Humanities- This week the students worked hard to finish their province presentations. We will begin viewing these on Monday. We were also able to finish reading “Tuck Everlasting”. We did some activities in preparation for Global Read Aloud, which begins on Monday. Students will be connected with a couple classes around the world, so we worked on some posts that will have others guessing our location and created a padlet that introduces ourselves to our partner classes.
Math - Two place value check-ins have been taken and the results have been posted on FreshGrade. If you haven't had the chance to log in with your parent account, please do so as we have been using the platform to submit and evaluate students' work. Parent invites to student accounts were sent out via email weeks ago. Check your junk mail folder just in case. Science - Students completed their work on adaptations of wetland organisms. We will do a gallery walk to showcase the different adaptations of organisms that live in wetlands. Finished copies will be submitted on FreshGrade (some have been posted already). Some students have had a chance to begin a self study on food chains and food webs. Ralph Klein Park Trip We will be going to Ralph Klein Park on Wednesday for the whole day. Students need to be bring: a bagged lunch, snacks, and water bottle along with emergency medications like an epi-pen and puffer. Students will be spending the day outside and should be dressed for the weather conditions of the day. Please check the forecast. Terry Fox Donations Connect Charter School participated in the Terry Fox Run on Friday, September 29th. The run took place in North Glenmore Park beginning near the Weaselhead Parking Lot (west end) with the turnaround at the Calgary Canoe Club. Grades 4-6 ran in the morning and Grades 7-9 in the afternoon. If you wish to donate to the Terry Fox Foundation, visit this link: http://bit.ly/2xiw9vg. You can search for Connect Charter School and make a donation on behalf of your child. Please feel free to forward the link to friends and family. Important dates for your calendar:
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Math: While 5.4 was away at camp 5.3 continued to work on Place Value. They completed Check-in #2 on Wednesday. Both classes have posted Check-in #1 to Freshgrade. 5.3 also tackled a problem called Deca Tree. 5.4 will work on that problem next week as well as complete Check-in #2. *Parent Math Corner*: Take a look at this Parent Math Night Series offered by the Calgary Regional Consortium (PD provider in Calgary). https://www.crcpd.ab.ca/program/1487 It is aimed at grades 3-7 and should provide some great information around supporting math development in your child. I will be attending the preschool one to help me learn how to approach math with my tiny little developing brains at home! Science: This week we continued to examine Wetland habitats by sharing our research from last week on marshes, fens, bogs, ponds and swamps. We also spent Thursday learning about the Autumnal Equinox as it occurs today and is significant to our understanding about weather and climate. Humanities: Students in 5.3 worked on their province presentations. They created some criteria to follow and will develop a rubric next week. 5.4 was provided with some time to work on this Thursday. Next week we will complete the presentations and begin sharing our knowledge. EXPO 5.4 and 5.1 had an amazing time at Camp Sweet. The students all seemed to be in positive spirits and we had a great time on our fall camp. Highlights included the animal game, a river study, beading, camp fire and a night hike. Thank you to our volunteers that worked so hard to feed us and make this trip so successful. Pictures of our trip can be found on twitter and the class website. Electives Electives selection will take place on Monday, September 25th. Your child will be bringing home a list of electives being offered as well as descriptions. Our electives run in the afternoon of every Day 5 for 4 periods. Some of the electives run for 4 blocks (red coloured) and some run for 2 blocks (blue coloured). Students choose 1 red or 2 blue. If your child’s first choice is a blue elective, their second choice should also be blue. All 2 block electives need to be selected as pairs. Please help your child choose their top choices and have them bring that sheet back to school for Monday. The students will select their choices at school using a digital form. Volunteer Opportunities Preparations are underway for our book fair in 2 weeks, our Librarian Mrs. Veteikis is looking for any parents who might be available to assist with the book fair for an hour or two on Thursday Oct. 5. We’ll be open for for business during the school day, and some extra eyes and hands would be greatly appreciated. October 4th: EXPO Trip Health and Safety Information about head lice was sent home. You should have also received an email from the office with more information. Important dates for your calendar:
This is what we were up to this week. Please visit the home page for a few pictures of Weaselhead and Dot Day.
Math: This week we learned about representing large numbers in multiple ways and explored the app called Number Pieces which gives us a visual representation of numbers We also tackled a small problem called “Build it Up” and uploaded it to FreshGrade for teacher feedback. Students completed a small place value check-in which will be uploaded to FreshGrade early next week. *Parent Math Corner* YouCubed is a great resource that is compiled by Stanford University professor Jo Boaler and is grounded in current research on math education. I use it for my own professional growth and it has a great section for parents as well. https://www.youcubed.org/resource/parent-resources/ Science: On Tuesday we headed to the Weaselhead and explored the wetland area adjacent to the Elbow River. We were greeted by many large dragonflies and a small group of female mallards. Students had the opportunity to examine the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of a wetland and complete a few activities in their wetland journal. We also did some observations of what the ecosystem looks like in the fall. Thanks again to our parent volunteers - we couldn’t do it without you! We will revisit in each season to observe and predict the changes we will see. Back in class students chose a specific type of wetland to research and will report back to their group next week on what they learned. This research has also been uploaded to FreshGrade. Humanities: The students started the week by examining the impact the hurricanes had on Florida last weekend. We have moved on, and the students began their research on a Canadian Province. They are working with a partner to become an expert on one province. They will then create a presentation so their research can be shared with the class. We will all learn a bit more about the provinces that make up our vast country. Students should expect to be sharing their understanding by Sept. 27th. Dot Day: Around September 15th educators around the world celebrate the book, “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds. Today the grade 5 classes enjoyed the story and participated in several dot day activities. We “made our mark”, as we worked together to solve clues to open a breakout box, create dots that came to life with Quiver, and build a dot mosaic. Camp Sweet: 5.4 leaves for camp Monday morning. We depart shortly after 9, so an early arrival isn’t required. Students will need to be dropped off, as gear doesn’t fit on the busses. We will return Wednesday. We should be back to the school right around 3:00PM. Please follow the packing list, and send a warm sleeping bag and clothes that can be layered. The mornings are quite cool, so your child may want gloves and a toque. If the days are warm we will spend time in the water, so water shoes, a swim suit and towel should be included. We do not need a white shirt (as stated on the packing list) that was only for the grade 7 camp. Math: We continued our exploration of place value and practiced writing big numbers in both standard and expanded form. For example: 482 566 (standard) can be expressed as 400 000+80 000+2000+500+60+6 (expanded). This helps build our understanding of place value and how numbers are written and expressed in math. Students did some practice using different ways of representing numbers and played a dice game which helped reinforce our understanding. Next week students will complete a check-in of this concept which will help me determine if we are ready to move on to a problem called the Deca Tree.
Khan Academy Mr. Sonico has created a 'database' with math curricular outcomes along with links to some practice problems on Khan Academy. These are meant as practice to supplement the work and problem-solving work that we do in the classroom. Unless otherwise indicated or told to students, they are not mandatory. Science: In Science we began our inquiry of wetlands by brainstorming living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) things we would find in wetlands. We also looked at similarities and differences between a western scientific perspective and an aboriginal perspective on the role and purpose of wetland ecosystems. Throughout our study we will be looking through these lenses to gain a fuller understanding of this important ecosystem. We continued by looking at the different ways in which wetlands are categorized. Next week we will head to the Weaselhead to explore the wetland ecosystem there. See information bulletin for more details. Humanities: This week in Humanities both classes got a little further with our read aloud of Tuck Everlasting. We continued working on building information about Canada and conducted some research about hurricanes. We also had our first writer’s workshop period where the students participated in a free choice writing activity. Next week we will continue our work on Canadian geography and mapping skills. We hope to reach the halfway point in our novel and will work on writing. Information Bulletin:
Dear Parents,
Last week was our first official EXPO week for grade 5. The students enjoyed Dragon Boating on Monday, and then 5.3 was off to camp Wednesday. The twitter feeds (@connectcharter or @ErinCouillard) had some amazing pictures, that have been posted to the website. It looked like a fun time time with many opportunities for learning and we are certain that the parents whose children returned have heard all about some amazing adventures. 5.4 spent the week talking about what we already knew about Canada, as we prepare to engage in activities that have us learning about Canada’s geography, history, and identity over the course of the year. We also worked on some reading strategies. Mr. Sonico stepped in to teach math for the last part of the week and the students spent time building relationships with 5.1. In math, we discussed how mistakes are powerful and can help to grow our brain. We watched this video and then did a jigsaw activity where students learned more about the four main types of mistakes we can make and how we can learn from each type. (Stretch mistakes, A-ha mistakes, sloppy mistakes and high-stakes mistakes). Changes in Waterton Camp dates for 5.4 5.4 will now be attending camp with 5.1 on September 18-20. This is a positive change as we can continue building relationships and the camp will be consistent across the 2 classes. An email was sent out from Kevin Sonico, on behalf of administration that provides more details and rationale for the switch. Coming Up This Week Please return the vaccination forms In humanities, we will begin our exploration of Canadian Provinces and will work on reading strategies, poetry and figurative language. In math, we started the week with a problem called “Build it Up” where we worked on our problem solving skills using a problem with many possible solutions. Students who were ready for a challenge moved on the “Build it Up More”. We will continue to look at Place Value this week all the while reminding ourselves of the role that a growth mindset in mathematics plays in our learning. In Science we will begin to explore the role that water plays in ecosystems. This will help build our understanding of wetlands which is our first science topic of the year. Stay tuned for a Weaselhead field trip coming up in the next few weeks. (Date to be determined). |
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