Weekly Update

Wow! What a busy week we've had. It's been fabulous to relax with your students today & just enjoy their accomplishments (with some cupcakes too!) After all the hours of work that went into the Moosical, we are certainly ready to take a break.

Check out this link of our students, featured by World Vision for their work with Natasha last week:
http://instagram.com/p/wwZL_WLn0u/?modal=true

I hope you have a safe & happy holiday! Enjoy your time with friends & family!

See you in 2015!

Random Acts of Kindness Feature

Throughout December, the Random Acts of Kindness Trust Fund's Facebook page is featuring profiles of positive role models throughout the community. Check out this link for the feature on Mr. MacKenzie himself!

The Weekly Recap

I'm sure you've heard what a busy week we've had getting ready for the Moosical next week! We've been practicing a lot lately and working hard behind the scenes on costumes too. Thank you to those parents who helped to prepare our forest which has certainly added a little holiday cheer to our room.

In the classroom, we have started a new unit in Grade 5 math focusing on measurement. We have used geoboards, square tiles and other manipulatives to examine how the properties of rectangles change when either area or perimeter are kept constant. Next week we will look at designing a gingerbread village with given area and perimeter constraints. I've updated the 'Links for Home' page and encourage the Grade 5s to keep practicing topics related to area & perimeter.









 With the holiday approaching, we've been able to fit in a few themed crafts thus far. Look for some personalized 'snow globes' coming home next week and for  beautiful analogous colour ornament pictures! Last week, we helped our buddies make 3-D snowflakes. It was quite .... interesting.

We were also very thankful to be able to meet with Natasha from World Vision today. She helped to explain where the monies from the Grade 2/3 bake sale were going. She also helped us to understand the words 'resource' and 'community' so that we could construct 3-D models of ideal communities for Lucy.

Next week, please note the following:

• December 17 Christmas Program dress rehearsal
• December 18 Christmas Program presentation 1:15 & 7 pm (please return ticket requests by Monday)
• December 19 Swimming 1-2 pm
• December 19 PJs Day

Mid-Week Notes

Important updates:

• Senior Choir students are to wear concert dress (black pants, white shirt) for tomorrow's carolling
• Any Candy Canes or Toy Soldiers need to bring in their white or red shirt, respectively, tomorrow
• Letters about Christmas concert tickets are going home tomorrow. Please note that tickets are limited. Return your request Friday morning to ensure you will get your tickets for the evening concert performance.

This Week's Spelling Words

Focus: Presenting Prefixes!

substance

transfer

transplant

transcript

transport

subway

submarine

subsoil

substitute

Subway

submerge

transaction

subtraction

translate

Transformers

 

This Week's Recap

What a busy week we have had! On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we were joined in class by local artist Josh Goff for our CREATE artist sessions. Students created art works that reflected a piece of their identity. I certainly found it informative to see how to break down drawings into shapes. Students produced some amazing pieces!

To continue our exploration into Saskatchewan artists, we visited the MacKenzie Art Gallery on Thursday. Students created two watercolour pieces that showed the same landscape in different seasons. It was very interesting and I really appreciated the different opportunities students had to create works in different media. I've posted a private online gallery of photos from the sessions. For security reasons, I've sent the link to you via email. Please send a quick email if you did not receive this and would like to take a look.

On Wednesday and Thursday we began practicing with the Grade 4 classes for the holiday 'moosical'. Students are doing a wonderful job! I am happy to see so many taking responsibility for their roles and ensuring they are running lines at home. We are emphasizing the importance of pace (slowing down) and expression during our practices at school. A letter was sent home last Monday detailing costume expectations. A reminder that candy canes will need to bring in their white shirts by December 15th. We will be looking for volunteers to help put finishing touches (ribbon) on their costumes.

In Math, the Grade 5s have started their measurement unit. I am very excited as this unit affords so many opportunities for hands-on learning. Thus far we have estimated the distance to the stairwell using our stride length and held a scavenger hunt in our classroom for objects that are 12 cm long using the width of our fingers. While it may seem basic, you can support your student at home by emphasizing how to use a ruler. Some students still require reminders to line up the '0' on their ruler with the end of the object being measured.

On Friday we began unit conversions. These can be challenging, but this interactive (Universcale) does help to emphasize the importance of the skill!

Coming up this week:

• Red, white & green day on Monday 
• Special lunch hosted by the SCC on Tuesday
• Grade 2/3 Bake Sale in support of World Vision on Thursday/Friday
• Presentation on sustainable agriculture by World Vision representative on Friday
• Christmas hamper items due December 12

This Week's Spelling Words & Upcoming Events

Pattern: 'ou' making an 'ow' or 'o' sound

ouch

bought

pouch

fought

count

thought

shout

court

found

your

couch

round

crouch

bounds

cloud

outlaw

ewe

Important Upcoming Dates: 

• Candy Cane Sales ($1 each), December 1-5
• CREATE Art Sessions, December 1-3
• Author Visit, December 3 7 pm (John Wilson, Richard Scrimger & Sigmund Brouwer)
• MacKenzie Art Gallery Tour, December 4 (am only)
• Pictures with Santa, December 5