We had another busy week in grade 5! Thank-you to everyone who made it out to Student-led Conferences and provided great feedback to your child. We always enjoy seeing students share their learning with their parents.
Looking Ahead to Important Dates Dec 1: Family Group CANstruction build (please send in items requested by your child’s family group teacher before this day) Dec 8: PD Day (No School) Dec 13: 5.3 to Masters Gallery, morning only (EXPO Trip) - Will need parent volunteers (2 ish) Dec 18-21: Peace Festival Dec 22: PD Day (No School) Dec 23-Jan 7: Winter Break Jan. 10: Glenbow/Fort Calgary (EXPO Trip ) - Will need parent volunteers (Lots!) Jan. 25: 5.4 to Masters Gallery, morning only (EXPO Trip) - Will need parent volunteers (2 ish) Humanities This week in Humanities we explored the Cordillera region. This region is the most westerly region and the students looked at some of the challenges of living in a mountainous region. The Cordillera region also contains 11 national parks, so we spent some time examining National Parks and the activities you can do with in a National Park and the reasons parks are created. We will wrap up the Cordillera on Monday and begin studying the Arctic. We started our next read aloud, “Rain, Reign.” Along with the reading of this book we will be doing some word study, looking at spelling patterns and learning personal strategies to help with spelling. Math This week we continued to practice how to use the array method to multiply - visually (using diagrams) and symbolically (numbers). Students should be proficient at using this strategy and understand how to multiply at least double-digit factors by single-digit numbers. We also looked into what counts as proofs for multiplication expressions; students then selected an expression to show 4 proofs for. This will be due early next week and students will share their proofs with the class. Looking ahead we will explore the lattice method and traditional algorithm for multiplying. There will also be a multiplication check-in mid week. Science This week we discussed taking weather measurements using thermometer; what are the different weather phenomena we can measure and what they mean, e.g. humidity, wind speed, wind direction. We spent some time learning about what constitutes a chinook and how we could use our data collected earlier in the week to predict that a chinook was imminent. We organized our daily weather observations in a table and will be graphing some of the data next week. Looking ahead we will be designing and constructing our own weather-measurement devices.
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It is hard to believe that we just completed our last week in Term 1. Report cards will be sent home Monday and Term 2 officially begins. Students will have a new PVA class, but the rest of the learning will continue much as it has all year.
Looking Ahead Important Dates Monday, Nov. 20- Report Cards go home Thursday, Nov. 23- Book Orders Due Thursday Nov. 23 (4pm-8pm) and Friday Nov. 24 (8am-1pm) - Student Led Conferences Friday, Nov 24 No School Humanities This week in humanities we began our in depth look into each of the regions. Students should have submitted their completed work on the Interior Plains to freshgrade. If this isn’t done your child will need to finish it as homework. We devoted a lot of class time to it this week and there will not be any more time in class provided. Next week we will begin learning about the Cordillera. We finished “The Wild Robot” this week. It had a very suspenseful ending and the students are looking forward to reading the sequel when it is released in March. We are wrapping up our final project for the novel study. Their CSI assignment should be complete and submitted by Tuesday. We have a couple more connections to make with other classes and then we will wrap up Global Read Aloud. Our next in class read aloud will begin Tuesday. Math This week in math we began to investigate multiplication using the array method. Samples of this method can be viewed on FreshGrade under the assignment “Number Pieces Array Practice”. This is a concrete, visual way of demonstrating double digit multiplication, and a method that many students gravitate to, as it allows them to multiply using friendly numbers in our base 10 system. In the coming weeks we will explore more sophisticated methods of this model as well as introduce the students to other methods of multiplication (including the traditional algorithm that most of us grew up using). Students can continue to practice their multiplication facts at home. Science This week is science we looked at the difference between weather and climate. We also began our daily weather observations and set up a table in Numbers on our iPads to record daily weather observations. This will enable to us to make predictions based on quantitative and qualitative data as well as to do some of the work of meteorologists. Family Groups Connect is participating in the Mayor’s Food Drive CANstruction Jr. competition. On December 1, each family group will be creating a sculpture using non-perishable food items. We are asking that between now and then, you send in non-perishable food items to use for the build. All food items will be donated directly to the Calgary Food Bank. Your child’s Family Group teacher may have a special list of items to send in that are specific for their chosen sculpture. Please ask your child about the plans and food items required. Stay tuned for more information and announcements! Here is the weekly update!
Looking ahead: Fun Lunches this week: Wednesday- Coco Brooks Friday - Edo’s (to make up for missing last Wednesday while we were away) Nov. 20 - Report Cards come home Nov 23/24 - Student-led conferences (will follow the same format as last year, sign-up for spots will begin on Monday, Nov. 20) Dec 1 - Family Group CANstruction Build Day! EXPO: Thanks so much to our parent volunteers who came out this week. Despite the frigid temperatures we had a great week of outdoor exploration. Based on feedback and reflections, students indicated that the trips we took this week, as well as the STEM activities we did at school on Tuesday, helped solidify some of their understandings from our wetland unit and novel study. It also provided them with an opportunity to think creatively and practice collaborative work. We appreciate the time and effort you took with your children to ensure that they came well prepared. THANK-YOU! Humanities: Our in class work in Humanities focused on completing “The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups” stories. Students should have completed a self reflection of their work and submitted the story to Writeabout, and their rubric to freshgrade. The students also had an opportunity to complete a map check-in. This check in required that they draw and label a map of Canada. We did the same activity back in August. Many students reflected that their understanding of Canadian geography has increased and they know a lot more about Canada. It was exciting for them to see their growth and recognize how their learning and understanding has progressed. Many also recognized that there is still more to learn, and set some goals for next term. Next week we will finish our novel study and begin our in depth inquiry into Canadian regions. Math: In between EXPO activities, we continue to practice rounding. Students completed a rounding check-in via Google Form yesterday. Please note that there were a few errors in the spreadsheet I used to assess the check-in. While I had fixed it in the answer key, I did not re-set the correction function so it did not recognize the change. I will be looking at each student’s assessment individually and will make note of where they had correct answers that were inadvertently marked wrong. Thanks for your patience as I work through the kinks of a new piece of technology. Please see Freshgrade as I have made individual comments to your child regarding their rounding knowledge. I offered a tutorial to all 5.3 and 5.4 students yesterday prior to the check-in. Only about half of the students I had requested come and see me actually attended the tutorial. Science: We have wrapped up the fall edition of our wetland study. We will be revisiting some of the concepts in spring once the Weaselhead has thawed so we can observe changes in a wetland throughout the seasons. Yesterday students completed a small assessment of their understanding of food webs. This brought together many concepts we studied together and learned about first hand on our EXPO trips this fall. We will be moving into our weather unit which will provide students with many opportunities to practice their inquiry skills. Misc: Connect is participating in the Mayor’s Food Drive CANstruction Jr. competition. On December 1, each family group will be creating a sculpture using non-perishable food items. We are asking that between now and then, you send in non-perishable food items to use for the build. All food items will be donated directly to the Calgary Food Bank. Your child’s Family Group teacher may have a special list of items to send in that are specific for their chosen sculpture. Please ask your child about the plans and food items required. Stay tuned for more information and announcements! Thanks for your continued support. Here is a look ahead as we prepare for next week, and a reflection of the learning that took place last week.
Looking Ahead: Nov 6-9 EXPO Week Monday-Weaselhead Tuesday- STEAM activities at school - keep sending in those recyclables please! Wednesday- Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Thursday- Remembrance Day Assembly Friday-No School Nov. 16- Vaccinations Nov. 17- Extreme Pita Fun Lunch and Stampede Kettle Corn Nov. 20 - Report Cards go home Nov. 24&25 Student Led Conferences EXPO Thank-you to the parents who have bravely offered to accompany us this week on our outdoor EXPO activities. Based on the forecast please ensure that your child is more than prepared to spend extended periods of time outdoors. This includes, winter boots, snowpants, winter coat (plus appropriate wicking and insulating layers), warm socks (preferably wool), mitts/warm gloves and a toque. A neckwarmer or scarf that can be pulled up over the face would also be helpful. Additionally, students must have a backpack, water, healthy snack and hearty lunch. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to ensure that your child is prepared to be outside. Taking our learning into nature has a profound impact on understanding the world around us and connecting what we are learning in the classroom into our community. Humanities: This week started with the students completing their introduction to the six geographic regions of Canada. As the students became familiar with each region they identified facts that were interesting, informative and important. On Tuesday, students began a creative writing assignment titled “The Secret Knowledge of Grownups”. The planning phase was completed on Wednesday. Students will continue to write in class and will submit their final drafts for assessment by Nov. 9th. Published drafts are due Nov. 14. We continued with “The Wild Robot” novel study. Both classes made inferences about the setting of the story, and completed a quiz for this section. On Thursday, 5.4 started creating “Roz in Canada” postcards to send abroad and skyped with our class connection in St. Louis. These opportunities will happen for 5.3 after the EXPO week. Math: This week in math we explored rounding, connected it to estimating and looked at strategies for rounding large numbers. This included using a number line, visualizing, and applying the ‘look at the place value to the right’ rule. Students had the opportunity to practice rounding through a number of different contexts and there will be a check-in either later this week or early next week. Most students have begun using Prodigy Math game to help them practice some basic skills. As I have access to their accounts, I have begun assigning specific skills to practice, such as rounding and basic multiplication facts. Questions that fit within these topics are given to students through the gaming platform and I then have access to their success rate. Science: Feedback was given to all students on their adaptations assignment and is available on FreshGrade. I have suggested to all students who are currently ‘approaching expectations’ to come and see me so we can work together to ensure that everyone is meeting expectations for that assignment. Most students touched base with me on Thursday or Friday, perhaps check with your child to see if they were one of them! :) Students also finished their “Why do Rivers need Wolves” reflections and posted them to FreshGrade. Additionally, we explored how clouds were named and spent time with Ms. Emin learning how to create skyscapes using pastels. We will use this art integration to learn about clouds, precipitation and the water cycle throughout our EXPO rotations. Here is what we have been up to this week! We thought we would start this update with a glance ahead at the next few weeks, including our upcoming EXPO week. We are still in need of parent volunteers, so please let us know ASAP if you are able to accompany us on any (or all!) of our EXPO activities. The 5.3 /5.4 students will have PE and PVA everyday next week, and should come prepared for those classes Monday.
Oct. 31: Halloween: Students are welcome to dress in costume in the afternoon. The 5s will be having a small celebration at the end of the day. Students can bring in a small treat to share if they would like (not required). Nov. 6: EXPO trip to Weaselhead. We will be departing the school at 9:30am and returning by 3:00pm. Parent volunteers are needed. Nov. 7: EXPO In-school exploration: Wild Robot STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) activities in the Science Lab - parent volunteers appreciated (but not needed!) Nov. 8: EXPO Trip to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (9:00-3:00pm) - parent volunteers needed Nov. 9: Remembrance Day Ceremony at school Nov. 10: Organizational Day, no school for kids Misc:
Math: This week we explored estimation strategies by looking at two different problems. The first one was “how many breaths do you take in a day?” the second was estimating the number of small dots that would fit on a piece of paper. Both questions allowed students to come up with a variety of strategies in order to solve. Students shared their strategies with the class and helped to build our toolbox of possible ways to estimate as well as why it is important to have estimation strategies. We also continued to practice mental math strategies for addition which included using doubles or near doubles to come up with our sums. Science: This week we wrapped up our food web assignments. Students went through a self-assessment checklist and rubric. We also did a hands on demonstration using string and organisms who live in a wetland ecosystem to show the connectedness of plants and animals in an ecosystem. We also watched a short clip on how wolves changed both the ecosystem and the physical geography of Yellowstone National Park upon reintroduction in the mid 1990s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q) . Students will be working on a reflection of this video bringing in their knowledge from the entire unit. We also began a cloud exploration which starts our weather and climate unit. |
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