Your Weekly Recap

Happy Hallowe'en!!

What a lovely week we have had! In E.L.A., we have begun planning our recounts/biographies about courage/respect. I hope that we can finish these within the next week - or thereabouts - so that we can move on to the next unit, Me(dia) Smart! 

I have really enjoyed my time in Science this week and hope that your student has as well! In Grade 5, we discussed the respiratory system. We built a working model of the lungs and used ourselves as test subjects to determine how exercise or stress affects breathing rate. 

Today we were introduced to the digestive system by my favourite Science teacher Ms. Frizzle and then built models out of ...... candy! 

We even found some prepared slides & microscopes to look at different types of cells!

In Grade 4 we discussed how absolutely amazing plant & animal life can be! We built a food web using ourselves as well as many, many pieces of string. Later in the week, we played a game outside to learn about the importance of balance between the number of producers, herbivores and carnivores in a habitat.

Today we discussed 'special features' of animals and plants - more commonly known as structural adaptations. We tried moving different bird foods (.... some represented by candy) with different instruments including chopsticks and tweezers to represent different beak shapes. We learned that not all instruments worked well for all food types - and then matched different beak shapes to different food types! 

In art, we continue to study shade and tone with our Grade 4s. This week we introduced perspective into the mix! We learned that mountains 'fade into the distance'. We applied this - in addition to some creativity - to create paper-cut landscapes. The students seemed quite interested in creating habitats and then designing animals/plants with special adaptations to live in them - so I think we will start on this shortly!

In Grade 5, I was happy to have the opportunity to work with students to create an Andy Warhol-inspired pop art piece. Most students are showing a great dedication to learning more about the 1960s to better understand the roots of this art movement. I hope next week to be able to balance the WebQuest with more hands-on practice again!

My goodness! How is there more? I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat waiting to know the results of our plants vs. sunlight experiment. I will have to keep you in suspense as our observations continue.... but I must say that Plant B who has been sequestered in the cupboard does not look as sprightly as Plant A.






Finally, a big thank you to all those you helped to make the Hallowe'en Spooktacular Dance such a success! The students & I had a wonderful time and greatly enjoyed all your efforts!

Have a safe & happy weekend!

Upcoming Events

It's snowing as I write this short update. I must say, I am not quite as excited about this news as your students were early this afternoon!

I wanted to touch base about a few items sent home today:

1. (Grade 4s only) Your student should have a Ziploc bag with a Popsicle stick, magnifying glass and worksheet. The worksheet explains that your student is to examine three different habitats and record their observations about what they see, hear, smell and feel. There is a chart on the back to record this information. This study is due on Friday, October 31.
2. (Grade 5s only) Your student should have a Ziploc bag with a workbook. This workbook, as the front sheet explains, is to record what the student eats & drinks for five days in a row. They also need to record how much they exercise and sleep (and whether they do anything else to improve their health). They also need to record what food categories food & drink choices fall into and may need some support with serving sizes (We have yet to do fractions in Math....). This study is due on Monday, November 3.Your help is greatly appreciated!
3. A green letter went home today outlining the pumpkin carving contest guidelines. If your student would like to participate, their carved pumpkin should be brought into school on the morning of Thursday, October 30.
4. A yellow letter will go home tomorrow. This outlines that we will be attending the MacKenzie Art Gallery on the morning of December 4th. The cost is $3.50 per student to cover busing and a gallery workshop. We will need three parent volunteers to attend so that students are able to work in smaller groups.
5. The K-5 Halloween Dance will be held on Friday afternoon from 12.45-2 pm. Students may choose to wear costumes in the afternoon only. If your student would prefer not to wear a costume, I might suggest wearing black & orange clothing as an easy alternative!

Have a lovely week!

This Week's Spelling Words

This week's theme? Halloween!

bat

vampire

pumpkin

zombie

werewolf

eye

costume

veins

blood

candy

brain

Frankenstein

ghost

mummies

haunted

trick-or-treating

This Week's Recap

Can you believe it's almost November? 

This week we again started Science! It was an interesting week - and has inspired us to next week start some new experiments to determine whether plants get their energy from the Sun and whether plants can grow without soil. Thanks to those students who asked questions and inspired us to try something new! Next week we may try some small changes to the rotation schedule to allow me another chance to visit with students for more hands-on activities.

In Art, Grade 5 students showing responsibility as learners on a WebQuest exploring Pop Art. I know that learning about cultures - and decades - is a different approach to Visual Arts, but I appreciate your students' dedication in exploring the influence of society on artists. In Grade 4 we made ombre ice-cream cones which demonstrated shade and tint. We will demonstrate these again while learning more about perspective next week.

I was not feeling well this week and have appreciated the kind words - and cards - that your thoughtful students have given. However, it has inspired a real-world based lesson sequence for the Grade 5s to explore hand washing and germs which ties in fantastically to our Science unit on the Human Body. Today we looked at how clean our hands get after washing ..... and learned that five seconds is just not enough time!











Grade 4s continued to explore techniques for anger management - and today were introduced to the importance of taking ownership of your mistakes. I look forward to the lessons to come!


Reminders for next week include:

• Pumpkin carving contest, Monday October 27th
• Picture retakes, Wednesday October 29th
• Hallowe'en dance, Friday October 31st (Costumes in the afternoon only)

This Week's Spelling Words

The pattern for this week is 'ph' which makes an 'f' sound. Students have selected 10 words from their high frequency sight words in addition to:

alphabet

photography

paragraph

telephone

graph

This Week's Recap

Happy Friday!

We have just enjoyed a Friday full of new foods, interesting artifacts and thoughtful interviews. Thank you for your support in making this happen!

As we wrap up Social Studies we will move into Science (and hopefully - fingers crossed - a trip to the Science Centre). Keep an eye out for food journals (Grade 5) and habitat studies (Grade 4) in the weeks to come.

We have finished our portraits in Visual Arts - Painting was certainly interesting! I plan to display these at school so check the blog for pictures next week (A sneak peak of what will shortly be in your home).

We will begin next week studying perspective in Grade 4 while the Grade 5s move onto a inquiry-based project on pop art.

While Hallowe'en is a few weeks away still, I've already heard excited chatter (and read some interesting stories). I just wanted to review that there will be a Hallowe'en bake sale October 23-24 (items $0.50 or $1.00). On October 31, there will be a Hallowe'en dance from 12.45-2 for Grades K-5. Costumes will be welcomed in the afternoon only. 

Finally, students will soon start the rough draft of their biography or recount in E.L.A. This week we discussed the difference between editing & proofreading. This helpful poster outlines many questions that we often forget to ask ourselves when editing. It's a great resource to make sure we've achieved our purpose! We also discussed the 'secret language' of proofreading. Some common signs & symbols can be found here.

Next week's highlights include:

• Grade 5 Math test Monday (Focus: Numbers up to 1 000 000 & estimation) 
• Spelling is back on! Test on Friday (Hint: Pattern focus is 'ph')
• Hallowe'en Bake Sale October 23
• Miss Foell's planning day October 24 (a guest teacher will be with our class)

Have a lovely weekend!

Upcoming Events for This Week

• FCC's 'Drive Away Hunger' food drive runs this week from October 14 - October 16
• No spelling test this week (more time for Social Studies!)
• Social Studies project due Friday
• Presentations will be made from 9.10-9.40 (Grade 5s) and 9.40-10.10 (Grade 4s)

This Week's Recap

I won't keep you too long this week as the weather forecast looks wonderful for our first long weekend of the school year! And won't it look even lovelier accompanied by our 'Thankful Pumpkins'....?

In E.L.A., I wrote three paragraphs in ten minutes. How? By planning well using a sequencing chart and then three five-finger organizers. Students had an opportunity to try and I must say that many of us are quite good at recognizing when to start a new paragraph! It can be hard to understand ('It just feels like it should be a new paragraph') but there's a wonderful resource here with a few key points for starting new paragraphs in narratives (as well as recounts and biographies). Next week, we'll begin looking at how to improve my writing!

In Grade 5 Math, we are practicing different ways of estimating sums and differences. To reinforce these (and show their relevance in daily life), you might take your student along to the grocery store and have them keep a running estimate of five items as you shop ... or estimate how much change you might get back after a purchase. In class, we've been looking at fliers and estimating how much different combinations of items will cost (as well as reviewing place value).





Social Studies has continued along rather smoothly. There is certainly a lot of information to cover, but students are working hard at stations and I've again been impressed with their diligence in finishing work. On Friday, October 17 we will be holding our presentation day for the class. Students should have brought their duotangs home this weekend to work on their interview/cultural festival contribution. Please email me with any questions related to their projects.

Lastly, I was away Monday morning and would like to share below the note I received when I got back. What a lovely welcome....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tis the Season...

... for Social Studies projects! Our class will be wrapping up our Social Studies units on Friday, October 17. Your students will be bringing home some information in their duotangs this evening. Please take a look through it and contact me with any specific questions tomorrow.

While we may have bits of time here & there in class, I've encouraged students to work on their project at home. For Grade 4s, this should take about an hour (or perhaps more should they decide to get fancy with video recording & editing). For Grade 5s, it may take about two to three hours as a little more thinking/research is involved. I've encouraged the Grade 5s to ensure they bring in something to display their thinking such as a poster, pamphlet or PowerPoint.

Thank you for your support!

This Week's Spelling Words

Good afternoon! Please note that your student has the words below to study plus an additional 7 words from their Fry's High Frequency Sight Words inventory. If your student missed their Spelling test today, please help them to study the words below plus select an additional 7 high frequency words to learn this week :)

moist

noise

joyful

voice

annoy

choice

enjoy

A reminder again that this week's test will be Thursday due to the P.D. on Friday.

This Week's Recap

Cupcakes, magazines & paragraphs! This week has been marked by some big events - including learning about 1 000 000 in Math (It's a big number).

On Wednesday we attended the QSP launch party where we met Mr. Bear and a rather large Mr. Chicken. Thank you for those that have already started handing in magazine orders! I believe that little bears will start appearing in your homes shortly. You can learn more about the charity Save the Children through which chicks will be donated here.

If you have any specific questions about using the online ordering system, etc. please contact QSP directly at the number listed on the front envelope.

Yesterday, we got to participate in a very special event - Mr. MacKenzie's 87th birthday! I very much enjoyed the 'Step Back Jack!' performance by the Grade 2/3s (although I like to think the staff song was also just as memorable). A personal highlight was hearing Mr. MacKenzie speak, learning he'd been featured in an Air Canada video, and listening to him sing us a special song on the ukulele.

In class, we continue to get closer to our goals of writing a Recount in paragraphs (Grade 4) and a Biography (Grade 5). Please keep an eye out for more information in the next few weeks with regards to these projects. Social Studies will begin to wrap up shortly. Please check the assignment tab on Monday for information regarding the projects & expectations for Grade 4s and 5s. In short:

• Grade 4s will be interviewing someone who has lived in Saskatchewan for awhile to learn more about their relationship with the land (how geography & climate influenced where and how they lived). Students will then be comparing this to their personal relationship with the land. This is a big task and students have started chunking the assignment and thinking of interview questions. 
• Grade 5s will be bringing in & presenting an artifact that tells us more about Canada's multicultural identity. There will be some in-class work time for research (and thinking).

A thank you again to our parent volunteer who came in on Thursday to help with Social Studies rotations. At times, this can certainly be a seemingly chaotic time as students settle into different activities (and links don't work ...). I certainly appreciated the help getting students organized to do their best work!

In art this week, we continued to talk of Hanoch Piven. Students have brainstormed the characteristics of a particular person they respect/feel has demonstrated courage. They are collecting images that might be used to represent these characteristics and next week begin to assemble their portraits! Students are welcome to bring in magazines from home to cut up if available.

Please remember the following for next week:

• Picture orders are due October 8
• Our Spelling test will be Thursday
• October 10 is a Staff Development Day (no school for students)
• October 13 is the Thanksgiving holiday
• Continue to bring in your QSP orders!