number of team sports. For the month of
Upcoming Events
Innova Academy aspires
November 10th – Remembrance Day chapel service –
All are invited to attend
November 23rd – PA day – no school for students
November 27th – Term 1 reports sent home
and women who will
to graduate young men
possess the virtues,
wisdom, knowledge, and
skills necessary for
further academic study.
Our goal is to equip
Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
students to discern truth
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
from folly, to
what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)
communicate clearly and
persuasively, and to
Innova Academy
1000 Gorham Street
Newmarket ON L3Y 1L8
(905) 806-1959
[email protected]
actively and influentially
serve Christ in their
communities.